All I Want for Christmas Is...

 LUCY BURDETTE: Here come the holidays, sprinting toward us again! For some of us, that means we need gift ideas, yikes! I almost always end up giving books, unless the recipient has made it clear this would be unwelcome. (Like one great nephew who opened his present a couple years back, burst into dramatic tears, and said “A book! That’s not a present!” We’re giving him a game this year LOL.) Of course we love to have our own books given as gifts, but this year I have several other suggestions.

The New York Times Book of Games is perfect for a wordsmith who doesn’t have all the time in the world. Next to that is a gorgeous book of poetry by women and girls by Ella Risberger. (Debs told us about this a couple months back and I immediately ordered it for our granddaughter. It’s so lovely!)

And two cookbooks–the newest by my Paris-loving idol, Dori Greenspan, and the Key West Woman’s Club cookbook for fans of history and Key West, which can now be purchased online.

HALLIE EPHRON: My yearly challenge is what to get for my grandchildren. Last year I knocked it out of the park with a personalized soccer ball light for my grandson who regularly scores goals for his soccer team. It comes from ETSY. So there’s a real person out there who makes them to order.

I’ve also found gorgeous silver (earrings) for my daughters on ETSY. (My fave: Liz Blanchflower at Stone and Sterling Design.)

And more. I like that there’s a real craftsperson who made the gifts. And if you read the customer reviews carefully you get a sense of whether the workmanship is up to snuff.

HANK PHILLIPPI RYAN: I am so eager to hear what you all have to say! I have nothing, and need help. I saw some slippers (see photo attached)  that look like you have monkeys climbing up your legs and was tempted. Because I am clearly scraping the bottom.  I used to try incredibly hard to be perfect but there’s no way, so I gave up. 

JENN MCKINLAY: When the Hooligans were youngsters, we implemented the four gift rule to mitigate the conspicuous consumption: So it’s something you want, something you need, something to wear, and something to read for the entire family (Hub and I included) and I really haven’t had to stress about gifts ever since. I await their lists and will shop and wrap in an afternoon and go back to cookie baking - the real holiday joy for me! The only other gift recipients are nieces and nephews and they get a Venmo transaction and we call it a day. 

JULIA SPENCER-FLEMING: Shopping for my family is easy, because, like Jenn, we have protocols. Santa leaves cold weather necessities (lip balm, hand sanitizer and pocket-sized hand cream), candy, good socks, a book and something small and fun. Now they’re all grownups, everyone gets ONE gift from me beneath the tree. We all exchange Christmas wish lists right after Thanksgiving.

I have two suggestions for hostess/neighbor/I wasn’t expecting a gift from you needs. First, the Bed Bath and Beyond Fresh Balsam candle. I promise this isn’t sponsored; I love this candle SO much this time of the year. It smells just like fresh pine, and it lasts FOREVER.

The other is super cheap and easy. I get a few Christmas-themed mugs at a Dollar Store, a box of fancy Ghirardelli hot cocoa packets, and a box of candy canes. Each mug gets a few cocoa packets, a couple of candy canes, and voila, the perfect last-minute present. I usually tell the recipient it’s a cheap mug and they can recycle it in the new year - nothing to hang around cluttering your kitchen!

DEBORAH CROMBIE: I have two books for my granddaughter, the Ella Risbridger-edited volume of poems for women and girls, EVERYTHING WILL BE GLAD TO SEE YOU, which is, as Lucy says above, absolutely gorgeous. I think it is available for less and more quickly from Blackwell's in the UK than from Amazon. Blackwell's does not charge shipping to the US! And Jane Langton's THE DIAMOND IN THE WINDOW, as recommended by some of you here. I also may get Wren her first fountain pen. Lamy Safari now has Hogwarts pens, a different color and badge for each house. So cute!

My daughter will want a book, but she usually gives me a list to choose from.

Here's an idea for cooks in your life: Naomi After Cooking Hand Scrub, which was raved about in Bon Appetit and supposedly smells fabulous and will really, truly, get the smell of onions and garlic off your fingers. I ordered some to try, but if it is as good as advertised it may be too late to order as a gift for anyone else as it is apparently selling out. Bon Appetit recommended Bergamot and Pepper but there are other fragrances.

For the guys in my life, no idea. Hopefully they will have suggestions.

Weigh in please Reds, any gift suggestions from you?

Let's Get Crafty!

 RHYS BOWEN:  Sorry about publishing two blogs on the same day by mistake yesterday! Busy week with Thanksgiving and John's birthday. 

Anyway, I've been talking about everyone madly shopping and scoring bargains on Black Friday. I remember my youth when Christmas presents were smaller and simpler. IN those post war years in England everything was still very austere so some of my presents were often home made. I had stuffed toys, dolls, a wooden train all home made.  When I got older a gift was sometimes a hand knitted sweater. I never thought they were less perfect because of this and I have to confess that I still love receiving home made presents.

