It’s the first cool night in awhile. I finished writing and got ready to pick up the new Laura Lippman mystery, Lady In The Dark. I’ll probably finish it tonight or early tomorrow morning.

The novel is quite wonderful, more in the style of the great British mystery writers like Martha Grimes, it’s beautifully written, gentle but with some steel, and hypnotic.

I looked around for Maria, I hadn’t heard from her in awhile, and then I looked through the front window and saw some glowing light.

She was sitting outside on the porch. The reclusive Flo was keeping her company – there is always an animal around Maria – and seemed to be studying her blog post. Maria blogs in the evening, sometimes she’s up until midnight.

I love the atmosphere of the porch, a private place to work with the shades down and the lights out. She writes by computer screen light, it’s own kind of evocative beauty.