Robert Dugoni for Authors @ The Teague

Robert Dugoni appeared at the Velma Teague Library on his book tour for Murder One. He told us the Phoenix area was his last stop on an extensive tour. He spoke at the library, and he was speaking for the Poisoned Pen Conference over the weekend, ending the trip with a class on the craft of writing on Sunday. Then he was heading home to Washington state.

He did get to lay by the pool on Thursday, but it was a difficult trip. There were a number of changes in flights due to all the storms in the south. One night, when his flight was canceled, he was faced with sleeping in the Charlotte Airport. The hotels had no vacancies at 1:30 in the morning. When a Holiday Inn van came around, he jumped in with a bunch of other people. The others put their baggage in the bag, but Bob knew they'd have to wait to unload their baggage, so he held onto his. He hurried into the hotel, and, even then, was fourth in line. He kept hearing the question, "Do you have a reservation?" When he got to the front, and was asked, "Do you have a reservation," he pleaded with the line from the Steve Martin/John Candy film, Planes, Trains, and Automobiles, "Have mercy." They found him a room, and he went to sleep at 2:30, only to get up at 5:30 to get to the airport. He had a 7:40 flight to Hilton Head. Then, that was canceled, so he had two flights out of Charlotte canceled.

Dugoni said he never thought he'd write a series. When he wrote the first David Sloane book, The Jury Master, he never thought he'd see the character again, so he tortured him. Then, when it hit the New York Times Bestseller list, his editor told him they wanted more David Sloane. Murder One is the fourth one in the series. It's had fabulous reviews, and even Publishers Weekly liked it. He's had a number of starred reviews. Bob did a large amount of research for this book.

According to Dugoni, the book you see isn't what he started to write. He starts with a big idea, but he takes it down to the personal level. You used Wrongful Death as an example. He had a friend whose child died due to a toy. So, Bob researched the toy industry. But, Wrongful Death became the personal story of someone who wanted justice, and contacted David Sloane, the lawyer who couldn't lose, to try to get justice.

With Murder One, Dugoni researched the Russian mafia, since it's very big in Seattle. He thought Sloane was going to take it on. He researched about the fall of Russia, the drug trade. The Russian mafia viewed capitalism as a legal way to steal. Four or five months after he started his research, the catalog copy for Robert Dugoni's new book came out. Bob read it, and contacted his editor, telling her that's no longer what the book is about. His editor, who is also his publisher, said, talk to me. Bob said the book is a personal story about a woman who lost her daughter to a drug overdoes. She asks Sloane to go after the Russian mafia in a civil case. Dugoni told his editor he saw it as a cross between Presumed Innocent and Basic Instinct. Afterward, Bob thought, "Oh, my God. What did I just do?" The book has to be a criminal trial book. Sloane is a civil lawyer. He doesn't do criminal law. Robert Dugoni doesn't do criminal law either.

There was a capital murder case being tried in King County just at that time. It was a horrific crime. A young man slaughtered two women and two children. It was unusual for King County to have a trial with four capital murder charges because Washington is a liberal state. The senior prosecutor was a friend of Dugoni's, and he was able to get in to watch the trial. For three months, he sat in the back and watched it. A criminal case is like a play on stage. When the jury is out, everyone is quite casual, with jackets off, and talking together. When the jury comes back in, jackets are on, ties are up, and it's business-like. Dugoni recommended that the audience see a criminal trial if they get the chance. Part-way through the trial, the judge called counsel into his chambers and asked, who is the guy in the back taking notes. He was told it was a novelist who wasn't writing about that case, but needed information.

Eventually, Bob was able to go to lunch with Brad Porter, the homicide detective from the case. He walked him through the investigation. Then, he said, "But, you know, you really should talk to a CSI homicide detective. So, he toured the Washington Crime lab. Then, someone said, "But, you know, you really should talk to Kathy Decker, a man-tracker." She can look at vegetation, and tell when someone walked through it. She worked on the Green River case. So, he met her at Starbucks. She was quite tan, and he asked her if she played sports. No, she had her tan from working outdoors. She spends a lot of time looking for bodies. She can look at footprints on a lawn, and say how long they've been there, the weight of the person who made them, and, if there are overlapping footprints, who stepped there first.

Then, she said, "But, you know..." The investigators would have brought a dog. So, she hooked him up with a sergeant, a man nicknamed Ziggy, who handles canines. And, he told him he should see the dogs in action, so he was to meet them at midnight at a warehouse. The dogs actually scent skin cells. They can even scent people in water. Then, when Dugoni thought he was done at 2 a.m., he was told, "But, you know...," you need to talk to a ballistics expert.

So, Bob was to meet the head guy for the Washington State Criminal Lab at a Starbucks. And, he got there, and waited, and finally he saw a guy who looked about 14 watching him, and he asked, "You, Bob?" He was in his forties, but when he got out of school with a degree in English, he couldn't find a job. So, he got a low-paying job with the criminal lab, and it turned out he was good at blowing things up and shooting things. He has a talent for simulating shootings. But, he told Bob there was a lot of stuff they needed for the lab, so he was hoping Bob would put the stuff in his book so they could get it. There were so many people that helped him with the research for Murder One.

Even with all that help, Dugoni still had to find a way to get David Sloane into criminal court. Then he realized this is the fourth book in the series, but really a sequel to Bodily Harm. David is coming out of grieving. He connects with Barclay Reid, the attorney he was up against in Bodily Harm. Now, she's a mother who lost her duaghter.

In thirteen states there is a "Drug dealer liability act." You don't have to show why a drug dealer is responsible for a death, just that the guy deals heroin, for example, and you can go after him. But, Washington doesn't have that law. Barclay has been lobbying for the legislature to pass it, but the system fails her. So, she goes to David, the attorney who can't lose, and asks him to sue in civil court. Before he can take action, the drug dealer she blames ends up death, and all evidence points to Barclay. She insists that Sloane take the case, and he agrees to defend her.

This is the story Dugoni sent his editor, and then he waited. Finally, he got a phone call saying it was great. Murder One has received great reviews. But, Bob's favorite came from a blogger in Washington who said the book is a cross between Presumed Innocent and Basic Instinct. Dugoni is happy with the book, and happy he didn't shy away from criminal court.

One question from the audience referred to the man-tracker. They wanted to know who she was teaching her skills to. Dugoni said she's part of the search-and-rescue team in Washington. Homicide there is divided into six divisions. It takes 1200 hours of time in class and working before you can be certified as a man-tracker. It's a job that is mostly finding bodies. And, sometimes the bodies have been dead for decades, as in the case of the Green River killer.

Dugoni modeled the homicide detective, Kinsington Rowe, in Murder One, on Brad Porter, the detective that helped him. He's contemplating doing a second series. He'd like to bring back Kinsington Rowe. He also had the chance to meet Washington's only female homicide detective, and she was honest, telling him how no one wanted to work with her. If he does that second series, he'd do two books a year.

Bob has started another book, but it's hard to write on the road. That book would be out in June 2012. It's another David Sloane. This time, though, his publisher made him work from an outline. That book will be Jake's story, the story of Sloane's son. He realized they have parallel lives. Both Jake and David watched their mothers die violently at a young age. He's going to deal with the psychological and legal elements.

