VIDEO: Allison Leotta & the booty call of interviews

It's not much of a secret that I've been friends with novelist Allison Leotta for the past few years.  I met her at Thrillerfest in New York a few months before her debut novel, Law of Attraction, was published.  (IIRC, she approached to ask me about the embroidery I was stitching on.)  Over the course of the next few days, I discovered that she was a delightful lady.  That is often enough to inspire me to sample one novel, and so once it was published I did check out Law of Attraction.  I've been a fan ever since.  Ali has been described as "the female John Grisham" in the Providence Journal, and I can't do better than that. 

So, the video above has been dubbed "the booty call of interviews."  I've been meaning to shoot a video interview with Ali for the past couple of years, and it just never happens.  We kept trying to schedule time during the most recent Thrillerfest in July, but somehow it still never happened.  Time was running out.

As it happens, Ali and I share a tradition with several friends.  On the last night of Thrillerfest we get dressed in our best and have a night out on the town before heading back to the Grand Hyatt for a long night of socializing well past closing time in the bar.  Here's a photo of the group of us at dinner earlier in the evening:

For those who are curious, in the front row from left to right is Randi Morrison, me, Allison Leotta, and Paul Kemprecos.  The second row is Graham Brown, Christi Kemprecos, and Boyd Morrison--all great friends.  Oh, and yes, that's a two-story Buddha in the background of this hip, Midtown eatery.

Sometime a bit past midnight I realized that another year was about to pass with no interview.  I was determined.  I was, as you'll hear, 84% of the way through her forthcoming novel, Speak of the Devil, and was very caught up in the story.  I'd been sort of harassing her about torturing her protagonist all weekend.  So, throwing caution to the wind, Ali and I set our cocktails aside and filmed the very casual conversation above.  The, uh, scotch might explain my filming in the first moments of the video, but it settles down reasonably quickly.

I hope you enjoy this interview.  We were having fun.  Ali is as poised as can be and I sound incoherent, but it was late, okay?  Ali's third Anna Curtis legal thriller goes on sale this Tuesday, August 6th.  I can't recommend this series enough--and friendship has nothing to do with it.  My review of Speak of the Devil will be posted to this blog early next week.

NOTE:  OMG, the Kindle edition of Ali's debut novel, Law of Attraction is still on sale for $2.99!  Grab this bargain by clicking on the link in the novel's title ASAP. It's too good a deal to last.

The story of the T-fest t-shirt

This is me. 

It's a self-portrait I shot in a hotel room mirror a few days ago.  No, no I was not wearing any pants, but that's neither here nor there.  It was Sunday morning, after Thrillerfest, and I'd been up past 4:00am the night before.  'Nuff said.

Please note the t-shirt I'm modeling.  It has a few signatures on it.  It is my memento from Thillerfest VIII in New York.  And I have one t-shirt like this for each of the eight years that the conference has been in existence.  This is the story of how the tradition started.

It was the first day of the very first Thrillerfest in Phoenix, way back in 2006.  I already had a few friends in the thriller community.  (I'd actually been at the party at the Algonquin Hotel a year earlier where ITW, and hence Thrillerfest, was born.)  Nothing was really scheduled to begin until late afternoon, and so I agreed to join my friend J.A. "Joe" Konrath to sign stock at a couple of bookstores.  That's a whole story in and of itself.  I actually accompanied Joe on the first two stops of his insane 600-store book tour for Rusty Nail.  Was he grateful for my company as he embarked on this epic journey?  I don't think so.  I recall him snarling, "Flap faster, Susan, faster!"  That was at the renowned Poisoned Pen Bookshop.  After that, we were joining some other ITW authors at a Walmart somewhere in Phoenix.  They were promoting the first Thriller story collection.

Joe Konrath plots his book tour.

There were quite a few big-name authors all sitting at a table, filled with books just waiting to be signed.  When Joe and I walked up, they were all alone.  I know that James Rollins, Steve Berry, and David Liss were there.  Gayle Lynds was supposed to be there, but she was feeling unwell, and I actually wound up in her seat.  And I could swear that there was one other author present, but for the life of me I can't remember who it was.  Isn't that awful? 

This is what I do remember: no one would come near the signing table.  Here were all these best-selling authors, and in the words of a boss I once had--they couldn't sell sex to a sailor.  In the course of about two hours they sold and signed maybe two or three books.  And that was with the added inducement of a free t-shirt!  It was truly pathetic.  At some point, one of them handed me a t-shirt and said, "Here, we'll sign this for you."  They were desperate to sign anything by that time.  And that is the moment this tradition started.

After the signing, I bailed on Konrath and hopped into the back of a limo with Rollins, Berry, and Liss to head back to the Biltmore and the official start of Thrillerfest.  It was where I had the first of many arguments with David Liss, who I'd just met.  Good times!  Eight years later, we're still at it.  It's how we express affection for each other.

Once the conference got going, there were so many awesome writers in attendance, it seemed

David Liss

like a good idea to have them all sign the t-shirt.  As I've said countless times in the years since, "It weighs a hell of a lot less than schlepping everyone's books back and forth from California."  I had a spare Thriller t-shirt I used for the same purpose the following year in New York, and I've bought a cheap t-shirt on the street every year since. 

I'm one of a dwindling number of individuals who have never missed a T-Fest in the conference's history.  The t-shirt is my memento of each year's conference.  It gives me an excuse to interact, at least briefly, with most of the authors in attendance.  The regular attendees know exactly what's up when they see me coming.  F. Paul Wilson addressed me as "T-shirt lady" the other day.  That's a moniker I could live without, but I'm sure he's not the only one who thinks it.  The newbies look at me (with my shirt stretched helpfully over a stitching frame) and say, "That's a great idea!"  Every year someone says, "I ought to do that."  They never do.

Close friends James Rollins & Steve Berry

And there's one more question I get over and over, "What do you do with these shirts?"  The answer, truthfully, is nothing.  I throw them in a drawer.  (Well, technically, most of them are in storage in a box at the moment.)  I'm not really the t-shirt-wearing type.  They're not framed.  They're not sold on E-bay.  They're kept.  I think of each t-shirt as a yearbook for that year's conference.  Who was in attendance that year?  They're a memento of dozens of friendships I've made through Thrillerfest in the past eight years.  So while I don't technically "do" anything with them, they're quite special to me. 

