Ed Thomas

I learned today that Ed Thomas has passed away.

I can't tell you how hard it was to type those words. I knew he had been ill, knew that he was not expected to survive, but still it's hard. Even as I would not wish a moment's suffering on my beloved friend, it is so hard.

In 1992, many months before my first book was published, I received a call from a bookseller in Orange, California. Ed Thomas, the owner of Book Carnival, had read an advanced readers copy of Goodnight, Irene, and invited me to sign at his store when it was published. He was kindness itself, and I accepted his invitation.

So my first book signing was held at Book Carnival, and I came away from it with a false impression that every signing at any store might include a huge turnout. My humility was soon returned to me. But after that, I tried hard to arrange matters so that Book Carnival would always be my first signing date. Although I wasn't always able to prevail over plans my publisher's marketing department made, every time I published a book I signed there as soon as I could. It wasn't the turnout, although they always managed a good one for me, but I would have been happy to return in any case — because that 1992 phone call was the beginning of two treasured friendships — Ed and Pat Thomas were unfailingly kind to me over the next 18 years.

Ed had already been in the book business a long time when I met him. The number of authors who felt a family-like loyalty to him is legion, and by the time I met him already included Dean Koontz, Michael Connelly, Robert Crais and scores of others. For me, each visit to that store was like a visit home. Pat and I would talk about Texas and family and friends; Ed would tell jokes and stories; they would always treat you right. I would come to a friend's signing and still be in the store over an hour after it ended, talking to Ed and Pat.

Ed would tell me a joke (he had my number early on re judging how earthy they could be) and Pat would blush and wave a dismissive hand at him and say "Oh, Ed!" even as she laughed with us.

The Book Carnival is one of the oldest stores of its kind in the country. In 2003, Ed and Pat Thomas traveled to New York for the Edgars, where they were presented with the Raven. They were richly deserving of the acknowledgement.One of my favorite photos was taken of the three of us that night, and you can see it here.

Jokes and stories were part of each of my visits to the store, but nothing excited Ed like discovering a good read. I never walked out of Book Carnival only carrying the book I came in for. That was okay — I happily anticipated discovering a new (to me) writer with each visit. It was what every writer knew when they were at the store — Ed loved the books he sold. He knew mystery and dark fantasy (the store's specialty). He was extremely well-read in the genres, and also read beyond them. He knew book collecting, but he was not one of those folks with an untouched library. He learned what his customers liked and remembered that, so that even if a book could be bought cheaper somewhere else, they came to his small store for all that he offered them beyond a buck off. And what he offered was a great deal of knowledge and personal service. He was a man who wouldn't tell you he liked something he didn't. He wouldn't tell you a rare book was worth more than it was. The buyer didn't have to beware at the Book Carnival.

I always loved to exchange stories about some of our wackier encounters with the public. Ed once told me a story about getting a call from a man who asked him where the store was.

Ed told him the address.

The man said, "No, it's not."

"Yes, it is," Ed said.

Ed listened with growing incredulity as the guy started to argue with him about it. "Look, whether you believe it or not," Ed said, "I'm standing right here in it."

How I wish he was standing right there now, that I could drive there tonight and visit one more time, and let him know how very much I'll miss him.

Books on the iPhone/iPod

There are a number of formats you can use to read (or hear) my books now, including electronic editions. An addition to these formats is one I just became aware of -- Iceberg Reader offers several of my books for the iPhone and newer iPods. Just go to the App Store on your phone and search by my name, and you'll see the list of currently available books.

If you'd rather listen to the books on your iPhone or computer or other device, you can also download or purchase other formats of my audio books from iTunes, Recorded Books or Audible.com.

A Forensic Science Panel & a Book Fair-- Stop by and say hello!

I've got two public appearances coming up soon -- more to come in October and November!

Tuesday, September 29, 11:45 AM-2:30 PM
California Forensic Science Institute Forum
"Challenges Facing Forensic Science"
Hertzberg-Davis Forensic Science Center
Los Angeles Regional Crime Laboratory
William T Fujikoka Room
1800 Paseo Rancho Castilla
Los Angeles CA 90032

Call CFSI for more information at (323) 343-4877

Sunday, October 4

West Hollywood Book Fair

West Hollywood Park

647 N. San Vicente Blvd

West Hollywood [click here for a map and link to parking info]

Noon - Crossover/Supernatural/Mystery Panel (which probably has a better name by now, but this is the only one I've been given) in the Fiction Pavilion

2:30 PM Sisters in Crime: How Far Have We Come?

in the Mystery & Suspense Pavilion

There will be signings after each panel, and at 4 PM I'll also be signing at the Sisters in Crime booth.

Coming soon: appearances in Orange County, CA; Nashville, Tennessee; San Jose, CA; Muskego, Wisconsin; and Fallbrook, CA. See my Web site's Schedule page for more info!

