Dear Readers, We’ve probably all seen movies or read stories where someone, somehow sneaked a large file into a jail cell to help a prisoner have at the metal bars to enable an escape. I’ve been a “prisoner” in a kind of “jail” for a few years now–the jail of clutter! And the kind of…
Dear Kids and All Readers, Who hasn’t sought those delicious chocolate-covered, candy-speckled, and rainbow-dyed eggs left by the E.B. in pretty baskets and springtime flowerbeds? For now, however, please try not to think about chocolate as we shift to the nonedible, nondenominational types of Easter eggs—those scattered in literature and movies. The formal name for…
Hello, Kids and All Readers, Seven days a week, I take a three-mile walk to enhance and extend my healthspan and lifespan. The five different routes I mapped out years ago take me over much of my historical neighborhood of North Park in San Diego, California, USA. North Park is where I grew up and still live, so I have…
Hello, Kids and All Readers! Do you dare to enter Dr. Frankenstein’s La-BOR-a-tor-y? That’s where you’ll be when you read Upas Street: Shocking Specter, Book 6 in my Botanic Hill Detectives Mysteries series, releasing in Fall 2024. I’m finally busily working on the first draft–yay!–which is due to my editor on March 10–yikes! As Detective…
Hello, Adult Readers and Scary Story Aficionados! Withered leaves rattle in the chilly wind before their death-drop. October shuffles to its end. Darkness descends sooner now, encouraging owls and bats to fly about the countryside in search of earlier feasts. Jack-o’-lanterns glow and burn to ward off evil spirits. Some trick-or-treaters venture forth while others decide to huddle indoors with a bowl of popcorn, some candy, and a book or movie to elude banshees on the…
Dear Kids and All Readers, She drives a roadster (first maroon, then blue), is a force for good, unafraid to speak up, and delivers the baddies to Chief Pete McGinnis with time left over to get to Ned Nickerson’s college football game without a hair out of place. And she’s been doing all that for…
Hello, Kids, Teachers, Librarians, Families, and All Readers, While on my usual early-morning walk today, I couldn’t help but think that it’s the First Day of School! Kids were supposed to start school yesterday here in San Diego, but Hurricane Hilary blew through as a tropical storm on Sunday and granted students a Bonus Day…
Hello, Adult Readers, You’ve probably noticed that in Hollywood, CA, many members of the Writers Guild and SAG-AFTRA are on strike, bringing focus to the emerging use (and abuse) of generative artificial intelligence (AI) in the movie, television, and radio industries. Perhaps you aren’t aware that fiction and nonfiction authors are also demanding intellectual property rights and…
Hello, dear Readers of all ages, Kids, I know you read children’s books. But adults, do you? Reading does not always have to be a progression to increasing difficulty for adults with a creeping fear that if they pause and glance back, they will lose ground and suddenly “de-mature.” Try pausing sometime. You will survive.…
Hi, Kids and All Readers, As most of you know, today, June 19, is “Juneteenth”! Juneteenth became a federal holiday in 2021, so some have the day off. The African-American community has been celebrating Juneteenth for generations. I hope you celebrate Juneteenth as the United States’ other Independence Day! So, what is Juneteenth? On June 19,…