Lately, I've been wondering how much longer I can continuing trekking to New York for Thrillerfest each summer.  I'm eight for eight, but 3,000 miles is a long way to fly.  It's an expensive conference, and I'm neither a writer nor a wanna-be.  The truth is, I go to spend time with my friends.  Many of my closest friends for the past decade have been made at Thrillerfest.  It's hard to believe.  Exhibit A is Boyd Morrison, who I also met on the first day of that first conference in Phoenix and who has become a dear friend.  Eight years later and he hasn't missed a T-fest yet either.  I'm so grateful to spend this time with Boyd and Randi Morrison each year.

I was talking to ITW Director Liz Berry the other day.  We were talking about how many long-time attendees were missing this year's conference for the first time.  Apparently there were about 250 attendees total that first year.  So there can't be that many of us who have made it to all eight?  It was Liz who reminded me of the tenth anniversary of ITW's formation next year, and of Thrillerfest the year after.  That's my goal.  Make it to ten years, ten t-shirts.  After that, well, we'll see.  It's a great party and a great tradition.  I really hate to let it go.

Who needs book recommendations when you have drinking buddies?

Me, Chris Kuzneski, Elle Lothlorien, Boyd Morrison, & Lissa Price

See this photo? It was taken in New York, four or five years ago. I’m looking bedraggled on the far left, and next to me is Chris Kuzneski, then Elle Lothlorien, Boyd Morrison, and Lissa Price. The four of us met about six years ago at the very first Thrillerfest conference in Phoenix, AZ. The only T-fest to be held in Arizona, actually. Anyway, I met these four and many others during what turned out to be a magical conference. At the time, Chris was self-published (on paper—this was before the Kindle was even invented), and the rest were completely unpublished.

Somehow Chris turned his initial self-pubbed thriller into a very successful mainstream publishing career. He’s published seven Payne & Jones novels at this point, and he's a bestselling author here in America.  In fact, his novels have been translated into 20 languages.  Intriguingly, I have it on good authority that he's at the very top of the bestseller lists in Britain.  The man’s a rock star over there!

Elle, who guest blogged here last week, had opportunities in traditional publishing, but is one of the new breed of novelists who has found great success self-publishing both electronically and in print. Like, quit-your-day-job success. She was recently named one of the 25 Self-Published Authors to Watch. (Boyd and several other friends made that list, too.) Elle’s readership is growing exponentially with each novel released, and fans are clamoring for her next, Rapunzel.

Lissa you may not have heard of yet, but I think that will all change in the next few weeks. Her debut YA novel, Starters, is being published by Random House on March 13, 2012. Less than a month away now! I read it a few weeks ago. It’s as close to Hunger Games-level awesomeness as any YA title I’ve read since falling in love with Collins’ series. We all think Lissa is poised for greatness.

And then there’s Boyd, who is the first member of this group that I really clicked with. I’ve been a huge fan and supporter of Boyd’s work since before anyone else discovered him. I’ve been reading (and criticizing the hell out of) his novels since we first met all those years ago. After failing to sell three novels to a “big 6” publisher, Boyd decided, What the hell? He posted his novels for free on the internet, and for sale in the Kindle store. Seven thousand sales later, Boyd was the first writer to turn self-publishing via Kindle into a major publishing contract. I’m still his biggest fan, (and FYI his next Tyler Locke novel may be the best yet).

This group of friends and I have looked at this photograph many times over the years. What amazing success they’ve each realized! What are the odds? All of them? Heck, they might as well crop me right off the end of that photograph, LOL.

I’ve discovered that one friendship leads to others. The gang above befriended Graham Brown before I did, but I met him through them several years ago, and now he’s my friend too. Boyd introduced me to Sophie Littlefield over a casual dinner in San Francisco while he was visiting a few years ago. As Sophie and I both live here, I get to see her more often, now, than he does. Not only is she just a lovely, lovely lady, but I started reading her novels out of curiosity after we met and now I’m totally hooked. Graham, too, for that matter!

In fact, in the past few weeks, I’ve read published or forthcoming works by Elle, Lissa, Boyd, Sophie, and Graham. I’ve got an audiobook of Chris’s on deck that I’ve been meaning to get to. And earlier this week I acquired a galley of Clawback by Mike Cooper, Sophie’s brother, who I had the pleasure of meeting at T-fest last summer. And just today I recieved a galley of the lovely Allison Leotta’s  sophomore novel, Discretion. I can’t wait to dive right in! I really loved her debut, Law of Attraction—another novel I read out of curiosity after meeting her a couple of years ago. Ali is also part of the gang of friends above. Membership just keeps growing and growing! And like so many of these people, Ali and I keep in touch and get together whenever we’re in the same city.

Elle Lothlorien, Paul McEuen, me, Lissa Price, Ali Leotta - All we do is eat.

Even I bring folks into the fold occasionally. Last summer, at the T-fest opening reception, I sought out novelist/physicist Paul McEuen to tell him how completely awesome his debut novel, Spiral, was. I walked up to him and said, “Dr. McEuen, I’m a big fan!” He wound up kibitzing with me and my girlfriends, until Lissa said, “Let’s all go grab dinner.” And abve is a photo from that dinner. I’m looking even more bedraggled than usual, but what a fantastic night that turned out to be! Now Elle, Lissa, Ali, and I are all fans of Paul’s, and I look forward to the day that I can add his next novel to my reading list.

Basically, I could read more books than the vast majority of Americans without ever stepping outside my social circle. Some months, it seems like all I’m reading are books written by friends, and believe me, this isn’t social obligation. It’s pure pleasure! I don’t read every writer I socialize with—even I don’t have enough time to do that. And perhaps it makes sense that I enjoy these writers’ work so much, since I enjoy the people creating the work so much.

