RESCUING OLIVIA is in Stores! (A bit early . . .)

Stopped by the Barnes & Nobles on Colonial here in Orlando to see my book on the shelf. (When I was talking to the manager the day before, he mentioned he already had the book out.) I'm so pleased to see that it's not only out, it has its OWN TABLE! And a wonderful window display, too. Barnes & Noble really does advertising well. Thank you, Geoffrey at BN!

Should a seven year old child be in a tanning booth?

A seven year old girl spending time in a tanning booth? And everyone from her mother who called to make the appointment (who I have to believe is the instigator of this activity) to the employee at the salon taking the call, thinks it's okay? When Rick came home from getting his haircut to share this story with me, I simply couldn't believe it. But then, I live in an area where boob jobs and Botox injections are more common than palmetto bug sightings. A seven year old in a tanning booth really shouldn't surprise me.

I'm the first to admit I've been guilty of sun-worship. I have darker, olive skin to start with, and it tans easily. I'm from the generation of women who, as teens, used to slather baby oil on every inch of our bodies and lie in the sun holding album covers wrapped in foil near our faces to speed the process. We didn't know any better then.

Even now, some of my favorite days are the ones spend in a beach chair next to the ocean, reading a good book and soaking up the rays. Rick sits under a large beach umbrella, but I place my chair outside its shadow. I'm a little bit smarter than when I was sixteen, though; I wear suncreen with a much higher SPF, and I reapply it often. And now that I live in Florida, I no longer sit in the sun six days in a row to get as much color as possible before I return north from vacation. My long days in the sun are few and far between, and they're no longer the goal, but merely the byproduct of a day at the beach. I know there's no such thing as a safe tan, but like the smoker who continues to smoke even as he's hacking away, I accept it as my one vice that has the potential to kill me and so I make an effort to do it less and less.

Yet I'd be lying if I said the only reason I'm more careful in the sun is to protect myself. No, what finally compelled me to limit my time in the sun and wear stronger suncreen was the need to protect my daughters, and to teach them good habits. My oldest daughter, Jessie, has my husband's skin -- fair, and quick to burn. It's never been too difficult to convince her to wear sunscreen. She has seen how fast she'll turn lobster red if she doesn't. She often wears a shirt over her bathing suit, and she always sits under the umbrella if she's not in the ocean on a boogie board. But Sally has my skin, and she believes she's invincible. She gets dark fast, and she thinks that means the sun won't hurt her. I try to explain that a tan is evidence of the sun's damage, but my explanations fall on deaf ears. Instead, I simply become the mean mom and insist she wear sunscreen and reapply it often. Even coated with 30 SPF suncreen, she still gets dark, and when I take her to the pediatrician, I always get a lecture about skin cancer. Her doctor takes one look at Sally's skin and disbelieves my assurances that I make my children wear suncreen.

So when Rick came home from getting a haircut to tell me about the mother making a tanning bed appointment for her seven year old daughter, I was appalled. Huh? He expressed the same disbelief to the salon employee, and she defended the decision. "The tanning bed is safer than the sun." Really? People really still believe that?? And how about the fact that no one has considered why a seven year old needs a tan in the first place?

Someone please tell me this type of thinking is the exception and not the norm.

Please meet . . . Margaret Reyes Dempsey, author of THE BENEFACTOR!

Today I'm delighted to introduce Margaret Reyes Dempsey, the author of The Benefactor. My friendship with Margaret is another one of those "would have never met her but for my book" type of stories. Interestingly enough, Margaret and I attended the same university, Washington University in St. Louis, and we graduated only one year apart. (I confess. I'm the older one.) We probably walked the same halls at the same time, because she majored in Spanish and I majored in English but also took plenty of French classes, and all of the Romance languages were in the same building. But we never met. Until, years later, when Margaret saw a blurb about my first novel, Tell No Lies, in our alumni magazine and wrote to congratulate me. At the time, I was renting a little house for a week up near the coast in Georgia, a little retreat in the middle of the swamps where I go sometimes to write. I take my dog Wolfie and we have a nice, quite week away. Her email came as a surprise, and feeling as isolated as I did out in the boondocks, I was happy to have someone to correspond with. Turns out Margaret was a novelist, also, still trying to get published, and we've been writing to each other ever since! (We've even travelled with each other – see my July 06, 2009 post.)

Well, Margaret is no longer trying to get published. She is published. The Benefactor is romantic suspense novel featuring Kate Barrett, a girl who begins receiving anonymous gifts from someone called Secret Friend after the tragic deaths of her parents when she is eight years old. Years later, after landing a challenging job and the apartment of her dreams, she is caught off guard when another package shows up at her now unlisted address. Troubled that someone is watching her every move, she sets out to discover the stranger's identity.

Margaret took the time to answer a few questions about herself and her writing. (She has a great personality, as I think you'll see from her answers.)

How did you come to write The Benefactor? What initially sparked the idea for the story? Is the story that made it into the published novel the same one you began with?

Exactly four years ago, I was reading the newspaper and saw a brief article about money stolen from a church's poor box. In my typical fashion, I started asking "why" and "what if," jotted down a few notes, and filed it all away since I was already in the middle of writing a novel. A year later, I had finished that novel and was submitting it and wanted to start a new project. I peeked into my Ideas folder and found the notes I had written a year before. I decided that was the next story I wanted to write.

The story in the published novel is somewhat different than my first drafts. I ended up doing a rewrite of the story after my "first readers" reviewed it. I just felt it was missing something. I think what I ended up with is better.

What did you do upon first learning that your novel had been accepted for publication?

That was an odd day. I had just visited my son's fourth grade class for an authors' party--the kids had written books about endangered animals. We walked around the classroom, read their stories, and signed their fan pages. On my son's page, I wrote that I was proud of him and that he could now say he was published before his mom. A half hour later I arrived home to find the email indicating my novel had been accepted. I jumped, screamed, ran around a bit, and hyperventilated. Later that night, a friend and I went to a book signing for Mary and Carol Higgins Clark. I told them the news and they were so excited for me. It was nice to see that they hadn't forgotten the thrill of that first acceptance.

Tell us a bit about your writing history and your journey to publication. Is The Benefactor the first novel you wrote, or do you have others tucked away in a drawer somewhere?

No, no, no and yes, yes, yes. My very first novel was called Survival of the Fittest. I started it in 1987 and rewrote it dozens of times over the past 20 years. It in no way resembles the original story. In fact, it's so different, I could finish the last version and the first version and no one would realize they were the same book. That one is kind of like the child who never grows up and moves out.

After that, there were about a dozen half-finished novels, which are bulging out of my file cabinets. In 2005, I was finally sufficiently disgusted with myself to actually finish a novel. I'll never forget the day I printed out the entire Self-fulfilling Prophecy manuscript. It was like giving birth. The very first one I ever finished. Though that one was never accepted for publication, it will always be special to me.

What writers or other people have influenced you? In what way?

The biggest influence in my life was my grandmother, Nana Mickey, a creative person who was not aware of her own giftedness. She used to babysit for us every Saturday night and thrill us with her made-up stories of smugglers and kidnappers at the South Street Seaport. Each week she'd leave off at a cliffhanger to be continued the following week. When I was a bit older, I would raid her bookshelves for romance novels. I think that's why I've always been drawn to write stories that were suspenseful and romantic.

I know she's smiling down on me, no doubt proud that I've been published. She was always my biggest fan. What a blessing it was to have a whole squad of cheerleaders wrapped up in one cuddly grandmother!

