I recently flipped back through the notes I took during the “Killer Nashville” mystery writers’ conference in August, and the memories came flooding back. I had left the conference walking on the infamous “pink cloud” of inspiration. Returning home, reality set in,...
I attended the “first annual” Oregon Renaissance Festival of Hillsboro at the Washington County Fair Complex a couple weekends ago. This particular event ran for four consecutive weekends, so I timed one of my trips “into the city” to land on a Sunday. I don’t have to...
Some people are just inherently more fascinating than others. And judging by the audience’s rapt attention at the “Killer Nashville” conference last month, hundreds of mystery writers undoubtedly agree that D.P. Lyle is one of those people. A truly fabulous...
Back in 2006, years before I began writing a blog, I took my first tour adventure to check out the sights, sounds, smells, even tastes of New England in the fall. It was my first autumn “after leaving the institution,” and since I’d taught both US History and American...
The first piano built in the United States was completed 250 years ago, in 1763. The Boston Gazette reported on September 18 that creator John Harris called the instrument a spinet. I own a spinet piano. I don’t actually play the piano, but I have one anyway. I bought...
