Writers Drinking Coffee
In which I am interviewed, and talk about writing, research, and being in the right place at the right time. Episode 43 – An Interview with Madeleine Robins
Armed and Dangerous
A couple of decades ago one of my room mates press-ganged me into taking a class with her. She was already taking fencing, but her teacher had decided to offer stage combat, and needed more students. “It’ll be great! You can write it off as research!” Since I was then working on The Stone War, an urban fantasy that takes place in New York City, circa 2018, I didn’t see any present use for such research, but I love me a good swashbuckler, so I signed up. And it was… Read more Armed and Dangerous →
The Big Necessity
I sometimes find, when I’m reading, that I’ve picked up a book (or two or ten) with a particular theme for no specific reason–only to discover, a little way down the line, that there was a reason, only I didn’t know it yet. It’s like I’m researching before I realize what–or why–I’m researching. Example: before I started working on Sold for Endless Rue which is set in medieval Italy* I found myself rereading The Name of the Rose, The Doomsday Book, and several of Sharan Newman’s excellent Catherine LeVendeur mysteries. Only… Read more The Big Necessity →
Boxing Week Sale
The Holidays are winding down. Need to relax with something good to read? Just in time, Book View Cafe is having a Boxing Week sale. Every book in our store… Read more Boxing Week Sale →
Weasel Words
Real Ingredients. I can’t even. What does that mean? Very specifically, it means nothing. It is meant to evoke authenticity: ingredients you are familiar with, so that you feel what… Read more Weasel Words →
Watch Me Pull a Rabbit Out of a Hat
I watched a lot of cartoons as a young person. Like, a lot. In New York City, where I grew up, we rejoiced in the–at the time–enormous selection of 7… Read more Watch Me Pull a Rabbit Out of a Hat →
“Do You Know Any 3-Year-Olds That are Criminal or National Security Threats to the United States?”
Disclaimer: I am not a professional in psychiatry, and my information is several decades old. That being said… Long ago and far away, I did editorial work for a psychiatrist whose specialty was early childhood depression. Given that my degree is in Theatre, and the sort of writing I do is mostly resolutely fictional, this might seem like a bad match, but Paul was not a native English speaker (his first two languages were Arabic and Spanish), and what he wanted me to do was help him draft articles, and… Read more “Do You Know Any 3-Year-Olds That are Criminal or National Security Threats to the United States?” →
One Man’s Ceiling is Another Man’s Floor
There ain’t, I am reliably informed, no accounting for taste. But from time to time I come across something that I have heard lauded for years and years, and my… Read more One Man’s Ceiling is Another Man’s Floor →