Tell us about Margaret Reyes Dempsey.

I am nothing if not enthusiastic and intensely curious. I love new experiences--visiting new places, meeting interesting people, trying new foods. I'm always thinking. I have a team of hamsters in my head and they are always on their wheels, spinning, spinning, spinning. I'm less interested in the "who" and "what" as I am in the "why." I love "what if" scenarios. It's how I create stories. I start with a nugget and then ask what if this happened or what if that happened; before you know it I'm onto something.

My biggest thrill in life is helping people see their own gifts. It's a shame that so many people aren't aware of just how creative they are. Have you ever been in a conversation with someone who just cooked a magnificent dinner for a big party and they're lamenting the fact that they have no talents? Or the person who whips up dozens of beautiful, hand- knit scarves for the holidays and wishes they were creative when they hear you've published a novel? My jaw drops and I want to shake them by the shoulders until they realize just how gifted they are. :-)

Besides my fiction writing side, I also happen to be an entrepreneur. I own a consulting company specializing in technical writing. The experience I've acquired in promoting my business is a huge asset in promoting The Benefactor. Unpublished writers may not be aware that, these days, once you're published, the marketing of your book is mostly up to you. Fun, fun, fun.

And speaking of fun, I believe writing should be fun. Not to say it isn't hard work, but hard work can be fun when you're passionate about what you're doing. I think a lot of needless, personal suffering in life is due to people not following their passions. But this is just my opinion. There's room for others. In fact, I was recently talking to a writing pal and mentioned that I'd jumped ahead in one of my writing projects because I got bored in the current scene and wanted to keep it fun. He was a bit horrified and told me we were supposed to suffer as writers. I laughed hysterically at this and we bantered back and forth until he finally acknowledged we were approaching it from two different directions. I agreed and told him he was "approaching it from pain and suffering and I was approaching it from pleasure and joy. Whatever works for you. Jumping ahead has reinvigorated my writing, it's energized me, it's given me insight into my writing process, and now it's provided something to discuss in Julie Compton's interview. So thank you for disagreeing with me."

What's the one thing you think readers would be surprised to know about you?

When I was eight years old, my lifelong dream was to be a cashier. Alas, I never had the pleasure of fulfilling that dream. However, as a technical writer, I have written several training manuals on how to use sophisticated cash registers. :-)

Okay, I'll admit it...when my son was just a toddler, I played with his toy cash register after he'd gone to sleep.

All right. I'll give you one more. I'm a pretty quirky person. I can't eat the end slices from a loaf of packaged bread. Yuk!

Which authors do you like to read? What books are currently stacked in your "To Be Read" pile right now?

I have eclectic tastes when it comes to reading--anything from beach-read novels to medical textbooks. The following books have been sitting patiently on my bookshelf, waiting to be opened. I purchased many of them just before I found out The Benefactor was accepted for publication, and it's been a whirlwind ever since.

The Anatomy of Story - John Truby
Her Fearful Symmetry - Audrey Niffenegger
The Scottish Novels - Robert Louis Stevenson
Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell - Susanna Clarke
The Art of War - Sun Tzu
The Devil in the White City - Erik Larson
Sherlock Holmes: The Complete Novels and Stories - Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
Inheritance - Natalie Danford
Nineteen Minutes - Jodi Picoult
A Great Deliverance - Elizabeth George
Gaslit Nightmares - Edited by Hugh Lamb
Daniel Deronda - George Eliot
The Princess Bride - William Goldman
Republic - Plato
1001 Ways to Market Your Books - John Kremer (Guess I should move this one to the top of the list, eh? :-))

What's next for you? Is there a work-in-progress readers can look forward to?

I actually have three works in progress. The latest one was a crazy idea. In the busiest month of my life, with book promotion tasks piling up, I decided to join the NanoWrimo contest and attempt to write a 50,000-word novel in the thirty days of November. The idea comes from a real life experience--I was having odd dreams after which I'd wake up feeling there was something very important I had forgotten. I know it was just my mind's way of dealing with the anxiety of being a newly published author, but the idea appealed to me as a story. I started asking my "what if" questions and ended up with a psychological/scientific thriller. I didn't complete 50,000 words by November 30th, but I'm happy with the 25,000 or so I've written so far.

Another work in progress is a romantic comedy novel I'm writing in collaboration with Richard Lamb, a screenwriter from the UK. We met online, have been writing our novel online, and the online theme carries over into the novel. It's the kind of thing that makes you pause and consider what a miracle it is that we can make friends with people in other countries and conduct business all with the click of a mouse. The best part is I don't have to get out of my pajamas for meetings. :-)

The third work in progress is a suspense novel I started last year just before I got the good news about The Benefactor. It starts off as a deceptively simple murder mystery, but it doesn't end up that way. In fact, I'm not sure how it will end. I have two possible paths to explore.

How can readers contact you and learn more about you and your books?

My website http://www.margaretreyesdempsey.com/ provides one-stop shopping. You can read about The Benefactor, hear the latest news about my journey as an author, find upcoming events, access my personal blog, print photos of me to hang on your refrigerator (kidding), access links to buy the book, and send me an email. I love to hear from readers and respond to all emails I receive.

Thanks so much, Julie. This has been lots of fun. Happy New Year to you and your readers.

_________________________

You're very welcome, Margaret. Thanks for stopping by!

For those in the New York, Long Island area, Margaret will be signing her books this Saturday, January 16, from 11:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. at the Broadway Mall in Hicksville, NY. Proceeds will be donated to the LIV LIFE MS Walk Team (LI Chapter of the National MS Society).

New Year's Predictions, How Eerily Accurate They Were

Happy Birthday Dave Matthews! (43 today)(picture taken by yours truly!)

Sometimes I mention things I love about being a writer (other than the actual writing, which is a given). For example, hearing from old friends. Another is meeting new ones. Another is meeting other authors. Writers tend to be a friendly bunch, and mystery and thriller writers, in particular, are some of the nicest people I've met. I mention this today because yesterday I was interviewed for an upcoming feature in The Big Thrill (International Thriller Writers' online newsletter) by Lj Sellers. I'd never met nor spoken to Lj before, but I immediately felt at ease with her and wished we lived in same town to meet for coffee. Alas, she lives on the Northwest coast, and here I am in the East. But hopefully, we'll see each other soon at a writer's conference. Check out Lj's website.

Now, on to the topic of the day: New Year's predictions.

On Thursday, one of the most interesting and unexpected pieces of mail showed up in my mailbox. It was an envelope from my good friend Karen in Boston. (I realize as I write this that Karen gets mentioned a lot in my blog. See my Feb. 28, 2008 post and my July 21, 2009 post. I wonder how she feels how about that?) It was a regular size envelope, but it felt slightly thicker than a regular piece of mail and, even more unusual, it was addressed to both me and Rick. It was also unusual because Thursday was her birthday; I remember thinking, why is she sending me something on her birthday? I'd sent her a present, and had left a voicemail message earlier for her, but we hadn't talked yet.

Still, I didn't open the envelope right away because I was running out to drop off my youngest daughter Sally at volleyball practice. When I returned home, I jumped in the shower before Rick got home; we planned to have dinner out together and then pick up Sally from volleyball. (In case you haven't noticed, we spend a lot – I mean a lot – of time driving Sally to and from volleyball.)

