GUEST BLOGGER: Lily Koppel

Calling All Mothers, Daughters and Grandmothers to Journey Within the Pages of The Red Leather Diary
By Lily Koppel

When I first opened the red leather diary, I had no idea of the world that was about to unfold before me and change the course of my life and that of 90-year-old Florence Wolfson Howitt. One morning in 2003, I left my Manhattan apartment and encountered a Dumpster full of old steamer trunks. Unhesitatingly, I climbed up and into what felt like my own movie, a real life Titanic. Among old photographs, a collection of handbags, a flapper dress, and a stunning tangerine bouclé coat with an iridescent lining and single Bakelite button, I recovered the diary, discarded after years of languishing in my building’s storage unit, kept by a young woman in New York, from 1929 to 1934, between the ages of 14 and 19. “This book belongs to,” read the frontispiece, followed by “Florence Wolfson.”

Back in my room, holding my breath, I released the brass latch. Despite the rusted keyhole, the diary was unlocked. Little pieces of red leather sprinkled onto my white comforter. For five years, not a single day’s entry had been skipped. I was transported to a bygone New York—glamorous nights at El Morocco and elegant teas at Schrafft’s during the 1920s and ’30s—and of the headstrong, endearing teenager who filled its pages with her hopes, heartaches, and vivid recollections.

Florence loved Baudelaire, Central Park and men and women with equal abandon. What jumped out of the pages to me was how ahead of her time was (and has since been likened by reviewers to a “pre-war Carrie Bradshaw” from Sex and The City). Its nearly 2,000 entries, written in faded black ink, captured the passions and ambitious of an intensely creative young woman. The journal painted a vivid picture of horseback riding in Central Park, summer excursions to the Catskills and an obsession with a famous avant-garde actress, Eva Le Gallienne. Brief, breathless dispatches filled every page of the five-year chronicle, unfurling into a fairy tale.
“Mile Stones Five Year Diary” was written in gold letters across the book’s worn cover. Inside, a blue vine grew around the frontispiece, stamped with a zodiac wheel. The diary seemed to respond to being back in warm hands, its pages becoming unstuck and fanning out. I flipped through the entries, dense with girlish cursive. I could tell the journal had been cherished. I located the date that Florence began writing: August 11, 1929, the day she received the diary as a gift for her 14th birthday.

A brittle scrap of newsprint floated out of the pages. On it was Florence’s picture. But for her waved blonde hair, she appeared completely contemporary. Eerily, we looked alike. Her eyes were alert and intelligent. I could see myself in her face; we were both writers and painters. Florence appeared so alive, intensely internal and fully engaged with the world around her.

I read her entries as if they were personal letters to me. Florence and I had so much in common, the same longing for love, someone to understand us, the desire to carve out our own path. At the time, I was reporting for The New York Times celebrity column, traipsing nightly from red carpet movie premiere to party to after-party interviewing hundreds of boldfaced names. The diary took me far away from the ephemeral world of celebrity to the enduring story of a young woman in search of herself.

Florence and I shared so many of the same longings for love, and the desire to make our own way. I was drawn into Florence’s day-to-day existence, trips to the theater and escapes to the Museum of Modern Art, which opened in 1929. The Metropolitan Museum of Art, free and almost deserted during the week, was a temple that she wandered in, solitary and content, for hours without seeing a soul.

As a writer, Florence loved England and the Lake Country poets--Wordsworth and Coleridge. She sailed to Europe in 1936. She visited Oxford, where I studied, and embarked on her own romances along the way. She traveled alone from London to Paris to Rome, where she fell for an Italian Count, Filippo Caneletti Gaudenti da Sirola, who was a poet and pilot and composed love verses to her, which were published.
As I read, my lavender bedroom filled with an orange glow from the streetlamp outside my second-story windows. The diary was a portal into a lost world. I felt as if we were one, this young woman from the ’30s and I.

