Jayne Reveals a Recipe from the Frank Diet

(Note to those who read this blog before 5:50 am PST Monday morning -- I went back and edited this post to reduce the amount of curry and hot sauce in the recipe a tad. I forgot that the following only serves two or three! You may want to reduce the spices even more -- Of course, I did say "to taste" didn't I?)

Okay, I've had a few requests for some of the recipes I'm using in the low-carb diet that Frank and I are following. Below is one of our favorites. But be warned, I cook the same way I write, by the seat of my pants. This means that amounts are only approximate. Feel free to tinker. I usually change up a recipe every time I make it so it never comes out exactly the same way twice, anyway.

This recipe calls for Greek style yogurt. It is well worth searching out as it is richer and creamer than regular yogurt (and, therefore, lower in carbs). You should be able to find it in any good grocery store but if not try another kind of whole milk (not low fat) yogurt. Maybe sour cream would work, too. I haven't experimented with that.

This serves two but can be easily doubled. You could also expand it by adding additional veggies of various kinds.

CURRY FRANK


1 medium sized shallot peeled and sliced thin

1 medium sized bell pepper (any color except green! Go for yellow or red -- those colors add a sweet note) sliced into small pieces

4 oz. very firm tofu cut into bite sized pieces

1/4 cup garbanzo beans (chick peas), drained

1/4 tsp. hot sauce or to taste

1/2 tsp of curry powder (hot or mild, your choice) or to taste

salt to taste

2 oz Greek style yogurt

Sauté shallot and bell pepper in a couple of tablespoons of olive oil in a non-stick skillet. Add a couple of dashes of salt. When the shallot and pepper are soft add garbanzo beans and tofu chunks. Then add the curry powder and hot sauce. Taste to adjust seasonings.

Remove pan from heat and stir in the Greek yogurt. (Note, it is important to remove the pan from the fire before you add the yogurt).

Serve with something green on the side, an avocado half filled with a tsp. of balsamic vinegar and sprinkled with salt, perhaps, or a small green salad.

Good luck! (My version of bon appetite)


Love,
Jayne

HISTORICAL MYSTERIES by The Yarn Maggot

I’m sure some of you out there in blogland enjoy historical fiction as I do. Most of the historical fiction I read is action adventure (think of Bernard Cornwell, Patrick O’Brian, and Wilbur Smith), but in the last 6 months I’ve read a number of historical mysteries, four of which stand out. Many of you will be familiar with these books because they were/are quite popular with book clubs. I don’t belong to any book clubs currently because I like to read what I want, when I want, but I can understand the draw of book clubs and haven’t ruled out joining one in the future.

The most recent of the historical mysteries I’ve read is The Great Stink by Clare Clark. It is set in Victorian London (1850’s). I’m not an historian, but feel this book gives a pretty accurate picture of life in London in the mid nineteenth century. A word of warning, much of the story takes place in the sewers beneath the streets of London and the author doesn’t pull any punches in her descriptions of the sewers and the squalid living conditions. Also featured are rats, rat killing dogs, and self mutilation. However, if you’re not squeamish, I recommend this book. It may start slowly with the back story, but once it gets going, you’ll find it hard to put down. The story is told in parallel narratives which keep you guessing and on edge.

I didn’t know what to expect when I started to read Dark Matter by Philip Kerr. The extended title is The Private Life of Sir Isaac Newton: A Novel. Before buying the book, I had to convince myself that it really was fiction. It is, but cleverly is based on the real fact that late in the seventeenth century Sir Isaac Newton was appointed Warden of the Royal Mint, which at that time was located within the Tower of London. Part of Newton’s duties is to investigate and prosecute counterfeiters. Assisting Newton in this endeavor is a young man, Christopher Ellis (also a true fact), who is the narrator of the story much as Dr. Watson was for Sherlock Holmes. The plot is very complex with mysterious murders, coded documents, politics, references to alchemy, a romantic subplot, and tensions between Protestants and Catholics. The setting is a very realistically portrayed London of the period, including Bedlam “madhouse”, Newgate Prison, and the personage of Daniel Defoe as not a very nice person. As expected Newton uses his intellect to bring this mystery to a very satisfying conclusion. This is a very exciting read.

The final two books I want to mention are both by David Liss. A Conspiracy of Paper was the winner of the 2001 Edgar Award for best first novel and I can understand why it won. I thoroughly enjoyed it as I did its sequel, A Spectacle of Corruption. Both books are set in London, Paper in 1719 and Corruption in 1722. These books have the same hero and narrator, Benjamin Weaver. Weaver is an ex-pugilist and a Jew in a very non tolerant Christian London. He has become a “thief-taker” or what we would call a private eye/bounty hunter. In Paper Weaver investigates the mysterious death of his estranged father, a stock-jobber, and finds himself enmeshed in a political and economic battle between the Bank of England, the Royal Exchange, and the South Sea Company involving thieves , noblemen, merchants, and financiers.

