If you’re thinking of getting any of my books for the holidays, it couldn’t be easier. I’ve got you covered, even for autographed books!
I’ve been recommending this essay for years to every writer I know. And it’s free to read online…
I compiled a list of fun facts about this brilliant mathematician after reading two biographies. The oddest little things stayed with me, and here they are…
I have a short story in a new anthology that is published today! I’m excited to tell you about it because, believe it or not, it’s my first appearance in a fiction anthology. The book is a collection of 24 short stories by 24 different writers who contribute to the SleuthSayers mystery blog that I am always crowing about here…
I’ve slowly been sharing all the old posts I’ve written over at SleuthSayers during the time I fell off the edge of the world and disappeared. With today’s post, I’ll be finally caught up. In a sense, I’ve saved the best for last. Back in fall, I wrote about one of my favorite childhood books, and how I finally figured out why it moved me as much as it did way back when.
The book I’m talking about is called From the Mix-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler, by E.L. Konigsburg. And if you haven’t read it, how can you call yourself a grown-up child?
January is revered by Sherlock Holmes geeks each year because the biggest Sherlock Holmes geek ever—the late William S. Baring-Gould—decreed that Sherlock’s presumed birthday is January 6th. The best-known mystery magazine, Ellery Queen’s Mystery Magazine, actually pubs a Sherlock Holmes issue each year at this time. And at the top of the year, I too try to do some sort of Sherlockian post at SleuthSayers, the mystery writers blog that I write for…
I’ve long been a fan of the prolific writer Kristine Kathryn Rusch, who writes romance, mystery, SFF, and incisive nonfiction on the craft and business of writing. She and her equally prolific writer spouse Dean Wesley Smith offer the best craft courses for writers I’ve seen online. (I’ve taken 9 of them—I think.) For the last five years, Rusch has offered her Annual Holiday Spectacular, a kind of advent calendar that ticks off the days from Thanksgiving to New Year’s Day, delivering a short holiday story to your email inbox of varying lengths and genres…
I’ve got a post running today over at SleuthSayers on the topic of indigenous mysteries for kids. November is the start of Native American Heritage Month in the United States, and I’ve wanted to talk about some of the books I picked up when we visited Cherokee, North Carolina, back in summer. The three I’m recommending today…
I’ve written before about the book recommendation site, Shepherd.com, which enlists the help of authors, not algorithms, to share great books with fellow readers. My wife, Denise Kiernan, shared a new list with Shepherd, which is up as today. It’s tied to her trio of books on the subject of Thanksgiving and gratitude. The list is entitled:
All but one of the books she’s recommending are for adults. That makes four lists she’s contributed to Shepherd. The others are, in no particular order…
I wrote two Sherlock-themed posts in the past year, devoted to the new Netflix series, Enola Holmes, based on the life of Sherlock’s youngest sibling, a teenager named Enola. Actress Millie Bobby Brown stars as the titular character, based on a series of books by the Edgar Award-winning writer, Nancy Springer.
Here’s why I think they’re wonderful movies…
I promised to share my new list on Shepherd.com, the book recommendation site, as soon as it was up. The folks over there got it up pretty quick.
You can check out the new list right here:
That brings my number of book lists on Shepherd to four. Besides the new one, the others are:
My wife has contributed three lists:
You might be wondering: Dude, why are you doing these lists? Shouldn’t you, like, be writing?
Good questions.
The easy answer is, writing these lists for Shepherd help my books reach a wider audience. There’s an acknowledged issue with recommendation engines on many sites. You buy a case of ham, and the damn engine keeps recommending the same fucking brand of ham to you, albeit in different size ham cans, even though you are now in the market for a giant wheel of Parmigiana. Or water shoes. Or a life raft.
It’s smarter to get recommendations from a live human being. And when it comes to books, authors know a lot about books—which to read, which to ignore, which really make a difference. So as long as Shepherd allows me to pitch lists to them, I will. I go through a lot of books in my life, and it’s good to pass that knowledge on to someone.
Photo of the National Archives building (above) by me; bobblehead video also, sadly, by me.
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