The Academy Awards: What We Didn’t See

In 2019 I saw seven of the eight films nominated for an Oscar as Best Picture by the  Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences. For me, 2019 was a great year at the cinema. Looking back at that list, I realize I even saw one of the Oscar nominees, Black Panther, twice, as well…

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When Did “Feel Good” Become An Insult?

Did you stay up to see the Academy Awards on Sunday? The Academy Awards show is often a yawner. It’s so much fun to see the gorgeous clothes, the familiar faces, the bright lights and sometimes, the hosts. But it’s also unbearably long, so this year we planned not to watch. Of course we turned…

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Who Am I To Criticize Downton Abbey, But. . .

Do you find yourself in front of your television set on Sunday nights, all set to watch Downton Abbey on PBS Masterpiece Classics? If you do, imagine me sitting in a similar seat, cup of tea in hand, ready to join you. ***Spoiler alert: If you haven’t seen Downton Abbey recently and don’t want to find…

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You Oughta Be “at” the Pictures

The Oscars are coming. On Saturday night, in fact. You probably already know that unless you haven’t watched television in months or read the paper or checked the Internet. We’ve already had the Golden Globes and the Screen Actor’s Guild awards. The Oscars may feel anticlimactic about now, but hang in there. This year there…

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Reality Shows: The Art of Entertainment?

Get out your #2 pencils, class. Pop quiz today. What television network began in 1984, envisioning itself as a commercial alternative to PBS? What television network commissioned double Emmy winner Horatio Hornblower and produced outstanding classics such as as Jane Eyre, Pride and Prejudice, and The Great Gatsby? What television network claims that last year,…

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Watch Out, Jessica Fletcher, Here I Come

Author Casey Daniels once referred to an event in a mutual friend’s writing career as a “Murder She Wrote” moment.  Not because our friend Diane found a dead body or solved a murder (although she certainly has written wonderful novels about both) but because she had actually been treated like the star she is during a visit…

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The Book That Will Not End–When One Novel Becomes A Series

Two weeks ago I asked my Facebook “fans” to suggest topics they’d like me to blog about here.  Then I sweetened the pot by doing a giveaway in conjunction.  Three commenters were chosen at random and received autographed copies of my novels.  See what you miss if you’re not hanging out with us on the page? …

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Are You Well Connected, or a Slave to Technology?

Our TiVo died.  Not without fanfare, and certainly not without warning.  For the past four months, in the  most interesting part of any program, the picture was nearly guaranteed to break up, the progress of the story halted as we rooted for TiVo to heal itself and continue until we discovered who had killed whom. …

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Racing To Conclusion: The Fine Art of Finishing A Novel

If you hang out with me on my Facebook reader page, then you know that yesterday I was in New York filming a promotional video with the delightful authorKatie Fforde, who writes romantic comedies and lives in–gasp–the Cotswolds of England.  In my next life I plan to live in the Cotswolds, too.  I’ve already put in…

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