In Spectacle of Corruption Weaver is framed for murder, but he knows not why. First he must escape from Newgate Prison to clear his name. The intricate plot revolves around early eighteenth century politics - the Tories supporting King George I versus the antiroyalist Whigs, the Jacobites trying to restore the deposed “Pretender” James II, labor organizations, various power brokers, and the criminal elite. Both books are rich in historical detail, squalid as it may be. I read in Publishers Weekly that these books are similar to Brue Alexander’s Sir John Fielding mystery series. Is anyone familiar with that series? I’m not.

Before signing off I’d like to respond to comments to my previous blog, “What is a Mystery Blogger?” I thank everybody who provided suggestions for future reads. I’ve added them to my “to read” list.

Cher, I’m not familiar with Charlaine Harris. I’ll check her out.

Talpianna, I agree; I need some new friends.

KaLyKo, you sound like exactly the same kind of reader I am. I find an author I like, I have to read everything by him or her and I save my books, too.

Anonymous, you asked what SF book I was digesting. It was Chindi by Jack McDevitt, the third book in a series of four. I’ve since completed the series by reading the fourth, Omega. In case anyone is interested, the first two books are The Engines of God and Deepsix. They are space opera, but with a very strong scientific mystery element. The characters are much better developed than in most space opera I’ve read.

That’s it for now. Happy Reading,

The Yarn Maggot

Love and/or War? Stella is curious.

"Put milk in my tea, please."

"I'll take the dressing on the side."

"Hold the vermouth, I like my vodka naked."

Are we three groups of readers, do you think, the mixers, the dabblers, the purists? How many other classifications of readers might be added to the list?

I'm a mixer. Toss almost any element at me and as long as the story holds my interest I'll keep on reading. Characters I love to love and love to hate, characters that make me smile, or cry, these are the glue that holds a story together for me. Add a darn good yarn: thriller, whodunit, procedural, soft sci-fi, literary story, fantasy, historical romance, contemporary romance, romantic suspense (list goes on,)make sure there's a relationship I must root for--and some sweet, sensual, dangerous or outrageous sex and I'm hooked. We mixers are either adventurous in our tastes, or our taste buds are tickled by any piquant possibility. Some might even say we have no taste!

The dabbler has favorite genres and can have a good time with an occasional "alien" book. This reader also enjoys a story encompassing more than one element but probably leans heavily toward one and uses any others as seasoning or dipping sauce.

Purists want their drug-of-choice straight, neat, unadulterated. This doesn't mean the reader is narrow in his tastes, but she is highly educated in a particular form of fiction. The purist reader may have more than one favorite genre but he likes each one served on a separate plate.

Which group do you belong to? Or are you entrenched in a more exotic reading addiction? Why--or what is it about your favorite stories that resonates for you?

Cheers, Stella

Mystery Blogger: Audio Guy

A comment about Cissy Hartley’s article, “Blogs, Blogs, Blogs…” from Shirley talking about her kids being stuck in the old technology of Portable CD players and not even having an I Pod struck me as funny. I think I can top that for Prius Historic. I just canceled an order for a 2006 Toyota Prius because they stopped allowing cassette decks as an option. The salesman couldn’t believe he lost a sale of a new car over a piece of old technology like a cassette deck. Forced to tell him I was a “books on tape guy” he just shook his head.

I love audio books on all formats, MP3, CD, or Cassette. The problem is that most of the books I get are checked out of the public library and both in selection and numbers of available copies, cassettes rule. The down side is that often the tapes have been played a few too many times and the quality is diminished, whereas the CD’s are usually in better shape. Also the wait time for new releases can be a little long but there are lots of older books available only on tape.

Having about a half hour commute both ways and portable cassette and CD players for the gym, I get a fair amount of listening time and thoroughly enjoy every minute of it. It is a great wind-down from work and very relaxing. While most people in the gym are listening to hard rock and their heads are rocking back and forth on the tread mills, I’m there smiling, laughing, or whatever the book brings out in me. Must admit I have gotten a few sideways glances.

There are a few companies that do an outstanding job on audio books. Brilliance Audio and Recorded Books are among my favorites. And there are several actors that do a wonderful job for these companies. Some companies have different actors for the different characters in the books, but most have one actor do all the parts and that takes quite a talent. My favorite narrator is Richard Ferrone and I’ll listen to almost any book he narrates, from Jayne Ann Krentz and Amanda Quick to John Sandford’s Prey series and lots in between. So let’s hear it for stocking those public libraries with more Audio Books.