Come to think of it, I have a few more books by friends on tap for the immediate future. Jeremy Bates's forthcoming debut novel, White Lies, is waiting on my Kindle to be read. As is Raymond Benson’s second Black Stiletto novel, Black & White. I really enjoyed the first Black Stiletto novel, so I'm looking forward to the new installment.  Heck, I even have a galley of Owen Laukkanen's The Professionals on hand.  I've never met the guy, but any friend of Elle's...

Many of us will be converging on Sacramento late next month for the Left Coast Crime conference. I’ll be in the bar, nursing a Coca-Cola and hanging with my friends. Who knows who I’ll meet at that conference? But I wouldn’t be surprised if I pick up a new favorite author, because who needs book recommendations when you’ve got drinking buddies?

The night we ditched Kuzneski for Boyd's far more beautiful and charming wife, Randi.

Boyd Morrison and April Smith in conversation

Readers of this blog have probably noticed by now that I love attending literary events: readings, signings, lectures, etc.  I don't think people realise that going out to hear a favorite (or even an unknown) author speak is a terrific form of free entertainment.  I'm lucky to live in San Francisco.  We get a lot of authors passing through on tour every day of the week.  Some people are not so fortunate.  Their city or town might not host the number of events that mine does.  For that reason, I sometimes record events to share online.

So, it's also not a secret to readers of this blog that Boyd Morrison is a good friend of mine.  I've heard him speak on panels at Thrillerfest (In fact, I've got video of one of those panels to post some slow news day.), but this was the very first time I've had the pleasure of seeing him on book tour.  What was even nicer is that he was joined on this occasion by novelist April Smith.  Their tours joined up for this one evening of July 21, 2011 at M is for Mystery Bookstore in San Mateo, California.  And instead of just talking about their respective books, the two were able to have an engaging conversation.  I had not met April before, and she turned out to be a lovely, down to earth, and very friendly lady!  It was a pleasure to be there live, and I hope you enjoy my amateur video.

One more thing...  If by the end of the video, either has managed to sell you on their book, I can guarantee that M is for Mystery has signed copies that they'll be happy to ship anywhere.  ;-)  Enjoy!

Mailbox Monday: Oy, three weeks late edition

Happy Monday, one and all.  How much do you love this mailbox?  It's a lobster trap.  It feels appropriately summery--unlike San Francisco, where high temps last week hovered in the upper 50's.  Please let this week get warmer!

I am finally back from my travels, and, as you can see, blogging again.  I have a lot more to write about Thrillerfest, and I'm trying to catch up on my book reviews.  Normally, I'm behind with my reading.  At the moment, I've been reading up a storm.  Unfortunately, I haven't been writing the reviews.  I'm more than a dozen behind, so that's a problem.  But look for them to start appearing this week, okay?

In other news, my voice is beginning to recover from T-fest.  So sad to have such delicate vocal chords.  Clearly, I should spend more time typing and less time talking.  And I have a lot of typing to do this morning.  I haven't posted a Mailbox Monday post in three weeks.  You can guess how many books I've acquired in a three-week period.  Plus, there was another Audible.com audiobook sale, and you know that I can't resist them!  So, we'll see how far we get before I give up.  Anything that I can't get to will have to roll over to next week.

Only Time Will Tell

by Jeffrey Archer

Release date:  August 30, 2011

Source:  Amazon Vine

This is how you can tell I'm a child of the 70's.  I keep hoping Jeffrey Archer's going to write another Kane & Abel.  I did so love those classic novels.  This one is apparently going to be the first in a series, a family saga.  My hopes aren't really that high, but this should be reasonably enjoyable nonetheless.

Dominance

by Will Lavender

Release date: July 5, 2011

Source: Amazon Vine

Yes, another copy.  Someone's going to get it.

The Vault
by Boyd Morrison
Release date: July 5, 2011
Source: Finished hardback from publisher

I love it when publishers send em books that I'm dying to get my hands on!  However, this one didn't stay in my hands for long.  It was last week's giveaway.  I suspect another copy will be coming my way soon...

No Rest for the Dead
Various authors
Release date: July 5, 2011
Source: Finished hardback from publisher

This was a surprise from the kind folks at Simon and Schuster.  I hadn't heard of this book before it arrived in the mailbox.  It's one of those collective novels, where each chapter is written by a different novelist building on what's come before. The list of contributors is impressive indeed. Among the 26 authors are: Alexander McCall Smith, Sandra Brown, Faye Kellerman, J.A. Jance, Jeffery Deaver, Kathy Reichs, Lisa Scottoline, and Jeff Lindsay.   I'll be honest, I generally like the idea of these things better than the execution, but hope springs eternal.  The book is short, starry, and in my house, so I'm going to read it.  I'll let you know how it is.

Overbite
by Meg Cabot
Release date: July 5, 2011
Source: Finished hardback from publisher

Ms. Cabot has moved from Princess Diaries to vampires.  That seems like a logical progression.  Sorry, can't give this away here.  I know someone who is desperate to get her hands on it.

Betrayal of Trust
by J.A. Jance
Release date: July 5, 2011
Source: Finished hardback from publisher

Wow, this is the 20th book in the series.  Impressive longevity!  I'm unlikely to jump into the series at this point, no matter how good the books are.  A likely future giveaway.

Killer Move
by Michael Marshall
Release date: June 28, 2011
Source: Finished hardback from publisher

I'm not familiar with Michael Marshall, but the description of this book is really enticing.  Much more so than the cover, I'm afraid.  Is it just me?  I'm looking forward to reading and reviewing this one soon!

The Map of Time
by Felix J. Palma
Release date: June 28, 2011
Source: finished hardback from publisher

This book, on the other hand, has a beautiful cover.  And, I read my galley of it from cover to cover within the past few weeks.  I haven't written the review yet, but the short version is that after some early misgivings, I found this book to be truly delightful, and am looking forward to the next book in the trilogy!  I would give away my galley copy here, but it's a little too well-read for you guys.  (I like to give you clean, unread books.)  Your loss is the face-to-face book group's gain. 

