The Tao of Doo


In his kind and generous review of my first mystery, DEATH NOTICE, author James Reasoner said the plot was vaguely reminiscent of something found in Scooby-Doo, only played seriously. He meant it as a compliment and I took it Read more

BAD MOON Rises


Another October, another release date. Since BAD MOON is my second book, you would think I'd be used to it. But nope, I'm not. BAD MOON's publication date feels as surreal as DEATH NOTICE's did last year. For readers, the Read more

Writing With ... Louise Penny


I am thrilled beyond words to welcome one of my favorite writers, Louise Penny, whose Armand Gamache mysteries have appeared on bestseller lists worldwide.  Her last book, BURY YOUR DEAD, won the Ellis for best mystery in Canada, and Read more

Is Browsing Dead?


I'll be the first to admit that I was a nerdy teenager. Not pocket protector nerdy, but no sports star, either. I was bookish, I guess you could say. I read A LOT back then, and nothing pleased me Read more

Why We Left Earth


Outer space has always been a mystery. Even before mankind fully grasped its vastness, they wanted to go there. Early astronomers, fascinated by the stars, invented ways to get a closer view. Think Copernicus, Galileo, Cassini. Writers not content Read more

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Writing With

Writing With … Alma Katsu

Posted on 09/13/2011 by Todd Posted in Writing With | 3 Comments

An incredibly fun aspect of being a writer is meeting other writers. I had the pleasure of meeting Alma Katsu at Thrillerfest in July. Alma is the author of THE TAKER, a historical novel with a supernatural element. It’s been described as an “epic supernatural love story,” and compared to the early work of Anne Rice. Alma has an MA in fiction from Johns Hopkins
University and was an intelligence analyst with the CIA and NSA but resigned to pursue writing full time. THE TAKER is the first book in a trilogy.

Q. Tell us about your book and what inspired you to write it.

The TAKER is slightly indescribable. On one level, it’s about a young woman who falls in love with a young man that she cannot have. She’s loved him at her own peril and she is about to pay for it, when she falls in with a seductive, mysterious man who offers her the power to win her lover and bind him to her forever. She accepts this offer and then finds out she has made a terrible bargain and she has to figure out how to save her lover and herself from damnation. Love is at the heart of the book, but it’s an exploration of how little we really know about what drives us to love someone, how we are capable of selfishness, and how hard it is to really change. On one hand it’s very much like a fairy tale, and on the other hand, it’svery dark. If you like stories that sweep you away, you’ll like it. If you like stories where the hero and heroine wait until the very end of the book to have their first chaste kiss, you’ll probably hate it.

The other thing is that while it’s very gothic and compared to INTERVIEW WITH THE VAMPIRE a lot, there are no vampires in it, and that has disappointed some readers.

Q. Did you need to do any special research for the book? If so, what’s one of the most interesting facts you discovered?

There are, basically, two worlds in the book: one is New England in a funny period — post-Revolutionary War era — and the other is medieval central Europe, including attitudes toward religion, magic and alchemy. The book isn’t intended to be a historical with a capital H; I’m not a historian. Even though I grew up in a historical area of Massachusetts, I ended up doing a lot of research on the colonial American side of things, along the lines of “What did they eat for breakfast?” and “When did they start using the St. John waterway to float logs for the timber industry?” You know, questions that everyone wants to know the answer to. Oddly, I had a good working knowledge of the other subject area — Hungarian history and magic — and didn’t have to do as much research for that part. Really. And no, I’m not Hungarian.

Q. Many people are content to just be readers. How did you become a writer?

I always wanted to write. I was one of those kids who used books to escape from my life. At some point you start wanting to match wits with your favorite authors, see if you can do something as quixotic.

Q. What do you like to do when you’re not writing?

Since I resigned from my job, I am rarely NOT writing or doing work related to my writing career. Some day this panic will wear off and I’ll learn balance the different parts of my life. But I was like this as an analyst, too. There were periods when I worked 16-hour days, no exaggeration.

Q. What are you reading right now?

Like half of the planet, I’m reading GAME OF THRONES by George R.R. Martin, because I loved the HBO series. I’m in one of those lulls where I have a stack of about 20 books on my “to be read” pile but none are all that appealing.