With Bodily Harm, Dugoni took a leap of faith that his readers would follow him. Other authors told him not to kill off Sloane's wife. But, Dugoni never intended to write a series, and he doesn't ever want to write the same book over and over. He won't cheat the reader with a cheesy ending. Every book has to stand on its own, and he doesn't want readers to say they could predict the ending. He wrote Bodily Harm when he himself was dealing with grief because he had lost his father that year. Everyone has to deal with grief sometime, and he wanted his character to have to go through the same thing. In that book, Sloane showed that he could be vulnerable, angry, rage, and want revenge.

Asked about writing time, Bob said he doesn't follow a certain schedule; he just writes. He starts as early as he can, and just goes, without setting limits. He may go until 3, when it's time to pick the kids up. He's a father of two who are involved in sports, and he enjoys sports. In the evening, he'll work on Facebook and Twitter.

He said his characters do talk to him. He might go through a book forty times. He views it as a blank canvas for an artist, and each time he goes through it, the details become clearer. He didn't see at first that Jake and Sloane were leading parallel lives.

In  closing, asked about the writing classes, Bob Dugoni closed by saying this weekend he was teaching a class on creative pageturners, how to maintain suspense. He said the characters need to entertain, not the writer. The number one purpose of the writer is to entertain.

Bob Dugoni's website is www.robertdugoni.com

Murder One by Robert Dugoni. Simon & Schuster. ©2011. ISBN 9781451606690 (hardcover), 374p.

Carolyn Hart and Earlene Fowler for Authors @ The Teague

Left to right - Earlene Fowler and Carolyn Hart

 If I was a little giddy knowing I was going to host Carolyn Hart and Earlene Fowler for Authors @ The Teague, I can hardly be blamed. Earlene Fowler was actually the same way. She told the audience Barbara Peters from Poisoned Pen asked her if she "minded" signing with Carolyn Hart.

 

Carolyn kicked off the special "Before Hours" program at Velma Teague by saying she loves libraries, librarians, and library readers. She was so proud to go into the Oklahomas City library and see her books on the shelves. As a child, she'd take the bus downtown to the library to check out mysteries. Dead by Midnight is the twenty-first book in her Death on Demand series, and no one could be more surprised than Hart herself since she was a failed author when the first one was published. She had published five juvenile books, but she had written seven adult books in seven years, and hadn't sold any. So, she wrote one more book, and decided if it didn't sell, she'd give it up, and play tennis.

 

So Carolyn Hart decided to write an old fashioned traditional mystery with characters she liked. She loved mysteries, and since the book was going to sell, her main character was a young woman who owns a mystery bookstore. And, Hart hadn't seen many happy marriages in mysteries, so she created a couple that would truly love each other, Max and Annie, since the book wasn't going to sell. Carolyn had no expectation that the book would sell. She sent her book, Death on Demand, to a new agent. That agent sent it to Bantam Books, where it became the second book in Bantam's new paperback line. 

 

At the time, New York only recognized two types of mysteries, the hardboiled crime novel written by a male author with a male protagonist, and the traditional mystery, written by dead English ladies. Then, in 1977, Marcia Muller's first book, Edwin of the Iron Shoes, was published. That was the first hardboiled mystery to feature an American woman as a P.I. Then Sue Grafton and Sara Paretsky's books were published. The American women mystery authors became a valued commodity. Hart's Death on Demand came out in 1987. Now, the twenty-first, Dead by Midnight, has been published. Carolyn said she loved writing the books. The one thing New York does understand is money.

 

Earlene Fowler said she couldn't believe it when Barbara Peters asked if she minded signing with Carolyn Hart. She said she read Hart's first novel when she was in her 30s. She and her sister went to see Hart and Joan Hess at a bookstore. She said the question really was, would Carolyn Hart have her? Hart was in the first wave of women mystery authors in the U.S. Fowler's first book, Fool's Puzzle, came out in 1994. She was in the second or third wave of authors.
 

Earlene just did a chat on Facebook, and answered questions about who influenced her. She said after she read Trixie Belden and Nancy Drew, A.A. Fair's Bertha Cool/Donald Lam books were the first with a female protagonist. But, those were written by a man (Erle Stanley Gardner).  Then she read Muller's Edwin of the Iron Shoes, the first in the Sharon McCone series, and that's the book that influenced her. But, Fowler said her NY publicist participated in the chat, and had never heard of the book. 

 

Earlene Fowler also wanted to say how much she appreciated libraries. She used to go to the library once a week, and take out the maximum number of ten books, and carry them home. Those were in the days when you had to sign your name to the card, with no expectation of privacy. It was nice to see who had read it, or, even to see if you'd already read the book. She said the day you see your first book in the library is surreal. That's the first moment when she realized, "I am a writer."

 

Earlene had written 150 short stories, but they didn't sell. Then, like Caroline, she wrote the book she wanted to read. Fool's Puzzle was her first book. Earlene liked romance and mystery, and thought there wasn't enough romance in mysteries. She said she did what every aspiring writer is told to do, write the book you want to read.

 

She took a night class with author Jo-Ann Mapson. Mapson said she thought Earlene's book was publishable, and she'd like to send it to her agent. The agent said she'd be happy to read it, but had lots of books ahead of it on her pile. It was serendipity how it worked out. The agent put the book in her briefcase, and took the train back to the suburbs. The train broke down, and she had nothing to read but Fowler's manuscript. She loved it, and told Earlene she was to represent her. Fowler knew nothing about the publishing world. She had just written a book, and didn't realize this was a big deal until the LA Times wrote a story about it. Within three weeks, she had a three book contract.

 

Earlene warns new authors, though, that they have a lifetime to write their first book, but one year to write the second. And, the publishing world takes that deadline seriously. In the year Fowler was supposed to be writing her second book, her mother passed away. She called New York, and told her editor she was in the process of planning a funeral. Her editor expressed her sympathy, and then said, "Are you going to finish the book?"

 

Carolyn told us she writes two other series. One is the Henrie O. series. People ask her if there are going to be more books in that series. She never says never, but she is already committed to two books a year, neither of which are Henrie O. Of those two, they always want a Death on Demand book.

Henrie O. is a retired newspaper reporter who had the career Hart always thought she'd have. From the time she was eleven, Carolyn wanted to be a reporter. She was a child of World War II who thought the most important job you could have was working on newspapers. But, she met a young law student, and they're about to celebrate their 53rd anniversary. Even so, after her marriage, she missed writing.

Then, Hart saw a contest in a writing magazine. It was a contest for a girl's story. She won, and Secret of the Cellar came out in 1964. Now, Carolyn Hart's forty-sixth book, Death by Midnight, has just been released.

Hart's other series features Bailey Ruth, a ghost in Oklahoma. She came back to earth to help people as an emissary of the Department of Good Intentions. The fourth book in that series will be out in winter 2013. Carolyn's inspirations for the series were the Topper books and the movie Blithe Spirit. She always liked happy ghosts. The books are set in a small fictional Oklahoma town, Adelaide, aka Ada, where Hart's husband grew up.

Carolyn puts part of her life in her books. The journalism is in the Henrie O. books. She likes happy ghosts, so that's in the Bailey Ruth books. And the Death on Demand books include her love of mysteries.

She told the audience never to apologize for reading mysteries. Every time we pick up mysteries, we are reaffirming our commitment to goodness. If you didn't believe in goodness, you wouldn't read them. You'll never see the point of view of evil people in her books, as in thrillers or serial killer books.

Earlene agreed, saying Gabe in her books is a police officer with a good view of human life. Evil exists, and she shows it, but she interested in how good people react to evil, and how you go on in life.

