Lori Rader-Day's Blog, page 9

Little Pretty Things is Booklist’s Review of the Day!

*Kermit flail*

LITTLE PRETTY THINGS is the Review of the Day on Booklist’s homepage (5/21/15 only)! Click to read the starred review (any day of the week)!

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Three Questions with…James W. Ziskin

I met Jim Ziskin through Seventh Street Books. His excellent Ellie Stone mystery series—set in 1960 upstate New York and featuring a spitfire “girl reporter”— is published by them. I didn’t get to read the first book in the series, Styx & Stone, until this year and then I was HOOKED, and I’ve raced through them all since, including the one out tomorrow, Stone Cold Dead. I have to fret over the next time I get to read an Ellie story, but you don’t—go get hooked yourself. Now. Ellie is a great character, and this series just keeps getting better. I’m not the only person who thinks so, because Jim’s second book, No Stone Unturned just got nominated for an Anthony Award!

The best thing about being in the mystery community is finding the gems, but in this case I mean the human behind the books as well as the books. Jim is just a great guy, and I’m happy to know him. I’m also happy he was willing to subject himself to some questions so you can all get to know him.

Welcome, James W. Ziskin!

I have to ask: What limitations or opportunities do you have, as a man writing a woman character?

There are many, of course. I can imagine a woman as a character, decide what she might do and even why. But the limitations of the everyday, personal experience simply aren’t there. I can empathize, sympathize, and watch—maybe even understand at times—but it’s not entirely coming from within.

Then again, I may be able to provide a different take on an interesting but imperfect woman. And I can draw the men who stand in Ellie’s way, both the well intentioned and the boorish, from the frame of reference of a person with a Y chromosome. Sometimes looking in from the outside is a useful perspective, and, of course, often it is not. I want to get it right, and I hope I succeed to some degree, well enough to write a convincing and compelling character.

Stone Cold Dead is the third Ellie Stone book. How is Ellie changing over the course of the series?

Ellie is gaining experience, growing older and wiser. She repeats some mistakes, of course, but she’s also building confidence and perspective, which she uses to put many of her failings behind her. As you know, she’s pretty much alone in the world, having lost so much of her family. But she deals with that grief by staying positive, a little wicked, and mischievously funny. One thing that doesn’t change in Ellie is her honesty. She is a highly moralistic character, even if her more libertine tendencies would shock prudish and abstemious sensibilities. Take her judgmental landlady, Mrs. Giannetti, for instance. And even her great partner in crime-fighting, Sheriff Frank Olney. Both disapprove of some of her choices.

 

What parts of Ellie’s world have come from your own experience?

Ellie is not me, but we share a lot: politics, sense of justice, taste, frustrations, and foibles. (Cough) Scotch. Basically we hate the same things. And she comes from a world I spent some time in but left: academia. Now she’s living in the small town of New Holland, NY, so similar to the place I grew up. But she and I have approached those life experiences from opposite ends, which is perhaps fitting, given that she is a woman and I am a man.

 

Seriously, Ellie is a crush-worthy character. Do yourself a favor.

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Little Pretty STARRED review!

I forgot to share this news: LITTLE PRETTY THINGS got a starred review from Booklist! Booklist has been amazing to me. People who like libraries are all right by me, too.

In fact, Booklist also just put THE BLACK HOUR on this “best of” list. Yes, best of 2014-2015. The mystery calendar year is different over at Booklist because of their annual mystery issue. May is New Year’s over at the ALA when it comes to mystery novels. And will you LOOK at this list?? I’m very humbled to be on it.

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Goodreads giveaway

Hashtag FREE.

You could win a copy of the advanced reader copy of Little Pretty Things, right here. Four days left to enter.

“Advanced reader copy” means the in-house printed copies that go to reviewers and librarians ahead of the release date. So if you win one of these, you can carry it around all hip and authentic like an publishing insider.

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THE BLACK HOUR is an Anthony Award nominee!

This is big! THE BLACK HOUR is a nominee for the Anthony Award for Best First Novel! The winner will be announced at Bouchercon in October!

That’s also where we’ll hear about the Barry Awards. That’s going to be a fun weekend.

So excited to among such an amazing list of authors, and with so many friends, too!

