I’m impressed at the number of horrible mothers I encounter in the story books I read to my young grandson. Yes, Little Bear is fortunate to have a paragon of gentle maternal solicitude, and most of the heroes and heroines of Peg Kehret‘s very popular books for middle-grade kids have wise, brave, supportive mothers. But [...] Read More →
Author Archives: Larry Karp
THE ÉCLAT of the LITERARY FEUD
BY JEANNE MATTHEWS These are the times that try the soul of a struggling writer. So many authors, so many books. I jump at every opportunity to attract the attention of potential readers and promote my Dinah Pelerin mysteries. Blogging, social media, promotional ploys of all sorts. But there’s one avenue I haven’t yet pursued [...] Read More →
The Case of the Phantom Pisser
When people ask what got me started writing mystery novels, I shrug and say I don’t know. But there are reasons for everything, aren’t there? Maybe my literary inclination comes from an experience I had when I was ten years old – the only real-life crime investigation I’ve ever been a party to. My family [...] Read More →
Love is Murder
By Jeanne Matthews As the comedian Chris Rock says, if you ain’t held a box of rat poison in your hands and thought real hard about killing your wife, you ain’t been in love. Thousands of men go to prison every year for killing their wives or their lovers – perfectly nice men who wouldn’t [...] Read More →
I Love My Computer
In her post of December 13, Jeanne Matthews declared herself a Luddite. But you’re not, Jeanne. You may fall short of techiehood, but you do use computer technology to serve your needs. At whatever level you’ve chosen, you’re smart enough to remain mistress, keeping that literal-minded machine where it belongs, as a servant. There are [...] Read More →
‘TECS IN THE AGE OF HI-TECH
by Jeanne Matthews I’m a Luddite. I suppose that’s obvious from the fact that I can’t even post my own blog. Technology leaves me flummoxed – not just in real life but also in fiction. With the ubiquity of mobile phones, global positioning systems, surveillance cameras, and high-powered personal computers, I find it harder to [...] Read More →
The Writer’s Corner
I came upon this picture this morning, and it took me back to May of last year, while I was writing A PERILOUS CONCEPTION. That note taped to my CPU says, “Should BB use an alias?” BB is Bernie Baumgartner, my police detective, and I couldn’t decide whether it would be a good idea [...] Read More →
The International Spy Museum
BY JEANNE MATTHEWS, Author of the Dinah Pellerin Series I recently received a postcard with a picture of a lipstick pistol on the front, the kind issued by the KGB in 1965. The card was signed Valerie Plame. What? Wasn’t she the CIA operative whose cover was blown back in 2003 in order to discredit [...] Read More →
The Bug
One of my family’s peculiarities is that we name our cars. When Myra and I got married, we bought a 1952 Chevy, who immediately became known as Elizabeth, long for (Tin) Lizzie. Then came a bubble-top VW camper-bus, which had the odd habit of blowing his horn whenever the driver made a left turn. Eventually, [...] Read More →
Friggatriskaidekaphobia
By Jeanne Matthews On July thirteenth, Larry Karp introduced this triskaidekacentric blog and recalled a significant anniversary – his induction into the U.S. Navy. Happily, he survived his stint in the military and thrived, which would seem to place him in the triskaidekaphile column. Now it’s my turn to reckon with the ominous number [...] Read More →