Dana's Notebook

Boston Noir at Noir Bar

2010-02-05T06:01:00.001-08:00

Here, at long last, some pics from the event at Noir Bar in the Charles Hotel. The setting was ideal: outside was a gawdawful rain storm, inside was dimly lit, muffled conversation, the clink of glassware.

Suddenly, a woman screamed...

Okay, not a woman, it was feedback from the mic as we got set up. It really was fun; I've mentioned the signature cocktails based on each of our stories, and can attest that the "Femme Sole" was elegant, tasty, and packed an unexpected wallop.

Here, I'm trying to "smolder." I'm not sure it's working, but I do enjoy a challenge.

Another element, one that made me feel almost like a performance artist, was the projection of old black and white noir films on the screens behind us.

L-R: me, Brendan DuBois (who did a cracker-jack job of introducing the book and the event), Lynne Heitman, and Russ Aborn.

We sold a bunch of books and the audience was super. Not a bad crowd, for a rainy Monday night. Thanks to the folks at Noir Bar for making a fun event!

An Edgar nomination for "Femme Sole!"

2010-01-19T09:18:00.000-08:00

I'm stunned and delighted to let you know my short story, "Femme Sole," has been nominated for an Edgar Award for Best Short Story. "The Edgar Allan Poe Awards (popularly called the Edgars), named after Edgar Allan Poe, are presented every year by the Mystery Writers of America. They honor the best in mystery fiction, non-fiction, television, film, and theatre published or produced in the previous year."

Here are the nominees for Best Short Story:

"Last Fair Deal Gone Down" – Crossroad Blues by Ace Atkins (Busted Flush Press)
"Femme Sole" – Boston Noir by Dana Cameron (Akashic Books)
"Digby, Attorney at Law" – Alfred Hitchcock Mystery Magazine by Jim Fusilli (Dell Magazines)
"Animal Rescue" – Boston Noir by Dennis Lehane (Akashic Books
"Amapola" – Phoenix Noir by Luis Alberto Urrea (Akashic Books)

(You can find the nominees in all the categories here.)

Holy mackerel! The past year has been so very good to me, I never, ever imagined I'd have this honor. I'm thrilled to death. Thank you, MWA judges--in all the categories. I know what work goes into this process.

And thanks to Toni Kelner who called this morning to congratulate me, not knowing I didn't have a clue!

Noir Bar, Boston Noir, Pinot Noir

2010-01-14T07:33:00.000-08:00

If there's one convention that can be found in noir writing of any period, it's booze. So it's only natural that the next two Boston Noir events I do will be in a bar and a wine store.

I'll be doing a reading and signing with Lynne Heitman, Brendan DuBois, and Russ Aborn at Noir Bar at the Charles Hotel in Cambridge, MA, Monday night, January 25 from 7 to 9 pm. Come join us and sip signature cocktails!

And a solo event at my favorite local (Beverly, MA) wine store: Henry's Wine Cellar. I'll be signing copies of Boston Noir during a wine tasting featuring Pinot Noirs (also one of my favorite wines) on February 11, from 4 to 7 pm.

I told you about werewolves on the North Shore...

2010-01-07T13:53:00.001-08:00

...in "The Night Things Changed." But this is a real wolf who was AWOL from Wolf Hollow, a sanctuary in Ipswich, MA, not too far away from here. Nina is home safely--and happily--now. She was never a threat to humans.

Wolf Hollow is a nonprofit organization started in 1988 by the late Paul Soffron for the preservation of wolves through education and exposure. Check out the picture of Nina; she's gorgeous!

Guest blogging with the Stiletto Gang!

2010-01-07T04:56:00.000-08:00

My guest blog, "The Bad Old Days," is posted with the Stiletto Gang today. Please swing by and say "howdy!"

Happy, happy...

2010-01-04T10:50:00.000-08:00

...2010 to everyone!

