Beekeeper at the Libraries, #1!

Saturday sees the first in the Laurie Loves Libraries celebrations of the Beekeeper’s 30th birthday! This one’s a hybrid event, where I’ll be in my study talking with gathered patrons of the Williamsburg Library—and, with people online. I have to say, Williamsburg (headed up by the fabulous duo of Avery and Allison) really threw itself…

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Mystery Week events!

It’s MYSTERY WEEK …for Mystery Writers of America, NorCal. And as it happens, I’ve been roped into three of the events: Saturday 20, 6:30: San Francisco I‘ll be moderatingNoir at the Bar for Litquake/SF at what looks like an amazing venue: Amnesia beer hall, at 853 Valencia. Come and raise a glass (they also have…

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The Boys & Girls of the Banned

As I said yesterday, I’m honored to be a sort of banned author myself, having been told in the early days of my career that certain bookstores in Salt Lake City (oh, those Mormons again!) were selling A Grave Talentunder the counter, since it was about a lesbian detective. (Or maybe it was because I…

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Happy (?) Banned Books Week

Happy (yes!) Banned Books Week (and the Future of Democracy) September 23-29 is Banned Books Week from the American Library Association, with this year’s theme of “Banning Books Silences Stories.” My local library, in Santa Cruz, asked me to contribute to their video collection of local readers talking about a favorite banned book. And I…

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Building a book

I’m giving a talk this Thursday, based on the Santa Cruz library’s summer theme of Reading by Design.  Join me, and bring all your friends!  

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Writing by design

The summer theme at the Santa Cruz public library this summer is Reading by Design. Come join us at the downtown branch on July 20, 6:30-8:00 PM, as I talk about the design of a mystery from idea to final publication: how does research work in, how much do I know about a story before I write…

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Takeback Tuesday: the innocent

Most of us, deep down, trust the system.  Intellectually, we may be aware that mistakes happen, that innocents get screwed, but when it comes right down to it?   Yeah, most of us have faith that the truth will out. A while ago my friend Les Klinger asked me to join a project he and Laura…

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Giveback Tuesday: Library week LOCKDOWN giveaway!

Want a copy of Lockdown?  Ooh, yes, look at these, you know you do… Okay: we all know that libraries—and librarians—rock, right? And we all know that, as my dedication to The Moor put it, librarians… “…spend their lives in battle against the forces of darkness.” Now more than ever. But no matter our niche…

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TBT: Them radical librarians

I spent my childhood in libraries. Their stacks, their people, were my sanctuaries, the safe and nurturing places where my real community lived (rather than these changing cities where my family seemed to continually be moving). So it makes sense to me that libraries are now declaring themselves as sanctuary spaces—although with political overtones that…

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The Writer/Library Admiration Socie

MWA NorCal joins forces with the Oakland library this Saturday for: Loving the Library If you’re a regular reader of Mutterings, you know that I love libraries. This Saturday, I get to interview Emily Weak, the adult services librarian at the Rockridge branch, about how writers and libraries make for a mutual admiration society. I’ll…

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