Tucson Festival Of Books

I was one of the authors exhibiting at The Tucson Festival of Books, held on the University of Arizona campus. 

It was a great time, and I met a lot of mystery readers. And who wouldn't want to visit warm, sunny Tucson in March? Saturday was cloudy and rainy and windy, but hey, the temperature got all the way up to 47 degrees. Locals called it "a severe weather event." But the sun came out on Sunday, and the thermometer practically broke as it punched through to 56.

At night in the hotel, I was able to get some writing time in on my laptop.

My artist wife got some drawing in as well. Here is her sketch of me working on my laptop as I ruminate on the next adventures of Owen and Spot.

Wait, How Big Is Tahoe? 29 Years!

You've all heard the statistics about Lake Tahoe. They're on the back of restaurant menus, on calendars, in the wikipedia articles, on the travel websites. Length (22 miles), width (12 miles), depth (1635 feet), total water volume (150 cubic kilometers).

Tahoe From Space

Okay, it's a big lake. But how big is it in terms that we can understand?

Here's a statistic you've never heard.

I decided to run a few numbers. I wanted to know this: If every person on earth drank eight glasses of water a day and they dipped it out of Lake Tahoe, how long would the lake provide everyone on the planet with drinking water? A day? Several days? A few weeks?

We've got a bit over 7 billion people on this planet. That's a number too big to really grasp. Line up 7 billion 5-foot, 6-inch people and they'd stretch around the earth 291 times. Put all of us head to toe and we'd go to the moon 30 times. That's a lot of people. So if we're all drinking our recommended intake from the lake, how long would it last us?

Over 29 years.*

That's a lot of water from one mountain lake.

So the next time you drink a glass of water, invite everyone else on the planet to join you. Let's everybody do it eight times a day for 29 years.

Live large. It's Lake Tahoe.

*For those of you who want to do the math, there are a bit more than 4 eight-ounce glasses in a liter, a thousand liters in a cubic meter, a billion cubic meters in a cubic kilometer, and 150 cubic kilometers in Lake Tahoe. Divide by 7 billion people, then divide by 8 glasses a day, then divide by 365 days in a year, and you get 29 years. That's a lot of water.

The Joys Of A Fictional Dog

Spot, as many of you readers know, is a 170-pound Harlequin Great Dane. He's also fictional.

Dog Breed Info

He seems real, as I've learned from the number of emails I get telling me to say hi to Spot and give him a pet.

I based his personality on a combination of the three Great Danes we've owned. Same enthusiasm, same goofiness, same levity – life's a game!

Of course, real Danes have some pretty amazing traits that Spot can only do in our imaginations. What's my favorite? Well, it's hard to beat the way a real Great Dane, when you're sitting in a chair or on the couch, will walk around behind you and drape his giant head down over your shoulder and lay it on your chest, his ear right next to your mouth. When you whisper into the ear of a Dane who's doing this, you can sense the slightest movement in his head as he wags his tail. He won't lift his head up off your chest unless you push him away. He just wants to be as close to you as possible.

Of course, there are some advantages to fictional Danes. They're a bit easier to train. It's less work to pick up after them. And if you have to suddenly leave town, there's no scramble lining up a dog-sitter.

But there's no substitute for the real, living, breathing, wagging thing.

The Most Important Thing About Research

At nearly every talk I give, I get a question about how I do my research. I always explain that I usually spend some time Googling my questions about a topic. (Sometimes I just type in a few disjointed words. Sometimes I type in an actual question.) The results that pop up range from fascinating to dead ends. At each step, I think of other questions. I end up clicking through a wide range of links, and usually I get so interested in the topic or related topics that I learn much more than I need for a particular part in a book.

Sometimes, after I've learned the basics, I'll call an expert. The reason is that while you can read enough about some subjects to become quite knowledgeable, you may find that your writing about it, while technically correct, doesn't have the right flavor. Talking to an actual person can make a huge difference.

This is one of the most fun things about writing. I track down an expert, call them up, tell them I'm working on a new book that has a story thread about (insert subject here: forest fires, avalanche control, autism, long-lost Mark Twain manuscripts, weapons, art forgery, gold mining, search and rescue, genetic engineering). You get the idea.

