Two incidents this week in which I conquered technological problems.

Incident One: I switched streaming services. The new one said there was a channel guide, but there wasn't. After running around the website in circles for an hour, I got online and started a chat. The tech said try this. Now try this. Now send me a screenshot. As I did, I felt my blood pressure rising. I know I'm not stupid, but I felt stupid and frustrated and angry. Telling myself it wasn't the tech's fault, I typed a...

Yes, I'm stealing lines from Shakespeare to get your attention, but for authors, the question is real. Every book needs a title, and it's sometimes hard to generate one that's both descriptive and alluring. I probably will never pick up a book that has words like rotting or frenzy in the title, though I know people who love that sort of thing. I also avoid mysteries with too-cute titles, usually puns stretched beyond what my English teacher brain can bear. Murder mystery titles should evoke...

The world of mystery can be divided roughly into three groups: hard-boiled mystery, traditional mystery, and cozy mystery (once called chick-lit, but that expanded into geezer-lit, etc.) I write in two of those.

Hard-boiled mystery is tough and often violent. I don't do that. Can't might be a better word.

Peg Herring's mysteries are traditional. The protagonist is in search of a criminal, possibly hired to do so, possibly working to protect an innocent party, sometimes herself. Violence is not...