A Poisoned Pen Press Party

Saturday evening Barbara Peters hosted a Poisoned Pen Press Party at the Poisoned Pen bookstore in Scottsdale, celebrating the publication of books by four of the publishing house's authors.  Donis Casey's new book is Crying Blood.  The third book by Jeffrey Siger is Prey on Patmos.  Dana Stabenow flew in from Alaska, arriving at the airport at 4:30 for the 5:00 program.  She was celebrating two books.  Though Not Dead is just out from St. Martin's Minotaur, and Poisoned Pen Press just republished the first book in her Kate Shugak series, A Cold Day for Murder.  The program also marked the debut of a new author, Tina Whittle, with The Dangerous Edge of Things.

Left to right - Dana Stabenow, Donis Casey and Barbara Peters

It was fun to mingle and listen to audience comments before the program.  Donis Casey's latest book includes details of butchering hogs, and one woman said she didn't think she'd be as eager to try the recipes in this book.  Frederick Ramsay, the Poisoned Pen Press author of the Ike Schwartz mysteries told Barbara he always shows up to see Donis.  And, Deborah Ledford, author of Snare, gave me a copy of the book, which has just been nominated for the Hillerman Sky Award to be presented next month at Left Coast Crime to the mystery that best represents the southwest.

Barbara Peters kicked off the program by asking Jeffrey Siger, "man-about-town, resident of Greece, where he hangs out on the beach," to open the champagne.  Then, she started giving us a little background, and told us why Dana Stabenow was included in the group.  Dana's first book won the Edgar for Best Paperback Original.  The first three books in the series only came out in paperback, and, now, eighteen years later, number two through nine in the series are out of print.   Only that first one, A Cold Day for Murder remained in print because it won the Edgar, and kicked off a series.  But, Poisoned Pen Press is publishing the first three books as hardcovers, and the first one was just out.

Peters said the hardcover's introduction includes Stabenow's comments as to how it felt to win the Edgar.  Barbara said that was the first time she met Dana.  Peters, Lisa Scottoline, Nevada Barr and Stabenow all met in the restroom.  The new book also includes a map of the Park.

Barbara went on to introduce two people from the Poisoned Pen Press staff.  Nan Beams is the person responsible for the appearance of the books, with the blood spots on the book jackets.  Peters said people have complained that the quality of the Book News has deteriorated since Nan and Barbara are no longer doing it.  She said Nan was her editor because even an editor needs an editor.  She also introduced Jessica Tribble, Associate Editor, saying she was responsible for lots of things.

Tina Whittle and Jeffrey Siger

She ran through a quick introduction of the other authors, before asking each of them to speak.  Peters said we already knew Jeffrey Siger lived in and wrote about Greece.  The Dangerous Edge of Things was Tina Whittle's first novel.  The book received starred reviews from everyone.  But, people didn't know exactly how to review it.  Some compared it to Evanovich, and Peters said no.  Someone else said Meg Gardner or Karen Slaughter.  Since Gardner and Slaughter are nothing like Evanovich, it's obvious Whittle is unique.                         

Peters said she uses Amazon because it's the world's largest card catalog.  And, she checks to see who they're using to compare Poisoned Pen authors.  Dana hasn't had a comparison, but recently someone said C.J. Box or another Poisoned Pen author, Steven Havill. 

    Peters herself has used Donis Casey's work when describing Ann Parker's.  She went on to say Donis' first book had the best title they've ever published, The Old Buzzard Had It Coming.  Peters liked the second title, Hornswoggled, because it was a word her father always used.  Donis went on to write The Drop Edge of Yonder, The Sky Took Him, and, now, Crying Blood.  Tony Hillerman was a fan.  He blurbed her books, saying her character, Alafair Tucker, reminded him of his mother.  Carolyn Hart and Margaret Maron have recently blurbed her books.

Then, she asked Jeffrey Siger to tell how they met.  Jeffrey said he was shopping his first book, Murder in Mykonos.  He said his agent wanted the book to go to a bigger house, and Jeffrey suggested Poisoned Pen Press.  The agent wanted to wait.  But, Siger insisted they send an inquiry, and Poisoned Pen Press liked it.  However, his agent tried to kill the deal.  However, Jeffrey is a lawyer, and he shut up his agent.  In the meantime, a publisher in Greece fell in love with the book, and wanted to publish it in Greece.  Poisoned Pen Press agreed the other publisher could publish it there.  Murder in Mykonos went to #1 for English books published in Greece.  The Greek version was in the top ten.  Assassins of Athens, the second book, was also in the top ten.  Prey in Patmos hasn't been published there yet.

