Dazed and Confused

They aren't reading my books in Japan ...

Before I was ever published, I joined a romance writers group.  Back then, I was in awe when my pals Paticia Ryan (who also writes historical mysteries under the name P.B . Ryan) and Kathryn Shay would bring in copies of their books that had been translated into different languages.

Back then?  I'm still in awe.  Many of my cozy mystery author friends have had their books translated in Japanese (off the top of my head I can name Leann Sweeney, J.B. Stanley, and Hannah Reed ... and I know there are many, MANY more.)  Lorna Barrett or Lorraine Bartlett?  Fuggetaboutit!

Okay, I admit it.  I'm jealous.  I want my books translated, too.  My agent says, "Be patient." She also tells me that other countries look for different things in their cozy mysteries--not booksellers.  I had hoped my Jeff Resnick would have sold to the German market, but I fear my lack of sales here has killed that dream.  : (

So I was thrilled this morning to check my sales for my print books and find that a copy of Recipes to Die For had sold somewhere in Europe and I was going to get paid for it!  It wasn't translated, and I don't even know what country it sold in, but it sold for Euros.

Weeeeeee!

The truth is, I'm waiting for more and more countries to get on the ebook bandwagon.  It won't mean my books will get translated, but there are a lot of English-reading people out there.  Currently my books are available online in countries like France, Germany, Italy and Spain.  The sad thing is, how many people in those countries have e readers (Kindles in particular).  I know I sell quite a few stories in Australia (thank you, Apple), and sales for Kobo readers have picked up a tiny bit, but I'd love to find a much bigger--GLOBAL--audience for my work.

Any ideas on how I can spread the work about my books to foreign countries?

A Good Review!

No doubt about it, a good review can put you in a good mood.  Unfortunately, the opposite is also true.  In fact, a bad review can land you in the dumps for weeks, haunting your thoughts and cause you to lose confidence.  I speak from experience.

But yesterday I got a good review and that put me in a good mood (which I hope will last a couple of weeks ... especially in case any more bad reviews come in).  It was from Kirkus.  As far as I can recall, I've never been reviewed by Kirkus.  I'd heard that they could be ... well, mean is putting it mildly.  So I ws delighted that they liked Murder On The Half Shelf.  They said:

When a mystery bookstore owner and her ambitious cookbook-writer sister accept a free pre-opening night room at the Sheer Comfort Inn, they walk right into murder.

Cooking maven Angelica, who’s won the room for the night, not only invites Tricia to come along, but insists on sneaking in her dog Sarge. As Tricia is walking Sarge, they discover the body of Pippa Comfort. Tricia recognizes Pippa’s husband, Jon, as Harrison Tyler, author of a famous mystery novel and her former boyfriend, who was supposed to have drowned in a boating accident 20 years before. The alibi that Harry Tyler claims now puts Tricia squarely in the sights of her current boyfriend, Police Chief Grant Baker. Because Tricia is divorced from her wealthy former husband and has seen another romance go sour, she feels hurt by Grant’s efforts to be objective and treat her as just another suspect. It doesn’t help that Tricia’s already known as the town jinx, since Pippa’s is not the first body she’s found (Sentenced to Death, 2011, etc.). Now she realizes that she’s going to have to investigate the latest murder, if only to clear her name. Stoneham, N.H., may seem like a quiet, quaint little town, but there’s a lot going on behind the scenes, and Tricia’s sleuthing may lose her more than some friends, since a desperate killer will do anything to stay free, including killing again.

Barrett’s sixth Booktown mystery features a quirky collection of characters, a mystery that keeps you guessing, and some appealing appended recipes.

Of course, it's the last sentence that will be used in blurbs and on websites and such. 

I'll take it.

Murder on the Half Shelf will be released on July 3rd.  (Just in time for the holiday and a beach read!)

 

Can this cover be saved?

Well, nobody tells the author much of anything.  Turns out Sentenced to Death came out in large print on May 7th.  Did anybody tell me?  Nope.  Did I even know what the cover looked like?  Well, yes--I got an copy of it over a month ago--thinking it had been out for months.  Maybe it'll (eventually) go up on Amazon.  These large print covers are hit and miss.  I'm either mildly pleased or extremely upset. 

Wouldn't you be upset if your cover went from this:

to this:

To be fair, after I protested, they did change it to this:

(Otherwise known as Barbie at the Soda Shoppe.)  Still, they never bothered to change it on Amazon or any of the other online bookstores, or WorldCat (library site).  Needless to say the book was not a big seller in large print.  : (

On a happier note:  guess what?  My publisher has decided to put out an omnibus edition of the first three volumes of the Booktown Mystery Series.  It's called Murder In Three Volumes and it'll be 888 pages and sell for $16 list (but Barnes and Noble and Amazon are already offering it for $10.88.)  I don't have a cover yet -- they aren't going to pay big bucks to commission a new one.  I don't have a cover yet -- they aren't going to pay big bucks to commission a new one.  They'll use one of the existing covers and put some new type on it. I'm hoping it'll be the Murder is Binding cover.   I'm sure it'll be available for e readers, too.  It'll be out on October 2nd. 

But in the meantime, it's only 42 days until Murder on the Half Shelf comes out, and I have to admit I'm pretty nervous.  It's a HUGE step going from paperback to hardcover (especially in these times).  So all I can do is cross my fingers and hope that everyone loves my new (and old) characters.  Here's a hint of something to come. 

Care to speculate?

Free at last!

Okay, I'm not really free at last, but I did have a huge burdon of guilt lifted when I handed in the manuscript for THE CHAMBER PLOT, my title (which may not last when Marketing hears of it) for the 7th Booktown Mystery.  Can't tell you about it now.  I'll talk about it later this summer ... after Murder on the Half Shelf comes out.  (That's July 3rd for those of you who like to mark your calendars.

I must admit I dragged my feet a bit about finishing the book. There's a new character (who first shows up in Murder On The Half Shelf) that is such a delight to write, and I never know what's going to come out of her mouth next.  I'm looking forward to finding out what she'll be doing in the next book.

Speaking of which, during the next few months I'll be working on the 8th book in the series (no title yet), and on the 4th Victoria Square Mystery.  (No contract yet--but it's in the works.  Best to start now just in case I have to turn it in earlier than I thought.)  But honestly, first I'm taking the rest of the month off to do administrative stuff.  Like send out bookmarks to independent booksellers (and if you're one and would like some--please ask!), and get my postcards ready for readers and libraries.  This effort requires sitting for hours and hours on end sticking down labels and stamps -- usually in front of a TV set with DVDs.  Hey, it's a difficult job, but somebody has to do it, right?

Where do I get my addresses from?  Why people who sign up for my e newsletter.  There's the option of adding your address, and if you do, you'll get a postcard.  Also, I'd love to know if there are libraries out there who would like to be notified of my new books, and/or if they would like signed bookmarks to hand out to patrons.  So if you haven't already signed up, do it now.  (But look for a confirmation email to follow--it might end up in your spam folder. and, BTW, I don't share or sell addresses.)  There's a sign-up form right on this page.  If you don't already see it, scroll down.

Off to work.

 

Another title experiment . . .

What can I say?  There's a reason I hold contests to title my books.  I'm really NOT very good at it.  Okay, sometimes I get lucky.  I thought Dead in Red was a good name.  And Cheated By Death. And Bookplate Special.  Otherwise, other people have named my book. (Doesn't mean I always like those titles.  A Crafty Killing?  Come on.  (Thank you Penguin Marketing.  NOT.))

So when I uploaded one of my more romancy e short stories I found myself looking at my original title (Valentine's Day) and grimacing.  So, after much soul searching, I renamed it Are You Lonely Tonight.  (And it's not the same as the Elvis song...just reminiscent of it.) 

The first cover was okay.  When we did it, that's the kind of cover people were doing (with the bands of color--or in this case black and gray).  I thought the woman looked wistful.  Maybe she looked like a bimbo, because the story didn't sell well.  (Of course, short stories aren't known to be hot sellers, anyway.)

Just last month we changed it to a color photo of a wistful brunette.  Guess what?  Sales still stunk.  Only one thing left to do.  Change the title.

So there we were, driving down the Pennsylvania turnpike last week and I asked my pal and passenger Leann Sweeney what she thought.  (This, after giving her a brief description of the story.)  She thought about it for a moment and blurted:  Love Heals.

Wow.  Short, powerful, and it describes the story in a nutshell.  (She's good.)

So for better or for worse, Love Heals is now out there.  Now to see if this marketing ploy actually works.

In case you're interested, here's the blurb:  It's the most romantic night of the year and Diana Mason is alone.  She broke up with her boyfriend because he wanted a playmate not a soul mate, but it's someone else who haunts her thoughts on the most romantic of holidays.  Is there a chance he's thinking of her, too?

Kindle ~ Nook ~ Smashwords

So does this title (and cover) grab you?

 

The Not-So-Secret Garden

One of my favorite books is The Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson Burnett.  I read it every year.  It's a wonderful story (except for the ending, where suddenly the heroine of the story gets lost and the focus completely turns on one of the secondary characters.  Ahem!).

In the book, a little girl, her friend (Dicken) with apparently magical relationships with animals, and the girl's cousin transform a badly neglected garden.  Dicken's animal friends are sweet, cute, and THEY DON'T EAT ALL THE PLANTS.

Unfortunately, the animals around my neighborhood, do.

This past winter was mild.  I had tried growing Brussels sprouts in containers to keep the groundhogs from eating them.  It worked, but they plants did not thrive.  In early September, I put the strongest plant in the garden to see if it would grow.  It didn't.  But it did survive the winter.  And then it took off like crazy!

Oh, what a thing of beauty.  We had a spate of warm temps last week and it shot up at least 12 inches.

And then Mr. Groundhog found it and ate EVERY SINGLE LEAF in about an hour.  We had planted out peas about 4 p.m.  An hour later Mr. G snuck into the garden and decimated the poor plant.  We set the haveahart trap out to try and catch him, but why should he return?  He's already eaten what he wanted, and apparently cabbage isn't as satisfying a dish as sprouts leaves.

Every year I'm heartbroken when all my veggies (and flowers) are attacked and eaten by critters.  Every year I hope it's going to be different.  It never is.

When you've got the gardening gene (and my parents were marvelous gardeners), it's something you do, but man is it heartbreaking at time.

Do you find gardening heartbreaking, too?

Out Today: The Cat, The Wife and the Weapon

It's release day for the long-awaited fourth book in the Cats In Trouble Mysteries, by my good friend Leann Sweeney.

When quilter Jillian Hart returns to her lake house in Mercy, South Carolina, she discovered her friend, Tom, is missing-and his estranged half-brother has moved into Tom's house. Jillian doesn't trust the guy, especially since he allowed Tom's diabetic cat to escape. When police officers find Tom's wrecked car with a dead stranger inside, Jillian is determined to find out what happened to Tom-before someone else turns up dead.

