Clea Simon's Blog, page 43
August 8, 2018
Happy International Cat Day!
Do you purr at your cat? I talk to Thisbe, of course, much as I spoke to Musetta and Cyrus before her. I’d never thought of purring at my little tortie, though, until a journalist for Inverse contacted me for this article. Now, of course, I want to try it. Only Thisbe is sleeping and it is international cat day, and so I am loathe to wake her from her nap…
August 5, 2018
FIVE QUESTIONS with muso Brett Milano
Author Brett Milano and I go back years – from when he was making his living (and his name) as a music critic for such publications as the Boston Globe and Boston Herald and we’d meet up in long-gone clubs like the Rat or TT’s. He’s since gone on to other projects, including serving as the editor of New Orleans’ Offbeat magazine and a New Orleans-related project he’ll tell you about below. The author of Vinyl Junkies and Sound of Our Town: A History of Boston Rock & Roll, Brett’s latest is Don’t All Thank Me At Once: The Lost Pop Genius of Scott Miller
How does a book start for you?
Reluctantly! But usually with my writing a section, any section, some easily accessed anecdote that would go in the middle of the book – but something that interests me enough to set down without too much effort. Once that’s down, even if it’s only 500 words, the book exists, the rest is just adding parts before and after.
Who in your latest book has surprised you most – and why?
My last book was a biography. of unsung indie rock genius, the late Scott Miller. I much admired his music and enjoyed the small interactions I had with him; but doing the book revealed some of the darker layers.
When and/or where is your latest book set and is there a story behind that setting?
I would say the setting was the indie-rock bubble of the ’80s and ’90s. A world populated by many colorful and vuivid characters, including some of my best friends.
What are you working on now?
A reference book on New Orleans music history, and a triple CD compilation of a great Boston band from the early 80s, Robin Lane & the Chartbusters.
What didn’t I ask you that I should have?
“Is she really going out with him?’
Ha! Thanks, Brett! You can read more about Brett’s various writing and music projects here: www.brettmilano.com.
August 3, 2018
Listen now: “Under the Radar with Callie Crossley”
Tune in on Sunday at 6 p.m. to WGBH-FM 89.7 or listen online anytime, as WGBH host Callie Crossley talks to me, Hank Phillippi Ryan, and Peter Swenson for her summer thrillers club. Callie’s great – she read our books and had really smart questions. Did she stump us? Only one way to tell is to listen!
July 31, 2018
“a delightful read….” RTE on FEAR ON FOUR PAWS
Writing for Reviewing the Evidence, a crime fiction journal, onetime Pinkerton investigator and former journalist Ruth Castleberry takes on my Fear on Four Paws, noting, “the exchanges between various animal characters and Pru are skillfully done and sound genuine. The mystery is good but the conversations between Pru and the animals make this a delightful read…” Thank you!
Read the full review here: 
FEAR ON FOUR PAWS by Clea Simon is the seventh Pru Marlowe Pet Noir mystery and – no surprise here – she is asked by Albert, a colleague, to help prove he didn’t kill Paul, a friend of his. Pru, a pet psychic and animal behaviorist, and state game warden Greg Mishka find a very drunk Albert asleep next to a young black bear, bound in a rope snare and drugged. Greg takes charge of the bear and Pru takes Albert and Frank, his pet ferret, back to Albert’s office where he works as the Beauville’s Animal Control Officer. The next day Paul is found dead in a locked shed at the “camp” used by Albert, Paul and their friends.
Apparently, Pru’s method of solving crimes is to communicate with animals, domesticated and wild, and collect clues from those conversations. Pru agrees to take care of Frank while Albert is being held by police, but Frank is more worried about Albert than what is going to happen to him.