Peters said Siger is the only one who was a success in writing about modern Greece.  His books are a painful examination of the problems in Greece.  He predicted the current problems, and where they would occur.  He said if you life in Greece, you know the problems.  His current book, Prey on Patmos, deals with a monastery in an ancient area whose financial scandal is undermining the Greek economy.  That's the beginning of the book.  A year ago, in Vanity Fair, Michael Lewis discussed that exact same subject that Siger had already written about.

 Siger's first book dealt with sexual religious hysteria.  The second, Assassins of Athens, dealt with hubris.  And this third book focused on how the church deals with issues.  They are masters of manipulation.  Prey on Patmos deals with how the church and other people react to threats to the church. 

The subheading on the book jacket says, "An Aegean Prophecy."  The English publisher, Little, Brown, liked that with the connection to prophecies about the end of the world in 2012 and Patmos, the location where St. John wrote the Book of Revelation.  The book starts with a murder in Holy Week in Patmos.  Siger said it's prophetic, and the events surrounding one character will come to be true some day.

Asked why an outsider can write better about a place than someone bound to it, Siger answered that he lives in Greece for seven months a year.  He meets with politicians, crooks, and other people in the middle of the night in bars.  And, he'll only speak English with them, so they are forced to give him the straight stuff, the essence.  He doesn't have to put up with two hours of a story.

Peters said the first book, Murder in Mykonos, had a serial killer, someone who was irrational and emotional.  Assassins of Athens had a serial murderer.  Police have a better chance of finding that kind of killer because there is a pattern. 

Jeffrey Siger is a lawyer who did well enough to retire to Greece to write.  His main character is Chief Inspector Andreas Kaldis.  Peters told Jeffrey she liked the banter he had in this book with the woman in his life.  Siger responded that Barbara Peters inspired him.  The femme fatale in this book is named Barbara.  Peters thought that was funny, saying Barbara was fun to read, and maybe Peters will be a cougar.

Jeffrey said he has finished the next book, but doesn't know the title.  It will be "something" in Sparta.  Again, his concept is prophetic, reminiscent of recent events in Tunis.  It has to do with individuals who believe certain acts of behavior can overturn the government.  The incineration of six people in a car at the beginning of the book is right out of the headlines.  He said he doesn't know what he's tapping into to write these stories before they happen.

Siger's fifth book will be a straight police procedural dealing with a secret treasure on an island in Greece.  When people give gifts to the church, where do they go?

Turning to Donis Casey, Peters told us Donis' books almost moved too fast in time for her.  She told her to slow down the time.  This one, Crying Blood, takes place only a few months after The Sky Took Him.
                                                                                                             
Casey makes a departure in this one.  It doesn't feature one of the children.  It revolves around Alafair Tucker's husband, Shaw.  In Sept. 1915, Shaw and the men in the family go quail hunting.  Donis said they were camping on land that had been abandoned by Shaw's stepfather.  Shaw's always melancholy in the fall.  It reminds him of the time when he was a little boy and hunted with his father.  And, in this book, he's also sad because his children are growing up.  One of the hunting dogs finds an old skeleton.  The kids think it's a great adventure, but Shaw's disturbed.  He doesn't think they should have disturbed the grave.  And, then something follows them home.  There are things in the dark.  The past gets in your head, and you don't know whether it's real.  Shaw plunges into the dark after it. 

Peters said this book makes you think about people who put themselves at risk, and the people that are left behind.  One of the most powerful sentences in the book deals with Alafair preparing herself to face life as a widow.  Alafair is usually the person placing herself at risk. But, there's a role reversal in this story.  She always threw herself into danger.  The book resonates with real emotions.  Barbara said there are real emotions in all of Donis Casey's books.

She told her she couldn't go on marrying off her daughters in every book.  Peters thought the best plot had to do with flim-flam when Alafair went to Enid in the last book, The Sky Took Him.  Donis admitted that book wrote itself.  Casey's husband is from Enid, Oklahoma.  They were visiting, and took her sister-in-law out to lunch.  On the wall in the restaurant were pictures of Enid in 1915, including a street scene of two women going into Kraus' Department Store.  Donis knew that was Alafair and her daughter, Martha, walking in.  That was the first scene written for the book. 

