From Inside My Book Fort - - - "Slow Dollar" by Margaret Maron

Annabelle and I welcome you back to "From Inside My Book Fort"


Today I'm going to share a passage from Margaret Maron's "Slow Dollar."

"Slow Dollar" is the ninth book in Margaret's Deborah Knott series.


From Publishers Weekly

Step right up! Play a game and win your girl a prize! The carnival's in town and Maron brings to this ninth Judge Deborah Knott mystery (after 2001s Uncommon Clay) the vigor and verve that have served her so well to date. Larceny, both grand and small, as well as death hover over the Ames Amusement Corporations show on its arrival in Colleton County, N.C. Deborah, her irrepressible siblings (she's one of 12, the youngest and the only female) and some newfound kinfolk gather to mourn her great-nephew and carnival worker Brazos Hartley, after the young man is stomped to death, his mouth stuffed with quarters. The rural North Carolina dialogue and "carny" talk are perfect, especially descriptions of food, fashion and enchanting scenery of Indian summer in the South. The author draws family relationships so clearly you feel you could melt right into the crowd for barbecue, biscuits, slaw and cobbler. Before Maron is done, there's a bizarre theft of some tacky paintings, a second murder and a steamy romance.

If you're new to the series, or have not quite gotten to this one yet, I'd suggest you get caught up with the previous eight before listening because this contains a major series spoiler.


It's a passage I love, and it's one that makes me cry.


I'm a big re-reader of books and authors I love, and this is a series I've read more times than I remember.


And this particular passage makes me cry every single time, even though I know it's coming.

I love this picture.

It's one Donald took when Margaret, along with Clyde Edgerton and Carl Sandburg, was inducted into the North Carolina Literary Hall of Fame in 2016.  A well deserved honor, indeed.

Happy Sunday - Enjoy!

A girl and her dad on a snowy Saturday morning in Meat Camp

Doris Ann Norris - R.I.P.

Doris Ann Norris was a woman I met during the early days of DorothyL.

One of the most knowledgeable book people I've had the honor and pleasure of getting to know.

We remained friends over an awful lot of years.

Unable to see one another often, we would pop into one another's computers from time to time just to say "hey!" and catch up a little.

I always made a point of looking for her when I was able to get to Malice Domestic or Bouchercon. 

She was a busy woman.  A woman everyone wanted to spend a little time with,  but always made it a point to speak to everyone she'd pass in the hotel corridors, asking how they were, how was the book writing coming, how was the family - all things she knew would mean a lot.

She was a woman who did an amazing amount of unheralded work for the mystery community, in her own quiet unassuming manner, and she would have had it no other way.  

Her absence in the community will leave a hole that will never be filled. 

After much badgering, I was finally able to get her to contribute a piece to Meanderings and Muses.  And am awfully glad I badgered until she finally gave in - here it is:
http://www.meanderingsandmuses.com/2009/12/its-that-time-of-year-by-doris-ann.html


Goodbye my friend. You will be so missed by so many.

International Women's Day - March 8

"Men, their rights, and nothing more; women, their rights, and nothing less." 

     - - Susan B. Anthony

Welcome to "From Inside My Book Fort" - Segment #1: Pat Conroy's "Beach Music"

Welcome to my book fort!

I'd invite you in, but there's hardly enough room in here for me once Annabelle decides she wants to visit.

Sorry.

I had not intended to post my first segment this soon.  I thought I'd do some recording and have several audio files on hand for future posts.


Then I realized that yesterday was March 4th.

Pat Conroy died two years ago  and I decided to honor his memory by reading a passage of his work to kick off my "From Inside My Book Fort."

No, I don't normally remember the dates writers die - even writers I love.  But I do keep up with activities taking place at The Pat Conroy Literary Center in Beaufort, South Carolina, and they commemorate the anniversary of Mr. Conroy's death with March Forth literary events on March 4th.


Originally, this was going to be a mysteries feature.


Obviously, that's changed.


It's probably going to be a hodge podge of book passages from an eclectic mix of genres, including poetry.  But heavy on mysteries, for sure.


You know how when you're reading something and you run across a passage that moves you so much you put the book down and just breathe those words, and then re-read them?


Or, you follow your partner around the house saying, "Oh!  I have to share this with you.  Listen to this!"


You know - like that.


That's exactly what I'll be doing here.


If it happens that you discover something that moves you enough to buy a book, or try a new author, or a new genre, then I'm accomplishing exactly what I hope.