Pru spends a lot of time communicating with various animals, including her own somewhat snarky tabby, Wallis, who continuously comments on Pru’s life choices and actions. Pru also maintains a practice of walking/training pets that provides plenty of interactions with animal characters. Bitsy, a small Bichon, informs Pru his name is Growler and Pru allows him to enjoy his freedom on their walks when out of his owner’s sight. Then there’s Spot, who claims to be Bunbury Bandersnatch, a cat that Pru trains to walk on a leash for his owner after the cat went missing for a short time. While there are more animal characters that Pru connects with, the most meaningful in this adventure is Frank, who Pru believes knows more than he initially shares.
This is an interesting read. The story line moves back and forth: from Pru trying to find out how Albert is involved in the bear trapping, to taking care of her regular pet clients, and back to the investigation as she tries to pump her boyfriend, Detective Jim Creighton, about what’s happening. While this tends to be a bit confusing, the exchanges between various animal characters and Pru are skillfully done and sound genuine. The mystery is good but the conversations between Pru and the animals make this a delightful read with little noir to be found.
§ Ruth Castleberry has worked as an investigator for Pinkerton’s, a city desk assistant on the Charlotte News, free-lance writer, marketing/business strategy consultant, competitive intelligence practitioner and digital marketing consultant.
Reviewed by Ruth Castleberry, May 2018
July 30, 2018
Meet Pru Marlowe, animal psychic…
Raven-award winning book blogger Dru Ann interviewed Pru Marlowe, protagonist of my pet noir series (including the new Fear on Four Paws) on her blog here. Plus, she’s giving a book away! Click through to find out how to win.
July 29, 2018
FIVE QUESTIONS with thriller author Amy Shojai
How does a book start for you?
I write a series, and so many times the “next book” simply answers the questions left in the previous title. The third thriller in my series SHOW AND TELL included final chapter where my missing dog hero, Shadow, reappeared after disappearing for a week. So the new book FIGHT OR FLIGHT begins with what happened to Shadow during that missing week.
And yes, I write in “dog viewpoint.” Actually, it’s in German Shepherd service dog viewpoint. *s*
Also, since I’ve been a “pet journalist” for a couple of decades and worked as a vet tech and also am an animal behavior consultant, anything in the news sparks a plot idea. I love medical thrillers and my first three thrillers centered around these issues, but the fourth title FIGHT OR FLIGHT is a bit of a departure. Several news articles reported on the horrors of human trafficking in my own back yard–Texas–which is the setting for my stories. Also, some of my readers replied to my question about adding new character(s) and what might be special about them, which reshaped the story.
Who in your latest book has surprised you most – and why?
I have several new characters introduced in FIGHT OR FLIGHT, and in future they may spin off into their own series. My September Day Thriller Series has in the past focused on animal behaviorist September and her PTSD service dog Shadow. But in this story, September and Shadow act as supporting characters while Lia Corazon and her Rottweiler puppy (a police dog in training) take center stage.
During a natural disaster, Lia “hears” the thoughts of Shadow. It surprised the heck out of me that she never questioned the notion, and fully embraced the idea of animal communication. And it further surprised me that September thinks it’s crappiocca. That sets the stage for future fireworks.
When and/or where is your latest book set and is there a story behind that setting?
So far, all four books in my September Day Thriller Series are set in North Texas, in the fictional town of Heartland, which could be in my own back yard. I based the plot and setting of my debut thriller LOST AND FOUND (which incidentally is permanently free!) on an actual freak blizzard I experienced here several years ago. Since my main character September’s family lives in Heartland, she’s developed relationships with others in the small town. I find it easier to harvest Texas gems for the plots from personal experience living in this area. But in the next story (#5), September likely will head out of town for a spell.
What are you working on now?
FIGHT OR FLIGHT has just become available for pre-order in all Ebook formats (special price $2.99), and releases officially on July 31 at $4.99. I’m still head-down in the release process, including final formatting for the print version! And yes, I do a lot of this myself via my own imprint Furry Muse Publishing.
My next project includes “voicing” the audio versions of SHOW AND TELL (#3) and FIGHT OR FLIGHT (#4) for the Audible and iTunes bookstores. In between, I’m plotting book #5 in the series, tentatively titled HIT AND RUN.
