Not Another Newsletter!

This Time Next Month, I'll Be In Phoenix

Luckily, I love Phoenix, and the Poisoned Pen Bookstore, where I will be appearing less than a month from now. Yikes!

This is me at an event at the Pen in 2015. I was appearing beside fave author Michael Koryta. The picture [of me] is bad, I know. The books look good though.

I also love the many area readers, writers, and fans, who deserve a shout-out, but might be shy, so I'll just say, Steve, Yvette, Susan's and Windy's crews, and my brother-in-law's family...can't wait to see you!

At the same time...Arizona? In less than a month? On my World's Longest Book Tours, I drove, my husband worked from the front seat, and the kids were "car-schooled" in the back. It was an all-in, all-in-the-family type experience—we have video of the children making up "swag bags" while I ran around crazily getting ready for an event and my husband tried to answer work emails so he could keep paying for the whole thing.

Now I have a new book coming out from a new publisher and a whole new approach to this touring thing.

First, I will be flying. That's why it won't take me four months to reach Phoenix. Second, the kids will be in real school, and my hubby will be working in a much saner way. Third, my publisher coordinated the whole thing, including forty-five of the most exciting events I've ever seen—from an urban literary night out to book club appearances to radio gigs and stops at bookstores that are homes-away-from-home for me. If you can make it to an event, I would love to see you out there as I try to handle the schedule—and pack enough socks.

Author Spotlight

Congratulations to Catherine McKenzie two days after the book birthday of THE GOOD LIAR. This book is at the tiptop of my list as soon as I return to reading fiction AKA finish writing my new novel. Catherine is one of my favorite authors—her work is juicy, real, and psychologically compelling. Highly recommended.

Some books come to you in a flash; others take years to percolate. The idea for part of this book first came to me years before I ever thought of writing a novel and at an odd time: soon after 9/11, when I was watching the heartbreaking coverage of all those photos of the missing posted on that chain link fence, I had a thought: what if someone used a tragedy to run away? If you were supposed to be in the building, but weren't. Would you pick up and leave?

I tucked it away, but it stayed with me. Then, years later, I heard several stories of people involving themselves in survivor networks when they weren't survivors. Again, it stuck with me. And then, I heard a story about a 9/11 widow who was on the brink of divorce. Because the ink wasn't signed, she got compensated, but a week later she would have received nothing.

These three things formed the genesis of what became THE GOOD LIAR: a woman running away, a woman running toward and a woman being pulled in against her will. Along the way these women will do their best to hide their secrets and in the end you will, hopefully, be surprised by who the REAL good liar is. Or maybe that's me.

Can the Cowboy and the Rancher Be Friends?

So, clearly I love bookstores—see above. I've spent literally years of my life, not to mention our children's college accounts, in bookstores. (Personally, I say the kids got the best education already this way, but some might debate me on this).

I'm also aware that not everyone a) lives a reasonable distance from a bookstore b) can afford to shop in one or c) has the time for a trip versus a click.

Thus, I love Amazon too. Basically, I'm a fan of people reading books, however they get them and in whatever form. (But print rocks. Don't fight me on this).

Amazon has made it possible for some terrific self-published authors to do their thang when, for whatever reasons, the gatekeepers of traditional publishing did not. And Amazon's publishing arms are publishing some fan-freaking-tastic authors...see this newsletter's Spotlight Author and another fave of mine, Barbara Claypole White.

Two Honors for Wicked River

My soon-to-be-birthed fourth novel, Wicked River, has been compared by reviewers and authors to John Fowles The Collector and James Dickey's Deliverance, as well as to Nevada Barr's and C.J. Box's best-selling series. These comps keep me going through the dark days that also accompany most every book release.

Anyway, Wicked River has received two honors I will tell you about in my next newsletter.

They're hush-hush for now, but the Cowboy and the Rancher thing is a hint.

So What's Happening with the Movie?

Hollywood typically moves slowly, but the development of As Night Falls, the film, has been a whirlwind to my mind.

The script by the stellar and talented Matthew Quinn Martin is almost complete. They've started casting. And this tidbit is perhaps my favorite so far: one of my characters is an outdoor guide and in the book I wrote something clever and creative like, "He was an outdoor guide." But in the movie they must bring such a thing to life. So they are constructing a set on which my character will lead an outdoor expedition!

Two Newsletters This Month

At least, my plan is to get another one out before the maelstrom begins and I can't write you all again for a while. The next one will be just before I leave on tour! I hope I am still sane enough by then to write it.

And I hope I will have packed enough socks.