Well, Rick apparently opened the envelope while I was in the shower; later, at dinner, he told me what it contained: a cover letter from Karen asking, "Do you remember where you were ten years ago?" – referring to New Year's Eve 1999 – and then proceeded to remind us. We had been at a New Year's Eve party at Karen's house. We had already moved to Philly at the time, but we drove up to Boston the day before, stopping in New York City to see the Times Square preparations for the big turn-of-the-century party the next night.

Karen's cover letter reminded us who was there, what we ate, what we did, etc. But here's the most interesting part: underneath the cover letter were two pieces of confetti-decorated paper, one in my handwriting, one in Rick's handwriting. At the top was typewritten, "Happy New Year!" and the question, "What do you expect your life to be like in 10 years?" Following that question were our handwritten (quite sloppily – I think we were a little tipsy) predictions. Reading mine gave me the chills:

Will have:
(1) published something, anything
(2) jumped out of an airplane (with a parachute, of course)
(3) travelled to various parts of the world – Africa, Europe, Russia, etc.
(4) obtained my instrument rating
Will:
(1) be a mom my kids still talk to and want to spend time with
(2) live anywhere but PA – preferably near a beach
(3) spend at least one New Year's Eve in Times Square – perhaps the real millennium
(4) be healthy

Wow. I wrote these things ten years ago. I think my batting average is pretty darned good.

I'm published.

I haven't jumped out of the airplane yet, but my daughter Sally (yeah, the volleyball fanatic) intends to do it for her 18th birthday (a few years off) and I have told her I will do it with her.

We travelled to Europe (Belgium, to be specific, to attend the wedding of our friends Jolanta and Ronny) and the UK, and even Africa, which plays a large part in Rescuing Olivia. Russia is still on the list.

I haven't obtained my instrument rating yet, but it's still on the list, too.

I think my kids still like to talk to and spend time with me. You'd have to ask them, I guess. :-)

We live in Florida, which most certainly is not Pennsylvania and is near the beach. To be fair to PA, I wrote my list not long after moving away from Boston. I loved Boston and didn't want to leave. But I grew to love PA pretty quickly, and I cried my eyes out when we left for Florida in 2003.

We haven't spent New Year's Eve in Times Square, but we did go to the Macy's Day Parade one Thanksgiving and, as fun as that was, I think I no longer have the need to be in a NYC crowd during a major event. I guess that means I'm getting old!

And lastly, I consider myself healthy. I don't run as much as I used to, but I eat well, don't smoke, and my only real vice is the sun, and even that I don't abuse too much any more because I simply don't have the time.

All in all, not bad. What I found most interesting about my list from ten years ago is how well I knew myself. I've always been a goal-oriented person - probably too much so. Darn it, if I want to do something, I want to do something. LOL! This attitude comes in handy in the publishing business, where roadblocks exist at every turn. If nothing else, I know how to persist.

So what are your predictions for yourself? Where will you be ten years from now? Make a list, tuck it away in a safe place, and you've given yourself a neat little present for 2020. Just remember, no peeking!

Next up: an interview with Margaret Reyes Dempsey, the author of The Benefactor.

Publishers Weekly review of Rescuing Olivia!

Thanks for the tip from my fellow writer and FWA friend Chris Hamilton, who writes the FWA blog. Chris posted on my Facebook wall earlier to say nice things about my Publishers Weekly review; only thing is, I didn't even know I had a PW review yet!

In the words of Sally Field: "They like me, they really like me!" (PW was my only real negative review of Tell No Lies, so this review is extra special.)

Here it is:

"Rescuing Olivia Julie Compton. Minotaur, $25.99 (352p) ISBN 978-0-312-37876-9

Compton’s intense, entertaining second novel involves a horrifying coverup and a powerful new drug. A hit-and-run motorcycle accident in a Florida forest leaves Olivia Mayfield in a coma in intensive care and her live-in boyfriend, 29-year-old Anders Erickson, feeling guilty. “I was going to ask her to marry me,” Anders confesses to Olivia’s sympathetic nurse. Was the theft of the couple’s helmets from their parked bikes shortly before the crash just a coincidence? Had a car really been following them, as Olivia suspected? Olivia’s father, Lawrence, a pharmaceutical magnate who blames Anders for the accident, informs Anders at one point that his daughter has died. When Lawrence turns out to have a hidden agenda, Anders travels to Clifton, Conn., where Olivia grew up, and later to Kenya in search of answers. While sometimes stretching the bounds of credibility, Compton (Tell No Lies) pulls off a super-satisfying resolution to this romantic thriller. (Feb.)"

My First Review of RESCUING OLIVIA!

And I couldn't be more pleased! The reviewer "got" it! :-D

"Modern-day fairy tale about a princely Florida lawn guy who must rescue his princess from a clutch of monsters.

"In the five months Anders Erickson has lived with Olivia Mayfield, he’s fallen ever more deeply in love with her and determined to propose marriage. But his plans are put on hold by a motorcycle trip to a special swimming hole at the edge of the Ocala National Forest that turns disastrous when someone steals his two helmets, someone runs his Harley off the road and sends its passengers to two different hospitals, and someone spirits off the comatose Olivia, tells Anders she’s died and expunges every record of her stay. The fact that these malefactors are three different people removes the tale from the realm of documentary reality and nudges it closer to fable. Yet once Olivia’s pharmaceutical-king father Lawrence and her ex-fiancé, Iraq war veteran Brent Campbell, are established as the lead dragons, Compton (Tell No Lies, 2008) burrows so deeply into Olivia’s and Anders’ troubled back stories and dramatizes in such psychologically compelling terms the swain’s attempt to rescue his princess—aided by his friends Lenny and Shel, complicated by Lenny’s ex-wife Crystal, a born siren—that the result is a pleasing hybrid of fairy tale and contemporary thriller.

"Anders’ road is a long one, and the twists along the way won’t keep you on the edge of your seat. But Compton’s increasingly pointed questions about what exactly it would mean to rescue Olivia make the journey worthwhile." Kirkus Reviews

RESCUING OLIVIA reading at Blog Talk Radio

Today (if my voice holds out) I'll be on Blog Talk Radio reading a scene from my upcoming novel, RESCUING OLIVIA. My slot is between 1:00 to 1:15 p.m. Central, 2:00 to 2:15 p.m. Eastern. Check it out!

Link to show.

Thanks to April Robins for hosting this!

(If you don't get a chance to listen today, the archives can be accessed through the link.)

Old friends, car washes, and lazy summer days . . . this one's for Hob

One of the best things to happen since being published is being able to reconnect with people I had lost touch with. So many old friends have contacted me after learning about my book through an alumni mag, or word of mouth, etc. (St. Louis is still a fairly small town.)

One of these friends is a guy I knew back when I was a kid. His house was the meeting place for all the kids in the neighborhood because he had a HUGE sandbox in his backyard with an elevated fort in the middle of it. (I had my first real kiss in that fort, though not from this guy!) I was a tomboy when I was little (still am, I guess), and I preferred to hang out with the guys instead of the girls (still do, I guess). The guys simply had more fun, IMO. They didn't gossip, they didn't hold grudges (if they got mad at each other, they tussled and then it was over), they didn't mind getting dirty, they played games that required running, and climbing -- physical things.

Anyway, my friend and I have been exchanging an email correspondence for some time now. He's an incredibly interesting person, and his emails are so entertaining. Sometimes hilarious, sometimes heartbreaking, but always interesting.

