Clea Simon's Blog, page 45
June 28, 2018
“Simon … not only reflects a thorough understanding of fe...
“Simon … not only reflects a thorough understanding of feline behavior, but also a connection to the feline essence…” The Conscious Cat reviews Cross My Path, concluding:
“If you enjoy dark mysteries or apocalyptic and post-apocalyptic fiction with an element of fantasy, you will enjoy this book. Cross My Path can be read as a standalone, but why not enjoy the entire series?(read the full review here.) Thank you, Ingrid!
“Cat-loving fans of grim post-apocalyptic tales will best appreciate Simon’s third Blackie and Care mystery … The disparate plot lines combine in a fiery finale.” – Publishers Weekly
June 26, 2018
Discovering Tortitude…
Thanks to Thisbe and Ingrid King of the Conscious Cat, I’ve begun to learn about the joys of tortitude and ask myself the question: “How soon is too soon to invite another feline spirit into one’s life?” (Read more here.)
That is attitude!
June 23, 2018
Looking for a fun historical?
I got to read and review Jordy Rosenberg’s wild new Confessions of the Fox for the Boston Globe. (And, yes, the Waters and Faber books are set 150 years later. I’d noted this, but then cut the note for space – and then “Victorian” was added back in, for accuracy I’m guessing, which makes the comparison seem a little odd.)
JOHN W. TOMAC FOR THE BOSTON GLOBE
‘‘Confessions of the Fox’’ is that rare find, a challenging philosophical work that’s also just great fun. On one level this debut novel is a swashbuckling adventure about a notorious outlaw and his forbidden love in 18th century London — the kind of off-kilter picaresque destined to become a film starring Johnny Depp … read more here.
June 21, 2018
Happy summer!
So much for the summer slowdown…
Whew! That was exhausting! I’ve just gotten through the edits of next winter’s mystical cat cozy, A Spell of Murder, and have been looking forward to some lazy summer days. (More on that here.) Then the calls and emails started.
Yes, I have two mysteries coming out in July: Cross My Path (July 1, Severn House) and Fear on Four Paws (July 3, Poisoned Pen Press). But I kind of thought life would be quiet until Bouchercon in September. Silly me!
“Cat-loving fans of grim post-apocalyptic tales will best appreciate Simon’s third Blackie and Care mystery … The disparate plot lines combine in a fiery finale.” – Publishers Weekly
First up: New England Mobile Book Fair and Newton Warehouse Wine & Spirits are pairing up to present “Noir Night,” July 19. They’ll pair the latest noir-ish books by me, Lisa Lieberman, and Joanna Schaffhausen with pinot noirs, in what should be a tasty event! (6:30-8:30 p.m., Newton Wine & Spirits, 241 Needham St., Newton). Then, August 10-12, I’ll be at the Deadly Ink conference in New Jersey. (Look for me on the “Cozy Cats” panel on Saturday.)
I’ll also be taping a summer book chat, along with Hank Phillippi Ryan and Peter Swanson, for “Under the Radar with Callie Crossley,” to air Sunday, Aug. 5, on WGBH-FM. (You’ll be able to hear us here.), along with segments for Winthrop public access cable, and more, which I’ll post on my site as they go up. Oh, yeah, and I’m writing again…of course!
Happy summer!
Clea
“Readers who love bossy cats, don’t mind ferrets, and can accept an animal psychic as a protagonist will enjoy this seventh entry in the Pru Marlowe Pet Noir series….Series fans, who have no problem with the fact that Pru talks mostly to animals, will lap it up.” – Booklist
“Irresistable” – Publishers Weekly
June 17, 2018
The wayward clue
I missed it the first time. The second and third time. My agent missed it, so did my beta readers. So did my editor. But there I was, reading through the revised, edited manuscript of A Spell of Murder one final time before sending it back, and I saw it: Wait a minute. She can’t know that those two are related… not yet!
A quick check back, and I confirmed that, yes, I’d jumped the gun on a clue. And that, dear readers, along with the altered last name of a secondary character, unclear pronouns, and various word repetitions, are why we revise, revise, revise!
Looking forward to reading this manuscript again, once the copy editor has gone through it. I wonder what she/he will find!
Happy reading!
June 15, 2018
“Epic in scope” Thank you!
The Bookblog of the Bristol Public Library reviews Cross My Path concluding:
“While each book has its own mysteries from start to finish, it’s obvious in this entry that Simon has a larger story arc going on, one more epic in scope. It’s possible that there is a specific ending in mind already, but let us hope that is far in the future.”
