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5 Reasons Why I Love New York

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Chrysler_Building_Midtown_Manhattan_New_York_City_1932I’m heading to Thrillerfest and New York City this week, and the prospect of traveling to the Big Apple again made me think about a few of the reasons why I love it.

So, from a West Coast perspective, mind you … New York, New York.

1. It’s the ultimate, fabled, legendary City of Cities. Sure, the Mama Rose line in Gypsy is true: “New York is the center of New York”—but it’s also the most urban, dense, entertainment-rich and storied city in the world. It’s an artistic treasure and an artistic treasure house, an inspiration for everything from Gotham City to a Miracle on 34th Street, and a focus of literary gold for Fitzgerald and countless other greats.  My ancestors on my mom’s side arrived here, like millions of others, cleared through at Ellis Island and made a wish on the Statue of Liberty. History abounds at every corner, noise, hurry and bustle is 24/7, and the city’s profoundly global diversity makes it, at the same time, profoundly American.

neighborhoods2. Neighborhoods. They can be a block or a borough in size, but they are real and they are fabulous (to paraphrase Teri Hatcher). Small, unexpected touches, like baskets of flowers hanging from light posts and mom-and-pop stores in place of large chains can make New York feel like a very, very, very busy small town (on caffeine). Everyone has their favorite take-out place, their own dry cleaner, their own deli. New York is big … but it’s also personal.

munson diner3. The Food. Hungry at 2 am? No problem. You can find a tasty chicken kebab right outside on 42nd. Late night at a show? No problem. Pizza places are full through 2 am and beyond. Craving an egg soda and maybe “real” pastrami? No problem. Diners still abound and every neighborhood has a good one. For real bagels, real pizza, real anything, New York is the ultimate food capital of the world. Well, except for salads and sourdough (my San Francisco) or hot dogs and Polish food (Chicago).

Looking Up at Empire State Building4. Looking up. I love Art Deco, unsurprisingly. I can’t get enough of Streamlined Moderne, and San Francisco, while the Jewel of the Pacific coast, boasts plenty of Victorians and far fewer Deco masterpieces. The Chrysler Building is my personal favorite, but no skyscraper, however tall, can ever top the Empire State Building, the most magnificent, proud, and dignified tower in the world.

stock-footage-new-york-city-usa-march-crowds-in-rush-hour-people-traffic-commuters-new-york-city5. The people. I love New Yorkers. They are direct and to the point and don’t waste time. I’ve never understood the “rude New Yorker” cliche. What I find rude are people who do something thoughtless or dangerous that hampers your own activity, whatever it is, and then try to dismiss your aggravation as not being “laid back” enough. Hey, I was born on the West Coast, and I’ve got a very New York gesture for passive-aggressive “laid back” offenders.

There are a million reasons to love New York, which is why there are a million stories, songs, paintings, photos, films and celebrations of it. But here’s the one I’ll leave you with, one most of the world has recognized since 2001: New York is resilient. New York is heroic.

9-11-september-new-york-cityNew York is life.

Rip van Who?

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You know, I think Washington Irving was on to something about Rip Van Winkle.

Except in my version of the story, I fly to New York in April to attend my first Edgar Awards Banquet (it was amazing); catch a horrendous case of bronchitis on the flight home (or more likely on the way there, since I was seated in front of a poor, coughing teenager); am out of commission for a full two weeks; and then put my head down and …

WRITE. No sleeping, not for this Winkle.

As we speak, I’m nearing the conclusion of CITY OF SPIDERS–the sequel to CITY OF DRAGONS. I hoped to have it finish much earlier, but this has been an extremely challenging year in many ways, even for a double Gemini with Multi-Tasking as my middle name. Somewhere in June, I even celebrated a birthday … like van Winkle, I emerge from my blogless state older and a little confused.

From you, dear blog readers, I have been absent in the spring … but I hope you forgive me. 🙂 As soon as CITY OF SPIDERS is finished, my goal is to wax weekly at Writing in the Dark!