This passage from Beach Music is more to me than a favorite passage from a favorite novel written by a favorite author.  It is that and so much more.


It may be one of my favorite passages ever written.

By anyone.

Ever.


It speaks loudly to the pride I feel regarding women and what we've accomplished; what we're capable of accomplishing now and in the future.  I don't take kindly to those things being criticized, disparaged or denigrated.



So.

Here we go.


Today's reading is from "Beach Music."  The link at the bottom of the page.

By the way.


Any odd noises you might hear in the background?

Let's just say Annabelle not only tries to drink my coffee, she's not above trying to eat my book . . .  Ignore them if you can.)

A New Meanderings and Muses Feature Coming Soon

Some of you may remember when Meanderings and Muses was an active part of the mystery community. 

And it was fun, and like all good things, it changed from time to time in efforts to keep it fresh. 

And then, it seemed time to stop. 

Well, thanks to some ideas bouncing around during on-line, never-ending conversations with my pals Lesa Holstine and David Chaudoir, Meanderings and Muses will be coming back with a new feature. 

We're going to call it "From Inside My Book Fort." 

I'm going to be reading a favorite passage from a favorite book - the schedule is still to be determined. 

AND, I'm going to occasionally have guest readers. 

I've done a little of this sort of thing in the past back when SIBA was doing Parapalooza and I enjoyed it. Those readings are still available at YouTube. 

This will be a little different in that you'll hear me reading, but you won't see me 'cause I'll be reading from inside my book fort. And it's only big enough for me and Annabelle. 

Stay tuned - I'll keep you posted!

Me in Montmartre

I had a caricature done while we were in Paris and it was a fun experience. 

The caricaturist was cute and funny and we all enjoyed him (unlike the experience our Lisa had with a rude untalented dude, so do be somewhat careful if you decide to have one of these made while in the Montmartre area of Paris). 

But. Then my caricature seemed to have been misplaced for the past several months and I was worried that I had left it behind in our rental apartment. 

But.  

Then. 

Voilà!

This morning, it magically appeared in a spot I'm sure I've looked no less than one hundred beezillion times. 

A wee bit wrinkled, but that's to be expected after flying all the way to North Carolina from Paris. 

I'm just happy to have found it!

Marjory Stoneman Douglas

“Be a nuisance where it counts; Do your part to inform and stimulate the public to join your action. Be depressed, discouraged, and disappointed at failure and the disheartening effects of ignorance, greed, corruption and bad politics—but never give up.”

-- Marjory Stoneman Douglas

Oh, boy! A new toy!

2018 -Year of the Dog

Annabelle sends Happy Year of the Dog wishes to all of you. 

"Dogs are known to be swift and passionate believers in their own personal philosophy, the Dog does his best to protect high-integrity people and support their cause."

In other words, this year of the Dog may see people fighting for the causes they believe in.

Enough!

There are several sources showing how much money certain members of our government have received from the NRA. 

Not all the sources are in agreement with the dollar amount but they ARE all in agreement that they have received a lot of money. 

Millions.

I'd call that a lot of money, wouldn't you?

These "representatives" (doesn't that word just kinda stick in your throat these days?) are, frankly, nothing more than hypocritical whores lining their pockets while trading on the lives of the citizens, CHILDREN, of this country. 

Call or write your representatives. 

Call even if your "representatives" aren't being shown as being on the receiving end of all this money. 

They're still accountable. 

They need to speak up. 

Enough. 

I'm sick of the hypocrisy, the prayers and the good thoughts. 

Aren't you?

Bill Crider - RIP, Dear Man

Several years back, I played around with a theme centering on author friends' work spaces.

Several were gracious enough to send pictures, but Bill Crider did one better.  He sent a video.  Take a look -





When Bill told the mystery community about his cancer, knowing he didn't have much longer, the news was met with an enormous amount of sadness.

I think it's fair to say there's not another person in the mystery community as well loved, or as well respected as Bill Crider.


People started posting stories about him.


Pictures.


Sharing remembrances.


We all wanted to share our own Bill Crider stories.


I immediately went to my Meanderings and Muses archives to pull out pieces Bill wrote for me over the years.