Casey said she did a lot of research on oil wells and nitroglycerin for the books.  Asked if she was afraid she'd be put on a watch list, she said that's why she did her research on nitroglycerin at the library. 

When everyone laughed, Barbara Peters said mystery authors have rich life we don't.  She said David Baldacci once was on a train, and forgot he was in a crowd.  He was on the phone talking about murder, and the conductor came to escort him off. 

She asked Jeffrey about that, and he said he was taking pictures of the Greece National Headquarters, never thinking he was taking pictures with men with guns watching.  While working on his second book, he had his camera in a cab, and he was surrounded by terrorists.  One man came up to the car, and demanded his camera, and he told the taxi driver to just go. But, when he looked, there were eight men around him.  The driver explained he was a writer.  But, you get in a zone, and forget where you are.

Going back to Crying Blood, Peters said Casey's book has lengthy descriptions of hog butchering, and Barbara told her it was too detailed and needed to go in the Appendix.  Casey said they got so much from the hog, soap, as well as food.  She said she always has that problem.  She does so much research, and has to decide how many details to put in the book, and how much in the appendix.  She admitted after doing that much research, she wants to put it in.

  When it was Dana Stabenow's turn, they discussed her book from St. Martin's, Though Not Dead.  Dana said it's her longest book, and her favorite.  She never thought she'd write a history of Alaska.  There are three tracks in this book.  A character died at the end of the last book, and he sent Kate Shugak on a treasure hunt.  There's the Alaskan history.  And, Jim, one of her characters, has a life elsewhere in the book.  And, in one scene, a character hitches a ride with Dana's dad.  She said it's her favorite book. 

Tina Whittle and Barbara Peters met because Tina submitted her book to Poisoned Pen Press.  Whittle told us she was from Georgia.  She was a composition instructor at a college, and one of the perks was that she could take classes for free.  So, she took a mystery fiction class.  And, a story she wrote for that class took first place in a short story competition.  She had a great character in that story that stayed with her.  Tina went back to teaching, and then read about stroke victims who were unable to speak, but are better at telling if someone is telling lies or the truth than others.  So, she paired him up with her heroine for the short story.  That pairing was the basis of The Dangerous Edge of Things.  Peters said she picked the title from a Robert Browning poem. 

Tai Randolph inherits a gun shop in Atlanta, and her brother disappears.    Peters said she liked Tai, but there is a lot of interest in the male character, Trey.  Tina said he's the dangerous edge.  He's traumatized and physically broken, a broken man.  But, he puts his life back together, and he's a security guard.  He thinks in black and white.  Whittle admits she finds him fascinating.  She went on to talk about events in the news recently, the shooting of Gabrielle Giffords.  She said each brain injury is different, and each recovery is different.  The brain has a remarkable way of working around what is lost.  What is the same is that someone is not going to be the same person coming out of the injury.

Whittle's mystery is set in Atlanta.  She said her husband is from there, so she visited Atlanta a lot.  It's the hardest city to capture though, because it shifts identity.  Sherman set it on fire, but the citizens took the rest of the city down.  They knocked it down and created a glorious landscape.  The melting pot never took there, and it has different communities.  It's a commercial and modern city.

There's lots of history in Georgia.  It was the only penal colony in the United States, the place the British sent prisoners before they sent them to Australia.  It's the setting of Gone with the Wind.  Tina said you can set any kind of story in Atlanta.

Whittle's protagonist, Tai, bounced around in her 20s.  Then she inherited a Confederate themed gun shop.  Whittle said authenticity is important for Confederate reenactors, and lots of her family does that.  Reenactments are huge for historic purposes, and the authenticity is important.  But, the Confederacy is a divisive part of Atlanta's history.  Inheriting that shop will change Tai's life.  Tina asked,  "How do you be a liberal feminist gun shop owner? Do you want to keep the shop, or how do you dispose of it?"  The gun culture is strong, and regional in Atlanta.  There are moral and ethical issues along with the inheritance. 

Peters mentioned that Tai's missing brother is a psychiatrist, and there are other interesting characters in the book.  Whittle and Peters agreed it's important to have strong supporting characters.  She pointed to Fred Ramsay in the audience as an example.  His Ike Schwartz books have a great group of deputies and their families.  Dana's books feature family members.  Stabenow said good crime fiction in a series is about the ensemble.  You have to have it to maintain a series.  She gleefully admitted she kills off anyone she wants to, whenever she wants to. 