Now, today itself is of some note: FIRST THRILLS, the International Thriller Writers anthology featuring just a ton of wonderful authors, all of whom I’m honored to be published with–is released! My Miranda Corbie short story “Children’s Day” is included, and takes place nearly a year before CITY OF DRAGONS–the entire story is set during the World’s Fair on Treasure Island.

I was also very lucky to be interviewed by the San Francisco Examiner, and that article also came out today! So … between the solstice, the launch of FIRST THRILLS, and the Examiner, I decided to take a novel writing evening off. 😉

I’ll also be taking a weekend off to fly back to New York for Thrillerfest in just a couple of weeks! And soon … very soon, I hope … CITY OF SPIDERS will, at last, be finished.

THEN I sleep … and start writing again. 🙂

Thanks again for reading, and if you’re up New York way for Thrillerfest, I hope you stop by to say hello! 🙂

New York, New York!

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It’s been an adventurous week!

No time to write about Vertigo, unfortunately–gotta save it for next time. I haven’t had much time to do anything but work on some deadlines for the website relaunch, which we wanted to have happen before Thrillerfest, but looks like will happen the week after. And speaking of Thrillerfest …

New York awaits! The conference is always exciting, and it’s in the most exciting city on the planet, so … I’m gearing up. Meetings. Parties. Panels. Non-stop, “city that never sleeps” fun! I leave early Wednesday, and will probably not be back to my Writing in the Dark post until the following week, though I’m hoping to squeeze in a blog or a tweet or two.


What else? Well, we just got word that the Greek rights to NOX DORMIENDA have been sold, so Roman Noir will be available in Athens and all over the remarkably beautiful country of Hellas.

I’m a bit emotional over the fact that my first foreign rights sales have been Italy and Greece–the foundations of western civilization, the countries and cultures I’ve spent so much time in, physically and mentally. From my first D’Aulaire’s Greek Mythology (checked out of a Tallahassee, Florida library when I was in the second grade), to now seeing my first book published in modern Greek … it’s like an affirmation. Efcharisto!

Friday was photoshoot day … we need new head shots for CITY OF DRAGONS, so ventured to the sunny side of the Bay and Berkeley, over to Lisa Keating, photographer extraordinaire. Lisa makes you feel immediately comfortable, in a beautiful, airy, naturally lit studio, complete with a black lab named Happy, who makes you feel exactly that.

Despite a TV movie-like mishap–my dry cleaner didn’t give me my entire order, and so I arrived in Berkeley without a shirt and had to fight through horrendous 4th of July traffic to get back to San Francisco and then turned immediately around so I could make it back to Berkeley in time–the shoot was a dream, and makeup artist Tricia Turner and Lisa just the best people anyone–particuarly writers with nerves–could ever hope to work with!! I can’t wait for the photos … and yes, I wore one of my fedoras. 🙂

Today was Sunday Breakfast with Friends time, a wonderful opportunity to see pals and brilliant writers Laura Benedict (who lives in Illinois, so I never see her enough) and Sophie Littlefield (who lives in the Bay Area, but whom I still don’t see enough!) We had an old-fashioned breakfast at an old-fashioned restaurant and I only wish I could spend more Sundays doing this …

So, until next time, thanks for reading Writing in the Dark, thanks for checking out our new grog Criminal Minds, and I will do my best to convey some of the madness, fun, and exultation of Thrillerfest in New York!

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! 🙂

The New York Minute

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Forgive the decidedly un-noirish tones of excitement and exultation, but …

I’m back from New York and Thrillerfest!

Three days until NOX DORMIENDA is released into the wild!

And I’m taking a blog tour to celebrate … first stop the fabulous Jungle Red Writers, where the gorgeous and wonderful Hank Phillippi Ryan is my hostess.

Tomorrow I’ll be hanging out with my favorite Working Stiffs, and on Friday visiting the BookBitch, where you can win a bunch of terrific thrillers … I’m thrilled to have my own book included in their company. 🙂

More blogs to come soon …

So for now, I’ll leave you with a little about Thrillerfest … and it was so great, so glamorous, so amazing, that I still feel like Leslie Ann Warren in the TV version of Cinderella I grew up with. 🙂

Everything from January 17, 2007 (my publishing news date) until now seems like a blur … particularly the last few days in The City, which clicked by like the proverbial NY minute.