Fowler said a number of World War II veterans suffered from post-traumatic stress disorder. Authors are successful schizophrenics who use their writing as therapy. Earlene's father, a veteran, has dementia. His mother suffered from Alzheimer's, and she knows it's a long, hard row. He's in a home, and he fell recently. They gave him medication, but often older people have reactions, and he started hallucinating and the staff couldn't calm him down. They called her. He was experiencing two different situations. In one, he was locked in a root cellar. In the other, he was a POW. A writer goes home, and thinks of this.

Gabe is a Vietnam veteran. The story Fowler uses is based on a group that was targeting police officers in California. They were setting booby traps and bombs for the police. In her latest book,Spider Web, Gabe, as police chief is worried about the police force when they're targeted by a sniper. What would that do to Gabe? It sets off his PTSD.

Hart grew up entranced with finding out more about World War II. She has a couple books set during the war that will be republished on Kindle in 5-6 weeks. One is Escape from Paris. After the fall of France, two American sisters help RAF fliers escape from the Nazis. The other is Brave Hearts about London and the Philippines after the fall of Corregidor.

Hart grew up entranced with finding out more about World War II. She has a couple books set during the war that will be republished on Kindle in 5-6 weeks. One is Escape from Paris. After the fall of France, two American sisters help RAF fliers escape from the Nazis. The other is Brave Hearts about London and the Philippines after the fall of Corregidor.

Carolyn mentioned that Mary Roberts Rinehart was a successful author, once the highest paid writer in America. She was also the only woman to reach No Man's Land in World War I. Rinehart once described writers as crows. Crows like bright and shiny objects. Writers are attracted to bright and shiny objects, too, and then then take them back to use. Earlene added, crows also eat dead carrion. 

Earlene said her father's memories stop at World War II. He doesn't remember anything after that, not her mother, and not his kids. In Spider Web, she deals with memory. There's a Memory Festival going on in San Celina.

She said those nurses who were imprisoned all signed a bedsheet since they weren't sure they were going to make it out alive. She said when she sees older people in wheel chairs or sitting in homes, she knows we don't always recognize that that older person might have been a hero or heroine. It's important to put that in fiction.

She asked Carolyn about the war. She said she was only five when Pearl Harbor was attacked, but she does remember VJ Day. Baby boomers remember where they were when Kennedy was assassinated. We all remember where we were on 9/11.

Carolyn agreed, saying we don't recognize the heroism and what women did in World War II. One of her characters in Death on Demand was a woman in a flying machine, a WASP who ferried planes. Those people were young during the most traumatic period in our history.

Then, changing the subject, Earlene asked Carolyn to tell the story of her book tour with Margaret Maron. Carolyn said it was the last Southern tour of the Grand Dames. They started in North Carolina, and toured South Carolina. Hart stayed at Margaret's, and then Maron drove her stately old heavy, sturdy Lincoln, a comfortable car. Soon after they started, Carolyn noticed a sweet, cloying scent in the car. She has allergies, and it bothered her. She thought Margaret was wearing perfume, and she didn't say anything. Then, five days after she returned home to Oklahoma, Margaret called her. She said, "You don't wear perfume, do you?" Maron had noticed the scent, and thought it was Carolyn's perfume. Maron had the car detailed before the tour, and they had left a deodorizer in the car. Both of them were too polite to say anything to the other. They decided Southern women just won't speak up.

Asked what they thought of the term "cozy" mysteries, Hart responded saying cozy originally was a pejorative term. Raymond Chandler coined it in an essay in which he sneered at Agatha Christie. She said the term traditional mysteries is the proper one. Traditional mysteries are about fractured relationships, and the sleuth, amateur or professional, has to find out what went wrong with someone's life.

Now, the publishing world uses cozy to define a book with a nice, genteel background. They don't know the word is pejorative. Carolyn said there can be trauma and despair in lives, but they can still have a genteel background. However, there is nothing cozy about murder. In her opinion, Agatha Christie was the finest mystery writer of all. Her favorite way to kill people was poison. How cozy is poison? 

Earlene agreed, saying the publishers had the same idea about quilters, that quilters must just be old ladies. But, she said she's received some of her best ideas for her books from police and district attorneys, and many of them were quilters. All kinds of people are quilters

Hart said Chandler was sneering at all the murders that took place in little villages, as in the Miss Marple books. However, quarrels can destroy lives and go on for generations. Great evil can happen in a small English village just as much as in New York City.

Fowler's latest, Spider Web, doesn't even have a murder. She said she's talking about relationships and evil in that book. But, mystery readers have a desire to see justice done, in whatever format. They're all seeking the same thing. 
 
Earlene was asked why she uses quilts in her books. When she wrote her first book, she put everything she wanted into it. She wanted to live on a ranch, so Benni Harper lived on a ranch. Fowler thought it would be fun to work in a folk art museum. Benni was an only child because Fowler has three sisters. Earlene loves quilts, so, in the first book, there was a murder at a quilt show. Three fourths of the way through the book, she realized she didn't have a title for the book. The original title was to have been Drunkard's Path, based on a quilt title. It was meant to be a metaphor for the story. Then, Jo-Ann Mapson asked her if the had an idea for more books in the series, knowing NY would want a series. She had a book with 4000 quilt patterns in it, so she said, yes, she'd use quilt patterns. But, she had to teach NY about quilts. They wanted to change the titles to include more mystery. She said the quilt titles were metaphors for the stories. And, she had to do the cross-marketing herself. They never thought of marketing her to the quilting world. In fact, Earlene made history. One of the quilting magazines, in listing historical events recently, had, "In 1994, Earlene Fowler's first quilt mystery, Fool's Puzzle, came out.

Since then, Fowler's publisher, Berkley, took off on crafts. Now, it's "What craft haven't we done?" Earlene feels as if she started that. She never meant her books to be about quilting. They were metaphors for life.

In Carolyn Hart's latest book, Dead by Midnight, Annie's new clerk is dead, and the police think it's suicide. But Annie knows it's not. The two had talked about Agatha Christie. In one of the books, a character commits suicide, and the clerk had a strong opinion against it. Annie is suspicious.

Earlene said she puts much of what she's learned in her books. She had a discussion with a friend, and learned about African-American hair. She also learned about the prejudice her friend faces, even in Southern California, where it's supposedly quite liberal. She put that in her book, State Fair.

Earlene said we read to live other lives. Someone in the audience then thanked Fowler for the romance and good endings in her books. Fowler said she's fascinated by the rural lifestyle. Few people know it nowadays. She said the values of hard work, and the expectations people have of life have changed. You need to enjoy who you are. There is a dignity in working hard, and being a good person.

Carolyn said while she was at the airport, she watched the people loading planes. We never think about the people who make things go in this country, and are not appreciated. In World War II, the whole country pulled together. Now, with only 5% of the population in the military, few of us know anyone involved in the war, or really know what they're going through.

As to future books, Carolyn Hart will have another Bailey Ruth ghost story out in 2013. The next Death on Demand book, Death Comes Silently, has been turned in. And, she's starting a new series. It's about a young woman who had a traumatic event, and now understands what cats are thinking. This isn't a cute book. Hart thinks cats are very perceptive. The character thinks she's losing her mind until she goes someplace where a woman fell down the stairs, dying in the fall. And, the cat is thinking, she didn't see the skateboard on the stairs.