Peters mentioned that Left Coast Crime has an awards category this year called the Watson, for the best sidekick.  Barbara said she nominated the dog in Dana's series, Mutt, but Mutt was beat out.  It was also pointed out that Deb Ledford, a nominee for the Hillerman Sky Award was in the audience.  Peters said she was reviewing Deb's book, Snare, in the next Book News.

Tina said she bonded her two characters together.  It was necessary for them to work together.  They both have deficits, and they complement each other.  She liked the relationship professionally.  Barbara Peters said there would be another book in the series.  She said there's nothing worse than introducing readers to a new author, and letting them wonder if there will be a second book.

Peters said although one series is a police procedural series set in Athens; one series features a gun shop owner in Atlanta; the third is set in Oklahoma at the turn of the century, and the fourth series ranges around Alaska, they have one thing in common.  They are all about identity, who are we and how does life shift.  Siger's Andreas is resolving his life.  Jeffrey said Tim Hallinan told him, "The return to order in a broken society is the basic underpinnings of every crime novel."  He said that wasn't original with Hallinan.  Siger said mysteries are optimistic.  Barbara agreed, except for noir, where there is a spiral downward.  Someone said the quote might have originated with Agatha Christie, and said the victim and perpetrator were both out of order, and the sleuth's job was to restore order.  Dana said Dorothy L. Sayers, in a couple books, allowed Lord Peter and Harriet to have a discussion whether crime fiction was worthwhile, and Lord Peter always came down on the side that it was.

When an audience member mentioned that he had to leave soon, Peters said she feels they owe the audience a performance and interaction, but, after one and a half hours, she knew the chairs became butt killers.  Then, there was one final question before the book signing.  Someone mentioned the mystery writers did a good job not giving away the endings of their books.  Are you different from other writers, such as nonfiction authors, who can reveal everything?  Dana answered for the group.  She said she hopes there is a revelation or discovery in every book.  No. She isn't going to give away the ending.  You have to read the book for yourself.

Jeffrey Siger, Donis Casey and Tina Whittle

Year End Wrap-Up - Part 2

Those who follow my blog regularly know my favorite work day of every month is the day of the brown bag luncheons, when we get together to discuss books.  And, I love my quarterly brown bag luncheons, when I get to share books with library patrons.  But, I also love Authors @ The Teague.  Thanks to the authors, and, quite often, thanks to Barbara Peters at The Poisoned Pen Bookstore, I get to introduce authors to readers.  This year, I was lucky enough to host more than twenty authors at the library.  What better way to end the year by sharing those authors one more time with all of you?  So, here's 2010 Authors @ The Teague - the year in pictures.

We kicked off the year in January with Frederick Ramsay.  I love his Ike Schwartz mysteries, set in

Frederick Ramsay

Virginia, but he brought Botswana to the Velma Teague Library when he talked about his most recent book, Predators, a mystery set in that country.













Lou Berney





I loved Lou Berney's debut caper novel, Gutshot Straight, so it was fun to introduce him to library patrons.

Cara Black

Cara Black is a favorite, and she'll be back at the library on March 10 to discuss her new book.  But, in 2010, she talked about Paris, her character, Aimée Leduc, and the 2010 release, Murder in the Palais Royal.

I met Alan Bradley when he was at the Poisoned Pen on his tour for his first mystery, The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie.  Barbara Peters was kind enough to invite a couple of us to go out for drinks with them after his appearance there.  He remembered that, and mentioned it in the acknowledgements of his second book.  I told people he was my birthday present this year, since he appeared at the library on my birthday.   Bradley told us all about Flavia de Luce, and his second book, The Weed that Strings the Hangman's Bag.

Alan Bradley with me

Jacqueline Winspear

We had a full house when Jacqueline Winspear returned for her second visit to the library.  The Mapping of Love, the latest Maisie Dobbs mystery, attracted a number of men interested in Winspear's research as well as the book itself.

Peter May with me

Peter May brought us three books when he appeared at the library.  He discussed his standalone, Virtually Dead, as well as recent books, Snakehead and Freezeframe.  My only disappointment?  No kilt. 