There is something so hopeful about a diary, a journal, a new notebook, which Joan Didion and Virginia Woolf both wrote about. In this age of Facebook and blogs, a journal is one of the last private spaces, where you are the solitary actor on your lone stage performing for your own audience. I have kept dozens of diaries over the years, which I keep on a high shelf in my West Village Manhattan loft, where I am writing this. Perhaps we all are waiting for someone to discover us. “Find me, find me,” Florence seemed to be saying.

I could already see the headlines in my mind, “Celebrity reporter finds a discarded 75-year-old diary, in it, the biggest story of her career.” But I couldn't help asking myself, because I genuinely cared about this story, who was Florence Wolfson? Her eyes wouldn’t let go.

Three years later, I received a chance phone call from a private investigator, with whom I shared the diary. Searching the city’s birth records, he found one Florence Wolfson, born in New York City on August 11, 1915, to a pair of immigrants from Russia, a doctor and his wife. He led me to Florence Howitt, a 90-year-old woman living with her husband of 67 years, with homes in Westport, Conn., and Pompano Beach, Fla.

One Sunday afternoon in April 2006, eagerly and a bit nervously, I dialed Florence’s Florida number on my cell. After two rings, a refined voice with the command of a stage actress answered. “Hello?” “Florence?”

I met Florence for the first time in May 2006 in Westport, where she lived with her 95-year-old husband, Nathan Howitt, a retired oral surgeon who was one of many admirers from her youth.

Florence hugged me. She was an ageless phenom, full of spunk. During weekly Sunday visits, we got to know each other. Reunited with her diary, Florence journeyed back to the girl she had been, rediscovering a lost self that had burned with creative fervor.

Florence was one of a generation of Depression-stamped young men and women who longed to cultivate a creative life. As a 19-year-old Columbia University graduate student, she hosted a literary salon in her parents’ apartment. Her friends, the young poets Delmore Schwartz and John Berryman, were members.

During our talks, Florence showed me old photographs. Scalloped-edged black-and-white images recreated the half-forgotten world of the sophisticated young Manhattanite who grew up on the Upper East Side. In the snapshots, Florence is outfitted in clothes designed by her mother, a couture dressmaker with a shop on Madison Avenue. Her mother had come to America alone as a teenager and worked her way up to being a respected business owner, a rare accomplishment in those days.
After Florence married, she drifted from her art and admitted that later in life she took on “a country club mentality.” As she fingered the pages of the leather-bound book crumbling in her hands, she reflected on the young woman brought to life so vividly in its pages.

“What made you do this, Lily?” Florence asked. I knew from the diary’s pages she had wanted to be a writer. “If I had remained true to myself, would I have ended up living this ordinary life?”

Last April, Florence’s husband died. I learned from her diary that they had met when she was 13 in the country at his parent’s hotel. I flew down to Florida to be with her. “Lily and her new grandmother,” Florence said, as we took a photo. “You’ve brought back my life.”

From being hidden inside a diary with a tiny key, Florence has been revealed in a book. How does Florence feel about that? She writes about her feelings in the forward to the book, as well as the death of her husband of 67 years last spring. Their first kiss, when Florence was 13, was also recorded in her diary.

Today, Florence and I gab like teenagers on the phone. She said, “My friends have to take me seriously now. I’m no longer an invisible older woman.”

Florence was a feminist even before she knew the word. She hopes she will inspire teenagers and young women today to reflect on their lives. Sixteen-year-old Florence wrote, on June 28, 1932, “Stuffed myself with Mozart and Beethoven--feel like a ripe apricot--am dizzy with the exotic.”



On April 10, 1932, Florence wrote: "Wrote all day -- and my story is still incomplete." What stood out about Florence was her fearless inward gaze and her commitment to carving out a path of her own. She was writing her story of who she was and would become while recording her daily entries. Although separated by three quarters of a century, I felt that this lovely ingénue and I were on parallel paths, both searching for love and meaning in our lives—a profound connection that readers feel as well.

“A movie star!” Florence exclaimed while sharing with me photos of her Italian Count in his white aviator’s jacket about to climb into his propeller plane.
What a journey! From diary to dumpster to a book, which is traveling the world. With the talk of the financial crisis and comparisons being made to The Great Depression, there is renewed interest in what life was really like in the 1930s as depicted in the diary.

