Gigi Pandian's Blog, page 2

Photos from Left Coast Crime 2015 (where Pirate Vishnu won the Rose Award!)

I'm home from Portland after attending the 25th annual Left Coast Crime convention for mystery fans. What a weekend! Here's a recap of the long weekend in photos, beginning with my surprising highlight before jumping back to the beginning of the convention.

As I mentioned elsewhere over the weekend, I'm officially the most surprised award-winner in Left Coast Crime history. I still can't quite believe that I was awarded the Rose Award on Saturday night! Thank you to everyone who celebrated wit...

Quicksand Book Launch Day!

Today is the book release day for Quicksand, the third Jaya Jones Treasure Hunt Mystery!



A thousand-year-old secret room.
A sultan’s stolen treasure.
A missing French priest.
And an invitation to Paris to rekindle an old flame…
Historian Jaya Jones finds herself on the wrong side of the law during an art heist at the Louvre. To redeem herself, she follows clues from an illuminated manuscript that lead from the cobblestone streets of Paris to the quicksand-surrounded fortress of Mont Saint-Michel...

The Appeal of Locked Room Mysteries

Otto Penzler's new collection.In November I spoke on the panel “Murder in a Locked Room: Solving the ‘Perfect’ Crime” at Bouchercon, the world mystery convention. I wrote up a recap of the whole convention here, and I'm revisiting the panel in greater detail today because I've been on a locked room mystery kick. 
Two things have renewed my interest: 
Otto Penzler's new collection of locked room stories, The Black Lizard Big Book of Locked-Room Mysteries. 960 pages and 68 stories!...

Visiting the Seattle Mystery Bookshop & My Old Stomping Grounds

I lived in Seattle many years ago while attending graduate school, but haven't been back in years. Long before I wrote a mystery novel, I loved reading them, so I frequented the Seattle Mystery Bookshop. (Um, yes, that may have been why I turned into a much better mystery writer than grad student!) It was so much fun to return to the bookshop as a published author.



Staffer Fran read The Accidental Alchemist and made it a Staff Pick. I especially love her review because I won her over...

Pirate Vishnu Nominated for the Rose Award at Left Coast Crime

What a wonderful surprise to find out that Pirate Vishnu has been nominated for the Rose award at Left Coast Crime! 
Left Coast Crime is the West Coast's big mystery convention, and this year it's in Portland, Oregon, the City of Roses. Therefore the Rose is the name of the award for the best mystery set on the west coast. It's such an honor to be nominated for an LCC award with such a distinguished lineup that also includes talented dear friends Diane Vallere (nominated for the Left...

The Accidental Alchemist Book Launch Party Photos

A recap of the book launch party through photos

I brought my stuffed animal gargoyle to join in the fun. He doesn't look exactly like Dorian, the gargoyle in The Accidental Alchemist, but hey, he's still a gargoyle. 
Here he is inside a magician's top hat (relevant to the book). We used the hat to draw names of attendees to win Accidental Alchemist mugs and Book Passage gift certificates.

The gargoyle made the rounds. 

And yes, there was gargoyle-themed beer (in honor of Dorian), as w...

The Accidental Alchemist AUDIOBOOK

Do you like listening to audiobooks? You're in luck: The Accidental Alchemist is my first novel that's been made into an audiobook!


I didn't know what to expect when I signed the contract, so it was an unexpected surprise that the folks at Audible asked for input, through a "Casting Notes Invitation." Thinking about casting notes brought back memories of when I was involved in theater in high school! I listened to audiobook narrator samples, thought about comparisons to actors playing differen...

Book Launch Day for The Accidental Alchemist!

The Accidental Alchemist hits bookstore shelves today! It's the first book in my new mystery series set in Portland, Oregon, featuring a centuries-old female alchemist and her French chef sidekick—who happens to be a gargoyle who was accidentally brought to life by a stage magician. 

Stay tuned for lots of fun tidbits about the book, along with some fun contests I've been cooking up. In the meantime, here are some details about the book and the book launch party happening next week: ...

The Mutual Admiration Society, Featuring Victoria Laurie & Juliet Blackwell

I've gotta say that one of the coolest things about being a writer is getting to know some of my favorite authors. And even more amazing? The fact that several of my favorite authors have enjoyed my books and endorsed them. (Yes, I still pinch myself about this fact.)

Victoria Laurie's new M.J. mystery,
out January 6, 2015.I discovered Victoria Laurie's books in 2011, when I was going through chemotherapy and wanted to read fresh, engaging mysteries to keep my mind occupied. I devoured her ghos...

Bouchercon 2014

I'm home after four days at Bouchercon, the world mystery convention, which was held in Long Beach this year. On my way home on Sunday I was on a flight with several other Bay Area authors, and our conversation as we waited to board sums up the whole convention experience: even though we attended the fan convention as authors, we were most excited when talking about the new mystery books and authors we discovered over the long weekend.

I roomed with a pal who was attending the convention for...