Barbara's Blog

  In honor of Halloween - though this picture of me and my dear friend Allan Rothstein was taken a day or so after Thanksgiving, sometime in the '80s, at a LosCon in LA. We competed in the Masquerade as Hades and Persephone. In other news, I finished the 22nd Benjamin January mystery - working title "Chalmette" (since it deals with a long-cold case of a disappearance, and with Ben's service in the Battle of New Orleans). The editor says the title doesn't say "mystery" to her and it will probably be changed. I'll keep you posted. I was very pleased when my preliminary research for the mystery at the core of the plot turned out that the hypothetical situation I'd come up with actually existed: there really WAS a villainous mastermind behind nefarious deeds! I turned the manuscript in Monday and have been in severe post-partum depression ever since - which usually happens when I turn in a manuscript. Here's another picture of me at a Costume-Con

  It's official! I will be one of the eight Guests of Honor at the 2026 World Science Fiction Convention, held in Anaheim, August 27-31 2026. (And I get to celebrate my 75th birthday at the con!) https://www.lacon.org/ Other Guests of Honor include artist Tim Kirk (whose work I've loved since the early '70s!), screenwriter and producer Ron Moore, cartoonist Colleen Doran, engineer Dr. Anita Sengupta, Stan Sakai (Go, Usagi!), fan GoH Geri Sullivan, and Toastmaster and illustrator Ursula Vernon - truly amazing company to be in. I am sort of speechless - and just very glad that people think my work is good. Thank you to the con committee!

  Whew! Back from the Celsius 232 Fantasy Festival in Aviles, Spain - a truly wonderful gathering and unlike any other convention I've been to. Other than the fact that everyone around me was speaking Spanish most of the time - though the Festival's amazing organizers, Jorge, Diego, Lu, Tomas and many others provided me with translators, and a lot of people spoke English - THANK YOU, ALL! But, whereas most conventions in the US take place in hotels and convention centers, Celsius has panels, presentations, and workshops in a dozen venues all around the small area of the city's Renaissance-era center.  That picture is of the hotel they put me up in, a 17th century nobleman's palace now doing business as the Palacio Hotel. (I felt like I was visiting Don Simon Ysidro at home). The window looked down on the town square, with a view of an old church and the sound of the town hall bells ringing the hours. Large events took place in the city cultural center's auditorium,

  Happy Birthday, Sir Ringo Starr! And a quick check-in: much travel this summer, and a tight deadline, so apologies again for not keeping up with "social media". But also this summer, lovely times with dear friends.

  Happy Father's Day, Dad. Dad memories. Dad was a classic '50s dad, a Marine Corps vet who'd served in World War 2 and a born scout master. Here he is with my brother and my Mom. He was Scout Master for the troop at our church for years. Having grown up very poor in a large family, he loved nature. Memories of Dad include him taking us on nature hikes in Marshall Canyon in (I think) LaVerne: there was a little "nature museum" there with a butterfly collection and a tiny zoo of snakes and lizards out back. A couple of times a year he'd take us for an over-nighter at Joshua Tree - at the time, the campsites there consisted of a water-pipe and faucet sticking up from the ground at the end of a long single lane of badly-weathered asphalt, and a couple of out-houses (Porta-Potties not having been in use at the time, these were permanent structures). We'd drive out Saturday morning, set up a tent, make lunch, walk among the rocks and desert, have dinner, look a

  First review is in for the next Hollywood mystery, Saving Susy Sweetchild - and I'm happy to say Kirkus really loved it! SAVING SUSY SWEETCHILD Author: Barbara Hambly Review Issue Date:  July 15, 2024 Online Publish Date:  June 15, 2024 The moral compass of an English expatriate will not let her ignore some of Hollywood’s more sordid exploits. After losing her husband, family, and fortune to World War I, Emma Blackstone has been reduced to working as a dogsbody when she’s rescued by her American sister-in-law, Kitty Flint. Kitty, aka Camille de la Rose, is a lovely but terrible actress of the silent screen whose affair with the studio head allows her to keep churning out movies. Emma, who’s ignored all sorts of illegal and morally repugnant activity, finds that she can’t ignore the treatment of child star Little Susy Sweetchild on the set of Kitty’s latest film. Susy provides financial support for her beautiful but untalented actress mother, Selina Sutton, who’s unconcerned when

  One of the extremely Japanese experiences of my recent journey to Japan (I got back Thursday) was the robot waiters in a restaurant in Takaoka - like the evil Daleks of Dr. Who reduced by age and circumstance to being painted bright yellow and playing "Turkey In The Straw" as they bore trays to tables. I learned later that these are, in fact, drones operated from home (like the little red wagons that ply Santa Monica Blvd in LA), often by persons with disabilities. One orders the food by tablet on the table itself (it would have been easier had my knowledge of Japanese been better), and the Daleks themselves were pretty entertaining. Other experiences included attending a Tea Ceremony (in full formal kimono - which required a professional to arrange), closing down a couple of bars, singing karaoke, and appearing with members of the dojo where I train in an all-Japan aikido demonstration at the Tokyo Budokan. (About 500 dojos participated, 5 at a time and each limited to 90