Earlene Fowler is working on the sequel to The Saddlemaker's Wife. After she said that, they were both asked how they have time to meet deadlines with the travel they do. They both said they can't write while they're traveling. Earlene said she only does one book a year. Carolyn said she makes deadlines due to desperation. She's publishing two books a year, but doesn't know how much longer she can do that. She doesn't travel much anymore, but came to Arizona because she loves coming to the Poisoned Pen in Scottsdale. And, Earlene told us she likes to go to the library to work when she's home.

Asked if her series blend together as she's writing, since she does multiple series, Hart said no. They're structured differently. The Annie and Max books are in third person. Bailey Ruth is in first person. Carolyn thinks she has the only ghost who is the protagonist. Usually, a protagonist has to deal with a ghost. And, Henrie O is in first person. But, everybody has their own story, and she doesn't have trouble keeping them separate.

And, the program ended with a compliment from blogger, friend, and avid mystery reader, Kay Stewart. Kay told both of them that she wanted to compliment them. She reads lots of mysteries, and their books remain on the top of her list. The characters ring true. Other series have lost her over time, but both Carolyn Hart and Earlene Fowler's characters change and grow. They've remained true to themselves.

Carolyn Hart's website is http://www.carolynhart.com/

Dead by Midnight by Carolyn Hart. HarperCollins. ©2011. ISBN 9780061914973 (hardcover), 288p.

Earlene Fowler's website is http://www.earlenefowler.com/

Spider Web by Earlene Fowler. Penguin Group (USA). ©2011. ISBN 9780425240984 (hardcover), 320p.

Earlene Fowler, Lesa Holstine and Carolyn Hart

And, a big thank you to Bill Crider who sent me a copy of this blog. In Blogger's  "maintenance update," this blog was lost. Thank you, Bill.

Jane K. Cleland and Rosemary Harris for Authors @ The Teague

Left to right - Jane Cleland and Rosemary Harris

Like Avery Aames and Kate Carlisle, Jane Cleland and Rosemary Harris frequently do book tours together, so they played off each other beautifully for their Authors @ The Teague presentation. Jane kicked off the program by saying her latest book, Deadly Threads, is the sixth in her Josie Prescott series, but you can read any of them without starting at the beginning. She said Deadly Threads is about a cat that fetches, betrayal, and vintage clothing.

Cleland wanted to start by telling us about the cat in the story, Hank. Jane needed a cat that would fetch as part of the story, and Maine coon cats do fetch. When Jane first received the cover art from her publisher last summer, she said she loved the cover art, but the cat in the artwork was a tabby, and not a Maine coon cat. So, she sent them a picture of her own cat, Louie, who is a Maine coon cat. The next time the saw the artwork, it was Louie's picture on the front, but Louie had been photoshopped and made thinner.

Why is the cat named Hank? Cleland's husband is a musician. He's playing right now for The Lion King. For quite a while, he played with the touring production of Les Mis. When Jane would visit her husband, she would also visit with a cat named Hank who traveled with the show. Steve, an electrician with the company, owned an orange tabby named Hank, and the top of the electrician's trunk would open up with a place for Hank at the top. When the tour moved from city to city, Steve and Hank would board the crew bus together. Well, a new crew member joined the tour, and he was allergic to cats, so Hank got booted from the bus. Hank needed a ride to Fresno, and since Jane was visiting, she and her husband, Joe, were driving a car to Fresno, and Joe said, sure, they'd take Hank. When the day came, Steve, this big teamster, brought Hank in his carrying case, gave him a kiss, and said, "Be a good boy, Hank. It's your only chance." So, now whenever the tour moves on, Hank gets a ride with someone going by car.

Jane got to thinking. Steve's been with the show for eight years, with Hank as his constant companion. And, lonely travelers need someone to keep the lonely buggers at bay. It reminded Jane of her character, Josie Prescott. At the beginning of the series, she's a stranger at a difficult time. She had left New York for the rugged coast of New Hampshire, and she's trying to find a community, trying to fit in. Hank is now part of her community.

Rosemary Harris pointed to her book jacket for Slugfest and said you'll notice there is no pet slug on the cover. In fact, she had to fight for the title. Her Dirty Business mystery series has a gardening thread. She said her books don't contain gardening tips and details for gardening in Arizona, but she does know that slugs are a fact of life anyplace.

Rosemary said she has volunteered at the information booth for the Philadelphia Flower Show for ten years. People bring in samples, and, now, even small pictures on their cell phone, and expect the volunteers to be able to look at those and tell them what happened to their plant. Asking if anyone had seen the movie Best in Show about the dog show world, Harris said people can be just as neurotic at flower shows. She's seen people at 7 a.m. with their misters and cuticle scissors so they can tend their plants.

Slugfest is the fourth book in Harris' series. This time, she takes her amateur sleuth, Paula Holliday, to New York City. It's helpful to take an amateur sleuth out of their small town once in a while. She said she knew the audience all knew about Cabot Cove Syndrome in small towns. It's pushing the envelope to have so many dead bodies in small towns. So Paula helps a friend out at a fictional flower show. That allows Harris to introduce an interesting cast of characters, somewhat edgier than they might be in a small town.

Rosemary said the box of chocolates I gave her from Ceretta's reminded her of the beginning of her story. She had already received the Authors @ The Teague mug on a previous visit, so this time I gave her a box of candy. A box of candy was the trigger for her first book, Pushing Up Daisies. Harris read an article about a mummified body being found, and, just like an amateur sleuth, she snooped. She was lucky enough to have a telephone interview with the doctor who autopsied the body, and he said it wasn't 100% identified. But, he did say it was found with a box of chocolates. That was Rosemary's "what if" moment. She thought that box of chocolates had to be a clue, and she was hooked from that.

Jane told us with the publication of Deadly Threads, she's holding a contest on her website to give away a vintage Pucci purse. No one has to guess the right answer. It's just a random drawing at the end of the month. Her website is www.JaneCleland.net.

Cleland's character, Josie Prescott, is originally from New York. Asking us if we remembered the price fixing scandal involving auction houses a few years ago, Jane said that happened to Josie, and she was the whistleblower

.Cleland once owned a rare book store in Portsmouth when she was in her 20s. She was asked to appraise books once for a woman, and, going to her house, found that every inch of wall was covered in art. Her breath was taken away by a Rembrandt, a self-portrait. And, the woman said, "That's a little something my brother brought back from the war." She didn't think much more about it until twenty years later when stories came out about ill-gotten gains from the Nazis. Elizabeth Taylor was sued over a painting, although she won the case. The Nazis stole 1/3 of all Western art. They knew what they were doing, and boxed it up. But, there are over 100,000 pieces missing yet. All of that came together. Cleland thought, what if Josie discovered art that had been stolen by Nazis.  That became her first mystery, Consigned to Death.

Harris remarked that both authors were inspired by news features. Harris' Dead Head came about because of a story she read about a California woman yanked from her Lexus in her driveway. She was a fugitive from the law who had three kids, and an upper middle class lifestyle. But, someone informed on her. She was an escaped convict whose grandfather had helped her flee prison. But, it was easier to create a new life in the 80s. Harris researched how you could disappear yourself. Cleland said she once read a book about how to hide assets and disappear forever.

Going back to the covers, Harris said she would have at least liked a silvery slug trail on the cover of Slugfest, indicating people leave trails wherever we go. She usually has input into the covers.

Harris said she has no input as to the cover. She does a clause saying she's to be consulted about the covers. She likes a more serious, photographic style, as in the latest book. When she received the artwork for Consigned to Death, she wrote the publisher saying she liked the color, but not the cover. It was too cartoony. She heard back from the publisher. "We're glad you liked the color."