What didn’t I ask you that I should have?
My dog Magic inspired the Shadow service dog character so this book has been bittersweet. We lost our Magic last fall to a devastating genetic disorder–that likely will be covered in a future story but right now, the wound hurts too much. His best friend, Karma-Kat, mourned him deeply and slept with Magic’s collar for a week. *wiping eyes*
For each of my stories, I ask readers to help me NAME THAT DOG/CAT animal character, usually minor roles in the story. Because portions of FIGHT OR FLIGHTappeared in another form, I needed to rename some of the principle characters. Readers voted to name the Rottweiler puppy Karma. And they also voted to name a future dog hero (also a pup in this story) after my Magic.
I have the absolutely BEST readers–and also the best pets. Karma-Kat spends his days teasing our newest furry addition, a Bullmastiff pup named Bravo. You can bet some of Bravo’s antics will inspire future story lines!
Amy Shojai is a certified animal behavior consultant, and the award-winning author of more than 30 nonfiction pet books and THRILLERS WITH BITE! She lives in North Texas with Karma-Kat, Bravo-Pup and the enduring memory of Magical-Dawg and Seren-Kitty. Follow Amy on Facebook, her blog, and on BookBubfor the latest pet-centric info.
FIGHT OR FLIGHT PRE-ORDER for $2.99
Kindle: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07FMZVSXQ?tag=pets03e5-20
iTunes: https://itunes.apple.com/us/book/fight-or-flight/id1412909140?mt=11&ign-mpt=uo%3D4
Kobo: https://www.kobo.com/us/en/ebook/fight-or-flight-23
Nook: https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/fight-or-flight-amy-shojai/1129107308
GooglePlay: https://play.google.com/store/books/details/Amy_Shojai_Fight_Or_Flight_September_Day_4?id=8wZlDwAAQBAJ
July 28, 2018
Writing across the spectrum
Even if you adore chocolate, sometimes you want chips, right? And after a salt binge, I usually find myself craving something sweet and spicy. So why should authors content themselves with writing only one kind of book – or even one kind of mystery?
That’s the question I tackle today on PJ Nunn’s book blog here.
Cross My Path (Severn House)
July 23, 2018
FIVE QUESTIONS with NYT-bestseller Caroline Leavitt
Welcome to the inaugural Five Questions! In each edition, I’ll be asking an author five questions and letting her or him introduce herself to you. Today, we’re chatting with the New York Times bestselling author of Cruel Beautiful World, Is This Tomorrow, and Pictures of You (among others).
How does a book start for you?
It always starts for me with a haunting. Something gets under my skin and I wonder about it and I don’t know the answer to it. Sometimes I don’t have the experience for it. I wanted to write Cruel Beautiful World since I was 17, when a friend of mine was murdered by her controlling boyfriend, but I had no experience of being controlled, or how that could happen and why someone might put up with it. Not until it happened to me about 20 years later!
Who in your latest book has surprised you most – and why?
I sold a novel to Algonquin that we are editing now, so all this might change, but what really surprised me was how much of a character this Woodstock house in the novel became. One main character hated it, felt it was haunted, but his girlfriend loves it. It made me think about homes and what they mean.
When and/or where is your latest book set and is there a story behind that setting?
This is my very first novel set in New York City! Always before it’s been in Ann Arbor, where I lived for many years, or Boston, where I grew up, and I’ve been in NYC since 1980! It felt like I had grown in setting a book there, in Chelsea, where I lived.
What are you working on now?
While I am doing edits with my Algonquin editor Chuck Adams (Oh my God, he’s so smart! So funny and so gentlemanly!) I cannot sit around obsessing, so I started a new novel, with a crime at its heart. I was wondering and wondering how come as a nation, we just pay lip service to redemption? Why can’t a person ever really be forgiven? It’s a terrible, fascinating mystery to me and I’m hoping to figure out the answer in my book. I’m about 90 pages in and terrified, which feels about right.
