I was lucky enough to win an Advance Review Copy of Louise Penny's forthcoming (August 30) book, A Trick of the Light. I won it by writing a goofy paragraph on how I would promote the book for her. So here goes! (Paragraph included at the bottom.)
This is the latest in a long line of Penny's excellent stories featuring Chief Inspector Gamache and the fictional Quebec village of Three Pines. I have visited my sister many times in several areas of Quebec over the past thirty years, so I particularly enjoy reading about the small-town intrigues of our neighbors just to the north. Penny writes in English, and the village is set in the southern mostly English-speaking area of the province, but I like the way she weaves in French or allusions to characters speaking French.
The murder in this book involves art, artists, addiction, and, as always, relationships. Penny brings in her usual cast of characters: local artist Clara, now successful, and her less stellar husband, Peter. Myrna, the colorful friend. Gabri and Olivier from the Bistro. Beauvoir, Gamache's second in command. And others. The depth of these characters continues to evolve, and we learn new things about their pasts and futures. Penny is able to show pain and heartbreak in the same breath as hope and redemption. Her writing takes you deep into both the physical landscape and the emotional hills and valleys of the characters.
She's also a master at plot, though, and keeps presenting surprises and twists, right up to the end.
It's no wonder Louise Penny's books are New York Times bestsellers, and 
that they keep getting nominated for awards like the Agatha and the Edgar (and winning!). Louise and I have been Facebook friends for a year or two. I had the pleasure of meeting her in person at Malice Domestic this spring, and this well-known award winner was one of the most friendly and gracious people there. And boy, can she do scarves.
My next goal is to start at the beginning of the series, as I did with Julia Spencer-Fleming, and read my way through, so I can more fully appreciate the development of the characters over time.
Here's the winning goofiness, followed by Louise's initial response:
I'm
going to be your best and most eclectic publicist. First, I'd rent a megaphone and drive my Prius around Boston announcing the availability of the next must-read Louise Penny story. Then I'd blog about it at Speaking of Murder and spread the word on twitter, facebook, at Amesbury Friends Meeting, at the Ipswich Democratic Town Committee, and in local organic gardening circles. I'd call my buddy Scott Simon at NPR and demand he interview you about it. I'd ask my sister in Hudson, Quebec, to tell everyone she knows from Quebec City to Ottawa (mostly Buddhists and farmers) to pick it up. I'd badger all my Sisters in Crime in New England to buy a copy. And then I'd sit down and read it myself! What a treat. Thank you for the honor."What a wonderful, and fun, message! I hope you're naked as you shout into the magaphone in your Prius! Attracting so much more attention. Really, a great entry. You have made the finals. Good luck - and thank you for being so lovely and passionate and supportive."I urge you to preorder the book! Or put it on your list to pick up when it officially comes out. You won't regret it.
My fellow author Marilyn Levinson guest posts today. Thanks, Marilyn!Edith, it’s a pleasure to be here, visiting with you on your blog, Speaking of Mystery. I’m happy to talk about my new book, A MURDERER AMONG US, that’s just come out with Wings ePress. It’s available as an ebook and will be out soon as a POD paperback.Lydia Kraus
e, my sleuth in A MURDERER AMONG US, has moved to Twin Lakes, an upscale retirement community on Long Island, to start a new life. Lydia’s appalled when her neighbor introduces her to the community’s financial advisor, a man Lydia knows is a convicted embezzler and responsible for having driven her sister to suicide. She exposes the man in public and exchanges heated words with his wife, who is discovered the following morning, mowed down by Lydia’s Lexus. Suddenly, Lydia is Suspect Number One. Employing the many skills she’s honed as CEO of her own company, Lydia undertakes an investigation to prove her innocence.In many ways, A MURDERER AMONG US is a book about new beginnings. Though still mourning her husband’s death, Lydia finds herself drawn to Detective Sol Molina and the possibility of a new romance. Her relationship with her grown daughters takes unexpected turns. Lydia’s forced to confront one daughter’s old resentments and her extramarital affair. And, for the first time in many years, Lydia now has the time to nurture friendships with other women.I am a great believer in new beginnings. While I’ve written books for children and young adults for many years, A MURDERER AMONG US is my debut mystery and a new beginning for me. I look forward to writing many more mysteries.Marilyn Levinsonwww.marilynlevinson.comwww.marilynlevinson.con/blog(Marilyn's book is available at http://wingsepress.com and will soon be available at Amazon.com and fictionwise.com, and available as a POD paperback)
Life brings us new starts once in a while. I feel blessed with quite a few just lately. Might I enumerate?My youn
ger son, the fabulous John David, has just earned his Bachelor's Degree, with Magna Cum Laude honors, from Boston University. He has a passion for food and the environment, and managed to earn those honors plus a couple more by following his passion. He's heading into the real world by running the summer Teen program at a local urban gardening organization, driving tourists around Boston in a PediCab, doing some cooking, and hoping to work on a sustainable farm or two in the next year. You rock, JD. 
