A Rest Home, not Arrest Home Saturday––Jeff The big story over the past 48 hours has been all about US.  Or rather about a particular one of us. We all know who that one is, and each of us undoubtedly holds an opinion on what 34 unanimous guilty verdicts returned against that defendant (out of 34 charged indictments) portends for US. I decided to spare you my opinion and instead share reactions from around the world on those developments. That sent me searching for stories in the foreign press and I got lucky, because I came across an article in the distinguished F ..read more

 Here's another tale from Wales from one of my Welsh guest bloggers, the extremely talented (and mega intelligent ! Like Stan she's a Professor Doctor Author Etc etc!) Gwenllian.  We are awaiting the publication of the next book, The Wolf's Shadow.  The wee blurb says that  the body of Thomas Seymour is found in a tree, nine years to the day, after he was beheaded on Tower Hill! Reading this blog, I think you see where the inspiration of this book came from. Or is it true? Will we ever know?  Read on for the spooky history of a cursed village. PS At some point we shoul ..read more

Wendall -- every other Thursday As I am writing for a deadline, I will leave you this week with a few images of the place where I recently went to hide out. Perfect noir writer's hideout   As most of you know, I work best in hotels and I returned to one of my favorites, in Carpinteria, California. As I’m working on a story about Hollywood, I experimented a bit with black and white and a filter or two.   I do a lot of my writing here on the balcony. Here are a few views from there. Coffee required. There's a reason why this is the room I always ask ..read more

Wed--Quartey If you follow my Insta account (@kweiquarteyauthor) you might know I sometimes post “Quartey’s Top Ten Lists” a la David Letterman. So, just for fun (since life seems so grim these days), I’ve included a couple here for mindless enjoyment. That’s all I got ..read more

 Sujata Massey When I'm on deadline for a book, I describe it as living with my head down. The work is plodding and challenging and seems never-ending. If I leave it for a day or two, it's that much harder to get back to it. I remind myself constantly that making something that exists better is preferable to doing a first draft, but it's still not easy.   Life goes on around me, which means meals must be cooked, gardens weeded and gas tanks filled. And I still do laundry. But suddenly, that became an adventure.  It all started with animal noises and a shaking movement of the ..read more

 Annamaria (she, her, hers) on Monday I am potentially going to get myself into a lot of trouble with this.  My thinking about the subject is serious and heartfelt.  An inquiry into an important topic that might, on the page, come across as flippant.  Or blasphemous (more about which later). I went to Catholic school for seventeen years.  In fact, except for a couple of  graduate courses at Columbia University in statistics, all of my formal education was under the auspices of the Church.  At college level, the nuns gave me a full scholarship, for which I ..read more

Dawn with friends Dawn M. Barclay is an award-winning author who writes fiction as D.M. Barr and nonfiction under her own name. Her novels involving real estate, which has been her career for the past 25 years, include Expired Listings, Revenge Begins at Home, The Queen of Second Chances, and the soon-to-be-released Deadly When Disturbed, all set in the tumultuous world of Rock Canyon Realty. In 2025, Level Best Books will release the first volumes of her multi-book true crime travel series, Vacations Can Be Murder. She also recently co-edited her secon ..read more

  Telendos, Southeast Aegean Sea   Saturday–Jeff   I can tell that Greece's tourist season is well under way from the number of questions I'm getting from friends, fans and frequent flier types seeking information on which Greek islands to visit. It's a daunting question because one person's paradise can be another's purgatory.  That's why any answer I offer is generally accompanied by this observation: If you don't like the island you're on, jump on a ferry and head to another because there so many of them."   My life on the recommendation front has become ..read more

So we had a trip to London  to attend a garden party- lots of plonk and finger food and drunkenness! Before that we visited Churchill's War Cabinet Rooms. Then  a coach party came in, so we left. This shows the building in Westminster, and the underground location of the war rooms. Here's where Churchill had a room/cupboard so he could call the POTUS and have a confidential conversation. Churchill hated noise. All the typewriters had a 'silencer' so they didn't  make a clickity clack noise. Doors had to be keep shut.  One of the great orators of our time. He was ..read more

Of course, the famous sculptor died thirty-eight years ago, so the visit was to his estate and workshops in Hertfordshire. Yet, his spirit still seems to be there, inhabiting his giant and miniature sculptures, at peace with the farmlands of the estate, and still cherishing the eclectic collection of items in his house ranging from small Rodin sculptures to shells and walrus tusks.  The Henry Moore Foundation now owns the 70 acre farm and the massive sculptures dotted around it. Hoglands, the Moore home, and its contents still belongs to his daughter and it's forbidden to take photograph ..read more