Clea Simon's Blog, page 48
February 26, 2018
The black cat catch-up!
As some of you know, I’ve been hard at work on CROSS MY PATH, the third in the Blackie & Care black cat mystery series. That will be out this summer (in the U.S., later this spring in the UK). And now my publisher, Severn House, has had a wonderful idea: For a limited* time, Severn is offering the first two full-length Blackie & Care mysteries in one omnibus e-book edition for only $6.99. That’s two full-length novels – THE NINTH LIFE and AS DARK AS MY FUR – in one, folks!
Blackie & Care omnibus
I’m thrilled about this because I’m one of those readers who loves starting at the beginning of a series. CROSS MY PATH works as a standalone – all my mysteries do – but the series does tell the continuing through story of Care, the streetwise teen, and Blackie, the mysterious black feral who looks after her. (In CROSS MY PATH, we learn a bit more about how Blackie came to be a lone feline on these rough streets…) This omnibus gives readers who haven’t met this unusual pair of friends/sleuths a chance to catch up!
*The special deal actually kicks in on March 12 and it will only be available for a few weeks after that (don’t say I didn’t warn you). But you can pre-order it now for delivery to your Kindle or e-reader now!
Of course, if you prefer your books on paper, you can still get THE NINTH LIFE and AS DARK AS MY FUR as printed books, too. Oh, yeah, and CROSS MY PATH is available for pre-order now too – both in hardcover and as an e-book.
February 23, 2018
Fear on Fore Pages
I’m back, surfacing after roughly two weeks of reading the page proofs of Fear on Four Paws, one of the most stultifying and yet terrifying tasks in an author’s life.
It’s dull work, reading something you’ve read so many times before. It’s easy to dismiss the need to go through these proofs, which are laid out and designed like they will be in the final book. After all, my agent has read these pages. So has my husband and the few solid beta readers I trust to be honest. My editor has read it – twice. And the copy editor will read it again, once she inputs my changes.
But then I see it: the em-dash that should be a hyphen. The missing “a” that gives a sentence sense. And I realize – this is it! If I miss anything this time through, it will go into the finished book. And I freeze in fear.
Silly, right? But such is the life of an author. We work so hard to get our dream onto paper, and then something as basic as a typo can derail us. But the truth is, anything can derail a reader. If the illusion our world has created breaks, even for an instant, it may not win you back – and the book is lost.
And so we read and worry and worry and read. Sometimes, the issues that come up at this stage have to do with production: The two flipped pages nearly gave me a heart attack. At least, until I realized that copy hadn’t been lost, merely misnumbered (page 15 should be page 16, and vice versa), which is an easier fix to make. (And which the wonderful copy chief has already fixed for the e-ARC).
Some things make a sort of sense. For example, the few pages where a female dog becomes male – or, well, takes the male pronoun (“him” and “he” instead of “her” and “she”). I mean, I remember changing the gender of that animal, not that such a mistake is in any way good.
Some things, though, I don’t know where they came from. How could I have forgotten that Pru is on the phone and therefore cannot see the man she’s talking to “as he looks over his glasses at her.” Ahh! How can I use the same exact compound adjective to describe two men in two subsequent paragraphs?
Who wrote this thing?
Who, ultimately, is responsible for catching these mistakes. Oh, yeah, right. Me.
It has scared me silly to see these mistakes this late in the process. And that, I guess, is why I’ve been so focused, diving head first through these pages. Because as much as I dread seeing these mishaps, I have to – before my readers do.
February 15, 2018
Waiting for CROSS MY PATH…
Shh… in super-secret talks to offer a special Blackie & Care deal before the launch of CROSS MY PATH, the third mystery featuring the teen Care and her guardian, the black cat she only knows as Blackie. Watch this space for more news – and here is the corrected cover! (Extra points if you can spot what was changed.)
The reappearance of an old enemy from the past spells trouble for young private investigator, Care, and her feline companion, Blackie.
Care’s reputation as a private investigator is growing and clients are beating a path to her door. An elderly woman seeks her help in finding out what happened to her brother. Blackie senses he’s met this woman before, some time before he became a cat. But who is she – and what is their connection?