Celia Fremlin

"Fremlin is here to stay as a major mistress of insight and suspense."
New York Times, April 3, 1960

"Celia Fremlin is certainly one of today's more gifted writers."
Los Angeles Times, May, 1963

I've just learned that English novelist Celia Fremlin passed away this summer, on June 16, 2009.

Fremlin, born in 1914, wrote two novels of manners before turning her pen to crime fiction and suspense. She won the Edgar for Best Novel for The Hours Before Dawn, first published in 1958. If you've never read it, find a copy as soon as possible. I strongly recommend it. It's superbly written, unsettling and perceptive.

Beyond that, I think those of you who want a look at women's lives in late 1950s -- as well as some insight into women's lives now, will find that without the least bit of preaching, Fremlin gives you something to think about. It's available from Chicago Academy Publishers.

Her eighteen other novels include Uncle Paul, The Jealous One (also available from Chicago Academy Publishers), The Spider-Orchid and Dangerous Thoughts. A bibliography is available here.

I've been collecting her books over the last ten years, and can tell you that the critical acclaim was well-deserved.

I'm indebted to Elizabeth Foxwell for sending me a link to Martin Edward's blog, where I learned of Fremlin's death, and I agree wholeheartedly with all he has to say there about the stunning lack of notice her passing has received.

Inside The Messenger: Memento Mori and Mourning Rings

"Also, I do will and appoint ten rings of gold to be made of the value of twenty shillings a piece sterling with a death's-head upon some of them."

— a will dated 1648, quoted in Finger Ring Lore by William Jones

Those of you who've read The Messenger know that a special memento mori ring is part of the story. While only Tyler and Amanda can tell you where to find a ring exactly like the one in the book, memento mori rings are real.

Rings have long symbolized the eternal -- the unbroken circle. "Memento mori" is a Latin phrase that literally means "remember you shall die," and refers to objects that serve as a reminder that death awaits us all, and for those who believe in an afterlife, that it, too, awaits.

"As I am, so shall you be."

Memento mori and mourning rings were often made of gold or silver, might include gemstones, enamel work, or hair art. They were often decorated with symbols of death and mourning: skulls, skeletons, hourglasses, coffins, urns, willows, acacias, and garlands, to name a few. In my research I came across a few that had a single eye painted on them -- the deceased keeping watch. A little unnerving for the surviving spouse, one would think.

Memento mori rings have been worn since ancient times. Some of the most elaborate were made in 16-19th centuries in England, but they were also worn in many other countries.

William Shakespeare bequeathed memento mori rings to his wife and his daughter -- it was not uncommon at that time (and in later centuries) for wills to contain instructions that mourning rings be made with inscriptions to reminder the wearer of the deceased.

In Searching for Shakespeare, Tarnya Cooper writes that "Memorial rings were not only given or bequeathed as a lasting token of remembrance, gratitude and affection at death, but were also exchanged in betrothal and marriage." The book shows several examples of these rings.

Here are some links to photographs of memento mori rings and places where you can find more information about them:

The Art of Mourning Lots of historical information and many beautiful photographs of rings.

A ring worn at Jamestown, early 17th century. Possibly worn by Captain Christopher Lawne.

Laurell Antique Jewelry This site also has beautiful photographs of mourning rings.

Victorian Hair Art - This page shows a lovely example of mourning jewelry made with hair art -- a fascinating subject of its own!

Morning Glory Antiques - has photographs of several other examples of hair art from the Victorian period, including mourning rings

New Audio Books!

New audio books are now available!
You can now listen to
Goodnight, Irene
Sweet Dreams, Irene
Dear Irene,
Remember Me, Irene
Hocus
and
Liar
on Recorded Books. Click here for a link:
http://tinyurl.com/mcmav9
The books are unabridged and are also available at Audible.com and other audio book sites.

Other titles are on the way!

CSULB Library

This post is a test -- I've had a really odd message from Google on my blog's dashboard, so I'm not sure the blog is working.

Had a wonderful day today at the CSULB Library. Saw ORCA, its automated system for retrieving books and journals not kept in the usual stacks -- amazing, something almost out of science fiction. And the high-tech Spidell Center within the library is a great way for students to be able to use computers and search online for information. In a hundred other ways, the space has been opened up, made airier and brighter. There were lots of students there, making use of its resources.

There are many other plans, all of which will benefit the students, and I hope funding comes through for them. So if you're also a 49er -- one of CSULB's alumni -- consider a gift to the University Library. Visit it and you'll see they're making good use of the funds.

Bookplate update

The last of the bookplates have been given away -- these are no longer available -- many thanks to all of you who asked for them! I'll try to do something like this again in the near future.

Yours,

Jan

My apologies for being so late getting the bookplates out -- I sometimes have this notion in my head of "Miracle Jan" who can do things like go on a book tour and sign and mail out good stuff on the few days she has home -- and still do local events, spend time with her husband and dogs, respond to a thousand emails, get stuff to the dry cleaners, do laundry, go to the grocery store, and all other necessary errands and tasks in those same two days. Did I mention sleep?