To me they mean that someone thought about me, got an idea and then took

 time to create something for me. Our son Dominic is the king of home made gifts. Many of his have to do with cooking as he loves experimenting in the kitchen. Last year was lavender lemon curd and limoncello (from our more than bountiful lemon trees). He has created home made beer, other condiments, a lethal spray that kills cold germs.  Also during Covid he made everyone wooden lap desks so we didn't work with our laptops on our knees.  And when the grandkids were small he did audio discs of fairy tales. (He's an actor and they were excellent. I keep telling him to read for Audible).

Last year my granddaughter Mary Clare knitted me a fabulous scarf. It took more time than she had imagined and she sat up until three am on Christmas morning to finish it. I love it, especially because of the time she put into it.

I haven't made anything recently except family photo albums after big events and anniversaries. I love having them myself and glancing through them in spare moments. I also made an album of my sketches that I do when I travel. 

No creative ideas this year yet, but I do find the moment the evenings get longer that my thoughts turn to crafts.

Last year some of you will remember that I made gnomes. This year I have a kit for a holly fairy. I'll show you when it's finished. I also have patterns for caroling mice but that might be a bridge too far as I'm the one who writes all the cards, buys and wraps all the gifts and makes enough food for the family for a week. But I do enjoy the simplicity and quiet of knitting, sewing, with carols being played.

How about you? Who likes to craft? Knitters? Crochet? Anything else?

Thinking Ahead to Christmas food.

 RHYS BOWEN: Apart from buying gifts this is the season when our thoughts turn to food. In my earlier days I participated in cookie swaps. All those hours making cookie dough, cutting into shapes, rolling it, frosting it etc etc. I made Stollen, whcih I adore but nobody else does. It seemed we were overflowing with sugar/butter and everything else bad for us. Now I find there is less interest in sweet things. We always have a Christmas brunch with eggs, bacon, sausage etc, then at four o'clock we have tea (of course, we're British) with lots o cookies, cakes etc but I find not that many are eaten.  Then in the evening we have the big Christmas dinner with turkey and ham and all the trimmings, followed always by apple crumble and Christmas pudding (just for John and me). 

As we have fifteen people descending on us I always try to plan ahead, to make hearty soups and easy dinners that I can free before hand. This is complicated by the fact that I have three gluten free family members, one lactose intolerant and one who doesn't eat meat. I have planned to make a big cocoanut fish soup, a paella one night, but need other ideas. All the pasta dishes I make for a crowd could be made with gluten free pasta, I suppose. But I like the idea of hearty soups. Last year I made a chicken soup with aromatics and chicken breast and then finished it with lemon and spinach. It was quite yummy.

The one thing I always have to make (tradition) is small mince pies and sausage rolls. These are very simple... short crust pastry cut and put into muffic pans, mincemeat inside, brushed with egg white and sugar and then baked. For the sausage rolls I've recently switched to puff pastry and Jimmy Dean's sage sausage meat, the closest I can get to English sausage. 

So any suggestions for easy meals to feed up to fifteen people will be most welcome!

Rhys on Black Friday

 RHYS BOWEN:  It's Black Friday. So who has just returned from standing outside Best Buy or Target since four this morning? 

 Uh, not me. Not now. Never.  At least, I confess John and I once got caught up in Black Friday, before we knew better Many years ago when money was tight we did go to Fry's electronics and bought several Christmas gifts at greatly reduced prices. Then when we went to pay for them we saw that the checkout line went around the whole four walls of the store. We put the stuff back and said nothing is worth that amount of inconvenience. We've never been back since.

I suppose Black Friday was a bigger deal before the internet. The only occasion when parents could score Christmas gifts for their kids at a price they could afford.  Now so many things are advertised at Black Friday prices online that it's easy to get bargains without leaving the house.  I remember from my childhood the whole spectacle of the January sales in London. Prices stayed the same all year in those days until January when all the winter items suddenly were reduced. Women (never men, you notice) would line up outside Selfridges and all the big department stores. They opened on the dot of nine and the crowd of hysterical women surged forward, not caring who they trampled underfoot, grabbing stuff they didn't really want just to get it before someone else did.  

My family never went to the sales and only watched it on the TV news that night. I suppose we've never been that much into stuff. We now have two large TV sets, but only because our kind children have bought them for us. I've never owned anything by Gucci, Prada or any of those.  Correction: when my first YA novel came out, back in 1980, I got a small box at Christmas time from my publisher, Bantam. I put it under the tree, thinking it would be a plastic something because it was so light. When I opened it on Christmas morning my jaw dropped open when I saw the Tiffany box. Inside was a silver heart that said, "We wish they all could be California Girls" (the title of my book).  It's one of the nicest gifts I've ever received.

Actually I have a story about Gucci. We were on a flight and John was sitting across the aisle from an older woman, fashionably dressed. When we landed he got up and said, "Would you like me to get your bag down for you?"

    "It's the Gucci," she said, waving a dismissive hand.

    My British aristocrat husband said, "Madam, I have no idea who or what a Gucci is."

    She was speechless!

So if you didn't go shopping today and the weather is fine do what I'm going to do and get out into nature. Go and breathe fresh air and relax after all that turkey and pumpkin pie. You'll find the trails and parks are empty because everyone else is shopping!

But do tell if anyone scored bargains today! I love hearing about others successes.

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