The Late Bloomer at 56

At 1:38 a.m. today, I turned 56 years old. The thing is, I don’t feel fifty-six. Maybe this is because, for the past ten years, I’ve been writing about characters 16–17 years old and some of their sense of invincibility has rubbed off on me. All I know is, it really doesn’t seem possible that … Read more

The Awesomeness that is Bond Day

For about the past 30 years—or ever since I got my driver’s license—my best friend Jason Scott and I have attended the opening of the new James Bond movie together. This has entailed our playing hooky many times—from school, jobs, girlfriends and wives. Welcome to the awesomeness that is Bond Day.   Of course, like the … Read more

A Successful Interview with Pam Stack on Authors on the Air

This evening, I did my first-ever LIVE radio interview, and I’m very pleased with how it turned out. Host Pam Stack asked me some thought-provoking questions and gave me the opportunity to give detailed answers. There was also a wonderful, unexpected call-in—my friend and colleague Hillary Leftwich, who praised my new novel, One Hundred Miles … Read more

The Adventure of the Sherlock Holmes Aficionado

Thanks to the thousands of readers of my Dakota Stevens mysteries, in the past 18 months I’ve been able to fulfill two lifelong dreams. The first was going to Paris, spending two solid weeks exploring every inch of that gorgeous city, and walking in the footsteps of my literary idols—including Hemingway, Fitzgerald, Joyce, Flaubert and … Read more

Driving in the UK: A Survival Guide for Americans

In June 2013, Alexas and I decided to use the earnings from my books to take another Big Trip. I say another Big Trip because in Sept. 2012 we used the first half of my earnings to spend two weeks in Paris and Normandy. For this second trip, we debated between the UK, Italy, Paris again, … Read more