An unexpected community at the scene of the crime. A bestselling mystery author’s personal guide to California’s mystery scene.

The Transition from Screenplays to Novels. The author on the road from screenwriting to novels.

Our Time in Havana. The author shares a recollection of Cuba and the rainy research trip for his book After Havana.

San Francisco Diary: Weddings on the Brain. The author writes about marriage, gratitude and the scene as San Francisco City Hall was granting marriage licenses to same-sex couples.

Site life: One writer’s book donation bonanza. I thought I’d make a few people laugh enough that they’d send over a children’s book or two.

Literary Nonfiction — Walking the Line. “Somewhere between the newspaper on your doorstep and the novel on your nightstand lies narrative nonfiction, literary journalism — the nonfiction novel. Whatever label you choose, this sort of writing straddles a fascinating and fertile boundary, full of possibility and peril, as it can so easily combine the best of both worlds …”

Shoot. The author shares her “negative” experience surviving her dreaded author photo shoot.

The Book of The Book of Dead Birds. The author on the evolution of the story of her award-winning novel.

CA Confessions: Driving on the Axles of Evil. On Shame Utility Vehicles and old-style Catholic contrition.

Malibu Diary. “Everyone wants a piece of Malibu, including me. My buying power has proven modest — an aging mobile home on a bluff above the beach. We rent the land. The house itself sits on metal tripods that shimmy with the slightest earthquake, let the occasional raccoon or possum rest in the cool darkness. Their smell comes through the air vents, a pungent musk that can’t be anything but wild animal. …”

The Poet. The writer tells the story of eleven-year-old Annie — the poet. When an her gloomy verse appeared in a million newspapers, readers and even her elementary school principal called to investigate her seemingly bleak existence.

Riding with the Pulpwood Queens. “We are out of control, zooming down a hillside in a golf cart while two women wearing crowns sit behind me. The young woman driving is in charge of community events at a new $45-million golf course in Northern Louisiana. Although it’s 94 degrees and wet-shirt humid, she wears a tailored suit and three-inch heels that make it difficult to hit the brake pedal. …”

Writing a Larger World. The author of Flash House writes about the renewed interest in the international novel and what it meant to her group of California writers.

Keep a Journal, Save a Life. The author on the powerful practice of keeping a journal.

Twenty-five Cents and Counting. Derek Powazek shares his first-person slice of a freshly minted author’s life and his pilgrimage to the neighborhood bookstore.

By Tracy Wood. In “Spies, Lovers and Prisoners of War,” reporter Tracy Wood writes about getting to the war. From a collection of essays by nine women war correspondents who made history covering Vietnam.