You can by it from:

Amazon  ~  Barnes & Noble ~ Books A Million ~ Indie Bookstores

For:

Kindle ~ Nook ~ Sony E Reader ~ Kobo

If you've read the others, I know you'll enjoy it.  If you haven't they are:

The Cat, The Quilt and The Corpse
The Cat, The Professor and the Poison
The Cat, the Lady and the Liar

Enjoy!

It's that time of year ... PAYDAY!

There's a reason a lot of authors have put their older works up on Kindle, Nook, and other e reader platforms.  It's called Payday.  You see, Amazon and Barnes and Noble pay on a monthly basis.  Okay, they're paying you for what you sold two months ago, but the point is you're getting a check (or in my case, a direct deposit) every month.  (Smashwords pays every three months.)

Believe it or not, I use that money to live on.  And why is that?  Because the publisher for my mass market paperback books (think the Booktown and Victoria Square Mysteries) only pays me twice a year.  Yes, you heard that right.  I get paid sometime in April and sometime in October.  And so does everyone else with traditionally published books.

It's hard to budget when you have no idea when you're going to get paid for your work -- or how much you will make.  Because I'm very numbers oriented, I keep track of my Kindle and Nook sales so I can budget ahead.  This month we've got our healthcare insurance premium.  It will take my entire month's pay to cover that one bill.  Meanwhile, we'll be eating a lot of  Macaroni & Cheese during the next couple of weeks.

On Friday, I got a royalty check for the audio edition of Murder On The Mind, my first Jeff Resnick mystery.  A whopping $11.57.  Still, I'm grateful for it.  (I'd be a lot MORE grateful if people would discover this edition of the book.  Then maybe they'd buy the rights to the other books in the series and I could have a cavity filled once in a while.)

In two weeks, I have to pay my estimated taxes.  Holy smoke!  Where is that money going to come from?  Kitchen refit?  On hold indefinitely.  Why?  Being an author, I have to pay estimated taxes every three months.  Plus, in September, I have to pay the town school taxes (that same month we have to pay for healthcare AGAIN.  I have to pay county taxes in January--right after the December *%#@ health care premium).  It's never ending.  And you know I'll be praying to see that check arrive in the mail--SOMETIME before April 15th--praying it will cover the June and September estimated taxes, too.

It's not likely the big publishing houses will ever pay their authors on a more timely basis.  So in between we either live in luxury (for usually one month of the year--October) or like paupers (for the other 11 months).  So if you thought that all authors are raking in the dough, like Stephen King, Nora Roberts, or Janet Evanovich, think again. 

BTW, anybody got tips for budgeting?

If my book was made into a movie ...

Okay, I did NOT see any of the films in this year's Oscar race.  Not one.  I heard about all of them.  I saw clips on all of them (even three of the short features), but time to go to the movies?  Fuggetaboutit! I didn't even get to see the last Harry Potter on the big screen.  I was busy writing. (The last movie I went to see was The King's Speech.  It was good!)

But last night I had a bit of a fun time on Facebook.  I posted that I thought it would be cool if one of my books made it to the movies, and I picked Murder on The Mind, the first Jeff Resnick book.  One of my readers suggested one of the Booktowns would make a good movie, but while my readers might be happy, the coveted 18-49 male demographic would never tear themselves away from their video games and Youtube to make it to the theater.  (But they'd probably do really well on TV. How about the Hallmark Channel?)

Someone suggested that Bradley Cooper play Jeff Resnick, the hero of Murder On The Mind (and the rest of the series).  I must confess, I never even heard of Bradley Cooper. (Writers don't get out that much.  I mean, I make it to the grocery store once a week, and that's about it.)  I looked him up on Google images and -- hot damn, he's good looking.  He's got mesmerizing blue eyes.  Jeff has muddy brown eyes.  I think I could overlook that tiny imperfection in the actor.

I've always thought that Phillip Seymour Hoffman would be terrific as Richard.  (He'd have to dye his hair brown -- but actors do that a lot.  Maybe he could lose a few pounds, too.  Couldn't we all--or at least a bunch of us--do with that, too?) The fact that Mr. Hoffman is a Rochester, NY Native (okay, Pittsford--let's not quibble) would make it even better!

From the first time I saw Jennifer Hudson (and I don't even remember where that was), I thought she'd make a terrific Brenda.  (She doesn't have to sing for the role!)  Can't you just picture her bossing Richard and Jeff around?

I haven't given much thought as to who could play Maggie.  When I picture her as I'm writing the character, it's Gates McFadden I see, but she's too old for the part now.  Still, 15 years ago, she would have made a fabulous Maggie.

Is there a chance in hell this book would be made into a movie?  Well, a production company did request a copy -- but they never optioned it.  (I have a friend who's had a book optioned.  So far ... no movie.  But they keep renewing the option, so there is hope.)  Of course if you know someone at a production company, hey--mention Jeff's name, willya?

So, what do you think about my casting?  Disagree?  Who do you see playing the major roles?

 

 

And another few books you should try . . .

Oops -- in my excitement in announcing that The Walled Flower was now available, I forgot to mention that my pal Lucy Arlington has a new release as well.  It's Buried in a Book.

See if this tickles your fancy (I know it tickled mine -- I preordered it for my Kindle):

After losing her job as a journalist at the age of forty-five, Lila Wilkins accepts an internship at A Novel Idea, a thriving literary agency in North Carolina. Being paid to read seems perfect to Lila, although it's difficult with the cast of quirky co-workers and piles of query letters. But when a penniless aspiring author drops dead in the agency's waiting room--and Lila discovers a series of threatening letters--she's determined to find out who wrote him off.

Okay, I happen to know the author (and love her work) so I know I'm going to enjoy it.

You can get it from:  Amazon ~ Kindle ~ Barnes & Noble ~ Nook ~ Books A Million ~ Indigo ~ The Book Depository ~ iTunes ~ Independent (US) Bookstores

And don't forget my pal E.J. Copperman's latest in the Haunted Guesthouse mystery series:  Old Haunts

The ghosts haunting Alison Kerby's Jersey Shore guesthouse are sad. Maxie wants to know who murdered her ex-husband, and Paul pines for his still-living almost-fiancee. The only one who isn't missing her ex is Alison-because The Swine just arrived on her doorstep...

Amazon ~ Kindle ~ Barnes & Noble ~ Nook ~ Books A Million ~ Indigo ~ The Book Depository ~ iTunes ~ Independent (US) Bookstores

 

And Clobbered by Camembert by Avery Aames, the third Cheese shop Mystery,

Cheese store owner Charlotte Bessette is setting up for the town's Winter Wonderland fair. Then, when an old friend is found dead in the cottage of Charlotte's assistant Rebecca, a suspicion falls on Rebecca's boyfriend, a honeybee farmer. While the town buzzes with gossip, can Charlotte catch the culprit without getting stung herself?

Amazon ~ Kindle  ~  Barnes & Noble ~ Nook  ~  Books A Million  ~  Indigo  ~ The Book Depository  ~ Independent (US) Bookstores

Happy Book Day To Me!

Throw the confetti high, because the second Victoria Square Mystery is officially released today!

And just where can you get the book?  Why, click any of the links below.

Amazon ~ Kindle

Barnes & Noble ~ Nook

Books A Million

Indigo

The Book Depository

Independent (US) Bookstores

iTunes

 

 

I'm REALLY proud of this book.  If you intend to buy it, please do so this week.  If it hits the NYTimes bestsellers list, there's a chance Lorna's readers might find out we're one and the same author.  (And maybe one day the publisher will make my name large enough to be seen without a magnifying glass. <g>)

In any case, thank you all, my wonderful readers, for your letters, support, and most of all for reading my books.  You're the best!

Like Greyhounds out of the gate . . .

Hey, it's the first Tuesday of the month -- ya know what that means?

New books from my publisher, and darned if four of my friends don't have new releases this month!  The first two are from my Cozy Chicks blog sisters:

Plan Bee by Hannah Reed (aka Deb Baker)
Moraine, Wisconsin's annual Harmony Festival is anything but harmonious for Story Fischer, as a dead body makes an uninvited appearance in the parade-and the person who may be responsible for putting it there starts dating Story's mother...

Amazon ~ Kindle
Barnes & Noble ~ Nook
Independent Booksellers

It Takes a Witch by Heather Blake (aka Heather Webber)
Darcy Merriweather has just discovered she hails from a long line of Wishcrafters-witches with the power to cast spells by making a wish. She's come to Enchanted Village to learn her trade but finds herself in the middle of a murder investigation...

Amazon ~ Kindle
Barnes & Noble ~ Nook
Independent Booksellers

 

Affairs of Steak by Julie Hyzy
White House chef Olivia Paras and her arch nemesis, White House Sensitivity Director Peter Everett Sargeant, must work together to solve the double murder of one of the First Lady's assistants and the Chief of Staff-before they become the next victims of a merciless assassin with a secret agenda.

Amazon ~ Kindle
Barnes & Noble ~ Nook
Independent Booksellers

An Appetite for Murder by Lucy Burdette
Hayley Snow's life always revolved around food. But when she applies to be a food critic for a Key West style magazine, she discovers that her new boss would be Kristen Faulkner-the woman Hayley caught in bed with her boyfriend! Hayley thinks things are as bad as they can get-until the police pull her in as a suspect in Kristen's murder. Kristen was killed by a poisoned key lime pie. Now Hayley must find out who used meringue to murder before she takes all the blame.


Amazon ~ Kindle
Barnes & Noble ~ Nook
Independent Booksellers

Give them a try -- you won't be sorry!

One of the best!

I got my issue of Suspense Magazine the other day ... and guess what?  I'm featured in it!

A CRAFTY KILLING was deemed one of the best novels of 2011.

To say I'm thrilled is putting it mildly.  I'm ecstatic!  This novel has a special place in my heart.  It was a Malice Domestic finalist that sat on the shelf for way too long a time. It was only because the Booktown Mysteries did so well that it sold, for it had been rejected by everybody -- not because of the writing, but because it was set in an antiques arcade.  All I had to do was change the venue and BINGO!  It sold.

I've watched the sales and am sad to say they don't come anywhere near the Booktown sales.  That's because nobody knows who Lorraine Bartlett is. I'm hoping the mention in Suspense Magazine will help that. Because now I'm thinking about the sequel, THE WALLED FLOWER, which will be out in two months.  (And right now two months seems like a l-o-n-g time from now, but I know before I know it, it'll be summer again, and then fall and winter and ... holy smoke!  Where does the time go?)

Anyway, it feels really good for my work to be acknowledged by one of the mystery magazines.  (If you get the magazine, it's in the December issue, Page 32.)

 

 

The Inside Story . . .

