on January 16, 2024
Today on the Paper Lantern Writers’ blog, I’m sharing news about my upcoming November 2024 release THE MAGNOLIA VOODOO BRAWLER. BRAWLER plops my red-hot blues chanteuse and amateur sleuth Viola Vermillion into a murder in 1919 jazz-crazy New Orleans. And since Viola’s character was inspired by real-life vaudeville chanteuse Elsie Clark, can you guess who… Read More
on December 15, 2023
Research is definitely of the joys of writing historical mysteries. I love it! My work-in-progress is a sequel to THE RED-HOT BLUES CHANTEUSE and takes place in one of my favorite cities in the world…New Orleans. Since starting THE MAGNOLIA VOODOO BRAWLERS (working title) I’ve been on the hunt for unsavory snippets about any French… Read More
on November 30, 2023
In my recent release THE RED-HOT BLUES CHANTEUSE, I wrote a few delicious chapters set at Alameda, California’s late, great Neptune Beach amusement park. Here’s a little more Neptune Beach history, in a post that was initially published in Linda Bennett Pennell‘s HISTORY IMAGINED. . . . Imagine that it’s April 1919 and you’re a… Read More
on October 16, 2023
As much as I love reading and writing novels, I also love reading and writing a good short story. My latest short story X Marks the Spot comes out in two weeks, in the Paper Lantern Writers Beneath a Midwinter Moon anthology. The whole anthology is a jewel, but I’m really partial to my story,… Read More
on June 16, 2022
I told you in the latest Paper Lantern Writers Q&A that I inherited the scrapbooks, photographs, recordings, and so much more belonging to vaudevillian and Okeh recording artist Elsie Clark. So here’s the proof. These are just a few photos of Elsie’s career in vaudeville, but I think you get the picture… Publicity Photo #1… Read More
on November 2, 2021
Not for nothing (another way of saying “My Work-in-Progress takes place in 1919 San Francisco”, I’ve done a lot of research about WWI-ish American women’s lingerie. To keep my research together, I’m collecting together some of these newspaper advertisements today. First, I like to know how much everything costs. Don’t you? And then, I… Read More
on October 26, 2021
Coroner or Medical Examiner, do you know which “death professional” your city has? It’s a big thing, when you’re writing crime fiction, to make sure that you have the facts straight: does your story setting have a Coroner or a Medical Examiner? Because they do different things, these guys. It’s also important to know when… Read More
on April 21, 2021
Here’s an absolutely GREAT PHOTO that I couldn’t fit into my Fifty Fabulous Online Library Historical Collections post. It’s titled “Bathing Beauty Pageant, 1925, Huntington Beach, CA” and it’s courtesy of the Library of Congress.
on July 31, 2019
As all y’all might know, I’m taking a break from writing about New Orleans (Hey Fanny! Hey Kate Chopin!) and I am writing a mystery set on the vaudeville stage in San Francisco 1919. This NYT article about returning WWI soldiers is right in step with some of my on-going research. Plus, the posters… Read More
on June 29, 2019
I’m researching San Francisco in 1919 and came across this great art! The hats! The hair! The skirts! The tails! Makes me want to cut a rug. How about you? Source: San Francisco Chronicle, 23 November 1919.