My older son, the brilliant and kindhearted Allan, is moving to the nation's capitol the day before his 25th birthday next week. He'll be starting a new job and living in the same neighborhood as his sweetheart, at long last. Best in love and life, Allan. I'll be down to visit soon.
The rainy Massachusetts spring has brought us, finally, sunshine and flourishing gardens, with my lettuce almost ready to harvest and the new hops plant reaching toward the sky. New life after a long winter is always a delight.
A romance short story I worked hard to craft several (okay, eight? nine?) years ago has just been accepted for publication in an anthology, after I worked hard this spring, with the help of the Salem Writers' Group, to transform it into a murder story, although it's still also a romance. I really like the characters and the trajectory of the story, and am thrilled that others will get to share in it after it is published.And the new book, the second in my Speaking of Mystery series, is actively underway. I feel I have gained skill at plotting and expression in my yea
rs working on Speaking of Murder. I already feel this book is better, although it's not yet half done. Writing new material makes me happy, keeps me challenged, and intrigues me as I follow characters around and write down what they do.
Ergo, life is good. What's new and good in your life lately?
Many of us have heard the chatter recently about ebooks rising in popularity. The New York Times reports that Amazon's ebook sales have surpassed their paper book sales. Many of us have looked wistfully at our favorite paperbacks, the ones you can sprawl on the couch with or lend to a friend, the ones that give your eyes a break from the various screens we're all staring without ceasing at these days. Endangered?Take a look at the colorful picture above on the right. This is a rack of paperback cozy mysteries. Think Agatha Christie, with an amateur sleuth, no real violence on the page, often set in a village of some kind. Well sure, bookstores big and small always stock cozies. Where are these books? This rack is in a Walmart near you. Wait. WALMART?
What does this mean for the authors, fellow writers like Sheila Connolly, Jenn McKinlay, Leann Sweeny, and others published by Berkeley Prime Crime, the publisher who made this deal with Walmart? Consider the number of people who do all their shopping in Walmarts across the country. Consider one-stop shopping. Consider how these authors' sales numbers are likely to shoot way up. This is huge.I personally don't shop in Walmarts. I have other options, and I choose to stretch my resources in the direction of local stores rather than a big-box national chain with questionable employment and sourcing practices. But I know Walmart is pretty much the only option left in some communities, and it offers lower prices for those with less money to stretch.Would I, if I had a cozy series published by Berkeley Prime Crime, refuse to have my book stocked in Walmart? Absolutely not! So congratulations, Sheila, Leann, Jenn, and the other authors with books on that rack. May you actually make some real money from your writing. May you entertain many new readers with your stories.What about you, readers? Will you be going to Walmart to shop for books now? Are you glad the paper book is still alive and well?
(Oh! This is my 50th post. Wow.)
Yes, I know one is not supposed to start a book with the weather. But really, the non-spring we're having in Massachusetts this year? It truly affects mood, and for those on the edge, it might just push them over. Murder could be around the corner. This kind of motivation makes a writer just rub her hands in eager anticipation of getting that story down on paper.How bad has it been? How bad can it be, you (you from Tucson, you from Bamako, you from other desert areas of the world) ask?W
e have WINTER here. And we had a rough winter. Lots of snow. Lots of bad driving conditions. The one thing that makes it worth living through is the fabled New England spring. It usually rains some, and then the world pops forth in green. The snow drops, the crocuses, the tulips, the daffodils bring us riots of color and new growth. The trees pop out, the lawns green up. With some sunshine, it's heaven here May.