This is to introduce my new feline editorial staffers, Kaylee and Zoe, who joined us a week ago from the local shelter. They're about ten weeks old, and threaten to rule the world, once they get done whipping us into shape. We'd promised ourselves kittens for Christmas, and we lucked out!

In other lovely news...a couple of nice reviews and shouts-out. There was this (on Allthingsurbanfantasy.blogspot.com) and this for "The Night Things Changed." Then my friend Charlaine Harris had a great time reading Boston Noir.

I hope everyone is recovering from the holidays, and looking forward to a happy, happy New Year. I'm looking forward to getting back to WRITING!

Merry, merry!

2009-12-30T05:33:00.001-08:00

The BR pile: Chuck Hogan

2009-12-09T07:56:00.000-08:00

Actually having a chance to say "hey" to Chuck at holiday event for Kate's Mystery Books, I was reminded how remiss I've been in reporting on the B(een) R(ead) pile. Bad blogger! No bourbon! Without further ado...

What was most fun about reading Prince of Thieves and The Blood Artists one after the other was experiencing the different voices in the books. And it's not just that they're completely different crime novels (the first is about Boston bank robbers, the second is a medical thriller about a killer virus and the researchers who try to stop it). There's almost a homey familiarity to the characters in Prince, despite their brutality; as someone familiar with the setting, I didn't hear one false note. There's a remoteness to the researchers in The Blood Artists, as chilling as the viral villain they pursue. What floors me is in the comparison of the dialogue: there was never any point in either book where one started to sound like the other. Charlestown thugs and CDC scientists, each convincingly authentic, situated perfectly in their separate worlds.

Dang. That takes some serious skill. Add to that the terrific pace of both books and Hogan's willingness to take his characters to places you might prefer they didn't go.

I'll be adding the rest of Chuck's books to my holiday wish list.

As for the new addition to my TBR pile, well, I don't know who this Julia Child person is, but she sure talks about food a lot. And France. I'm still working on The Aeneid, and as much as I'm liking it (I'll agree it's the Roman equivalent of The Odyssey), some how epic adventure seems a bit much against the holidays.

"Femme Sole" in the BOSTON GLOBE

2009-12-08T13:04:00.000-08:00

This was a nice surprise. I knew they were doing a small piece to promote the event at Brookline Booksmith on Thursday, but had no idea it would be featured so prominently, or with a picture!

And while I reported that Boston Noir has been doing well on the Globe bestseller list, I don't think I've had time to link to the great review it received. "Femme Sole" was singled out:

"Dana Cameron’s “Femme Sole’’ turns the clock back to turn-of-the-century Dock Square. There, another enterprising businesswoman (“a pretty young lass with no family and a thriving business on the waterfront’’) has married a man to insulate herself from predators, only to find she’s let the predator into her bed."

Great news all around! I hope to see you in Brookline on Thursday!

Sisters in Crime at B&N

2009-12-04T13:21:00.001-08:00

Hallie Ephron (center), Hank Phillippi Ryan (right), and I had a super time at the Peabody Barnes & Noble Wednesday night. Not only did CRM Paula Morin do a great job of advertising the event, we were surrounded by family and friends. Especially nice was the number of New England Sisters in Crime in the audience, and the readers who'd come from as far away as Connecticut, through all kinds of weather!

Thanks, everyone!

Tomorrow: B&N with Hank and Hallie

2009-12-01T09:44:00.000-08:00

I hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving (or, if you don't celebrate, a super Thursday). I can't believe we're staring down the barrel of the holiday season already...

I'm gearing up for three events in the next week or so. The first is a New England Sisters in Crime event with Hank Phillippi Ryan and Hallie Ephron at the Peabody Barnes & Noble tomorrow night (Wednesday, December 2). If you missed Crime Bake, why not catch up with us there?

The next is the annual holiday party with Kate's Mystery Books. This year, the party will be at Redbones in Somerville, MA on December 6. Like barbecue? Like books? Got some shopping to do? There'll be a host of local mystery writers signing books from 3-6; I'll be there at least from 4:45-5:30.

