Start Jane Benjamin’s adventure with Copy Boy–free upload
I loved Mona's cranky, disgruntled humor in Elizabeth Gonzalez James's debut novel, MONA AT SEA. That's why I was so [...]
Grateful for early readers
Book-making is such a long process, full of landmarks. Today, seeing Tomboy's final cover, I'm very grateful to the authors [...]
Mustn’t let adults know
I used to run The Banned Book Club for teenagers. We only read books that had been banned by libraries [...]
Cantankerous and fussy
I wrote Copy Boy, my first of the Jane Benjamin novels, in ten years, dipping in and out of the [...]
Interviews are dangerous
It's like I'm a sophomore. It's fascinating to me how a person can turn sixty and still feel, well, sophomoric. To [...]
Launching the Mystery Review Crew
In just three days, January 10, the Mystery Review Crew website will launch, sharing news, reviews, interviews, videos and more [...]
The passing of Joan Didion
Sacramento-born author, Joan Didion, who passed away over the holidays, had an outsized effect on me, especially this idea from [...]
Peeping Toms and other critics
With Stories on Stage Sacramento co-director Dorothy Rice, I spent a December Sunday in the Crocker Museum's Friedman Court, facilitating [...]
Never off the rack
I just subscribed to the Renee Patrick Books newsletter, drawn in by their Golden Age of Hollywood series, featuring legendary [...]
Proofreading’s a metaphor for life
Proofreading's a metaphor for life. I know. You're rolling your eyes. But wait. I've been proofing Tomboy before advance reader [...]
Four free books I heartily recommend
My writing group, the RBGs, got me through the pandemic. (The 2021 chapter of it anyway.) I don't know what [...]
Caitlin Rother and Origin Stories
On LitHub's Authors in the Tent, Ona Russell recently interviewed true crime writer, Caitlin Rother. Rother's written 14 books. As a [...]