Jenn McKinley

Jenn McKinley is not only a mystery author, but also a fellow librarian.  She's also one of the terrific authors who blogs at Mystery Lovers Kitchen, one of my favorite blogs.  In fact, I knew her as a blogger and author there before I knew she worked at a library here in Phoenix.  And, how can you resist a mystery about cupcakes?  I met her first at the Poisoned Pen.  When she appeared at Velma Teague to discuss Sprinkle with Murder, we provided an appropriate treat, cupcakes.  Now, I'm looking forward to her new series about a librarian.

I first met Kris Neri when she appeared in 2009 with Desert Sleuths.  She's a member of that Chapter of Sisters in Crime.  She's also the owner of the Sedona bookstore, The Well Red Coyote.  She brought two books, Revenge for Old Times' Sake and High Crimes on the Magical Plane.

Kris Neri and me

Larry Karp

Larry Karp returned to Velma Teague to discuss the concluding book in his series about Scott Joplin, The Ragtime Kid.  I'm sure he has something in mind for a new mystery, though. 

I can't tell you how much fun we had when we hosted Women Who Kill.  Debut mystery author Jeanne Matthews joined Juliet Blackwell, Sophie Littlefield, and Zoë Sharp.  They were all in town for a Poisoned Pen Conference, so we were lucky to snag them.   I'll always be grateful to Zoë Sharp.  She was our very first author for Authors @ The Teague.  And, she'll be returning with Cara Black and Libby Hellmann in March.  (Or maybe you can tell how much fun we had that day.)

Left to right - Authors in back - Zoe Sharp, Jeanne Matthews, Sophie Littllefield, Juliet Blackwell. I'm in front.

When I reviewed Beth Hoffman's Saving CeeCee Honeycutt for Library Journal, I had never met nor heard of the debut author.  Beth's book went on to hit The New York Times' Bestseller List, become the first pick for the Sam's Club book club, and a Costco pick of the month.  It's a favorite of book clubs.  And, Beth became a friend of mine, a friend who agreed to appear at the library when she came to visit.  In our audience that day was a college professor who told Beth she has her students study the book for characterization.  It's hard to forget Beth Hoffman's wonderful characters.  Beth even brought me a hat she made herself, typical of Savannah garden parties.




Beth Hoffman with me



Lisa Gardner

I never thought I'd get the chance to host bestselling author Lisa Gardner at the library.  She was in town on tour for Live to Tell, the fourth D.D. Warren book.  It was so nice of Poisoned Pen Bookstore  to share her with the west side of the Valley.

Although most of the authors who appear at Velma Teague are mystery authors, I do get the chance to host a few authors.  Beth Hoffman was the first one this year, but there were a few others.  Carrie Vaughn is the author of the Kitty series, about a DJ who is a werewolf.  She discussed fantasy, the latest in that series, Kitty Goes to War, and a fantastic standalone that I loved, Discord's Apple.

Carrie Vaughn

Kathy Cano-Murillo is another author who doesn't write mysteries.  She's a local author who writes nonfiction, and, now, women's fiction involving crafts.  Cano-Murillo had a popular craft column for years in The Arizona Republic as The Crafty Chica.  She brought her first novel, Waking Up in the Land of Glitter.  Since her second book features Glendale, I hope she comes back when it's released.

Kathy Cano-Murillo

Betty Webb always draws readers when she appears.  The author of the Lena Jones books also has a series set in a California zoo, a little lighter than the Lena Jones mysteries.  The Koala of Death was just as much fun as the first in the series.

Betty Webb

I love to bring Camille Kimball to the library.  So many of our readers like true crime, and Kimball's two books have been about crimes here in Maricopa County.  What She Always Wanted was an interesting book about a wealthy woman who killed her husband.

Camille Kimball

It's also a treat to bring the Desert Sleuths.  The authors, who are members of the Desert Sleuths Chapter of Sisters in Crime, discussed and signed their second anthology, How Not to Survive a Vacation.  I don't know when I've heard so much laughter from the audience and the panel. 

Desert Sleuths

I loved a recent blog post by Ann Littlewood.  The author of the zoo mystery, Did Not Survive, posed on her blog with her Authors @ The Teague mug that we present to all of the authors.   These zoo mysteries are darker than Betty Webb's, but just as informative about zoos and animals.