December 10, I'll be at Brookline Booksmith with Brendan DuBois and Russ Aborn, reading from our stories in Boston Noir.

Oprah Magazine, NYT, Booklist reviews for BOSTON NOIR!

2009-11-17T10:35:00.000-08:00

Last weekend was action packed with Crime Bake, but the action started off early for me. On Thursday, Lynne Heitman, Russ Aborn, and Brendan DuBois and I did readings from Boston Noir at the wonderful Newtonville Books. There was a super crowd (meaning they were plentiful and had great, thoughtful questions!) and lots of books to sign. Thanks, Mary, for a terrific event!

O, The Oprah Magazine features the Akashic Noir series in the “Reading Room.” It’s on page 192 in the December issue, the one with Ellen DeGeneres on the cover. I’ll wait while you go get it. You can see Boston Noir in the stack, right there in the middle, the light blue cover. So my story would be just about in the middle of that. I apologize to everyone I greeted at the hotel by thrusting the magazine under her nose instead of a hug and “hello.” But OMG! In O, with Akashic, right below Vladimir Nabokov.

Besides its starred review in Publishers Weekly, Boston Noir debuted at number four on the Boston Globe paperback bestseller list. Woohoo! There also was a super review in Booklist: “The stories…are uniformly solid, with characters, plots, and atmosphere that evoke the classic noirs of Cain, Woolrich, and Thompson.”

BN was reviewed by Marilyn Stasio in the New York Times Sunday Books section: “Dennis Lehane advises us not to judge the genre by its Hollywood images of sharp men in fedoras lighting cigarettes for femmes fatales standing in the dark alleys...[Lehane] writes persuasively of the gentrification that has...left people feeling crushed.”

And my story, “Femme Sole,” got a very nice notice in the review in PopMatters.com:

“Dana Cameron’s “Femme Sole” is another success, reaching back into the city’s colonial past to find a rich noir. Her protagonist, Anna Hoyt, is a North End tavern owner in the year 1795, struggling to maintain her independence while under siege from an abusive husband and local racketeers who do not recognize her rights on account of her gender. Cameron’s prose is well tailored and wastes no time bringing Anna to life. The strength and fullness of Anna’s character makes it easy to sympathize and identify with her, to feel invested in her fate.”

Finally, if you'd like to hear editor and contributor, Dennis Lehane and fellow contributors Russ Aborn, Brendan DuBois, Jim Fusilli, Lynne Heitman, and me reading from our short stories at the Boston Book Festival, you can get the podcast at the The Phoenix's blog.

I never thought I'd hear my work being described as "fucked-up dark-hearted shit" and be thrilled about it!

C is for Crime Bake!

2009-11-17T10:04:00.000-08:00

This weekend was the 8th annual New England Crime Bake. Sue Grafton was the GoH, and I can tell you (as so many other people will), she’s just lovely. We sat next to each other at breakfast, we talked cooking and Thanksgiving, and her talk at lunch was all about her hints about writing. It gave everyone, readers and writers, plenty to ponder--and a lot of laughs. You can see her, albeit a bit blurrily, below, to the left of Hallie Ephron.

There were great panels on bestsellers and forensic evidence. Kate Flora, Ruth McCarty, David Zeltserman, Toni Kelner, and I discussed our strategies for hanging in there on the “P is for Persistence” panel. I hope everyone enjoyed it; I figured it went well because I left there charged up and ready to face the cold, hard world of writing again. My agent Janet Reid recaps a little of it here.

Then there were the people at our dinner table, Hillerman House (aka The House on Hillerman...in 3-D). Oh, dearie me. MWA’s Margery Flax, Toni Kelner, Steve Kelner, Jedediah Berry, Paul Tremblay, Maggie Barbieri, Peg Patten, Eileen Forster Keck, and Rachel Beyer Brady. When we didn’t win the prize with our house song we felt we could still hold our heads up. The Kelners crafted our anthem “We Want Bloodshed” to be sung to the words of “We Are the Champions.” Yes, heaven help me, I sang in public, as far from the mike as possible, but with great gusto. We rocked it down to a little nub.

