The challenge in writing a daily blog is to stay balanced: to choose topics close to centers of interest my readers recognize, while providing enough novelty to prevent them from becoming bored. All writers face this delicate balance.  Harry Potter put J. K. Rowling on the map. But w

A while ago, I wrote a blog mourning the passing of Tony Hillerman (9/25/12) and how, unlike him, many writers of mystery novels give us complex plots but protagonists with little depth. They forget readers have to care about their sleuths, enough to make them flinch when the door to