I've never been turned down. I assume that's because people like to be helpful, and they probably also welcome a break from their routine. Going out to have coffee with a writer who wants to pick their brain is more fun than a typical meeting at the office.

Another kind of research is exploring the arena in which you are writing. For me, this can range from hiking and skiing and biking and sailing around Tahoe to traveling to other cities and visiting places that might turn up in my books. I may even explore museums that house the kind of stuff I'm writing about. Sometimes, I poke around libraries or businesses that intersect with my subject matter.

In sum, research is fun and enormously interesting.

Which brings me to the most important part of research.

You have to know when to quit.

When you've learned enough for your purposes, it's time to stop researching and write your book.

Thorough research is critical to getting most stories to work well. But research has caused more writers more procrastination than anything other than email and other internet distractions.

Learn what you need, then turn it off. It's time to write.

The Thinking Center

Tahoe's Clarity Is Improving!

 The UC Davis scientists who study this stuff dangle the Secchi disk (basically a white dinner plate or a black-and-white plate) down off the shady side of a boat at mid-day. They lower it until they can no longer see it, at which point they note the depth. After they start pulling it back up, they again note the depth when the plate reappears. Often the two figures vary a bit, so they average them. And just to make sure that they are getting reliable data, they do this measurement many times during the course of a year.

The average for 2012 was 75 feet. The lake hasn't been that clear since 2002.

UC Davis's John Le Conte research vessel

Before we get too excited and smug, it is good to remember that when they started taking these measurements in 1968, that little Secchi disk could be seen 102 feet down!

While this improving trend is great, the reasons why it is happening are less clear. At this point, the best guess is that the main mitigation has come from all of the infiltration ponds that have been built to catch and filter runoff water from streets as well as rebuilding creeks that once had meandering paths and flood zones but were dredged and straightened by developers in years past.

There is lots more to do. There is still a scary number of drainage pipes that dump dirty storm runoff water directly into the lake. These have been documented by the Tahoe Pipe Club.

There are infestations of non-native mussels and fish that lead to algae blooms. There are massive ongoing erosion areas from old road cuts such as Meyer's Grade.

And there are other problems that might be even harder to tackle, such as the nutrient load from dust and dirt that blows in from the Central Valley, especially when the farmers are plowing or burning slash. Scientists have even identified silt that has blown into the lake from China's and Mongolia's Gobi Desert after a dust storm half a world away.

But for now, we are glad that the lake is improving, and we salute those individuals and groups that made it possible!

Do You Want To Write A Novel?

I encourage anyone who wants to write a novel! Making up stories for a living is the greatest job there is. Here is one of the most helpful things I can think of.

Writers write.

I know, it's an old cliche, but it's true.

The whole thing about the art of writing being the application of the seat of your pants to a chair is accurate. But much of writing isn't the typing part. The majority of writing is thinking. This happens in a variety of ways. Writers are often working on their novel even as they wash the dishes, drive to appointments, shovel the driveway, or take a shower. (I can't tell you how many times I've gotten out of the shower, completely focused on my book, only to wonder if I remembered to wash my hair – what little of it there is.) For me, much of writing is done taking long walks, walks where I'm not bird-watching or talking. The most important part of writing an effective novel is figuring out the intricacies of plot and conjuring up characters that are as real as your next-door neighbor. One can do much of that while engaging in habitual activity that doesn't require thinking.

But, unfortunately, this mix of writing while doing something else doesn't work if the something else involves talking or hanging out with other people. Nor does it work when the TV or radio is on. (Listening to background music, whether it be Yo Yo Ma or Aerosmith or Louis Armstrong is different, but only if your brain can keep it in the background.)

Writing at Carleton College

In short, if you want to write, you have to say no to most activities most of the time. I often think that that is the hardest part about writing, disconnecting yourself from the phone, the internet, the TV, the radio, the other people in the house.

Yes, some people like to write while surrounded by a crowd, but they are a small minority. I, too, have written entire chapters at Starbucks or the airport. But mostly, one needs to be alone and quiet.

So if you want to write, one of the best things you can do is turn off your phone, find some quiet solitude, and start writing.

Speaking of which, I better get back to this novel I've been working on.

Writers write.

Tahoe Tunnels

There's something about secret tunnels.