Is it any wonder I’m hoarse now? All that laughing and singing and writerly enthusiasm in one weekend? Better sign up for next year, when Charlaine Harris will be the GoH, and see what I’m talking about.

AND! Friday started off right, when Toni Kelner gave me copies of Wolfsbane and Mistletoe in German. Yay, Toni! You can see a copy of the cover at her website. The cool thing is, even though I have about six words of restaurant German, I could follow my story a bit (but mostly because I’d written it). Did you know Fangborn translates as “Fangzahngeschöpf?” I bet you did.

Newtonville Books and N. E. Crime Bake this week!

2009-11-09T09:01:00.000-08:00

In the midst of beach walking, book buying, basement cleaning, and other weekendery, DID I REALLY SEE WINTER HOLIDAY DECORATIONS UP, JUST MOMENTS AFTER HALLOWEEN? The start of holiday madness the day after Thanksgiving is bad enough, this is just...sputter.

Enough of that: I have a busy week ahead. On Thursday, November 12, I'll be at Newtonville Books, in Newton MA to promote Boston Noir with Lynne Heitman, Russ Aborn, and Brendan DuBois. Friday (yes, this week!) will be the start of the New England Crime Bake, featuring Sue Grafton. For details, check out the "Appearances" section of my website. Hope to see you there!

Say...perhaps it's not too early to be considering the holidays after all! Books make excellent gifts.

I'm just saying.

ATTENTION: EVENT AT BACK PAGES CANCELED

2009-11-04T07:33:00.000-08:00

Unfortunately, the Boston Noir event scheduled for tomorrow night (Thursday, November 5) at Back Pages Books in Waltham has been canceled.

I don't know if it will be rescheduled, but I will keep you updated.

Halloween post script and WWBD?

2009-11-03T08:55:00.001-08:00

On my Facebook page, I asked for replies I should've given to the Halloweenie, all of eight years of age, who looked at my candy offering and said, "Don't you have anything else?"

Many useful replies were suggested. I wanted to share a few more remarks made or overheard on Halloween:

1. "Your doorbell is too loud."
2. "I hate 'Take 5s.'"
3. "That place totally smells like chicken soup."
4. "Let's go back to that other house."

This was when the urchins were actually speaking. Fewer than last year said anything at all (and yes, I was counting), never mind "Trick or treat," "Happy Halloween," or "Thank you." A few were polite, mostly coached by their parents. And I recognized at least two big groups that weren't even from my town, much less my neighborhood. I spose this isn't really unfair, but it strikes me as uncool. Hint: if you're going to expand your range, don't talk about "hitting" another neighborhood before you get in the car to go home while I'm still at the doorway. And don't wear the other town's logo on your sweatshirt.

Is anyone else thinking this is getting to be less fun?

And a follow-up to my inspiration-of-the-moment costume, described in my last post. I woke up the next morning with the tattoo of the vampire bite still on my neck. I checked the directions, which said to use baby oil. Baby oil? Who has baby oil? I tried my usual makeup remover, which did nothing. Then I tried my high-test moisturizer, which only made the fake bite look even more real, but scabbier and more infected. After five minutes of scrubbing, I started to panic. I have an event to promote Boston Noir at Back Pages in Waltham on Thursday. There's no room in noir for vampire bites (or is there?). If this doesn't come off, what will I do?

What would Buffy do? What would Sookie do? What would Mina Harker do?

Before I went rummaging for an appropriately jaunty scarf, I tried one more thing, which worked. A word to the wise: before you mess with removing fake tatoos, make sure you have olive oil on hand.

The key to a good Halloween costume...

2009-11-02T06:15:00.000-08:00

...is simplicity, I think. This year, I wasn't going to bother even putting on my Minnie Mouse ears to hand out candy to the kids, but then a thought struck me.

I put on a pair of jeans, a white shirt, a green apron, and a button that said "Merlotte's. Beer, Burgers, Blood."

