Over Their Dead Bodies

In 1962 Thomas C. Mann and Janet Greene published a book, Over Their Dead Bodies, possibly the best book title ever.  It’s a collection of “Yankee” (New England) epitaphs.  An example:

Johathan Kilborn
Died Oct 14, 1785  AEt 79*
He was a man of invention great
Above all that lived nigh
But he could not invent to live
When God called him to die.

After closing in on forty degrees this past Sunday, the temperature in Minneapolis this morning is fourteen below.

Every now and again the muse takes hold and the story I’m writing goes galloping down the pages.  (When you’re writing under contract, you can’t wait for that to happen, so it’s a double joy when it does.)  A Needle Case is caught up in a fast-flowing stream – to mix my metaphors – and I’m giddy with pleasure and excitement.  This is why I’m a writer, because I can almost drown in that flow, I hate to stop for groceries, for laundry, for cleaning out the litter box, even for stitching.

So that’s why this is a really short blog entry.

Oh, mark your calendars if you’re in or near the Twin Cities: On Saturday, February 7, I’ll be doing a signing at Once Upon A Crime mystery bookstore from 12 to 2.  And at Excelsior Bay Books on Saturday, February 15 from 1 to 2 or 2:30.  (I’ll be having lunch at Antiquity Rose beforehand, if you want a cute place in Excelsior to come ahead of time.)

If you’re in or near Madison, Wisconsin, I’ll be doing a “Slam” with other authors later in February, the 22nd, 23rd, or 24th.  Don’t have the exact date – the “Slam” is all three days – or time, yet.  Ellen Kuhfeld with be there, too, promoting her book, Secret Murder.

*Aet – a abbreviation for “at the age of” in Latin.