I'm currently working on two Katie Bonner projects.  The first of which is the third book in my three-book contract with Berkley Prime Crime.  I won't know until at least February if they will review the series.  These days, with so many authors going independent, if they DON'T offer me a new contract, and I still feel that I have more Katie stories in me, I can always write them to keep my readers happy.  (So what once was a horrible circumstance isn't as tragic as it once was, thanks to e books.)

So what's the second project?

Well, for now it's a (psssssst!) secret.  But the beauty of it is I get to explore Katie's backstory/background like I haven't been able to do in a novel.  (Backstory is a real no-no.)

Not that I haven't done this kind of thing in the past.  I have a whole notebook of stories chronicling Jeff Resnick's life.  The problem is that they aren't mysteries or psychological suspense.  So they are destined to never be made available to readers. Unless there's a TREMENDOUS demand, and let's face it, so few readers have found the series that that's never likely to happen.

So what's the difference?

The new Katie project is likely to expand readership for the Berkley series, or at least for those with e readers, because that's the only sensible way to offer the book, and it's so far been a LOT of fun to write. 

It's a lot more fun than ditch digging.

Dead Tree Books

Do you know what e readers call traditionally published books?  Dead tree books. 

I've heard from many Booktown readers who tell me they would LOVE to read my Jeff Resnick series . . . if only they could hold it in their hands.  Smell the smell of a newly printed book, and keep it on their shelf forever.

Well, I've called your bluff.  The Jeff Resnick books are once again in print.  And for one of them, it's FINALLY in print.  And here they with a brief description and links to purchase:

Murder on the Mind
Print Version  $13.95, Trade paperback
Kindle ~ Nook ~ Sony E Reader ~ Smashwords ~ iPad

After a mugging in Manhattan leaves him with a broken arm and fractured skull, insurance investigator Jeff Resnick reluctantly agrees to recover at the home of his estranged half brother, Richard.  At first, Jeff believes his graphic nightmares of murder are just the workings of his traumatized mind.  But when a local banker is found dead, Jeff believes the attack has left him with a sixth sense--an ability to see murder before it happens.

Piecing together clues he saw in his dreams, Jeff attempts to solve the crime.  His brother Richard is skeptical, but unsettling developments begin to forge a tentative bond.  Soon, things that couldn’t be explained by premonition come to light, and Jeff finds himself probing into dangerous secrets that touch his own traumatic past in wintry Buffalo--where a killer is ready to darken Jeff’s visions permanently.

Dead In Red
Hardcover from my web site, postage paid, $11 media rate, $13 priority, $22 International

Sometimes it seems like murder and mayhem follow Jeff Resnick, challenging his psychic “sixth sense” to solve crimes.  Since the vicious mugging that changed his life, he’s tried to keep his unwanted gift in check.  But when a bartender at his favorite watering hole is murdered, visions of a sparkling red woman’s high-heeled shoe and a pair of bloody hands linger in his mind--and hit too close to home.  When Jeff’s older brother, Richard, last helped him with an investigation, it nearly cost him his life.  Still, Richard is determined to tag along as Jeff is drawn into the seamy world of fetishes and drag queens to find a murderer before another life is taken.

Dead In Red
Kindle
Nook
Sony E Reader
Smashwords

iPad
Kobo
Diesel

(Isn't this new cover intriguing?)

 

 

 

 

Cheated By Death
first time in print, $13.95 Trade paperback
Kindle ~ Nook ~ Sony e Reader ~ Smashwords ~ Kobo

In this third of a series, Jeff Resnick faces a new dilemma:  someone is stalking his sister-in-law, Brenda, who fears that violence from pro-life supporters will escalate near the women’s clinic where she works. Or could the vandalism, threatening phone calls, and letters against her have come from her abusive ex-husband? Meanwhile, Jeff grapples with meeting his estranged father and the sister he never knew existed.

 

 

 

So, was it just talk, or will readers who don't have e readers embrace these books?

WORD OF WARNING:  These books are not cozy mysteries.  They're either psychological suspense or could be classed as a paranormal thriller.  It depends on who's making the classification.  But if you look at the Amazon reviews, you'll find they mostly received five star reviews.  No brag, just fact.

So, now that I've called your bluff, will you call mine?

 

When fiction won't do

I don't know about you, but my to-be-read pile seems to grow by the minute.  (Or maybe it's breeding.  Well, we're approaching Easter, famous for rabbits ... and you know what they say ....)

I have a load of wonderful cozy reads sitting there gathering dust.  I'm eager to dive into Julie Hyzy's latest (Eggsecutive Orders) and Jenn McKinlay's first Cupcake Bakery mystery (Sprinkle with Murder), but I don't like to read fiction while I'm furiously at work on my own writing.  (Can you say "beach reads" -- or in my case, "cottage reads?")

That's why I either read old favorites, or non-fiction. 

I was quite taken with the movie Julie and Julia--probably because of both writers long quests for publication.  I saw it at the theater and asked for and got it on DVD for Christmas.  I think I've now seen it about seven times. (When I like something, I like it a LOT!)  So it was a no-brainer when I hit the bookstore the other day to grab a copy of Julia Child's "My Life In France," which half of the movie was based on.

I'm about a quarter of the way through the book and I love it.  Maybe it's because I love food (which isn't hard to tell if you've seen me in person). But her intimate portrait of the Paris she knew in the late 1940s sounds wonderful (if not a little chilly in winter).  And her husband, Paul, who definitely stood in her shadow during the last half of their lives together, was a gifted photographer.  It's wonderful to see his photographs that chronicled where they went and what they did--and with whom.

I'm looking forward to getting lost in some of my friends' cozy mysteries, but right now, I'm enjoying this real slice of Julia Child's Life.

What was the last piece of non-fiction you read?

Dear Susan Branch

I'm not one to fall for celebrity.  Back in my 20s, I was secretary to a woman who was married to the biggest newscaster in town.  I worked for her for six months before I decided that "Cal-if-or-nia was the place I wanna be" and on my last day the big cheese asked me (after speaking to me every work day for those six months) if I was "the new secretary."

Then I worked for 20th Century Fox for almost six months.  During that time I got to see and meet a LOT of celebrities and downright TV and Movie Stars.  (Including Alan Alda, David Ogden Stiers, Harry Morgan, and even Sigourney Weaver.)  But after my brush with Mr. Newscaster, I was no longer impressed with celebrity.  Which made it a lot easier for me to leave that job and come back home to Western New York.

In my time as a published author, I've met quite a few big-name authors at mystery conferences.  Believe me, I haven't gone out of my way to meet them, either.  I'm always afraid that people whose work I've admired might end up being like Mr. (now fallen from grace) Newscaster (who doesn't even come up with a Google search).  (Take that, Mr. Arrogant Has-Been!)

So why have I been so tickled to make the virtual acquaintance of author Susan Branch on Twitter? 

I've have LONG admired Susan's watercolor-illustrated cookbooks.  The first of her books I received was Christmas from the Heart of the Home (which is now out of print.  Oh, that STUPID publisher. How could it ever deprive the world of the best Christmas cookbook (with lots of extras) that (wo)man kind has ever known? ).

When I first saw that Susan was on Twitter, I was quick to follow her.  But how thrilled I was when I retweeted one of her posts and she thanked me for it.  Me.  Right here.  In backwoods old Western New York!

Since then, we have corresponded maybe six or seven times.  The other day, I commented on one of her Tweets and we went back and forth three times.  Wow!  How wonderful it is to "talk" with someone you've long admired and she was just as nice as I'd always imagined.  (And even more cool--that we'd recently both reread a favorite book.)

I have no illusions that Susan and I will ever be friends.  But I love to hear about what she's working on.  (Like when she posted about finishing her 2011 calendar.)  And I love just about everything she draws and writes.  It it just so cool to have had the opportunity to let her know how much I admire her work. 

Have you "met" anyone online (or in person) who you were really impressed with?

Check Out These February Titles

 A number of my friends have new books out this month.  First up, because it came out yesterday, Sandra Parhall's third installment in the Rachel Goddard Mysteries, Broken Places.  There's a reason Sandra won the Agatha for her first book in the series, The Heat Of The Moon.  Her follow-up was equally dynamic, so I'm especially looking forward to reading Broken Places.

Here's what Publishers Weekly said in their starred review:  “Near the start of Parshall's excellent third Rachel Goddard mystery (after 2007's Disturbing the Dead), the Mason County, Va., veterinarian witnesses an argument between newspaper publisher Cam Taylor, who's desperate for money to save his paper, and popular cartoonist Ben Hern (aka Cuban-American artist Benicio Hernandez), who won't give him any, at Ben's mansion. On the drive home, Rachel spots Cam's abandoned car in the road, pulls over, hears gunshots, and finds Cam dead in the woods. Rachel and her vet assistant, Holly Turner, must take care not to become a frantic killer's next victims in a suspenseful tale distinguished by its sharp prose.”

Today my Cozy Chick pal Heather Webber's new book (and series) debuts.  Truly, Madly, is the first book in her Lucy Valentine series.

Here's what Publisher's Weekly said:  This clever paranormal mystery series launch is sure to delight fans of Webber's gardening detective, Nina Quinn (Weeding Out Trouble, etc.). The Boston Valentines have been professional matchmakers for generations, but Lucy Valentine's psychic talent tends to show her people's lost car keys rather than their ideal mates, so she's shocked when her parents stick her with running the company. A vision leaves her wondering whether a client murdered his girlfriend, so she hires sexy PI Sean Donahue to find the missing woman, but while she's imagining them naked in bed, he's suspecting her of murder. Lucy has to contend with her meddling grandmother's efforts to find her a new boyfriend as she dodges the cops, hunts a killer, and struggles to explain the truth to Sean. Fun characters, sparkling prose, and a twisty plot add up to a great beginning for Valentine Inc.

My long-time friend Doranna Durgin also as a book out today, The Reckoners, which is also the first in a new series.

Publishers Weekly said:  Durgin (Scent of Danger) introduces Lisa “Garrie” McGarrity and her team of Albuquerque ghost hunters in this cheerful paranormal romance series launch. Garrie learned her trade at the age of 10 from Rhonda Rose, an invisible childhood friend who turned out to be a ghost. Now “25 and over the hill,” Garrie is burnt out on helping the dead to finish their business with the living, but otherworldly bounty hunter Trevarr persuades her to fly to San Jose's famously haunted Winchester House, where the ghosts have become strangely agitated. Trevarr makes a tremendous effort to help Garrie and capture her heart, but Garrie doesn't trust him, and she's caught unawares by the dark forces arrayed against her. Readers will enjoy the humorous dialogue and ghost-busting lingo.

The third entry in the Domestic Diva Mysteries, by my pal Krista Davis, is The Diva Paints the Town.  Trivia tidbit:  Krista and I share the same cover artist: Teresa Fasolino also does the paintings for the Booktown Mysteries. 