His parents visited him recently, and I guess he must have mentioned that we were in touch, because his mom brought him some old pictures. He sent me a few, and this one in particular brought back so many memories.

Can you guess which one is me? LOL! The friend I've been corresponding with is the boy standing on the fender; the one who gave me my first real kiss is the boy right in front of the car. The little boy on the left is a younger brother of my friend.

Ah, memories. . .

US Cover for RESCUING OLIVIA

You know, it dawned on me that I never posted my US cover for Rescuing Olivia here. I remembered to do it on my Facebook page, and hopefully my website will be updated soon to give readers much more information about the book (coming on February 2 in the US, May 7 in the UK), but for some reason I neglected my blog . . .

It's a very different type of image than the UK cover, but I think the two complement each other perfectly. This cover does a wonderful job of symbolizing the plot, while the UK cover captures the theme of the novel so well.

What I especially love about this particular image is how the road almost looks like sand, and the mirage suggests the ocean. And seeing as a large part of the story is set in Florida, well . . . you get the idea.

Sorry Justice Roberts, but you're wrong

What am I talking about?

As reported by the Washington Post, the US Supreme Court in Virginia v. Harris recently decided not to take the appeal in a case where the Virginia Supreme Court overturned a drunk driving conviction because the arresting officer didn't actually see the driver breaking any laws, but instead pulled him over because of an anonymous tip that he was driving while intoxicated. Although many states have ruled the Fourth Amendment prohibition against unreasonable search and seizure is not violated by allowing an officer to pull a driver over based solely on an anonymous tip, there are several states that have ruled such action is unconstitutional. Virginia is one of them. It ruled that without the officer seeing some erratic behavior on the part of the driver, he lacked a reasonable suspicion of criminal activity to warrant the stop. Without that reasonable suspicion, the Fourth Amendment's prohibition against unreasonable search and seizure is violated.

In a dissent to the Court's decision not to take the appeal (the majority did not give a reason for its decision, which is common), Justice Roberts said: "The decision below commands that police officers following a driver reported to be drunk do nothing until they see the driver actually do something unsafe on the road — by which time it may be too late."

It's a tempting argument, one that appeals to the emotions and seems, on its face, logical. But in my humble opinion, it's wrong.

Of course we'd all like to see drunken drivers removed from the road, especially before anyone gets hurt, or worse, killed. Anyone who has been a victim, or knows someone who has been a victim, of a drunk driver understands the life-changing -- often life-ending -- damage so easily done by a drunk behind the wheel of a car.

But there are many wrongs we'd like to stop before they happen; there are many crimes being committed behind closed doors that we may never know of because, in this country, at least, the cops aren't allowed to enter someone's home or other "private" space solely because some anonymous person told them a crime was being committed. It's a slippery slope. If a police officer can pull someone over solely based on an anonymous tip, what's to stop authorities from arguing that they should be able to enter someone's home based on a similar sort of tip? Justice Roberts says drunk driving is different, but why? How is it any different? And if you think this is okay, you'd better beware your neighbor who's mad at you because your dog got loose on his lawn, or that co-worker who doesn't like that you got the promotion before he did. Or what about your wife's ex-husband? Maybe he still hasn't gotten over the split, and he wants revenge. Are you worried about your children being on the internet, and how the kids "flame" each other over the smallest slight? Imagine a teen who realizes she can create havoc simply with a brief, anonymous call to the cops.

There are those who subscribe to the argument that as long as you're doing nothing wrong, you have nothing to worry about. I beg to differ. If this were the case, we could toss out the Fourth Amendment altogether. Spend some time talking to folks who come from other countries that lack the protections we have, who never know when authorities might be banging on their door, barging in to take a look around for no other reason than they "received an anonymous tip," and I think you'll come to understand the importance of this particular constitutional protection.

RESCUING OLIVIA news, Rose & Thorn Journal, it's a busy day!

So much to share today! I should split it up into several posts, I suppose, but knowing me, I wouldn't get back to the blog for a week and then it would all be old news . . .

Rick's at Frankfurt Book Fair again. He attends every year, and some of you might remember when he went in Fall 2007, just before TELL NO LIES came out in the UK, he sent back pictures of the wonderful display Macmillan had of my UK book cover.

Well, in my opinion, Macmillan has topped the TELL NO LIES display (there are even lights this time)! These pictures of the RESCUING OLIVIA display, just in yesterday and today, are from Rick's Blackberry:

The one above is self-explanatory, but on the right, if you look close, in the background to the right, you can see the display of RESCUING OLIVIA in the context of the entire Macmillan booth. I'm lucky I have a husband who attends this fair for his job or I'd never even know these displays existed.

The other item to share is not only news, but it's also a recommendation. If you've never heard of The Rose & Thorn, you need to check it out. I've subscribed to the newsletter for this online journal for some years now, and it's always been a first class e-zine with some excellent writing, but the journal recently underwent a "renovation" and it's now better than ever. My new online friend and author of the Gumbo Writer blog, Angie Ledbetter, is one of the co-editors. I've been reading The Rose & Thorn for years, but I recently stumbled across Angie's blog and only learned she was associated with this journal after we'd exchanged a few emails. (These types of connections happen all the time to me. The writing community is smaller than most people think.)

Anyway, I hope you'll check out The Rose & Thorn Journal. You won't be disappointed!

UK cover for RESCUING OLIVIA

I'm so pleased to be able to share the cover art for the UK edition of my second novel, RESCUING OLIVIA. My editor at Pan Macmillan sent it to me late last week, and I haven't been able to stop smiling. I'm thrilled with it! The designer did such a fabulous job of capturing the essence of the story with just this one image. (Of course, you'll have to read it to know why I say this . . .)

Though the US edition comes out on February 2, the scheduled release date for the UK edition (with this cover) is later -- May 7. I'll be sure to post if that changes.

Why Writers Aren't Always the Best Speakers

Finally, an explanation for why I have no problem putting words to paper (or screen) that make sense, but I become tongue-tied when I try to talk about those same ideas.

Why Writers Aren't Always the Best Speakers

Susan Brown, up-and-coming writer to watch

I first met Susan Brown several years back when the leader of my writing workshops, Jamie Morris of Woodstream Writers, suggested Susan and I connect. Like me, Susan is an attorney, but also like me, she wasn't practicing law at the time. Instead, she was writing a humorous memoir about her online dating experiences.

Fast forward a few years. Susan is now married to one of the men she met through an online dating site -- a fabulous watercolor artist named Ed Brown (I'm the proud owner of one of his paintings) -- and living in southwest Florida. She's back to practicing law, but still writing. We keep in touch by email, periodically updating each other on what's happening in our lives. Recently, she shared the news that one of her short stories, "Full Moon Fish House," was a runner up in a local writing contest. The story was inspired by an actual fish house near their home that Ed had painted many times. The radio station that sponsored the contest, WRLN 91.3 FM, recorded Susan reading the story. You can listen to it at Under the Sun. It's an evocative, dreamy piece, so well-written, and Susan's voice is perfect for it. (There's also a picture of her in front of the fish house.) While you're there, you can also hear her read from her dating memoir, still a work-in-progress. The passage she reads from is a hoot; talk about truth being stranger than fiction.

Congratulations, Susan! Don't keep us waiting too long for more.

