That hint of leek.

One of my friends (and favorite authors) is the pseudonymous Rhys Bowen, who like me has set stories in Britain (Wales in her case, so I can't say "England"*) that have found their audience on this side of the Atlantic. Here's an interview with her in the UK's Daily Telegraph online from earlier this week. I hope it inspires you to explore her back catalogue while you're waiting for me to get my act together.

Rhys also maintains an excellent and in my opinion oversubscribed blog called "Rhys's Pieces" (how does she come up with them?) which you can find by hopping over to http://rhysbowen.blogspot.com. After you've read my blog entries, and then only if you send all her followers back in this direction!

(Did I mention we're old friends?)

Here's a quick Rhys (aka Janet) story. When I still lived in Manhattan, I'd arranged to meet Rhys the Bowen for coffee during one of her visits from California. On my way out of my apartment building, I remember telling someone -- possibly a neighbor, could have been the doorman -- that I was on my way to meet "a famous writer." The cafe where we were meeting was about ten blocks away, and halfway there, I spotted a frail Arthur Miller, heading along the sidewalk in the opposite direction. So I was able to tell Rhys that we now had a standard for her fame -- someone you'd pass Arthur Miller to get to.

*A prophetic aside, given England's dismal World Cup performance a few hours after I first published this post.