Monthly Archives: September 2013

The Book Festival –Women in Suspense

Sue Olson McCullough moderated the Women in Suspense panel. Sue rounded up three successful mystery/suspense writers from the San Francisco Bay Area; one with seven books under her belt; another with two series going and a third who just published … Continue reading

Posted in Around Town, View from the Road | Leave a comment

Neither Rain nor Sleet… The Sonoma County Book Festival Goes On

A few small raindrops fell on my head as I walked from the parking structure across the Santa Rosa Junior College’s velvety green lawn. A short distance away I could see the white tops of awnings. A flock of blue … Continue reading

Posted in Around Town, View from the Road | 2 Comments

All’s Faire; Birds of a Different Feather

  I love the birds of prey. I probably spent half an hour there talking to the man from Airstrike Bird Control, who makes a living with his birds by taking them to vineyards (to drive away starlings), landfills (to … Continue reading

Posted in Around Town, View from the Road | Leave a comment

All’s Faire; Release the Hounds

I love the dogs who attend this event, both the gargantuan wolfhounds and the slender, elegant lurchers. Zarthustra — or “Z” as we like to call him — is an Irish Wolfhound. Brekkan is a lurcher. Lurchers are mixed breed … Continue reading

Posted in Around Town, View from the Road | Leave a comment

All’s Faire; Build One in Your Own Backyard!

Trebuchet loaded and ready to fire. I think every sixth grader should learn how to build a trebuchet. Think of all the school subjects you could weave in; mathematics, physics, history, woodshop. Plus, after the apocalypse, you’d have someone who … Continue reading

Posted in Around Town, View from the Road | Leave a comment

All’s Faire

  God Save the Queen Five things you can do at the Shakespeare festival in Sebastopol, the second weekend of September; 1)pet a lurcher; 2) fire a trebuchet; 3) listen to Elizabethan music, 4) buy stuff; 5) look at a … Continue reading

Posted in Around Town, View from the Road | Leave a comment

Claire deWitt and the City of the Dead

I hadn’t read anything by Sara Gran until I picked up Claire DeWitt and the City of the Dead out of the 50% off bin. Perhaps, like Claire DeWitt’s introduction to detection, it was meant to be. Claire DeWitt is … Continue reading

Posted in Book Reviews | Leave a comment

Untitled

  I searched through Santa Rosa’s parched desert, I wandered, disconsolate, among the chilled-air corridors of Best Buy, seeking a device that apparently their artificers no longer fabricate, or not in the particulars I required. I hied myself to my … Continue reading

Posted in View from the Road | Leave a comment

The Writers Conference: Open Mike Night

Friday morning Josh asked if any of us were going to read at Open Mike that night. Three of us raised our hands; Linda, Margit and me. “Let me give you some tips for reading,” Josh said. “Tip Number One; … Continue reading

Posted in View from the Road | 5 Comments

The Pain of Research

I’m writing, well, trying to write a short story that includes bee hives and honeycombs. Last Sunday while I walked to the farmers’ market I realized I needed to research how beekeepers pull frames from the hives, and how they … Continue reading

Posted in Thoughts about Writing | Leave a comment