Interview at Angie Ledbetter's "Gumbo Writer" blog

I'm not even sure now how I first stumbled across Angie Ledbetter's wonderful "Gumbo Writer" blog, but it's one of the most entertaining blogs I've seen. Her topics are wide-ranging but always interesting, and her recipes will leave your mouth watering. (Check out the picture of the Lemon Chicken Breasts for a good laugh, too. Not only does this Louisiana lady have a great sense of humor, she claims it's the best chicken recipe ever. I plan to make it very soon and find out!)

Angie kindly asked to interview me, and she's posted the interview today. Click over and take a look -- her questions were some of the most unique I've been asked, especially the one asking me to tell a "juicy or funny story" about my writing journey. ;-)

If I Were the Casting Director for TELL NO LIES

One of the most frequent questions I get about my novel Tell No Lies is: Who would I want to play the characters if a movie were made?

Well, thanks to Marshal Zeringue, I finally sat down and gave it some thought. Marshal has several different blogs devoted to books and reading (in the past I'd taken his Page 69 Test about Tell No Lies), and he recently contacted me and asked if I'd like to do a post for another of his blogs, My Book, The Movie. The premise of the post was simple. I simply needed to answer the casting question posed above. Answering this question, I found out, was not so easy.

So for all those who've asked me the same question, check out My Book, The Movie: Tell No Lies, to see which actors and actresses I chose and why I chose them.

Why I'll Never Forget Frank McCourt

I've told this story to many friends and have always wanted to write about it, but never did. With Mr. McCourt's passing on Sunday, July 19, 2009, I've decided it is time, if not overdue.

In the mid to late '90's, I was a young mother and an aspiring writer living in the Boston suburbs. I was new to the area and had become close friends with another woman, close enough that when I told her I was anxious to read Angela's Ashes, she agreed to lend me the copy she'd been reading. This was quite an act of faith because it belonged to her mother and had been signed by Mr. McCourt. She gave it to me with the admonition, "Whatever you do, DON'T let anything happen to this book! My mother treasures it and would kill me!" I assured her that books were precious to me and that I always treated them with care. Her mother's signed copy would be safe in my possession.

I immediately began to read the book and became enthralled with it. I couldn't put it down, and I mean that literally. At the time, my older daughter was in kindergarten, but the younger one, a three year old, stayed home with me. If she needed me, I went to her with the book still in one hand, sneaking in sentences and paragraphs at every opportunity. At some point, though, I set the book on the kitchen table, opened to the page I was reading, to do a chore at the sink. I don't remember what pulled me away, exactly. Perhaps I was preparing my daughter's lunch, or maybe I was doing dishes. All I remember is my daughter's voice saying, "Mommy, look! I'm writing a book!" or some such exclamation of pride. I looked over and, to my horror, my little girl sat at the table in front of the signed copy of Angela's Ashes, black Sharpie in hand, drawing with abandon on page after page of the book. I'm pretty sure I screamed.

I agonized over what to do. How could I tell my friend what had happened? An idea started to form in my head: what if somehow I could manage to get another signed copy? The first one had not been personalized, so I figured when time came to return the book, I could give my friend the new one, and no one would ever know the difference. But Frank McCourt had become the literary equivalent of a Hollywood celebrity. How, I wondered, would I ever get my hands on another signed copy?

Being a writer, I did the only thing I could think to do: I wrote a letter. A long, honest letter in which I explained the story I've just explained above. Then I bought a new copy of Angela's Ashes and mailed it, along with my letter and a self-addressed stamped mailer large enough to hold the book, to Mr. McCourt's publisher. I asked the publisher to please forward my letter, the book and the mailer to Mr. McCourt. And then I crossed my fingers.

To be honest, I thought I'd never see that new book again. I thought I'd finally have to go to my friend, groveling, and ask for her and her mother's forgiveness. But Mr. McCourt proved me wrong.

One day not long after, a package showed up in my mailbox. At first I didn't register what it was, but one look at the return address and I knew. The return address wasn't the publisher's. No, right there on the package was Frank McCourt's name and the address for his apartment in New York City. I was stunned.

Inside I found another surprise. Yes, he signed the new book and returned it to me as requested, but even better, he sent back my original letter with a small Post-It stuck to the front. On the Post-It I found a personal note from Mr. McCourt – the man who had written one of the saddest books I'd ever read – and to this day, I still cherish the note and the irony behind it. He wrote, simply, "Who could resist such a sad tale?"

Now a published author myself, I have since had the privilege of meeting some big names in the business, but none will ever thrill me the way Frank McCourt thrilled me when he took the time to write that one, clever sentence. Thank you, Mr. McCourt, and may you rest in peace.

The Magic of the Internet

I received an email yesterday from a friend of mine, Margaret Reyes Dempsey, thanking me for my friendship and the support I'd offered her over the past year and sending me a link to a recent post she'd made on her own blog. I will admit to getting a little choked up when I read the email and the blog post. What a nice and unexpected thing she did! (To see why I had this reaction, read her blog post at Conjuring My Muse.)

The thing is, but for her generosity and taking the time to reach out to me, I would have never met her. She first contacted me after seeing a blurb in our alumni magazine about my first novel, Tell No Lies. (We both attended Washington University in St. Louis at about the same time, though we never met). She wrote me, a complete stranger but for our Wash. U. connection, to offer her congratulations. She went on to buy my book, read it, and then tell all her friends about it. As she explains in more detail in her blog, we stayed in contact by email, and then also through Inked-In, an online social network for writers, artists and musicians started and run by Joseph Hayes and Jennifer Greenhill-Taylor. I won't go into much more detail, because Margaret has explained it all in her post, but suffice it to say, you never know when one small email to another will lead to a much deeper friendship. By the way, Margaret's first novel, The Benefactor, is being released this November.

Another example of this is the email I received from a reader in Scotland, shortly after Tell No Lies was released in the UK in February 2008. Nick Klepper wrote to me and told me how much he liked my novel. Nick is the author of two nonfiction books about Romania, and at the time, he was working on his first novel, Serendipity, a psychological thriller. We continued to correspond by email. This August, after my husband and I had made plans to vacation in Edinburgh with a group of friends (again, see Margaret's post above!), it dawned on me -- hey, Nick lives in Edinburgh. So I contacted him and invited him and his wife to join all of us for dinner one night. He, in turn, invited me to be his guest at a Society of Authors luncheon during the Edinburgh Book Festival. All this because he happened to write to me after reading my book . . .

CBS Interview with Dave Matthews Band

In honor of today's release of the new album, Big Whiskey and the Groo Grux King . . .

CBS interview with DMB

ThrillerFest blog

When I attended ThrillerFest 2008 last July, I had the pleasure of meeting Carla Buckley, whose debut novel OUT OF THIN AIR will be released next year. If you're following the swine flu story closely, you'll definitely want to check out Carla's book. (Just a teaser there . . .)

Carla and I had a conversation over at the ThrillerFest blog today. We get silly as we talk about why we weren't too sure at first that we belonged at ThrillerFest. (ThrillerFest is a conference held in NYC each July for writers and fans of thrillers. If you love thrillers and mysteries, you'd love ThrillerFest.)

Here's the link. Check it out and join in our crazy discussion. ;-)

Eliot Spitzer and the Science of Forgetting

I'm at the beach writing this week, but I'm due for a post and a blog post is writing, too, right?

The April 27, 2009 issue of Newsweek had a cover story on Eliot Spitzer called "The Confessions of Eliot Spitzer" and right above his picture on the cover, it says "How Could I?" The story is basically "A Year Later" type of piece.