I was weaned on the Hardy Boys mysteries. I believe that my parents had somewhat loftier hopes for my reading. But when I showed a dim enthusiasm for the grander works of literature, they were happy to simply have me read, so they introduced me to the Hardy Boys, of which my dad still had a few copies left over from his boyhood.

I enjoyed the stories (and was a little in love with Joe Hardy's girlfriend). But what I remember best were the book's covers.

They were classic over-the-top scenes of drama, like the dime novel pulp covers from the '40s and '50s but without the sexy women in lingerie. This was far beyond simply judging a book by its cover. I have to assume that uncountable boys like me bought the books for their covers.

One cover theme that was featured on many of the books in the series was the secret passage, the secret door, the secret panel... all of which invariably led, by my boyhood calculation, to a secret tunnel.

Now, I live in an area with real tunnels! We have the Cave Rock tunnels, many old mining tunnels, railroad tunnels, natural underwater tunnels through which you can dive, old flume tunnels. We also have the 600-foot tunnel at the Thunderbird Lodge on the East Shore, built by the eccentric, super-rich George Whittell.

 George's secret tunnel allowed him (and his lion named Bill) to travel unseen from his mansion to the boathouse of his Thunderbird boat, the beautiful old woodie that still goes half the speed of light and looks even faster. We also have the Cal Neva Lodge in Crystal Bay where owner Frank Sinatra had tunnels built to allow him, Dean Martin, Marilyn Monroe, and other pals to escape their fans and paparazzi while they moved about the Tahoe property. There are rumors, too, that a few other Tahoe mansions, old and new, have tunnels.

You can even take tours of many of these tunnels, secret and not-so-secret.

Whether a tunnel bores through Tahoe granite or simply tantalizes from the cover of a book, there's something about secret passages. And tunnels, hidden from the world, are the epitome of secret.

Perfect subjects for a mystery writer.

Maybe Owen and Spot will one day encounter a secret tunnel.

Winter Night In Tahoe

 Fresh snow on the deck, lights turned down low, sparkling fire in the little red wood stove, stars visible out the skylights, Miles Davis' Kind Of Blue on the stereo, Cabernet in the wine glasses... it's time to think back on good times past. Thanks for the memories.

The Power Of Stories

I was very young when I first noticed that a good story can move you more than real events in real life. Like many kids, there were books I read over and over, story records I listened to until the needle wore out the groove in the vinyl. 

Don't get me wrong. When tragedy strikes in real life, it can pull you down into the quicksand until you can't breathe. And when you fall in love in real life, you can fly better than the birds.

But good stories have a power that transcends much of normal experience. When we want to experience a good time, we may go skiing or hiking or get together with friends, drink beer, and tell jokes. We may travel and visit fine restaurants and wineries. But over and over, people use their free time to go to the movies or turn on the TV looking for a good story. And of course, those of us who love to read pick up a book.

Erika sent this pic from Miami Beach

What we often find are stories that can be funnier and make us laugh more than the funny things in real life. Make us cry more than the sad things in real life. Scare us or move us or give us the chills or make us swoon more than in real life.

It is this power of stories that make them so compelling to write. Like most authors, I'm always trying to put together a powerful story. I always wish I could do it better. But when I get email from a reader who tells me how my story entertained them, moved them, made them laugh or cry, made them worry and fret, kept them up all night, my spirit floats weightless for a little while.

Of all the tiny marks I've made in this world, telling stories is the most rewarding. People have been addicted to, and smitten by, stories from the very beginning of people-time.

Stories have amazing power.

The Emotional Intelligence Of Dogs

Remember the last time you had to spell words to keep your pooch from catching on? Probably when you took her for a walk an hour ago, right?

Here's why your little fluffy is so smart.

Science has shown that several animal species can out-perform dogs in some areas of intelligence. Wolves are better at solving problems. Unlike dogs, several primates and even dolphins and elephants show human-like self-awareness. They even pass the “mirror test,” understanding what it does. (If you surreptitiously put something red on an elephant's forehead – something it can't feel – and then you hold up a mirror, the elephant will see the red shape and know that it is seeing itself in the mirror and not some other elephant. Then it will reach its trunk up to its forehead to investigate the red shape.)

This self-awareness is rare in the animal world, and dogs don't have much of it. But dogs can do something complex that no other animal can do.