Here's the blurb:  Puzzle this domestic diva puzzled.  When Sophie's neighbor--a reclusive professor--dies, his final wish is for the Domestic Diva to throw a dinner party in his honor, and he's planned everything down to the letter. But what no one planned for is the corpse of a student that Sophie finds in his house.

It's the 9th outing for protagonist Abbey Knight in the Flowershop Mysteries, by my Cozy Chick pal Kate Collins in Sleeping with Anemone.

Here's the blurb:  Maybe Abby Knight shouldn't have chosen a home and garden show sponsored by Uniworld Food as the venue for her protest against the corporation's harmful farming practices. But being bodily removed from the event won't stop her campaign. Nor will a burning brick thrown through her flower shop's window.

After she narrowly escapes being kidnapped three times, Abby calls in the big guns-her ex-Ranger boyfriend Marco and her friends and family. And then the stakes are raised by murder... 

Emmy-award winning investigative TV reporter Hank Phillippi Ryan is also an Agatha-award winning author.  Her third Charlotte McNally Mystery, Drive Time, is brand-spanking new!

Library Journal said:  Buckle up and prepare for a wild ride as Charlie McNally and Boston's Channel 3 News investigate a nefarious car theft/forgery operation and race to get their story on the air before their lives are endangered. In the meantime, Charlie becomes consumed with secret sleuthing as blackmail and suspicious deaths threaten the private, prestigious Bexter Academy where her fiancé teaches. Amid late-night stakeouts and dangerous car chases, Charlie finds time for romance, wedding planning, and bonding with her future stepdaughter. In her fourth series entry (after Prime Time, Face Time, and Air Time), Ryan once again channels her Emmy-winning investigative reporting expertise to craft a realistic and compelling mystery, full of hairpin turns and dangerous intersections at breakneck speed. VERDICT Placing Ryan in the same league as Lisa Scottoline and Julie Kramer, her latest book catapults the reader into the fast lane and doesn't relent until the story careens to a stop. New readers will speed to get her earlier books, and diehard fans will hope for another installment.—Mary Todd Chesnut, Northern Kentucky Univ. Lib., Highland Heights

Looks like I've got some very good reading ahead of me.

I hope you'll try these books, too!

Found: 1 Potato Cookbook

The other day I was passing by my bookshelves in the living room.  This is where I keep most of my non-fiction:  cookbooks, decorating book, etc.  (And boy, are there a lot of books there.)  Something didn't look quite right so I bent down to a lower shelf and found a fat squat book:  SuperCookery:  Potatoes and Vegetables.

I have a LOT of vegetarian cookbooks.  Not that I'm a vegetarian, but I just happen to LOVE vegetables. (A lot more than my husband. In fact, I could probably BECOME a vegetarian and not miss meat (well, except for pork).)

When I say I found this little book, I mean it:  I found it.  I'd never seen it before, or at least I don't remember ever seeing it.  I took it into my husband's office and asked him, "Did you buy this book?"  He said, "Never saw it before in my life."

Hmm.  Do you think the book fairy dropped it off one night while we were sleeping in heavenly peace?

I opened the book and there was a yellow Post-It note inside that said:

Mom,
I knew you were looking for a book about cooking with vegetables.  I thought this one was pretty nice.  

(Check is inside the book.) 

~Allar

At least I THINK it was signed Allar.  While the note was printed, the signature was not and it was pretty incoherent.  More important, I flipped through the pages to find the check.  Darn.  Mom must have taken it out and cashed it!  And since there was a post-it note inside the book, there's a good chance I bought the book at a garage sale.  But if so, why don't I remember it? I usually devour cookbooks (not literally, thank goodness), and this one is just the kind of thing I enjoy.

And I did enjoy reading through it, and marked a number of recipes I'd like to try.

Do you ever forget you've bought a book?

On my To-Be-Read List

There are a bunch of new books on my To Be Read List this month--books written by friends of mine.  I hope you'll give them a try.

Of course, topping the list is the first in Jennifer Stanley's Hope Street Church Mysteries, Stirring Up Strife.

Cooper Lee can repair a copy machine—but can she repair her life? That’s one of the many Big Questions that lead this newly single Richmond girl to Sunrise Bible Study at the Hope Street Church. Cooper hasn’t attended church in ages, but after getting dumped by her long-time boyfriend—and moving in with her family—she could use some new friends, and a new outlook on life. Happily, the members of the Bible group are anything but cookie-cutter, which suits Cooper just fine. There’s a blind folk artist, a playboy meteorologist, an investment banker with a sweet tooth, an ambitious realtor, and a cute shy web designer who just might be “the one” for Cooper. But the member of Hope Street Church who invited Cooper to join this motley crew—an office worker who got her wedding ring stuck in a copier—is something else altogether: She’s dead And her husband is suspected of murder!

The Sunrise gang jumps into action, vowing to solve this unholy mess—with God’s guidance—and Cooper’s snooping…

Includes heavenly recipes from Mrs. Lee’s kitchen!

Eggsecutive Orders a White House Chef Mystery by Julie Hyzy.

Chef Olivia Paras has too many eggs in one basket-and is feeling like a basket-case... 

When NSA big shot Carl Minkus dies right after eating the dinner Olivia Paras's staff had prepared, all forks point to them. Now the Secret Service is picking apart the kitchen-and scrutinizing the staff's every move. The timing couldn't be worse with the White House Lawn Easter Egg Roll to prep for without access to a kitchen. Olivia must find the real culprit-before she cracks under pressure.

Eggsecutive Orders is the third entry in this award-winning series.

Dead Air is the first Talk Radio Mystery by Mary Kennedy.

When a psychologist hits Florida's airwaves, there's no telling who she's reaching...and there's no telling who wants to reach back. 

Maggie left her clinical practice in Manhattan and moved to sunny Cypress Grove, Florida, where she became host of WYME's "On the Couch with Maggie Walsh." From co-dependent wives to fetish fiends, all the local crazies love her show. 

Then threats start pouring in against one of the station's special guests-self-styled new age prophet Guru Sanjay Gingii. When one of the threats becomes a deadly reality, Maggie's new roommate, Lark, is surprisingly the prime suspect. Now, Maggie has to prove Lark innocent while dealing with a killer who needs more than just therapy... 

Need yet ANOTHER blog to read?  My friend Deb Baker has started a blog about ... reading!  It's called Powered By Books, and features all kinds of books in all kinds of genres.  I hope you'll give it a try.

And what's on YOUR to-be-read list?

Trotting Out Old Holiday Favorites

On a recent visit to my local bookstore, I wandered through the mystery section to see what was new (and did they have copies of my book(s) and those of my friends).  On all the cap ends were holiday mysteries.  Lots of them.  Whoa! 

A quick look at the copyright dates proved that these were NOT new books getting preferential treatment, but that the bookstore was trotting out seasonal backlists to satisfy its readers' desire to get in the holiday spirit with a little touch of murder.

Some bigger-name authors get their holiday books re-released every year with "new-improved" editions, with extras like recipes and holiday essays.  (Can you think of a better thing?  New editions--something every collector will want and NEED!) Ka-ching, ka-ching!

I told an author friend of mine that we needed to write holiday books that we could trot out every year.  Unfortunately, it's usually the publisher--not the author--who decides these things.

Still, I do have a holiday story I can trot out every year.  Okay, it's available year-round on Amazon Shorts, and I rarely trot.  Add to that, the title gives no clue that the story is set during the holiday season.  It's called  "We're So Sorry, Uncle Albert,"  and it's so forlorn (i.e. lack of sales) it isn't even ranked any more.  I wanted to explore the relationship between the have and have-nots within a family unit. What would it take to goad family members to even consider bumping off a “loved one?” And what are the possibilities of getting away with such a crime?  And why not set it during the holiday season?

And at only 49 cents, it's a heck of a deal!

Will I ever write a novel set at Christmas?  Well . . . maybe.  I do have one in the closet that takes place around Thanksgiving -- and the epilogue takes place on Christmas Eve.  And my first Victoria Square Mystery takes place Halloween week and ends--you got it--at Christmastime!

Neither of them are truly holiday oriented, so it looks like it'll be a while (if ever) before any of my backlist gets trotted out for the holidays.

(But one never knows.)

What's your favorite holiday book/story?

A quick look at the copyright dates proved that these were NOT new books getting preferential treatment, but that the bookstore was trotting out seasonal backlists to satisfy its readers' desire to get in the holiday spirit with a little touch of murder.

Some bigger-name authors get their holiday books re-released every year with "new-improved" editions, with extras like recipes and holiday essays.  (Can you think of a better thing?  New editions--something every collector will want and NEED!) Ka-ching, ka-ching!

I told an author friend of mine that we needed to write holiday books that we could trot out every year.  Unfortunately, it's usually the publisher--not the author--who decides these things.

Still, I do have a holiday story I can trot out every year.  Okay, it's available year-round on Amazon Shorts, and I rarely trot.  Add to that, the title gives no clue that the story is set during the holiday season.  It's called  "We're So Sorry, Uncle Albert,"  and it's so forlorn (i.e. lack of sales) it isn't even ranked any more.  I wanted to explore the relationship between the have and have-nots within a family unit. What would it take to goad family members to even consider bumping off a “loved one?” And what are the possibilities of getting away with such a crime?  And why not set it during the holiday season?

And at only 49 cents, it's a heck of a deal!

Will I ever write a novel set at Christmas?  Well . . . maybe.  I do have one in the closet that takes place around Thanksgiving -- and the epilogue takes place on Christmas Eve.  And my first Victoria Square Mystery takes place Halloween week and ends--you got it--at Christmastime!

Neither of them are truly holiday oriented, so it looks like it'll be a while (if ever) before any of my backlist gets trotted out for the holidays.

(But one never knows.)

What's your favorite holiday book/story?

An unexpected review

The other day, my publicist . . . (doesn't that sound hoity-toi?  Mind you, I share her with at least 99 if not 9,999 other authors) sent me a review for Bookplate Special.

Okay, what's so special about yet another review?

This one happens to be from Booklist.

So, big deal, you're probably saying to yourself.

Well, it is a big deal.  Booklist is one of the BIG FOUR reviewers.  With budgets being slashed for books, many libraries make their book-buying decisions from reviews in one of the big four review sources:  Library Journal, Publishers Weekly, Kirkus and ... BOOKLIST.  Believe me, if you're a small press author, a big four review can make or break you.  (I didn't get one for my first hardcover and the book sank like the Titanic, which absolutely broke my heart.)

The BIG FOUR review primarily hardcover books. 

Bookplate Special is a mass market paperback. 

The best part of all:  Booklist liked it, hey, Mikey!  They said, in part,"Small-town New Hampshire life, the sisters' turbulent relationship, a budding romance, and plenty of cooking (includes recipes) provide the ambiance in this satisfying series.  A good bet for readers of Joanne Fluke's Hannah Swensen mysteries."

