In this issue: Birthday wishes for Mr Wells, free mystery books, what I’m reading, upcoming events cancelled, a bit of publicity.
Happy birthday, H.G. Wells
Today, September 21, marks H.G. Wells’ birthday and as you know, I’m a fan. I know that’s not popular these days, but it’s true!
Did you know that although Wells is known for his futuristic work (and has even been credited with creating science fiction as a genre), he began his career writing articles on science? He was training to be a science teacher long before he wrote The Time Machine.
I’ve been researching Wells for a number of years, and I often had to hunt down his articles on science teaching in various libraries and journals. So I thought I’d collect them myself, and the result is H.G. Wells on Science Education, 1886-1897. It’s part of an academic library promotion at the moment — that was always my intention, to get it in academic libraries. That way, other scholars wouldn’t have to spend the time trying to find them all.
My most literary book, Before the Time Machine, is also based on Wells. It’s a novel about a historian with a secret. She researches H.G. Wells. The story of Wells as a young man (I’m a Victorianist, remember — he was born in 1866) is interspersed with her research trips. The two protagonists form an interesting bond, a woman out of time and a man ahead of his.
Looking for a free mystery or two?
Get the party started! Check out the Mystery Birthday Club for some great reading fare (and yes, one of my stories is there too).
What I’m reading
I’m a recent fan of Kate Atkinson, and I just finished Started Early, Took My Dog. Jackson Brodie, Atkinson’s detective, is there but isn’t the main character. The central protagonist is Tracy, a retired police officer who makes an unexpected purchase that changes her life. I had never read any of the Jackson Brodie novels, and this was apparently the fourth, but it didn’t matter at all. I need to go back and start with Case Histories.
I think with authors like Kate Atkinson (and my other favorites like Rachel Cusk and Julian Barnes), you have to trust them to take you on the literary journey. There must be no second-guessing or frustration because the story isn’t clear at first or doesn’t seem to fit a known pattern. I have found trusting such authors to be a very rewarding pastime.
Ian McEwan is another trustworthy author. I also recently finished Amsterdam, the result of a used bookstore haul. It was a snarky tale of a composer struggling to finish a work, and his old friend, editor of a magazine. The story rotates around the deceased Molly, a lover they had in common. Although reviews talk a lot about it being a morality tale, I didn’t find it at all dull. McEwan writes beautifully, and the characters were interesting in their self-centeredness and the ways they justified what they did.
Upcoming events are . . . cancelled.
Despite well-laid plans . . . well, you know how the saying goes. If you’re looking for me, I’ll be harder to find this fall.
I enthusiastically applied to the North Park Book Fair in San Diego, where I did well last year. Their reply to my application said they didn’t have room for me, and were emphasizing those who hadn’t had a table there before. And yet I have author friends I met there last year who got a table. There’s just no telling sometimes!
I also won’t be selling at the Olivenhain Craft Fair after all. But it’s still a good fair and if you’re in the area, do stop by. I’ll be the one lurking suspiciously around the homemade pastry booth.
A bit of publicity
A Warm Mug of Cozy has done a page featuring me, so I thought I’d share.
The story I wrote for this anthology, “No Good Deed”, is a Rosie MacMahon story. If you don’t know Rosie, she’s my newest detective, a 70-something southern California woman with a mysterious past and a penchant for solving mysteries. Think Jessica Fletcher but the other coast.
She and her journalist friend Lou are featured in Bummer at Luna Beach, released earlier this year.
And more!
Want to read previous newsletters? They’re located here at my website, where you can also find information and buy links to all my books.