Rosemary said they both had ended up with the dreaded pink cover on one of their books. For some reason, publishers want women's books to be pink. But, to her it's a signal that it's girly chick-lit, not as serious as most mysteries are. Rosemary said she's funny, but she takes the investigation of a murder seriously. Jane said she herself is likable, but not funny. Mysteries are serious.

How did they start writing? Cleland wrote four nonfiction books in the field of business communication since she's a trainer. Her last one, Business Writing for Results, included a number of anecdotes, and her agent said maybe you want to try your hand at fiction. Jane only reads murder mysteries. So, she wrote one about a hot male P.I. in New York. She loved it. But, her agent sent it out, and after four or five rejections, she asked her to withdraw it. She kept hearing the same thing. No one was interested in male private investigators in New York in the early 2000s. But, one editor did say, if she wrote about a female amateur, not in New York, he'd like to see it. Jane worked hard on the first twenty pages, and asked the agent to send that because she wasn't going to continue if she wasn't on the right track. The editor said yes. It took her ten months to write it. That book became Consigned to Death.

Rosemary said that article about the mummified body is what inspired her to write. She thought, I'll write a story about that. She had never written anything longer than an email or a thank you note. But, she wanted to write that story and see how it went. She wrote and rewrote it. A friend said she thought it was publishable. At the time, Harris thought that was an insult, but now knows it was a compliment. She had three rejections from agents. Then she went to the public library, and looked in the front of mysteries that seemed similar to hers. She sent letters to ten agents who represented those books telling them why they should represent her.

Cleland told us she and Harris have very different writing styles. Jane writes notes on little pieces of paper or cocktail napkins, but that's the last thing she writes out. Everything else is done on a computer. She's finishing book seven in the Josie Prescott series now, tentatively called Dolled Up for Murder. She has a computer folder called "Extra Stuff," and she can search the folder by keyword search.

On the other hand, Rosemary writes with pencil on a legal pad. She does everything in longhand. She'll write one chapter at a time, and then put it on the computer.

Jane Cleland recently interviewed four bestselling authors for an article about the writing process, Lee Child, Charlaine Harris, Gayle Lynds, and Wendi Corsi Staub. None of them does anything similar in the writing process. Jane writes the plot first, then goes back to write exposition and emotion, and then to tweak it. Rosemary gets the story down. Then she'll go back over it for humor. Then, she does character and description, but Harris doesn't include a lot of description. She has a character, Babe, a former backup singer who now runs the diner where Paula hangs out. At a recent library event, people around the room gave their ideas of Babe's appearance. They described her as looking like Goldie Hawn, Susan Sarandon, and even Pam Greer, a black actress.

Jane said she also goes through her work for timing. You can't mess that up. People will call you on timing and distance - you can't get to that place in that amount of time. Rosemary said a man wrote to her who now lived in North Carolina, but once lived in Connecticut. He took exception to the height of a mountain in one of her books, saying there was no mountain that high in the area. Harris actually hadn't given the height.

Cleland has a funny story about Paul Revere's abacus, and a reader. She's a devoted fan of Rex Stout's Nero Wolfe, and she often integrates trivia from the Nero Wolfe books into her stories. In one of the stories, Archie Goodwin has to get in to see a man who won't talk to him, but he knows the man collects silver, so he says he has Paul Revere's abacus. When she used that in one of her books, a man called and told Jane that Paul Revere never made an abacus. Cleland asked him how he knew that. A lively conversation ensued.

What's really in their books? The books feature antiques and gardening, and they're fiction. Rosemary said in one of her books she made a wisecrack, "There is actually a state of Connecticut, and a University of Connecticut, but everything else is fiction." Someone even argued with her about where Springfield, Connecticut is located. There isn't one in Connecticut, although it's the most common city name in the country. She likes it, though, that people read her books so closely. Jane admitted she was called on a time zone problem for Silent Auction, but Harris said that was something an editor should have caught.

The authors were asked if writing mysteries was a lucrative business. They said there are a handful of authors who make a lot. But, most authors pay for their own tours. They get by. They drag their husbands along as chauffeurs. It's not that lucrative.

Jane and Rosemary discussed the economics of the business. Jane said she gets an advance, half when she signs the contract, and then half when the book is delivered. Then, you get royalties. She gets a share when it's picked up by book clubs, or large print. You start with a small advance. You don't want a big advance that doesn't earn out, meaning the publisher loses money on you.

Rosemary said the big authors don't always earn out, though. Her husband is a retired publisher with Random House, and, since he was in the audience, he admitted the publisher can still make a profit. There may a small printing cost, and the publisher gets the difference between the cost of printing, and the sale price. The author might not earn out, but the publisher does OK on the big authors anyways.

Harris told us most mystery authors are not in it for the money. They love writing mysteries, and they love the mystery community. She always wants to write a better book. It's a great gig. She's met wonderful people, and then some like Jane. (Great deal of laughter there.) They've traveled all over together. Jane has family all over the country.

So, the next question was, what makes a big name author successful. That's the $64 million dollar question, the number Rosemary used, saying she thought Janet Evanovich was able to get that figure from HarperCollins. Luck has a great deal to do with it. Something strikes a chord with readers. Some of it is timing.

However, Lee Child set out to write a bestseller. He looked at Greek myths and fairy tales that endured, and saw that many involved the lone man who rides into town, cleans it up, and leaves. So, Jack Reacher was born.

Harris mentioned the never-ending Jane Austen thing. Janet Evanovich writes humorous mysteries. She has a distinct voice, and people responded. But, she said, if writing a bestseller was easy, everyone would do it. Characters resonate with people. Lee Child's Jack Reacher resonates. He says when he's in Germany, people say, Reacher's really German, isn't he. And, when he's in Australia, they say, he's really an Aussie. It's Lee Child's voice. When he was first published it was probably Robert Ludlum's spy novels and Robert B. Parker's Spenser books topping the bestseller lists. Child was fresh.

Cleland went back to the Jane Austen reference, saying she was named after Jane Austen, her mother's favorite author. Rosemary said her mother was a reader of mysteries and Harlequins, because they were inexpensive and quick reads.

Jane said her Deadly Threads has actually been reviewed as a romance, love gained and love lost. She didn't do that on purpose, though. That reminded Rosemary of Malice Domestic, a mystery conference held in the D.C. area with over 100 authors. She and Cleland teamed up for Malice-Go-Round, in which they talk about their books for a minute and a half and move on to the next table. By the end, they know each other's pitches.

The audience knew that Jane Cleland's next book is Dolled Up for Murder, so they wanted to know about Rosemary's next one. She hopes that it will be The Fifth Woman, a standalone mystery set in a neighboring town. Paula Holliday is a secondary character in it. And, there are some other favorite characters. But, it's a different story, and she had to write it. She hopes it's her next one. But, her publisher might disagree. Readers often want the next one in the series, and the publisher has invested in the series. The next Paula Holliday one will be Burning Bush, in which the crime is arson.

Jane has written a murder mystery play, "Back to Jack," about three women who dated a guy named Jack. He disappeared for a while, and now he's back. He also drives them to drink Jack Daniels. He's murdered at the end of Act 1. Cleland has been working on her MFA in playwriting, partially titled, "Women Who Love Men They Hate." Harris' latest project? She hopes to get back to her garden. She tours for 90 to 100 days, usually in the spring, and misses her garden.

