In Memoriam: John Quin-Harkin

It is with profound sorrow, the utmost respect, infinite admiration, and the deepest love that we honor and mourn the passing of the wonderful, dapper, brilliant, clever, ingenious, witty, enthusiastic, and unique John Quin-Harkin, beloved husband of our darling Rhys Bowen.

He left this life peacefully, wrapped in affection,  and surrounded by those who love him.  

There is a change in the universe now, but he lives on in our love and memories. 

And our hearts are broken for his dear family--he was part of our family, too.

Writers on Jeopardy?

 HALLIE EPHRON: We started the week talking about the amazing 31-game Jeopardy run by Jamie Ding, a cool as a cucumber, orange-shirted, sweet looking, self-described "bureaucrat" with an amazing knowledge bank and lightning fast buzzer finger.

Hank noted that one of my all-time favorite thriler writers, Meg Gardiner, was a Jeopardy champion in the 1980's.

Which got me wondering if there were many crime fiction writers who've come up aces on Jeopardy.

It turns out there are lots of writers who've done well on Jeopardy, but not many who are known for writing crime fiction. Only a few, compared to the vast numbers of attorneys and academics and assorted PhDs.... (BTW Meg Gardiner is a Stanford-educated attorney in addition to being an author.) 

Then this week, a glamorous redhead, Kate Brody, who wrote the bestselling, much critically acclaimed thriller The Rabbit Hole (Soho Crime) won, beating the guy who beat Jamie Ding.

/

I'm thrilled for her.

Turns out her appearance this week wasn't her first brush with  Jeopardy. Her novel was a CLUE when it came out a few years ago.

My husband tried out of Jeopardy but was never called. He was brilliant at any questions about history or geography (a stamp collector!) or science or art or classic lit. Useless when it came to pop culture or music.

I'd be great on Jeopardy if the clues were limited to children's lit and food. Other than that, I'm good at improvising, cracking jokes... aka, talking a good line. But that wouldn't rack up many $$.

This has me wondering whether being a crime fiction writer is  advantageous to an aspiring Jeopardy champ. Or does having an active imagination actually put one at a DISadvantage?

Would you want to be a contestant on Jeopardy? Or would Wheel of Fortune be more up your alley? Or would you rather just stay home and shout answers at the TV? Or write crime novels?

Or better yet, read them.

Winter's bones, garden scars

HALLIE EPHRON: It's still a bit chilly here in New England but spring has definitely sprung. The weeping willows have already passed from their beautiful opening number (yellow/lime green buds) to green. Cherries, dogwoods, forsythia, all are blooming like crazy, and cool temps are keep the blossoms on the magnolias. 

But everywhere the remnants of a brutal, late winter blizzard that left my yard buried for weeks in 3 feet of snow, are still in evidence.

Most of the bushes and trees have survived intact and are blooming ferociously.

And my early spring carpet of blue scilla has burst from the ground and is putting on a show.

And then there's this...

This Japanese quince bush should be in full, hot pink bloom. Instead, it's barren. And the bark has been stripped from its branches, starting at about a foot off the ground.

Time will tell whether it will "spring" back next year but I'm not optimistic.

Here's another Japanese quince which only seems to be half dead. 

Consensus here is that the culprits are rabbits. The bane of my garden.

For weeks after that formidable blizzard, a thick blanket of covered the grass and weeds that sustain the rabbits through winter. The snow weighed down the branches and the rabbits climbed aboard, helping themselves to the bark and stripping the branches clean.

And so no flowers formed. No leaves are budding. I'm not optimistic that the bushes will come back. Time will tell.

What do you think? Is there any hope that my Japanese quinces will come back?

Are you having a gorgeous spring, and does your neighborhood bear winter's scars?