French Lessons
by Ellen Sussman
Release date: July 5, 2011
Source: Galley from publisher

Does this look familiar?  Oh yes, it's this week's giveaway that no one is entering.  What I've seen of this book is completely delightful.  Man, y'all are tough to give free books too!  Perhaps once I get video of the author up on the blog...  Sorry for the delay.  There aren't enough hours in the weekend.

Excavation
by James Rollins
Release date: March 1, 2011
Source: Gift from author

This is a newly reissued copy of this novel.  Jimbo's earliest novels are finally being released in hardback, one a year.  This particular title is special to both of us, as it is the book that brought the two of us together 11 years ago, and incident that we still frequently laugh over.  Jimbo bought this copy for me at the Mysterious Bookshop while we were in NY and nicely inscribed it for me.  Thank you, Jimbo!  You know I love all your books!

Adrenaline
by Jeff Abbott
Release date: July 1, 2011
Source:  Thrillerfest tote bag

Yes, I received a lovely finished hardback of this current bestseller in my T-fest tote bag.  Score!  I've heard nothing but good things about it.

End of Days
by Robert Gleason
Release date: August 30, 2011
Source: Thrillerfest tote bag

This galley was the other title in my tote bag.  I haven't really had a chance to look it over properly yet, but the cover is certainly an eye-catcher!

Outlander
by Diana Gabaldon
Release date: 6/28/1992
Source: Thrillerfest giveaway

I now have a Kindle, audiobook, and paper copy of this book on hand.  I am rapidly running out of excuses not to read it--except for the fact that it's 896 pages long!  Should I move it up on the TBR list?

The Crown
by Nancy Bilyeau
Release date: January 10, 2012
Source: Thrillerfest giveaway

The debut author of this forthcoming period thriller was signing galleys at T-fest.  I heard her speak on a panel regarding historic fiction, and I look forward to checking the book out.

Rebirth
by Sophie Littlefield
Release date: July 19, 2011
Source: The novel's editor

Adam gifted me a copy of the galley of Rebirth while we were at Thrillerfest, and Sophie kindly signed it.  Guess what?  It's going to be this week's giveaway!  As it happens, I finally read this book over the weekend, and I loved it.  And not just because we're friends.  I'll be posting a review within the next 24 hours.

Luminarium
by Alex Shakar
Release date: August 23, 2011
Source: Electronic galley from publisher

I already have a paper galley of this one that I was looking forward to reading, but having an electronic copy as well just moves it that much higher on my TBR list.  You guys may have noticed that I like reading books in multiple formats--often at the same time.

Birds of Paradise
by Diana Abu-Jaber
Release date: September 6, 2011
Source: Electronic galley from publisher

Here's another book I have in paper.  It was one of the titles I was most excited to grab at BEA, as I am a fan of the author.  There are so many great books to read before fall, I barely know where to begin!

The Prague Cemetery
by Umberto Eco
Release date: November 8, 2011
Source: Electronic galley from publisher

Shameful confession:  I have never finished an Eco novel.  I tried to read Foucault's Pendulum years ago, but it defeated me.  I can probably count on the fingers of one hand writers who were too challenging for me:  Eco, Pynchon, Dostoevsky.  Those are the only three I can think of, and I haven't attempted to read any of them in years.  I've been intimidated.  It's time to conquer my fear.  Mr. Eco, we've got a date this fall!

The Twilight of Lake Woebegotten
by Harrison Geillor
Release date: October 4, 2011
Source: Electronic galley from publisher

Some readers may recall that I read the first book in this series, The Zombies of Lake Woebegotten, because it was a gift from the publisher.  Despite being neither a fan of Prairie Home Companion nor zombies (all evidence to the contrary), I thought the book was a hoot!  That is why, after refusing to read or view anything written by Stephanie Meyers, I will read this book.  What will the pseudonymous Mr. Geillor satirize next?  I can't wait to see!

Ghost Lights
by Lydia Millet
Release date: October 24, 2011
Source: Electronic galley from publisher

I have never read Ms. Millet, have you?  The description of this novel sounded interesting, and the page count sounded short.  It seemed like the perfect introduction to the work of an author I hope I'll like. 



Okay, we're already at 20 books.  Let's save the dozen Audible.com titles for next week, shall we?

Books finished within the past few weeks:

I can barely remember them all, but here are a few titles...
Rebirth by Sophie Littlefield
Then Came You by Jennifer Weiner
Charlie All Night by Jennifer Cruisie (red-eye flight reading)
Still Missing by Chevy Stevens
Buried Secrets by Joseph Finder
Before I go to Sleep by S.J. Watson
Blood of the Reich by William Dietrich
Fever Dream by Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child
The Map of Time by Felix J. Palma

Books I'm currently reading:

Machine Man by Max Barry
Dominance by Will Lavender
Hard-boiled Wonderland and the End of the World by Haruki Murakami (Yes, Nicole, I'm reading my first Murakami.  I'm totally lost, but the writing is gorgeous!)

So, what books have come into your home?  What have you been reading?

Thrillerfest VI: Thursday

So, I don’t participate in the first part of Thrillerfest. That consists of “Craftfest” and “Agentfest,” and since I’m not trying to learn how to write and I’m not seeking representation, there’s no point. The Thrillerfest part of the conference officially kicks off late Thursday afternoon. Happily, I didn’t need to accomplish too much on Thursday before the festivities began.

This was good, because I was experiencing “cascade failure” with my body. It had started the previous day. My contact lens was bugging me early in the day, so I took it out. The previous night, while sitting quietly in a darkened theater, suddenly my eye went nuts. Tears were gushing out of my left eye. I’m dabbing with a Kleenex, and Elle is wondering why I’m crying in a comedy. Soon enough, my nose is also dripping and my throat was sore. I had a head full of salt water. I woke the next morning feeling like I’d been pickled in brine. A week later, my eye is still slightly wonky, though much, much better than during the conference when I was surrounded by cameras and couldn’t put any makeup on my face. *rolls eyes* My throat no longer hurts, but my voice is, if anything, worse. You’ll be glad to know, I’m never speaking again. But I was lucky. Symptom-wise, I was kind of disastrous all weekend, but I never felt sick. I kind of hurt and I felt tired, but there was a reason for that.  No sleep.