Oh, yeah. I had a really good fake tattoo of a vampire bite to complete the look.

The good thing was that if any little kids showed up, there wasn't anything particularly scary (except me in an apron).

But no one in my neighborhood got it. Dang.

Apparently one of the other keys to a really good costume is NOT subtlety.

Pictures from the BOSTON NOIR launch weekend

2009-10-28T13:30:00.001-07:00

I've done a number of events at the Boston Public Library, and have always loved the place. Just check out the architecture.

The place was packed for the Boston Book Festival. This is just one of the lines, on a day that was cold and rainy. We were waiting to hear Nicholas Negroponte discuss his "One Laptop Per Child" program.

Before the Boston Noir event got under way, there was a green room for us: I'm sitting on the left, Lynne Heitman on the right. Standing, left to right: Jim Fusilli, Brendan DuBois, Russ Aborn, and Dennis Lehane.

The auditorium was packed and the signing line went on forever, it seemed...

...but the Noiristes were up for it.

And then there was the cocktail party. You can see some of the folks from the New England Chapters of Sisters in Crime and Mystery Writers of America.

As if such a boffo event wasn't enough, the organizers of the Boston Book Festival gave us...

CHOCOLATE!

The Sunday event was at the Brattle Theatre. I was appropriately shod, of course.

After the introduction and the readings, we took Q and A. Left to right: Lynne, Jim, Dennis, me, and Russ.

And more signing. Both the audiences and my fellow panelists were really cool.

And did I mention the shoes? I only stress these because I spent most of last month in hiking boots and I wanted to get my girly-shoe card punched.

It's been an incredible pleasure to work with everyone at Akashic Books. It's an honor to be part of the collection. Thank you to everyone at the BBF and the Brattle Theatre.

Boston Book Festival and BOSTON NOIR!

2009-10-24T06:48:00.000-07:00

Today is the official launch of Boston Noir, including my story, "Femme Sole." The launch will be at a special (ticketed) event at the first Boston Book Festival this evening, and will include readings by the volume's editor, Dennis Lehane, and contributors Russ Aborn, Brendan DuBois, Jim Fusilli, Lynne Heitman, and me. I am really looking forward to this; it was terrific fun writing the story and I'm delighted to be a part of the Akashic Noir series.

Also, I happen to know that Fellow Femme Fatale Hank Phillippi Ryan will be at the BBF--don't miss her reading and the open mic event!

Tomorrow, the celebration of Boston Noir continues with an event at the Brattle Theatre in Cambridge. You need to get (free) tickets in advance, so check out the details here.

I promise pictures when I get back! Hope to see you there!

Macavity at Bouchercon! On to the Boston Book Festival!

2009-10-21T07:00:00.000-07:00

I'm delighted to let you know that "The Night Things Changed," my Agatha Award-winning short story (in Wolfsbane and Mistletoe, edited by Charlaine Harris and Toni L. P. Kelner) won the Macavity Award at Bouchercon in Indianapolis! The Macavity, nominated and voted on by the members of Mystery Readers International, is named for T. S. Eliot's "mystery cat."

To say that I am honored and surprised is an understatement. I was nominated with Toni Kelner, Laura Lippman, Sean Chercover, and Tom Piccirilli, writers I admire tremendously.

I'll be sure to post a picture of the award itself when it arrives (Janet Rudolph and MRI are going green, and rather than shipping the awards several times, she brought an example with her. I think this is a smashing idea!). In the mean time, you can check out the pictures at my Facebook page, to see some of the fun we had.

Later, I'll be posting to the Femmes Fatales about what we all got up to--man, we were BUSY!

It doesn't stop there. October 24 and 25, I'll be participating in the launch of Boston Noir at the Boston Book Festival. Boston Noir, of course, is an entry in the Akashic noir series, and is edited by Dennis Lehane. My short story, "Femme Sole," is my first crack at noir, and I loved every minute of it. There'll be tons of events to support the book, so be sure to check out my appearances calendar.