 

Not bad, eh?

I like to say it with cake!

Does the picture on the left tell you anything?

Sunday, November 22nd, BOOKPLATE SPECIAL will debut on the New York Times Bestsellers list for mass market paperbacks at #20. (Bookmarked for Death only made it to #30.)

Can you say:  "YEEEEE HAAAA!!!!"

What?  You still haven't bought your copy?  Well, come on -- help me move up the list to #19 -- or even (heaven forbid) #15!!!

I'm pretty chuffed about all this, but that doesn't mean I can slack off.  I'm working, Working, STILL WORKING on the first Victoria Square mystery (yipe! the deadline is next week!!!) and will jump right into the next Booktown Mystery (which doesn't yet have a title).

So I'll be busy, Busy, BUSY for quite a while.

But I did want to say thank you to everyone who has already bought the book.

From The Heart Of The Home

Okay, Thanksgiving is still more than a week away, and maybe I do rush the Christmas season--but, hey, the happiest times of most children's lives is Christmas.  The anticipation is monumental.  Was it just greed or was it the absolute joy of everything about Christmas that made a kid's heart soar?

For me, as an adult, getting into the Christmas season means two things:  music and -- surprise! --books.

I have a lot of Christmas (coffee-table) books, but my all-time-favorite is the very first I ever got. It was a gift from my Mum, which makes it even more special.  It's Susan Branch's "Christmas From The Heart Of The Home." Unfortunately, it's out of print (Yes, YOU MISSED IT) -- but Susan's "keepsake" version "Christmas Joy" is still available. (Hey, and just to name drop, Susan is now my friend on Twitter.  She has ACTUALLY tweeted TO me, how amazingly COOL is that???)

Usually my Mum signs the books she gives to me (for birthdays and Christmas), but for some reason she forgot to do that with this one (and with my very favorite decorating book, The Romance of County Inns by Gail Grecco).  I can't tell you how many times I've read Christmas From The Heart Of The Home--not just glanced at the pretty pages (Susan illustrates all her books with charming watercolors), but READ THE ENTIRE BOOK--ALL THE RECIPES and everything!!!  At least three or four times every Christmas season for at least ten, if not fifteen, years.  (I've made quite a few of the recipes, too!)  I love the art.  I love the recipes--but most of all, I love the suggestions on celebrating.

But one of the things I love most is that Susan wrote about Christmas on Martha's Vineyard.  I love new England, and one of the things on my "bucket list" is the Nantucket Stroll."  Since I first read Susan's books, I've longed to visit both Martha's Vineyard and Nantucket--off season.  (Have I mentioned how much I hate crowds?) 

It will probably never happen, so maybe one holiday I'll spend the holiday at my family's summer cottage.  To do that, the place would have to be winterized.  Our neighbor, who winterized a summer cottage to make a year-round home said it was THE BIGGEST MISTAKE OF HIS LIFE, and in retrospect wished he'd razed the place and started from scratch.  There's so much of my Dad in that place (he gutted it and did a total remodel and addition), that I don't think I could do that.

So, as in years before, I will (okay, already have) delve into my copy of Christmas From The Heart Of The Home and dream about spending the holiday on the shore. (And maybe down a couple of "Peach Cream" drinks--recipe on page 31...just in case you'd like to join me.)

What's in a cover?

It only occurred to me on Wednesday to think--oh, Bookmarked for Death is coming out in large print next month.  I wonder what the cover looks like.  So I went in search of it.

Mind you, when I saw the cover for the large print edition Murder Is Binding, I thought it was okay.  Not as wonderful as the cover Berkley Prime Crime did for the mass market paperback edition, but not bad.  After all, it was done by the parent company that did the cover for Murder On The Mind (horrible) and Dead in Red (which was fantastic). Of course, I have to remind myself that cover art--like everything else in publishing--is a crapshoot.  Sometimes you win, sometimes you lose.

So, when I saw the large-print cover on Wednesday I must say I wasn't exactly impressed.  The mass market paperback's cover represented the first chapter of the book, with the cake that looked like the guest author's book cover, the books themselves, and the open door to the washroom where the victim was found.  The artist even included the tin ceiling!  The artist must have at least read the synopsis and maybe even the first chapter.  Could an author be more pleased?

I found the large print cover on Amazon.  To say it was a disappointment was putting it mildly.  The cover artist decided to just do generic books on a bookshelf.  Not very inspiring.  Okay, large print editions don't sell all that much anyway, but surely the large print audience is just as interested in a beautiful cover as the mass market paperback audience.  Then again, consumers BUY the mass market version (@ $6.99).  Usually only libraries buy the large print edition (@ $25.99), and I don't think (at least I hope they aren't) as swayed by the cover art.

Authors don't make a lot of money on large-print editions.  But what if the cover art was just as stellar--maybe more copies would be sold, which would benefit not only the author, but the publisher as well.  At least, that's a theory I'm willing to embrace.

But the absolute worst thing about the cover:  THEY SPELLED MY NAME WRONG!!!  Note, there's only one "T" on Barrett. 

UPDATE:  Just after I wrote this, I heard from my Five Star editor.  (Five Star is a division of Thorndike--the parent company, famous for their large-print editions.)  I'd written to her to report the cover goof.  She was AMAZING!  Less than two hours later, the cover had been fixed, and she'd sent me a copy of the new cover.  Also, they'd caught it in time because the books hadn't yet been printed.  Whew!  I feel a LOT better now!

The books I bought

What's with the yard sales this year?  Generally speaking--they suck warty pickles!  With so many people in financial difficulties, you'd think that the sales would be full of stuff as people scramble to come up with money to pay their bills.

Apparently not so.

But I did get a couple of good things this week--books, probably the last thing I need--but something I always want.

 As far as I can remember, I only read one Little House book by Laura Ingalls Wilder.  That was in third grade.  While I remember liking it, I didn't know there were any more in the series (apparently our school library didn't have them), and I was clueless until the TV series.  By then, I was more into mysteries than "family fare."

When I had my booth at an antiques co-op, I sold a LOT of used books by Ms. Wilder.  They seem to speak to children, or at least to parents or grandparents who wanted to share those stories with another generation.  But I never kept any for myself.

Saturday, I came across three of the titles for 50 cents each:  Farmer Boy, The Long Winter, and These Happy Golden Years.  I may not read them until I get the rest of the series and then read them "in order."  But they are now in the To-Be-Read pile.

The other book I got was "The Clue of the Broken Locket" -- a Nancy Drew book, a 1943 edition with, alas, no dust jacket. (But I found a copy of it on Wikipedia--isn't it delightful?) Still, I'm gathering things for a charity basket for next year's Malice Domestic, and I thought that would make a great addition. 

CONFESSION TIME:  I have never read a Nancy Drew book.  I may have to read this before it goes in the basket. 

What's in your TBR pile?

I want a new telephone

Have you tried to buy a phone lately?  I'm talking landline phone.  In your house.  The kind of phone you can put on your shoulder and talk to your mother while you stir the spaghetti sauce so it doesn't burn.  You CAN'T find them.  The only things available these days are all cell phone wannabes.

I want a REAL telephone.  And OLD telephone.  As it happens, when we were growing up (way back through the mists of time).  The phone company owned the phone.  We were one of the first families on the block to actually BUY our own telephone, and it was pink (the same color as our house).  I loved it. 

The phone company was made up of grumpy old men and they didn't want people to have extension phones.  It was a BIG no-no, but somehow my Dad got hold of an old Art Deco telephone, and he ran the wires and we had TWO--count 'em--TWO phones in our house.

As a kid, I found it hard to lift the receiver of that old phone--it was HEAVY, and I didn't like the phone.  Where had it come from?  Did it have cooties?  When the phone rang, I'd run to the front of the house to use the pink phone just so I wouldn't have to use that terrible old phone.

Of course, now I would KILL to have that phone.  I've seen similar phones in antique shops, not in as good shape, and they want between $60 and $100.  (The graphic on the left doesn't do that phone justice.) 

Since I can't have the phone of my dreams (or at least I'm too cheap to get it--and where would I put it?), I've given it to my character, Tricia Miles.  She keeps it in her Haven't Got a Clue bookstore where she sells vintage mysteries.  When she uses it, it takes her back to the days of Agatha Cristie and Harriet Vane and getting lost in their adventures.

Maybe what I really need isn't an old phone, but more time to read mysteries.

That sounds good to me.

The Breeze Inn

Like many of author Mary Kay Andrews's readers, I've been following the creation of her very own Breeze Inn on her blog.

For those of you who don't know, Mary Kay Andrews (pen name of author Kathy Hogan Trocheck) writes women's fiction.  She's written three that feature the same characters, Savannah Blues, Savannah Breeze, and Blue Christmas.  In Savannah Breeze, BeBe Loudermilk has lost all her worldly possessions thanks to a bad investment counselor--except for a dumpy motel called the Breeze Inn.  For a good chunk of the book, Bebe and her friend Weezie renovate the inn, with a nod to HGTV's Design on a Dime, and stuff from Weezie's second hand shop.

I loved the books, and I was intrigued when Mary Kay bought her "beach house" on Tybee Island.  For the past few months she's been chronicling the change from ugly cement block house to her own personal breeze inn, with pink and turquoise paint, wicker furniture, and lots of neat odds and ends.

She put a lot of effort into that renovation, telling readers about the rooms she'd prepared for her son (also known as "Boomerang Boy) and daughter and her husband.  About choosing the paint colors, junking all along the East Coast (from Brimfield, MA to Florida) finding just the right items to furnish her home-away-from-home.

And finally, a few weeks ago, she declared her own personal Breeze Inn finished.  I imagined her family using the place on weekends, the house being filled with friends, great food, great drinks, great memories.

WRONG!  The Breeze Inn is now open for BUSINESS!  And you can rent it for chump change -- that is if you happen to be Donald Trump.  A week's stay at the Breeze Inn will put you back a mere $2,133!!!  (Add $100 a week if you want to bring your pooch.  $200 if you bring two pooches.)  Of course, part of that cost includes a $30 admin fee (for the people who handle the rentals), $125 housekeeping fee, and a 13% motel/hotel tax.

Odd as it sounds, I felt betrayed.  Mary Kay never told her blog readers that the Breeze Inn would be a money-making venture.  We came along for the ride thinking that this would be her great escape, where she go to get away from life and work on her novels.  (Her latest, The Fixer Upper, comes out on June 23rd.) 

I started thinking about Mary Kay and her books and had a stunning realization.  Usually authors live vicariously through their characters.  Mine own their own bookstores in a quaint New England village and wouldn't I like to do the same?  Mary Kay has taken this vicarious living to another level.  She not only has a character who owns a motel on Tybee Island, now...so does she, sort of.

So instead of feeling betrayed, I think now I'm just jealous!