What didn’t I ask you that I should have?
Why can’t you title your novels?
It’s pathetic. I can’t. I’m a professional namer at EatMyWords and I’m great at my job, and for years I named clothing lines for Macy’s. But when I look at a novel, I go blank. Cruel Beautiful World was actually named by my son, Max! Pictures of You was named by my editor! I get superstitious and thinking, oh I have to have a three-word title. The novel that Chuck is now editing is called This Other Life OR Wake Up Now but I don’t love either.
Thank you Clea!
Thank you, Caroline!
Caroline Leavitt is the New York Times bestselling author of Pictures of You and Is This Tomorrow, as well as the critically acclaimed author of Cruel Beautiful World, and nine other novels. The recipient of a New York Foundation of the Arts Fellowship and a finalist int he Sundance Screenwriting Lab, she is a book critic for People magazine and the San Francisco Chronicle. She teaches writing at Stanford and UCLA, and works privately with writers. Visit her at www.carolineleavitt.com
July 21, 2018
“A genre-bender … in full force.” THANK YOU, Fredericksburg Free-Lance Star
“A genre-bender that continues the series theme while simultaneously expanding it, Cross My Path displays Simon’s powers of imaginative conception and adroit execution in full force.” So says Jay R. Strafford in the Fredericksburg Free-Lance Star and I couldn’t be more thrilled. In its entirety (or read it online here: https://www.fredericksburg.com/entert...?
EXPECTED THE UNEXPECTED
Three years ago, Clea Simon departed from the boundaries of her three previous series featuring rock journalist Theda Krakow, graduate student Dulcie Schwartz and pet whisperer Pru Marlowe; she published the first installment in her Blackie and Care stories, which eschewed conventional expectations in a novel way.
Carrie “Care” Wright is a teenage product of the streets who has taken over the investigative service formerly owned by her murdered mentor; Blackie is a cat in late middle age—and also the narrator.
Simon followed “The Ninth Life” with “As Dark as My Fur” and now offers “Cross My Path” (199 pages, Severn House, $28.99), which continues the series in an unnamed city in a dystopian world—and adds an unexpected aspect: reincarnation.
As the story opens, an old woman who gives her name as Augusta consults Care to discover what has happened to her brother. During the visit, Blackie feels a connection to the client, but one he doesn’t understand.
Little time passes before another potential client, dockworker Peter, engages Care’s services to locate a missing co-worker. As the plots converge, Care and Blackie are thrust into danger and deception.
A genre-bender that continues the series theme while simultaneously expanding it, “Cross My Path” displays Simon’s powers of imaginative conception and adroit execution in full force.
Jay Strafford is a retired Virginia journalist who now lives in Florida.
July 19, 2018
Noir Night!
Tonight is Noir Night! Mysteries and wine! Come join us (More info here.)
Noir and more Noir: Casual Reading, Wine Tasting, & Book Signing
New England Mobile Book Fair is thrilled to be welcoming
Clea Simon, Laura Lieberman, & Joanna Schaffhausen for an evening filled with Noir.
We are partnering with our neighbors at Newton Warehouse Wine & Spirits, to offer tastings of three paired Pinot Noirs for our over 21 customers.
Clea Simon’s Pinot Noir, “With a full-bodied protagonist who “hears” what animals are thinking, “Fear on Four Paws” might be a little fruit forward. But Pru Marlowe’s snarky attitude – and that of her crotchety cat Wallis – definitely balances that out with acidity, leading up to a smooth finish with overtones of anise and smoke.”
From Lisa Lieberman’s, “I would describe BURNING COLD as ‘Dark and spicy, bold, with a smoky finish.’”
And Joanna Schaffhausen, “Rounded, seductive and fruit-forward on the palate, it is balanced out by a tannic core that gives it a gripping finish.”
Don’t miss out on the fun!
