My husband is a fan of television games. His favorite? Jeopardy! He likes to record new episodes for us to watch together whenever there’s a half-hour break in our day. Lately, I’ve noticed that librarians are among the more successful contestants. It makes sense, I suppose, because a primary requirement for both jobs is to […]
There are two kinds of people in this country: those who love Daylight Saving Time, and those who don’t. There’s a third group, I suppose: those who can’t decide, even though the reality of it has been around for nearly sixty years. The U.S. tried it twice before, during World Wars I and II, in […]
I’m delighted to welcome a remarkably prolific author to the Gang as our guest today. Pamela Fagan Hutchins and I met early in our writing careers. Since then, she has published upwards of 30 books, mostly novels (award-winning romantic mysteries, a couple of children’s books, and some non-fiction, too). Lately, she’s been turning out some […]
Over the weekend, a series of New York Times articles about the pleasures of reading aloud sent me thinking backwards and forward again. Backwards to my earliest memories of listening to my Mom or Dad read Horton Hatches the Egg or some other wonderful classic to me. Those lovely moments are imbedded deep in my bones. I’m […]
As we complete another rotation around our sun, some of us like to make resolutions for things we’d like to accomplish in the coming year. There are lots of lists out there to guide us: new diets to try and exercise regimens to tackle. New books to read and buckets of travel options to consider. Or, perhaps […]
While one half of our nation rejoices this week and the other half wonders what went wrong, here comes Thanksgiving, Christmas and Hanukah, when we’re all thrown together at friends’ parties and family reunions. Finding common ground where we can stand together may be difficult as we tiptoe around each other’s feelings after the election. […]
Today, I bring a double treat to the Gang, with S. Lee (Sandy) Manning and J.B. (Jim) Manning, award-winning writers who bill themselves as “A Killing Couple” for a couple of good reasons. One, they’re married. And two, the award-winning books they write include a few murder victims along the way. Jim’s books are chock-full of […]
Ever heard of a derecho? I hadn’t, until recently. It’s related to a tornado, and can be just as deadly. Instead of twisting up everything in its path and tossing it around, a derecho’s furious winds wreak devastation in a straight line, like a giant hundred-mile-an-hour freight train. Last May, one barreled through two hundred […]
Hard to believe that the public school year opened here yesterday, especially when we’re still inside the blast furnace that is August. I remember sweating through those first days. It was pretty brutal. My own high school reunion happened just this past weekend, which made me wonder what the children returning to class will be […]
Confession time here. It has taken me years to admit this, but here goes: I am a foodaholic. I love food, and I think about it almost every hour of the day. My addiction began in the early days of writing the Samantha Newman Mystery Series. I didn’t recognize the issue until several readers complained that […]