At the same time, a dockworker asks Care to find a colleague who’s gone missing. But how come a poor labourer has the funds to pay for Care’s services?
As Blackie and Care delve further, it becomes clear that neither client has been telling the whole truth. Then a body is discovered at the waterfront, and the investigation takes a disturbing new twist …
February 14, 2018
Happy Valentine’s Day
Working on something special for you…
February 12, 2018
Book Tour 101
Phew! Just booked two book trips for the next month – to the Public Library Association conference in Philadelphia and Left Coast Crime in Reno.* And before we all start going on about the glamorous life of a working author, I thought I’d share the rules I follow when I plan these adventures, a sort of “How to Book Tour 101. “ Yes, these are pretty basic, commonsense tips, but I had to learn them all the hard way and so I share. (Most apply to non-book travel as well.)
First, know your con. Roughly speaking, book conventions can be divided into cons for writers and cons for fans. Those for writers, like ThrillerFest or the New England Crimebake, focus on the writing craft and publishing, and those attending often aspire to return as authors up on the podium. Cons for fans, like Left Coast Crime or Bouchercon, are more about the books, and those attending come to talk about their favorite stories and meet the authors, rather than join their ranks in years to come. A little bit of homework – the con website, the blogs of people who have attended – will usually let you know if this event is for you.
Never book the cheapest hotel. Travel is pricey, I get it. But whether you’re going to a convention or booking your own (book or other) tour, think twice about what you’re saving – and at what cost. Safety, cleanliness, sanity – it’s easy to take these things for granted until you’re woken by a screaming fight in the hall outside and worried it’s about to break down your door. Don’t like sleeping on top of the bedclothes, fully dressed, cell phone in hand? Don’t book the cheapest hotel you can find, especially in a city you don’t know. (Buy me a drink at LCC and I’ll share the full story…)
In fact, book the convention hotel if you can – as soon as you can. Even if your plans are fluid, look into booking. With most hotels, you can release your booking if your plans change, and this way you won’t be locked out of the convention hotel (or the convention rate). Being in the con hotel isn’t the end-all and be-all of attending a convention, but it will make it easier to enjoy all the social opportunities in and around the official events, from the quick morning coffee to the late-night bar hang.
When booking your flights, it helps to know your airports. A 45-minute layover in Charlotte will allow time for lunch. In Chicago, it might not be enough to reach your connection. Again, talk to people. Do some online research. And when in doubt, make sure you have at least an hour between connecting flights. Worst case scenario? You’ll get to use a full-size bathroom!
Figure out how you’re going to get to the hotel (and back again). As an East Coast urbanite, I’m used to the prevalence of public transportation, as well as readily available cabs, and ride services such as Lyft and Uber. They don’t exist everywhere – and it took almost missing a train out of Richmond to learn that! (Luckily, the wonderful Caroline Leavitt warned me about the lack of options in getting to Nacogdoches, Texas, home of the otherwise quite wonderful Pulpwood Queens Girlfriend Weekend, or I might have ended up stranded at the airport like she was.) That said, it can be really fun to learn about local mass transit – I’m inordinately fond of the D.C.-area Metro!
Always pack a sweater. Do I sound like your mother? She was right. Over-enthusiastic air-conditioning can be as bad as a drafty convention room, and you can always take your sweater off once the thermostat (or reason) kicks in! For that matter, always pack a book and a snack – a small bag of pistachios or a power bar – as well.
Finally, your mother was right. Whenever a bathroom is available, use it. Trust me on this one.
Happy travels!
*At PLA, I’ll be taking part in a “Wine, Cheese, and Murder” mixer on Thursday, 3:30-5 p.m. at the Booklist booth. At LCC, I’ll be on the “My Kind of Town: Rural and Suburban Crime Fiction” panel, Sunday, March 25 at 10:15 a.m. (This will be particularly fun for me, since I’ve just done the very urban World Enough and am now back to small-town Beauville with Fear on Four Paws).
February 11, 2018
See you in Reno!