Thrillerfest … the generosity and support ITW has given its Debut Authors is, well, incredible. I mean it. Telling Liz Berry and Kathleen Antrim how I felt about it made me get choked up.

Talking about James M. Cain with the father of the modern thriller, David Morrell. Thanking the wonderful James Rollins and Gayle Lynds and Vicki Hinze for their generous blurbs about NOX. Spending some time with the amazing, warm and wonderful Hank Phillippi Ryan. Sharing a drink with one of my favorite Brits, David Hewson. Getting a chance to thank Lee Child for his mentorship of the program, and M.J Rose for her marketing advice to us, and Joe Moore for being the best web editor around. Sharing a panel with Lynn Sholes and David Liss and Laura Joh Rowland and Doug Abrams and William Martin and Christine Kling.

And hooking up with old friends and Facebook friends and Alaska Bouchercon buddies … I could fill this entire blog with nothing but names of the wonderful people who are a part of this industry. The very BEST thing about being a writer. 🙂 Meeting Meredith Anthony, charming and hilarious, and the dashing Craig Reed … taking an overpriced town car (and loving it) to Borders, to see friends and writers Laura Benedict, Michelle Gagnon, Laura Caldwell, Alex Sokoloff, Tim Maleeny, JT Ellison, Shane Gericke, and Mario Acevedo and hear Lee Child’s wit in introducing them all.

Hanging out with the wonderful Brent Ghelfi and his gorgeous and wonderful wife Lisa; chatting with the terrific and talented Allison Brennan; sitting at my signing post with the amazing R.L. Stine (and now I know what the R.L. stands for!)

You see what I mean?

Amongst all the specialness was the Debut Author bonding … both with this year’s “class” and next year’s. These guys are my colleagues, my team, a close-knit group of classmates. And already I can’t wait for the reunions. 🙂

Here’s a Publisher’s Weekly link with a photo after the Debut Author Breakfast on Saturday morning. And a shout out to my buds!!

Speaking of media, that was a little dreamlike, too. I did a video interview with Wilda Williams, fiction editor of Library Journal, after the Debut Author breakfast. Hung out with Maria Schneider, the fabu editor of Writer’s Digest, in the bar after the banquet (here’s a link to a WD newsletter with a picture of me and Raffi Yassayan, fellow debut writer and all-around adorable man). Hooked up with the amazing Jeff Ayres, LJ reviewer and media guru.

So before I start floating off of the floor again, I’d better close … thanks for reading, and I hope you can join me on one or more locations for the blog tour!

Busy-ness

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You remember that hourglass in the Wizard of Oz, with Margaret Hamilton in green, cackling behind it?

Well, I’m watching it trickle away madly, to two dates of major importance, at least to me: July 18th, my official debut date, and August 1st, the day of my launch party at Bourbon and Branch, the famed and fabulous San Francisco speakeasy. It’ll be continued the next day–all good parties always run over–at M is for Mystery in San Mateo, CA.

And before these two events, I’ve got Thrillerfest in just a few days … my first conference in the Big Apple! I’m on a panel on Saturday, July 12 (Real or Imagined: Historical Thrillers), and am one of the ITW Debut Authors this year — things will be very busy, but it shouldn’t be any other way in NYC.

All this is one way of saying that my life is now in overdrive, and I haven’t been able to write a proper blog. So here are a couple of links to other places where I’ve been talking lately:

The Big Thrill Interview: http://www.thrillerwriters.org/2008/06/roman-noir-comes-alive-in-nox-dormienda.html
Gumshoe Review:
http://www.gumshoereview.com/php/Review-id.php?id=1155
Writer’s Digest Notable Debut:
http://www.writersdigest.com/article/notable-debuts-august08/

There are more guest blogs on the way, but I do promise to come back as soon as I can and write about a juicy noir.

I’ve also got an article in the current issue of Mystery Scene. And it’s an absolute honor to be there and in the above magazines and e-zines, so I hope you check them out.

And remember:

“Never Surrender, Dorothy!” 😉

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