Barbara Fradkin's Blog, page 14

Comfort Reading, Writing and Viewing

 by Sybil JohnsonI recently had a discussion with someone about what kinds of shows and movies brought comfort. Hallmark movies were at the top of their list. While I do enjoy many Hallmark movies (not all alike, btw), my go-to when the world is getting me down is...serial killer documentaries. Don’t know why this is. It probably says loads about me psychologically. Not sure I want anyone

The Smerchek Museum

By Charlotte HingerA  while back Michael Chandos broke my heart with his account of determining what to do with his grandfather's war memorabilia. I am so nostalgic about historical artifacts that I nearly volunteered to store them myself. I'm sorting through family stuff. My mother's side of the family is Czechoslovakian. Originally from Moravia. We have information going back to the

The Serendipity Genie

 Donis here, happy to announce that we just bought a new car. It's the first new car we've bought in 20 years. We decided we'd better do it now while the getting is good. It's a Subaru, which brand we've never before owned. I've always liked the look of Subarus, but never particularly noticed them on the road - until now, when it seems that Subarus are everywhere I look. Interesting how just

In praise of launches

 In the past two weeks, I released SHIPWRECKED SOULS, my latest Inspector Green mystery, with two launches, one in Toronto and one in Ottawa. I have been doing launches for my books, sometimes alone and sometimes with another writer, for over twenty-five years, and I have never tired of them. The, launches serve four purposes.First, they are a reward to myself,  the culmination of all

Balance

Catherine DiltsWhen I retired from the corporate office job recently, Ienvisioned sitting at my computer for eight hours a day, churning out fictionmanuscripts at a frenetic pace.Even though I knew better.During my day job years, I wrote some of my publishedstories in fifteen-minute increments with time seized out of a busy schedule.Like many writers, the flashes of brilliance I had

Real-life Breaking Bad

We love our crime stories but at a distance. Criminals are fascinating as long as they get no closer than Netflix, a podcast, or the pages of a book. Then life brings the crime up close and personal. My sister Sylvia and her spouse Janet were in Las Cruces, NM, visiting my 83-yo aunt Angelica. When returning to my aunt's home after completing mid-morning errands they saw that her car had

Creativity & Manifesting Your Dreams

    Today, I’m going to share some excerpts from a recent essay I sent with my newsletter, PINK DANDELIONS. Not because I don’t want to write something specific for Type M, but because this is what I’m thinking about this week and anything new I tried to write would probably just rehash all this anyway. The force that through the green fuse drives the flower Drives my

Friendships & Book Recommendations

One of the many things I have long enjoyed about the crime-writing community is the friendships I have made.My first publishing contract was with the University Press of New England, and the advance was bad (never ask a novelist to calculate their hourly rate for a book), so I asked UPNE to pay for me to attend a mystery conference each year for the duration of a three-book contract. I attended

Agoura Hills Library Event - Spring Into Mystery

 by Sybil JohnsonLast Saturday, I had the pleasure of participating in an author event with Ellen Byron and Marjorie McCown at the Agoura Hills Library here in Los Angeles County. This was put together by Sisters in Crime, Los Angeles. The library is the new home of once-a-month events put together by the chapter. Events are held every 3rd Saturday of the month. Ellen Byron, Marjorie

A Tough Task

 by Steve Pease/Michael Chandos   My father died last year just after his 103rd birthday. I inherited all his "stuff". He was a career Air Force pilot, starting in 1939 and WW2, and retiring in 1968. His first operational airplane was a P-36, essentially a pre P-40 of Flying Tigers fame. His last was the supersonic F-102.  If you understand military aircraft, you understand