Well, I’m now at Book #381 in the Edgars contest today. That’s a few books, and makes the number of books I need to read for the Gardner biography look minute. I should be able to that in 4 months or so. I’ve found most of the books in all of his series, so now it’s just a matter of finding the time to read them.

Also all of these books have made me start thinking about my next work of fiction. I’ve not had enough time to commit to my own writing this year. Every time it looks possible, the UPS man decides to come a’calling. I received 6 books yesterday and 8 more today. So until December I won’t have much time for my own works.

With reading all of these books, I’ve also started thinking more about my work and what I want to write next. My mood has turned darker and more cynical, so it’s likely that I’ll be writing a more hardboiled book than any before. Those long commutes back and forth to school have me thinking about new characters and plots. I love that reading so much can stimulate the synapses to make for future work for yourself.

I was very sorry to hear about Tony Hillerman. I only met him once, when we were both nominated for the Agatha for best non-fiction. He won and was very gracious. I had to step in for him at the Hardboiled Heroes conference this past summer. He’ll be missed in the mystery community.