Anyway, Miracle Jan was a no show last month, so I'm catching up now and will sign and get those bookplates out this week. If you want one and didn't get a chance to ask before, just send your name and address to burke.themessenger at gmail.com. I'd write it in a plainer fashion, but one must do what one can to foil spammers.

Signing Schedule - Week of January 18

Tuesday, January 20, 6:30 PM
Murder by the Book
2342 Bissonnet Street
Houston, TX 77005
713-524-8597
Toll free: 888-4-AGATHA (888-424-2842)
Click here for a map
or go to http://tinyurl.com/mbtbhtx

Wednesday, January 21, 7:00 PM
Borders - Lee's Summit
1664 Northwest Chipman Road
Lee's Summit, MO 64081
816-347-0044
Click here for a map
or go to http://tinyurl.com/bblsmo

Thursday, January 22, 7:00 PM
Left Bank Books (Central West End)
399 North Euclid Ave
St Louis, MO 63108
314-367-6731
Click here for a map
or go to http://tinyurl.com/lbstmo

Ohio and Kentucky

I'm leaving for Ohio in the morning, getting ready for some signings and other events there and in Kentucky.

I was interviewed by Mark Perzel on Cincinnati's NPR station, WVXU, For the "Cincinnati Edition" show. You can listen to the interview online by clicking here for the complete show for January 10 -- you can find the interview at about the halfway point. If you buy the book through the station's Web site, a portion of the sale benefits WVXU.

A review of The Messenger and my interview with Vick Mickunas appears in today's Dayton Daily News. You can read that article by clicking here.

Here are a few of the interviews scheduled (more about others soon):

On Tuesday morning, January 13th, I'll be on TKR-Cable TV's Northern Kentucky Magazine show at about 10:30 AM.

On Wednesday, January 14th, I'll be on WDTN-TV's 2 News at Noon.

On Thursday, January 15th, I'll be on WKYT-TV's 27 Noon News.

The bookstores where I'll be this week are listed on my schedule page and this post below:
Is this thing on?: Schedule for The Messenger Tour - Week of January 11

Gaza Protests in Westwood Result in Cancellation of Today's Mystery Bookstore Signing

Sometimes the best laid plans must be laid aside --

Today I had two signings planned for The Messenger. I had just left Mysteries to Die For after a great signing there in Thousand Oaks and started down the 101 freeway, when I got a call from Bobby, the manager of the Mystery Bookstore in Westwood. Because of a large number of protesters at the nearby Federal Building and on some of the streets of Westwood, law enforcement had blocked freeway exits to the area and all of the surface streets leading into Westwood Village, so he asked to cancel the signing. Another author had been unable to reach the store, and Bobby felt sure I wouldn't be able to get to the store from outside Westwood.

Bobby later kindly brought preordered books to my house, and I signed them for any of you who had requested them. I also signed some stock for those who order books or come by the store after today.

I hope none of you were caught in the heavy traffic or frustrated in trying to get to the store, and also apologize to the two fans in Westwood who apparently managed to get the store. I hope I'll see you at another local event.

Schedule for The Messenger Tour - Week of January 11

I'll be on several television and radio programs this week in Ohio and Kentucky -- I'll post more about that soon.

Tuesday, January 13 at 7:00 PM
Joseph-Beth Booksellers
Rookwood Commons
2692 Madison Road
Cincinnati, OH 45208
513-396-8960
Click here for a map
or go to http://tinyurl.com/jbcinoh

Wednesday, January 14, at 7:00 PM
Books & Co.
Greene Shopping Center
4453 Walnut Street
Beavercreek, OH 45440
937-429-2169
Click here for a map
or go to http://tinyurl.com/bcbcoh

Thursday, January 15 at 7:00 PM
Joseph-Beth Booksellers
161 Lexington Green Circle
Lexington, KY 40503
859-273-2911
Click here for a map
or go to http://tinyurl.com/jblfky

Saturday, January 17th at 1:00 PM
Book Carnival
348 Tustin Avenue
Orange, CA 92866
714-538-3210
Click here for a map
or go to http://tinyurl.com/bkctca

I have more signings coming up and I hope you'll be able to stop by and say hello. Here are some stores where I've already signed books, and while supplies last, these stores will happily ship autographed books to you if you order by calling the store or visiting its Website:

Mysterious Galaxy
858-268-4747

Poisoned Pen
480-947-2974
Toll free: 888-560-9919

M is for Mystery
650-401-8077
Toll free outside the San Francisco Bay Area: 888-405-8077

Book Passage
415-927-0960
Toll free: 800-999-7909

Books Inc. in the Marina
415-931-3633

Mysteries to Die For
805-374-0084

Mystery Bookstore
310-209-0415
Toll free: 800-821-9017

Signing Schedule - Week of January 4

The Messenger is now in stores! Here's where I'll be the week of January 4th -- please stop by and say hello!