This year has been amazing. In fact, that’s what I was talking about over at The Debutante Ball this week. That’s right: Deb Ball. Once you’re a Deb, you’re a Deb forever!

 

 

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Three Questions with…Susanna Calkins

Susanna Calkins and I met through Mystery Writers of America Midwest Chapter, but then we figured out a reason we might look familiar to one another—we both worked at the same Day Job University! We’re finding all the mystery authors who work there and forcing them into a fun club at some point. At the moment, Susie and I are kind of a club of two, planning a ton of events together this year, and at least one road trip. Not Thelma-and-Louise road trip. I said fun club. And it’s easy to have fun when Susie’s around, because she’s good people and also a very talented, award-nominated writer. If you like historical novels where the history is spot-on perfect, make sure you check out Susie’s Lucy Campion series. The third book in the series, The Masque of the Murderer, is out April 14.

Let’s learn more about Susanna Calkins:

What inspired your first book?

My historical novels, particularly A Murder at Rosamund’s Gate, were all inspired by the 17th century ballads and broadsides that I poured over when working on my PhD in English history. Odd accounts of the fantastic and strange, both half-true and half-sensationalized, these were the stories of the everyday people. In particular, I was fascinated by murder ballads. Over and over I would see the same story—that of a young woman found dead, usually strangled or stabbed, and in her pocket the locals would find a note, seemingly signed by her murderer. They would round up the suspect, who would then be arrested and thrown into a terrible jail, brought to trial, and usually hanged. I always wondered who the woman was, and had the man been framed. Answering those questions formed the premise of my first novel, and the bookselling world became the backdrop of my later novels as well.

You’ve said that you enjoy puzzles. What role do puzzles play in Lucy’s world and in the newest book?

I’ve always enjoyed puzzles and I think that is why I love reading and writing mysteries so much. As a writer, every mystery is a puzzle that needs to get worked out—for me, I want all of the pieces related to the main plot to fit together neatly. In my second novel, From the Charred Remains, the puzzles are explicit. Lucy has found a letter on the body of a murdered man, which she offers to a local printer for publishing in a true account about the Great Fire, which has just decimated London. What she does not realize is that the letter contains both an anagram and a set of acrostics that contain the identity of the murdered man, and which someone will go at great lengths to hide… It was actually harder for me to work out these puzzles than to write the rest of the novel.

What do you wish you’d known about the world of publishing and promotions before your first book came out that you can share with aspiring authors?

Ah, if only it weren’t a cliché to say that what I don’t know could fill a book. And if I only had time to write that book. It’s fairly astonishing how little I knew about publishing even when I had a contract in hand. I had spent so much time reading books and blogs about how to polish the manuscript, query, get an agent, etc,—which did ultimately work for me—but I didn’t know anything about mystery conferences, or about terrific organizations like Mystery Writers of American and Sisters in Crime. Essentially, I knew nothing about networking. For me, its about maintaining an active online presence using social media that is comfortable for me (so essentially Facebook, blog, twitter), being authentic in my interactions with others (not making it all about me!), and finding ways to connect and collaborate with other authors so that we are helping and learning from each other.

 

—

Told you she was great. Check out her event calendar and mine for some of that  collaborating she’s talking about.

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THE BLACK HOUR is nominated for a Barry Award!

I’ve been so busy I forgot to post the latest great news: The Black Hour is a finalist for the Barry Award for Best Paperback Original!

Not sure how I skated past “best first novel” into the grown-up category of “best” anything else, but I’m happy to be in this good group.

Not that group. This group.

Curious? The Barry Award, given out by Deadly Pleasures magazine, is named for Barry Gardner.

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LCC Rosebuds: Meet the first novel nominees

I *may* have mentioned this already, but The Black Hour was nominated for the Rosebud Award at the 2015 Left Coast Crime Conference, Crimelandia! The Rosebud is the best first mystery award at this year’s conference, and the great news is that all the nominees are indeed my buds. It’s such a great group of first novels that I thought you should hear a little about them. So, the ’Buds of LCC15…

Lisa Alber: You guys remember Lisa! We were Debs together, back in the pre-first book days. I met Lisa in person (FINALLY!) at last year’s Left Coast Crime, and it was pure unicorn magic. Her book Kilmoon (Muskrat Press) has family secrets, betrayal, and vengeance from beyond the grave … Merrit Chase has just discovered her long-lost father.

