Finished–Again!

I turned in the manuscript for my next big annotated volume, Classic American Crime Fiction of the 1920’s, to Pegasus Books back in early January, as promised, and settled back to be bored between books. Then came a shock: At the last minute, the owners of the rights to the Hardy Boys mysteries decided that…

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My Year in Review

OK, 2017 was a cataclysmic year for disasters and politics, capped by a massive tax bill that required me to study the law like any first-year associate. My personal approach to these cataclysms was to dive into my writing and related activities, and the result was–well, the year is over! In mid-March, I forced myself…

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Bad (Book) News, Good (Book) News

It was that kind of day today. On the “bad news” front, I’m sad to announce that Liveright Publishing/W. W. Norton has delayed publication of my New Annotated H. P. Lovecraft: Beyond the Mythos to Summer 2019. This is partly due to other books in their pipeline and partly because my New Annotated Frankenstein (that…

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The Joys of July

July has been a lovely book-month so far. I just received my author’s copies of the truly gorgeous New Annotated Frankenstein (the official pub date is August 8)–thank you, Liveright/Norton for another amazingly beautiful design! I’m very proud to be doing my first-ever signing at San Diego Comic-Con, from 5 to 6 pm on Friday,…

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Anatomy of Innocence

I’m pleased to announce that Anatomy of Innocence: Testimonies of the Wrongfully Convicted will be released March 28 and is now available for preorder. http://amzn.to/2mqogxE Anatomy, which I co-edited with Laura Caldwell, tells the incredible true stories of 15 exonerees — innocent men and women — who were convicted of serious crimes and cast into…

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“In the Shadow of Agatha Christie”

Well, In the Shadow of Agatha Christie: Classic Tales by Women Crime Writers, 1850-1917 is done and on its way to Pegasus Books. I thought I’d share the table of contents: “The Advocate’s Wedding Day” by Catherine Crowe “The Squire’s Story” by Elizabeth Gaskell “Traces of Crime” by Mary Fortune “Mr. Furbush” by Harriet Prescott…

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Celebrating Women Crime Writers of the Past

Sara Paretsky was our Distinguished Speaker this year for the Baker Street Irregulars at the Sherlock Holmes Birthday Weekend. She gave a powerful and moving talk about women crime writers who have been forgotten today, despite their achievements and popularity in the 19th and early 20th century. I was inspired by her talk to decide…

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Goodbye, dear friends

I swore to myself when I started this website that I wouldn’t post about personal things, because, well, it didn’t seem right. But my wife and I have lost two good friends in the last three weeks, our beloved cat Xander (age at least twenty) and the imp of the perverse, our youngest cat Spike,…

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The Shameless Website of the Conan Doyle Estate Limited

The brazenness of the Conan Doyle Estate Limited continues to know no bounds. A glossy new website, www.conandoyleestate.com, falsely claims “ownership” of U.S. trademarks in the character of Sherlock Holmes (it has applied for a broad range of trademarks but does not own them yet–and will not if the public speaks up). The CDEL’s website…

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The Monster is Coming!

I’m thrilled to share the cover for New Annotated Frankenstein, to be published by W. W. Norton/Liveright Publishing on July 25, 2017. Guillermo del Toro is writing an introduction, and there’s a fine afterword by Professor Anne Mellor of UCLA, one of the world’s great Frankenstein scholar. There are over 200 illustrations and photographs, and…

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