Q. If you were stranded on that proverbial deserted island, what five books would
you want to have with you?

LIFE AMONG THE SAVAGES by Shirley Jackson. I read this as a kid, when I was likeeight years old and I think it permanently affected my outlook on everyday life. I reread it every couple of years just to reaffirm that it’s as surreal as I remember it.

CASANOVA IN BOLZANO by Sandor Marai. If you haven’t read the book, don’t be put off by the terrible movie supposedly based on it. CIB is a tightly layered onion of a reflection of the nature of love as experienced by both sexes. You can peel this
onion all day, there’s still more layers beneath.

After that, it’s hard to say. I’m an eclectic reader and my mood jumps around a lot. Whenever David Mitchell has a new book out, I tend to get it. I have a lot of respect for many writers but I don’t necessarily read all their books.

Q. What’s your favorite movie?

This one is easy: Orlando, directed by Sally Potter and starring Tilda Swinton. It has everything I love in entertainment: big, lush, magical. But I watch few movies and almost no television, GOT excepted.

Q. What’s your favorite food?

Right now, it would be something forbidden like a really good pizza or perfect hamburger. Gelatto in Italy. I ate it everyday while I was there.

Q. Cats or dogs?

Dogs. Two whippets, to be exact.

Q. Name one thing that people would be surprised to learn about you.

How to narrow it down to just one? I do not read, write or speak a language other than English. I couldn’t force myself to do it back in school.

Writing With … Rhys Bowen

Posted on 09/06/2011 by Todd Posted in Writing With | 2 Comments

Today, the fantastic Rhys Bowen tackles the Writing With questionnaire. Rhys writes the Molly Murphy mysteries, set in 1900s New York City, and the lighter Royal Spyness stories, about a minor royal in 1930s England. Her latest Royal Spyness mystery, NAUGHTY IN NICE, comes out today. Her books have been nominated for every major award. She has won 11, including Agatha, Anthony and McAvity awards. Rhys is a transplanted Brit who now divides her time between California and Arizona.

Q. Tell us about your book and what inspired you to write it.

NAUGHTY IN NICE is the fifth Royal Spyness novel. Lady Georgie, broke as usual, accepts a daring challenge from Queen Mary — to recover a priceless snuff box from a scoundrel on the French Riviera. But this proves the least of her worries — a stolen necklace, modeling for Coco Chanel, a murder and a
seductive marquis will keep Georgie from enjoying the sun and the casinos.

I started writing this series because I was being pressured to write a big dark standalone novel and I felt the world was too full of darkness. I’m fascinated by the Thirties and how that time mirrors ours, and it is such fun to poke fun at the British class system. Georgie has had some harrowing adventures so I felt she needed a little R & R on the Riviera.

Q. Did you need to do any special research for the book? If so, what’s one of the most interesting facts you discovered?

It was exhausting — a whole summer in Nice, all those bistros and different wines. But someone had to do it! Actually, I did work quite hard spending days in libraries, looking at old photographs and maps, and prowling around famous old hotels. I also did a lot of reading about Chanel, who figures prominently in the story. And the most fascinating fact I discovered was that she had put on a fashion show combining the masculine and feminine — tweed jackets borrowed from her lover, the Duke of Westminster, combined with jewelry borrowed by her business partner, Vera Bate Lombardi, from her aunt, Queen Mary. How could I not use that in my story?

Q. Many people are content to just be readers. How did you become a writer?

I’ve been a writer since the age of four. Living in a pretend world then was natural to me and telling other people about it seemed natural, too. I’m also a reader and I tend to write stories that I can’t already find on the shelf and I want to read.

Q. What do you like to do when you’re not writing?

With two books a year and a lot of touring for promotion, that isn’t often! But I like to travel, to hike with friends, to sketch, to sing, to play my Celtic harp and to spoil my grandchildren.

Q. What are you reading right now?

I’m re-reading Agatha Christie’s MURDER IN THREE ACTS because I saw it on television this week and I didn’t remember the story as they told it. I hate it when they mess around with books I’ve read!

Q. If you were stranded on that proverbial deserted island, what five books would
you want to have with you?

Would the one I’m working on right now count?
If not: THE LORD OF THE RINGS (a book I’ve read over and over since I first discovered it as a teenager)
Connie Willis’s TO SAY NOTHING OF THE DOG (to make me laugh and remind me of a civilized time in England)
A.S Byatt’s POSSESSION (those poems alone would be worth studying)
THE OXFORD BOOK OF VERSE (so that I could read poems out loud)
And am I allowed THE COMPLETE SHERLOCK HOLMES?