FOOD FICTION CONTEST

Just a reminder:  I'm teaming up with my friend J.B. Stanley with a contest giveaway.

J.B. is offering up a Battered Body Gift Basket (that will include a signed copy of THE BATTERED BODY, a buttercream-scented candle, gourmet cake mix, and other edible goodies) and while I'm contributing a signed copy of BOOKMARKED FOR DEATH!

To enter: Send an E-MAIL foodfiction@gmail.com by APRIL 1st with the subject line MARCH CONTEST and tell us about your favorite baked goods! Recipes, stories...all are welcome! Again, the grand prize winner will be chosen at random, but who knows...? There might just bonus winners. : )

One entry per person and U.S. mailing addresses only, please. Please include your mailing address so we can send you your prize!  You will be signed up for both my and J.B.'s newsletters and the Food Fiction newsletter, if not already. (You can always opt out!)

The contest is being hosted by Jessica Conant-Park co-author of the Gourmet Girls Mysteries, author Michele Scott of the Wine Lovers Mystery Series through their Food Fiction newsletter.

Trotting Out Holiday Favorites

On a recent visit to my local bookstore, I wandered through the mystery section to see what was new (and did they have copies of my book(s) and those of my friends).  On all the cap ends were holiday mysteries.  Lots of them.  Whoa! 

A quick look at the copyright dates proved that these were NOT new books getting preferential treatement, but that the bookstore was trotting out seasonal backlists to satisfy readers' desire to get in the holiday spirit with a little touch of murder.

Some bigger-name authors get their holiday books re-released every year with "new-improved" editions, with extras.  (Can you think of a better thing?  New editions--something every collector will want and NEED!) Ka-ching, ka-ching!

I told another writer friend that we needed to write holiday books that could be trotted out every year.  Unfortunately, it's usually the publisher--not the author--who decides these things.

Still, I do have a holiday story I can trot out every year.  Okay, it's available year-round, and I rarely trot.  It's titled:  "We're So Sorry, Uncle Albert."  I wanted to explore the relationship between the have and have nots within a family unit. What would it take to goad family members to even consider bumping off a “loved one?” And what are the possibilities of getting away with such a crime?  And it's set during the holiday season.

You can find it on Amazon (click on the link over there on the right side), and for only 49 cents. 

Such a deal!

Will I ever write a novel set at Christmas?  Well . . . maybe.  I do have one in the closet that takes place around Thanksgiving -- and the epilogue takes place on Christmas Eve.  Another of my unsold manuscripts takes place Halloween week and ends--you got it--at Christmastime!

Neither of them are truly holiday oriented, so it looks like it'll be a while (if ever) before any of my backlist gets trotted out for the holidays.

(But one never knows.)

Author copies!

It's wonderful to have a rural mailbox, especially if you happen to get a lot of boxes.  How many times have you had a box of something sitting on the front steps, soaking wet or encased in snow and ice because the box wouldn't fit in your regulation mailbox?

Not me!  Since I got my first house, I've always had a rural (BIG) mailbox.  Why?  Because I order stuff. Especially books.  Our mailman has never had to trudge up the driveway with a box.  And you'd be amazed what you can fit in one of these oversized mailboxes.

My author copies for Dead In Red came yesterday.  My other publishers have been extremely generous with author copies, but this one...not as.  (Hey, I've got to use two of them to register my own copyright!)  The box they came in was HUGE!  Oh boy! I couldn't wait to open the box because surely a carton this BIG would hold more than just 12 copies.

I was wrong.

Despite the lack of them, they really are quite ... beautiful.  Did I hit the jackpot this year when it came to covers, or what?

More BLISS--A Little Bit of Victoria Magazine in Stoneham

It's no surprise to readers of this blog that I am a HUGE fan of Victoria magazine.  It's genteel.  It's elegant.  It's GORGEOUS.  I love just about everything about it.  (Except that it doesn't come out often enough.)

So when I was writing the first book in my new mystery series, I wanted to add a little bit of Victoria to the manuscript.   

The concept of Stoneham is based on the little Welsh village of Hay-On-Wye.  A wonderful place filled with used, rare, and antequarian books. 

My protagonist, Tricia Miles, runs the village's mystery bookshop, Haven't Got a Clue.  Tricia worked very hard to create a Victorian atmosphere of tranquility and peace within her store.  She began the process from the outside in.  What could be more Victorian than 221b Baker Street--the home of Sherlock Holmes?  (The cover artist even got it right!)

Inside Tricia's shop, the decor is comfortable if a bit masculine--in a very Victoria kind of way:  richly paneled walls decorated with prints and photos of long-dead mystery authors; oak bookshelves; a cozy readers nook with tapestry upholstered armchairs; other period details, and the quintessential tin ceiling overhead.  Tricia also serves her patrons tea, coffee, and cookies (biscuits) while they peruse classic mystery titles (and the occasional current best seller).

In the second book (Bookmarked For Death, Feb. 2009), Tricia adds a water closet, and decorates it in period style, too.  Ahh...it was fun to decorate.  I gave it a high-tank toilet, flocked wallpaper, and an antique oak-framed mirror.  It's in keeping (greens and browns) with the rest of the store's decor.   

Okay, so an occasional murder takes place on or about the premises. It's all very tidy.

Honest.

But don't just take my word for it.  Publisher's Weekly said:  "The mix of books, cooking, and an engaging whodunit will leave cozy fans eager for the next installment." 

You can check out Murder Is Binding for yourselves.  It's available today at bookstores across the country (and Canada)--and nearly all online booksellers as well.

 

Spoiler Alert

I don't update my website nearly enough.  That's because it costs $$$ and as most of you know, mid-list authors don't wallow in hundred dollar bills.  But it was time.  My welcome letter was wishing readers a happy summer, and autumn has definitely (and finally) come to western New York.

But it isn't just the welcome letter that's been added to this update.  Okay, a couple of links were broken--they're now fixed--but I've also added something to my Extras page.

Wa'zat? you ask.  Some additional goodies that pertain to MURDER ON THE MIND.  Such as drawings of the main characters, character sketches, a map of where the story takes place, a link to Sophie's recipes, and new to the page:  the deleted epilogue.

As I explain in my intro, my then-agent didn't want the book to look like a stand-alone novel, and suggested we end it where Jeff and Brenda leave the hospital.  At the time, I was so eager to see the book in print, I agreed.  Out it went.  But I've also had a number of readers ask me what happened after that last scene. 

Now they can find out.  That is...if they go and look.  (You can get there from here.)

Mind you, if you HAVEN'T read the book, reading this now will ruin it for you.  Just follow this link and you can order the very reasonably priced paperback of MURDER ON THE MIND.  (Hee-hee, you knew I'd somehow get in a commercial for the book, right?)  For those of you who like hardcovers, Amazon still has a few copies of that out-of-print edition (and they're selling it for 34% off list price--eligible for free delivery).

New Books to Try!

Hey, it just occurred to me that I haven't tooted a horn for new books out by two of my chums.  The first, is Goodbye Dolly, by Deb Baker.  It's the second in her Dolls To Die For cozy mystery series from Berkley Prime Crime.  It's been out a couple of weeks now and I feel ashamed I haven't yet mentioned it.  I've got my copy and it's sitting on top of my To Be Read pile right now. 

Also now available is Charles Benoit's latest adventure-mystery, Noble Lies.  I don't have my copy of this yet because I want to get an autographed one at one of Charles's upcoming (local) signings. 

These guys are wonderful writers, so if you haven't already tried their work--do it!  You won't be sorry.  (And to help you out, I've posted them on the right column--you can click right to Amazon and order them!)

Where's Harry?

I buy books on tape, but I don't trust them.  It's too easy for them to get snarled in a Walkman or one of my players.  Therefore, I make copies and then only listen to the copies...until they snarl up in my Walkman or one of my players.  (Example:  The first time I listened to Harry Potter And The Deathly Hallows, tape 1 jammed in my player.  I am now in the process of recording it.) 

This is not cheap.  First, you have to pay a helluva lot for the damn book on tape.  (And why is it that books on CD are more expensive than tape when it's obviously more labor intensive to record tapes than burn CDs, which cost pennies each?)  Then you have to buy the tapes to record the books on.  I spent the entire summer buying up brand new 90 minute cassettes at garage sales.  (It's amazing how so many people are so eager to get rid of them for such a cheap price.)

It's easy to see why Deathly Hallows jammed--the story is long and is recorded on 12 tapes.  Usually you can get away with 90 minute tapes.  Not so with this book.  The tapes seem to be about 100 minutes long, so I have to monitor the whole recording, which is a pain in the neck.  I can't listen AND write my own work, so this is a long-term project.  And I seem to have misplaced the last tape. (Mind you, I'm only up to tape 7 in my recording.) Since I originally listened to it at the cottage, I naturally thought it would be in that tape player.  Nope.  Okay, I listened to parts of it in various players here at home, too (which are stashed all over the house.  Hey, I like to be entertained 24/7!), but I've checked them all out and...no Harry.

Gulp.

It's not a crisis yet.  I've been known to misplace...well, just about everything I own.  (It's a problem when you have a memory like a sieve.)  But things usually turn up....

Then again, there's my favorite set of keys.  I bought a new car (2 years ago), drove it home, took the key out walked into the house and set them down.

I'm still looking for them.

Good News!

Right about now I could use some good news, and the good news is:

MURDER IS BINDING is now listed on amazon.  Go on, take a look!

Even better, it's available for PRE-ORDER!  (If you take a look, there's currently no ranking...that's because there are no pre-orders.)

Remember, publishers take a look a pre-orders to determine print runs.  RUN OUT AND ORDER IT RIGHT NOW!  (Thank you, thank you, thank you!)

And while you're at it, you can also pre-order a couple of my friend's books:

Through A Glass, Deadly by Sarah Atwell

Pushing Up Bluebonnets by Leann Sweeney

And while I'm pushing my friend's books, I can't forget Judy Clemens new entry in the Stella Crown mystery series, The Day Will Come, which is now available.  (See the cover over there on the right on the TRY THESE BOOKS list.)

Yes.  I sure needed a shot of good news.

Happy Potter Day!

I don't know about you, but I know how I'm spending my weekend.  Yup, I'm going to my favorite bookstore, picking up a copy of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows and plunking my butt into a comfy chair and spend the day READING.

Yeah, I could've ordered it from Amazon and had it delivered, but I tried that once and ended up waiting DAYS to get my book.  Besides, I want to support a brick-and-mortar bookstore.

And why aren't I going to my favorite independent bookstore to buy it?  Well, because it closed.  Lack of patronage.  (Nuff said.

I'm looking forward to getting lost in Harry Potter's world one more time.  (Yeah, like I'm only going to read it ONCE!)

I can't wait. 

My Cover...?

No, I don't have it.  But I have seen the work of the cover artist who's doing it.  Take a gander at this.  If you click on the picture, you'll get to see it full size.