So, my first agenda item for Thursday was move into the Grand Hyatt, Thrillerfest’s host hotel. Unfortunately, the Hyatt was not so grand this year. The lobby is being redone, and not to put too fine a point on it, it’s a train wreck. This is disappointing, as the lobby has traditionally been prime mingling and meeting real estate. There was literally no place to see and be seen. Potentially even more disastrous, our bar had been turned into office space! Now, those that know me IRL will attest that I am a girl of moderate habits. So, too, on the road, actually, but when in Rome… What I mean is writers spend a lot of time in bars, and when I’m with them, so do I. Even more than the hotel lobby, it is the place to be. Our old bar at the Hyatt was a sort of dim, intimate Hernando’s Hideaway of a bar. The new bar is a long, stretched out glass and chrome hot house on the lobby’s mezzanine level. It’s a lovely, sunny spot for breakfast or lunch, but how many extramarital affairs or other scandals are going to start in a glass house? (I’ve been hanging with these people for seven years. You haven’t seen the things I’ve seen.)

I met up with Elle in the non-lobby of the Hyatt, because we were going to be rooming together for the long weekend. I was already looking and sounding pretty pathetic at check in, and Elle was having issues of her own. Consequently (?), we scored a fairly nice double room with a small attached seating area. That is where our luck with the Hyatt ended. I am not going to go into excruciating detail, but we had issues, many issues in the next 36 hours. I’m a calm girl, but at one point I threatened to shoot “someone” at the hotel. The next time we came up to our room, there was a bottle of wine chilling on ice, a selection of non-alcoholic beverages, a fruit basket, and cookies. In addition, over the course of three days, we were comped four breakfasts, $200 in hotel credit, and two room nights. I’m pretty sure they lost money on our stay, but things were handled very, very badly. And then once they finally got their act together, everything was fine. So, enough about that.

Reviewer extraordinaire Jeff Ayers

After checking in and getting the lay of the land, I headed down to the Conference Level and picked up my T-fest badge, tote bag, and other random items. This is, of course, where you start greeting friends. The awesome book reviewer and librarian Jeff Ayers was one of the first people I saw. Jeff is… he’s a shiny, happy person. I have never seen that man without a smile on his face. He is the very definition of likeable, and I admire him in so many ways. I also wish I could spend more time with the guy, ‘cause I think I could learn so much from him. Suffice it to say, if Jeff Ayers is the first person to greet you at T-fest, you’re off to a good start.

I’ll admit that I was killing time. I’d connected with several friends, but meetings with agents and the like were happening at the bar. It wasn’t quite social hour yet. There was a welcoming cocktail reception at 6:30pm. Having nothing better to do, I wandered back up to the Conference Level. It occurred to me that for the first time in six years, I might listen in on M.J. Rose and Doug Clegg’s Buzz Your Book session. It’s sort of the transition between Craftfest and Thrillerfest each year, and I haven’t sat in once. I approached with the best intentions, but as I neared, I saw novelist Alan Jacobson enter the room, camera in hand. Alan’s been the official T-fest photographer since forever. Why? He has skills. Skills beyond writing a fine thriller. Anyway, I was lurking outside when the flashes had stopped, and I grabbed Alan for a nice catch up. He lives right in the Bay Area like me, but I hadn’t seen him since Bouchercon. So typical. Happily, Alan and I generally do manage to carve out some one-on-one time wherever we are, and it’s a pleasure for me, because he’s a lovely, lovely man. Seriously, a favorite in the industry. And I’m a bad lady, because I still haven’t read any of his Karen Vail novels. He gets all these starred reviews in the publishing trades, but I’ve been reticent to jump into an ongoing series. I’m going to remedy that soon. He’s got a new one coming out with the enticing title: Inmate 1577. Hear me now, I will read Alan soon.

Let me address something… I speak very highly about a lot of people in these circles. See Jeff Ayers and Alan Jacobson above. This is because I think very highly of these people. I’m super lucky to move in some very, very cool circles. Ironically, what I’m famous (or infamous) for in these circles is speaking my mind. So, sorry if I’m boring everyone talking about how totally awesome these people are. There are a lot of unbelievably awesome people at Thrillerfest. That’s why I’ve made and kept so many friends over the years. Not everyone is awesome, and I don’t mind naming names. I don’t know him personally, but I’m sorry to say that no one has a nice word to say about Stuart Woods. The consistency is stunning. But I don’t know him. I choose to surround myself with amazing, cool, beautiful people. And that leads us right into the opening cocktail party…

Me with Paul & Christi a couple of years ago.

OMG, so many good people that I haven’t seen in a year! ITW Co-President and all-around good guy Doug Preston; my buddy Bob Liparulo who I haven’t seen for two or three years; Paul and Christi Kemprecos who I love sooo much, but I can’t do more than wave at because I’m trapped by my own social circle! The frequently teasing David Liss gave me a warm hug. I connect with my dear friends Boyd and Randi Morrison. I’m chatting at length with Lissa Price, about whom you’ll hear much, much more later. Elle’s here too. Boyd, Lissa, Elle, Jimbo, me, and several others all go back to the very first T-fest in Phoenix, six years ago. We all bonded, and that bond has really held. It’s a wonderful, special friendship. And the nice thing is, as we each make more friends over the years, we share them. I met hunky novelist Graham Brown through those guys, but unfortunately our good friends Graham and equally hunky Chris Kuzneski had bailed at the last minute to meet their writing deadlines. Do you readers understand that you’re negatively impacting my social life? Another friend I’d met through Boyd Morrison is another Bay Area writer, the lovely and delightful, and very sociable Sophie Littlefield. Yes, I know everyone who reads this blog is very familiar with all of these names. It’s a combination of me reading my friends, becoming friends with the people I read, writing about my friends, and my friends being imminently newsworthy.



