Temporary Quiet
As I write this, the sun is just rising over Sumas Mountain and hitting the trees on Haystack, the conical peak on the opposite side of our valley. It’s one of those occasions when the sun brilliantly picks out every tree along the slope while the rest of the valley is darkened by clouds. A landlocked interstice, if you will.
INDEX to MURDER, the newest Miss Zukas mystery, is in its final production stages and will be on sale April 29, 2008. I received the covers yesterday and was thrilled to see the delightful artwork of the artist (who really should receive credit!) who created the covers of the last two books, as well as the reissues. The cover is posted on my home page.
It’s going to be a quiet winter, I hope! I plan to write, and schedule a book tour beginning in May after the launch of INDEX to MURDER, this time concentrating on the west coast. If your book club, book store, or library is interested, please contact me or Danielle Bartlett at Harper Collins; her email address is on the “Appearances” page.
This is also the time for festivals and a very kind fan invited me to attend the Tacoma Revels, which sounds absolutely grand. Unfortunately, I had to decline, but another year! Enjoy your local celebrations – it’s irritating to travel this time of year, anyway!
On the nature front: the bald eagles and trumpeter swans are returning. There’s nothing like watching a flock of white swans flying against a stormy sky, all that flash and, well…hugeness. The eagles have eaten their fill of salmon on the rivers and have come inland to hang out in farmers’ fields, offal being their less than noble dessert. I’ve put my fig trees to bed for the winter, and a bear with rather large feet has been raiding the bird feeders.
Best wishes for a happy 2008. And please, I love hearing from you!
----jo

Dead Authors Can Write Too.
In a kind of spooky afterlife, a number of dead authors keep issuing new books. Consider this: V.C. Andrews died in 1986 but a whopping 48 books have been published under her name since. Robert Ludlum died in 2001 but 8 books have appeared – so far. And what about those 28 James Bond 007 novels published since Ian Fleming checked out? Even Dr. Seuss has participated with three of his own. Maybe I’ll salt away unpublished manuscripts to pad my afterlife!


One small quote: “Steal from one author and it’s plagiarism; steal from many and it’s research.” Wilson Mizner, 1930.

Independent Bookstores
I know, it’s one of my favorite rants, but please remember your local independent bookstore - if you still have one, that is. Since 1987, the number of independent bookstores have fallen by over 50%. I love all bookstores, but in a community, every small business reflects that area’s tastes and soul, and a trip to a bookstore “off the bestseller grid” can lead you into new and exciting reading adventures, as well as strengthen your community.

King Tut in the flesh: Here’s a little forensic site you might like: King Tut’s face Revealed. It’s a BBC site and includes photos of the reconstruction of Tut’s face and skull, plus a video of his mummy being removed - ever so carefully! - from his sarcophagus. Juicy.

Good Reads
Helma is reading BEETHOVEN’S HAIR, by Russell Martin, a fascinating true story tracing a lock of Beethoven’s hair snipped from his corpse. Reads like a mystery. Someone handed Ruth a newly published memoir. “Can’t anybody write about life past age twelve?” she grumbled, opting instead to dip into a retrospective of MAD magazine.