My question for visitors here at the blog is, "What book are you listening to?"

Mystery Blogger: Jazz-C

QUESTIONABLE ELIZABETH

When I’m at a signing or a conference, inevitably someone comes up and asks “When are you going to write more Donovan books?”

Or: “When are you going to write more medievals?”

Or: “When are you going to write more westerns?”

Or: “When are you going to write pure romance again?”

Or: “When are you going to write more Dancer science fiction?”

Or: “When are you going to do more Fiddler mysteries?”

I don’t know whether to laugh, cry, or scream at the questions, so I simply smile and remind myself that a book I wrote 35 years ago is as fresh today to new reader as the book I wrote last year.

But the author isn’t the same as she was many years ago, or even last year. Time only moves one way and I have to move with it.

I’ve been writing for 35 years, have written more than 70 books alone as well as others with my husband, and have published everything from photography to non-fiction to science fiction. I’ve read, written, and loved many kinds of fiction. Science fiction was my first love, closely tied with romantic suspense. (Think Helen MacInnes and Mary Stewart.)

Today I rarely read science fiction and no longer write it. The boom in romantic suspense has given me a feast of choices; I don't revisit Helen and Mary.

How many of you still read the same authors and/or type of fiction that you read as a teenager, young adult, adult, senior (aka survivor)?

Mystery Blogger: How We Read

It is commonplace to speak of the different styles and approaches of writers. Each writer has his or her own distinctive voice, an expression of personality, and a selection of styles, chosen with care and skill to suit the purpose. All of us know how to vary style between writing a job application and writing a chatty e-mail to a friend, but those who handle words professionally can be far more sophisticated, reproducing in dialogue styles of speech that they would never use themselves, and manipulating idiom, grammar and syntax to create emotional effects, from suspense to sexual excitement to hilarity. This is why it is naïve to complain to a novelist about the words they have placed in the mouths of one of their characters: they may be words that the writer herself despises.

Less is said, or indeed, known, about the different perceptions of readers. Reading is an active, complex and sophisticated process. Learning how to decode symbols on paper, and to turn them into words, sentences, ideas, concepts and pictures in our heads, is not a quick and easy process, and for by far the greater proportion of the time that the human species has been on this earth, it was unimagined.

We read, as we think, in different ways. Some people see the letters and words, and the concepts and ideas at once take form in some abstract way in their minds. Many hear the words in their heads, as though reading aloud to themselves. Yet others see pictures, a continuous mental filmstrip that creates its own series of associations, also visual. Most of us experience some combination of these perceptions, but the ways in which we think and read influence our enjoyment of styles of writing, and above all, the act of reading (unlike the act of watching a play or a film) becomes a form of direct and personal dialogue with the creator of the text.

Vivid and appropriate dialogue is a sine qua non for good characterisation, but those readers who think in abstract terms will not be troubled by lack of description, while those who rely on visual imagery will appreciate it, because it helps them to see just what the writer saw, and thus to communicate more directly with the author, rather than independently inventing their own version of the picture.

Yet that personal, reader’s vision is important in itself. The details of the setting in which a crucial scene takes place may, or may not, matter, but in a book, the reader always has to contribute to the writer’s vision. If the reader is a visual thinker, she will be glad if the writer is one who gives some pictorial description – she doesn’t need it, but likes knowing that she sees what the author sees. If left to her own devices, she will simply create her own picture. The writer has a special relationship with each and every reader, far more so than the team of people (writers, producers and directors, actors, technicians) who create a dramatic performance, and who impose a narrower, less adaptable vision on a more passive audience.

I am not denigrating drama, but trying to explain why the written word works differently, and far more subtly. Every time we read, and re-read, a book, we are able to engage directly with the human mind that created it, even if the body that contained that mind has been dead for hundreds of years. Language, writing and reading are by far the most important achievements of the human species.

Mystery Blogger: AgTigress

Suzanne reveals The Big Three

I’ve discovered that I’m in good company. In the newspaper this morning I read that J. K. Rowling has announced she’ll be writing the seventh and final book in the Harry Potter series in 2006 AND plans to clean up her messy office. (Well, her exact words were: "Muck out my study.")

I visited Jenny Crusie’s blog last night and not only has she declared in writing that she’s really truly going to deal with the clutter in her office, BUT she actually provides the "before" photos. (Trust me, it wasn’t a pretty sight.)

Recently I stopped by romance author Shirley Jump’s house (we live in the same town) and she proudly showed me her new office, complete with boxes piled to the ceiling. (In Shirley’s defense she’d just moved into the space the week before.)

