HAPPY THANKSGIVING, EVERYONE!

 RHYS BOWEN:  Since it’s Thanksgiving Day and those of us in the US  are busy with turkeys and stuffing and pumpkin pies, I thought we’d have a quick convo in which we state three things we are thankful for this year:

If you are like me the year has been one of ups and downs, of worries and uncertainties. But also of special moments of joy and contentment. So I wlil start:

I am thankful for:

1: Is obviously my family. They are the best. My kids and grandkids are loving, caring, funny and make my life a joy. They step in every time we call to say something in the house isn’t working properly or I need to be picked up from the airport. They gather on any excuse, sit around the table laughing. I can think of nothing more perfect than my family gathered, sharing a meal.

2. I'm grateful that John got to go to England this year, As many of you know he had a real health scare last fall and I worried he’d never be able to travel again. But we made it to England, a niece drove us around. We stayed with his sister and almost all the family came to visit. It was really special.

3. On the writing front my historical novel Mrs. Endicott’s Splendid Adventure has done very well and has really touched a nerve with many people. And I just learned that it has been named one of Audible’s best fiction titles for 2025. So that makes me very happy as the narrator was fabulous. Barrie Kreisnik. She’s the best.

Now: How about you:

LUCY BURDETTE: Great topic Rhys! It’s been a hard year so it makes sense to stop and assess what we’re thankful for. Like Rhys, I’m grateful for my husband, and the rest of my family. I wish everyone lived closer but we treasure the time we share when we get together. 

I’m grateful for my interesting life as a writer, even though it sometimes feels grueling:). That means I’m so glad to have my writing pals and my reading friends including all of you! I’m grateful for books and writers too!

JENN MCKINLAY: Happy Thanksgiving, Everyone! I’m going to skip the obvious–my adored family, for which I am grateful everyday, and my dear friends, who make me laugh and keep me sane-ish, and my readers, who are so incredibly discerning and supportive and obviously brilliant and without whom I’d have no career–and stick to random gratitudes for this year. Okay, that got long, we’ll make it 1.

2. I’m grateful for K-Dramas. Both Hank, who recommended The Extraordinary Attorney Woo back in 2022, and Julia, who wrote this excellent blogpost https://www.jungleredwriters.com/2024/04/my-kdrama-krush.html last year, got me watching them and, honestly, in this endless horrible 2025 newscycle from hell, K-Dramas have become my reward for thugging through another day. 

3. Being in my fifties. Despite the many horrors of this decade–menopause, loss of loved ones, knees that lock up, jowls, etc–it is also the decade where I feel free for the first time in YEARS! I’m talking free like a little kid. Now that Hub and I are freebirding, since the Hooligans have been moved out for a couple of years, I can eat cake for dinner if I want, stay up all night, blow off my chores, or take up any weird hobby that strikes my fancy. I don’t generally do any of that, but I could if I wanted to and that freedom is so delicious. 

HALLIE EPHRON: Family, family, family. I have fabulous daughters and a stellar pair of grands. Add a pair of grand-cats. And sisters whom I adore. I never appreciated how special a functioning family was until recently. I’d add gratitude for Reds and our readers. I look forward to checking in every morning and see who’s up and at ‘em. And for the many writers I’ve connected with over the years through my teaching - so great to see them write and thrive. 

Now I’m tearing up…

HANK PHILLIPPI RYAN I am so grateful to be able to read all of these!  You all are so dear. Yes, as I get older I am grateful for every day, for health, and the stars and tulips and birds, for still being able to think and see and imagine and remember things. 

(Most of the time, and if I can’t, I can eventually.)

To be able to read. And consider things. And have perspective.  And know how to do some things and to get better at them.  For my darling family, near and far, and watching them all grow and flourish and be nimble. And gosh, I get to be a writer. Amazing.

JULIA SPENCER-FLEMING: I’m a big fan of daily gratitude, and I agree with Hank that looking at the world around us and noticing things is one of the best practices you can do to improve your outlook on life. 

So what, specifically, am I grateful for this Thanksgiving? My new grandson “Paulie” who continues to look like a tiny wise guy, but we love him just the same. Family, of course, and my friends, who have held me up with so much love and encouragement and hospitality and help this past year. I’m grateful for the wonderful pets I share my life with - yes, even the $15,000 cat.

And I’m so grateful for my readers who have stuck with me despite years of not having a new book. Now that there is one, I continue to be overwhelmed by how many people love Clare and Russ and the citizens of Millers Kill. I know there are writers who wouldn’t have a career after two lengthy gaps between publishing, and I’m so, so thankful that I do.

DEBORAH CROMBIE: Yes, as above, family! I am so grateful to be able to watch my darling granddaughter grow up. She is such a delight, funny, smart, and kind. I'm grateful for health, even with aches and pains– every time I have to fill out a medical questionnaire and get to check "no" on everything I DON'T have! Reading, absolutely, the joy of my life since childhood. How lucky are we who read??? And I am grateful not just for books but for audiobooks. After my hearing loss scare back in '24, every day I am thankful to be able to listen to a book.

And I am so thankful for this community and for my JRW sisters. What a blessing you all are.

AND WE ARE THANKFUL FOR ALL OF YOU.

HAVE A WONDERFUL THANKSGIVING, EVERYONE!

Whether the Weather

 RHYS BOWEN:  It’s fall, start of the rainy season in Marin County, California.  I’ve just returned from an event with Julia and Jenn at the Poisoned Pen in Scottsdale, where it rained every day I was there. Yes. Arizona. Supposed to be warm and sunny. Who knew?

Anyway, the weather now becomes headline news on the TV. I’m sure in other parts of the States (I’m thinking Julia in Maine) there is weather news every day, unless they say "It's going to be cold" until April. But in California all summer its going to be foggy at first then sunny. Or sunny and then sunny for the whole summer. Boring.

