Guest Blogging

I'm guest blogging today at Notes from a Handbasket. Stop by and find out all you ever wanted to know about taphophiles.

The Evil Amanda Stevens

I always wanted to be in a comic book.

Meet Amanda Stevens from The Tick. Here she is ripping the wings off a butterfly.

Yay! I'm evil!

Are we human?

The Killers' new single "Human" is excellent! The video quality here isn't so great, but the feathered jacket...love.

In and around Austin

Things that will likely turn up in my book:

The creepy old house used in the recent remakes of Texas Chainsaw Massacre is located just south of Granger, Texas.









The moon tower from Dazed and Confused in Austin's Zilker Park.












This great old courthouse in Lockhart, Texas, was used in Waiting for Guffman.

Bats, bats and more bats!

Another cool thing about Austin? All those bats that live under the Congress Avenue bridge! They've already made a guest appearance in my book.














Now I ask you...what other city in the world has a bat statue? Well, except for maybe Gotham City.















Austin Nightlife!

Austin Street Art

I'm all about everything Austin these days. My current WIP is set there and as my protagonist explains, "Austin is a city that marches to its own drummer, which is why I feel so at home here."

Here's an image montage of some of the great street art in Austin. If you've driven or walked the drag (Guadalupe), you'll recognize a lot of it.

(Turn the music on to get the full effect!)

One more month!

Sherlock Holmes Update

I blogged a few days ago about my excitement over the casting of Robert Downey Jr. as Sherlock Holmes. Now comes the news that Jude Law has been cast as Watson. With Rachel McAdams already on board as the love interest and rumors abounding of a Russell Crowe Moriarty, this could be a very cool movie.

News

I've already posted my new cover, but here's a little sneak peek at the back cover copy:

A reclusive true crime writer offers Detective Evangeline Theroux a provocative theroy about a recent homicide in New Orleans: it's the work of a lunatic vigilante. Lena Saunders spins the sordid story of Ruth and Rebecca Lemay, whose mother brutally murdered her male children in an insane effort to root out an "evil" gene. The girls survived and grew to adulthood--but one is carrying on her mother's grisly work.

I'll be guest blogging at Notes from the Handbasket on October 23. Check out my interview with a corpse cosmetician/zombie whisperer. And be sure to check out Laura Benedict's new horror thriller, Calling Mr. Lonely Hearts. It's amazing.

This year, I'm going as...

Discover your ultimate costume with this handy dandy little quiz.

Guess I'll be going as the wicked witch. I do like those flying monkeys.

Clive Owen Wednesday

Well, hello, Mr. Owen. Long time no see.

Lydia Deetz

I'm writing about a character who, back in high school, dressed like Lydia Deetz. While doing a little research, I ran across this doll on the Little Dead Girls site. They make custom dolls of doom. I want one!

First Monday in October

When it comes to leaf-peeping, it seems most people think of the New England states. But I grew up in the foothills of the Ozarks, and let me tell you, that area is no slouch, either, when it comes to fall color!

My Dear Watson

Is there a more iconic name in the mystery genre than that greatest of sleuths, Sherlock Holmes? I don't think so. I've always loved this character and I'm so happy that Robert Downey Jr. (one of my favorite actors) will be bringing him, once again, to the big screen.

"You will not apply my precept," he said, shaking his head. "How often have I said to you that when you have eliminated the impossible, whatever remains, however improbable, must be the truth? We know that he did not come through the door, the window, or the chimney. We also know that he could not have been concealed in the room, as there is no concealment possible. When, then, did he come?"

The Whispering Room

Here's a sneak peek at my new cover (The Whispering Room, March, 2009).