Tricks and treats

Wow, summer is just barely over and already there's a chill in the air. The trees are beginning to blaze orange and red. And for anyone who loves cats - or a slightly scary bit of woo-woo, that can only mean one thing: Halloween is on the way!
One of the groups I chat with was looking for Halloween read so I'm going to blow my own horn and remind you all that my Cattery Row works as a Halloween-themed mystery. As it opens, it's early October in New England. The leaves are changing and Violet's shelter is preparing to host a Halloween party that will have games and prizes centered on cat-themed myths and legends. But someone is stealing cats...

In terms of other spooky/scary fun: I confess, I've been totally won over by the very real-seeming Southern Gothic of "True Blood" on HBO. I wanted to like them because I'd read so much about how Charlaine Harris, once a midlist author (like me), trusted her muse and came up with the idea of telepathic waittress Sookie Stackhouse and a near-future in which vampires would be campaigning for their rights - and I love them! So, tell me, do you have a favorite Halloween story or show? Something spooky for the season?

(and yeah, the new Worldwide Mystery edition of Cattery Row is less than $5, too.)

David Simon on the birth of "The Wire"

From the same Boston Phoenix blog, or "phlog," this tidbit from Kafka's letters, about housebreaking his cat:


“How hard it is to arrive at an understanding with an animal on this question. There seem to be only misunderstandings, for the cat knows, through blows and other explanation, that there is something undesirable about taking care of her needs of nature, and that the place for it has to be carefully chosen. So what does she do? Well, for example she chooses a spot that is dark, that will in addition show me her affection...But from the human side this spot happens to be inside my bedroom slipper.”

Dinner and a motivation

So, we had our buddy Chris over last night for lamb stew and "John Adams" on HBO, but of course we were all talking about our latest projects. Jon, my husband, is learning violin and has now been playing one year. Chris couldn't make his recital, so Jon reprised his three tunes, which sounded great. Chris told us about some issues with her work in progress – I don't want to reveal what it is until she gives me the okay, but take my word for it, it's going to be great. And we all agreed that at some point you just have to muddle through. The next phase will reveal itself in time. And I started thinking about my current WIP, "Probable Claws" (aka, Theda #4). I'd planned on a scene and I no longer remembered why that scene was in there. Jon pointed out that it would be fun to see the characters interacting, but I'm trying to work on my plotting skills, so I was thinking, "How will this scene advance the plot? What will readers learn in this scene that I need them to know, or what misdirection will be applied?"

Well, I came up with a list and now I have to do it. I don't know if it was the company of creative people or the wine, but I'm inspired! So, what are you working on? How's it going?

(Oh yeah, and me on the new Benjamin Black, "Silver Swan.")