Now the weather men are getting quite excited, and dramatic. This is when they come into their own.  They say, “An atmospheric river is heading toward Northern California.”

I grew up in England. You can’t scare me. What is an atmospheric river in California is Wednesday in England. “It’s starting out dry but we may have some rain later.”

Unfortunately even England this fall has had what might be described as an atmospheric river. There has been bad flooding in various parts of the country, but this is abnormal. Normal weather throughout the year in England is if it’s fine early it will rain later. I remember vacations in Wales, taking miserable forced strolls along the sea front with the wind whipping at my raincoat, and that was August. I remember Wimbledons being rained out.  It rains a lot.

I always thought that the easiest job in England was TV weatherman. They are hardly ever right and every day they can say “It may rain later” and even if it doesn’t nobody bothers. And they never get fired.

The main topic of British conversation is the weather. Standing at a bus stop you’ll hear: “Good morning. Nippy for the time of year, isn’t it?”

“Yes, but the frost is good for the cabbages.”  (the other main topic is gardening.)

“It’s been milder than last November, hasn’t it?”

“It certainly has. My begonias bloomed until a week ago.”

That, my dears, is the extent of English small talk.

The only thing they can’t handle in England is snow. A few flakes land and buses stop running, children are kept home from school, trains are hours late. I’ve Canadian friends who laugh themselves silly. I do remember the great freeze of 1963 when the snow lay on the ground for several months, but it hasn’t happened since. I hear it’s snowing this week. Maybe it will be the great freeze of 2025.  It will give everyone something to talk about.

How about where you live? What is the attitude to weather there? Do you take it seriously?

RHYS CELEBRATES FROM CRADLE TO GRAVE.

 RHYS BOWEN:  Actually my book came out last Tuesday, on the same day as Julia's new book. But since she hadn't had a book out for five years and mine appear with monotonous frequency I stepped aside and let her have last Tuesday.  As you probably heard we had a fantastic event at the Poisoned Pen in Scottsdale, with Jenn as our host. You can still watch it on the Poisoned Pen Facebook Page or on their YouTube channel. When I last checked it has had over 2000 views. Not bad!

SO let me tell you a little about the book. FROM CRADLE TO GRAVE is number 19 in the Royal Spyness series. If you remember Lady Georgie coming down to London in the first book called HER ROYAL SPYNESS she is camping out in the family's London house, trying to survive alone for the first time with no money. She makes some bad mistakes, mixes with the wrong people and survives more than one assassination attempt. 

But she is still here after 19 adventures as a sleuth. What's more she has married and now has a son. Hooray for Georgie!

This book gives us a glimpse into the life of a British aristocrat at the time, in that Georgie now has a baby. She's been enjoying looking after him herself (with the help of one of the maids who does the unpleasant stuff like dirty diapers so she's never exactly slumming it like us). But all the time she knows she really should hire a nanny. It is expected of her class in society. 

In aristocratic famlies the nanny actually raised the child. Not only did she feed and care for him or her but she instilled the correct values to make him a future leader of the Empire or her a mother of future leaders. So she had to be not only a good caregiver but morally sound. 

The only time the parents saw their child was when he or she was brought down into the sitting room at tea time, nicely dressed for the occasion, to interact with the parents whille Nanny hovered in the backround. Remember the episode of Downton Abbey when Lady Violet complains about how demanding it was to be a parent. And Mrs. Crawley says "I bet you only saw the children for an hour when Nanny brought them down" and Violet says "Yes, but it was an hour every day."

We know from The Crown that the queen felt a failure as parent because she was never shown how to hold and love her children. I'm so glad that William and Catherine are really hands on parents. Their kids won't grow up nearly as repressed as Charles. 

It seems so odd to us, doesn't it? And sending boys off to boarding school at seven. But that's always how it was done. I suppose it was rather like Sparta. Those boys had to grow up strong and resilient because they'd be in the army in India or running something in Africa. My own husband went to boarding school at ten, then worked in Nigeria, then Malaysia, Indonesia. And let me tell you, they are not very good at expressing feelings!

Anyway, Georgie knows she needs a nanny, but when one appears on her doorstep Georgie has second thoughts. Nanny Hardbottle is not the warm and fuzzy type. Poor litte James. Will he survive? Will Georgie survive? She can't get rid of her right away for various reasons, but one of them is that someone seems to be bumping off eldest sons of the aristocracy. Will Darcy be next?

If you've already read the book let me know what you think. An please leave a review on Amazon. It does help.

Would you have liked a nanny when raising your kids?

What Am I going to Wear?

 RHYS BOWEN:  While I am celebrating the release of a Royal Spyness novel (FROM CRADLE TO GRAVE) I am also in the middle of writing the next one. This one is going to be centered on the coronation of King George VI in 1937, a coronation that should have been that of his brother.  Lady Georgie has received an invitation to the ceremony at the Abbey. 

As the book opens and she realizes she’ll be going to London for the big occasion can you guess what is her biggest worry? What to wear! I bet you guessed, didn’t you.  You see she won’t be going as a peeress any more because she is now married to the Hon Darcy O’Mara who is the son of a peer, but not a peer himself. Therefore she won’t be wearing the traditional peeresses robes and coronet. She’ll be wearing smart, ordinary clothes. The big problem is that she doesn’t own any smart clothes, at least not smart enough for a coronation with the eyes of the world on her (and the first television outside broadcast in the world)

Her only dressmaker has a sick child and she doesn’t dare buy off the peg in case other women are wearing the same thing. She certainly can’t afford a designer outfit like her mother.  What will she do?  You’ll have to read the book next year to find out…

However…

Her dilemma echoes my own. When any event is approaching I agonize about what to wear. I lie in bed staring at my wardrobe. I try on ten outfits, all not quite right. When I have finally decided on an outfit I have last minute doubts. It’s too warm, not warm enough. Is it too fancy? Too casual? I know it’s silly to worry about such a casual thing, but it haunts me.