Monday, January 5, at 7:00 PM
Barnes & Noble Huntington Beach
7881 Edinger Avenue
Huntington Beach, CA 92647
714-897-8781
This store is in the Bella Terra Mall, near the Cheesecake Factory.
Click here for a map
or go to http://tinyurl.com/bnhbca

Tuesday, January 6, at 7:00 PM
Mysterious Galaxy
7051 Clairemont Mesa Boulevard, Suite 302
San Diego, CA 92111
858-268-4747
Click here for a map
or go to http://tinyurl.com/mgsdca

Wednesday, January 7, at 7:00 PM
Poisoned Pen
4014 North Goldwater, Suite 101
Scottsdale, AZ 85251
480-947-2974
Toll free: 888-560-9919
Click here for a map
or go to http://tinyurl.com/ppbsaz

Thursday, January 8, at 1:00 PM
Book Passage
51 Tamal Vista
Corte Madera, CA 94925
415-927-0960
Toll free: 800-999-7909
Click here for a map
or go to http://tinyurl.com/bpcmca

Thursday, January 8, at 7:30 PM
Books Inc. in the Marina
2251 Chestnut Street
San Francisco, CA 94123
415-931-3633
Click here for a map
or go to http://tinyurl.com/bimsfca

Saturday, January 10, at 1:00 PM
Mysteries to Die For
2940 Thousand Oaks Blvd.
Thousand Oaks, CA 91362
805-374-0084
Click here for a map
or go to http://tinyurl.com/mtdftoca

Saturday, January 10, at 4:00 PM
Mystery Bookstore
1036 Broxton Avenue, Suite C
Los Angeles, CA 90024
310-209-0415
Toll free: 800-821-9017
Click here for a map
or go to http://tinyurl.com/mblaca

Free Bookplate Offer

The last of the bookplates have been given away -- these are no longer available -- many thanks to all of you who asked for them! I'll try to do something like this again in the near future.

Yours,

Jan

A large, signed edition of this book plate of Shade, the cemetery dog in The Messenger, is available free to those who are on my mailing list and fans of this blog.

These bookplates were designed by Sandra Cvar. Only a limited number are available, so for now, we'll only send one per household.

To receive a book plate, just send your name and address to this e-mail address:
burke.themessenger -- at -- gmail.com

replace the spaces and "-- at --" with the usual e-mail symbol.

This offer is void where prohibited.

An Introduction to The Messenger & Tour Info

Starting today, I'm going to be telling you more about my newest book, The Messenger. And tomorrow I'll also tell you about an offer for those of you who faithfully read this blog or belong to my mailing list.

Q: When will The Messenger be published?
The official publication date is December 30, 2008. I've been hearing that some people are already receiving copies. You can order The Messenger on the website of your favorite bookstore, through Indiebound, Amazon, Barnes and Noble, and other online booksellers, or by calling your local bookstore. If you want a signed copy, many of the bookstores I'll be visiting on my tour will ship a book to you -- call to ask.


Q: What's it about?
The Messenger is a supernatural thriller. I'm going to tell you more about the characters, the story, and some of my research for the book over the next few days. You can also read about the book on my website. Here's a brief introduction to it, though — and skip the rest of this section if you really don't like any kind of spoiler!

Far below the surface of the Caribbean Sea, a salvage diver hears an eerie voice coming from the wreckage of a 19th century ship. The voice belongs to Adrian de Ville, who offers the diver power and wealth if he will pledge his service and help Adrian find Tyler Hawthorne. It's a bargain the diver comes to regret.

Tyler Hawthorne lives in Los Angeles. To all appearances twenty-four, he is in fact more than two hundred years old and nearly immortal. In 1815, as he lay dying of his wounds at Waterloo, Adrian offered him a memento mori ring, and the opportunity to recover and become The Messenger. Tyler has since had the ability to hear the thoughts of the dying in the last moments of their lives and conveys their final messages to their loved ones. With only a cemetery dog named Shade to bear him company, he leads a solitary and nomadic existence.

Now, in L.A., he finds himself drawn to a woman named Amanda Clarke, who has secrets of her own.

The dying give messages to Tyler, too, and lately they've indicated that his life is about to change. But will this change allow him to grow closer to Amanda, or bring him under the power of his old enemy?

Q: The Messenger isn't an Irene Kelly book -- does that mean you've stopped writing about Irene?
No. I'm working on a new Irene Kelly book now.

Q: Will you be on a book tour for The Messenger?