Yep, it is definitely that time of year. People are resolving to eat less, exercise more, AND clear out the clutter.

I’m way ahead of the crowd. I cleaned up my office this past summer. (Okay, I did away with the knee-deep "Stella stacks" — named in honor of that inimitable Quill pictured at the top of this page.)

I had to. It was a life/limb situation. I once tried to sprint across my office to answer the phone, inadvertently stepped into a manuscript box, went sliding across the floor, jammed my foot into a file cabinet, and ended up breaking my big toe. (It wasn’t a pretty sight — for weeks.)

So imagine my horror when I walked into my office this morning and realized that between me and the phone were four large boxes of supplies delivered yesterday by Office Depot, a stack of research books (including, ironically, The Way of the Traveler and The Book of the Dead), a mound of tax receipts for 2005, AND an open manuscript box.

I’ll tell you I went a little weak at the knees.

So, I know what my Big Three are for 2006. Eat less. Exercise more. And clean up the clutter . . . AGAIN.

Inquiring minds want to know: Did you make any New Year’s resolutions? If so, what are your Big Three?

Cheers!
Suzanne
P. S. Oh, and I asked the other three Quills about the current state of their offices. Here, in their own words – even in their own candid snapshots — is how each replied:

STELLA: "Yes, I’m going to clean up my office this year because it currently looks like Filene’s Basement." (Of course, not being a world-class shopper like some of the Quills, I then had to ask Stella what Filene’s Basement was. Apparently it’s a big store in Boston that has "stuff" everywhere and no dressing rooms.)

JAYNE: "It’s always organized chaos around here. I will never again have an office without a door to close. Biggest design mistake I made. Seemed like such a good idea at the time. . . Let’s just say that I was not cut out for the open loft architectural concept."

ELIZABETH: "When I start a book, my office is pristine. In the middle of a book, things have oozed onto the desks. At the end of a book, my office looks like the end of T2 (Terminator 2), except the hand disappearing in the goo has a middle finger rather than a thumb up. Then I turn the book in, clean up my office, and repeat."

Jayne Goes Back to the Future

It happened again at the signing I did this week. Someone (there is always at least one person) asked me how I got started writing historical romantic-suspense. The question comes up, I think, because most people know that I began my career as a writer of contemporary romantic-suspense. Readers are curious about the process that led me into historicals.

The answer is simple: I wrote three futuristic/paranormals: CRYSTAL FLAME, SWEET STARFIRE and SHIELD's LADY. Those books changed my life. Darn near killed my career, too, as a matter of fact. Back in the Early Jurassic Romance Era nobody and I mean nobody, wanted to read a futuristic/paranormal. People lined up around the block not to buy those books. Some of my best friends and relatives were standing in that line....But I digress.

Up until that trilogy of futuristics I had paid little attention to the historical market. Yes, of course, I had read and loved Georgette Heyer, but that was the sum total of my experience with the genre. I simply never saw myself as a writer of historical romance. As far as I was concerned, all the stories I wanted to tell required either a contemporary or a futuristic setting.

Also, I had majored in History in college and I had a degree in library science. That meant I possessed a decidedly unromantic view of the 19th century. It wasn't the glamorous clothes or the witty repartee of Regency England that sprang to mind when I contemplated the period. I was inclined to think more in terms of incurable diseases of the lung, the risks of childbirth and poor sanitation.

But I had a little epiphany when I considered the dire situation of my career after I nearly destroyed it with those three futuristics. It dawned on me that what I had written in those books -- especially in SHIELD'S LADY -- were three classic 'marriage-of-convenience' stories. Minus the futuristic backdrops, all three could have been told in a historical romance setting. The rest is history. Sort of.

Okay, I did have to get past the reality-based downside of my degrees in history and library science. But writing the futuristics helped me in that department, too. I realized that in those books I was concentrating on the fantasy and that's all I had to do to make the leap to historicals.

When I turned to historicals, I discovered a treasure trove of new plot ideas and themes that continue to refresh and invigorate me to this day . Indeed, I can't wait to sit down to write my next Amanda Quick. (No need to worry about cell phones and forensics when I plot the murder mystery elements! Yippee!!!!!)

We like questions here on the blog so I've got one for readers: What writer got you hooked on historical romance?

Jayne Interviews Cathie Linz

JAYNE: Okay, full disclosure here. I loved this book !!!!! GOOD GIRLS DO is clever, fast, funny, sexy, heartwarming romance. I devoured it.

