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I have a pet theory that's based on no proof and no research, only personal observation. I believe that we in the US are so overexposed to lies that we've stopped seeing lying and liars as bad. The US President lies daily. Your Congressperson and Senator probably do too. Sadly, many consider the response of the sophisticated person should be, "It's just politics."

Not "Don't do that." Not "I won't vote for a liar." Just "Oh, well."

That's not my theory, by the way. My theory is that our society...

The country is a mess. There is no hope that it will right itself in a month, or six months, or ever. So what should you do?

Write something. Write a poem, or a letter, or an essay, or a short story, or a book. It doesn't have to be a screed or a solution or an award-winning piece of literature.

Writing is cathartic. Focusing on putting "the best words in the best order" is calming. The end result is a lessening of stress. There, you tell yourself. I wrote it down.

You might improve it later....

My husband sometimes chuckles at my book-buying style. I want to go to an actual bookstore and wander through the shelves, picking up this one and that one, adding this one to my pile of purchases and returning that one to the shelf. I want to talk to the clerks and see what they're reading. I often strike up conversations with other browsers about whether such-and-such an author's latest book is a good one or lesser. I don't often buy books second-hand, and I don't sell them once I've...

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...

No.

Oh, I need to say more than that? Okay.

Writing can't die, because people will always want to express themselves, choosing their own words and putting them into their own "right order." While some will accept AI's version of writing, real readers will look beyond auto-generated wordage and seek out authors with something to say that matters to them.

Who will that be? People like me. There are a lot of us out there.

Why are we better than a machine at what we do? Let me list some reasons.

...

(Sorry-the photo here has nothing to do with the topic today. I just realized I should be offering something other than the little typewriter picture every time I write!)

There was an article on Facebook this morning about book blurbs. These back-of-the-book passages used to be teasers about the story and the characters, but increasingly, they've become a list of authors (usually from the same publishing house) who say what a great book this is and what a great talent the author is.

When I...

Those who know me are aware that I also write cozy mysteries under the pen name Maggie Pill. (I chose that pseudonym by taking my grandmother's name, Margaret Pillsbury, and making it cute.) Maggie has a series called Cats & Crime, in which the protagonist is a woman who loves and rescues cats. There are three books in the series thus far. While I don't often read my reviews on Amazon, I saw one recently that asked, "Why would I want to read a book about a grumpy old woman with a bunch of...

February 1 is the day I'm scheduled to send Yesterday's Murder to my editor. A deadline is one of those shivery moments: There's the joy of sharing the book with someone who knows the ropes and will make suggestions to improve my work. There's also the dread of being told, "No, no, no! Not that way!"

I believe the right editor is a jewel beyond price. I've had some bad ones, one that wanted everything written the way he'd have done it (and he was no prize at writing) and a couple who thought...

Writers are, almost without exception, readers. That stands to reason. That doesn't mean we like everything we pick up to read. The story goes that James Fenimore Cooper was reading a novel he considered bad, and he complained aloud to his wife. She said if he didn't like what he was reading, maybe he should write a book himself. Hence, a bunch of novels known as classics (although I had plenty of students who didn't like them.)

There are tons of ways to write a good novel, but for today, I'm...

The book I'm working on is a traditional mystery (no surprise there), and I like the premise: A woman wakes from a coma and learns that her cop husband was killed while she was unconscious. Through a series of scares, she learns that his death was not what it seemed at the time, and she becomes determined to find out the truth. As in every mystery you've ever read, that desire for truth leads to trouble.

I like writing mysteries with unusual protagonists, as you might know if you've read my...

My husband has a gift. I'm not sure what to call it; it's part curiosity, part smarts, and part self-confidence. If that sounds confusing, here's an example.

Our daughter bought a row house in Richmond, Virginia, and of course we motored down to see it. As she showed us the unique setup, rooms set one after another in a space 90' x 20', she mentioned that most of the houses on the block had pocket doors between the front parlor and the second. She was slightly disappointed that hers had a...

A year ago we bought a second home in Florida. The refrigerator works fine, but it was dated and pitted, and we discussed what to do to make it look better. Online I read that people paint their old fridges. That sounded intriguing, but I wanted to talk with someone who might know the pros and cons, so I went to the paint desk to ask.

Me: I'd like your expertise on a matter. Have you heard of painting a refrigerator?

Man: What? Paint what?"

Me: I've read in several places that you can paint a...

I have a complaint about storytelling, or actually, more of a demand: Authors, tell the story!

When I submitted my first book to an agent, she sent back a terse two sentences scrawled in the margin of my cover letter: "Spent too long on background. Get to the story." I did, she took the book on, and eventually, MACBETH'S NIECE was sold to a publisher.

I'm tired of a book starting with a bang that gets me interested and then stopping the action to go back for long scenes that explain the...

After two decades, I'm switching blogs to one by BookBub, which specializes in material about books, for authors and readers. It's kind of exciting, kind of a pain. I don't know a thing about domains and namesources, but I think I figured it out. I love the choices I have, and I've tried to choose what works for people of a certain age. I hate fuzzy fonts on dark colors or pink lettering on a red background.

As I think of things to add, I'll see what I can do. Your job is to let me know what...