I’m taking the red-eye to NYC to perform with a multi-talented cast of twelve 'writers-who-read' at the Read650 / Carnegie Hall event, “Women in Music.”

I grew up hearing the roar of the MGM lion, Jackie, on the silver screen because my father, James A. FitzPatrick, was under contract to MGM for 25 years and produced over 200 travelogue shorts now seen on the Turner Channel or YouTube.

I couldn't resist buying the reissue of Bette Midler’s memoir, A View from a Broad. When I peer at the glossy photos, I think of my own small part in her story: The day her manager asked his new assistant, which was me, to pick Bette Midler up at the airport. “But how will I know her?” I asked. His lips turned up and he said, "You can't miss her."

Something happened during the pandemic that drastically altered the speed of my body clock. Anyone else feel that way?

Before becoming a writer, I managed Diva careers. So it was natural for me to write them into my character Cassandra. And now that The Drummer's Widow has been published, I want to pay tribute to Aretha Franklin, Jennifer Holliday, Yvonne Jackson, Etta James, Carole King, Cyndi Lauper, Laurel Massé, Bette Midler, Linda Ronstadt, Amy Winehouse, and of course Lady Gaga who are my Muses. Their voices. Their lyrics. Their herstories. My character Cassandra was drawn from them and she wouldn't exist without them.

I fell in love with the original "Albert" while staying at an ancient 18th century hamlet in southern France. A commune of farmers had originally built the hamlet to house their families, tend to the fields below, and raise goats and sheep.

When I told my publicist that I wanted a LIVE date in Chicago, miraculously Madison Books showed up. I couldn't have asked for a better location.

You see, Madison Books is only 15 minutes away by taxi from Chicago's Tribune Tower. Why does that matter so much to me? Because in the mid-1800s my Scottish ancestor, James S. Kirk, built his soap factory on 320 E. North Water St., just south of where the Tribune Tower was later built in the 1920s.

Brisou Buis is an unusual woman to be among the honored women of translation in the month of August. She was born and raised in a rural village in southern France. Better known for its sunflowers, poppies and lavender than a community of writers. Her father was a potter. Her mother brought up Brisou and her four sisters.

Using historical personalities and the cultural details from their era in a mystery plot makes historical fiction such fun to write.  And even better if you can visit the actual locations, which I was able to do in Carmel-by-the-Sea.

Nearly six feet four and an imposing 250 pounds, Armin Carl Hansen (1886–1957) was as powerful as his paintings.

Last night I did a reading at the California Writers Club. A thrill.

Katherine Mansfield translated into French! Katherine would have been ecstatic.

Cassandra, the damaged singer in my new novel, The Drummer's Widow, was drawn from the heart-wrenching life and death of the irreplaceable Amy Winehouse who died three years ago today.