Florence, who is unexpectedly glamorous at ninety-three, recently purchased a laptop and is writing again. In the foreword to The Red Leather Diary, where she asks, “How does it feel when a forgotten chunk of your life is handed back to you?” We are constantly emailing back and forth. The Red Leather Diary is a tribute to the tempestuous girl I came to know on paper and the older, more even-tempered woman I grew to love in real life. It’s a magical story about coming of age, following your dreams and discovering (or rediscovering) who you are, were and want to be. A world straight from the pages of a F. Scott Fitzgerald novel.

Florence says without missing a beat that she would like Meryl Streep to play her older self in the movie. Scarlett Johansson would be perfect for the young Florence (and myself). We appeared together on The Today Show, where Florence turned to me and squeezed my hand and said, “This is a fairy tale.”


Thoroughly contemporary and timeless, the book offers a rare opportunity for mothers, daughters and grandmothers to read The Red Leather Diary together and share their own experiences at a cross-generational book club meeting with the reading group guide now available: http://www.harpercollins.com/author/authorExtra.aspx?authorID=32373&isbn13=9780061256776&displayType=readingGuide

Free MP3 of “Let’s Get It On” by Marvin Gaye

Happy Valentines Day! Follow the link for a free MP3 download of “Let’s Get It On” by Marvin Gaye - but this will work only today, 2/13/09 and tomorrow, 2/14/09. Enjoy!

SLEUTHFEST GUEST BLOGGER: Vincent O'Neill

Send me your openings

This is only my second Sleuthfest, but I had so much fun last year (and Randy Rawls and his henchmen did such a great job running things) that I had to come back. Besides, I live in New England and grab just about any opportunity to go someplace warm (as did the sleuth in my "Exile" series, who left the northeast for Florida and never came back).

I'll be running the "Openings" workshop at nine AM on Friday February 27th, and I'd like to open this up to as many attendees as possible. I've already got sample openings from several well-known mystery novels to use as examples, but I'd like to ask anyone who's going to be at Sleuthfest to consider submitting an opening of their own. This is open to any writer, published or not, and I promise to keep the group's critiquing professional.

My plan is to put the opening on a slide (two slides max) and then discuss it with the audience (for example: What does this opening accomplish? Is this opening geared to providing the 5 W's or does it have a different purpose?) If you're willing, please send the first page of your opening to me at exile.florida@gmail.com (not knowing how many responses I'm going to receive, I can't guarantee your segment will be used). Please let me know if you wish to remain anonymous (at least for the duration of the workshop, or until people start raving about your writing) and I will take it from there.

I hope to see you at the "Openings" workshop at 9 AM on Friday February 27th. And don't forget the mock murder trial "Twelve Angry Flamingoes" at 6:30 that evening; Vicki Landis has written a twisted plot and assembled a gifted cast (raffle tickets for jury positions will be sold at the Registration table).

Vinny O'Neil is the Malice Award-winning author of the "Frank Cole / Exile" murder mystery series published by St. Martin's Minotaur. Sample chapters of all three novels are available at his website, www.vincenthoneil.com.

Win THE AGENCY by "Ally O'Brien" - 1 week only!

Meet Tess Drake. She’s earned everything she has. Now it’s time to get what she deserves…

Sexy super-agent Tess Drake has worked hard to make a name for herself in the glamorous yet cut-throat entertainment industry. Tess works at an international agency, where she skillfully manages some of the world's biggest egos—her company, Bardwell International operates in the thrilling, fast-paced worlds of Rights, wrongs and revenge. Tess has been an agent there for longer than she cares to remember and now she's in trouble. Real trouble. After the mysterious death of the agency's senior partner, Lowell Bardwright, Tess's sworn enemy, Cosima Tate, has taken over and would do anything to send Tess's career down in flames. And Cosima is only one of the rogue’s gallery of agents in London and New York who want Tess to take a fall.

Tess has another little complication, too. She’s sleeping with men on both sides of the Atlantic who are in bed with the women who are trying to sink her.