For me, the perfect ending of this program was Jane Cleland's signature in my copy of Deadly Threads. That might be a picture of her cat, Louie, on the cover of the book, but it looks just like my beloved Nikki. Jane's note was a perfect Mother's Day weekend signature. "For Nikki's mom, from Louie's mom! Thank you, Lesa."

Jane K. Cleland's website is www.janecleland.net

Deadly Threads by Jane K. Cleland. St. Martin's Minotaur. ©2011. ISBN 9780312586560 (hardcover), 279p.


Rosemary Harris' website is www.rosemaryharris.com

Slugfest by Rosemary Harris. St. Martin's Minotaur. ©2011. ISBN 9780312569969 (hardcover), 275p.

Avery Aames & Kate Carlisle for Authors @ The Teague

It was so much fun to host mystery authors Avery Aames and Kate Carlisle for Authors @ The Teague. Kate is the author of the Bibliophile mystery series. And, Avery is the author of the Cheese Shop mysteries. Avery just won the Agatha Award for Best First Novel for the first in the series, The Long Quiche Goodbye. Kate was in on the secret that I had a surprise for Avery, but she didn't know what it was. I do know that Avery can't eat wheat, but I still baked a cake so we could share it with the audience after the program. I really wanted to present this cake to Avery. It has holes cut out of it so it looks like Swiss cheese, and it said, "Congrats, Avery! The Big Cheese."

After the presentation, Avery kicked off the program, acting as moderator. She said she and Kate had been traveling for ten days together. They discovered their books were coming out on the same day, so they decided it would be fun to take their song-and-dance show on the road.

Kate Carlisle writes the Bibliophile series featuring bookbinder Brooklyn Wainwright. Brooklyn does rare book restoration, and there's a different book featuring in each mystery. Kate said she's a little slow. It took her until the third book to realize she had to work with the book selected for restoration. That book provides the catalyst for the plot itself. Brooklyn also has an interesting relationship with a British intelligence agent.

Avery asked what books were the focal point of the books. In Carlisle's first book, Homicide in Hardcover,  it was Goethe's Faust. In If Books Could Kill, Brooklyn went to the Edinburgh Book Fair. That centered on a book of Robert Burns' poetry, and whether or not it was authentic. The Lies that Bind dealt with Oliver Twist. It included a band of thieves and a Twisted Festival. In Kate's new book, Murder Under Cover, it's the Kama Sutra. Brooklyn's best friend, Robin, brings her a copy of the book, a rare one in French, to be restored and evaluated. Kate assured us the mystery is rated PG. No bodies are shown, except dead ones. She said it's actually pretty tame, although her editor had fun with it. The cover line is, "What dangers lurk between the sheets...?"

Avery Aames writes the Cheese Shop Mysteries. The first one, The Long Quiche Goodbye, just won the Agatha Award. The books are set in Holmes County, Ohio, in the fictional town of Providence. It's a beautiful section of the state, with rolling hills, cows and goats and sheep. Holmes County has a big Amish population, bigger actually than Pennsylvania. Avery wanted to ground the story in something earthy.

Charlotte Bessette owns the Cheese Shop, Fromagerie Bessette. She's dating a single, mysterious, handsome farmer who produces cheese. She took over the Cheese Shop from her grandparents. She has twin nieces, and a cousin who lives with her. Her cousin runs the wine annex attached to the shop. In the first book, Charlotte's beloved grandmother is accused of murdering a landlord.

Lost and Fondue, the second book, was just released. Avery told us she has cheese titles, or cheesy titles. In this one, Avery's friend, Meredith, wants to throw a fundraiser at a local winery. Some people in town are against it. Meredith brings in a group of artists, and one is killed in the cellar of the winery. Meredith's niece is accused of the murder. Since Avery babysat for the niece, and Meredith begs her, she investigates. She's an amateur sleuth, snoopy, who goes where she's not wanted. Amateur sleuths want to see justice done. That's why someone who wouldn't normally goes into a dark cellar does so. A personal stake drives them to investigate.

Next, Avery asked Carlisle if she has quirky characters in her books. Kate said Brooklyn is actually the straight man in the series. She was raised in a commune in Sonoma County. Kate said then she'd have to go to wineries in Sonoma County to do research. Brooklyn's parents were old hippies who met each other following the Grateful Dead. They bought land to be near their guru, grew grapes, and established a winery. Now, they're rich ex-hippies. In the first book, Homicde in Hardcover, Brooklyn's mother is a suspect. Brooklyn's mother is like Kate's mother in one way. She has what Carlisle calls a "sunny bunny face." It's the expression on her face when she refuses to talk about something again. She uses her face as a shield.

She also has a quirky character named Gabriel, a dark handsome stranger. He may be a thief and a scoundrel. For a while he took over, but Derek spoke up and said no. Aames pointed out that Carlisle's characters talk to her. Avery said that's not unusual to hear from authors, that their characters pop up and tell them something. That makes the authors sound quirky. The characters will say, I don't like that name you gave me. The characters almost become real. Authors and actors have that in common. Almost all authors talk about it.

Avery Aames' next book, Clobbered by Camembert, will be out in January. The characters drive Charlotte to do more. There's going to be more of Tyanne in that book. That's a character who needed a name change. Therese just didn't fit her. She's named for a friend of Avery's. Tyanne has a Southern accent, and has been asking for a bigger role.

Avery asked Kate if any of the characters in her books were fashioned around anyone she knows, and do they know it. She answered that Minka, Brooklyn's archenemy is, but, no, the woman doesn't know it. Avery said one of her characters is taken from a friend who can be snarky, saying things like, "You know that color doesn't look good on you," but, again, she doesn't know it. Kate said she does use a lot of dialogue she overhears. She has four brothers, and she uses a lot of what they say. She steals their best lines, because they say some really tacky things. She uses people's words a lot, but her characters are usually amalgamations of personalities.

What is Kate Carlisle's writing day like? She writes every day, at least six days a week. She starts early, and she's easily distracted by email, so she tries to stay off the Internet. She writes by word count since her editors want 75,000 to 80,000 words. That's a 300-320 pae book. If she gets 2000-3000 words a day, that's ten or twelve pages. It's dialogue heavy, and that fills more pages. Kate writes for 5 to 6 hours a day,a nd does business stuff, a lot of promotion.

Avery said she writes in scenes. Sometimes, she'll just write dialogue, and then add the rest later. The dialogue drives her story. Asked if she writes that way because she was an actress, she said, yes. She was an actress first, and wrote screenplays. Those aren't heavy on inner thought. They're very visual. But, a writer is the director, actor, and screenplay writer for a book. Dialogue works well for her. Carlisle agreed, saying when she gets stuck sometimes, she will just write dialogue back and forth between her characters. She doesn't have time for writer's block.

Aames pointed to Robert B. Parker as a writer who used dialogue. Most of his scenes were conversations between two people. He seldom wrote "he said." And, he very seldom set the scenes. The dialogue made his books fast-paced, and the reader picked up speed reading them. But, readers of cozies want detail in their books.

Kate has an old friend who is a papermaker, and her next book is going to involve lots of papermaking. It uses the book Beauty and the Beast. It comes out in February under the title One Book in the Grave. Carlisle's books have been released every eight months, but then it will move to every six months. She has already seen the cover artwork for it.