Ann Littlewood



P.L. Gaus



P.L. Gaus' Ohio Amish-Country mysteries are being reprinted, beginning with Blood of the Prodigal.  He's been studying the Amish in Ohio for over thirty years, and the books are fascinating peeks into the Amish culture.  He had wonderful stories to tell about his experiences doing research.

Hilary Davidson isn't a debut author, but The Damage Done was a debut mystery.  Hilary writes Frommer guides and travel pieces.  But, after reading The Damage Done, and hearing her discussion at the library, I think she'll be better known eventually for her crime novels.  I enjoyed my time, and lunch, with this terrific author.

Hilary Davidson and me

Thank you to all of the authors who made Authors @ The Teague a successful series during 2010.   I had so much fun, and I hope you enjoyed your appearance at the library.

So, what can you expect in 2011?  Watch the sidebar on the blog for planned appearances.  At the moment, these authors are scheduled -

Susan Pohlman - Jan. 22 - 2 p.m.


Donis Casey - Feb. 26 - 2 p.m.

Cara Black, Libby Hellmann & Zoe Sharp - March 10 - 2 p.m.

Vicki Delany & R.J. Harlick - March 30 - 2 p.m.

I'm sure we'll be booking more authors.  And, I'm hoping we'll fit in the schedules for two authors I met this year.  Deborah Coonts and Robert Dugoni should both be in the area when their new books come out, and I've been corresponding with both of them about appearing for Authors @ The Teague.  Sneak peek pictures, in hopes they'll know I'd love to host them.

Deborah Coonts

Robert Dugoni and me

So, if you're an author, particularly a mystery author, who will be in the Phoenix area, and want to appear in a small venue, with no promise as to the size of the audience, contact me!  I'm at Lesa.Holstine@gmail.com.  Keep Authors @ The Teague in mind for your 2011 schedule!

And, thank you, again, to all of the authors who appeared for Authors @ The Teague in 2010.  You truly are treasures.  Thank you.

Barbara Peters, Bookstore Owner & Editor & Bryan Gruley, Author, for Write Now! 2010

The final speaker at the Desert Sleuths' Write Now! Conference was Barbara Peters from the Poisoned Pen bookstore, who brought author Bryan Gruley with her.  Peters' biography in the conference program said, "Barbara Peters opened The Poisoned Pen bookstore in Scottsdale in 1989.   She is currently editor-in-chief of Poisoned Pen Press which she co-founded in 1997.  Barbara has been awarded The Raven and The Ellery Queen Award by the Mystery Writers of America, and the Fan Guest and Lifetime Achievement Awards from Bouchercon."

Peters said, with all the talk about changes in book publication, she wanted to give the audience an historical perspective, and things to think about.  The novel and story, as literary form, is only 250 years old, and evolving.  There is a serious revolution going on right now with digital publishing, and everything is fluid.  But, the first novel was only published in the 1740s.  Richardson's Pamela was the first epistolary novel, written as letters back and forth.  That solved the problem of point-of-view.

But, novels are evolutionary, not static.  However, three major elements remain constant; landscape, character, and plot.  The landscape of the story can include the culture as well as the physical setting.  Harry Kemelman's series about the Rabbi involved the Jewish culture.  Elizabeth Peters writes about an anthropologist in England and Egypt. 

The village mystery, which seems to have a limited setting, is actually a circle.  There's a crime, usually murder, a limited circle of suspects, an event that draws them together, and a sleuth.  That shape can be applied to anything.  It can be used on the Navajo reservation, as Tony Hillerman did.  It can be used with futuristic cops, as in Jim Born's books. 

It's the character that determines how the plot goes.  The story must be true to the character's behavior.  Peters said she's had difficult time with authors in the past, who need to transfer what is in the author's head about the character to the page, so the readers understand the character when they read the book.  According to Peters, landscape and character are the most important elements.  An author can work on plot with their editor. 

Barbara went on to say she's observed genres, subclasses of fiction, rise and fall in popularity, on a twenty-year cycle.  At the end of the '80s, mysteries were way up, and stayed there until the end of the '90s.  Now, they've gone down about as low as possible.  Part of the reason for this is, when a genre becomes enormously popular, way too many people rush in to write that type of book.  Then, readers become tired of the same books.  For instance, after Silence of the Lambs, everyone wrote serial killer books.  After The DaVinci Code, religious thrillers were hot.  The success of Stephanie Meyer increased the popularity of paranormal books.  Stieg Larsson's success with his Scandinavian trilogy set off a Scandinavian crime wave.  However, Peters warned against writing what was popular.  She said authors would be too late to catch the wave.  She told them to be original.  As writers, what is your question; will I be read, or will I be published?  With today's publishing revolution, those are two different questions. 