 

Martha Cooley: Speaking of pure unicorn magic—everyone wants to know this fab lady, and they want to know what hair products she uses. We also met for the first time at last year’s Left Coast Crime, where she was shelling out free copies with an honest-to-goodness twinkling smile, like a Disney princess. Her book Ice Shear (William Morrow) has spiky ice, motorcycle gangs, and saucy small-town cop June Lyon.

 

Allen Eskens: Allen and I met in person just this past fall at Bouchercon, despite knowing OF each other for a while: We have the very same publisher, Seventh Street Books. Allen is a practicing lawyer in Minnesota, and his book, The Life We Bury, features college student Joe Talbert, who goes after a writing assignment and gets a lot more in the bargain.

 

 

Holly West: Guess where I met Holly West? That’s right, LCC last year. We were on the first book panel together (with the Disney princess, above), and we had a freaking blast. Holly isn’t a princess—she’s rock and roll. Her book, Mistress of Fortune, is set in the 17th century and features Isabel Wilde, a mistress to King Charles II who secretly makes coin as a fortune teller.

 

Lori Rader-Day: Me. Hi. My book, The Black Hour, is about the aftermath of violence on a college campus, featuring sarcasm-prone sociology professor Amelia Emmett making bad decisions.

 

I asked my pals here to answer a few questions, for your reading pleasure.

 

 Who are your writing inspirations?

 Lisa Alber: New York Times bestselling author Elizabeth George was a huge inspiration to me. I took three workshops with her. During the first workshop, I worked on the first glimmers for Kilmoon. Afterwards she told me, “You have the talent and you have the story. Now run with them.” WOW! What a booster shot of encouragement for an insecure fledgling novelist like I was! Six years later I ended up receiving a writing grant from her foundation.

 

Martha Cooley: When I was in high school, I picked up Sue Grafton’s C is for Corpse. Kinsey Millhone was sharp, damaged and a woman in a male world, but that didn’t keep her from trying to fight for justice. I was one of those kids who read everything she could get her hands on, but Sue Grafton’s book was the first where I thought I want to write books like this.

Allen Eskens: My writing inspirations are mystery writers who have mastered the ability to combine a literary writing style with great suspense. Dennis Lehane is at the top of that list for me. Tana French, and Joyce Carol Oates are also favorites.

Holly West: My first writing influence was Judy Blume. She’s the author that made me want to be a writer, closely followed by Lois Duncan. I always joke that I’d pee my pants if I ever got to meet Judy Blume, but the thing is, I probably would. As an adult, my biggest writing influences have been Sue Grafton and David Liss. I’ve had the pleasure of meeting both of them and fortunately for everyone involved, my bladder didn’t fail me either time.

Lori Rader-Day: I have to say the names Lois Duncan, T.C. Boyle, Annie Proulx, Tana French, and Gillian Flynn. I would be the writer I am without Agatha Christie and Mary Higgins Clark. THAT is the dinner party I want to host. 

 

Being nominated for a first book award is pretty awesome. It’s Oscar night. Which five people do you want to thank?

Lisa Alber: Me, crying and flapping a hand in front of my face to try to stem the tears: “… and I’d just like to thank everyone along the way–you know who you are–for your support and love on this grand writing journey.” (I’m the type to blank out and forget names, so this would be my strategy.)

Martha Cooley: My family, my writing group, my editor at Morrow, Rachel Kahan, my agent, Lisa Gallagher, and Mrs. Leone, the librarian at the Auburn Public Library who let me take out books from the adult section without a note from my parents.

Allen Eskens: My parents who taught me the value of hard work and setting goals. My agent who took a chance in me as a debut author. My publisher for their efforts in getting my book whipped into shape and out to the readers. My daughter for being a prolific reader and inspiring me to be a better reader myself. And most importantly, my wife Joely who encouraged me every step of the way.

Holly West: My husband, Mick, my parents, my editor, Deborah Nemeth, all of my friends in SinCLA and MWA, and my writing critique group (Josh Stallings, Thomas Pluck, and Neliza Drew).

Lori Rader-Day: The Academy… Oh, right. Agent Sharon Bowers, Editor Dan Mayer, friend Clare O’Donohue and the MWA Midwest peeps, and my parents for leading me to books. 