Mike Cooper & Margery Flax of the MWA

 Back to Sophie. She pulls me over and introduces me to her brother, Mike Cooper, about whom I’ve heard much. He’s a lovely friendly fellow, and pretty soon I’m introducing him to half the party as “Sophie’s brother.” It’s not that he’s not a talented and successful author in his own right, but as I explained to him, he just happened to be in a quadrant of the room that was essentially the Sophie Littlefield fan club. Me, Boyd and Randi, Elle, Lissa, Allison “Ali” Leotta, even Sophie’s editor Adam Wilson wandered by and joined the conversation. There were others, but I can’t even remember anymore. Is there anyone who doesn’t love Sophie?

I’d forgotten to eat all day, so I was snarfing up food while socializing. But eventually we started to talk dinner. God bless Lissa for practicality. But then my attention was caught by a very recognizable stranger, the debut author of one of the best novels I’ve read this year. I walked right up to him and said, “Dr. McEuen, I’m a big fan of yours!” In general, I’ve found this to be an acceptable way to begin a conversation, and it worked like a charm. Paul McEuen is not only a brilliant, world-renowned physicist working in nanotechnology, he is also the author of the uber-smart thriller Spiral. I think I was gushing when Lissa walked up and said, “Come to dinner with us.” (God bless you, Lissa, for being cool and assertive!) And he did!

The final contingent was me, Lissa, Elle, Ali Leotta, and Paul. We’d gone looking for Mike Cooper to extend an invitation, but couldn’t find him. Poor Paul, he was stuck with four ladies. Our concierge directed us to Avra, an upscale Greek seafood restaurant a few blocks away. We had a reservation, which worked out great. The ambiance was lovely, and I was feeling very New York chic. We were given this fabulous semi-circle booth, and I was seated smack in the center, with Paul and Elle on one side, and Lissa and Ali on the other. We had plenty of room, but this had the unfortunate side effect of fracturing our conversation in two. At one point, someone had the bright idea of us all smooshing closer together. It was unbearably adorable, all of us taking up about 2/3rds of our booth, but it worked like a charm! Conversation was vastly improved! There’s a photo in existence somewhere, and if I can ever get my 

Ali back home in DC

hands on it, I’ll post it.  For now, you'll have to make due with stock photos of everyone.

Now, let me tell you a little more about my girlfriends. They’re all beautiful and wildly accomplished. It’s enough to give a lowly blogger a complex, but I’m working on my issues. Ali Leotta is a Harvard Law grad who spent 12 years as a federal sex crimes prosecutor before writing her first legal thriller, Law of Attraction. She's also the married mom of two little boys aged two and four. Oy. I call her "The Underachiever." We met at Thrillerfest only last year, but have kept in touch since. I was so looking forward to introducing her to “the rest of the gang” this year, and she just hit it off with every single person I introduced her to. I didn’t even have to join the conversation.

Lissa Price, the Next Big Thing

You haven't heard of Lissa Price yet, but you will. As I said earlier, she's been my friend since the very first T-fest, and her forthcoming futuristic thriller, Starters,  will be Random House's lead YA title for Spring 2012. (Check it out, it's available for preorder now--cool!)  They're going all out for her, and it sounds like they're positioning her to be the Next Big Thing. So many of our good friends have achieved big success in the years since we’ve met that at times it seems astonishing, but there’s always room in the pool for one more. We're all very excited for her!



Sophie Littlefield & Elle Lothlorien

 And lovely Elle Lothlorien hasn't been traditionally published. She's had several near misses. She's another friend who I've known since the very first T-fest six years ago. After her thriller failed to sell, she decided to go in a completely different direction. She wrote a chick lit novel called The Frog Prince and posted it to Amazon. Without any name recognition or platform, she's selling steadily at a rate that would impress any publisher. The reviews and word of mouth have been stellar, and fans are clamoring for her next novel, Sleeping Beauty, which should be available soon. At this point, she holds all the cards with her career.

Paul McEuen, my new favorite person

And, as mentioned earlier, Paul McEuen will probably be, like, a Nobel Laureate one day. I mean, can you imagine the honor of just being allowed to sit at that dinner table? The conversations were FANTASTIC! At one point, Paul looked around and said, “This table is so not typical of America.” I think it was because Elle and I were totally geeking out over the science, like the geeky science nerds that we are. Anyway, by the end of that dinner, basically all of us girls (married and single) were crushing on Paul. Jimbo (Rollins) later dubbed us "techno-sluts" because we wouldn't shut up about him all weekend, LOL. (And relax, Mrs. McEuen, it was all very innocent and intellectual, I swear.)  But he is kind of a hottie.  Am I right?  In a brainy, mountain man kind of way?

After dinner, we found ourselves back at the Hyatt’s bar, where we reunited with our other friends. I saw Jimbo for the first time since our cab ride into the city. After greeting him, he was like, “When did you become Brenda Vaccaro?” The voice truly was awful, and the worst part is the people who were only just meeting me don’t know that I don’t (in the words of David Liss) sound "like a 90-year-old smoker." I had fun introducing Paul to Jimbo and Boyd and so many others over the course of the weekend, leading him to believe I’m a Yenta.

My friends are always trying to propose an actual paying job for me in the publishing industry. That should be it. I’m a Publishing Yenta, a matchmaker. It really is what I do best, just ask anyone. The phrase I heard over and over all weekend is, “Susan knows everyone.” Clearly that’s not true, but of the people I do know, I like to get people who should know each other together. And I’m quite good at that.

I’m not sure how late we were out that night, but Elle and I were among the last to hit the road. I seem to recall us being among the last of the women, and at some point that night, we met these two guys, Ethan and Jeremy. It turns out they were sharing a room a few doors down the hall from us, and I seemed to see them constantly all weekend. Ethan Cross has just published his debut novel, The Shepard, and Jeremy Burns is still working on getting published. Now watch, he’ll probably become the next Lee Child or something. Seriously, everyone I meet at these things becomes wildly successful. Just a heads up for you, Jeremy. Anyway, these two were good fun, and we saw a lot of them as the weekend progressed, often late, late at night. Ah, to be that young again. Alas I’m not. I slept in the next day.