What an autumn!

Where I'll be at Bouchercon

2009-10-13T13:08:00.000-07:00

I'll be at the following Bouchercon panels:

Friday 9-9:50 SHORT, DARK, AND GOOD READING
Five of the 2009 Anthony nominees for short story and a previous winner discuss their
work. Simon Wood (M), Sean Chercover, Jane K. Cleland, Toni L.P. Kelner,
Kristine Kathryn Rusch

and

Sunday 10:00 am – 10:55 WOULD I LIE TO YOU?
S.J. Rozan poses questions to a star-studded panel of authors: Charlaine Harris, Ed Lin and Eric Stone. Three of the authors will answer truthfully. One will lie. Can you identify the liar? The audience will vote, and prizes will be awarded at the end of the hour.

And all the Femmes Fatales who are attending B'con will listing our collective whereabouts on our blog--we are a busy bunch!

Safe travels, and hope to see you in Indy!

For your Anthony and Macavity consideration...

2009-10-12T08:20:00.000-07:00

If you'd like to read my Anthony- and Macavity-nominated short story, "The Night Things Changed," in Wolfsbane and Mistletoe, edited by Charlaine Harris and Toni L.P. Kelner, the link is here.

The full list of Anthony-nominated short stories is:

“The Night Things Changed” by Dana Cameron, Wolfsbane & Mistletoe (Ace)

“A Sleep Not Unlike Death” by Sean Chercover, Hardcore Hardboiled (Kensington)

“Killing Time” by Jane K. Cleland, Alfred Hitchcock Mystery Magazine - November 2008

“Skull and Cross-Examinations” by Toni L.P. Kelner, Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine - February 2008

“Scratch a Woman” by Laura Lippman, Hardly Knew Her (William Morrow)

“The Secret Lives of Cats” by Kristine Kathryn Rusch, Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine - July 2008

And the list of Macavity Award nominees for best short story is:

“The Night Things Changed” by Dana Cameron (Wolfsbane and Mistletoe, edited by Charlaine Harris and Toni L.P. Kelner, Ace)

“A Sleep Not Unlike Death” by Sean Chercover (Hardcore Hardboiled, edited by Todd Robinson, Kensington)

“Keeping Watch Over His Flock” by Toni L.P. Kelner (Wolfsbane and Mistletoe, edited by Charlaine Harris and Toni L.P. Kelner, Ace)

“Scratch a Woman” by Laura Lippman (Hardly Knew Her, by Laura Lippman, Wm. Morrow)

“Between the Dark and the Daylight” by Tom Piccirilli (Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine, Sept/Oct 2008)

See you all at Bouchercon in Indianapolis!

Chapter Four: Diary of a werewolf in Turkey (Ephesus)

2009-10-09T10:41:00.000-07:00

(Editor's note: Gerry, sterling werewolf that he is, seems to be more concerned with beer and sailing than some other salient details. For example, our WGF (wicked good friend) Tess Gerritsen suggested this trip: in addition to being an amazing writer, Tess is a fan of archaeology, food, and travel. We were guided by the fine folks at Peter Sommer Travels (specialists in archaeological tours by gulet). Can you see how this was destined to work out brilliantly? Tess also has a description of our tour on her blog, along with her adventures in Cappadocia after. Now, back to Gerry.)

Although it is one of the seven wonders of the ancient world, the temple of Artemis at Ephesus is now almost nonexistent. Its marble and columns were robbed out to decorate other sites. Before, it might have looked like this (below):

If you look carefully enough, you might be able to see the cult statue of Artemis/Cybele in the back. Several were found in the city of Ephesus, and would have looked like this:

or this:

I dig a chick with architecture on her head.

The city of Ephesus itself, was HUGE and amazingly intact. It was one of the cities of the Ionian League and later the capital of Roman Asia Minor.

Not only do you have beautifully painted plaster walls still standing, like these (above),

but you get rows of high-style houses so well preserved that they have their own structure to protect them. It's also where the archaeologist do some of their restoration work. Nice gig.