Usually. This year we have had rain, mist, fog, drizzle, and more rain almost every day this month. We're molding up. Seedlings are rotting in the pot. Worst of all, we're in a BAD MOOD. Grrr. Tempers, starved for sun after the long winter, are tetchy, edgy, ready to explode.
Mama Nature? You're testing us way beyond our limits. I would not be surprised to read a crop of overcast-induced murder stories in anthologies across the region as soon as the next publishing cycle comes around.
What about you? Tempted to write a murder-by-dampness story? What kind of murder would best suit this awful weather?
Now that my medical leave is over, I'm back at my day job, and I don't really have time to review every book I read (although it was fun), let's resume talking about topics that are in Speaking of Murder. Like bonsai trees.What do tiny trees have to do with Lauren Rousseau, linguistics, or small-town Massachusetts? Lauren happens to have a miniature elm tree on her college office windowsill. She talks to it. It's a hobby of hers that she first learned when she lived in Japan teaching English. Who knows, it might develop into its own intriguing plot in a future book in the series.Personally? I don't know anything about bonsai cultivation except that they are tiny and realistically proportioned, and the name means 'tray plant,' more or less ('bon' meaning a tray-like pot). Wikipedia tells us the following: "The purposes of bonsai are primarily contemplation (for the viewer) and the pleasant exercise of effort and ingenuity (for the grower)."
So that's where research comes in. The Internet can tell me a lot about care and feeding of bonsai trees. I plan to schedule a field trip to Bonsai West in Littleton, Massachusetts one of these days.Here's a pretty crabapple in bloom for us to contemplate. Any of you readers out there experts on this art form? Any wannabe owners of a tiny tree? Who wants to come along on the field trip?
I just got back from Malice Domestic. It's a big conference in the Washington DC area for readers and writers of the traditional mystery, รก la Agatha Christie. I caught up with friends, met Louise Penny and told her about my connection with Quebec (where her series is set), listened to wisdom from the gracious and funny Sue Grafton (A is for Alibi, T is for Tresspass, and so on), and got turned on to lots of new books.
The Agatha awards were bestowed on several excellent writers, including Louise Penny for Best Novel and fellow Guppie Avery Aames for Best First Novel. Other Guppies and brilliant writers lost out, however, including my friends Hank Phillippi Ryan and Sheila Connolly. It was a little odd to realize it's really a popularity contest - the conference attendees vote on a slate of 5 for each award. Mind you, this does NOT mean the winner is not deserving. Just that it's not an impartially juried award. Each winner, besid
es being able to add "Agatha Winner" to her resume, receives a wonderful black Agatha teapot. Here's Hank with her teapot for Best Short Story 2009.It was fun to attend the closing ceremony, which was a full afternoon tea, complete with finger sandwiches, scones, and clotted cream. But I'm not sure I'll go back until I, too, have a book to promote.
that they keep getting nominated for awards like the Agatha and the Edgar (and winning!). Louise and I have been Facebook friends for a year or two. I had the pleasure of meeting her in person at Malice Domestic this spring, and this well-known award winner was one of the most friendly and gracious people there. And boy, can she do scarves.
going to be your best and most eclectic publicist. First, I'd rent a megaphone and drive my Prius around Boston announcing the availability of the next must-read Louise Penny story. Then I'd blog about it at Speaking of Murder and spread the word on twitter, facebook, at Amesbury Friends Meeting, at the Ipswich Democratic Town Committee, and in local organic gardening circles. I'd call my buddy Scott Simon at NPR and demand he interview you about it. I'd ask my sister in Hudson, Quebec, to tell everyone she knows from Quebec City to Ottawa (mostly Buddhists and farmers) to pick it up. I'd badger all my Sisters in Crime in New England to buy a copy. And then I'd sit down and read it myself! What a treat. Thank you for the honor.
