Casting call: Who we’d cast as our leads

Attention, Hollywood agents: you may not have gotten the memo, but we’ve pre-cast some of your best clients to star in the as-yet-unsigned movie versions of our books. They’ve already begun doing staged readings in our heads, and sometimes they even help inspire us. Get those contracts ready, and see you at the wrap party.

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Going to the Mattresses

Gentle readers, this post may be a bit short, and bittersweet. But I promise there will be something warm and fuzzy at the end. A little more than a week ago, my husband and I were cozily binge-watching Longmire on the couch with our Golden Retriever, basking in the glow of a recent holiday season spent with friends and family. My latest manuscript was safely … Continue reading Going to the Mattresses

Magnolia Marie Doucet, Vampire Slayer?

On a recent trip to Louisiana, I toured several plantations and saw some fascinating nineteenth century artifacts. There was a flycatcher that lured flies with a mixture of sugar and arsenic. (Why-oh-why didn’t I know about this before I used arsenic as a murder weapon in my debut mystery, Plantation Shudders?) A parlor in Houmas House featured extraordinary tapestries that took Ursuline nun novitiates years … Continue reading Magnolia Marie Doucet, Vampire Slayer?

Party Like It’s 1865

One great thing about being a writer is that you can allow a character to make up for your own personal failings. My case in point… I attended Tulane University in New Orleans, and loved it. But there was a fraternity, Kappa Alpha, which celebrated an event called “Old South.” The guys in the chapter rented Confederate soldier uniforms, and their dates rented southern belle … Continue reading Party Like It’s 1865