All right, I got that out of my system. (Takes deep breath and assumes formal journalistic air). Now, then, you’re the award-winning and best-selling author of 49 category romances, but GOOD GIRLS DO (in stores now) is your first longer contemporary romantic comedy. What made you decide to write a longer book now?

CATHIE: You did!! You were an awesome cheerleader throughout entire event

JAYNE; Oh, wow! A cheerleader. I always wanted to be one of those. (Journalistic air evaporates). Wonder if there are any pom-poms around here?

CATHIE: Ahem. As I was saying, I wanted my 50th book to be special. You were the one who gave me that friendly kick in the derriere.

JAYNE: Oh, yeah, I'm good at that.

CATHIE: A number of my shorter books feature a strong sense of community, which means you have more characters to explore in more detail. This longer length gives me the freedom to do that, and to include more of the humor that I so love to write. In GOOD GIRLS DO, my heroine Julia Wright is a librarian. I’m told that, like Marines, librarians like you and me are always former librarians (never ex). As for the hero, well, Luke Maguire is a bad boy who takes great joy in pressing Julia's buttons and shaking up the books on her shelves.

JAYNE: Something about a guy on a Harley, isn't there?

CATHIE: That’s right. As if having hottie biker man Luke roar into the quiet town of Serenity Falls on his Harley isn’t bad enough, Julia’s wacky mom, bad girl sister and little niece “Toni the Biter” show up unannounced at her doorstep at the same time. Julia can’t even eat her Pop-Tarts in peace anymore.

JAYNE: It was obvious you were thoroughly enjoying yourself. That energy comes roaring through to the reader.

CATHIE: I had so much fun with all the characters in this book, including the secondary characters. The people of Serenity Falls are determined to get on the list of the Best Small Towns in America, no matter what. Having llamas in Julia’s backyard, or nude murals in the pub that Luke just inherited does not sit well with the uptight citizens.

JAYNE: Will we see any of these secondary characters in the future?

CATHIE: Yes, most definitely! In the back of GOOD GIRLS DO is a sneak preview of Julia’s bad girl sister Skye’s book BAD GIRLS DON’T, a November 2006 release. And coming in June 2006 is Julia’s best friend Pam’s story in the bridal novella BRIDES GONE WILD, which is in the CATCH OF THE DAY anthology.

JAYNE: Definitely more great stories coming. Let's take a second here to give people your web site address. It is: http://www.cathielinz.com/. Now, before you go back to your computer and I go online to buy some pom-poms, is there anything you would like to say to the folks who visit this blog?

CATHIE: In my writing, I've always been inspired by images from my favorite romantic comedy movies -- from Tracy and Hepburn in "Adam's Rib" to Tom Cruise in "Jerry Maguire". My question to your blog community is, what are some of your favorite romantic comedies in film?

Elizabeth is crack in universe

I know this blog is supposed to be about writing, but I’m feeling perverse. [shock]

You see, I just had my teeth cleaned, X-rayed, polished, chilled, flossed, scraped, poked….

You get the idea.

And you thought the life of a writer was all chocolate and glamour. (The sound you hear is my fellow Quills rolling on the floor laughing.) Want to know the exciting things I’ve done as a writer in the past week?

Played telephone tag with new publisher. Five times. We still haven’t connected.

Spent hours researching which of my books are available from a previous publisher, wrote letters requiring proof of publishing, and wondered if it was time to call in a lawyer. (Jury is still out on that.)

Wrestled with a plot.

Researched holes in plot.

Wrestled more with plot.

Researched more.

Wrestled again with the bloody anaconda, aka plot.

Still wrestling.

Wrote a newsletter for my mailing list.

Was told to come up with a one-line description of a 550 page manuscript—THE WRONG HOSTAGE. Still working on that one.

Talked with agent several times about odds and ends of business—foreign sales, audio sales, etc.

Talked with editor about missing cover for May paperback of ALWAYS TIME TO DIE. Was told I’ll either get a new one or I won’t. (Sales hasn’t decided.)

Wrote the damn one-liner about THE WRONG HOSTAGE.

Wrote this blog.

Spent four hours fiddling with servers and uplinks to publish the blog.

Ran screaming into the desert.

And how was YOUR week?

Stella asks...

WHO DIDN’T DO IT?

“I knew he was the killer from page 27."

Most writers have been told–with enormous glee–that a reader figured out an entire plot within a chapter or two. Our reactions probably don’t mirror what we’re really thinking in those moments!

Of course, guessing the villain is impossible with one of my stories so if someone tries the “I knew” on me, I’m convinced I’m being baited and I laugh at such nonsense . . . I won’t be amused if you suggest you don’t know who the villain is after you’ve finished one of my books.