And too often it’s never quite right. I look at the weather forecasts and go on a trip to England (as I did last month) It was supposed to be cold. I took sweaters. It was mild. I wore the only blouse three times.  In Cassis last year it was supposed to be summery in September. It turned cold and daughter Jane and I had to find sweaters in the market (actuallyt the shopping was great and really fun.)

Before every book event I agonize especially. My big dread is when a fan comes to greet me and says “I took a pic of us together last time you were here” and i’M WEARING THE SAME JACKET. Mortification!

I know it shouldn’t matter. But it does.

So how about you, Reds?

Do you obsess about what to wear? Do you have any horror stories?

LUCY BURDETTE: I know that feeling so well Rhys! (Although I don’t think Hayley Snow worries much about clothes.) John says all the time that I look in my closet and wail that I have nothing to wear. How can that be when my closet is STUFFED with clothing. Traveling makes it even harder. I’ve gotten pretty good at figuring out layers. They may not be fashionable but I can titrate the temperature!

JENN McKINLAY: I’m not much of an agonizer. Like Lucy, I’ve become really good at layering. Somehow my personal thermostat has been wonky ever since I hit the mid-fifties and I’m always hot or cold but never just right. Mostly, I try to wear clothes that make me happy whether it’s a pair of boots or a funky jacket. If I focus on the one piece that makes me smile, I don’t care about the rest.

HALLIE EPHRON: Isn’t that one of the delicious things about having a new book out with events at which to strut your stuff? It’s always been my cue to SHOP. But since Covid there are so few places to actually shop… in person. And IMHOP you can’t get something *special* that you haven’t tried on. My go-to boutique in Cambridge has shut down, and the mall is full of fast food. Lord & Taylor and Filene’s caput. :-(

RHYS: Hallie, I totally agree. It's impossible to buy things on line without trying them on. And my local Macy's has closed, so has Talbots, J Jill... all my old standbys. The nearest Chicos is twenty miles away. We do still have a Nordstrom but that's about it.

HANK PHILLIPI RYAN: Guilty, here. It’s really part of me, I have come to admit, and maybe from 40 years on TV and having to be camera-ready at any second. I am pretty good at knowing what will fit in on-line purchases, but of course, free shipping on returns.

And yes, the scourge of social media. I can pack for a two-week book tour with one carryon bag and no checked bags–yay me. But whoa, “Hank in the green jacket” is on repeat on social media, and there’s nothing to do about it. I’d  rather repeat clothes than have a suitcase go lost, though.

DEBORAH CROMBIE: Hank, you are our packing heroine! Like Rhys, when I've done big book tours I have agonized over choices AND spent a lot of money on new things. From a photo I can tell which book it was immediately by the outfit. Now I think I will just wear black, which is already my wardrobe basic, and not worry about it. 

JULIA SPENCER-FLEMING: I just did the agonizing-over-what-to-bring thing for my (ongoing) book tour. I had to go from Maine (high of 40) to Arizona (65) to Houston (85) and then to NY’s North Country (high of 40, chance of snow.) I need my outfits to be professional, hopefully flattering, and NOT the same as ones I’ve been photographed in at previous events!

For in-person special events, I tend to spend an hour or more going through my closet, trying on this and that, and wondering why I own so many useless clothes. I try to come up with a new mix and match based on what I already have, because, like the rest of you, my things fill up my bedroom closet and overflow into a now-empty child’s closet. And that’s not counting the off-season items in the attic!

RHYS: Sometimes we do coordinate!

So now it's confession time, Reddies.  Do you find yourself agonizing over what to wear?

First and...WHAT? Football Follies

HANK PHILLIPPI RYAN: I will start with a confession. When I was in junior high, which I think they now call middle school, I was a cheerleader. (No photographs of this exist.)

I was a terrible terrible terrible cheerleader. Good in my imagination and good in my yearning desire to be accepted, but pitiful, I’m sure, in real life. Tragically ungraceful, and extremely unathletic.

I was also completely clueless about the games I was cheering for. In football season, I would just wait, to see if anyone would start the “first and 10 let’s do it again” chant, because I had no idea what that meant. So I could not start it myself.

In fact, I did not know it was “first AND 10” until I was in my 20s at least. I thought it was “first IN 10.”  Which back then, I never knew.

Anyway, that said. I live in Boston, and that means sports is on the radar, and my darling husband is a big football fan. Not in general, but of the New England Patriots. So, in support of the common weal, I sometimes watch football with him, and it is much more fun if you know the rules. First and ten, now, I get it! I am still iffy on why sometimes it’s offsides and sometimes it is false start, but that is another blog.

But let me just ask you all. It’s football season now, with Thanksgiving being football central. And then the Super Bowl. Do you care? Do you have a team?

LUCY BURDETTE: Cheerleading is a tragic topic Hank! At our high school, the mascot was the Highlanders (we lived in New Jersey, not Scotland!). The cheerleaders wore the cutest short plaid skirts and stylish hats and I think knee socks, and I desperately wanted to be one. I was not chosen, so I ended up performing as a highlander sword dancer. (Longer skirts=not as cool, that’s all you need to know.)

That said, football is not my thing. I kind of like having it on in the background while John watches, and I’ll wander in and ask who’s winning. (He’s a Steelers fan.) For the Super Bowl, I definitely go for the food!

