Getting started, and Hour of the Rat

Today, I'm the guest on Jody Casella's blog, On the Verge. She's been doing a series of interviews with different authors on how they got their start in publishing. If you're in how I got mine, feel free to hop over there.

Also, a happy book birthday to Lisa Brackmann, author of Hour of the Rat, which is out today. It's a follow-up to the suspenseful Rock Paper Tiger.



Lisa is one of the people I mentioned in the acknowledgments of Try Not to Breathe for not sending my emo writer emails (you know the ones, the "writing is kicking my butt waah waah and why don't I just go study banking or something") to the spam filter, but instead responding with encouragement. As gracious writer friends do.

But the real reason to check out her book is this line from the synopsis: "... as soon as she starts asking questions about the missing Jason, Ellie realizes that she’s stumbled into a dangerous conspiracy that may or may not involve a sinister biotech company, eco-terrorists, an art-obsessed Chinese billionaire and lots of cats—one that will take her on a wild chase through some of China’s most beautiful—and most surreal—places."

Missing people. Suspense. Conspiracy. China. And CATS.