Yesterday, December 6, was the day of Saint Nicholas, the patron saint of children and the fourth-century bishop of Myra, a Byzantine city in what is now Turkey. On this day, many Swiss-German households with young children are visited by “Samichlaus,” as Sankt Nichlaus is pronounced in the Swiss-German dialect. He doesn’t arrive in theContinue reading “The Patron Saint of Children”
Category Archives: Switzerland
BEFORE THE LEAVES FALL
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”
My Fall Fling
It’s October 29, but the plants in the window boxes hanging from the railings of my balcony are still bravely blooming. As fall has progressed, my twenty-two geraniums have produced steadily fewer purply-pink flowers. Only a scattering of the bright clusters still remains. The blue stalks of sage on either side of the geraniums standContinue reading “My Fall Fling”
Beauty Spots near Bern
I’m sure all of you host visitors now and then, whether they are close friends staying in your homes for a week or acquaintances passing through for a day or two. Have you developed favorite places to take them? We certainly have. The first outing is always a tour of Bern’s Old Town, which inevitablyContinue reading “Beauty Spots near Bern”
Listen to PESTICIDE for $12.99
I just found out that the audiobook of Pesticide, the first Linder and Donatelli mystery—the book in which Renzo and Giuliana fall for each other while solving two murders—is available at half price. Click below if you’d like to listen to the first half hour or buy a copy! https://www.audiobooks.com/promotions/promotedBook/595022/pesticide?refId=209459
A New Swiss Battleground
August 1 is Switzerland’s equivalent of the Fourth of July. Americans commemorate freeing themselves from British rule. The Swiss celebrate Uri, Schwyz, and Unterwalden, the three original Swiss cantons, fighting off conquest by the Habsburgs. This year, August 1 marked the day Trump informed Switzerland that he would impose a 39% tariff on Swiss exportsContinue reading “A New Swiss Battleground”
Newest Mystery Launched at Bern’s English Bookshop
Splintered Justice, the fourth of my Linder and Donatelli mysteries, was released in the US on April 15, and last night it was launched at the Stauffacher branch of Orell Füssli, Switzerland’s largest bookselling chain. Over 100 people were in the audience yesterday evening to hear Clare O’Dea, a novelist (Voting Day, Before the LeavesContinue reading “Newest Mystery Launched at Bern’s English Bookshop”
SPLINTERED JUSTICE
I had more trouble finding a title for this fourth Linder and Donatelli mystery than for the others. Because the novel starts with an attempted murder in Bern’s largest Gothic church, the Berner Münster, I always thought of it as “the Münster book” and got stuck on that name. My research for this new bookContinue reading “SPLINTERED JUSTICE”
An 834-Year Wait
On the first day of January, Bern’s newly elected mayor stepped into her job. Her name is Marieke Kruit, and she is the first woman to be in charge of the city since the last Duke of Zähringer founded it in 1191, one hundred years before the Swiss Confederation came into being. Our new mayorContinue reading “An 834-Year Wait”
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”
Kim Hays 