More soon…

On the road with James Rollins



Novelist James Rollins in devil horns [insert joke of your choice here].

I spent last weekend on book tour.  Obviously, I wasn't on tour.  No, I was on the road with Jimbo.  (For those that haven't been following along, "Jimbo" is novelist James Rollins.  We've been close friends for more than a decade.  And, no, most people don't call him Jimbo.)  As I type, Jim's been on the road for about a week and a half, and he's only at the midpoint of this tour promoting his new novel, The Devil Colony.  (Hence the photo above.)  For him, this is work--and as glamorous as the *idea* of touring may seem, the reality is grueling.  For instance, the other day he did a book launch event in California, took the red-eye to New York, spent 12 hours on the ground, and flew back to Portland, Oregon without ever sleeping.

It was lucky for the two of us that he had multiple events scheduled for the Bay Area, and that the signings happened to fall over the weekend.  Generally speaking, I have trouble luring him to the big city, and I'm pretty sure the two nights he spent in San Francisco was the longest he's stayed in town in the decade that I've lived here.  We're both busy people, and we don't get to spend as much time together as we once did.  So, a chore for him, but a pleasure for me.  It was truly lovely having so much quality time together!

We kicked off the weekend doing what we do best: eat.  Man, do we like to eat!  We were reminiscing, and realized that more than a few of our all-time best meals have been enjoyed together.  But we were both tired after our long work weeks, so on Friday night, we shared a very nice meal in the excellent hotel restaurant.  Afterwards we sat by the fireplace in the lobby and kibitzed until we were both about to fall asleep.  We said goodnight, and agreed that we wouldn't meet again before noon the next day.  And actually, it was after 1:00pm before we reconnected.

Which brings us to our next favorite activity: shopping.  Or, more like window shopping, 'cause I don't recall us buying anything.  But there's always the potential.  Being poor in San Francisco, I don't pay that much attention to the many gorgeous shops and plentiful offerings all around me.  But when I'm with Jim, I see it all through different eyes.  Several years ago, we were browsing in an art galley and we saw the most fabulous painting.  I call it the "Angry Bunny," and it's rare that I see Jimbo and don't inquire after it.  I think it was love at first sight for both of us.  It wasn't an expensive piece by anyone's standards, but even so there's something exciting about that firm, unquestioning, "Yes, I'll take it."  Even I could have afforded the Angry Bunny, but I wouldn't have bought it.  I'm glad he took it, and I'm glad I get to visit it in his office.

We actually didn't have that much time to goof around before we had to get over to Borderlands Books in San Francisco's Mission neighborhood.  We wanted to leave plenty of time to cab over, because it was Pride Weekend in San Francisco, and as you can imagine, it's a pretty major event.  Borderlands is an independent bookstore that specializes in new and used science fiction, fantasy, and horror.  Regular readers of this blog will realize that I'm not a big consumer of those genres.  Therefore, it's telling that I consider this my favorite bookstore in San Francisco.  It's a very special place.  When I was still new to San Francisco, I walked in one day and announced, "I hate science fiction."  Rather than show me to the door, the staff has spent the past 10 years learning what I do like, and where my interests intersect with theirs.  If manager Jude Feldman tells me that I'll like a book, I buy it on the spot.  These people are real professionals as well as good friends, and this store exemplifies why I value independent booksellers in my community.

Jimbo feels much as I do about this store.  He's not the perfect match for their readership, but they like him and he likes them, and it all works.  They also host lovely events, and a respectable crowd had come out to see Jimbo on an exceptionally lovely Saturday afternoon.  As it happens, the audience even included another best-selling author, Scott Sigler, a friend of Jim's and very much a part of the Borderlands circle. 

Below I'm posting, in it's entirety, Jimbo's appearance at Borderlands on Saturday, June 25, 2011.  If you wanted to catch him on tour, but he didn't swing through Podunk, well, this is the James Rollins experience.  Here's the thing...  I recorded some or all of Jim's talk at three different book shops that weekend.  I thought about trying to cut together a "best of" version with snippets of all three.  For instance, he does "the Chuck story" best at Borderlands, but did a much better job talking about the plot elements of The Devil Colony at M is for Mystery the next day.  But overall, there's a shocking (and slightly disturbing) sameness to all of these signing events.  He tells the same stories.  He gets asked the same questions--and he answers them in the exact same way.  Mostly.  Obviously, each event is unique.

So, I decided that I would start by posting the Borderlands footage first.  If you're going to see him in Boston next week, maybe you don't want to watch this.  Wait and see him live.  But, if you won't have a chance to see him on tour, enjoy this.  He's a lot of fun!  And if there's interest, perhaps I'll post some more of the footage from the other events later to compare and contrast.  You can even critique his performance, LOL.  (Let me know in the comments if you want to see more.)  For now, here's how things opened, along with some info on his professional background, and the infamous Chuck story.  Poor Chuck...



In this second section, he discusses the worst question you can ask an author. Scott Sigler gets it on the first guess. Jimbo then discusses some of the science and history behind The Devil Colony.



In part 3, he wraps up the history and begins the Q & A. This leads to a discussion of the travel he does for research.



More Q & A regarding his work habits, writing style, his favorite among his novels, and film options.



More questions about The Skeleton Key, thoughts on ebooks, the "Rollins" brand, his other alter-egos, book covers, and titles. Plus, he announces an upcoming charitable campaign for the first time!



In this final Q & A segment, Jim discusses the schedule of forthcoming books, the editorial process, mistakes in the novels--including the most embarrassing mistake he ever published. Bonus discussion of his terrible handwriting.




So, this has gotten very long.  I hope you enjoyed seeing Jim on tour.  Do let me know in the comments if you want to hear more about our weekend and/or see more footage of his book tour events.