They can watch, listen to, and read people.

Photo from PetLifeRadio .com

In fact, dogs are the only animals that really study people's faces. (For many species, including several primates, looking another creature in the eyes is a form of aggression. And of course it is considered aggressive behavior among some groups of humans, too.)

In a departure from other animals, dogs study their owners' faces. As you know, they do this with intensity. Tests have shown that dogs are far superior to other animals in understanding what a person wants, just by the look on the human's face.

Think of your own dog. If you even glance toward the leash or the dog treats, your dog will notice and get excited. Of course, this applies to your words as well. If you're like most dog owners, you have developed elaborate techniques for communicating with other people in ways to keep your dog from finding out your meaning. You can't even mention the words “going for a walk” without your dog jumping up and scratching the floor as he or she runs around excited.

Dogs understand us in a way no other animal can. The brilliant chimp who has a large vocabulary of sign language can't come close to a dog in understanding what a human wants by the look on the human's face.

Dogs are amazing and unique among species. When it comes to emotional intelligence, they have no equals.  

Of The Top 10 U.S. Real Estate Markets, 5 Are Near Tahoe!

Not long ago, I mentioned that Tahoe real estate is turning around. A few days ago, Realtor.com ran a blog on the ten fastest-appreciating real estate markets in the country. Where were they? Five of them were in Northern California.

1 Sacramento

3 San Francisco

4 San Jose

6 Oakland

7 Fresno

Of the remaining five best markets, two more were in Southern California, Santa Barbara and Riverside. Seven out of ten of the best markets in the country are in the Golden State.

What does this mean? California real estate is roaring back, attracting investors from across the country. Sacramento prices have jumped 35% in the last year. And for San Francisco, already the most expensive city in the country, to jump 23% is huge. Where are the dollars from the coming sales and refinance boom going to go? A lot of them are coming up the mountain to Tahoe. As goes Northern California, so goes Tahoe. Northern California even pulls up (or down, as the case may be) Northern Nevada.

So if you've ever wanted a place in paradise, don't wait.

Here are some links to Tahoe Real Estate Companies.

Pinnacle Real Estate

Tahoe Real Estate Group

Century 21 - Tahoe

Century 21 - North Tahoe

Chase International - South Tahoe

Tahoe Paradise Real Estate

Better Homes and Gardens - Tahoe

Careers In Tahoe

Can you earn a real living in Tahoe?

My first vacation in Tahoe was over 30 years ago. On leaving I thought, “Wow, it would be amazing to live in a place like that.” The second vacation cemented the desire. But when the actual moving time came, excitement was mixed with concern about how to earn a living in a mountain paradise.

Nearly every Tahoe local that I've met since then had the same concern as they first thought of relocating. Today, looking at the deep snow, heavy on the pines and firs, I know that many ecstatic skiers and boarders are heading home wondering the same thing.

You're young. Or young at heart. You've vacationed at Tahoe and were amazed. Ever since, a little voice in your head has been nagging at you. Why not move to Tahoe? Why live in (your town's name here), when you could live in one of the most spectacular places on the planet, a place with fabulous year 'round recreation, a place that draws millions of tourists from all over the world, a place that has tons of snow without tons of cold, a place that honestly has the best summer weather of anyplace on the planet. (When I first arrived, multiple locals said, "I know you moved here for the skiing, but you'll stay for the summer because it's perfect, hot sun, cool air, unbelievable recreation." They were right.)

So you're thinking of moving here. But you're wondering, can you earn a living in Tahoe?

Photo from details.com

Yes, it's true, Tahoe has more than its share of tech titans and movie stars and rock stars and media magnates and bankbook babies. You can spot them in their Porsche Cayennes and Range Rovers and chauffeur-driven limos as they cruise from restaurants with lots of Zagat raves to mansions with lots of lakeshore. These people aren't worried about making the monthly rent.

But the truth is that most Tahoe residents actually work for a living just like people everywhere else. They are proof that you can live in Tahoe even if you don't have extra commas on your bank statement.

Talk to Tahoe people about "getting a job" and you'll hear something like this: It's easy to get a low-paying job in the service industry, but don't expect much pay or benefits, and don't expect it to be a year-'round job. The upside is that these jobs are actually easier to get in Tahoe than most anywhere. But more on that in a bit.