I'm always interested in the stories about Spitzer and others like him, because they highlight the same question I tried to explore in my novel, TELL NO LIES: Why does a guy who "has everything" do something to screw it all up? What motivates him? The answers are different for everyone, of course, including for Jack, my main character, but I think there are certain traits they share in addition to the specific motivations they might have. There's a great sentence in Jon Meacham's "The Editor's Desk" piece at the front of the issue: "The route between political ambition and sexual hunger is among the shortest in human experience." It's also one of the most fascinating, I think, which is why authors write books about it and news magazines print cover stories about it, over and over again.

Interestingly enough, that same issue of Newsweek had a health article about "the science of forgetting." Why do I say "interestingly enough"? My second novel (tentatively titled HOW TO SAVE A LIFE), which will be out early next year, has a major plot line that relates to deleting traumatic memories from the brain. I don't want to say more lest I give too much away, but I'm starting to feel like someone at Newsweek is looking over my shoulder as I write . . .

ITW and Author Interviews

I'm a member of ITW (International Thriller Writers), and each month for ITW's online newsletter, The Big Thrill, I interview a fellow author who has a new book coming out. I've met some neat people doing this and have been exposed to books that I might not have otherwise known about. Funny thing, it never occurred to me that I should post links here to the interviews over there. (I have to thank fellow Floridian writer Blaize Clement for the idea.) I guess this explains why I didn't choose marketing as a career . . .

So today I'm going to play catch-up. Here's a list of the authors I've had the pleasure of interviewing for ITW so far (starting with the most recent) and the title of his/her most recent book, and from now on, I will try to remember to link to them as soon as they're available on The Big Thrill.

Sandi Ault, WILD SORROW (if you love the West, wildlife, the mountains, etc., you'll love her stuff. Critics do, too; she's the recipient of many awards and starred reviews.)

Blaize Clement, CAT SITTER ON A HOT TIN ROOF (Blaize was once a psychotherapist; in other words, her mysteries featuring Florida pet sitter Dixie Hemingway are more than cute cat capers)

Carole Nelson Douglas, BRIMSTONE KISS (for fans of paranormal fiction; PW gave it a starred review!)

Eric Wilson, FIELD OF BLOOD (the first in a vampire-themed series called Jerusalem's Undead Trilogy which explores "the extremes of religious thought and the emotional damage that comes from it")

Cheryl Norman, RUNNING SCARED (a page-turning thriller featuring a marathoner who not only runs for the finish line, but for her life).

Matt Rothschild, DUMBFOUNDED No More

The Washington Post called it "A family dysfunction story at its best. . . The former trustifarian's portrayal of his bold and brash, potty-mouth grandma is a hoot . . ." The Los Angeles Times said, "Funny and defiant." USA Today: "With genuine affection and brutal honesty, [Matt Rothschild] paints vivid, delightful portraits of the colorful characters who crossed his path."

The book that generated so much praise? Dumbfounded, by Orlando writer Matt Rothschild. Both heartbreaking and hilarious at the same time, Dumbfounded is Rothchild's memoir about growing up with his Jewish grandparents in a luxury Fifth Avenue building of WASPs after his mother left him for Italy and a fourth husband.

I first met Matt at a Florida Writers Association meeting. I was immediately struck by his self-deprecating sense of humor, and since then, every time I've seen him, he keeps me in stitches without even trying.

Matt was gracious enough to take the time to answer the some questions about his life and his memoir.

Julie: When did you decide you wanted to be a writer, and what made you decide to write a memoir about your childhood?

Matt: I’m trying to think if my Jackie Collins fantasy was when I decided to be a writer. As a kid there was something so terribly glamorous about her and all of those made-for-TV movies that were created from her books. Sydney Sheldon, too, and he really interested me because of all his work on "The Patty Duke Show" and "I Dream of Jeannie," because when I was younger I thought it might be fun to star in my own television series. It never happened obviously, and so I spent the better part of my childhood pretending I was on television, often posing for imaginary camera shots and memorizing imaginary lines.

I do have a brief memory of responding to a contest in Jack and Jill Magazine. I think you had to write some kind of children’s book, or maybe you just had to write a book, period. I was maybe six at the time. I did it on notebook paper and bound it in a three ring binder. So that was probably my earliest creation. Sadly, I don’t remember what the book would have been about.

It wasn’t until I was in college that I saw writing as really viable. At the time I was something of a lazy reader, really just reading anything that crossed my path. A friend had come out to visit me in San Francisco, where I was working the summer between my sophomore and junior years, and he left a book in my car, David Sedaris’ Me Talk Pretty One Day. Well, it took about a hot minute for me to fall in love with the book. It was after reading it that I knew what I wanted to do with my life; I wanted to write something that would affect people the way Sedaris’ book affected me. The problem, of course, was that I had no real idea how to write. So I found some materials about writing and saw that old truism: Write what you know! So what did I know? Not much, unfortunately. So I wrote a book about a isolated upper class delinquent who pretended to star in his own television series: Me.

Julie: There's so much detail about conversations with your grandparents, your mother, your teachers and friends (some hilarious, some tragic, some both). Do you have vivid memories of these events, or were you forced to recreate how you thought particular events or conversations might have happened? In other words, what process did you have to go through to write a memoir and feel that you'd told the story accurately? After the debacle with James Frey (A Million Little Pieces), were you nervous about it?

Matt: Annie Dillard has this great line in an essay about writing memoir that basically says every memoirist has two major dilemmas while writing: What to put in and what to leave out. I felt that acutely while writing Dumbfounded. I guess I had to decide what the real story was. The temptation with any story is to always start at the beginning, but that’s so rarely a good idea. The writer of any book (fiction or nonfiction) has to figure out the best way to tell their story, and sometimes you have to improvise. That said, I think most of us can probably remember twenty or so anecdotes that define our families. That’s what I did while writing Dumbfounded. I thought, Why am I like this? And the events within the chapters answered that question. Now, is everything 100% factual? The easy answer is no. How could it be? I mean, you and I could be sitting in the same room and experiencing the same events and remember the experience in two very different ways. Not only that, but over time, as we gather more experiences, our perspective shifts. That became difficult, too, while writing. Who was the narrator? Was he the boy going through the events, or was he the adult me looking back? So I had to take liberties. I chose which stories to include, and I chose which to leave out. Sometimes I could remember things vividly, other times I had to ask myself, What would he/she have said? It’s really not a far stretch to answer those questions for people you’ve known your whole life and think about every day.

I didn’t think too much about James Frey, because from the beginning I was always very up front about what I changed and what I left alone. I knew that certain things had to be changed, and that it was my responsibility to do that. It wouldn’t have been fair to keep some real names, etc. I think we have all done our fair share of tomfoolery that we are all sorry for, and who needs to be beaten over the head with a club twenty years later for it? Then there were the writerly things that had to be changed to streamline the narrative. That goes under the category of fashioning the text and taking liberties. Admittedly, some readers take a dim view of that sort of thing, and so I put it all in the Author’s Note. I figured the reader could decide for himself/herself if the book was worthwhile. So while I did change things, I’m not afraid to admit to it; nothing I changed altered the fundamental truth of the stories.

Julie: Were your grandparents aware that you were writing a memoir? Or had they already passed away when you started it? How about your mother? Has she read it? How did she react?

