Over two percent of Switzerland’s nine million people belong to EXIT, one of the nine or ten organizations in Switzerland that offer people who don’t want to live anymore a painless way to commit suicide. Since 1942, Swiss law has permitted one person to assist another to commit suicide as long as the motive forContinue reading “BEFORE THE LEAVES FALL”
Category Archives: Fiction
A Discovery Award
Last month, I was blowing my own horn about the May launch of Splintered Justice, and today I’m tooting away again—this time about my third book, A Fondness for Truth, which I submitted last year for a 2025 Indie Reader award. Indie Reader (IR) was founded in 2009 to provide support for self-published, hybrid, andContinue reading “A Discovery Award”
The Books I Enjoyed Most in 2024
Forgive me; it has been six weeks since I wrote anything here. First, my husband and I went to Ecuador, and then, when we got back, it was close enough to Christmas that the holidays seemed to absorb all my energy. Because I’ve been busy, I haven’t been diligent about keeping up with the book-relatedContinue reading “The Books I Enjoyed Most in 2024”
Out of This World
You may not know that The Wizard of Oz is only the first of thirty-nine books set in the world of Oz, the first fourteen written by L. Frank Baum, a subsequent eighteen by Ruth Plumly Thomson, and seven more by miscellaneous other authors. My mother and her younger brothers read them all when theyContinue reading “Out of This World”
The Process of Producing a Book
For me, completing (notice I didn’t say writing!) the first draft of a new book is the most thrilling part of being an author. The second most exciting moment is when I finish what I hope will be the final draft of the text, usually after months of rewriting. Once the publisher’s editor has approvedContinue reading “The Process of Producing a Book”
Four Sisters
Hello Beautiful, Ann Napolitano’s 400-page novel, was released on March 14, 2023, to superb reviews. Oprah chose it as her hundredth recommended book since she began her book club in 1996. Nevertheless, it took me sixteen months to buy and read it for a ridiculous reason—the title turned me off. When I tried to analyzeContinue reading “Four Sisters”
A Joyful Novel
I’m not even going to try to come up with a list of the best books I read in 2023. But I can tell you about the book that delighted me most: Ann Patchett’s Tom Lake. A review in the Guardian calls it “an engaging exploration of contentment,” but I’m glad I didn’t read thatContinue reading “A Joyful Novel”
A Small Blast on My Own Trumpet
A little over a year ago, I shared my pleasure when Pesticide, the first Linder and Donatelli mystery, received a starred review from Kirkus. Since then, there’ve been no more Kirkus stars for my Polizei Bern books, although Sons and Brothers and the forthcoming A Fondness for Truth (April 2024) were praised by its reviewers.Continue reading “A Small Blast on My Own Trumpet”
The Allure of THE BLUE SWORD
Since my last blog post was about Bern and pumpkins, and the previous posts were about me, I sat down today planning to write about a recently read book. I went through a list of the last six months of titles and found that I didn’t want to review a single one, although I’d admiredContinue reading “The Allure of THE BLUE SWORD”
My Mother’s Library
Only two days past Mother’s Day, I just had a little piece about my mother Joy Hays published on Lesa’s Book Critiques, a blog about books—especially mysteries—that is run by library manager Lesa Holstine. Lesa has won all kinds of awards for her book reviews, and I’m very grateful to her for publishing the piece.Continue reading “My Mother’s Library”
Kim Hays 