FROM A RECENT FEATURE FOR AUBURN ALUMNI MAG:
Taylor, Mississippi’s about 15 minutes outside Oxford down Old Taylor Road. The road twists and bends through pastoral greenery and sudden tilled fields toward the town. Might be best to say Taylor’s a village. Population’s right around 500. The main street, much as it is such, is a 100-yard bend in the road consisting of what might be an antique shop, a house, two abandoned buildings, a brown-bricked post office, and a restaurant. Standing in the street, it’s hard to tell the difference between in use and out of service. Of course, standing in the street isn’t something one should do, as it’s 103, breezeless, cloudless, and the sun’s radiating hate for all flesh. READ THE REST HERE

As I finish up the latest Spenser, I'm a little behind in my blogging. The good news is that I'm about to wrap that project. In fact, I had a little time to write an essay that ran this week in Newsweek/The Daily Beast. The subject was a response to longtime book critic Malcolm Jones dismissing not only the idea of John Banville writing a new Philip Marlowe novel but for anyone to take on a series originated by a late author. I had a lot to say on the subject as you'll see in the piece called "The Trouble With Heroes" but renamed for the Beast as Leave Banville Alone! . . . apologies to Britney.