September 2025
Vol. 276
Hello friends,
We are a few days from Fall, and it’s always this time of year when I get reflective. It’s perfect weather to disappear onto the porch with a cup of tea and bird watch with Jordan. The cooler mornings and evenings remind me of childhood, going back to school, starting the year anew. That new pair of jeans, a larger size of sneaker, some current tops, and of course, all the paper and pencils and Bic pens, meeting new teachers, getting to know the new students in the class (that didn’t happen for me until 3rd grade—we had a very small school.)
I miss those days. The possibility. The changes. The optimism. This September has been a strange one with many highs and some terrible lows. In a matter of days, I wrapped the tour for LAST SEEN at Bouchercon, finished 2026’s book, YOU KNOW WHY, and turned it in with enough time to break bread with my editor and hear her thoughts (she loved it - PHEW!) and then promptly collapsed for a week, infected with the conference crud. It was as well timed as it could be, really. I stayed quiet on the couch, drinking electrolytes and watching shows, giving my body the rest it earned.
We don’t rest enough. If there is anything to take away from this month’s missive, let it be that thought. We work constantly. We strive, we plot and plan, we think. We push our bodies to the limits; our minds are constantly inundated with a steady stream of dopamine. It’s no wonder that after months of this, a collapse happens.
Normally, when I finish a book, I am already well into the thought process of the next one. Not this time. It’s been a very long summer, and I put every ounce of creativity into YOU KNOW WHY. And then I got sick, and then the world imploded, and I’ve decided the only thing to be done is take a few weeks off and let my mind, body, and soul reset. Since I don’t know what I want to write next, instead of forcing myself to the page, this is a healthier alternative.
I watched Gladiator for the umpteenth time the other day. It felt…well timed. There’s something absolutely staggering about Maximus’s speech at the beginning. He says: “What we do in life, echoes in eternity.” (spoilers ahead, FYI.)
For authors, this is especially true. Once a book is out in the world, thanks to technology, it’s there forever. But that’s not what he means. He is talking of the moral structure. It is followed by the words he shares with his soldiers. “Strength and honor.” They go down the line, repeating the phrase. They must. They are soldiers in an emperor’s war. To face the enemy in battle, they must have absolute moral certitude. They have a leader they believe in unreservedly. That’s the basic plot of the movie: Caesar Marcus Aurelius wants Maximus to take over when he dies, to turn Rome into a republic again. To have this unsanctioned heir, the general of his troops instead of his son lead the republic, Caesar will be assured of his wishes.
Of course, Auerlius’s son Commodus doesn’t believe in this. “[He] is not a moral man,” Caesar says to Maximus. Commodus is more than immoral. He is possibly the worst villain of all because not only is he vainglorious and power-hungry, but he has also failed to internalize his father’s messages of temperance, mercy, and humility. Commodus has no moral compass. Caesar has failed in raising him. This, of course, is starkly realized when Commodus murders his father and demands loyalty from the general.
He will never get Maximus’s loyalty. Maximus is pure good. Ironic, of course, that he’s spent his entire adult life killing for the glory of Rome. How can taking a life, any life, be moral in any way? Maximus has been brainwashed into Caesar’s perpetual war. He is a soldier who is working for the glory of Rome—a place he has never even seen, but believes to be pure good and pure light. But really, he loves the man he believes Caesar to be. The glory of Rome is a golden promise; it is his Valhalla, because he believes that Marcus Aurelius is a moral man.
This battle of good and evil, of moral man versus immoral, is one of my favorite tropes. Crime fiction in general is an examination of this on the most microscopic level—someone is killed, someone must catch the killer. We root for the moral character, of course, we do. Every once in a while, though, in a surprising reversal of heroism, the writer creates a character so utterly immoral that we root for them instead. When we talk about creating a “great” villain, that’s what we mean: Engendering enough sympathy for the villain that we somehow want them to win.
Why have I mentioned this? Besides being one of my favorite movies, I love the way it makes me examine morality. Moral relativism is something we grapple with on a daily basis. We should think about it more.
I was on a panel at Bouchercon about this very topic: What makes a great villain? Putting aside the mustache-twirling variety, the conclusion of the panel was mostly in agreement that the gray area of moral relativism allows for the reader to root for someone who is, by all other accounts, hideous in their very nature. We do so by humanizing them.
But there is no humanity in evil. Ever. We mustn’t forget that. “What we do in life echoes in eternity” is far more than a fantastic line of dialogue. It is something to consider as we move through our days, deciding what is good, what is evil. What is moral, and what is not. It’s not always as clear-cut as we see in Commodus versus Maximus. But it’s been an argument for the ages, something we’ve been examining for a millennia.
With YOU KNOW WHY finished, another milestone has been hit. The 22 Steps series has come to an end.
I have had so much fun psychoanalyzing my storybuilding process. I firmly believe the depth of thought that went into producing LAST SEEN is what led to the issues I had building YOU KNOW WHY. Normally, when I finish a book, it’s finished. Done. Out of my hands and onto editorial, and I get right into the next. But I was still writing the series the whole time I was writing YOU KNOW WHY. Switching between the stories and voices made it much more difficult than usual to get the new story into shape. I’m thrilled with how it turned out, but boy, was it hard to get there. It will be released next year in late August, and I’m excited to start discussing it with you!
The vast majority of you want me to write a sequel…to the Taylor Jackson books! I hear you, and I will see what I can do. Talk about writing a moral hero—our girl Taylor is that in spades!
This month, I’m curious how you feel about adaptations.
Hank Phillipi Ryan - ALL THIS COULD BE YOURS
Another winner from the queen of cat and mouse!
Ruth Reichl - THE PARIS NOVEL
I would read Ruth’s grocery list—have, actually, in her previous nonfiction. Also, this title was the original working title for LIE TO ME!
Alix E. Harrow - THE EVERLASTING
Always need a good fantasy to dive into!
Danielle Girard - PINKY SWEAR
I can’t wait for this one to get into your hands.
Larry McMurtry - LONESOME DOVE
I thought it was time to dive into a Western I’ve had waiting for me—LONESOME DOVE. I read it when I was a kid but I don’t remember much. Should take me the rest of the month…
Since the world is sick right now, let’s go back to basics with a stellar chicken soup recipe. Avgolemono is so quick and easy to make, and the extra brightness from the citrus is very helpful in clearing out the sinuses.
You can find all of my recipes here, and if you want some wine to go with the meals, The Wine Vixen (coming soon to Substack) has you covered.
Season Ten has been released, and all episodes are now available. This season was one of our most interesting, diverse, and thought-provoking yet. You can watch the episodes here, and listen to them in their entirety on our podcast here.
Time for this month’s chance at winning a gift card!
Last month's giveaway winner: Congratulations to jenniferhester13! Check your email...
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That’s it from me. As I mentioned this week on Friday Reads, I hope you know I send love to each and every one of you—compassion, sympathy, solace, peace. We don’t agree on everything, I’m sure, but that doesn’t—shouldn’t—matter. I extend grace regardless.
Strength and honor.
xo,
Are you still here?
Here’s a kitten for your troubles!
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