Aames remarked that her Clobbered by Camembert comes out sooner, in January, and she's still waiting to see the artwork for it. She has contracts for the fourth and fifth books in the series. The fourth book will be called To Brie or Not to Brie. She does research on cheeses and recipes because her books are culinary mysteries. She has to have a new recipe each week. With Brie, she wanted a recipe for ice cream. She saw a recipe online for Brie Blueberry Ice Cream, and then she played with the recipe to make it her own. With Lost and Fondue, she came up with fondue recipes. She is one of the authors who blogs at Mystery Lovers' Kitchen, and this week she had a recipe for a goat cheese fondue. Avery has to eat gluten-free, so she often adds white pepper to recipes or changes them from flour recipes.

So, Avery Aames does cook with cheese, but Kate Carlisle isn't a bookbinder. She said it's a fun hobby. She's taken classes in it her whole life. When she was a child of five, she took the cardboard from the laundry, and made them into books. She didn't write books; she made them. She collects books, and buys them at auctions and book fairs. She's fascinated by books. Kate met a friend, a master bookbinder, who has bound priceless 14th century books, taking them apart and repairing them in the style of the age. It's an art and a skill. Carlisle takes classes in San Francisco, where there are classes for book geeks. The classes are specialized, Master Bookbinding for 17th century books, or 18th century books.

Do they know the plot ahead of time? Avery likes to think it out. She knows who did it, and why. She knows at what point in the book the bodies need to drop. In the first book, the publisher wanted the body to drop by the end of the third chapter. Then, 2/3 of the way through, there's a twist. Aames starts plotting the story, and runs it together. She does a complete outline of all thirty chapters. Her editor has to approve it. She considers all of that as she writes.

Kate plots it carefully, and knows who did it, but she's flying by the seat of her pants as she writes it. She'll do one chapter straight through, then it's sent to her critique partner. When she's done, it's a clean copy.

Avery said her plots may change. It's like a road map. There are diversions, but she'll come back to her original plan. Kate said sometimes she discovers someone has to die that she didn't plan to kill. Then, you have to add the other elements, relationships, and other characters. Carlisle said readers who read series like to visit with Brooklyn's whole world and the recurring cast of characters. In her second book, set in Edinburgh, she had to find reasons to bring her characters there. So, Brooklyn may never get to travel again. Kate does plot it out, but some authors don't even do that, saying it spoils the book. Avery said even though she plots it out, the story is still fresh to her as she writes it because things change from the original outline.

People move in and out of the Cheese Shop. It's a little town, and Aames put a map of it on her website to keep people oriented. Kate said she has to write with a timeline, not a map. Avery agreed, saying a timeline was important. In her books, the twins are in school. She has to remember not to have them in school on Saturdays or holidays. And, clothes anchor them. Readers notice if the clothes change.

Asked if they recommend that people read their books in order, they both answered that fans like to read the books in order. Avery said she tries to write them so people can read them as standalones, though. Kate said she likes to read books in order. One thing to remember is that relationships develop in the course of a series. Carlisle said her mysteries are standalones, except for the personal relationships.

We ended the program with cake in my office for all the audience. Then, Avery, Kate and I headed out so they could grab something before their flights. Perfect ending to a fun program. I wish everyone could have joined the three of us for that conversation. We killed off characters, created a whole new cozy mystery, and laughed a lot. Maybe Avery Aames will share that cozy scenario on a future blog.

Avery Aames' website is http://www.averyaames.com/


Lost and Fondue by Avery Aames. Penguin Group (USA). ©2011. ISBN 9780425241585 (paperback), 312p.

Kate Carlisle's website is http://www.katecarlisle.com/

Murder Under Cover by Kate Carlisle. Penguin Group (USA). ©2011. ISBN  9780451233516 (paperback), 304p.

Left to right - Avery Aames, Lesa Holstine, Kate Carlisle (Photo by Bette Sharpe)

Deadly Threads by Jane K. Cleland

I'm going to come out with this right up front before reviewing Jane K. Cleland's Deadly Threads. She's appearing at Velma Teague for Authors @ The Teague on Saturday, May 7. She also listed me in the acknowledgments of the book, along with other librarians. But, this didn't influence my review. I've been known to say a book wasn't great, even though the author is a friend, and was appearing for a future Authors @ The Teague event. I can't let those appearances influence my reviews, or no one would want to read the reviews.

Saying that,  Deadly Threads is the best Josie Prescott Antiques mystery so far. Anyone who has read the entire series knows Josie has grown into her business, and her relationships. She was an insecure, lonely person at the beginning of the series, and, justifiably so. She was a whistleblower who had been fired from her job, lost people she thought of as friends, and lost her beloved father. She had moved to Rocky Point, New Hampshire where she opened Prescott's Antiques & Auctions, and found herself involved in a murder case. By the time of this sixth book, she has a solid relationship with the former police chief, her business is flourishing, and she has a staff she enjoys working with. She even adopts a cat for the business, a handsome silver-colored long-haired Maine coon cat, a two-year-old male she names Hank.

In fact, Josie's business is doing so well, she took on an intern from the local college, and she's expanded the business to include Prescott's Vintage Fashions, a boutique managed by her assistant, and Josie's going to teach a series of workshops on building a vintage clothing collection, assisted by a friend, a wealthy woman, Riley Jordan. But, Riley shows up before the class, looking upset, and asks to have lunch with Josie the next day. For Riley, that next day never comes. When she doesn't show up for the workshop, Josie starts the class without her, only to find Riley's body underneath the table, strangled with her own scarf.

Josie Prescott is an amateur sleuth with a specialized knowledge. Her knowledge of vintage clothing and antiques is important to the solution of this case, and Police Chief Ellis Hunter and the local newspaper reporter, Wes Smith, work well with her. And, it's a good thing she adopted Hank, who actually discovers the clue that will reveal the killer.

Cleland's latest mystery is the most enjoyable, and the most readable, in the series. Although there are fascinating details about vintage clothing and accessories, they add to the book, but don't bog down the story. Hank is a wonderful addition, making Josie even more sympathetic. And, I enjoyed the homage paid to Rex Stout's mysteries. Josie uses a recipe for "Fritz's Glazed Lamb Chops," given to her by her mother, who had it from an old friend, Lily Rowan, who got it from a private chef named Fritz Brenner.

Jane K. Cleland's Josie Prescott mysteries have become better over time. Start at the beginning of the series, or start with Deadly Threads. A likable amateur sleuth, good supporting characters, a fascinating antiques background, and, now, a cat. What more do you want in an enjoyable mystery?

Jane K. Cleland's website is www.janecleland.net

Deadly Threads by Jane K. Cleland. St. Martin's Minotaur. ©2011. ISBN 9780312586560 (hardcover), 279p.

*****
FTC Full Disclosure - The publisher sent me a copy of the book, hoping I would review it.

R.J. Harlick & Vicki Delany for Authors @ The Teague

Left to Right - Vicki Delany, R.J. Harlick

It was a pleasure to welcome Vicki Delany back to Velma Teague, and to introduce author R.J. Harlick to the audience. Both authors are Canadian residents who are on book tour.

R. J. kicked off the program by saying she actually goes by Robin, and doesn't know why she picked R.J. Maybe she wanted to give the impression she was a man. She writes the Meg Harris mystery series, books with a wilderness setting. It's an area in Canada where lakes outnumber people 1,000 to 1, and trees outnumber people 1 million to one. This part of West Quebec is a two hour drive from Ottawa. Meg Harris lives there on 1500 acres called Three Deer Point. She inherited a turn of the 19th century cottage from her aunt, a cottage with turrets. She lives there by herself, except for a black standard poodle, the only character based on a real character since the poodle was based on one that Harlick owned.

