A Prayer for John Paul II

I rarely discuss religion here, but I thought I'd share my thoughts as a Catholic on Pope John Paul II's illness and his legacy, as this may be a perspective you haven't heard.

As the son of surgeons, I've learned to accept when a body is beyond medical help. I also believe there isn't much value in survival if a person derives no joy from life. When I pray for the seriously ill, I pray for an end to their pain by whatever means possible, including natural death.

Not everyone agrees with the Pope's positions, but I'm glad he stands for what he does. It's his duty to represent the ideals of the Roman Catholic faith to the world. When his time comes, I hope future leaders will remember his example of steadfastness, peace, and tolerance of other faiths.

Seven Years of Thrilling Detective

A tip of the fedora to Kevin Burton Smith's Thrilling Detective, today (or yesterday?) celebrating seven years online.

I'm grateful to Kevin and Victoria Esposito-Shea, who welcomed me as Assistant Fiction Editor in March 2001. I've gotten to meet and work with so many talented writers and improve my writing along the way.

Cheers.

Mr. Monk Goes To Novels

Writer and TV producer Lee Goldberg, who currently writes Diagnosis: Murder tie-in novels, has announced he's signed to write a Monk tie-in. Lee's DM books have been praised for raising the standards of TV tie-ins. He and William Rabkin have written for TV's Monk, and I can't wait to see what he does in book form.