HALLIE EPHRON: I loved going to high school football games and sort of learned the rules by osmosis. I was on the drill team which, in retrospect, is pretty dumb. Our outfits were orange and white, in a thick felt fabric that retained… odor. White boots with tassels – that was the best part.

I like watching the Super Bowl but that’s about it. Once a year. Not rooting for any teams. Just annoyed when a game preempts Wheel of Fortune. Pathetic, I know.

JENN MCKINLAY: I’m a diehard Pats fan married to a Cowboys loyalist. Things get tetchy around here during football season, although we both root for the AZ Cardinals. I was in marching band (percussion) in high school so everything I know I learned at Friday night football games. That being said, if football disappeared tomorrow, I don’t know that I’d miss it over much as I’m not much of a watcher other than to check in from my office when I hear yelling.

DEBORAH CROMBIE: I’m a little envious of those of you who have husbands who are fans. I kind of like the sound of Sunday football in the background, and the whole snacks/social aspect of it, but Rick does not like football at all. I have to twist his arm to get him to watch the Superbowl. Even though he professes not to like the game, he knows all the rules and that makes it more fun for me. I am not a Cowboys fan, which is heresy in this part of the world. Maybe I’m just contrary. My team of choice is the Chiefs (even pre-Taylor!) but I couldn’t tell you what their standing is so far this year.

As for cheerleading, a big no. I was a hippie chick, and uncoordinated to boot!

RHYS BOWEN: Big 49rs fan here. We watch every week I’d enjoy the games more if I were not sitting with someone who lets out loud exclamations every time a player drops the ball or the quarterback is sacked. Strange to say for an Englishwoman but I am a student of the game. Maybe that came from living in Houston for three years!

Actually I’m a big fan of most sports and can be found glued to the TV for any tennis match, soccer game etc. Not so much baseball until the World Series.

And since I went to an all girls school there were no cheerleaders and I played netball and tennis.

JULIA SPENCER-FLEMING: Ross and Spencer enjoyed the Pats, since that seems to be a requirement for living in New England, but the big family football passion has always been college ball, specifically the SEC. My father was a grad of the University of Alabama, and my grandparents lived in Tuscaloosa, so I was taken to games when I was just a tiny tot. Roll Tide!

Sadly, I find it’s just not that much fun watching games by myself. Without others to get excited or groan with, it looses a lot of its appeal. Plus, I’m not making nachos and chile and guacamole for one.

Some of my favorite games were the Bonny Eagle High School football team’s home appearances when Spencer was the percussion leader for the pep band. Go, Scots! The cheerleaders wore cute but sensible leggings and jackets, because it gets COLD in Maine during high school football season.

HANK: How about you, Reds and Readers? Were you a cheerleader? And how about football--do you have a TEAM?

(And...thank you again for checking in on Friday! It was so wonderful to see you all.  But! Blogger will STILL not let me respond to you. SO silly. But I read every single comment, and each one filled me with joy.)

Whatcha Watching?

HANK PHILLIPPI RYAN: What are you watching? It seems like there was a big dearth of good stuff on TV for a while, but now, suddenly, so many fun things!

Pluribus, for one, from the same people who brought you Breaking Bad and Better Call Saul, two iconic shows, a wonderful thought-provoking speculative fiction which I think is about AI. In a way. But mostly about the necessity for individual thought, and would you trade your individuality if you could 1.Know everything and 2. Be happy. It stars Rhea Seahorn as a writer, and in episode one, writer alert, there is a scene at a Barnes & Noble signing that will live in infamy. I love love love the show.

Also, another writer show, The Beast in Me. With Clare Danes as a writer who is looking for a good topic, and Matthew Rhys as…the possible topic. It is, I think, about the unrelenting urge for a best selling novel, and how far you would go to get one. How much of your moral compass do you give up to write something that would be a blockbuster? And does that desire warp your objectivity?

And did you see The House of Dynamite? I absolutely adored it, kind of a doomsday thriller, but many people did not. We cannot discuss it here, because the way it ends is so incredibly controversial. If you have just seen it, tell me, and we can talk off stage.


We’re also watching Invasion, which is surprisingly great. And beginning to watch the Ken Burns documentary on the American Revolution. And even The Rainmaker, which I fear is so dumb, but I love lawyer shows, so we are watching. And I cannot wait for the Lincoln Lawyer to come back!


I know there’s something I’m missing – – maybe you will let me know! (We generally only watch one episode of something a night, so it takes us a while!)


HALLIE EPHRON: I’m watching “The Diplomat” on Netflix and enjoying it quite a bit. And of course, just finished the latest Great British Baking Show… The winner this time so fabulous and every one of the bakers is awe inspiring.

I missed The Lincoln Lawyer (loved the books) so far so I’ll have to catch up on that. I’m watching Ballard on Amazon Prime (also by Connolly) and Keri Russell is superb but intense. I need to take it in bite sized chunks.

DEBORAH CROMBIE: We just finished THE DIPLOMAT a couple of nights ago. I loved Aidan Turner as a new addition to the cast, but don’t dare say anything more! And we finished THE GREAT BRITISH BAKING SHOW as well. I am so sad that it’s over and we no longer have it to look forward to on Friday nights. Such a great season and all the finalists were terrific.

We’ve been watching Graham Norton on Acorn, such fun. Acorn has the full episodes, not just the “best bits” that they show on Netflix. I also don’t know that Netflix is showing any of those from the new season.

We’re hunting for a new series, but I think I’d really like to catch up on some movies. Suggestions welcome!

RHYS BOWEN: like Hallie I am missing Great British Baking show. We’ve been watching the new Maigret. But prefer Rowan Atkinson in the role a few years ago.

Waiting for the next Luther!