If instead of talking about a service job, you talk about building a career in Tahoe, you will hear Tahoe residents make thoughtful comments about how you can earn a good living if you have valuable skills that are useful in a small community, or if you have skills that are non-location specific.

Let's expand on both approaches.

If you are young and you don't yet have valuable career skills, service jobs are plentiful. All you have to do is think Hospitality Industry, which is to say restaurants, hotels, and recreation. We have something like 2 or 3 million tourists a year and they all need food and someone to help them onto the chairlifts and into tour boats, someone to pour their beer. Nearly anyone can get these jobs, making Tahoe one of the easiest places to find entry-level work. Getting a job is especially easy in late fall in prep for the ski season, and in late spring in prep for the summer season. For example, the ski resorts even have job fairs in late fall, where they fill thousands of positions. All you have to do is show up on time, be presentable (It's always a good idea to have a very short resume with good grammar and spelling), and you'll get hired on the spot. Restaurants and hotels all around the lake start looking in April and May for reliable summer help.

Are you charming? Can you wait tables or pour drinks? If so, your first Tahoe job can actually pay quite well.

Want something more?

Like all communities, we also have a limited number of higher-skilled jobs, nursing, construction, teaching, ski instructing, and even executive positions working for the big hotels and ski resorts. And there are a wide range of jobs available in law enforcement, fire-fighting, and working for the Forest Service and other government agencies.

Need more education to get those jobs? Then you can wait tables while you go to school at Lake Tahoe Community College or Sierra Nevada College. (See previous post on Going To College in Tahoe here.)

In addition, there is always a need for the self-employed professionals: doctors, dentists, lawyers, accountants, architects, consultants. Growing a professional career in Tahoe is not much different than doing it anyplace else. And if the income might be less than it would be in the big city (and that isn't always the case), the advantages of living in a beautiful, pristine, uncrowded paradise more than make up for it.

If you are an entrepreneur, Tahoe is a great place to bring or create your own business. Many restaurants, building contractors, bed-and-breakfasts, sports stores, vacation rental property management, bike and ski and kayak rentals, tour boat operators, realtors, fishing guides, and a wide range of other businesses thrive here.

There is one more group of people who are increasingly finding their way to Tahoe. These are the people whose work is not specific to any location. If you make your living over the internet, a gorgeous place like Tahoe beckons. Software engineers, artists,

Yes, she's working!

 website designers, computer consultants, graphic artists, photographers, screen writers, tax preparers... The list is almost endless, and we have people from hundreds of varied fields who bike and ski and hike on the uncrowded weekdays and work on the more crowded weekends.

With some forethought and planning, you can find the perfect employment in Tahoe.

For that matter, you could even be a mystery author...

Here are some useful links.

For postings of Tahoe employment: 

Reno/Tahoe Craigslist.com

Tahoe Daily Tribune.com

For Education and Occupational training in Tahoe:

Lake Tahoe Community College

Sierra Nevada College

For geography, history, etc.:

Wikipedia - Lake Tahoe

For general news about Tahoe:

Tahoe Daily Tribune

Lake Tahoe News

Tahoe Mountain News

Tahoe Bonanza

For long-term Tahoe accommodations:

TahoeLodging .com

StayinTahoe .com

HousingConnection .com

AgateBay .com

GoldFish Properties .com

RealEstate of Lake Tahoe .com

EnjoyTahoe .com

Tahoe -specific websites:

Tahoe.com

VisitingLakeTahoe.com

SkiLakeTahoe.com

TahoeSouth.com

GoTahoeNorth.com

Real Estate Companies

Pinnacle Real Estate

Tahoe Real Estate Group

Century 21 - Tahoe

Century 21 - North Tahoe

Chase International - South Tahoe

Tahoe Paradise Real Estate

Better Homes and Gardens - Tahoe

Tahoe Chambers of Commerce
South Tahoe Chamber - Nevada side
South Tahoe Chamber - California side
North Lake Tahoe Chamber of Commerce
Incline Village Chamber of Commerce
Truckee Chamber of Commerce

Of course, I can't forget to include info for those interested in reading mystery fiction about the area:   

ToddBorg.com