Yes. Here are the places I'll be:

Monday, January 5, 7 PM
Barnes & Noble Huntington Beach, CA

Tuesday, January 6, 7 PM
Mysterious Galaxy San Diego, CA

Wednesday, January 7, 7 PM
Poisoned Pen Scottsdale, AZ

Thursday, January 8, 1 PM
Book Passage Corte Madera, CA

Thursday, January 8, 7:30 PM
Books Inc. in The Marina San Francisco, CA

Thursday, January 8, TBA
M is for Mystery San Mateo, CA—stock signing

Saturday, January 10, 1 PM
Mysteries to Die For Thousand Oaks, CA

Saturday, January 10, 4 PM
Mystery Bookstore Los Angeles, CA

Tuesday, January 13, 7 PM
Joseph Beth Cincinnati, OH

Wednesday, January 14, 7 PM
Books & Co Dayton, OH

Thursday, January 15, 7 PM
Joseph Beth Lexington, KY

Saturday, January 17, 1 PM
Book Carnival Orange, CA

Tuesday, January 20, 6:30 PM
Murder by the Book Houston, TX

Wednesday, January 21, 7 PM
Borders (Lee Summit) Kansas City, MO

Wednesday, January 22, 7 PM
Left Bank Books St Louis, MO

Be sure to keep checking the schedule page on my website for updated information.

The Messenger

I invite you to visit my Web site, janburke.com, to see information about the new book, The Messenger. The site currently says it will be out in "December," but that's kind of misleading. Officially, at this moment, the release date for the book is December 30th, and you can pre-order it from online booksellers now for delivery then.   The tour for the book starts in early January.

All of that nitpicking aside...if you follow the link on my home page, you'll find information about the book.  And as on this blog -- some new artwork.  Enjoy!

About ten posts worth of random notes

Many thanks to Maryelizabeth Hart of Mysterious Galaxy for letting me know about this gem.

~~~

My sister, Sandy Cvar, will be teaching "Introduction to Linocut" at the International Printing Museum on Saturday, September 13, 9:30-4:00. This will be an easy way to learn how to carve linoleum to make a print. You don't need to be an artist to have fun with this method of printmaking!

We loved our recent visit to the museum. Even if you don't want to try working with linocut, if you're in the South Bay area, stop by and visit them.

~~~

We just subscribed to HBO. Why? True Blood, which is based on Charlaine Harris's fabulous Sookie Stackhouse series. We are also looking forward to the next David Simon project.

~~~

Last few days have been hectic. Having finished proofreading The Messenger, I sent it back to my editor. Sandy has finished some graphics for the update of the Web site, and Madeira James is at work on the new look.

I made a trip to see my folks, was a party to -- won't bore you with the long story -- destroying the firmware on my dad's iPhone. (Yes, in their 80s, my parents are using iPhones and texting, using Maps, checking stock quotes, downloading apps for games and all sorts of other cool stuff. And yes, at that age, I hope I'm willing to take space shuttle trips or use whatever cool tech is available then.) So I took the phone into the Apple store in Costa Mesa, and with the kind and efficient help of Genius Bar genius Johnny, got it up and running again. So two trips out of town, but I got to see the parents a little more often that way, which is always a good thing.

~~~

One of these days I'm going to have to post something about the Skeptical Inquirer. Which may sound like a strange thing to say, since I've just written a supernatural thriller. But there you have it. I don't really believe there's a city in Southern California named Las Piernas either. Sorry if I just made anyone cry. But I also saved you gas money by preventing you from driving around looking for it.