LUCY BURDETTE: I’m so lame lame lame on this topic. Still plugging through NYPD Blue, and watching the PBS newshour as much as I can stand! John is pleased about the new season of Blue Lights, and he’s also started the Ken Burns Documentary. We may dabble in Pluribus, Hank…

JULIA SPENCER-FLEMING: I’ll join Lucy in being the non-watcher this time around. Not so much because there’s a dearth of good stuff streaming, but because we’re in the season where I keep the rest of the house cold and snuggle close to the wood stove in the kitchen. (When the outdoor temps get seriously cold, the furnace goes ON and my TV room is toasty again.)

That being said, I started The American Revolution documentary while on the road for book tour and am finding it absolutely fascinating. It reminds me that I’ve missed several Ken Burns documentaries from recent years, and now I want to catch up!

JENN MCKINLAY: Hub and I just finished The Diplomat - loved it. We’re now watching Nobody Wants This - hilarious! Like Hank and Jonathan, we watch one episode a night so it takes us awhile, too. On my own, I just finished the K-Drama The Potato Lab - Adorbs!

HANK: Yes, yes, The Diplomat. Brilliant! And it felt to me that the writers had a plan, you know? That they knew exactly where they were going. Although I had NO idea, and was in awe.

And earlier this week, Catriona mentioned the Great British Sewing Bee. I looked it up, and it is on the BBC. Cannot wait to see it!

How about you, Reds and Readers? What’s on YOUR screen?  

ALSO! So wonderful to see so many of you yesterday! It was actually..inspirational. Truly! And at one point, the blogging software stopped me from responding to any more of your comments, and even stopped my from entering my own! I guess it thought I was a bot.

But since I am NOT a bot, I will try again today!

And you can be sure, even if I was not "allowed" to respond, I read every single one of your wonderful comments..and I am still floating!

Who are YOU??

 HANK PHILLIPPI RYAN: Goes without saying--any yet, here I am saying it--that all of us Reds come to the blog every day, and we all read all of your comments, and it's just--incredible. So much fun! And such a unique and gorgeous community.

We adore those of you who have been here from the start, and those who have gathered in along the way, and the new people who find us each week. So wonderful and were are incredibly grateful.

But--who are you?

The other day, after my interview with the incredible David Baldacci (OOH!)  a woman came up to me and told me how much she looked forward to Jungle Red every day.  I was so delighted! 

And I said--so great to see you! But I don't think I've seen your name. do you ever comment?  And she said no, I just lurk.

So today, lurkers, come out!  And everyone else, too.

Tell us who you are, and where you are, and the book you are reading right now. (Just one!) 

I'm Hank Phillippi Ryan, I live near Boston, and I am reading THE REAL THING by Nicholas Meyer.

Just like that!

Let's see how many people will show up today. 

IF you have never commented before, hurray! Just click on the thing that says comments. If you can't figure out how to have it post your name and photo, that's fine-- just tell us in the comment!

Ready? GO!

When History Rhymes

HANK PHILLIPPI RYAN: Wow, we have such a treat for you today! Introducing, or re-introducing, the fabulous duo of Deb Well and Gabriel Valjan. Deb is a wonderful author, and an editor at Level Best Books. And Gabriel is a multi-award-winning and much acclaimed author. They are a duo and a team on every level.

And today, grab your own cup of coffee or tea and join them at the breakfast table. They have the most interesting conversations!

When History Rhymes

By Deb Well and Gabriel Valjan

When the CIA targeted Tehran in 1953, it changed the world. In Eyes to Deceit, Gabriel Valjan brings that tense, shadowy moment to life, following writer/agent Walker from Malibu to Rome, while a Holocaust survivor navigates the Catskills in pursuit of a crucial key to success. Today, Valjan talks with Level Best Books editor of Celluloid Crimes Deb Well, about the motivation behind his recent fiction, the women in his novel, and the history we often overlook—but should not forget.

DW: You have a new book out this month in your Company Files series, taking your reticent Walker from Malibu to Rome, while Holocaust survivor Sheldon visits the Catskills to work an asset in exchange for the names of Nazis who escaped justice. Tell us about Eyes to Deceit and why you chose the 1953 Iranian coup as your focus.

GV: Mark Twain said, “History doesn’t repeat itself, but it often rhymes.” History is stranger than fiction—but poorly taught. The Coup of ’53 fascinated me because its consequences still ripple today. Allen W. Dulles emerged as the master architect of realpolitik, shaping moves that echoed for decades.

The novel shows more than strategy—it shows people. Betrayals, moral compromises, personal tensions—these made Operation AJAX more than a footnote, and they didn’t stay in Tehran; they shaped CIA policy in other foreign interferences and led, eventually, to the Iranian Hostage Crisis in 1979.

DW: Your books feature strong women navigating a male-dominated world. How did you make that feel authentic without losing edge?

GV: Three women stand out in Eyes. Leslie, formerly MI6, now CIA, was blocked after the war—she refuses to settle into domestic life. Tania mirrors her: brilliant, multilingual, but scarred by trauma, awkward socially. Then there’s Clare Boothe Luce, the first U.S. ambassador to Italy—outspoken, audacious, brilliant.

They’re true to their era but fully alive, capable, uncompromising. They bend but don’t break. In a world built to sideline them, their choices carry consequences.

DW: You clearly did extensive research. Were there any unexpected discoveries and challenges?

GV: Writing the Catskills required delicacy. I worried readers would think of Dirty Dancing, but these resorts were a refuge, an oasis of culture—an escape from antisemitism in the cities. That history deserved respect.

Allen Dulles was trickier. Immense power, almost mythic. After Bay of Pigs, JFK fired him—but he showed up at work the next day as if nothing had happened. He later helped staff the Warren Commission. Capturing the chess master at play and that authority without caricature were monumental challenges.

DW: Both your Company Files and Shane Cleary series are historical. What draws you to the past as a setting?