Then, Peters introduced Bryan Gruley.  Gruley, Chicago bureau chief for The Wall Street Journal, is the author of Starvation Lake and The Hanging Tree.  He has been called the new Michael Connelly or the new Steve Hamilton, but Peters said he's Bryan Gruley, author and hockey fan.

Gruley said he wanted to write novels since he was a little kid, and his mother gave him the thirteenth book in the Hardy Boys series.  He got out of Notre Dame, and went to work for a newspaper.  He's worked for five papers, and it's been a great ride. 

Gruley wrote a nonfiction book, Paper Losses, before writing fiction.  But, at least he already had an agent from the first book.  He loved narrative stories, though, and wanted to write fiction.  So, he sent his agent part of a novel, and told him to write about what he knew.  He knew Michigan, hockey, and journalism.  So, Suzanne suggested he write about middle-aged guys who play hockey in the middle of the night, knowing he was that guy.  With his agent behind him, it took Bryan four years to write Starvation Lake, since he had a day job and three kids at home. 

Bryan submitted his book in April 2006.  One year and twenty-six twenty-six rejection letters later, he thought he was done.  Then, on the same day that Murdoch bid on Dow Jones, the owner of  The Wall Street Journal, Gruley's agent called.  They talked about that before she said, oh, and the good news is I sold Starvation Lake in a three book deal.

Barbara Peters commented that it's often easier for an author to sell a fiction book after they've sold nonfiction.  She used Linda Fairstein as an example.  Peters said publishers know how to market nonfiction, so it's easier to sell a nonfiction title.  Then, a writer has a publishing history. 

Peters said Gruley's editor sent her a rough manuscript for a blurb.  She read it, and liked it.  But, they were publishing it as a trade paperback.  With trade paperbacks, there is a problem of fewer reviews, fewer library sales, etc.  She tried to talk the publisher into doing both a hardcover and a trade at the same time, but they didn't. 

However, Starvation Lake was a wild success.  They did a lot of marketing.  He was a newspaper reporter, and a hockey guy, so they had a marketing platform for him.  Gruley's advice to writers was what you normally hear.  "Ass in chair; fingers on keyboard.  Tell your stories."

Gruley said he sees the town of Starvation Lake as a character.  It's northern Michigan in winter.

In response to a question, Barbara Peters said historical fiction and paranormal are the hottest genres right now.  Westerns have sunk to the bottom.  Fantasy and science ficiton started doing good after 9/11.  In hard times, people like escape literature, or other worlds.  She said there's a fairly regular turn in genres every twenty years.  That's why some books are reprinted, to capture a new generation of readers.

Summing up that portion of the Write Now! Conference, Peters asked the writers to think about what the new revolution means to them.  Maybe authors should think of themselves as game designers.  They should create a world and characters.  Don't sell a book.  Sell subscriptions to that world.  For artists, it's always a concern as to how they'll get paid.  She used Mozart as an example of an artist who had difficulty getting patrons, and getting paid. 

If "To write means to be read," not everyone needs to be paid or be a bestseller.  Maybe there is a different payoff for those who just want to be read.  But, she cautioned against print-on-demand, saying it's only high-speed copying.   And, the Kindle or Sony reader are just different ways of reading, for those who want only text and don't care about the book itself.

*****

Following the conference, a number of us went to The Poisoned Pen, where Bryan Gruley and James Born talked with Barbara Peters, and were later joined by Robin Burcell.  Earlier this week, I summarized Born and Burcell's portions of the evening. 

Barbara Peters asked Bryan to tell his origin story.  He said he'd always wanted to write novels.  After college at Notre Dame, he went to work as a journalist, but he had to learn how to write, and figure out his story.  He dreamt about writing novels.  Then, one of his co-workers, Ken Wells, had a novel published.  That spurred Gurley on.

His first manuscript had Gus Carpenter as the narrator, but it had nothing to do with the current books.  His agent didn't like it, though, and suggested he write about middle-aged guys who play hockey in the middle of the night.  That was Starvation Lake.  He started it in 2001, and it was eight years until publication.  In the current books, Gus Carpenter is a journalist who returns to his hometown, of Starvation Lake, Michigan.