There’s much more, of course, including this wonderful picture!
Librarian’s cat Nuit checks out Cross My Path
Read more here.
June 14, 2018
Writing about music, writing about the world…
Wynton Marsalis seeks respect. When the Celebrity Series brought his Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra to Symphony Hall on Sunday to perform the music of Duke Ellington, the program was in keeping with Marsalis’s overall mission to establish (enshrine?) jazz as America’s classical music, defying decades of racism and racially biased neglect. Ellington fits this message perfectly, as the great American composer who was famously denied the Pulitzer Prize during his lifetime despite brilliant compositions, several of which were beautifully performed on Sunday (Arts Fuse review). And in unspoken rebuke to such prejudiced slights, the orchestra is both multi-ethnic and multigenerational: a rainbow of musicians performing pieces that deserve to be heard by all. And yet, for this listener, the overall effect was discordant, though it took a few numbers before I realized why. As band member after band member stood to solo, it finally hit me. Every one of the 15-piece orchestra was male….
[This was the beginning of an essay I wrote for the Arts Fuse, a Boston arts newsletter. Does it play into my mysteries? Not directly, but I am hard at work on a book set in the music world, with a female protagonist, so…)
June 3, 2018
Thank you, Booklist!
“Series fans [as well as “readers who love bossy cats, don’t mind ferrets, and can accept an animal psychic as a protagonist”] will lap it up.” So says Booklist on my upcoming (July 1) Fear on Four Paws. Thank you!
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May 31, 2018
Not all cozies are cat mysteries…
And not all cat mysteries are cozies! As I ready to launch two of my own kitties of a different color (the snarky Fear on Four Paws and the positively dystopian Cross My Path), I blogged about animal cozies of all species for Booklist Online.
May 28, 2018
#MeToo and my op-ed in today’s Boston Globe
As many of you may already know, I have an op-ed in the Boston Globe today, talking about “The Americans” and, more to the point, the aftereffects of rape. I wrote this piece because of a theme that seemed obvious to me – how the trauma of rape can derail a person and change the trajectory of her life. I saw this as the unstated character arc of Elizabeth Jennings, the protagonist of this wonderful TV series. And I know it is true, because it happened to me.
In this op-ed, I talked openly about the emotional repercussions of an assault, and I interviewed Gina Scaramella of the Boston Area Rape Crisis Center for confirmation. What I didn’t say was that the series’ handling of the issue is of particular interest to me, because this issue is also at the center of my current fictional WIP. In my book, which I’m still writing, an aging rock star looks back on her life – from the clubs to the major label tours and all – and gradually comes to understand how something that happened to her as a young adult may have put her on the path to fame but now, decades later, has caused her to stall out, personally and creatively.
I’ve been loving working on this book, and I’ve wanted to take it far beyond my own experience. To that end, I’m talking to lots of people like Gina, and also musicians at various levels, including some bona fide rock stars, women who’ve been gracious about sharing their tales of the road. I write to entertain, after all, and letting the reader come backstage with me is part of the fun. Sex and drugs and rock and roll, sure. But also sisterhood and sharing and living a dream of creative fulfillment, as well.
Yes, the rock scene – like so much of the entertainment industry – has a dark side, too. A side that is only now coming to light. And, no, I didn’t set out to write a #MeToo novel, and I like to think this book will be more than that. Yes, the #MeToo movement has been freeing – encouraging many of us to come to terms with intrusions into our lives/bodies/selves that we accepted as normal years before. But this book is more personal than political, with its core being my own rape and my own all-too-slow understanding of how it shaped me in the years since. As well, because this book is so personal – and so big – I am being very careful not to rush it. Although most of my novels these days sell before they’re finished, on proposals or a few chapters, I want to finish this one and polish it and make sure I have it right. (My agent, who is wonderful, is behind me on this.)
Because I work in the crime fiction genre, the book does have a murder in it. But while the mystery aspect does involve solving – or rather, understanding – the murder, the real mystery at its heart is in my protagonist understanding and coming to terms with the trauma she suffered, so many years before. I hope the journey to those final revelations will be entertaining and engaging. I’m also hoping that many women, from many walks of life, will see themselves in the journey my heroine Gal takes, even if they never don her leather pants or pick up a mic to sing. I’ll keep you all informed as the book progresses, because … #MeToo