GV: The past frees me from technology and lets me focus on human behavior. Nuance mattered then. A woman could be judged for her gloves, a curse word, or a public misstep. A Black maid might keep two sets of shoes—one for work, one for home. These small details shape stakes, reveal character, heighten tension.

Since we’re talking nuance, let’s pivot to Celluloid Crimes. You edited this anthology. When arranging the stories, how did you think about pacing readers or sequencing authors? Did you aim for rising tension, tonal variation, or something else?

DW: In choosing the stories for this anthology, the two things they all had in common were a strong voice and a tonal aspect of what I call “Hollywood Noir. When I reviewed all the stories I had chosen, I was surprised that they were almost evenly split between male and female narrators/protagonists. So I immediately thought it would be great to alternate the stories between male and female voices. Additionally, when I first read Colin Campbell’s story, Picture Palace Blues, I knew I wanted it to be the anchor – or last story of the collection. Since it was the only one set in contemporary times, ordering the stories in a loose chronology from the 20s till today made sense.

GV: I love that your anthology captures something from each decade. For you, what makes a story irresistible—compelling characters, a twisty plot, or a unique use of language?

DW: As I mention in the Afterword, I look for strong voice and a story – no “sketch” or “vignette”. And the ending must be satisfying. So a twisty plot is nice – but only if it makes sense. Compelling characters are important to me. But it’s that unique voice – that’s what makes a story – or a novel, for that matter – something I can’t put down – and that I will recommend to everyone I know that they have to read.

Back to Eyes to Deceit: what’s next for both your series?

GV: The fifth Company Files novel, The Nameless Lie, dives into the Suez Canal Crisis. Shane Cleary six, Four on the Floor, draws on Boston’s Blackfriars Massacre. Both explore the human cost of history—the ways small choices cascade into global consequences.

DW: One last question. If a reader takes only one thing from Eyes to Deceit, what would you want it to be?

GV: That history isn’t abstract. It’s felt, lived, sometimes hidden in plain sight. Fiction can’t fix it—but it can remind us what it felt like—and why those choices still matter today.

Reds and Readers! In both history and fiction, secrets drive the story. Which secret from history would you most want to uncover?


HANK PHILLIPPI RYAN: OH, what a great question. What happened to the lost colony of Roanoke? What’s the real deal about Amelia Earhart? (Cannot wait to read that new book.) What really happened in the Cuban Missile crisis? I know you all will have many more…

Deborah Well is an editor, marketing consultant, and digital strategist. After working for several decades in the finance realm, she has been happy to see her English degree get put to good use in her “retirement career” in the publishing world. Deb lives in Boston’s South End with her partner, author Gabriel Valjan.

Gabriel Valjan is the author of The Company Files, and the Shane Cleary Mysteries with Level Best Books. He has been nominated for the Agatha, Anthony, Derringer, and Silver Falchion awards. He received the 2021 Macavity Award for Best Short Story, and the Shamus Award for Best PI in 2023. Gabriel is a member of the Historical Novel Society, ITW, MWA, and Sisters in Crime. He lives in Boston with his partner, Deb Well.

And both answer to a their much-memed tuxedo cat, Munchkin.

Catriona Confesses

HANK PHILLIPPI RYAN: Woohoo, and ruffles and flourishes! Today we welcome, with great fanfare, one of the dearest and best friends of the Reds, the brilliant and incomparable Catriona McPherson. A blazingly good writer, and infinitely hilarious, her books are consistently terrific--thoughtful and funny and twisty.

I don't know how she does it. Some of her books are so deeply dark and literary and thought provoking that they will break your heart (and your brain, too), and others are laugh-out-loud funny.

Today, she offers a confession.

 

Confessions of a Philistine

   By Catriona McPherson

 

In Scot’s Eggs, the eighth Last Ditch Motel mystery, the fluffy-soft, pastel-shaded innocence of an Easter holiday in Cuento, CA, is somewhat spoiled by the murder of two tourists and especially by the crime scene, which is a vintage Mustang full – like seriously full – of their blood. It’s been left in the hot sun for a week until the arrival of the turkey vultures makes someone take a closer look.

Why’d it take a week? Because the killers parked it outside the brand new art museum on the UCC campus, where the curators mistook it for the early arrival of the promised work by a young creator from an Oakland collective, who’s long been interested in decay.

I can’t lie; I had a lot of fun writing the employees of the Patsy Denoni Cultural Center and their combination of aching earnestness and corporate lock-step. Here’s just a flavour.

Fern had arrived at our side. ‘These resources are free and there is no entry charge,” she said. ‘But we encourage you to make a small donation to support our work in celebrating, promoting and protecting the diverse practices of artistic expression by the families of peoples who comprise our communities.’

 

Before any of us could answer, another woman came our way, stalking across the polished marble in spike heels. It took some kind of confidence to walk that fast in those shoes on this surface, but she was being powered by irritation.

 

‘Diverse expressions of artistic practice, Fern,’ she said. ‘The communities of peoples who comprise our family. Wait.’ She coloured slightly. ‘Diverse communities of expressive practice, to protect the arts of-’ She sniffed. ‘We suggest fifty dollars.’

 

I had even more fun describing the art itself, but it’s too gross for this blog. (Yes, I know I described a Mustang full of blood. The actual art is worse.) As ever, I need to say that the opinions expressed – here regarding the collection – are those of the fictional Lexy Campbell, nothing to do with me.

Ahem.

Honestly?

Every so often an exhibition of conceptual art blows me away completely. I saw a dozen pieces at the Serpentine in London a few years back that still haunt me – hyper-realistic and disturbing – and there’s a sliced-apart full-size house at Tate Modern with a film of 1950s DIY leaflets playing in the slices that . . . maybe you have to be there but it’s amazing. Also, I think Shedboatshed – the wee huttie dismantled, turned into a boat, sailed to the museum and reassembled into a shed again thoroughly deserved its Turner Prize. And I’ve got a lot of time for Tracy Emin. Even her Bed.