Harlick's character, Meg Harris, is from Toronto. Her family is based there, but Meg tired of the city, and left an abusive marriage to move to the peace of Three Deer Point. It's a peaceful paradise. There are four books in the series. In the first one, Death's Golden Whisper, Meg joins forces with a leader from the Algonquin First Nations Preserve. Red Ice for a Shroud, the second book, deals with police prejudice when an Algonquin becomes the suspect in a murder. Harlick did not originally intend to deal with the First Nations in all of her books, but once she started researching, she decided to tell some of their stories. All of her books have been about the Algonquins. This second mystery has an ice storm in it, similar to the dramatic one that hit Ottawa in 1998, when trees broke because they couldn't bear the weight of the ice. Robin said we should read that book if we want a feeling of cold.

When she said The River Runs Orange was her third book, she said we may have noticed a theme of colors in her titles. But, she said she wasn't the first to do it. She admired John D. MacDonald's Travis McGee books, all of which had colors in the titles. The River Runs Orange begins with a mad paddle down a white water river, based on a trip Harlick took. Meg dumps over, and while she's waiting to be rescued she uncovers bones and a skull. When investigated, they prove to be 12,000 year old ancient remains. That starts a controversy since archaeologists want to investigate the remains, while the Algonquins want to leave them undisturbed. Meg is in the middle, because she understands both sides.

Harlick decided Meg needed to travel in the fourth book,  Arctic Blue Death. It's difficult to have so many murders in a land with just lakes and trees. Robin wanted to send her to the Arctic, a desolate, fascinating place. When Harlick went there to do research, she spent time with a woman, an Inuit constable with the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, who are the police there. She talked to her about her cold case files, and Harlick had been trying to decide what would take Meg Harris to the Arctic. She knew it would have something to do with her father's death. In talking to the constable, she learned about planes that went missing there. Often crash sites are never found. And, Harlick liked Inuit art. So, she combined that background into a story in which Inuit art suggests that Meg's father survived a plane crash in the Arctic. It's a book in which she could also discuss Inuit fine art and counterfeiting.

The fifth book in the series, A Green Place for Dying, will be out in February 2012. Instead of going out of business, fortunately, Harlick's publisher was purchased,  Meg is back home in this book, where she learns a neighbor's daughter is missing. When she investigates, she learns there are sixteen Aboriginal women missing. Robin said she took this idea from a major issue in Canada right now. There are over 560 missing Native women in Canada. Harlick uses the issue to focus on police prejudice again.

The latest book in Vicki Delany's series set in British Columbia, Among the Departed, wasn't due out until May 3. But, she just appeared at Poisoned Pen Bookstore for a book signing, and Poisoned Pen Press pushed out copies of the book so they could be signed at the bookstore. Delany saw it that night for the first time.

Delany said she writes in three different styles. Orca Publishing is a Canadian publisher that specializes in juvenile and children's books. But, they've come out with books that are designed for adults with high interest/love vocabulary. Many adults lack literacy skills, so the books are at a second or third grade level with adult themes. Vicki has written some books for them.

She also writes standalones. Scare the Night Away is set north of Ontario.  A woman returns to her hometown after thirty years. While she's there for her mother's funeral, she finds a diary that reveals family secrets, including facts about her brother. When he's arrested for a crime, she doesn't know if she can believe him. In Burden of Memory, a Canadian woman who had been an army nurse in World War II hires a writer to write her biography. Then the biographer learns there was a previous biographer who died. Someone in the family might want to keep that biography from being written. Vicki said Barbara Peters at Poisoned Pen had discussed the fact that the traditional British Gothic is new again. Those are books in which most of the story takes place in one house, sometimes with a suspected malevolent presence. Delany's book is Ontario Gothic.

Vicki's contemporary series is set in Trafalgar, British Columbia. Trafalgar is based on Nelson, the town two hours from Spokane where one of Vicki's daughters lives. Nelson is deep in the mountains. There are a number of transients there, along with neo-hippies, and people that were Vietnam draft dodgers. Then, there are the well-to-do retirees and developers wanting to build ski resorts. Constable Molly Smith is the main character in this series. She's a new police officer in the first book. Her mother is the local troublemaker, and her father was a draft dodger, so it causes some conflict with her job.

The first book in the series, In the Shadow of the Glacier, is based on a real incident. It was controversial when someone wanted to donate a statue in memory of the Vietnam draft dodgers. The town turned it down. But, in the book, the town did consider a Memorial Garden. It made for passionate feelings, and Molly's mother was involved in the issue. Delany said this is a unique series because it's a fairly traditional British mystery, but Molly's a new police officer. Sergeant John Winters is Chief of Detectives, and he actually doesn't like Molly in the beginning of the series. Vicki is hoping to make this a long running series that will show the growth and changes in Molly.

Usually Delany outlines her books. But, the third book, Winter of Secrets was a surprise to her. She didn't know what was happening. She was in Nelson, and the snow was different than it was elsewhere because it just fell straight down without blowing. So, she set this book at Christmas Eve during the snowstorm of the decade in Trafalgar. Vicki had to sift through the clues herself to find out what happened.

Negative Image, the fourth book, is set in springtime. It features John Winters and his wife, Eliza. A high-profile photographer is shot, and evidence points to Eliza. This is a story of trust and betrayal. What would you do if you suspected the person you trusted most in the world had betrayed you? What would you do if someone you trusted thought you had betrayed them?

The new book, Among the Departed, goes back to Molly's childhood, when she was known as Moonlight Smith. (The daughter of hippies is named Moonlight, but it's hard to be a cop called by that name.) When Molly was thirteen, her best friend's father disappeared, and Molly was the last one to see him. Fifteen years later a boy is lost in the wilderness. The Royal Canadian Police work with the local police, and Norman, a police dog handled by Molly's boyfriend, is called out. The boy is found, but Norman digs out something else. And, since he doesn't want to say it's a dead boy, her boyfriend says he's "Among the departed."

Vicki Delany also had the Klondike series. These books are comedies, madcap romps. They're historically accurate, set around 1898. The first two books are Gold Digger and Gold Fever. They feature a woman who owns a dance hall, and has pretensions, but she has a murky past. Vicki said she has a Royal Canadian Mounted Policeman with a big white dog. She hit all the stereotypes to make the stories fun.

After both authors read from their books, they took questions from the audience. Vicki said police contacts helped her a lot, including with police dog techniques. Asked if they had both always lived in Canada, Harlick said she had, while Delany said she lived in South Africa for eleven years as an adult before moving back to Canada.

When she was asked about the women who disappeared in A Green Place for Dying, Harlick said Native women have disappeared all over Canada. Some were alcoholics or prostitutes, so their disappearances were based on their lifestyles. But, two girls disappeared from the reserve in Ottawa, and they were only eighteen or nineteen. Delany mentioned the Pig Farm murders in British Columbia, saying the victims were predominantly Native women. Ending the program on a somber note, the authors admitted there was police prejudice against the Natives, which doesn't help the investigation into the disappearances.

Vicki Delany and R.J. Harlick are welcome back anytime to appear for Authors @ The Teague.

Vicki Delany's website is www.vickidelany.com

R.J. Harlick's website is www.rjharlick.ca

Left to right - Vicki Delany, Lesa Holstine and R.J. Harlick