Can Tess jump ship without losing her clients and breaking her heart? Or will she lose everything before finding out if she really has what it takes to do what she’s always wanted?

There’s risk and reward in this wickedly funny novel that turns the world of agenting inside out and lays bare all the ambition, sex, adrenaline, bad luck, and good luck at the center of one young woman’s success.

"Ally O'Brien" is a pseudonym for two writers (one publishing industry insider and one renowned mystery writer) who have written a funny, sexy book about what else - the publishing industry.

Reviews have been great --

“With an insider’s take on the book biz, and an appealingly foul-mouthed heroine, this debut is fast, funny and a bit nasty—not unlike Tess. A naughty, catty good time.”
–Kirkus

“A delicious read! Even more entertaining than Sex & the City and Lipstick Jungle combined… THE AGENCY is one hot, exciting, and sexy book, with a seductive plot that makes those pages fly. Don’t miss this exquisite jewel!”
–Publishers Weekly

It's winter, it's cold and miserable outside (even here in south Florida!) so it's the perfect time to curl up with a fun read. To win your own copy, just send an email to contest@gmail.com with THE AGENCY as the subject by next Wednesday, Feb. 11. Please include your name and snail mail address in the US or Canada only.

The publisher, St. Martins Press, is so excited about this book that they are offering my readers 25 galleys - that's the advance paperback copy for the book that just came out yesterday.

Good luck, and thanks for reading.

SLEUTHFEST GUEST BLOGGER: Susan Froetschel

Sleuthfest 2009: "Read Like a Writer"

As a writer, I used to feel guilty about reading, worrying that any time spent reading took time away from writing. But that's the thinking of an amateur - and over the years, I came to realize how much reading other works - any genre - influenced my writing. Deliberately setting out to assess the writing in other works has shaped my own voice and style for the better.

Writing teachers constantly urge their students to read, read, read to study styles and techniques. Not only does reading spark responses and even new ideas - especially when we read non-fiction or new material that tests our assumptions. Reading a range of material also prepares us to think about outlines and organization, offering a drill for our own revisions. Sometimes writers immediately grasp how another writer inserts suspense, tone or motivation, and sometimes they must read a passage two or three times to understand how the writer manipulates words for some subtle purpose.

Writers have the luxury of knowing what they like to read and why, but also understand they must sometimes plow through difficult, odd or horrible passages.

Because practicing analytical reading skills is crucial for rewriting. Reading through a first draft is a humbling experience, worse than listening to a recording of one's voice, and that may be why I spend more time rewriting than I do laying out the original draft. To finish a book, I must read to snip, shape and control my plot.

In attending conferences, I'm always amazed how much I learn from readers and writers alike, those magic moments when everyone in the room is inspired. Despite a vast range of techniques, even in the mystery genre, few people argue and insist that one way, their way, is the best or only way. The best writers are curious about new places, people and ideas, and while I prefer reading the explorers over the preachers, I cannot deny having some of the latter's tendencies.

So, I look forward to Sleuthfest 2009, meeting all, and joining the panel "Read Like a Writer," which will discuss two inextricably intertwined skills that cannot be separated. Think about the reasons you love to read and how you read, shed the guilt, and stop by to say hello.


Susan Froetschel is a journalist and the author of three mystery books, including Royal Escape, published in 2008 by Five Star/Cengage. She has taught writing at Yale and Southern Connecticut State University. Her website is www.royalescape.net, and more of her thoughts on writing can be found at Poe's Deadly Daughters

John Grisham

THE ASSOCIATE is the latest legal thriller from John Grisham, and the reviews have been good. Grisham has shown up on a couple of legal blogs - check it out:

Above the Law

WSJ Law Blog

Grisham also has a Facebook page, albeit one obviously made by his publisher so who knows if he ever stops by or even knows of its existence.