But.

The pile of wrapped sweeties (US hard candy?) in the all-white room in the National Gallery that the museum-goers are supposed to help themselves from? (And presumably suck as they walk round the rest of the exhibition? Dropping the wrappers?) It doesn’t work. There’s a security guard on duty. Who’s going to eat the art when there’s a guy in a uniform watching?

And in another room of that same exhibition, we read the card and peered about looking for the art for ages, wondering if someone had stolen it, before we realised it was the light fixture plugged in low down on one wall and tacked up and across the ceiling.

“Okay,” I remember Neil saying. “So we’re in one of those ‘But what is Art?’ exhibitions.” He cleared his throat. “So. What is Art?” There was a long silence then someone behind us whispered “You forgot to say Hey, Siri.” So we weren’t the only Philistines in there that day.

Look, I’m not saying it’s not an interesting question. (Seriously, what is Art?) only that you can’t necessarily stand in front of a pile of sweeties, ask yourself what art is for a while, then move on, ask it again underneath a light fixture, and on again and on and on, in front of, under, on top of, or sucking on another fifteen or twenty works. At some point you start wondering if the café’s any good. I do.

How about you, Jungle Red readers? Are you big fans of conceptual art? If so, have you lost any respect you ever had for me? I might as well put the cherry on top and tell you that my favourite artist is Rembrandt Harmenszoon Van Rijn then. Mostly because he painted women with love and tenderness, not as if he’d simply scoured the Bible for any page where someone’s dress fell off. And his unflinching gaze at his aging self makes me want to give him a cuddle.

 

HANK PHILLIPPI RYAN:  See, Reds and readers, easy question today: what is Art? 

(This always reminds me of when my editor and I were discussing one of my book covers.

She said: I’ll tell Art what you said.

 I said: Great, tell him I appreciate it.

And she said, no, there’s no Art, I meant the art department.

I mean, how’m I supposed to know that?  But that’s a question of WHO is Art. Not today’s question, which is: WHAT is art. See?  Weigh in, Reds and readers!

 

 

Serial awards-botherer, Catriona McPherson (she/her) was born in Scotland and immigrated to the US in 2010. A former linguistics professor, she is now a full-time fiction writer and has published: preposterous 1930s private-detective stories about a toff; realistic 1940s amateur-sleuth stories about an oik; and contemporary psychothriller standalones. These are all set in Scotland with a lot of Scottish weather. She also writes modern comic crime capers about a Scot-out-of-water in a “fictional” college town in Northern California sneezedavissneeze.

Catriona is a proud lifetime member and former national president of Sisters in Crime.  www.catrionamcpherson.com

finally, Finally, FINALLY: At Midnight Comes the Cry is here!

JULIA SPENCER-FLEMING: To understand how excited I am today, you need to realize my last published book was released on April 4, 2020. In the 5 years, 7 months and two weeks since then, most of my writer friends have released 5-6 books. Rhys (and her co-writer Clare Broyles) have put out 14 novels, and Jenn, I assume, has published 57.

 

By the way, today is also the book birthday for FROM CRADLE TO GRAVE, the latest, much-anticipated Royal Spyness mystery, and the reason you're not reading about that book is because Rhys was gracious enough to insist I take the spotlight instead. Thank you, Rhys!

 

The prospect of the publication of AT MIDNIGHT COMES THE CRY kicked off a lot of positive changes in my life. I finally got a new website, courtesy of Xuni.com. I figured out how to post to both Instagram and Facebook at the same time, and my daughter Virginia taught me how to do Insta stories. (Reels are still to come.) I restarted my newsletter, News From the Kill - with many thanks to Jenn, who inspired me to try Substack, where she hosts her own newsletter. 

 

 And I just feel, well, more on top of things. More organized, more able to take one the myriad of tasks popping up every day. Part if that is undoubtedly because Karma and Janey have returned to Victoria's house (dogsitting those two was the LONGEST three weeks of my life.) Part of it is due to my friend Celia Wakefield's suggestions, tips, techniques and plain old kicking me in the butt. Which is why this book is dedicated to her.

 

 Surprise, Celia!

 

Thanks to everyone who has stuck with me during the long, long, LONG journey to seeing the 10th Clare Fergusson/Russ Van Alstyne mystery in bookstores. I love you, and even more importantly, appreciate you all. I hope to see some of you while I'm on tour, or, next spring, at Malice Domestic. When we meet up, rest assured, the drinks are on me!

Won't You Tell Me Your Name?

HANK PHILLIPPI RYAN: The frustrating thing is that sometimes it is so easy and sometimes it is so hard. And right now it is so hard. I am working like mad on a book synopsis, a proposal, and all I need, all I need! is the name of the main character.

Sometimes the names just show up, like Prime Time's Charlotte McNally, there was no question but that Charlotte was her name. (Although, if I had to do it over, I'd bet I would change it, the McNally at least, it seems too cute now,  but that's another story.)

 

And, come to think about it, everybody in the Prime Time series had an instant name, they just arrived, fully formed, Franklin and Penny and even Josh Gelston, which was an amalgam of a strong first name and the last name of my first boyfriend. (Imagine my surprise when I got an email from someone named Josh Gelston, who was something like a caterer for a rock band, who wondered where I had found his name. In my imagination, is the answer!)

