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Bouchercon 2022

Last week, I attended the five-day Anthony Boucher (rhymes with voucher) Memorial Mystery Convention, better known as Bouchercon, in Minneapolis, which annually draws creators and readers of all sub-genres of mysteries: Classic/Traditional; Crime; Police Procedural; Noir; Gumshoe; Cozy; and Capers. Anthony Boucher was the pen name of a California author, critic, and editor. The program…

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Cork Harbor

Visiting Ireland a few years ago, I went to the Cobh Museum, which overlooks Cork Harbor, the point of departure for millions of Irish people fleeing the Great Famine. A large part of the museum was devoted to a stunning sensory exhibit of Irish men, women, and children forced to leave the family members and…

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Place as Character

I grew up on a midwestern farm located between the Wabash and Illinois rivers. An anonymous writer described that vast prairie as follows: “…the gentle wind moved the supple grasses like waves of a green sea under the summer’s sky.” Some are born into the world with a determination to flee their homes; others absorb…

The Claude Glass

I’m writing a short story about an old lady who uses a Claude Glass to view the aftermath of a tragedy. What is a Claude Glass? While watching Grand Tours of Scotland on Prime Video, I learned of the Claude Glass, or mirror, since in English, the word “glass” can be replaced with “mirror.” The…

My Muse

I’ve been walking around the house, looking for my muse. When I go on walks, I search for her in the clouds, in groves of trees and fields of dandelions. The state of the world and the nation are distractions, to be sure, and I’ve been doing left-brain things like editing manuscripts, working with a…

Booth

Karen Joy Fowler’s “Booth” is a fictionalized account of the Junius Booth family, whose sons included actor Edwin and the notorious John Wilkes. Fowler juxtaposes the family saga with accounts of Lincoln moving toward destiny in the Ford Theater. A good read.

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Keeping Characters Straight

I’m reading Elizabeth George’s “Just One Evil Act” (719 pages). Readers have many characters to keep track of and though I’m reading it in snatches, I’m having no trouble remembering who they are because the author describes them so uniquely. Fans are familiar with Inspector Lynley, a member of Britain’s upper-class. His sidekick, Barbara Havers…