And it's not only the big stuff that survives, like this temple to Hadrian,

or this major city roadway--imagine it filled with thousands of citizens, slaves, and visitors--but you also learn about some of the details of every day life, like this public toilet, below. Hope you get along with your friends.

But the best known buildings in Ephesus are still pretty neat. Like the Library of Celsus, below,
which made Dana and Tess downright giddy, and pose as caryatids.

To be fair, anyone would get excited about this place. Look at that crane--that's big boy archaeology!

And then there was an amazing theater, with much of the staging area and orchestra intact.

Some of the smaller artifacts are in the museum in the modern city of Ephesus.

This shows a battle, not with garden gnomes (check out the seated prisoner with the pointed hat in the middle), but with barbarians.
And this relief shows a bull tied to a ring on an altar, ready for sacrifice. Temples, like that of Artemis (above), had their altars outside (and you can still find some of those rings), so everyone could share in the offering. Barbecue!

I'm not sure I want to know what this one above is...

But I know a certain Herpet-American vampire who'll be very interested in the snakes in this carving!

Chapter Three: Diary of a werewolf in Turkey (Claros and Notion)

2009-10-03T11:16:00.000-07:00

Claros, outside of the modern city of Kusadasi, was an oracular temple dedicated to Apollo. We werewolves are very interested in oracles, even if they're not very accurate. Or specific. Or helpful.

There's a lot visible of the temple complex (which also contained a small temple to Artemis), thanks to the diligent work of archaeologists who removed layers and layers of silt deposited by the river nearby. Pilgrims would have come from all over to visit the temple and oracle, sacrifice animals and ask questions of the gods.

You can see that the site still floods, and the water has to be pumped out. You can also see the remains of an ancient water pipe, running across the ditch (by the ladder). The site was used for almost a thousand years, and rebuilt seven times, until it was defaced by Christians in 385A.D.

The reason it was rebuilt so often was that it was one of the most important oracles in the Greek world, after Delphi. In this case, the oracle was probably located under the temple. It may be that if you had a question, you'd descend beneath the temple...

...and move through a labyrinth of narrow tunnels. Remember, it would have been dark and quiet, and very eerie. Think claustrophobia, flickering torches, the sound of water dripping, perhaps chanting.

The oracle might have been situated near the spring, perhaps drinking from it, to be inspired by the gods. Or maybe the oracle inhaled gases released by the spring, which also would have been pretty inspiring. The oracle would provide an answer in a riddle; the job was to provide answers from the gods, not translate them.

But now, there are only frogs in the spring. Don't know if they are prophetic or not.

There's a lot going on in this picture. There's a cave on the hill; you can see the entrance in the cliff, just above the house. This might have been what originally led people to establish a temple nearby. You can also see a HUGE fragment of the statue of Artemis on the left (compare that torso with the person in blue).

This is a fragment of the statue's foot. The leg, found nearby, weighs close to seven tons.

Nearby Notion was a strategically-placed city. Where there is now a floodplain, you can see where the sea would have been, centuries ago. Great view.

Although there are some remains still visible on the site--walls, an agora--they're not as plainly visible as on other sites. Here, for example, is the remains of a theater.

It's a little easier to see from this angle.

There won't be any problem seeing any of the buildings or structures at our next stop, one of the most important in the ancient world: Ephesus.

Man, I love this cover

2009-10-02T12:06:00.001-07:00

I've been getting ready for Bouchercon and the Boston Book Festival and so have been sending the usual author photos and cover art jpegs. I just love the cover of Boston Noir. Although I'm not sure where this was shot, it reminds me of your standard springtime view of the Public Gardens, usually in full bloom, with the swan boats swanning and everything looking very clean, colorful, pretty, and ready to be on a tourist brochure. This is...something else. You can feel the cold, you can feel the slush seeping into your shoes. It sets the tone right away.

You'll love the rest of the book, too. I promise.

(Next blog will be more of Gerry's adventures in Turkey. I promise.)