[from “The Eyak Interpreter,” a Kate Shugak short story So here we are in Anchorage, staying at Dad’s townhouse on Westchester Lagoon. Kate and Mutt are out for a walk on the Coastal Trail . There’s nothing on television and I don’t want to go anywhere until I don’t drool when I talk. Disgusting, so…
Read more …so I’m sitting here writing a post for my twenty-seven blog followers…
Some people who like my books have formed an organization called the Danamaniacs. They have a page on Facebook, here, and have given me permission to post there. On June 5th, I gave them an update on the status of Theft of an Idol, aka Isis3 or the third Eye of Isis novel, as follows:…
[from “Siren Song,” a Kate Shugak short story] The prosecution had rested the day before with an air of relief. The defense had recalled the investigating officer that morning, extracting without difficulty more evidence over time of many of Washington’s—the defense here coughed deprecatingly—family in the house at McKinley and Alder, as well as evidence…
[from “Cherchez la Femme,” a Kate Shugak short story] Most women hated Dulcey Kineen as much as their men loved her, of course. Margaret Meganack had erupted into Bobby Clark’s house when Marvin, that morning’s guest on Park Air, had strayed from the advertised topic, which was the current red salmon run or lack thereof,…
Read more …that little episode a while back involving Dulcey, Norma, and Norma’s boyfriend Chuck.
[from “Wreck Rights,” a Kate Shugak short story] Jim sighed. “My night for drunks in pickups.” “Every night’s a night for drunks in pickups,” Hazen said. “The woman driving the Ford Escort is dead. So’s the eleven-year old riding in back of her. The teenager riding next to her has at least a broken arm.…
[from “Under the Influence,” a very short Kate Shugak story] Kate stood up. Mutt cast a languishing farewell look at Jim and padded to her side. “You’re scaring me, Chopin. You’re starting to sound like a crusader.” I’ve already got a cause, he thought as he watched her walk out the door.
[from “Conspiracy,” a Kate Shugak short story] At the same time the Grosdidier brothers were settling on a command structure at home, they were willing, nay, eager to assert their independence abroad. There were a few years when Park rats had only to see the Grosdidier brothers coming in one door to exit immediately out…
One week after… Disappearance of a Scribe, the second Eye of Isis novel, is out there in the real world now (instead of existing just between my ears). A body in Rhakotis sandals gives a nasty shock to passing fishermen, and Cleopatra’s Eye, Tetisheri, is called to the scene to investigate. Thereby hangs a tale of…
I love the acknowledgements pages in historical novels, like the ones in Jim Benn’s Billy Boyles series. It is where the writing rubber meets the road; i.e., where the writer reveals where fact and fiction diverge (or don’t) in the narrative that precedes them. So here are the “notes and acknowledgements” from Disappearance of a…
A week and a day away! Publication of the second Eye of Isis novel, that is, aka Disappearance of a Scribe. Barbara Peters calls it “On the Waterfront, Cleopatra style,” which epigram I promptly stole for the book’s tagline. Jimmy Hoffa would feel right at home. Excerpt: “Yes, Timo?” Tetisheri turned her head to see…