I've been to Blenheim...seems to look like how I remember it.  But isn't it just...gorgeous?  (I might have to go and admire all this artist's covers...don't know who it is yet...I will find out.)

According to my agent, my editor has seen a sketch of the cover and it's charming.  Hey, that sounds good to me.  I'm thinking that, based on what I've heard from other authors, I should see my cover sometime in September. 

Also, according to what I've heard from other authors, my publisher will soon be posting the book on Amazon.  About two weeks after that, Amazon will start taking advance orders.

Who knew advance orders were such a big deal?  Certainly not me.  If not, I would have encouraged people to pre-order my last book.  Pre-orders help publishers determined the interest in a book and therefore the print run.  The more people who are interested, the bigger shot the author has of creating buzz and making sales.

So don't be surprised if a month from now I start begging you to pre-order my book. 

Hey, I'm not too proud.

Help Elaine Viets; buy her book

Several weeks ago, author Elaine Viets had a devastating stroke. Emergency surgery has given Elaine a good shot at recovery, but not in time to promote her newest book, which goes on sale today. So, just about the entire mystery writing community is pitching in to do just that for her.

This Agatha- and Anthony-winning novelist has exposed what life is like as a dog groomer, a telemarketer, a bookseller, a marriage coordinator, and a shop clerk at a boutique dress shop. Helen Hawthorne, her heroine is trying to survive on a cash-only basis. She needs to stay below the radar of the police. They would like to track her down for giving her ex-husband a concussion when she found him with a neighbor's wife.

Murder With Reservations is the 6th book in the Helen Hawthorne "Dead End Job" series. Here's the book's full description:

Helen Hawthorne has a knack for keeping a low profile. But in South Florida, it's going to get a lot harder to fly under the radar...

Working at Sybil's Full Moon Hotel in Fort Lauderdale keeps Helen safe and sane. But when a maid is found dead in a Dumpster, those days just might be over. Dead bodies mean another chance for the cops to find her. To make matters worse, her ex-husband is hot on her trail. Sadly, the cops don't seem to care much about a murdered maid-but they take notice of her coworker's shady story. If Helen doesn't manage to dodge their questions and shake off her ex, it could be checkout time.

The Dead-End mysteries are wonderful. I think I've read--and own--them all by now, and I've already ordered my copy of Murder With Reservations. The amazing thing about Elaine is that she works these jobs before writing about them, so her books are both funny and very realistic.

To make it easy for you, I've got a link, over there on the lower right along with the book's cover, to make it easy for you to order Elaine's book. (Or you can go straight to your favorite independent or chain bookstore to buy it!)

Won't you pitch in and help make Murder With Reservations Elaine's best-selling book to date?

(P.S. Thanks to author David Skibbens for some of the information used in this post.)

Guilty Pleasure

For Christmas I got a gift card from Barnes & Noble.  I had lots of fun spending it.  One of the books I bought was called "The Encyclopedia of Guilty Pleasures."  The subtitle is:  1,001 Things You Hate To Love.

I like books like this.  When you've only got a few minutes, it's fun to dip into.  Most of the "subjects" take less than a minute to read.

Here's something I ran across last night:

MYSTERY, COZY  Also known as Whodunits Featuring Recurring Amateur Sleuth Protagonists.  The first adventure can be okay, because it's not too difficult to believe that just about any of us could one day stumble on a murder and maybe even help solve it.  The guilty pleasure comes a few books down the line when it becomes clear that the protagonist--whether a Laundromat owner (the "Josie Toadfern" series) a Philadelphia schoolteacher (the "Amanda Pepper" series) or an Amish quilt maker (the "Granny Hanny series)--lives in a town with both a disturbing number of homicides and a disturbingly lame police force.

Oh yeah, they got it right.  And now I'm joining the fray with Murder Is Binding, which is set to be published next spring.

Why is it we always make the cops incompetent?  Not all of them, just the lead detective/authority figure.  Is it because we got tired of being told what to do as kids and this is our revenge?  (That analogy can be expanded to "tired of being told what to do at WORK as adults, and this is my revenge."  Oh, no!  Sometimes the victim in your story IS an old boss!)

In any case, I'm looking forward to when my Tricia Miles mystery bookseller mysteries will become someone's guilty pleasure.

Top Ten Lists

For the past week over on the DorothyL mystery readers list they’ve been posting readers’ top ten lists of 2006.  Needless to say, Murder on the Mind was not on anyone’s list.

There’s a good reason for this:  I’ll quote TV Producer (“Diagnosis Murder” and many other shows) Lee Goldberg, who was also a late-2005 Five Star author (of “The Man With The Iron-On Badge”):  “Limited Distribution.”  Or to quote James Thorp, who won an advance review copy of Murder on the Mind in one of my contests: “This is a book that clearly deserves a much bigger audience than its current publisher has access to.”

Not many authors get to see their very first novel in print, let alone get good feedback on it.  (And not nearly enough, let me tell you!)  But then I never again expect to spend 11 years and 13 complete drafts on a novel, either.  Its sequel, Dead in Red went through two drafts before selling.  Then again, I haven’t yet heard from my editor.  (Please, be kind, Hugh.) 

I don’t care what anyone says, winning an award (or even making somebody’s top ten list in East Podunk, Arkansas) is a thrill.  Not enough people read my first book.  Not nearly enough.  Hell, even long-time friends of mine (and you know who you are) couldn’t find time in their busy lives to read it, so it’s unlikely that many more will read Dead in Red.  The truth is, more people will read Murder is Binding simply because it’ll be published in paperback by a very big New York publisher, and I’ll either do well with it and its sequels or I’ll be looking for another pseudonym come 2010. 

It’s all a crapshoot.  But one thing is certain: Murder is Binding is going to be stocked in a lot of chain bookstores all over the US and in Canada.  Wow!  Mind boggling. : )

Still, my Jeff stories are the books of my heart.  I really want them to succeed.  And next time out I'll work just as hard to get the word out there.  (Only I'll start a whole lot sooner.)

Terrorism in a box

The good news!  The paperback rights have been sold for MURDER ON THE MIND.  (Yea!  Crowds cheer, fireworks explode, confetti falls!)  According to plans, the book (with a brand new cover--I can't wait!) will be available in November of 2007.  More details as they develop.

As part of the deal, I have to provide 4 copies of the hardback edition to my new publisher, which is in Canada.  Not a problem.  I simply put them in a box and took them to UPS.  I chose UPS because I knew I'd have a tracking number and could make sure it actually arrives, whereas I wouldn't get that perk from USPS. 

First problem:  The woman looks at my editor's name and gives me the fish eye, asking me for my editor's phone number.  Having never spoken to him (we've communicated via e-mail), I haven't got a clue.  She puts down my phone number as contact and collects my $$$.

The next day, I get a call from UPS demanding my editor's phone number.  I get on my computer, pull up his last e-mail and there it is.  I read it off, Frank gives it to the person on the phone.  All is apparently well.

Three hours later, I check the tracking number and the box is still in Fort Erie, Ontario.  Hmm.

This morning I pull up my tracking number and find out that my little box of books has been taken out of the UPS loop (and sits for five hours) because it has failed security. 

Did they open the box, which says right on the outside, "Requested Material 4 Copies of Murder on the Mind"--so my editor knows what he's getting?  The description of goods on my UPS form is:  bound books.  But why would they think a box of books is a security threat?

Maybe because my title includes the word "murder" and my editor's name is Mohammed?

Frank says if I tried to get on a plane with my little box of books, I'd have never made it.  I'd have been taken out of line, strip searched and tossed out of the airport on my sorry butt.  (Wil Wheaton has a great rant about security on his blog.)

According to my tracking number, my little box is still sitting in Fort Erie.  It's been cleared, but there it sits.  (Ya think they're reading the book to make sure Jeff and Richard aren't subversives?)

I'll be checking the tracking number until my little box reaches its destination, which I'm sure it will in the next couple of days and the paperback version of Murder on the Mind will begin its life.

Meanwhile, I'm not going to let this little blip on its journey spoil the ride to mass market paperback status.

Did you know she's an AUTHOR?

It always amuses me when vendors at the Craft Antique Co-Op find out I'm an author. They'll nudge whoever is standing next to them and whisper, "She wrote a whole book!" There's a big misconception that authors are $RICH$.  I get questions like, "Do you make as much money as John Grisham?" (Or plug in any other BIG name author.)

The second most-asked question is:  "how many books have you written?"  I've completed seven, I've started (and abandoned for various reasons) another five, and I'm working on a contracted book right now.

Why haven't those completed manuscripts sold?  Wrong place/wrong time.  I can only hope that two of them (set in an antiques arcade--wonder where I got that idea from?) will find a home some time in the future.  One will never find a home (the original sequel to Murder On The Mind, that my last agent didn't care for.  I picked out elements from that story and incorporated them into DEAD IN RED).  Three are pending, but it could be a very L-O-N-G time before they see print.

What about those abandoned books?  Well, two of them are in my Jeff Resnick series.  There's no point in finishing them if I can't sell them.  I have a proposal that didn't sell, which was written to requested specifications.  I may crib the setting for another book one day, but as is it's dead in the water.  (Although it did help me get my current contract; the editor liked my "voice.")  I started another cozy that I really liked, but the agent I had at the time didn't like cozies.  So I decided to work with the same character in a book that would be considered "women's fiction."  After 14 chapters I knew it was never going to work.  I might revisit it one day.  I might not.

Several years ago I worked on three non-fiction projects with my former critique partner Liz Voll.  We put together manuscripts on hosting parties (Liz's forte), one on Christmas shopping (mine), and one on writing romances.  EASY HOLIDAY SHOPPING was a joy to work on, and for months I made it my life to add to the list of gift ideas--the current edition has over 850 listed. 

Finding a publisher for a short manuscript that gives easy-to-follow, smart advice, was the kiss of death.  Publishers wanted much larger manuscripts.  But we wanted something you could slip into a purse.  Something you could grab on the go, and I think we succeeded.  We self-published, but without a distribution network it's difficult (if not impossible) for the work to find an audience.

I've still got a few copies of EASY HOLIDAY SHOPPING floating around.  I'm giving away one free copy for every 10 new readers (the winner chosen at random) who sign up for my online newsletter.  Interested?  Contact me at llb @ LLBartlett.com

Trickling in...

Now that MURDER ON THE MIND is in its third print run, the books are starting to trickle into libraries that have had them on order for a L-O-N-G time. 

Last week three copies showed up in Mesa, Arizona.  (They'd been on order since July.)  The Buffalo & Erie County library system has had five copies on order since April.  This morning they finally showed up on their web site.  One copy has shown up at the Champaign, Illinois library, too.  (Look out, Molly!)

I'm still waiting for it to show up at the Rio Rancho Public Library in New Mexico, Portsmouth, England, and the Fairfax County, Virginia library systems.  There may be others--but I'm not aware of them.

