Waiting for Summer

As I write this, I’m not just waiting for summer, I’m waiting for SPRING! It’s been a cold, wet season. Plants struggle valiantly and we’re still dressing in layers. Despite that it’s been a busy spring. I attended Malice Domestic in Washington, DC where the beautiful Carolyn Hart was honored for Lifetime Achievement, and then I toured in Michigan and Washington State.
One of the highlights was speaking at the 2007 Michigan Rural Librarians Conference in Traverse City, Michigan, where it was a thrill to see that the REAL work of library service and outreach is going on in communities at the local level, led by innovative library staff and those amazing folks: Friends of the Library. I heard story after story of selfless generosity and heartfelt determination to preserve heritage and encourage young people to read. Astounding creativity abounds out there. So kudos to local librarians and staff everywhere!
After a canoe trip in British Columbia, where we ate fresh-caught trout for every meal, I’m now back in my room working on the next Miss Zukas mystery, INDEX TO MURDER, scheduled for publication in Spring, 2008. One of my favorite letters from a reader suggested that I kill off Gloria “Call me Glory” Shandy in some sickly sweet way, like suffocating her in cotton candy!
A wee nature story: A few weeks ago, when I was doing edits at the dining room table, I noticed a hummingbird sitting at our hummingbird feeder. Nothing unusual about that. A few minutes later I noticed it was still there, its beak at a feeder tube. Other hummers came along and tried to knock it from its perch. Finally, I went outside and discovered the tiny bird had died on the feeder. Very curious and unusual, I’m told.
Have a happy and safe summer, and please, your emails are such a delight to me. Keep them coming.
Jo

Still My Favorite Book on Writing
The Art of Fiction, by John Gardner. It’s an oldie, published in 1983, but my tattered paperback is filled with my underlining, notes and yellow stickies. It was a loss when this gifted writer died in a motorcycle accident. He had a love for the music of language and the craft of bringing characters to life. Another of his books, On Becoming a Novelist, is also pretty wonderful, but the Art of Fiction remains my favorite.

This Season’s Favorite Website
Library Link of the Day. Sign up to receive daily links to a newspaper or magazine article dealing with library, publishing, writing, copyright issues. Most issues are hot, controversial, or curious, and always current. You’ll like it, I guarantee it (to quote the Men’s Warehouse guy).

Really, do thank a teacher!
While signing books at Schulers Books in Grand Rapids, Michigan in May, an elegant woman stepped up and in one of those mouth-dropping moments I recognized my high school English teacher, Mrs. Bonner, who I hadn’t seen since graduation. She’d arrived in our rural school like an exotic creature: stylish, beautiful, from Somewhere Else. Her impact on me was inestimable. Not just because she gave me a love of literature, but way back then, she treated us rowdy students with such dignity and respect that I left her class believing I truly might find a place in the wider world. So if you have one of those people in your life, and if you can, let them know!

Good Reads
Helma, who’s experienced a few sleepless nights over difficult decisions, has been dipping into, Acquainted With the Night; Insomnia Poems, edited by Lisa Russ Spaar. It’s a collection of poems from throughout history on the art of not sleeping. Her brother sent it to her, with a note on the fly leaf that read, “Poetry always cures my insomnia.”
Ruth discovered it’s the 100th birthday of Tintin’s creator Herge so she’s reading the comic series of the adventuresome boy and his rascally dog (remember his name?) For a virtual tour of Herge’s studio, check out: http://www.nmm.ac.uk/tintinfun/