One more thing...  If you've read this far, you are a serious James Rollins fan.  The question is, have you discovered Boyd Morrison yet?  Boyd is a friend of Jim's, and both Jim and I are fans of his work.  Boyd writes the sort of page-turning science and adventure thrillers that should appeal to any Rollins fan.  His latest novel, The Vault, goes on sale this Tuesday, July 5th, but I'm giving away a copy on the blog right HERE.  I definitely encourage all Rollins fans to enter this giveaway.  And even if you don't win, you might want to give Boyd a try.  You'll thank me.  :-)

HUMPDAY GIVEAWAY: The Vault by Boyd Morrison

Well, the Blog Hop Giveaway has been a blast!  Normally I choose winners for my giveaways early on Wednesday, but I'll give stragglers until midnight to enter to win In the Garden of Beasts.  I'll post the names of the winners tomorrow morning, and since just about everyone left an email, I'll notify winners that way, too.

Now, however, it's time for business as usual around here.  And business as usual means the Humpday Giveaway!  (What else is there to look forward to on Wednesdays?)  I came home to a pleasant surprise yesterday, a shiny hardback of Boyd Morrison's novel The Vault--which doesn't even go on sale until next week.  Thanks, Simon & Schuster!  Now, I have a reader who's been begging me to give away a copy of this book for months.  Kerry, this is your week.  Go for it!

It is no secret that I've been a big Morrison fan for about five years now.  That's not bad, considering he's only been in print for about a year.  I was what you'd call an early fan, and I'm in good company--James Rollins, Douglas Preston, Chris Kuzneski, and Steve Berry are among his earliest supporters.  My enthusiastic review of this novel can be seen HERE.  But I'm not alone in my praise for The Vault.  In their starred review, Publisher's Weekly wrote:

Originally published as an e-book in 2009 (The Adamas Blueprint), Morrison's excellent third thriller (after The Ark and The Rogue Wave) finds series hero Tyler Locke, aided by TV journalist and Greek scholar Stacy Benedict, trying to defuse a time bomb aboard a Seattle to Bremerton, Wash., ferry by solving an ancient puzzle created by Archimedes. That is merely the first task devised for Locke and Benedict by criminal mastermind Jordan Orr, whose ultimate goal is to locate the tomb of King Midas and the secret of the Midas touch that transmutes base metals to gold. With the lives of their loved ones at stake, the pair embark on a series of increasingly dangerous jaunts to England, Germany, Greece, and Italy to collect and decipher pieces of a puzzle that will allow them to locate the tomb buried among the miles of tunnels underlying Naples. Compelling action more than compensates for improbabilities and lack of character development in this electrifying blend of history, myth, and science.

"Electrifying"--they don't say that about just any book.  (Never mind that they got their facts slightly confused.  This was never published as an ebook, and is not the novel formerly known as The Adamas Blueprint.)  I'm just saying that you want to read this one, whether you win it from me, or, say, rush to the bookstore when it goes on sale next Tuesday.  For now, to enter this contest, all you have to do is leave a comment below.  Standard rules apply.  For extra winning karma, go to Amazon and vote the review I just posted "helpful."  Other than that, good luck!

• The giveaway is open to anyone with a U.S. mailing address ('cause I'm footing the postage).
• To enter, all you need to do is post a comment below by Wednesday, July 6, 2011.
• At my discretion, if there are less than five respondents, I can cancel or extend the giveaway.
• Winner will be chosen by me with the help of a random number generator, and will be announced in the comments section of this thread.
• Please check back to see if you've won. If you have left a way to contact you, I will do so.
• The winner has one week to respond to me at suetu@yahoo.com with a mailing address, or I will choose a new winner.
• If a second winner fails to respond, the book automatically goes to the lovely members of my face-to-face book club.
• Previous giveaway winners are welcome to enter.
• Finally, if at all possible, please comment below only if you're entering the giveaway.

 

Tyler Locke & his Leatherman tool are back!

The Vault
by Boyd Morrison

Yes, Tyler Locke, the protagonist of The Ark, is back, as are his sidekick Grant Westfield, the General, and several other characters from Boyd Morrison’s debut novel. One notable exception is Dilara Kenner, who is not featured in this latest adventure. Obviously, this is the second book in a continuing series. In general, I’m a big proponent of reading series books in order, but in this case I don’t think it matters if you’ve read the first. The events of The Ark are barely referenced, even in passing, so you won’t be missing a thing.

Like so many action heroes, trouble seems to find Tyler Locke. This time it takes the form of an insistently ringing telephone. Tyler is minding his own business on a ferry commute when an unknown caller tells him he has 28 minutes to defuse a bomb on the boat. Having no other option, Tyler investigates. He is indeed led to a bomb, a blonde, and a puzzle. What he doesn’t know is that this set-up is only the first test. The mystery caller is Jordan Orr, a career criminal with an insane-sounding quest. The blonde is Stacy Benedict, another innocent bystander, like Tyler, with a unique skill set. And Orr has acquired exactly the leverage to make both Tyler and Stacy do his bidding. For what he wants is nothing less than the Midas Touch.

Let’s stop right there. Yes, that Midas Touch, where everything you touch turns to gold. As I read this fairly early on in the novel, I was skeptical. Actually, I don’t think skeptical covers it; I was bordering on contemptuous. It was the most ridiculous premise I could imagine for a quest thriller. But I am a big Morrison fan, so I suspended my disbelief and continued reading. (Incidentally, one of the things I like best about Tyler Locke is that he articulates all the things I’m thinking—but more knowledgeably. He doesn’t just say that alchemy is a fantasy; he explains why nuclear fission isn’t a practical means to turn lead into gold.)

Ultimately, I was rewarded for giving the author the latitude to ply his craft. He never let me down on the entertainment—though there were some scenes that felt a bit contrived to me. And while I’m not going to claim that this is the most plausible plot, Morrison pulls it off. He makes it believable enough (and I’m not a pushover when it comes to that). There was a science-based plot twist at one point that made me literally stand up and cheer out loud. It was so awesome!

As far as character development goes, I’d say it’s about status quo with the first book. Don’t pick this book up if you are looking for an intimate character portrait. Pick it up if you want a rockin’ car chase on the Autobahn. Pick it up if you enjoy a good heist. Pick it up if you’re curious how science can explain the legend of Midas. And pick The Vault up if you’re looking for a book that’s hard to put down.