Tag: houston

And another one’s gone.

I can’t even begin to number how many movies I’ve seen at the Angelika. Independent films, art films, even some big releases. Tom and I used to meet James with Joe and maybe Steve V for dinner and a movie. The cafe was fun, with interesting food and good people watching. Some nights you’d spy a Houston athlete or a member of ZZ Top at another table. This is the theater where I trained myself to buy bottled water instead of Coke–but I still bought popcorn.

The hue and cry you heard from the direction of Houston this past Sunday was the shocked reaction to this note on the door:

Some of my Thursday

Seriously, you can’t take me anywhere. Tonight, I was THAT person. I got to Murder By the Book for Dean James’s signing of his new cozy mystery Murder Past Due, written as Miranda James, in time to enjoy some conversation with him and get a hug from Johnnie beforehand. Then I turned the sound off on my phone. Only I DIDN’T! I must have forgotten that vital last step, “Set,” because in the middle of Dean’s story to a VERY good crowd, my dumb cell began to ring. Which meant I had to scramble in my purse and find the thing and turn it off–it took an eternity. Sorry Dean and readers. I’m a moron.

Still, it was a wonderful night, because that’s the only way Murder By the Book knows how to do an event.


David introducing Dean with accolades from other mystery writers.


Kinley and John, two members of the best staff you’ll find at any bookseller anywhere.


Dean had a gratifyingly large audience and a long line to get books signed. In addition to Murder Past Due, he signed his Trailer Park Mystery series (written as Jimmie Ruth Evans), and his short story in the Delta Blues collection. Delta Blues includes well-loved writers (James Lee Burke, John Grisham, Ace Atkins, Charlaine Harris, Suzanne Hudson, Bill Fitzhugh, Suzann Ellingsworth, Tom Franklin and Beth Ann Fennelly, Mary Saums, Lynne Barrett, Dean James, Les Standiford, Toni L.P. Kelner, and Carolyn Haines), plus new authors (Alice Jackson, David Sheffield, Nathan Singer, Michael Lister, and Daniel Martine), and contains an introduction by Morgan Freeman. A portion of every book sold will go to Freeman’s Rock River Foundation, an organization that promotes literacy and provides grants to assist schools.

One thing I’ve found concerning recent changes to my health is that I MUST EAT when it’s time to eat or I get…cranky. Very cranky. So I was not amused to get home to find someone’s car blocking the drive into The Compound. A simple phone call and my problem would have vanished courtesy of the HPD’s choice of a tow truck. Instead, through some eel-like maneuvering, I was able to get my car inside the gate. Then I left this poster on the offending vehicle’s windshield:

You can make your dreams come true

‘Nathan just tweeted the following:

NathanBurgoine Life goal update: have signing at @murderbooks

‘Nathan, I believe this will happen. And I can tell you from experience that Murder By the Book is a great place to have a book signing because the store, the staff, and its readers are the best.

Meanwhile, I have a photo that may remind you of Houston’s best little mystery bookstore: