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Bouchercon Comes to San Francisco!

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In just three short weeks the city of San Francisco will be overrun by people thinking about murder.

In a good way! 😉

Bouchercon, the world’s largest crime fiction event, is coming to Hammett’s city. Writers, readers, editors, agents, librarians, book collectors, book stores … it’s a giant festival of crime (writing), right here in my home.

If you like mystery–and you live anywhere in the Bay Area–try not to miss it. The cast list is huge, and the events will knock your socks off.

Bouchercon is extra-special to me. My first large conference (in October, 2007, almost a year before my debut book was released) was in Anchorage, Alaska. I’ve written before about how much that seminal experience taught me; how it focused me on taking the plunge into writing the book that would become CITY OF DRAGONS.

Bouchercon also served as my introduction to the crime fiction family at large … and being a part of that family is truly the best part of being a writer. I dedicated CITY OF DRAGONS to my initiatory Alaskan experience, and I’m looking forward to another spectacular and special time right here in my own backyard, complete with Bertie, who gets to play Toto. 😉

BTW, Bouchercon is pronounced “Bow-cher-con”. I knew it originated with Anthony Boucher, a prolific mystery writer from the 40s who also used to review for our very own San Francisco Chronicle! I used to think his last name was pronounced as if it were French (Boo-shaycon), as in the Rococo painter. However you pronounce it, it adds up to a whole lot of fun. 🙂

Right now, I’m preparing for the conference–working on the launch for a robust and exciting new website–and working on the next two Miranda Corbie books. And gearing up for THE CURSE-MAKER launch! We just received the final cover yesterday, and it’s utterly fabulous–spooky, creepy, intriguing, mysterious, with evocative and subtle allusions to Roman culture. In other words: PERFECT!

In two weeks I’ll be participating in San Francisco’s LitCrawl, the culminating literary trek of Litquake. I’m in Phase Two with friends Michelle Gagnon, Simon Wood, Julianne Balmain and Seth Harwood. We’ll be reading in the Mission District police station in between lineups (no kidding!) so if you’re in the area, c’mon by! No need to get arrested first. 😉

At Bouchercon, I’ll be participating on two panels, and in the “black envelope” event on Thursday night (about which I’m sworn to silence, but can only say: don’t miss it!!)

My panels are fabulous, and I have the thrill and pleasure of participating with good friends and favorite writers:

Thursday at 4:30 PM: “Year of the Locusts: Books to Movies”. I’m moderating, and the panel features Ken Bruen, Val McDermid, Paul Levine and Derek Haas.

Friday at 3:00 PM: “No Minor Vices: SF Noir”. Peter Maravelis is moderating, with David Corbett, Lisa Lutz, Eddie Muller and Domenic Stansberry.

Is it any wonder I can’t wait? 🙂

Day passes are available for the conference. If you’re in San Francisco from October 14th-17th, drop in–you won’t be disappointed! Litquake one week, Bouchercon the next–San Francisco is Lit City in October!

Springing Forward in the Fall

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It’s funny how time works.

The whole relativity thing may be provable mathematically, but I’m more interested in the emotional effects of how time feels … you know, how it speeds up and slows down all at once, depending on what you’re doing–and sometimes who you’re doing it with.

The last couple of months have gone by quickly from the vantage point of today … I spent most of the summer writing the sequel to CITY OF DRAGONS–tentative title is CITY OF SPIDERS–which will be out next year in the late summer or early fall. And while I was writing it–while I was following Miranda through some suspenseful and harrowing events–time was excruciatingly slow.

But not really.

Then came a week of copy editing for THE CURSE-MAKER, which is releasing February 1st, 2011. Now, I’m not a huge fan of the copy editing process, so it seemed much longer than a week. And while the non-writer part of my brain thinks February is a comfortable few months away (all those holidays, after all!), the writer part of my brain (which takes up more space) is about to panic. 😉

So time isn’t just relative between people … it’s relative within ourselves. But hey, this is Writing in the Dark, not metaphysics, so I’m gonna try not to think about it too hard.

What is coming up is Bouchercon, and this year I get to stay home. Yup, it’s coming to San Francisco, which means no jet lag for me, though I still won’t get to stay up as late as I’d like because I’ve got to get myself back home and don’t have the luxury of just rolling into a hotel room. This year will be special, as all parties in San Francisco are!

Before B’con is the big lollapalooza lit festival our City likes to throw: Litquake! This year I’m part of LitCrawl, which means I get to hang out with wonderful crime writing friends and read from CITY OF DRAGONS inside an old police station. This qualifies as a cool and wholly unexpected perq of being a writer.

We’re also in the midst of designing a bigger and better website, of which Writing in the Dark will be an integral part. It’s based on the stuff I like to do when I’m on the web–i.e. have fun–so it’s going to be more interactive and offer more historical extras to look at, listen to and watch. It also means I’m making it a resolution to update my blog more frequently, even if I have to act out the title!

So cool stuff is coming up. Seeing THE CURSE-MAKER in print will be a dream come true, as Arcturus and Co. move to Thomas Dunne/Minotaur. Lots of research went into this one (research spent in Bath, England). And this series is more light-hearted than Miranda, so it complements what will be coming out in CITY OF SPIDERS.

I’m working on the next books–and sketching out plans for a contemporary, stand-alone thriller. If I can squeeze in the time, I may write a short story or two. The experience of having “Children’s Day”–my CITY OF DRAGONS prequel–published in FIRST THRILLS this summer was one of the major thrills of my life.

I’ll be back soon, writing about noir or about adventures in research, and in the meantime, want to thank YOU for reading, and send thanks to all those readers who brought a blog award to Writing in the Dark. Thanks so much for your support!

Springing Forward

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T.S. Eliot may have characterized April as the cruelest month, but personally, I think he just needed a vacation. Such a pessimist … without even the excuse of an IRS deadline. 😉

So … I can’t believe spring is already here … we were just in the throes of winter!

Last time I posted, I was on my way to Los Angeles and Left Coast Crime … which was a fabulous conference, as it always is, despite a nasty cold I developed a couple of days before the flight.

Speaking of flight, what a thrill it was to ride Angel’s Flight and eat at China Cafe (rumored to be Marlowe’s old hangout for chop suey) with friends and fabulous writers Keith Raffel and Bill Cameron. And to see Rebecca Cantrell and Rita Lakin win awards (for the Bruce Alexander and Lefty, respectively). And to participate on a Pulp Fiction panel with some great writers, among them Eric Beetner, author of ONE TOO MANY BLOWS TO THE HEAD, who also very generously filmed a candid video interview with me for Spinetingler Magazine. Another video, this one filmed by JohnRay Gutierrez of Kepler’s in a film noir style, was also a ton of fun–you can check it out below.

While at LCC, I signed at the venerable Book Soup on the Sunset Strip, had a chance to at least say hi to a lot of friends like the delightful and talented writer Holly West, and all in all, it was the best time I’ve ever had with a cold. 🙂

Just a little later in March, I flew to Portland and the Public Library Association Conference. This was quite an event–I loved meeting librarians from all over the country, had a chance to chat with friend Wilda Williams from Library Journal, and generally enjoyed a fabulous time signing copies of CITY OF DRAGONS and giving them away. I only wish we hadn’t run out in such a short time!

Same evening I gave a reading and signing at Powell’s in Beaverton. If you haven’t been to a Powell’s, make it an ambition. These giant independent bookstores are monuments to literacy and the great reading public of Portland, and it was an honor to sign there.

Throughout my Portland adventure, I palled around with stellar author and friend Bill Cameron. Bill lives in Portland, and I’m eagerly awaiting his next book, DAY ONE, a hot and riveting thriller from a superb writer. Don’t miss it!

On April 1st, I experienced the rare pleasure of reading CITY OF DRAGONS in a Chinatown bar. It was part of Subterranean Noir, a Litquake/City Lights event in which the brilliant Edgar-winning author Domenic Stansberry and I had a chance to showcase our work in the basement of one of Chinatown’s most venerable “joints” … and luckily for us, hardboiled writer Mark Coggins (THE BIG WAKEUP), who is not only a great writer, but a great photographer, was on hand to shoot some film. You can read about it in Mark’s blog on The Huffington Post.

I’ll be heading back to the City of Angels in a couple of weeks for the LA Times Festival of the Book, where I’ll be signing with Mysterious Galaxy and The Mystery Bookstore. A few days later, it’s NYC and the Edgars, my first time attending the “Oscars” of the mystery-writing world.

But what I’ve really been doing–and will be doing for the next couple of months–is writing. I’m deep into the sequel of CITY OF DRAGONS–working title is CITY OF SPIDERS–and am racing toward my deadline and the finish line.

In other news, the audio version of CITY OF DRAGONS is now available, and I was thrilled and delighted to see the hardcover reach #2 on the IMBA Bestsellers list for February–and a heartfelt thank you to all the readers, bloggers, librarians, booksellers and friends and colleagues who made that happen! I was also privileged and honored by a recent review in the San Francisco Chronicle.

Have a wonderful April–and thanks for reading!

Cover Love

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It’s been an eventful few days! Ever feel like the days pass too quickly for you to grab–that they blend and weave, and before you know it a week has gone ahead of you? Yup. Just happened to me. Here’s why:

Last week, I finished revisions to MALEDICTUS, and the manuscript is now with my wonderful agent. First step on the road to seeing my first series picked up and moving ahead–complete!

I posted my first Noir Bar column for Pop Syndicate … on Gilda, naturally. Who wouldn’t want to launch a project with Rita Hayworth and Glenn Ford? I’ll be writing these columns once a month, and liberally sprinkling Writing in the Dark with a few noir reviews, too.

Thursday was my birthday. According to astrologers, this is a “Solar Return” year–the sun was in the same spot in the sky as it was when I was born (lo, those many years ago!). My mom visited; we took a trip in pilgrimage down to San Juan Bautista and its mission, where Hitchcock filmed Vertigo. I’ll post pictures from the trip in a later post on why Jimmy Stewart’s character is so creepy.

What else? Ate garlic ice cream in Gilroy, the Garlic Capital of the World. Yeah, I know it’s weird, but what else are you going to do on a warm June day in Gilroy? We ate fresh farm cherries, too, Ranier and Bing, and bought a pack of the largest, freshest and most delicious strawberries I’ve ever tasted … organic and locally grown in Watsonville.

These are a few of the reasons I live in California … the produce can be worth the insanity. 😉

Took a trip to Chinatown, shot some photos for the new website, which is coming very soon. I can’t wait!

We launched a grog–that’s a group blog, but you already knew that–on Monday. Criminal Minds is a brainchild (actually a dreamchild) of mine, and it’s really special to see it come to fruition and so successfully. But with a lineup that includes CJ Lyons, Rebecca Cantrell, Sophie Littlefield, Shane Gericke, Tim Maleeny and Gabriella Herkert, you know it will be fun, fascinating and never a dull moment. 🙂 Check us out–I post on Thursdays (it’s the Thursday Child thing).

Today, Becky Cantrell and I were visiting authors over on the fabulous Barnes and Noble Mystery Book Club. You can check out the conversation and see how we harass one another. 😉

Last–but not certainly not least–I received my CITY OF DRAGONS cover yesterday …

Wow.

It’s sublime–haunting–beautiful. Thrilling!! All the things I want my book to be.

David Rotstein is a Senior Art Director at St. Martin’s and a design genius. He’s nominated three times over for an Anthony this year, and the breadth and depth of his work is amazing. I feel like I’ve won the Lotto, or beat James Bond at baccarat! Like I made a movie, and got Saul Bass to do the titles. I’m just humbled by this gorgeous, gorgeous work, and dancing the happy dance of cover love. 🙂

What’s next? Preparation for Thrillerfest in NYC, where I’ll be a Panel Master with a great team and a great topic: Now What? Keeping Readers Turning the Pages. The panelists are James Scott Bell, Robert Ellis, Heywood Gould, Steven James and Charlie Newton.

Much work ahead on the website. New postcards, new bookmarks. Preparation for a Litquake Fundraiser in San Francisco later in July that’s going to be a lot of fun!

And always back to the cover. I stare … and I smile. Louise Ure, one of the wisest women I know (and a supreme talent in crime fiction), is so right–a cover like this makes you want to get everything color coordinated. Figure on seeing me in some gorgeous browns and warm tones next year, with a splash of red!

Meanwhile … have a wonderful week, and as always … thanks for reading! 🙂