Peters asked Gruley if his co-workers were awed by his success as a novelist.  He answered that journalists are never awed, particularly at The Wall Street Journal.  He actually tries to keep a low profile there.  He writes in the early morning.  Peters said she thinks journalists make good writers because they're used to being edited and revised.  They accept that.  She also said she thinks journalists, lawyers, and cops write novels because, in real life, things don't come out right.  She said judges don't write crime novels. 

With hockey in his books, Gruley admitted he played hockey.  He was goaltender for one year, before getting smart.  He played at Catholic Central High School in Detroit, but he couldn't play at Notre Dame.  He was too slow.  Now, he plays in Chicago.

Gruley is the author of Starvation Lake, and The Hanging Tree.  He's working on the third book in the series.

Bryan Gruley's website is www.bryangruley.com

Starvation Lake by Bryan Gruley.  Simon & Schuster, ©2009. ISBN 9781416563624 (paperback), 384p.

The Hanging Tree by Bryan Gruley.  Simon & Schuster, ©2010. ISBN 9781416563648 (paperback), 314p.

A Desert Sleuths Thank You

Author Bryan Gruley said I wouldn't mention my award, but I owe the Desert Sleuths Chapter of Sisters in Crime such a debt of gratitude that the thank you notes I'm sending won't be enough. So, this is a giant thank you to them, arriving before the mail.

On Saturday, the Desert Sleuths held their annual Write Now! Conference. It was a wonderful event, filled with authors and writing tips. Later this week, I hope to have all of that summarized. It's a great deal of material, and may take a couple blogs. And, it couldn't have been held at a nicer venue, the Wrigley Mansion in Phoenix.

They invited me as a guest. And, it was such an honor since I was their first Fan Guest of Honor. They presented me with a certificate that says, "In recognition of her contribution to the writing community, the Desert Sleuths Chapter of Sisters in Crime is proud to announce that Lesa Holstine is the Guest of Honor at Write Now! 2010. This award includes a one-year dues-free chapter membership." Thank you! And, then they presented me with the most beautiful engraved bookmark, eight inches long, that says, "Lesa Holstine. Guest of Honor. Write Now 2010."

Thank you to President Roni Olson, and Event Chairman Chantelle Osman. They, along with the other members of Desert Sleuths, treated me like gold on Saturday. And, another big thank you to Judy Starbuck. If I hadn't met Judy at Poisoned Pen Bookstore quite a while ago, none of this would have happened.

So, until the blog is posted, here are picture highlights of the day. (Unfortunately, I have no picture of author Sheila Lowe, who had to leave early. But, I'm sure she'd rather I showed her book anyways.) Sheila kicked off the conference, discussing handwriting analysis.

Robin Burcell was our speaker before the book signing break. More on Robin on the later posts, but she's an author, an FBI-trained forensic officer, and a retired police officer. And, she finished the night at the Poisoned Pen with a presentation as well.

Robin Burcell

Following lunch, I received my award from President Roni Olson, who introduced me to the audience.  Then, we had the funniest keynote presentation I've ever heard from author James O. Born.  My summary later this week will not do justice to Jim's humor.   It was too visual, and you really had to see it as well as hear him.  Jim is a Special Agent with the Florida Department of Law Enforcement.  He's an author of crime novels under his own name, and under James O'Neal, he writes futuristic crime novels.

Fan Guest of Honor Lesa Holstine & Keynote Speaker James O. Born

The last speaker of the day was Barbara Peters, owner of Poisoned Pen Bookstore and editor-in-chief of Poisoned Pen Press discussing the history of crime novels, and where they're going.  She also brought along Bryan Gruley, author of Starvation Lake and The Hanging Tree.

Many of us ended up at the Poisoned Pen afterward to hear Peters interview Gruley, Born and Burcell.

Jim Born and Bryan Gruley

But, before we left, the Desert Sleuths launched their new anthology, How Not to Survive a Vacation, a collection of crime short stories.   It will be available soon in area bookstores, and I'll be hosting them on September 25 at 2 p.m. for Authors @ The Teague.

So, thank you, to all of the members of Desert Sleuths for the honor of being your first Fan Guest of Honor.   I want to thank you so much for making this a special event for me.   It was a wonderful day, and I'm looking forward to next year's conference!  Thank you.