Anyway, great article in the Nov/Dec 2007 issue (yes, I'm behind on almost everything) by Denis Hamel. It's about a quotation floating around the Internet and elsewhere, lauding astrology and falsely attributed to Einstein. You might say that you don't have to be Einstein to suspect that he probably didn't believe in astrology, but the hoax persists. Hamel's article not only shows that Einstein didn't author this "quote," but shows that even given proof that it's a hoax, some folks refuse to remove it from their sites. I'm not the first person to tell you not to believe everything you read online, right?

~~~

I'm going to do a little work for the Crime Lab Project and then get back to work on the new book. Follow me on Twitter if you want details from here.

Have a good one! And thanks, Vgan -- I'm also glad the world did not implode when they fired up the black hole machine today. Not that I was really worried.

Galleys!

The galleys for The Messenger have arrived!   It's always an exciting day when galleys are in, for several reasons --

The book starts looking like a book! Gone are the double-spaced manuscript pages, the ones I produced on my computer, and we're also past the stage when the symbols of copy-editing covered those pages.  This is the phase of production of a book in which those manuscript pages have been given over to the artistry of those who design and layout the type and pages -- the final look of the book itself.  If you can image an unbound book being photocopied, single-sided, you now have some idea of what galley pages look like.  The first time I see any book at this stage is a wonderful moment, a moment when the book-as-book comes closer to being a reality.

It's also the last chance I'll have to correct errors.  This is truly unnerving.  If you're an author, when you see your copy-edited manuscript (previous stage of work), you become aware that your brain filled in all sorts of things that your fingers did not type on the keyboard, and that you, until now -- despite numerous readings of screens and printed pages before now -- never noticed were missing or unclear.   So you work hard to stay focused while going over a copy-edited manuscript.  Then, thinking you've caught whatever problems you and a team of experts could catch, you mail it back.   A few weeks later, you see the galleys -- and yes, there is always something that has been missed by the folks who were looking for errors before now.   

You also know that despite your efforts and those of your publisher, some howlingly funny, boneheaded error will remain, and you will be hearing about it by e-mail within the first week after the book is published.

Galleys also bring a sense of urgency with them -- there is never a lot of time between when one receives them and when one's publisher wants them back.  So I'm off to work on galleys!

More Audio Books!

I'm happy to say that two more Irene Kelly books — have been released as audio books by the wonderful folks at Recorded Books!

Sweet Dreams, Irene and Dear Irene, are now available unabridged on CD and audio tape. (Unabridged means the whole book is recorded — every page read.) Recorded Books offers sturdily bound CD and tape editions for libraries. For the average consumer, they offer several choices -- you can buy them as CDs, as cassette tapes, or you can rent them in either format.

As with the audio edition of Goodnight, Irene, Eliza Foss is the reader for these two.

Click here for information on ordering the audio edition of Goodnight Irene:
http://tinyurl.com/gniaudio

Click here for information on ordering the audio edition of Sweet Dreams, Irene:
http://tinyurl.com/sdiaudio

Click here for for information on ordering the audio edition Dear Irene,:
http://tinyurl.com/diaudio

Cover for The Messenger!

Here it is -- there will be a few changes, but this is the preliminary cover for the new book, which will be out in January.

I'm on my way to Texas for the Southwest Chapter of MWA's writing conference, "Hardboiled Heroes and Cozy Cats."  See you there!

An Overdue Update

I'm excited to say that The Messenger, my next book, is a step closer to actually being a book.  The revisions are in, cover art is nearly ready (I'll put it up here and on my Web site as soon as possible), and it looks as if the publication date will be set for January, 2009.

As some of you already know, this book has a supernatural element.  It has thriller elements as well, and I think those who read the Irene Kelly series will enjoy meeting Tyler Hawthorne and friends.

Especially those of you who love dogs.  Wait until you meet Shade!  I'll talk more about him, and the plot of The Messenger, very soon.

I'm also working on a new Irene Kelly book.  That one will possibly be out in the fall of 2009.  The main reason you haven't seen much of me here is that I'm trying to get two manuscripts finished this year -- hoping to make it up to all of you for not getting a book out this year.

I'll soon have a story coming out in Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine, too.  I'll give details about that and tell you how you can make sure you get a copy of it in my next post!

It was great seeing those of you who came to Mayhem in the Midlands.  That's one of my favorite conventions, and next year I'll have the pleasure of serving as its toastmaster.  The guest of honor is my good friend Dana Stabenow, so we'll have fun.  When the 2009 registration links are available, I'll let you know.

Mayhem is held in Omaha.   A lot of my extended family can be found in the midwest, so I arrived a little early, and drove through four states during my visit there.   I saw cousins, aunts, uncles, and nieces and nephews.  One day I joined cousin Martha Burke and one of her friends, artist Paula Fagan, for lunch in Kansas City, Missouri.  We had lunch in the city's art district, at a fabulous place called Pizza Bella.  Just down the street on Baltimore Ave is the historic TWA Building, recently restored, Moonliner II and all.  You can see a better photo of it than the one above on this Wikipedia link, but this is one I snapped with my iPhone.  If you have a chance to visit this part of the city, go!

This is a beautiful time of year to be driving past farmland,  and some of the most lovely and serene vistas can be found in the Flint Hills of Kansas.  I spent a lot of hours in the rental car this trip, and I think that part of the drive remains my favorite.

My next public appearance will be June 13-14, at the Hardboiled Heroes and Cozy Cats Writers Conference, which is sponsored by the Southwest Chapter of MWA.  If you live anywhere near Dallas, Texas, and are working on a manuscript, I hope I'll be see you at that event.