Grisham on Facebook

My review will be posted next week at BookBitch.com.
(I've had kitty-interruptus)

National Book Critics Circle nominations

NBCC Award Nominees

Fiction
Roberto Bolano, 2666
Marilynne Robinson, Home
Aleksandar Hemon, The Lazarus Project
M. Glenn Taylor, The Ballad of Trenchmouth Taggart
Elizabeth Strout, Olive Kittredge

Nonfiction
Dexter Filkins, The Forever War
Drew Gilpin Faust, This Republic of Suffering: Death and the Civil War
Jane Mayer, The Dark Side
Allan Lichtman, White Protestant Nation
George C. Herring, From Colony to Superpower: US Foreign Relations Since 1776

Biography
Paula J. Giddings, Ida, A Sword Among Lions: Ida B. Wells and the Campaign Against LynchingSteve Coll, The Bin Ladens: An Arabian Family In An American Century
Patrick French, The World Is What It Is: The Authorized Biography of V.S. Naipaul
Annette Gordon-Reed, The Hemingses of Monticello: An American Family
Brenda Wineapple, White Heat: The Friendship of Emily Dickinson & Thomas Wentworth Higginson

Autobiography
Rick Bass, Why I Came West
Helene Cooper, The House On Sugar Beach
Honor Moore, The Bishop's Daughter
Andrew X. Pham, The Eaves Of Heaven
Ariel Sabar, My Father's Paradise: A Son's Search for His Jewish Past in Kurdish Iraq

Criticism
Richard Brody, Everything Is Cinema: The Working Life Of Jean-Luc Godard
Vivian Gornick, The Men in My Life
Joel L. Kraemer, Maimonides: The Life and World of One of Civilization's Greatest Minds
Reginald Shepherd, Orpheus in the Bronx: Essays on Identity, Politics, and the Freedom of Poetry
Seth Lerer, Children's Literature: A Reader's History: Reader's History from Aesop to Harry Potter

Poetry
August Kleinzahler, Sleeping It Off in Rapid City
Juan Felipe Herrera, Half the World in Light
Devin Johnston, Sources
Pierre Martory (trans. John Ashbery), The Landscapist
Brenda Shaughnessy, Human Dark with Sugar

The Nona Balakian Citation for Excellence in Reviewing went to Ron Charles.

SLEUTHFEST GUEST BLOGGER: Terry Odell

Blogging about SleuthFest

My local crit group encouraged me to go to a writing conference when I was just getting my feet wet in the writing business. When I saw that Robert B. Parker was going to be the keynote speaker at a mystery conference, I decided to bite the bullet and attend. Left hubby at home, drove the 4 hours to Fort Lauderdale (which was a major trip to do solo back then), and was immersed in the world of writers. At the time, I thought I was writing a mystery. Turns out, it was more of a "romantic suspense" according to industry labels, but what did I know? I had a detective, a crime and a victim. So what if they fell in love along the way, right?

I remember applying for a slot in Barbara Parker's workshop for a critique session. I think I got the best of both worlds on that one when she didn't accept my pages among those she would critique, because she certainly pulls no punches when she discusses the writing. "Nothing wrong with this that a pair of scissors wouldn't cure," sticks with me all these years later. But she'd jotted a note on my returned pages and said she'd like to discuss the chapter with me. Over lunch (I paid, of course), she pointed out strengths and weaknesses – 'You've got the writing down, now learn about structure."

I also remember having an agent appointment with Dominic Abel. I was clueless. Totally. I knew he represented some big name favorites of mine, and had no delusions he'd be the least bit interested in my humble attempts at a story, which wasn't even a mystery. He said that didn't matter; if I could get readers to love Sarah, my heroine, that was the important thing. And he asked for a partial, which I thought was a given at a conference, but others said he only requested a few submissions. He wrote a very nice and personal rejection letter, too!

It took 3 tries before I managed to snag a spot in the "hot seat," and I hit the jackpot big time with feedback both from Barbara Parker's and PJ Parrish's workshops on Third Degree Thursdays. And by now, I also felt I had something to contribute during the discussions.

I've met Christopher Whitcomb who gave me an ARC of his book, with an inscription I can't share. And Robert Crais and Michael Connelly showed much patience with my blathering about having grown up in Los Angeles while they signed books for me.

