We went on a color tour yesterday. What a great way to recharge! It's ironic but true that being out and about, especially in a natural setting, makes my fingers itch to get back the computer and try to capture what I've seen.

I admire writers like Nevada Barr who create a sense of place with words. As a reader it's thrilling to feel like you've visited a place or to recall being there and think, "Yes, that's what it looks like."

I guess nature provides inspiration, but great…

I'm a rattler -- not the snake, mind you, but the kind of person who, when nervous, or happy, or allowed to for any reason, rattles on, telling more than I should and talking more than is necessary. I'm told by kindly folks that I have a lively way of telling stories and my listeners are usually enterained, but sometimes I have doubts. There's always someone in the group who just looks at me, and I imagine them thinking, "Does that woman have any self-control?"

Most writers…

Laura Lippman emailed me recently in response to a request I'd sent her for an opinion on subgenres in mystery writing. Her feeling is that it's useless to divide up reading into categories, and she has a point. As someone who even reads those cheerful little notes on cereal boxes, I can't claim to be a picky reader. Still, another writer, Julie Hyzy, made the point that readers want to know they're in for a good time before they plunk down their money. If noir depresses you, you're going to…