Research–on the page and on the ground
I just got home from a two-week research trip to San Francisco. I’d gone to learn more about a particular [...]
Sacramento Women in World War II
Sacramento Library Archivist, James C. Scott, is a history gem. I'm thrilled to be in conversation with him about Poster [...]
Bouchercon: Writing About the Past from Now
I'm prepping to fly to San Diego for BOUCHERCON tomorrow! I'll be moderating a Thursday morning panel on writing about [...]
Why propaganda works
A picture's worth a thousand words. Have you heard about the Picture Superiority Effect? Here's the short version. The brain processes pictures [...]
Rabbit holes, research and Facebook
I’ve been down some research rabbit holes lately. Usually, it starts with a pile of books, ranging from time and [...]
Queen of Mean: Hedda Hopper
Researching the third Jane Benjamin Novel (Flyboy, November 2023) had me reading quite a bit about 1940s gossip columnist Hedda Hopper. [...]
Inspired by Herb Caen
I love this Jerald Silva painting of Sacramento literary luminaries featuring authors Cornel West, Joan Didion, Ann Bannon, Ernesto Galarza, [...]
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 [...]
Shopping for 1939 fashion
Writing historical fiction means a lot of learning. Some of it gives me a headache. But other research topics are [...]