One year, hubby came along. He's a biologist, specializing in marine mammals. Usually dead ones. So he had an absolute blast in the forensics tracks, and has been coming along ever since. I had to nudge him (ok, stronger than a nudge) to get the books he bought autographed. He "didn't want to bother the authors." Duh! He's learning.

And last year, I was on the other side of the table for the first time. I moderated a panel, and participated in another. I signed my books. I met great people. This is one conference that stays on my list. I can't wait to get back.


Terry Odell is a Los Angeles native who now makes her home in Florida. Her latest release, When Danger Calls, was released in December, 2008, by Five Star Expressions. You can find her website at http://www.terryodell.com, and her blog, "Terry's Place," at http://terryodell.blogspot.com/

2008 DILYS WINN AWARD NOMINEES ANNOUNCED

The Independent Mystery Booksellers Association (IMBA) is pleased to announce this year’s nominees for the Dilys Winn award, given annually to the mystery titles of the year which the member booksellers most enjoyed selling. The Dilys Award is named in honor of Dilys Winn, the founder of the first specialty bookstore of mystery books in the United States. The award will be presented at Left Coast Crime in March.

The IMBA is comprised of a network of individually owned retail bookstores across North America and the United Kingdom, devoted to the sale of mystery books. The IMBA has won several awards for THE 100 FAVORITE MYSTERIES OF THE CENTURY and THEY DIED IN VAIN, published by Crum Creek Press/Drood Review Books. For more information on the IMBA and the Dilys awards, including past nominees and winners, visit www.mysterybooksellers.com.

2008 Nominees

TRIGGER CITY, Sean Chercover, William Morrow
THE VICTORIA VANISHES, Christopher Fowler, Bantam
SILENT IN THE SANCTUARY, Deanna Raybourn, Mira
CHILD 44, Tom Rob Smith, Grand Central
DAWN PATROL, Don Winslow, Alfred A. Knopf

SLEUTHFEST GUEST BLOGGER: Peg Herring

Sleuthfest: what’s not to like? For a girl from Michigan, just the possibility of warmth and sunshine is enticement enough. By the time February arrives, I wouldn’t care if attending Sleuthfest meant eating corn dogs, making conversation with Butthead, and listening to non-stop accordion music. That’s not the case, however. The con is a well-run, friendly get-together where an author like me can recharge, improve, network, and promote, so it’s well worth the (very long) trip.

Last year I was a first-timer, but I found the company friendly and the program worthwhile. Although the hotel is a great venue with excellent meals, I rented a condo on the beach and enjoyed a full week on the ocean. Even without being at the con 24/7, I met lots of people: authors, fans, even an agent and an editor. The sessions I attended were of interest, and everyone on the panels seemed willing to share the spotlight. Pitch sessions moved along efficiently, yet I felt I got a fair hearing. The contact I made is still good a year later. The cocktail party was lovely, drinks by the pool on a perfect evening. I was thrilled to get a few words with Lee Child, one of my favorites, and to win some Linda Fairstein books as well.

This year I’ll know my way around. I made some contacts last year at libraries in the area, so I’ll be speaking several times during the week at nearby towns. I’m also on a Sleuthfest panel, “Historical Mysteries” on Friday afternoon. That’s what I’m most looking forward to, even though my historical mystery, HER HIGHNESS’ FIRST MURDER, won’t be out until 2010. I’m also looking forward to meeting some of the authors involved in an anthology I contributed to for Wolfmont Press. DYING IN A WINTER WONDERLAND is a Toys for Tots™ fundraiser, and I’m hoping some of the other authors will attend so we can meet in person.

So I’m counting the days. There are lots of good conferences around, and I usually have fun whenever I get to hang with others in the book business. Sleuthfest has the added appeal of beautiful weather, palm trees, and the mighty Atlantic, so I hope if you see me there with my Michigan winter-white skin, you’ll step up and say hello.

Peg Herring is a former educator whose first book, MACBETH’S NIECE, was released by Five Star in January of 2008. Her website is www.pegherring.com, and she regularly blogs on http://crimespace.ning.com/profile/pegfish.