Matt: No, my grandparents had already passed away. In many ways it was their death that provided the climax for the book. I’ve often thought that if they were still alive, and I chose to write a memoir, the ending would be drastically different. As for my mother, I haven’t spoken to her in about ten years. I don’t believe she’s read it.

Julie: Did your experiences as a child bouncing around to different schools influence your decision to become a teacher?

Matt: I’m sure in many ways it did. In the classroom, I used my experiences as a troubled kid to relate with my students. We came from very different worlds, my students and I, but teenage angst is teenage angst. Most of the time, kids just want someone to listen to them and tell them they’re not crazy and to treat them with respect. That wasn’t the case when I was in school, and maybe if someone had done that for me, I would have been much less obnoxious.

Julie: Every writer has a "how I got published" story. Tell us yours.

Matt: I’ve known my agent Dan Lazar for the last six years. He’s been my agent nearly three years now. We first met through friends and when he found out I wrote, he asked to see something. I sent him a story I had written, and he asked if I had a book. At the time he was an agent’s assistant, and in his business an assistant gets promoted up to an agent if they can demonstrate that they have a good eye for talent. I was flattered, but didn’t have a book. Fast forward four years and I did. So I emailed him one day and asked how he would feel about having another client. By this point, he’d risen substantially at his firm. He was already a full agent and selling all sorts of titles for enormous sums of money. In response to my question, he told me he wasn’t representing friends because often friends would send him things he didn’t think was right for him and when he’d tell these friends that he couldn’t represent them the friendship would usually evaporate. I understood this and asked if he’d be willing to give me a referral, which he agreed to. He even said he’d critique my query letter. So I sent him my query letter and he emailed me back and said, “I changed my mind. Send me that book!”

After I sent him the book and he’d had a week to think about it, we spoke on the phone. He shared his editorial suggestions and they made sense to me. Essentially, I had to rewrite the whole thing, but he validated that the concept was good. So I rewrote a portion of the book to send to publishers, and then wrote the outline. (Memoirs are usually sold based on the strength of the first few chapters and the outline for the rest). I’d send Dan what I had and he’d comment/critique and then I’d go back to work. It probably took a couple of months. When the proposal was done, we tried to place some of the chapters as stand-alone pieces. Because I didn’t have any publishing credentials, Dan thought that placing the stories in magazines or newspapers would increase my chances of getting picked up by a publisher. We tried to place some stories for a few months and nobody was biting. Eventually Dan decided to send out the proposal anyway to see what people would say.

I have to admit that I wasn’t too optimistic. I had no idea what to expect, but getting a book published is such a long shot. But he sent out the proposal anyway, on a Wednesday I think. By Friday there was already initial interest from Harcourt. The following Monday there was interest from Harper Collins, Penguin, Algonquin and Random House. I spoke with each of the editors, and they were all so terribly nice. I remember being nervous, because I thought they’d be mean and be like, “Why should I publish your book, you nothing?!” But that’s not what happened at all. Two weeks later the book was sold to Random House, and two years later I still don’t think I’ve gotten over the shock.

Julie: What's next for Matt Rothschild? Are you working on another book? Can you tell us a little bit about it?

Matt: As a matter of fact I am! It’s taken me a while to figure out what I wanted to write about next, but I think I’ve nailed down a story that I’m still firming up in my mind. It’s basically what happens after Dumbfounded ends, when I, through a series of random coincidences, end up being taken in by a family that appears to be the opposite of my own dysfunctional Rothschild clan, but who end up being more messed up than we ever were. It just took me being in their lives to bring out their dysfunction! It’s supposed to be funny, though. I realize that might read far less hilariously than it should. Shrug.

You can learn more about Matt and Dumbfounded at http://www.mattrothschild.com/

Close Call on the Motorcycle . . .Yikes!

Well, I had my first "close call" on the motorcycle. What a way to start the new year! It scared the heck out of me, but I think it's a good thing it happened because it's given me some confidence in my skills. It's one thing to react properly on the test course, when you know what "emergency" you're being tested for; it's another thing altogether to react on the real road, when the emergency comes when you least expect it.

Ever since I started riding, I've had this underlying fear of "What if I don't do what I need to do and was taught to do in an emergency situation?" One of my biggest fears, in fact, was that in a situation where I needed to stop quickly, I would use too much front brake and not enough rear brake and I'd end up flying over the handlebar. I knew what I was supposed to do, but I worried that in the heat of the moment I'd just react, and my reaction would be the wrong one. Well, this past weekend, my education was put to the test and I'm happy to report, I did what I needed to do. I avoided what could have been a bad accident and lived to tell about it . . .

Rick and I decided to ride the bike to breakfast. Usually, whenever the two of us ride together, he drives and I ride on the back, mainly because the ride feels so different with him on the back. Everything feels balanced so differently. I've ridden with both of my daughters on the back (not at the same time, of course), and that didn't affect the ride too much. But they're light. But having Rick as a passenger is a different story. We'd done a test ride around the neighborhood, and it just felt weird. But on Saturday, he encouraged me to be the driver. He told me he thought I'd done a good job on our neighborhood ride, and he had no qualms about letting me take the lead. And after all, it's my bike. Didn't I want to be the one driving?

So off we went. As soon as we turned right out of our neighborhood onto a two lane road, my emergency skills were put to the test. We'd been on the road for about a half a mile when, from another neighborhood exit on the opposite side of the road, a car pulled out into our lane without stopping to check for traffic. It wasn't even as if this car pulled out in front of us. No, it pulled out right at us. Stopping in time wasn't even an option. Somehow my brain recognized this and I knew that the only way we were going to come out of this in one piece was to avoid the car. But the only way to avoid the car was to leave the road. I remember thinking "well, I can ride across grass on my bicycle so I should be able to do it on the motorcycle" and so I just did it. I drove right into the grass and up onto the sidewalk. I brought the bike to a relatively smooth stop then, and unbelievably, not only did the car take off, it did so very quickly -- as if the driver knew what she had done (yes, I saw the driver, she looked to be about 25 years old, and no, she wasn't even on a cell phone) and didn't want to own up to it. Cars behind us stopped to check on us, and people on a walking/jogging trail on the opposite side of the road called over to us, too, to make sure we were okay. All shook their heads in disbelief at what they'd just seen. But the driver of the offending car just drove off . . . a top-notch human being, huh?

I'd always been afraid that if I ever had a close call like this, it would spook me and I'd have trouble getting "back on the horse," as they say. But surprisingly, I had no difficulty pulling back onto the road and continuing on our way. The incident was good for me, because it taught me that I could react as needed in an emergency. And it's made me even more careful about keeping an eye out for everything around me. I do this anyway -- they told us in our lessons that riding a motorcycle would make us better drivers all around, and that's definitely true -- but having something like this happen in real life is so much better than the hypothetical situations you learn about in class. Well, maybe better isn't the right word . . . how about "a more valuable teaching opportunity?"

By the way, Rick was wonderful. He told me I did a great job, and to my surprise, when we prepared to take off again, he didn't even ask to drive!

Changed my mind after seeing The Boy in the Striped Pajamas

Saw "The Boy in the Striped Pajamas" on Saturday night with my husband and younger daughter and I'm not so cynical about endings anymore (see post below)(though I almost wish I still could be; you'll understand if you keep reading). My daughter had read the book, so she knew how it would end.

SPOILER ALERT: stop reading now if you don't want to know anything about how this movie/book ends!