Now I'm going back to work on a manuscript of my own....

Home again

At the end of March, Tim and I traveled to Buffalo, New York, to visit family there, and were saddened to learn that one of his aunts, the truly fabulous Jean Fancourt, was in the hospital. She died the day after we arrived. We loved her dearly, and our time with our Burke cousins was a celebration of her well-lived life.

After a few more days in Buffalo, where there was April snowfall, Tim went home and I went on to Manhattan. I made a visit to MWA headquarters, where Margery Flax is busy with both Edgar preparations and packing up the office to move to its new digs.

The next day I spent time with my editor, and with the publisher and the editor of my paperbacks. All kinds of news.

I'm happy to say that Pocket Books will be reissuing Bones.

I also learned that my next book will be out in early 2009. More details will be posted here re pub date, title, and about the book itself the next few weeks. For now, I'll tell you that this book is not part of the Irene Kelly series -- in fact, it's not crime fiction. Something new and different, but I hope you'll become as attached to these new characters as I have. Did I mention the dog? Okay -- more about all of that later.

I went from Manhattan to Pittsburgh. You've heard about some of that part of the trip in earlier posts. The Wecht Institute event was great, but I had to leave early, because one of my favorite librarians, Joyce Hensley, had asked me to be part of Literary Orange in California. So I spoke with my suitcase next to the dais, took a few questions, and hurried off to the airport. (Later I learned that Laura Lippman and I were probably wandering through the Pittsburgh Airport at about the same time. Although I missed seeing her there, fortunately Laura and I had a great afternoon together in So Cal, when she was here to sign her new book, Another Thing to Fall, at Book Carnival.)

Weather in Houston (where my flight connected) meant a delayed flight, so I didn't get into LAX until after 1 AM. But I was able to get home and to the event the next day, where I saw Patty Smiley, Naomi Hirahara, and other friends, including Joyce.

One other note about 2009 -- I'm hoping to get a new Irene Kelly novel out later that year. Working on it now. That probably means I won't be posting here on the blog quite as often as I'd like, but I hope you'll all be understanding about that.

As for future travel -- DC, Omaha, and Dallas are in the works. I'll be at Malice Domestic in April, Mayhem in the Midlands in May, and at Hardboiled Heroes & Cozy Cats 2008 in June. So if you are going to be at any of those events, please say hello!

Audio Books!

Exciting News! Audio Books!

Many of you have asked me if there will ever be a book on tape or other audio version of my books. I'm pleases to announce that Recorded Books is offering the first of the Irene Kelly books in unabridged form, read by Eliza Foss.

Goodnight, Irene will be available June 30th. You can order now. The recording will be available on both cassette and CD, and can be rented or purchased. See the Recorded Books Web site for more information.

Kidnapped

Kidnapped is now out in paperback!

For those of you who've waited for the paperback edition, it's out now. I hope you'll enjoy this most recent Irene Kelly book.

I hope to see some of you in Santa Barbara this Saturday at the book festival.

You've all been extremely patient with me this month, and I appreciate that. I have a lot to tell you about, but for various reasons, I need to wait a day or two to post again. Meanwhile, know that I am truly thankful for my readers!

Yours,
Jan

Lots to catch up on

I'm way behind in posting news to you, and responding to comments -- a combination of post-travel discombobulation and working on finishing a book.

Which doesn't mean I'm short on news! It has been a great week! As some of you know, Kidnapped has been nominated for an Anthony Award for Best Novel, which will be voted on and given at Bouchercon. I know people joke about this, but really, it is an honor to be nominated, and this year I find myself in fine company. You can see the full list of nominees here.

The Summer 2007 issue of CLUES: A Journal of Detection is just out. Ed Gorman has posted some kind comments about my essay in it on his blog. I wrote about Charlotte Armstrong, and like Ed, I hope a small press will reissue some of her best books — she was a master of suspense.

Some of you have mentioned that it is now hard to find a photo of my dog Britches on my Web site. Cappy's on the cover of the books -- his one brown, one blue eye face always appeals to photographers more than Britches, who not only fails to sit still for them, he disappears into his own dark fur. So above, I've posted (or tried to -- Blogger seems not to be cooperating) a photo I took a while ago of him -- "helping" Tim to do a push-up.

More soon!

If you're anywhere near Brentwood tonight...

meet me at Dutton's! I'll be there for a booksigning by Dick Lochte -- I'm looking forward to reading his latest, Croaked, a comedy-thriller set in Los Angeles in 1965.

I love his writing, and anyone who has read his books can tell you that he is a keen observer with a delightfully wicked sense of humor.

This event is tonight, Tuesday, May 8, 7-9 PM
Dutton's is at 11975 San Vicente Blvd., Los Angeles 90049.



This weekend, on Saturday, I'll be in San Diego at Mysterious Galaxy. You can read about that event below, on the May 1 post.

Living Wild in Los Angeles County

You've all been patient while I've been working on the Elaine Viets "Tour by Proxy" Project, and I appreciate that. If you are in the San Diego area, I also hope you'll join me, Randy Hicks, and other authors as we do our part to support Elaine on Saturday, May 12, at 10:30 AM at Mysterious Galaxy Books 7051 Clairemont Mesa Blvd., Suite 302 San Diego, CA. And if you can't show up, consider ordering a copy of Murder With Reservations from your own favorite bookstores.

So I am still putting in a lot of time for the project for Elaine and writing and getting ready for the grand opening of the new Los Angeles Regional Crime Lab and all kinds of other stuff. Today I also found time to walk the dogs in our local park. (They usually get night walks.) It was a beautiful day to be outdoors.

For those of you who think the LA area is nothing but concrete and cars -- well, mostly, you're right. But we have our enclaves of wildlife here, too -- both local and imported. And we make celebrities of our wildlife. Yesterday both Reggie the Alligator and the Three Bears of Bradbury made the local evening news.

