GUEST BLOGGER: CJ LYONS

I am delighted to introduce CJ Lyons, whose fabulous new thriller, LIFELINES, hit bookstores everywhere on March 4.

Award-winning medical suspense author CJ Lyons is a physician trained in Pediatric Emergency Medicine. She has assisted police and prosecutors with cases involving child abuse, rape, homicide and Munchausen by Proxy and has worked in numerous trauma centers, as a crisis counselor, victim advocate, as well as a flight physician for Life Flight. Publisher's Weekly proclaimed her debut medical suspense novel, LIFELINES (Berkley, March 2008), "a spot-on debut….a breathtakingly fast-paced medical thriller" and Romantic Times made it a Top Pick. Contact her at http://www.cjlyons.net

Why all Librarians live in Heaven….

When I was a kid growing up, the biggest treat (aka bribe) my mom could offer me was a trip to the library. I loved our library, its solemn architecture, hushed atmosphere, it was like being invited into another world.

A world made even more delightful when my mother convinced the librarian that instead of the children's library card (which meant an adult had to okay your books and they could only come from the children's section) but at the ripe old age of ten, I was given the golden pass, the Disney E ticket, the keys to the kingdom….the coveted adult, free-range, choose all you can carry, library card!

I still remember the feeling of browsing those stacks of books towering so high over my head. And oh, the friends I found there! In mysteries there were: Agatha Christie, Rex Stout, Frances and Richard Lockridge, Leslie Charteris, Josephine Tey, Ellery Queen (who, along with Archie Goodwin, I had a crush on).

Turn the corner and the science fiction section beckoned with the likes of Isaac Asimov (who I actually met once), Ray Bradbury (who I would love to meet!), Tolkien, Heinlein, Edgar Rice Burroughs, H. Rider Haggard, and so many others.
And then, oh my, there was the fiction section. Tales of drama, family sagas, historicals (I was probably the only girl in school who read all seven of the Musketeer series), tales of intrigue, revenge, love, and loss….

Mom was lucky I left the library at all. To me it truly was heaven, even though the roof leaked, most of the books were old and falling apart, the floors sagged, and there was a strange black crud that crept over the ceiling and down the walls. Which is why years after I left home, our town replaced my library with a non-leaky, non-moldy, cold-hearted, brick edifice. Crisp, clean, modern, spacious—everything my library wasn't.

Except for one similarity. Inside there are still books waiting to invite children of all ages to other worlds and there are still their generous, kind-hearted guardians: librarians.

Somewhere along the line, I decided to create my own worlds and share them with others. And now with my first novel being released (on March 4th!!!), I'd like to take this opportunity to thank all the librarians in all the libraries in all the cities I've lived in for their hospitality and nurturing of the written word.
Getting a library card is still the very first thing I do whenever I move to a new town—there's nothing like that thrill of heaving open the heavy doors (ever notice how all libraries have very heavy doors?) and stepping into a world of possibilities!
And now those possibilities include my own novel, LIFELINES!!! What a dream come true!

How have libraries and librarians changed your world? I'd love to hear!

Thanks for reading,
CJ

PS: for any librarians (or anyone!) wanting to learn more about LIFELINES, feel free to visit my website, http://www.cjlyons.net