Anyway, Jane Ryland, let’s see. That one was SO hard! I had Jane Elizabeth, right off the bat. I worked and worked and worked and had 1 million last names for her, I cannot begin to tell you, and honestly on the way to New York, for a publishing conference I realized I had to come up with a last name for her.  And I said to myself: the next name I see out of the window of this train is going to be her name. And there it was, a massive billboard, I am not kidding, for Ryland Industries. Okay, I thought, got it! Everybody loved Jane Ryland. And then, in one of my first book events, someone ask me “why did you name your main character with the same last name as yours. I was completely baffled. And then I realized. No wonder it sounded familiar.

Anyway, as I said,  I am now trying to name characters in a synopsis in progress. (And I use the term "progress" loosely.) And I cannot come up with the main character name.

I am sitting here looking at the 2025 commencement program from the University of Massachusetts that has fifty million names in it. I have looked through the entire graduating class, thousands and thousands of names. And there is not one that I can find that I can use. Just randomly Ana Gretchen Chapman. Sara Elizabeth Chappelle . Haley Charles . Mia Charles. Desteny Ann Charon. Christina Chen. Catherine Grace Chu. Erica Clarkman. Katie Lynn Clifford. Bridget Breanne Coughlin. Riley Collins. 

Okay, Wait, Riley Collins? Briley? Or maybe Collin Briley. Or, no, Colleen Briley! Wait, I had a Briley in another book.  See the problem? AND a Colleen.

I know there are all those things like the Social Security list of names, and the missing money list, I always look at that. I always look at the credits at the end of TV show shows, they are always fascinating, and maybe why I have so many British sounding names in my books.  

There’s also the tendency to come up with the name with the same first letter. In a previous attempts at a synopsis, I had Annie, all good. Then another character Ava. Then Aiden. That’s just not gonna work. 

Sometimes I just open a random book and look at the names and see if those names remind me of any other names that might remind me of any other names. I really think the best way of finding a name is that it just comes to you at some point. 

You just have to let it appear as you write.

Jenn, your dubious main character has such an interesting name, where did that come from? And Rhys, you’re always having to be careful of history when you choose a name.  And people who write contemporary novels have different kinds of choices.

Reds and readers, tell me your thoughts about names! 

RHYS BOWEN: As Hank said I do have an extra challenge for names as I write historical characters. They have to be right for the time and place.  And in the case of the Royal Spyness novels they have to witty or amusing. So I adore using silly nicknames like Binky and Fig and Podge (some of which are stolen from John’s family members who still have silly nicknames.). My favorite name so far is Lady Wormwood, Fig’s mother. I still chuckle every time I use it.

Sometimes I find I’ve used the wrong name for a character and the story is  plodding along and one day the character says, “Why do you keep calling me Richard when my name is Robert?” And I say “oh sorry” and then the story leaps ahead. It’s true that I believe Elmore Leonard said Once you have the name you have the person. Get the name right and you know exactly who they are. I changed my Scottish inspector’s name in the upcoming From Sea to Skye about five times until I finally realized he was Melrose.

So the only advice I can give to Hank is not to try too hard. Let the name come to you. You’ll wake in the middle of one night and say “Oh of Course. She’s not Abby, she’s Maddy!"

HANK: That is absolutely what happens! 

LUCY BURDETTE: This is funny Hank, as I've just been finishing the murder mystery for the Key West library to be held in February.  The Key West Woman's Club is co-sponsoring the event with the Friends, so I wanted it to have a KWWC cookbook theme. I took several of the characters from the list of Woman's Club members who worked on previous editions of the cookbook, with names like Mrs. Lee Goddard, Mrs. Frank Bowser, Ruth Munder, etc. I lifted the victim from my own THE KEY LIME CRIME. So in answer to your question Hank, it depends on the project!

JENN McKINLAY: Such a great question, Hank! The main character from WITCHES OF DUBIOUS ORIGIN - Zoanne Zakias - was taken from a girl in my judo class when I was 10 years old! I knew even back then it was a cool name. Thanks, ZZ,  wherever you are! 

 

JULIA SPENCER-FLEMING: I have a terrible tendency to insert the names of friends and family members for incidental characters and then not being able to change them out later because they become those names during the course of writing the first manuscript!

 

My biggest bugaboo when it comes to character names is getting them right for the age of the character and the socio-economic class they were born into. There's potentially a wide gap between Nathanial and Jaxon, and there's fifty years of time between Billy and Braydon.

HALLIE EPHRON: For me, names evolve, and I OFTEN change the name of my protagonist once I figure out who she is by what she does. I try not to start with a name that will be difficult to isolate by the search-and-replace function. (No Sue’s or Ann’s - those letters turn up together in too many innocent words.) I can be changing names in the final edit. 

HANK: Oh, definitely. Me,too. 

DEBORAH CROMBIE: Hank, I look at TV and movie credits, too, mostly British, and authors of books on my shelves, or people in the news. But one thing I always check is the most popular UK baby names for the years around my character’s age. Which doesn’t mean I can’t pull something out of left field, or have a character named after an older relative, although that would have to be mentioned. And sometimes names just click. A character in the current book is called Karo, short for Karoline with a K. No idea where that came from. Also Quill, whose last name is Quillen. No idea on that one, either!

HANK: That’s my very favorite, when the name just pops into your mind. It proves it's the right name! 

How about you, Reds and readers. Do you like your characters to have quirky names?  Do you think there are names that  instantly  fit a category, like Tiffany or Rex or Claire or Trixie or Emmaline or Betsy?  (Oh, Emmaline!) 

Do you prefer your characters to be Janes and Davids?

Do you notice diversity in names? Do you ever notice a trend in names? Once my pal Hannah and I came out with a book the same cycle–with the main character Lily. How does that happen? We did NOT know about the other’s naming.

Let’s talk about whatever strikes your fancy about names! (Oh, Fancy!) I mean, you've all done it when you named a child or a pet, right?