I don’t know if you noticed, but I’m challenging myself in writing about places where I don’t live. It’s a bit stressful because setting is so important to me, but I’ve investigated a lot of parts of Los Angeles in so many of my books, both fiction and nonfiction, and I’m ready to venture out of my comfort zone. With historical mysteries, I need to also do some travel, but in some ways, I’m not as disadvantaged as any other writer my age. The buildings and people that were once there no longer exist, so we need to rely on oral histories, films, news reports, academic works and photographs–not to mention our imagination. My next mystery takes place in Chicago 1944 and while I’ve traversed the neighborhood I’m writing about, I’m studying nonfiction books to understand both details and context. Of course, food also helps and while our L.A. restaurants can’t compare to the Polish food offerings in Chitown, at least it’s something.
Month: September 2019
TULO TUESDAY: Anniversaries
I celebrated my 19-year wedding anniversary with my husband. Tulo came along, of course! The three of us went to San Clemente this past weekend. Here Tulo is following his namesake, Tulowitski, who recently retired from MLB. Our Tulo, on the other hand, is still going strong.
Breathing
Lately I’ve had opportunities to breathe. I know that sounds odd–I mean, we all have to breathe to survive. But rather than be on a hamster wheel, which was much of my 2018, I’ve been able to take care of my physical environment, my health as well as my loved ones’. Even though that I’m in the middle of a book launch, my events, aside from my compressed book tour in Northern California, are scheduled pretty far apart, with breathers practically every other week. Being a midlist author, I find it difficult to just breathe. I know that the pace will accelerate soon, but for now, I’ll enjoy and savor this moment.