Bestsellers 2008 at Murder on the Beach

Murder on the Beach Bookstore in Delray Beach, Florida, the only mystery bookstore in the state (!) has announced their bestsellers for year 2008.

Once again, Randy Wayne White tops the list. And Elaine Viets appears three times. Murder on the Beach make a concerted effort to support and sell their local mystery authors, and this list proves that.

Bestsellers 2008
Hardcovers

Black Widow by Randy Wayne White, Putnam
Hells Bay by James W. Hall, St Martins
Burn Zone by James O. Born, Putnam
Dark of Day by Barbara Parker, Vanguard
Atomic Lobster by Tim Dorsey, Harper Collins
Brass Verdict by Michael Connelly, Little Brown
Moscow Rules by Daniel Silva, Putnam
Night Stalker by James Swain, Balentine
Hot Mahogany by Stuart Woods, Putnam
Unknown Means by Elizabeth Becka, Hyperion
Queens Gambit by Diane Stuckart, Berkley
Dark Tide by Andrew Gross, Harper Collins
Clubbed to Death by Elaine Viets, Obsidian
Legally Dead by Edna Buchanan, Scribner
Law of Second Chances by James Sheehan, St Martins
Hold Tight by Harlan Coben, Putnam
Last Call by James Grippando, Harper Collins
Deadly Silver Sea by Bob Morris, St Martins
Killer Heat by Linda Fairstein, Random House
St Barts Breakdown by Don Bruns, Oceanview


Trade Paper

Key West in Black and White by Tom Corcoran, Ketch & Yawl
The Last Enemy by G Brophy, Soho
A Beautiful Blue Death by Charles Finch, St Martins
Sarahs Key by Tatiana Derosnay, St Martins
In the Woods by Tana French, Berkley


Mass Market

Wreckers Key by Christine Kling, Ballantine
Field of Fire by James O Born, Berkley
Knock Off by Rhonda Pollero, Kensington
Murder with All the Trimmings by Elaine Viets, NAL
Magic City by James W Hall, St Martins
South of Hell by PJ Parrish, Pocket
Murder with Reservations by Elaine Viets, NAL
Faithful Spy by Alex Berenson, Berkley
Trace Evidence by Elizabeth Becka, Hyperion
Getting Old is To Die For by Rita Lakin, Ballantine
Murder is Binding by Lorna Barrett, Berkley
Bermuda Schwartz by Bob Morris, St Martins
Midnight Rambler by James Swain, Ballantine
Down River by John Hart, St Martins
State of the Onion by Julie Hyzy, Berkley
Blue Zone by Andrew Gross, Harper Collins
Killer Knots by Nancy Cohen, Kensington
Jamaica Blue by Don Bruns, St Martins
Alibi Man by Tami Hoag, Ballantine
Hunters Moon by Randy Wayne White, Berkley

SleuthFest 2009: Hotel and Meals

I have offered up my blog to Sleuthfest participants and Linda G. Hengerer, co-chair with Neil for this year's SleuthFest and author of Football Basics and A Pocket Full of Wine, offered up this info:

Randy Rawls is Chairing SleuthFest this year, and Neil Plakcy and I are co-chairs. I’m in charge of the pre-conference side of things, including the hotel and meals.

We are once again at the Deerfield Beach Hilton, with a special group rate of $179/night. Becky Swets is the roommate coordinator for anyone looking to share a room, and can be reached at bdors52@yahoo.com.

For the SleuthFest newbie, or anyone who wants to see old friends, we are having the SleuthFest 101 dinner on Thursday night. We’re staying at the hotel, so there’s no need to carpool, rent a car or cab it. Convenience is the key this year.

New: having our own designated bartender Friday and Saturday! Each attendee will receive a drink coupon that can be used either at our special bar area or during the Agents & Editors cocktail party on Saturday night. Attendees from previous years know how crowded the bar can get, especially if there is another big function going on. This should help ease the crush around the main bar.