I share them with you here.


http://www.meanderingsandmuses.com/2010/08/how-one-thing-leads-to-another-by-bill.html

http://www.meanderingsandmuses.com/2011/07/wild-hog-murders-by-bill-crider.html

http://www.meanderingsandmuses.com/2012/08/bill-crider-and-sheriff-dan-rhodes-two.html



He has always been one of the most generous of souls.  You would be hard-pressed to find a single word Bill Crider wrote in praise of himself, but you'll find plenty of words in which he's praising and supporting and helping others.  Including me and Meanderings and Muses.

http://www.meanderingsandmuses.com/2010/01/me-and-ellery-queen.html



When Bill first shared the news of his cancer, I wrote this.http://www.meanderingsandmuses.com/2016/07/dear-dr-crider.html

Goodbye, Bill.  You left the world a better place by virtue of  your very gentle presence.  Oh my - you will be missed.

New Hip - - - New Boots

So.

I'm getting a new hip.


Hip replacement.  For real?


Jeeze Louise . . . 


Somehow I just can't think of myself as being old enough to need new body parts.


'Course, I do thank my lucky stars that I was never one of those people who would moan "oh my GAWD, I'm old!"  on every birthday.


I can't help but roll my eyes when I hear someone say this - especially when that poor old soul is like 40 years old.  


I mean . . .



Bless his/her heart.



I'm 69, so I guess I need to face up to the fact that it is, indeed, time to start replacing tired old joints.

If it helps me walk better and refrain from moaning, "GAWD, I am old . . . " so be it.


I mean (in case you hadn't heard), I'm going back to Paris!  Paris is no place to be if you can't walk.  And walk.  And walk . . .


Including a LOT of stairs.


But anyway . . .


Since I'm one who can rationalize anything, hip replacement surgery sent me scurrying for new boots.


New hip.  New boots.


Why?  Hell, I don't know.


Any excuse for new boots maybe.


What did I find?


Welllllll, lemme tell ya.


I found Sam Edelman black velvet thigh high boots.


AND, they were on sale.  


A very very good sale . . . 


And, if you like 'em, I'll tell you where I found them.

Like 'em?

Then run run run here and buy you some new boots - even if you aren't getting a new hip!

One Year Ago Today

Annabelle came to live with us in Meat Camp.

Today, she celebrates with a cookie

Annabelle Barley, The Fluffy Philosopher

SO proud . . .

The 2017 Agatha Nominees

CONGRATULATIONS TO ALL THE NOMINEES!

Best Contemporary Novel

Death Overdue: A Haunted Library Mystery by Allison Brook (Crooked Lane Books)
A Cajun Christmas Killing: A Cajun Country Mystery by Ellen Byron (Crooked Lane Books)
No Way Home: A Zoe Chambers Mystery by Annette Dashofy  (Henery Press)
Take Out by Margaret Maron  (Grand Central Publishing)
Glass Houses: A Chief Inspector Gamache Novel by Louise Penny  (Minotaur Books)

Best Historical Novel

In Farleigh Field by Rhys Bowen  (Lake Union Publishing)

Murder in an English Village: A Beryl and Edwina Mystery by Jessica Ellicott  (Kensington)
Called to Justice: A Quaker Midwife Mystery by Edith Maxwell  ( Midnight Ink)
The Paris Spy: A Maggie Hope Mystery by Susan Elia MacNeal  (Bantam)
Dangerous to Know: A Lillian Frost and Edith Head Novel by Renee Patrick  (Forge)

Best First Novel

Adrift: A Mer Cavallo Mystery by Micki Browning  (Alibi-Random House)

The Plot is Murder: Mystery Bookshop by V.M. Burns  (Kensington)
Hollywood Homicide: A Detective by Day Mystery by Kellye Garrett  (Midnight Ink)
Daughters of Bad Men by Laura Oles  (Red Adept Publishing)
Protocol: A Maggie O'Malley Mystery by Kathleen Valenti  (Henery Press)

Best Nonfiction

From Holmes to Sherlock: The Story of the Men and Women Who Created an Icon by Mattias Boström  (Mysterious Press)
The Story of Classic Crime in 100 Books by Martin Edwards  (Poisoned Pen Press)
American Fire: Love, Arson and Life in a Vanishing Land by Monica Hesse  (Liveright Publishing Corp.)
Rewrite Your Life: Discover Your Truth Through the Healing Power of Fiction by Jess Lourey  (Conari Press)
Manderley Forever: A Biography of Daphne du Maurier by Tatiana de Rosnay  (St. Martin’s Press)