Reggie isn't a native, but we are an area that enjoys a population with roots from just about any place you could name. Reggie's living in Lake Machado, a place you'll hardly recognize as LA County if you click on that last link. There are those who want us to believe Reggie is blogging and selling his own "official" (puh-leeze!) gear. But the blog is a nice way to keep up with the news on this LA-based gator.

Black bears (even ones that look brown) are native to California. And bears in Bradbury shouldn't be such a big surprise. It's been hot, the people in Bradbury have ponds and pools, and put their trash out today, all of which makes it really attractive if you are foraging in a fur coat. Which should not be unexpected in Bradbury, because it's in the foothills of the San Gabriel Mountains. Which could get me talking about how much wilderness is actually part of the big county of Los Angeles, and that could lead me to talk about why I decided to set Nine there and make the protagonist a member of the LASD.

I won't do that just now, but I feel so much better actually bringing all of this around to talking about books again....


Photo above is clearly neither an alligator nor a California Black Bear. But global warming going unchecked, I fully expect to hear any day now that someone in LA has found a polar bear in his backyard pool. This photo is used courtesy of Monica Mueller, from morguefile.com.

Dustjacket art

Dust jacket art is worthy of a blog of its own, and probably, somewhere out there, someone has one up and running. Book collectors in the know learn to spot subtle differences in dust jackets that occur between editions. Some are true connoisseurs of the art itself, and shown covers of a certain era, can name the artists and illustrators of frontpieces and plates.
I love some of the dust jacket art from the late 19th and early 20th centuries.

Frank Krieger of Newport Vintage Books has an intriguing collection of images of dust jackets on his Web site, including these for Rafael Sabatini's novels. N.C. Wyeth (who was the father of Andrew and other famous Wyeth family artists) was among the artists who brought scenes from Sabatini's adventure tales to life.

You might have fun with these Nancy Drew dust jackets from the 1930s and 1940s, many by Russell H. Tandy.

And there is always this site, where you can see the work of Pogany and many others, and read their biographies.

For me, though, nothing beats a little time spent in the virtual art museum of Violet Books' Web site.

How do I feel about the covers on my own books? My books have been wrapped in cover art both delightful, and...umm, not so delightful. (I'm sure readers have their own nominees for the latter category.) I'm also always fascinated to see how the art changes in the editions published in other countries. I think if you look at the International editions pages on my site, you'll see some truly striking cover art, and some that will ... be nominees.

One of the challenges of crime fiction covers, I'm sure, is to come up with images that may be disquieting but which aren't repulsive. In recent years, I've been very pleased with the cover art on my books. I'm especially happy with the work Ray Lundgren has done on the U.S. editions. He's good at capturing some essential something from each of the books for which he's created covers. He manages to do that in a way that always makes me feel drawn to the book while still conveying an intriguing amount of suspense. I can only hope he's elicited the same reaction in my readers!

More Background

This is all going to take longer than I thought it would, but what the heck...

Fall From Olympus aka Dear Irene,

Greek mythology is part of the plot for Dear Irene,. I had unsuccessfully lobbied to keep Irene's name out of the title for the second book, but I had started this manuscript before Goodnight, Irene was published, so I didn't foresee the title struggle. By the time I actually turned it in, I didn't use this title on the manuscript my then-editor received.

Under Deep Sky
Hocus

Thinking of this working title brings a fond memory to mind.

The amateur astronomers' phrase "deep sky object" appealed to me when I came across it while doing research for Hocus. The idea of the sky having depth kept my mind occupied for a time.

So where did I hear about deep sky objects?

Let me tell you about the Szals.

I met Regina Szal at a library fundraiser. She won an auction item I offered -- to have a character in one of my books named after the highest bidder. The next book was Hocus, although I wasn't calling it that yet. Regina invited me to visit her to talk about the character.

She's a delightful woman, a generous, kind, and vivacious person. Saying all the good things I could say about Regina would take a long time. It was so easy to talk to her. To my good fortune, she was also an experienced speech therapist. I had been researching selective mutism (then called elective mutism) for the book, and this was a subject she knew well.

She arranged for me to come to the house in the evening to talk to her about her character, because it would also allow me to view the sky through a telescope in their home. Her husband, Greg Szal, is an amateur astronomer, and he used the term "deep sky object" when talking to me about Messier objects.

Messier objects could take up a whole post. Another day...

Anyway, above you'll see a photograph of one of the Messier objects I saw that night through Greg Szal's telescope, the Sombrero Galaxy, aka M104. According to NASA, it is "the equivalent of 800 billion suns." The photo above was taken by the Hubble space telescope.* You can learn more about this big galaxy and the photo here.

Those of you who have read Hocus may recall that at one point in the book, Irene visits a couple in Bakersfield — the Szals — who help her unravel more of the mystery surrounding those who have taken Frank hostage. I liked the real life Szals as much — or more — than she liked the fictional ones. (And, after posting this, I will make a note to call these folks, who honored me with their friendship.)


Alas, as enamored as I became with the phrase "under deep sky," it didn't have much to do with the rest of the book, while the word "hocus," not to be confused with the incantation "hocus-pocus," has two meanings, both of which fit the plot perfectly.




*Note re the photo, from the Hubble site: The Hubble Heritage Team took these observations in May-June 2003 with the space telescope's Advanced Camera for Surveys. Images were taken in three filters (red, green, and blue) to yield a natural-color image. The team took six pictures of the galaxy and then stitched them together to create the final composite image.