Also new this year: a spot to grab a quick breakfast-on-the-go. We’ll have the Captain’s Room (across from the dining room) set up with: Whole Fruit- $1.00 per piece; Yogurt Fruit/Granola Parfait- $4.00; Sliced Fresh Fruit - $3.00; Breakfast Croissant Sandwiches - $4.00; Assorted Muffins- $2.50; Bagels with Cream Cheese- $3.00; Boxes of Assorted Cereals with Milk- $2.50; Bottled Water & Sodas, Juices- $3.00.

The Agents & Editors Cocktail Party will be poolside, weather permitting; last year it was beautiful. With a cash bar, hors d’oeuvres in different areas around the pool, and a carving station, there is ample opportunity to meet and mingle.

There’s still plenty of time to sign up and escape the freezing weather up north. Get the details at http://www.mwaflorida.org/sleuthfest.htm.

Sleuthfest!

Sleuthfest is a fabulous conference geared towards mystery writers and readers. The Florida chapter of Mystery Writers of America has been putting this conference on for years, and it just keeps getting better and better.

This year it is Feb. 26-March 1st at the Deerfield Beach Hilton in lovely south Florida, where the warm balmy breezes will make you forget all about Old Man Winter for sure. And if you register today, you get the early discount too! If you need more enticement, the Guests of Honor are Brad Meltzer and John Hart! (And I'll be there too.)

Neil Plakcy, who's in charge of programming, sent along some info. I'm hoping that some of the other writers who are attending will share their thoughts about the conference as well.

From Neil...

Sleuthfest Programming

I’m in charge of programming for Sleuthfest, and it has been an interesting challenge. I’m trying to build on what we’ve done before, but also bring to bear my experience having attended dozens of mystery writers’ conferences over the many years since I first began trying to get published.

Last year, Christine Kling ran a workshop in which aspiring authors submitted pages of their works in progress in advance, and she and the rest of the group critiqued them. It was a huge success, so we decided to try that again. Only this time, Elaine Viets, Vicki Hendricks and Lisa Black will be joining Chris in offering critique workshops, as part of our Third Degree Thursday programming.

Keeping our focus on helping writers craft better manuscripts, we’ve got a bunch of great workshops lined up on Friday and Saturday. Vincent O’Neil will examine openings, Martha Powers will look at suspense, S.J. Rozan will discuss characters, and the sister team of P.J. Parrish will help with pacing problems.

All this is in addition to our usual roster of great panel discussions, on topics like legal eagles, female detectives, vampire villains, historical honchos, amateur sleuths, and private eyes. We’ll kibitz about cops, yak about young adult mysteries, and rap about romantic suspense. Hope you can join us!

Neil Plakcy is the author of Mahu, Mahu Surfer, Mahu Fire, and Mahu Vice (August, 2009), mystery novels set in Hawaii. Editor of Paws and Reflect: A Special Bond Between Man and Dog, and Hard Hats: Gay Erotic Stories.www.mahubooks.com

More people are reading

A new report from the National Endowment for the Arts in the New York Times today shows that for the first time in 25 years, more people are reading fiction. They are attributing this to their program, the national Big Read, and to Oprah's book club, the popularity of the Harry Potter (J.K. Rowling) and Twilight (Stephenie Meyer) books. I wonder if it is because more people are looking to escape from reality. Whatever the reason, I am happy to hear it.

Read the article here.

One Dollar Ebooks

From Publishers Lunch--

Orbit has launched a promotional program offering a different book each month, selling for just one dollar each. Vendors include Amazon and Sony, along with Stanza, eReader, Fictionwise, Diesel, and MobiPocket. This month's offering is Brent Weeks' debut THE WAY OF THE SHADOWS. Publisher Tim Holman says: "We believe that this promotion will give readers a great opportunity to discover new writers. Most of our consumer marketing has an online focus, and the digital marketplace offers the perfect platform for price-promotion initiatives such as this.... The range of titles chosen for the promotion includes a mix of frontlist and backlist, from both new and established authors, and we will be monitoring the performance of every title very closely."

ONE DOLLAR ORBIT