Best Short Story

Double Deck the Halls by Gretchen Archer  (Henery Press)
“Whose Wine is it Anyway” by Barb Goffman  in 50 Shades of Cabernet (Koehler Books)
“The Night They Burned Miss Dixie’s Place” by Debra Goldstein in Alfred Hitchcock's Mystery Magazine (May/June 2017)
“The Library Ghost of Tanglewood Inn” by Gigi Pandian  (Henery Press)
“A Necessary Ingredient” by Art Taylor in Cost to Coast: Private Eyes from Sea to Shining Seat (Down & Out Books)

Best Children’s/Young Adult

City of Angels by Kristi Belcamino  (Polis Books)
Sydney Mackenzie Knocks 'Em Dead by Cindy Callaghan  (Aladdin)
The World’s Greatest Detective by Caroline Carlson  (HarperCollins)
Audacity Jones Steals the Show by Kirby Larson  (Scholastic Press)
The Harlem Charade by Natasha Tarpley  (Scholastic Press)


The winners will be announced at the Agatha Banquet on Saturday evening, April 28th.

Fictional Characters

Do they ever want to escape?
Climb out of the white pages
and enter our world?

Holden Caulfield slipping in the movie theater
to catch the two o'clock
Anna Karenina sitting in a diner,
reading the paper as the waitress
serves up a cheeseburger.

Even Hector, on break from the Iliad,
takes a stroll through the park,
admires the tulips.

Maybe they grew tired
of the author's mind,
all its twists and turns.

Or were finally weary
of stumbling around Pamplona,
a bottle in each fist,
eating lotuses on the banks of the Nile.

For others, it was just too hot
in the small California town
where they'd been written into
a lifetime of plowing fields.

Whatever the reason,
here they are, roaming the city streets
rain falling on their phantasmal shoulders.

Wouldn't you, if you could?
Step out of your own story,
to lean against a doorway
of the Five & Dime, sipping your coffee,

your life, somewhere far behind you,
all its heat and toil nothing but a tale
resting in the hands of a stranger,
the sidewalk ahead wet and glistening.

 - - -   Danusha Laméris

The Government Shuts Down - Again . . .

You, know. 

I really miss a government that does what's right for its citizens instead of constantly and consistently engaging in a never-ending pissing contest and a battle of "mine's bigger than yours - nyah nyah nyah." 

Get to work you whiny bastards. 

NEVER has there been a dumber, more childish, do-nothing White House than right now. 

Perhaps if someone living there looked out the window yesterday, or watched something on TV other than their usual news source, they might have noticed that there are a few people pretty unhappy with the state of things as they are right now. 

See all those people marching? 

Change is coming - not as quickly as most of us would like.

But, oh honey - it's coming.

The White House
Yesterday at 12:35am ·


Senate Democrats own the #SchumerShutdown. Tonight, they put politics above our national security, military families, vulnerable children, and our country’s ability to serve all Americans. We will not negotiate the status of unlawful immigrants while Democrats hold our lawful citizens hostage over their reckless demands. This is the behavior of obstructionist losers, not legislators. When Democrats start paying our armed forces and first responders we will reopen negotiations on immigration reform. During this politically manufactured Schumer Shutdown, the President and his Administration will fight for and protect the American people.

- A Statement by the Press Secretary

James Anderson

Two years ago, I happened across a book by an author I'd never heard of.

The book was "The Never-Open Desert Diner," and the author was James Anderson.

I talked about it endlessly (including right here),  because it hit me like a ton of bricks.

"Powerful" is, I think, a much over-used term when it comes to books.  And that's sad because it's the word that continues to come to mind whenever I think about "The Never-Open Desert Diner."


Powerful.  Lyrical.  Poetic.  Compelling.  Passionate.  Beautiful.


I wanted to share it with everyone I know.


And, I waited rather impatiently for the next Ben Jones novel by James Anderson.


Well, it's here and it was worth waiting for.


The title is "Lullaby Road."

Through the generosity and graciousness of my good friend, Lesa Holstine aka "Book Angel," I was able to interview Mr. Anderson for Poisoned Pen prior to his upcoming book signing.  You can read the interview here -
https://poisonedpen.com/2018/01/19/interview-with-james-anderson/

It's an interview I'm proud of and James gave us a little more of himself than I anticipated.

Read the interview, please, and then, if you haven't already, treat yourself to "The Never Open Desert Diner" and "Lullaby Road."

Here's the trailer for Lullaby Road.  Once you watch, you're never going to be able to resist reading the book -

Snow Day - January 17, 2018