But this topic is on my mind as much as a reader as a writer. Regardless of the genre I’m reading, I tend to choose books with at least a tip of the hat to relationship. And fully developed characters are a must for me. Even in a hard-boiled police procedural I expect the cop I’m supposed to pull for to have people in his life other than corpses. In a more psychological thriller/mystery, unless we have an anti-hero and we’re supposed to be in his/her head and race through the pages praying his victims wise up before it’s too late, whoever “dunnit” had better be hard to spot.

It’s fun to have those brilliant moments when you yell (preferably in your head) “got it.” Even better, is to read on and start doubting your conclusions. Best of all comes the story that keeps the reader guessing and changing deductions until all is supposed to be revealed.

A very small cast of characters can be manipulated to make it tough to spot the criminal–and when these stories really work, they’re fantastic mind-benders. Too few characters, in many hands, may be the kiss-of-death. Forgive me:)

Vaguely developed potential bad people wipe out the tension for this reader. These characters–frequently in bit parts and teamed with one well-developed, obvious culprit, ruin a story. And I don’t want to know who “dunnit” until the end.

What do you think detracts from a story with a hidden killer or villain? Does it bother you to be misled? Are you happy to unravel the mystery many chapters before the story is over?

Jayne Goes Wild With New Camera at Seattle Mystery

Had a terrific signing event at Seattle Mystery Bookshop this weekend and couldn't resist trying out my new camera. As you can see from the photos I still need a lot of practice but I am thrilled to heck with myself for figuring out how to actually load the photos onto my computer and stick them in this blog! (Okay, I had a whole lotta help from my techno-wizard husband, Frank, but, hey, that's the whole point of an MIT education right? To equip a person to assist that person's spouse at times like this?)

Anyhow, just wanted to say thanks to the readers in the top photo who came out in the rain for the signing and to Bill and Fran of Seattle Mystery Bookshop. By the way if you can't quite read Bill's shirt it says "Books. The Original Laptop". Love it.

If you are a mystery fan, this is one of the best bookshops on the planet for you. A lot of your favorite authors sign at the store. Check out the upcoming list of events. They will be happy to take pre-orders for signed books and then ship the books to you. Great for collectors or anyone looking for a special gift for a person who loves mystery and suspense. Also, as you can see from the fact that they hosted me, they feature romantic-suspense as well.

Blogs, Blogs, Blogs...

When I was in grad school, my other techy friends and I were the "early adopters" of the English Department. Okay, we were the geeks. We had our writing students creating websites to showcase their writing and talking on bulletin boards and listservs as early as 1994 -- back when Netscape was Mosaic and before Internet Explorer was a gleam in Bill Gates' eye. Heck, we were using the web back when it was still text-based. Anyone remember Lynx? Just me? mmkay...

Over the those first few years the web was really exploding, and one of us was always beta-testing some kind of web-based program or another. I still remember popping into the computer lab to hang out and hearing Mark (one of my fellow computers & writing geek buddies) announce that he'd just started a "blog." I think my exact response was, "A what?" He explained that blog was short for web-log, and they were online journals, ways of telling others about the cool sites you'd found. Like so many of the other things we were doing with our students, blogs were another way make yourself heard and share your thoughts with other like-minded (or not so like-minded) folks.

Even at the beginning there was a sense that the web was going to change the way people communicated. And, boy did it. Well... once you get past the fact that an awful lot of online writing L00KS LIEK THIS1!!1!1!1 these days. ::shudder:: Still, I don't think you can argue the web hasn't changed the way we share information and entertain ourselves. Anyone read The Tipping Point? It talks about how trends and concepts and products reach a point of critical mass to become part of the cultural fabric. Some time in the last couple of years, that happened with blogs.

Depending on whom you ask, there now are anywhere between 8 million and 24 million blogs online. Really does anyone not have a blog? Okay, I don't. I'd better go buy a video iPod before they revoke my early-adopter card. I think maybe more important than sheer numbers is the way that blogs have evolved into positions of real power and relevance. Music blogs are pushing a resurgence of indie music, writers' blogs are giving a new way to talk to readers and giving readers unprecedented access to their favorite authors (waves to the Quills). Political blogs are changing the way reporters are doing their jobs--for better or ill. Bloggers are even credited (or blamed, depending on your political affiliation) with bringing down Senate Majority Leader Trent Lott and CBS anchor Dan Rather from their positions of power.

So what say you? Have you jumped on the blogging train yet? What are your favorite blogs?

--Cissy Hartley, mystery blogger
writerspace.com

Suzanne's 2 cents' worth: THE KISS

Or Confessions of a Hopeless Romantic/Pride and Prejudice Revisited

I'm an avid moviegoer, as the other Quills can attest to. In fact, I go to the movies once a week, sometimes twice. I'm also a romance writer, so it's no surprise that my favorite movies are those with a strong romantic theme.