Yes, it's a Holocaust movie, so of course much of the "ending" is already known. But I kept thinking -- hoping -- that at least the little boys would be okay. That someone at the last minute would get there just in time to save them. I envisioned an ending like "A Beautiful Life" (which, if you haven't seen, you MUST see. The ending is fabulous.) Alas, the "Hollywood" ending I wanted didn't come to pass (and it's so unusual for me to want a Hollywood ending). But, it's a more powerful movie because of it. Go see it, but take some tissues. Or read the book!

Thoughts while watching To Kill a Mockingbird

On Thanksgiving night, after stuffing ourselves with turkey and other goodies, my family and I sat down to watch To Kill a Mockingbird. The novel by Harper Lee (on which the movie is based) is one of my favorites, but for some reason I never saw the movie. Even my 16 year old daughter had seen it in school.

First I'll say this: it's good I knew the story so well, because at times the kids' accents were so thick, I had trouble catching some of what they said. Part of this could have also been the difference in film/sound quality from what we're used to now.

Second: Gregory Peck was perfect in the role of Atticus Finch.

Third, and the reason for this blog post: It occurred to me while watching that if Harper Lee had written her novel today, she probably would have been pressured to change at least a few of the scenes so as not to disappoint the audience. For example, there's the long courtroom scene where Atticus proves that Tom Robinson, because of his lame left arm, couldn't have assaulted Mayella Ewell the way she (and her father and the sheriff) testified. Atticus gives an incredibly eloquent closing argument, but the jury still comes back with a guilty verdict. It's painful to read (and watch). Nowadays, I'm just not sure a writer could get away with this. Readers have certain expectations (in this case, that justice will prevail). Even if the guilty verdict were allowed to stand at the book stage, the film version would surely nip the "problem" in the bud. Hollywood nowadays would never allow such a verdict. Can't have the audience leaving the theatre without a smile on its face.

Then there's the scene near the end, when Atticus goes with Jem to the Robinson house to break the news to the family that Tom Robinson is dead. Bob Ewell shows up, and Atticus comes out of the Robinson house and stands before him. Ewell spits in Atticus' face, and there's a moment when the audience is just waiting for Atticus to haul off and hit him. To say Ewell deserves it is an understatement. Of course the audience wants Atticus to hit him. Even Atticus wants to hit him. In the film, you can just see his mind considering the possibility, you can see the desire. But no matter how much the audience wants it, Harper Lee knew Atticus was a better man than that. His response is hard to watch, just like the guilty verdict, but it's the only response befitting him: he walks away.

I wonder if, in today's version, he still would . . .

My New Website is Live!

To check it out, you can click on the first link to the left under Websites I Like, or click here.

There's a link for signing up for my mailing list (which will be used only for updates about my books or events, I promise!) and information for book clubs, too.

Let me know how you like it!

Thanks to Authorbytes for doing such a nice job. :-)

Lessons Learned, from a Debut Novelist

I've written about Laura Benedict before, and if you look to the left, you'll see her first novel, Isabella Moon, is on my list of books recently read. Her second novel, Calling Mr. Lonely Hearts, above, goes on sale this January, and I can't wait to read it. I instantly liked Laura the first time I read her blog, Notes From the Handbasket, and my initial instincts about her were confirmed when I met her in person at Thrillerfest. She's down to earth and a warm, generous person. She has a wonderful way of expressing certain thoughts about writing and publishing -- very honest and open about the process and the business -- and I find myself screaming "Yes! Yes!" at my computer screen when I read some of her blog posts.

Laura recently guest-blogged at the Fantasy Debut blog about her first year as a published author, and I encourage all writers -- especially those who are unpublished or those who have a contract but whose release date is sometime in the future -- to read what she has to say. These are things to keep in the "Things I wish I'd known" file. It's also a great article for readers and fans who wonder what it's really like to be a first time author . . . :-)

Scenes from the Road -- October TELL NO LIES Travel

"Cousin Su's Book Club" Wilmington, DE -- These ladies were an inquisitive bunch. They asked some great, thoughtful questions about characters, theme, plot. Careful readers: an author's dream.


Westtown Friends School "Parent Book Club", Westtown, PA -- Another great group. They had a lot of questions about the publishing business and writing in general. (And they all wanted my St. Louis Gooey Butter Cake recipe!) ;-) Thanks to my friend Kathy of idesign (in the brown V-neck on the couch) for suggesting me as a guest author . . .

At The Big Read, in St. Louis. This day was a blast. I participated in a panel discussion (above) with fellow authors Tess Gerritsen, Emilie Richards, and Joanna Campbell Slan. Below: Afterwards, at the book-signing table.

Later, I sat in on an excellent workshop (about marketing your book) presented by Joanna and another St. Louis author, Angie Fox. But the highlight of the day? Dinner on the Hill with Joanna and Emilie at Trattoria Marcella, and then dessert at Ted Drewes. Here we are (below) at Ted Drewes with St. Louis sculptor extraordinaire, Tyrone De la Venta -- who looked like a friendly guy and so we asked him to take our picture. Little did we know we'd meet an artist with sculptures displayed throughout the city.

Above: New fans Candice McBain and Barb Cassens of Ballwin, MO came to hear me speak at the Kirkwood Public Library. (Thanks for taking a chance on me, Candice and Barb!) Below: Snacks and drinks with family and friends after the event. I think the Florida weather had followed me to Missouri.

Below: Here I am with Vicki Erwin (owner of Main Street Books in St. Charles, MO)(who treated me to a lovely dinner at the Mother-in-Law House Restaurant in St. Charles a few nights later) and Sarah Erwin (of the Kirkwood Public Library) (yes, they are related!)

On my last night in St. Louis, I spoke at the St. Charles Library. Below is the amazing sign that greeted me (Thanks Sara Nielsen and everyone there!):

If you look close on the left, you can see me next to the sign. ;-)

As if all this wasn't enough, I also did a few booksignings (but forgot to take pics): one during Educator Appreciation Weekend at the Borders in Sunset Hills, MO (thanks to Margaret Holden at Borders for inviting me), and another at the the Barnes & Noble in Exton, PA. I also spent a few days in Baltimore at Bouchercon (a huge mystery fan conference), where I met up with some of the fellow International Thriller Writers I'd met at Thrillerfest in July, like Julie Kramer (my roomie), Kelli Stanley, Andy Harp (thanks for a great lunch on the Harbor, Andy!), Hank Phillippi Ryan, and Sibylle Barrasso . I was also fortunate to meet Martin Edwards, a UK author who'd interviewed me long distance for Shots Magazine during the UK release of TELL NO LIES. Weaving through the crowds one day, I ran into fellow Central Florida (and St. Martin's) authors Bob Morris (whose latest book, A Deadly Silver Sea, is out later this month) and Tom Cavanagh. And I even got up the nerve to introduce myself to Harlan Coben . . . I hadn't needed to be nervous, though; he was an incredibly nice guy. All in all, it was quite a conference, and I didn't even experience the whole four days.

On second thought, it was quite a month. :-)

Aspiring Writers, NanoWrimo Starts November 1st!

What's NanoWrimo, you ask?

It stands for National Novel Writing Month. The goal is to write a 175 page (50,000 word) novel between November 1 and November 30.

Learn all about it at http://www.nanowrimo.org/.

I participated in 2005 and 2006, and though I didn't finish by the deadline during either year -- it sure kick-started my writing! I've decided to do it this year as a way to start working regularly on my third novel.

Give it a try, and good luck!