I’ve been reading Michael Pollan’s new book, A World Appears: A Journey into Consciousness. Pollan was a writing professor at UC Berkeley and Harvard (I think he’s mostly retired from teaching now), and I’ve been a fan of his ever since his early book, The Omnivore’s Dilemma, for his clear and beautiful writing about food, botany, general science, philosophy, and now, that most difficult yet … Continue reading Conscious of Being Conscious
Happy book birthday to Leslie Karst, whose Orchid Isle mystery, MURDER, LOCAL STYLE, releases today as a PAPERBACK–hurrah! About Murder, Local Style: Retired caterer Valerie Corbin investigates a suspicious poisoning in this Orchid Isle cozy culinary mystery, featuring a feisty queer couple who swap surfing lessons for sleuthing sessions in tropical Hilo, Hawai‘i. A dinner to die for! It’s been an eventful transition, … Continue reading Paperback Release of MURDER, LOCAL STYLE!
Bonjour à tous de France! Yes, I’m currently walking and eating my way around beautiful France with my sister, Laura. We’ve talked about taking this trip for years, and since we were both celebrating BIG birthdays this September (65 and 70; I’ll let you guess whose birthday is whose), we thought this was finally the time to go. Our trip in France started with Paris, … Continue reading Leslie’s in France!
Consider these two sentences: I bet you had two completely different visceral reactions to the word “moist” in those sentences, am I right? moist cupcakes So what is it about that word—moist—that causes such varied reactions? Because supposedly some twenty percent of people shudder when they hear the word (though I’m guessing the number is actually higher). And what about other similarly hated words such … Continue reading What Is It About the Word “Moist”?
I was asked the other day what were my favorite movies that I’d seen in a theater this year. I had to think for a while, but came up with two: The Sheep Detectives and Project Hail Mary. Which then got me thinking about movies in general, and in turn got me thinking about the Bechdel Test. What’s the Bechdel Test? you may ask. Well, … Continue reading The Bechdel Test
I’m a Baby Boomer, I admit it. Born in 1956 with two older brothers to influence me, I fall squarely within the generation of Captain Kangaroo, Hula Hoops and Slinkies, Sputnik, the Sears Catalogue, JFK, Scholastic Book Fairs, and long-play record albums (aka LPs). my childhood lunchbox The digital age arrived when I was in my late twenties—I was 28 when Apple released its first … Continue reading An Analog Gal
I was talking with someone at Malice Domestic a couple weeks back about the use of MacGuffins in mystery novels and films and afterwards got curious about the origin of the term—and the literary device, itself. So down the research rabbit hole I went. First, I wondered, what exactly is a “MacGuffin”? Basically, it’s an object, person, or secret in a story that drives the … Continue reading A MacGuffin By Any Other Name…
Happy book birthday to Leslie Karst, whose newest Orchid Isle mystery, MURDER, LOCAL STYLE, releases today–hurrah! About Murder, Local Style: Retired caterer Valerie Corbin investigates a suspicious poisoning in this Orchid Isle cozy culinary mystery, featuring a feisty queer couple who swap surfing lessons for sleuthing sessions in tropical Hilo, Hawai‘i.A dinner to die for! It’s been an eventful transition, but retired caterer Valerie Corbin … Continue reading Happy Release Day to Leslie!
Tomorrow marks the official release of my newest Orchid Isle mystery, Murder, Local Style. The book is set in a small neighborhood reminiscent of the street where Robin and I live in Hilo, Hawai‘i, and concerns the local orchid society that my protagonist, Valerie Corbin, joins in order to make some friends in her new-found home. Robin and I adore our neighborhood and are eternally … Continue reading My Mom, the Potter
Before I get to today’s actual post, I want to share a photo from last Saturday night, when I was awarded a real live (okay, not live, live) Maltese falcon for my role as Toastmaster at Left Coast Crime: San Francisco Schemin’, which took place last weekend. The falcon was cast in the same mold as the one used for the movie, and the Black … Continue reading “Gourmet” Doesn’t Quite Say It
My life as an author has been pretty darn busy of late. But I’m not complaining—it’s busy in a very good way. You see, I’m currently working on/dealing with three different books all at the same time. First, I’m thrilled that Waters of Destruction, book two in my Orchid Isle series, has been nominated for a Lefty Award for Best Mystery Novel. The winner will … Continue reading Three Books at Once
There’s a meme going around Facebook these days showing a sign in a bookstore that says “Shoplifters will be forced to read James Joyce’s Ulysses.” I get the joke; really, I do. (Even Louise Penny shared the meme on her FB feed.) But I think bookstores, of all places, should know better. Because, the thing is, I adore Ulysses and think it’s one of the … Continue reading The Best Book Hardly Anyone Reads
