Meg Chittenden Waves
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Articles

Cozy Mysteries - Then and Now
I'm always thrilled when I walk into a bookstore and see my books nestled close to Agatha Christie's! Growing up in England, I loved reading her wonderful whodunnits. Agatha Christie has been called the Doyenne of Coziness, though not all of her books were cozies by a long shot! (Pun intended.) "The A.B.C Murders," for example, was about a serial killer who announced his killings in advance--hardly cozy territory.
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International Tall Ships Challenge 2005
When the tall ship, the Lady Washington, was being built, my husband Jim and I often drove into Aberdeen WA to watch. We became members and contributed some money, and bought a brick in the Compass Rose. Later still we sailed with the Lady on a local river a couple of times. Because of all this, we have felt a proprietary interest in the Lady since the beginning.

So when we read in the local newspaper that it was possible to sail as passengers on the Lady from Victoria to Port Angeles, on the first leg of the International Tall Ships Challenge 2005, we did not hesitate.

The day before the race we crossed the Strait of Juan de Fuca on the Victoria Express Ferry. There were 25-28 tall ships in Victoria's inner harbor.
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A Place by Any Other Name is Still a Place
Earl Emerson's Thomas Black series was set in Seattle. G.M.Ford's sleuth, Leo Waterman, prowled the streets of the same city along with his sobriety challenged sidekicks. Rhys Bowen's Molly Murphy goes after bad guys in turn of the century New York, and Linda Fairstein's Alex Cooper does the same thing in the same city in the present day. Don Bruns takes us to Jamaica or Barbados. Barry Eisler takes us on murderous visits to contemporary Japan. I enjoy being an armchair traveler, which is why I enjoy mysteries set in real places.
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Agony of the Leaves
[The following is the text of the talk Meg Chittenden gave at the Friday Tea at Bouchercon 1999 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Meg's co-hosts at the tea were Patricia Guiver, Sally Wright and Claudia Bishop.]

Tea was first discovered by the Chinese emperor Shen Nung in 2737 B.C. Of course he didn't know it was 2737 B.C. he had a different way of looking at things. But he did know a good thing when he found it.
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A Visit to Sicily
Sicily is a land of contrast. There is much that is beautiful--buildings with marble steps and balconies with intricately worked iron railings; ruined castles or similar buildings topping most hills; medieval hill towns sloping down to wonderfully panoramic views of curving beaches and the bluest sea.
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The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly - a writer's eye view of reviewers
It's a wonderful time for a writer when a new book comes out--always exciting. But there's a downside too. A new book usually means new reviews. Sometimes this is good, sometimes not so good.
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