Q. What’s your favorite movie?

Out of Africa –so romantic and so visual.

Q. What’s your favorite food?

Oysters

Q. Cats or dogs?

Love them both. If I had to pick one it would probably be dogs.

Q. Name one thing that people would be surprised to learn about you.

I once used to sing in folk clubs with Simon and Garfunkel.

Writing With … Louise Penny

Posted on 08/29/2011 by Todd Posted in Featured, Writing With | Comments Off on Writing With … Louise Penny

I am thrilled beyond words to welcome one of my favorite writers, Louise Penny, whose Armand Gamache mysteries have appeared on bestseller lists worldwide.  Her last book, BURY YOUR DEAD, won the Ellis for best mystery in Canada, and is nominated for the Anthony, Barry, Macavity and Nero awards in the United States.  Her next book, A TRICK OF THE LIGHT, will be released tomorrow.  You can visit her website at www.louisepenny.com.

Q. Tell us about your book and what inspired you to write it. 

A TRICK OF THE LIGHT is the seventh in the Armand Gamache series. And while it (like all the rest) is clearly a murder mystery, it is in reality more about life than death. One of the continuing series characters, Clara Morrow, finally gets her solo art show, and we get to see how she, and those close to her, react.  And whether the art world will embrace or shun her. This book, though, really explores the role hope plays in the lives of the characters, including the police officers, Gamache and Beauvoir.  And the difference between real and false hope. It’s also about duality — the gap between how things appear and what they really are.

Q. Did you need to do any special research for the book? If so, what’s one of the most interesting facts you discovered?

Before starting to write this book, I’d never the term “chiaroscuro.” It’s an artistic term meaning the strong contrast between light and dark. It was by pure chance I stumbled across this while researching the art world, since this book has so much about art and the artistic temperament. It, of course, then became a central theme … that duality again — between light and dark. In art and in life.

Q. Many people are content to just be readers. How did you become a writer?

I’ve wanted to be one since the age of 8, when I fell in love with Charlotte and Wilbur and the other animals in CHARLOTTE’S WEB.  How marvelous to get to create imaginary friends, then play with them all day, and as a writer, get paid for it.  Though I’m not necessarily the best friend since I sometimes kill one (or two) off.  Shhh.

Q. What do you like to do when you’re not writing?

It feels like I’m always writing … or thinking about it. But I love my home — I’m a nester, and I sometimes think the farther from my bed I get the odder I become. So I love to hang around home with my beloved Michael and our puppy Trudy. Going for walks, reading, sitting by the fireplace. Gardening a bit in summer. I also, perversely, love to travel — but to select places.  London, for instance, is like a second home.

Q. What are you reading right now? 

An Agatha Christie — ONE, TWO, BUCKLE MY SHOE.  I’ve read it before, but I’m just finishing writing the 8th book in the Gamache series and so I like to read something fun and not very challenging.  I adore Agatha Christie and am very aware of the role she played in my formative years.

Q. If you were stranded on that proverbial deserted island, what five books would you want to have with you?

Beyond the obvious “How to” books —

The complete works of W.H. Auden

A French/English dictionary (finally nail the subjunctive!!)

Complete works of Shakespeare

A history of music (with classical scores)

A collection of works of art

I realize I’ve cheated by making them collections or dictionaries — but I’d love to learn how to read music, then have scores, so that I could have symphonies in my head all day long.  And to study great works of art, and be transported by the divine.

Q. What’s your favorite movie?

The Lion in Winter.

Q. What’s your favorite food?

Fruit salad — for real.  I LOVE it.  My second favorite would be burgers, fries and shakes.

Q. Cats or dogs?

Dogs.

Q. Name one thing that people would be surprised to learn about you.

I am a saint. For real. I sent away to the Universal Life Church back when I was a journalist doing an expose on dodgy religions that get tax exemptions in Canada. For a fee, they’d make me an ordained minister — and for a little extra they’d declare me a saint. So I sprang for the extra and am now Saint Louise — patron saint of the extremely lazy.

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