Keeping in mind that I haven't seen King Kong (for reasons which have little to do with a really busy writing schedule and everything to do with a love triangle that includes a gigantic ape), my favorite romantic movie of the past year was Pride and Prejudice.

Yes, I saw Mr. & Mrs. Smith. Yes, the movie was funny and sexy. Yes, this one ran a close second in my book. Still, if I were exiled to a deserted island to live out the rest of my natural life and could take only one DVD, I'd pick Pride and Prejudice.

The question is: Which version of Pride and Prejudice would I take with me?

In chronological order they are:

1. Greer Garson/Laurence Olivier (1940) Original b/w movie. Wonderful actors, but a little long in the tooth to play Miss Elizabeth Bennett and Mr. Darcy. And I couldn't get past the Victorian costumes. (I read somewhere they were left over from filming Gone With the Wind, which would explain why it felt and looked like the wrong time period.)

2. Elizabeth Garvie/David Rintoul (1980) First of the BBC mini-series versions. She's delightful as Elizabeth Bennett. He's a bit stiff as Darcy. The characters and dialogue, while faithful to Jane Austen's book, seem uncomfortably stilted at times.

3. Jennifer Ehle/Colin Firth (1995) Second BBC mini-series is considered the definitive version by many fans. It's certainly the most comprehensive with a running time of 300 minutes. Of course, my favorite scene is not from the book. (Those P&P aficionados among you will know exactly which scene I mean: the one where Colin/Darcy dives into the pond at Pemberley, his country estate.)

4. Keira Knightly/Matthew MacFayden (2005) The latest film version, which I was thrilled to see twice before the darned theaters pulled it to start showing a "slasher" movie.

Modern Updates:

5. Bridget Jones's Diary (2001) A kind-of retelling of P&P.

6. Pride and Prejudice (2003) Elizabeth is a college student. Darcy is a businessman. No, I haven't seen it.

7. Bride and Prejudice (2004) The Bollywood version starring Naveen Andrews of "Lost" fame.

Now about: THE KISS

I hope this isn't a "spoiler" for anyone, but Darcy and Elizabeth don't KISS at the end of Jane Austen's book. However, they do KISS in my two favorite film versions: the 1995 mini-series and this latest movie.

I can still hear the collective sigh that went up from the primarily young and female audience the night I went to see P&P, as Darcy, shirt open at the neck, collar missing, hair rumpled, breeches snug and coat flapping in the morning mist, strides across an open field toward Elizabeth. And when THE KISS comes, you could have heard a pin drop in that theater.

I'm not a Jane Austen purist. I am a hopeless romantic. So I was thrilled that we got THE KISS in this country. (Bowing to purist-power, they did not get THE KISS in the UK.)

I dug out my copy of Pride and Prejudice today a tattered and well-thumbed paperback. I've placed it on the top of my TBR stack to be reread during my next hiatus. I've decided it's time to revisit Mr. Darcy and Miss Elizabeth Bennett as they were written by Jane Austen.

And apparently I'm not the only one who has been inspired by the movie to reread the book. In this morning's newspaper, right there on the local best-sellers list at #10 is Pride and Prejudice.

So which version of the movie -- along with a copy of the book, of course -- would you pack for an extended stay on a deserted island?

--- Suzanne

Elizabeth the Unpredictable Interviews Jayne the (Sort of) Good

ELIZABETH: It's that nail-biting time of year again--you have a new romantic-suspense novel out! I read ALL NIGHT LONG in manuscript, which is how I know it's nail-biting time. But not everyone has had a preview, so tell us a little about the characters:

JAYNE: ALL NIGHT LONG features a former (they're never ex) Marine named Luke Danner, who is very good at giving orders. The heroine, Irene Stenson, is a small-town newspaper reporter, who doesn't take direction well. Seemed like a perfect match to me.

ELIZABETH: I've met a Marine or two and I'm married to a former (never ex) journalist. I see delicious trouble ahead.

JAYNE: You'd think that a Marine would know better than to go into the innkeeping business. But that is the big mistake Luke makes in ALL NIGHT LONG. He has spent a lot of time in some very dangerous places and he just wants a little peace and quiet. But ever since he bought the old, rundown Sunrise on the Lake Lodge in the little town of Dunsley, California, it has been one exasperating thing after another. He has finally concluded that the biggest problems in running a resort lodge are the guests. They lack training and discipline. They expect to be able to check in at all hours of the day and night. They don't have enough common sense to bring their own toilet paper. They actually have the nerve to ask for late check-outs. Time and time again they fail to read the rules and regulations clearly posted on the back of the door of each cabin. It's enough to make a man re-think his new career path.

