Monthly Archives: November 2011

   
  How did the phrase “The Butler Did It” come to be such a cliched convention in mystery stories? Did the butler – or another servant in the household of a wealthy murder victim – really “do it”?  And in enough mystery novels to deserve the cliche?  Any of you mystery readers remember a time…

   
Welcome to Flashback Friday, where we continue our glance back at Thanksgivings past.  Last week, we talked about football, and President McKinley’s Thanksgiving proclamation.  If you missed it, click here for that post. Today, we’re talking turkey.  Here’s a November 25, 1880 New York Times article, which details the abundance for sale – enough to make…

   
Welcome to Watercooler Wednesday, where the water is above-average, the topics are bubbly, and the company is sparkling. You may have noticed things getting a little gloomy out there lately; early snow, early nightfall, colder temps, bare trees.  It seems high time for: Another Round of Belly Laughs! Let’s start with some good news… 1.…

   
In terms of puzzle and suspense, most of us consider mystery stories primarily “Whodunnit” in nature.  However, a lot of mysteries also thrive on the pursuit of the “MacGuffin.” What the heck’s a MacGuffin? The MacGuffin is an object everyone in the story wants, and are racing around to get.  Alfred Hitchcock made the term…

   
Welcome to Flashback Friday!  Since today is the first Friday in November, it seemed a good time to take a look at our country’s holiday. Some of you might be asking: “Thanksgiving?  What Thanksgiving?”  – because the stores jumped right from the Halloween decorations to Christmas decorations on November 1st. Be the first to like.…

   
Welcome to Watercooler Wednesday, where the water is above-average, the topics are bubbly, and the company is sparkling. Now that NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month) has begun, many crazy people writers are willingly disrupting their lives, sneaking peeks at their WIPs during their day jobs, imposing upon testy patient family members, and imbibing large quantities…