Don’t know about Left Coast Crime? I finally ventured west of the Mississippi to this roving annual fan/reader-centered convention two years ago, when it was in Phoenix. What I found was a smaller, super friendly con where authors and readers got to hang out, chat, and just have a blast. Wasn’t able to go last year, when it was in Honolulu (LCC moves around), but can’t wait to attend this year. Left Coast Crime takes place March 22-25, this year, in Reno,Nevada. See you in Reno! http://www.leftcoastcrime.org/2018/
February 6, 2018
Catch up: the TBR pile and beyond
Things I’ve meant to blog about but haven’t:
For starters, the great books I got from authors I met at the Pulpwood Queens Girlfriend weekend: “One Good Mama Bone,” by Bren McClain. “Wickwythe Hall,” by Judithe Little, and “Since You’ve Been Gone,” by Christa Allan (another Caroline Leavitt friend!). Bren’s is the only one I’ve had a chance to start but … hoo boy! It starts with a birth and a death and it hasn’t let up. Deep Southern Gothic – and a cow, too!
The archaeological state of my desk. I’ve gotten to the point where I’m afraid to throw things out when I’m deep in writing/revisions, for fear that I’ll lose some important note or reminder. I don’t think this is just an excuse. Does this happen to anyone else?
An idea for a short story, which would be one long stream of consciousness, a la “Pincher Martin.” Then again, I’m no William Golding.
The things you can read while you’re writing. This is a hard one, because I often find I want to read something very light – but it can’t be anything at all close to what I’m working on. This last month, I’ve spent an absurdly long time working through Colin Cotterill’s “I Shot the Buddha,” a few pages each night, for this reason. Then there’s the growing list of books that I set aside for when I can read whatever I want (see above, also, Robert Harris’s “Munich,” etc.)
The fact that as more time goes by, I am increasingly second-guessing my hairstyle and color. Then again, this could simply have been a way of procrastinating… which I now no longer need to do….
February 4, 2018
Cover reveal: FEAR ON FOUR PAWS
Presenting FEAR ON FOUR PAWS, the seventh Pru Marlowe pet noir, to be published by Poisoned Pen Press in Aug., 2018
There’s trouble brewing in the woods of Beauville, and the only witness isn’t talking.
When Pru Marlowe is called to a forest clearing to help with an illegally trapped bear, she finds a colleague passed out drunk, his pet ferret locked in his truck. When one of her old running buddies turns up dead as well, and then the town’s pampered pets begin to disappear, Pru can’t tell if her heavy-drinking colleague is involved – or how much the ferret, a wise little creature called Frank, knows. Frank’s not communicating – even to her – and for once the bad-girl animal psychic is at a loss. The offer of a job – and maybe something more – from a hunky warden only complicates Pru’s life as she goes on her rounds between her small Berkshires hometown and the woods that lie beyond. And although her crotchety tabby Wallis would have her make some changes in what has become a familiar routine, Pru knows her special skills set her apart as the only one who can shed light on these crimes – and save the animals at risk. But as the mysteries pile up, Pru is forced to admit that even a city-hardened animal communicator can’t understand everything that’s going on, and that a small town may be as dangerous as the darkest woods when a predator is on the prowl.
Pre-order here.
January 29, 2018
Authors on snacks
Just for fun… the wonderful online January Magazine has been asking authors what we snack on when deadline pressure hits. I wish I could have said “carrot sticks and mint tea,” but no such luck….
January 26, 2018
Books! Books! Books!
The email from my editor arrived just as I was ironing out the last little kinks in the climactic scene, so I waited before I opened it. When I did, I was overjoyed – after various back-and-forth revisions and edits, FEAR ON FOUR PAWS has been accepted by Poisoned Pen Press. And that climactic scene? Well, that was the end of this round of revisions on A SPELL OF MURDER, so I’ve sent that off to my agent and beta readers to read through (before it goes to my editor). So you’d think that I’d be celebrating, right? Well, I will be, but due to a scheduling mishap (not mine, I’m happy to say), I have to bear down on the CROSS MY PATH page proofs this weekend, so a little of those first. But the Champagne is chilling! TGIF, right?
Cross My Path (Severn House)