ELIZABETH: (laughing) I just love your heroes. They're so certain they have THE handle on reality.

JAYNE: Luke's life is about to get even more complicated. The most troublesome guest of all has arrived at the lodge. Not only does Irene Stenson leave the lights burning all night in her cabin in defiance of management's instructions to conserve electricity, she has just stumbled over a dead body. The victim happens to be Irene's ex-best friend from high school. Luke soon discovers that this is not the first time Irene has come across dead bodies in the small town of Dunsley and that she has a very good reason for leaving the lights on at night.

ELIZABETH: And that really tweaks Luke's sense of order and discipline.

JAYNE: Yep. Luke and Irene are two very different people. Maybe that's why they clash from the moment they meet. But they have more in common than they realize, including dark pasts and a fiery passion that burns ALL NIGHT LONG. I hope readers will enjoy their story.

ELIZABETH: I know I did! Before you slip away, I have to ask if you did any special research for this book.

JAYNE: The story is set in a small town in northern California. I grew up in a small town in northern California. Trust me, the smaller the town, the darker the secrets. Enough said.

What is a Mystery Blogger?

A mystery blogger can be one who blogs about mysteries, or a blogger who is a mystery. In this case I'm a little of one and a lot of the other. From time to time I'll give my non-author perspective on mysteries and to a somewhat lesser extent, other genres. I certainly don't limit myself to mysteries; I enjoy and will digest any good yarn. That's why my friends call me the Yarn Maggot.

In mysteries more than any other genre, a continuing hero or heroine is common. I really like that. I love to get attached to a leading character and look forward to renewing my acquaintance whenever I read the next book in a series.

I just finished reading ONE SHOT, the ninth book in Lee Child's Jack Reacher series. For those of you who are not squeamish, I heartily recommend this series of hard-boiled mysteries. Jack Reacher is a former Army MP who is now spending his life roaming the country and while he's not looking for trouble, trouble finds him. These books are full of action, but Reacher also uses his head for more than head-butts.

ONE SHOT opens with a sniper firing six shots, point blank range, at pedestgrians in a southern Indiana city. The case is apparently quickly solved, but the mystery and mayhem have just begun. This is an edge-of-the-seat read with surprises galore. The other books in the series in order are: KILLING FLOOR, DIE TRYING, TRIPWIRE, RUNNING BLIND, ECHO BURNING, WITHOUT FAIL, PERSUADER, and THE ENEMY. The 10th book in the series, which I assume will be released later this year, is entitled THE HARD WAY.

So long for now, I need to get back to the SciFi yarn I'm currently digesting.

Happy New Year!

The Yarn Maggot

Elizabeth Back from the Ether

Turns out it wasn't a Mac problem at all. Just bad juju.

Jayne was talking me through at the exact moment that the web goddess was tweaking the site. Today I'm glorious in green.

Oh wait. I was that way earlier in the week. Stomach flu. TMI?
Get used to it. heh heh heh

Elizabeth the Evil

Eds note: Apparently this post was stolen by web forces beyond our understanding. It belongs immediately below Suzanne's post but it disappeared into the ether. Fortunately I was able to resurrect it. Stay away from Elizabeth people, she has baaaaad web juju --the Web Goddess

Elizabeth the good answers

TMI

TOO MUCH INFORMATION

How's it going, Sue?

EL

Suzanne Says: Inquiring Minds Want to Know

Okay, Elizabeth the Evil, I'll bite. Exactly what is TMI?

Suzanne the Befuddled

Elizabeth discovers crack in e-universe

I think the font problem has been solved.

I'm a Mac head. Five computers and no PCs in the house.

The web goddess and I are putting our heads together now.

Be frightened.

Happy New Year from Stella

No, I didn't forget to show up--well, not completely.

Ann's all of a twitter about fonts, I see. She should have my problems, I can't figure out how to log on but I'll get help by the time I absolutely must. Then I'll be all of a twitter about fonts and most other elements.

I admit I'm a bit punchy. Last night I was a "first-footer" for my neighbors (the Scots have a tradition of inviting someone to be the first person through the front door as the New Year arrives) and now, although it's 4:30 on New Year's Day morning, I can't wind down and sleep. This is probably a good thing since it would be harder to write to you if I had gone to sleep.

Welcome to the Quill place. We four have had fun cooking this up and we really hope you'll have fun visiting. We have plans for some interesting diversions and working together will be fun--I hope.

Happy New Year to Ann, Sue and Jayne, and Happy New Year to all,

Stella