by Kay Kendall Right now I need all the help I can get. So today I called down The Force to help amp up my super powers. In my case, The Force is Bob Dylan. Let me explain. My second mystery published almost three years ago. Like the first one, it took its name from a […]
By Kay Kendall When I began to write my second mystery, I placed the crimes to be solved in a revolutionary setting. I wanted to reflect on my participation in the radical movement now known as Second Wave Feminism. Back then we just called it women’s lib. My book Rainy Day Women came out in […]
By Kay Kendall These days whenever I cast my thoughts into the future, I become tense. This is a new phenomenon for me. Previously I was more hopeful. That is to say, to some degree. I estimated that the world had until, say, about the year 2050 until conditions became unbearable. That was when I […]
by Kay Kendall According to most literary criticism I’ve read, authors typically have an underlying theme that they grapple with. In the first book or two, the theme may not be obvious. In fact, the author herself may not be conscious of it. Over the course of more books, however, a consistent thread shows up. […]
By Kay Kendall The main reason usually given to explain the enduring appeal of mysteries is that readers like to enter a world of suspense and chaos, knowing that everything will be tidied up and turn satisfactory in the end. This format has held true for the traditional mystery for decades, and even though there are now many […]
By Kay Kendall Today is December 20, and so, just as the night follows the day, tomorrow will be December 21. In the Northern Hemisphere that marks the winter solstice. This date will bring the shortest day in the year and its night the longest. During the solstice, the sun’s position relative to Earth seems to pause–the word solstice […]
By Kay Kendall My dear friend Larissa is in big trouble. She just called me long distance to say she’s a suspect in a murder case. Good grief, it’s only been a year since my husband David was suspected of murder, and now it’s Larissa. This is too much. I’ll need to get a trench coat and […]
by Kay Kendall “I tried so hard to sleep last night, but kept getting up to read more of Kay Kendall’s DESOLATION ROW. It resonates powerfully in these troubled times . . . .” So begins the newest reader comment on Amazon about one of my mysteries. Of course any laudatory review is a pleasure […]
By Kay Kendall When my first mystery was months away from publication, other writers suggested I should attend ThrillerFest, the high powered writers’ conference held every July in New York City. I protested that a) I don’t write thrillers, and b) that conference was pricy. Then I was told that International Thriller Writers, the group […]
By Kay Kendall This afternoon my husband asked me an upsetting question. “Are fewer people reading books these days?” I gulped. “Yes,” I replied, “but I try not to think about it.” On the one hand, I see statistical reports monthly and year-to-date and this year versus last year. The trend is down, slowly but […]