Hey, I'm also waiting for it to show up in YOUR library.  I've got that case of Buffalo wing sauce quietly aging in the cool of my basement, just waiting to be won by lucky readers.  Get your library to order a copy of MURDER ON THE MIND and that winner could you YOU!  Click here to find out how.

Performing Wanton Editing

Guess what I'm currently reading?  (Tough question, huh?)  Yup, it's Eats, Shoots & Leaves.  It's been in my To-Be-Read pile for quite a while (I've really whittled it down over the past two months), and it rose to the top this week.  As a former copy editor, I'm finding it a joy to read.  I identify with nearly everything the author, Lynne Truss, says.

So far my favorite passage revolves around editing on the fly.  Truss talks about "stickers," people who demand that punctuation be precise.  She mentions her two favorite cartoons and describes them:

"The second shows a bunch of vague, stupid-looking people standing outside a building, and behind them a big sign that says 'Illiterates' Entrance."  And do you want to know the awful truth?  In the original drawing, it said, 'Illiterate's Entrance,' so I changed it.  Painted correction fluid over the wrong apostrophe; inserted the right one.  Yes, some of us were born to be punctuation vigilantes."

(And yes, I re-punctuated it AMERICAN style!  ;> )

I've gone beyond that. I've often taken it upon myself to correct notices wherever I see them.  The worst I ever saw were at the Big Yellow Box.  Once, wasps decided to hang around the employee entrance for a couple of days.  Some big brain put up a sign that said:  "Be Cautious of Bees."  First of all, they weren't bees, they were wasps.  Second:  "Be cautious of bees?"  Presumably the person who perpetrated the sign had at least a high-school (but more likely a PhD) education.  What was wrong with the simple directive:  CAUTION:  Wasps (or, as s/he obviously wasn't an entomologist, bees)?

A sign on a microwave said:  "Don't use tin foil in this microwave" and someone had cleverly written below, "or aluminum foil either."  I took it upon myself to put a very large BLACK comma before the word "either."

I'd often correct the grammar on the signs hung in the Ladies Room.  The male supervisor didn't want feminine products flushed down the toilet, but the signs were laughable (I wish I could remember the exact wording) and it often sounded like he wanted them wrapped and preserved for posterity.

Lots of times at the co-op, someone will admonish the cashiers with some little badly typed or nearly illegible note taped to the registers.  Wee!  Those are great because I get to correct the spelling and punctuation on six copies! 

So...I guess I miss editing.  A lot.  I've been encouraged to do some freelance editing.  One of these days I just might try it.  (Sure, and I'll bet someone will find at least one error in this post.  Go ahead.  Make my day.)

Spooked!

Many times I've said that I write paranormal mysteries because of my love of Barbara Michaels’ (Barbara Mertz, aka Elizabeth Peters) books. Her novel Ammie Come Home was the first adult mystery I ever read, and WOW did it make an impression on me. Four decades later, I still read this book occasionally. (Which I did only a couple of weeks ago.) It was made into an ABC Movie of the Week titled "The House That Wouldn’t Die," starring Barbara Stanwyck. (Okay, it wasn’t as good as the book, but it was pretty scary to a kid like me.)

But even more scary was another ABC Movie Of The Week titled, "Daughter of the Mind." A séance was held, during which the spirit of a little girl dipped her protoplasmic hand into a wax melter (her mother was an artist who worked in the lost-wax process) and there was the solid proof--complete with fingerprints--that the dead little girl was trying to contact her parents. Well, that was the premise, at least.

If I saw the movie today, I’m afraid I might find it was totally STOOOOOPID. But all these years later, I still remember it with a shudder.

But the scariest move (okay, maybe after "Alien") I ever saw was yet another ABC Movie of the Week, "The Night Stalker," a tale of vampirism in modern-day Las Vegas. (Oh, how I mourned the recent death of its star, Darren McGavin.) I rented the tape about 15 years ago, and I was still FREAKED by the film (originally made in 1972). I have a copy of the movie on a Beta tape, but (damn!) no longer have a Beta machine to play it on. So…yesterday I ordered the DVD.  Hey, hit me with a 2 x 4--I suddenly feel nostalgic.  (And I'm hoping the box set of the TV show The Night Stalker will magically appear on my birthday....)

I remember a LOT of other wonderful ABC Movies Of The Week, starring the likes of Sally Field, Jan Michael Vincent, Stockard Channing, and many others. I watched those movies with religious furor. Nothing like it attracts me to the tube these days.

Instead, I read. But sadly, I’m in the minority. If you’re bored by TV, visit your local bookstore or library. You’re sure to find something really good.

It might even be MY book, MURDER ON THE MIND!

Hey, you never know!

Blogging for Books

There’s been a lot of discussion about blogs and do they sell books.

I know I’ve bought at least a half dozen books because I’ve read the author’s blog. These authors are: Joshilyn Jackson, Lynn Viehl, and Elaine Viets. I have read books written by other bloggers (J.A. Konrath; Judy Clemens,  Lee Goldberg) and I’m sure others (duh--having a senior moment here), but I either knew about their work before they blogged and either bought the book or read it through the library.

Do I think anyone has bought MURDER ON THE MIND because of this blog? Truthfully…no. There aren’t enough people who know about/read this blog. In fact, I’m sure most of the readers of this blog know me from various writers groups and/or are friends of many years (and family: Hi Mum, Sunny and Michele!).

But if nothing else I'm a shining example of someone who has bought a book because of reading a blog. Too bad I don’t get some kind of bonus prize for this.  Then again, I guess the prize was that I read and enjoyed the books!

Try it yourself.

On being lazy...

I grew up in a house where one parent loved to read and the other didn't.  (Guess who I took after?)  We always had scads of things lying around to read:  books, newspapers, magazines, boxes of cereal.  We went to the library often, bringing home more books, books-on-tape, records, etc.

I can remember my dad yelling at my Mom: "Are you reading AGAIN!"  So it is that I often feel lazy if I just sit around and read. (There, I've said it out loud!)

I've spent most of the last 8-10 weekends sitting around reading, and let me tell you, it is WONDERFUL!!!  I've been averaging at least two books a week.  This is more reading than I've done in 20 years.  I think a lot of it has to do with the fact that I'm not working. 

Working put a real crimp into my reading lifestyle.  I LOVE not working. (Perhaps I should clarify that:  I LOVE not working for a place that doesn't appreciate me or my fellow employees, and where management is hell-bent on destroying first morale, and then the entire company.)  Even when I'm working on a manuscript (which I then have to read over and over again--and really doesn't feel like work), it's still a joy compared to mandatory attendance in a office where someone might stab you in the back at any time. 

This weekend I read two books:  "When Will Jesus Bring The Pork Chops" by George Carlin, and "If Angels Burn" by Lynn Viehl.  Of the two, I liked "Angels" better, which actually surprised me.  It's an erotic vampire thriller, which isn't my usual choice of reading material.  I've always been a fan of George Carlin, but when someone advocates murder and thievery (all in the name of humor, of course), I just don't find it funny somehow.  Maybe because I write murders and I've been robbed.  Of course there were a lot of laughs in the book, but somehow I expected more.  (Put it this way--it was an uneven read.) 

"If Angels Burn" is the first in a trilogy and now, dammit, now I have to get the other two books.  (And I sure hope she resolves what's going on with John and Alex and Michael by the last book, because it looks like Book II is about someone peripheral to the plot in Book I.)

We were going out to the Amish store and I was waiting for Frank, so I grabbed "Angels" and was sitting on the side of the bed, trying to sneak in another page or two and suddenly it was deja vu.  I was expecting Frank to yell me at for reading.  Of course, this is not something he would ever do...but it was kind of weird anyway.

And now I'm reading a library discard (at a cost of 33.3 cents), "Lake Wobegon Summer 1956" by Garrison Keillor.  Now I'm not a Prairie Home Companion fan.  I've tried to listen, but there was a little bit too much of "olde time religion" for my taste.  But Frank (and even my Dad!) laughed so much reading this coming-of-age book that I had to have a go at it, too.  (I'm on chapter 4 and have done a good bit of laughing myself.  Although some library patrons (who rated the book in the back) were very disappointed.  "Too much raunchiness!" etc.  Makes me want to read more!)

I know, I'm supposed to be finishing the DEAD IN RED rewrite.  But I've got nobody to critique it and I'm feeling miserable.

I think I'll just dip into Lake Wobegon for a few minutes...maybe that'll cheer me up.

Read This Book

My friend, Deb Baker, is currently celebrating the release of her first mystery, MURDER PASSES THE BUCK.

It's opening day of hunting season in Stonely, Michigan. At the crack of dawn, Chester Lampi takes a bullet right between the eyes while holed up in his hunting blind waiting for Big Buck, the legendary eighteen-pointer. Everyone thinks a stray bullet killed Chester except Gertie Johnson, the sixty-six year old mother of the local sheriff. Blaze, named after the horse Gertie never had, is more focused on retiring than sheriffing, so Gertie sets out to bag more than Big Buck. With the help of Cora Mae, her man-hungry Wonderbra-equipped best friend, and sassy pin-curled Kitty, Gertie fends off attempts by family and foe to stop her investigation. Gertie bends the rules, tells outrageous fibs to get her way, and creates havoc in what was once a quiet backwoods community.

Deb's going to tour Michigan in the coming weeks.  Too bad I live in New York, because I'd love to see Deb in action.  Some of the Guppies (members of my Sisters In Crime chapter) are going to attend Deb's events. (The lucky bums.)

I never did a "tour."  When your book costs $25.95, it's hard to pry that kind of money out of prospective readers, which is why I've pursued the library market.  MURDER PASSES THE BUCK is a trade paperback and costs $12.95, much easier to get readers to take a chance on you when the cost is lower.

Would I like to do a tour?  I dunno.  Sometimes it's fun to go somewhere new and sign books.  Sometimes it's not.  (I've read a bunch of "tour" horror stories, also some hilarious tales.)  I think if I came out in paperback I'd be more inclined to try it.  In the meantime, I've got two conferences this fall, as well as two craft shows in hopes that people will be interested in buying books as Christmas gifts.  (Don't forget, I've also got a signing in Amherst on Monday evening!)

I'll let you know how I liked MURDER PASSES THE BUCK, but knowing Deb, I'm sure I'm in for a great ride on Gertie's dog sled.

Survey Says....

I don't do a lot of surveys.  I don't want big corporations knowing what kind of whiskey I drink (Lord Calvert) or soap I use (Yardly, Oatmeal-Almond).  But occasionally I do take a survey.  Never have I recommended taking a survey to another.

Today's the exception.

Sisters In Crime is sponsoring a survey to find out what reader preferences are when it comes to gender.  The survey is anonymous and it'll only take you a couple of minutes to fill out.

Click here.