Tell us what’s next for you.

Lisa Alber: I’m plugging away at the second in the County Clare series, working title Grey Man. There’s a dead boy in Blackie’s Pasture, strangers accusing Liam the Matchmaker of killing their mother, and mysterious graffiti messages appearing in the village.

Martha Cooley: Faint Trace, a prequel ebook novella due out in April, and the next book in the June Lyons series, Flame Out, which is out in May.

Allen Eskens: My next book will be released on October 6, 2015. The working title is The Guise of Another. The story is about a man killed in a car accident who is not who he has been pretending to be. The investigation starts a chain of events that puts homicide detective Max Rupert in the cross hairs of a truly dangerous man.

Holly West: A standalone mystery set in contemporary Venice, CA, featuring amateur sleuth Mia Bartlett, a barkeep at the oldest tavern in Venice who discovers that the murder of her unlikeable manager is linked to the mobsters who owned the establishment during prohibition.

Lori Rader-Day: First, I’m having a drink at LCC with all these great people. (Also, my next mystery, Little Pretty Things, is out July 7.) See you all at Left Coast: Crimelandia!

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The Little Pretty Playlist

There’s a discussion going on over at Facebook among a few mystery writers about music. Specifically, Dana Cameron is building a playlist to get her through the draft of her next book.

If that sentence needs no further explanation, skip this paragraph. For the rest of you: “playlist to get her through the draft of her next book” refers to the music that teases the best ideas out of your brain for a specific project. You use your music playing software, iTunes, whathaveyou, to build a list of just the songs that speak to that story, and then when you open up your computer or notebook to get some words laid down, that’s the music you play.

Probably there’s some psychology at work here. The Pavlovian response to Lorde’s voice is to type faster. But that’s me. And not “Royals.” I hate that song.

I don’t always write to music. Sometimes silence is best. Cafe noise is pretty great for me. But sometimes I have trouble focusing, and that’s when a patron saint song can come in handy. I’ve written before about how I wrote the last half of THE BLACK HOUR to the Awolnation song “Sail.” Everything about that song was right. The first time I heard it, I was sincerely creeped out. It had the right sound. It had the word SAIL in it, for crying out loud. I love when I hear that song playing somewhere unexpected. I also have it readily available in my car so I can play it LOUD.

So what’s the playlist for LITTLE PRETTY THINGS, you ask?

So glad you’re playing along here.

This was the patron saint song of LPT for a long time. I wrote the first 10K to that, probably, maybe more. I’ve seen Katie Herzig in concert. You should, too.

Then I heard this song and things started to come together.

Lyrics:

We live in cities you’ll never see on screen

Not very pretty, but we sure know how to run things

Living in ruins of a palace within my dreams

And you know, we’re on each other’s team

I liked this song so much I bought the entire album, and then I found the real patron saint song of LITTLE PRETTY THINGS—this song. I was still fixating on this song—listening to it over and over—when I finished the book.

The whole list looked something like this:

The Little Pretty Playlist

“Lost and Found” by Katie Herzig

“Team” by Lorde

“Buzzcut Season” by Lorde

“Miss Misery” by Elliott Smith

“That’s Who I Am” by Neko Case

“Stealing From the Jones” by Emmet Swimming

“Myth” by Beach House

“Girls Room” by Liz Phair

“Girls in Their Summer Clothes” by Bruce Springsteen

“All Things At Once” by Tired Pony

“Triangle” by Laura Stevenson

“Prince Johnny” by St. Vincent

“Afraid” by The Neighborhood

“Money Power Glory” by Lana Del Ray (against my own will, I like this song)

“Habits (Stay High)” by Tove Lo

“Kansas City” by The New Basement Tapes

 

You’ve some iShopping to do, don’t you?

 

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THE BLACK HOUR is nominated for the Rosebud!

More good news! THE BLACK HOUR has been nominated for the Rosebud Award at Left Coast Crime 2015: Crimelandia! That’s the award at this year’s conference for the best first mystery. I’m so excited, and here’s the best news: All the other nominees are my friends, so if I don’t win, one of my friends will! Full list of nominees here. Lots of friends in the other portions of the list, too. It’s going to be a seriously fun party.

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