Property of the State - Bill Cameron

First line: "'Joseph. Don't sit down.'"

Veteran crime fiction writer Bill Cameron makes a stunning entry into the world of YA fiction with Property of the State, the first book in his Legend of Joey series. Joey Getchie is a foster child biding his time in the system until he can emancipate himself. As with many fosters, Joey's been bounced from family to family. Currently he's tolerating the Bobbitt family in order to attend Katz, an elite magnet school in Portland, Oregon, but he is coming to the end of his rope with his foster father who uses Joey's school computer to surf porn and his foster mother who is addicted to prescription pain killers. He's keeping his eye on the prize--early graduation--in order to make it through.

Joey's good friend Trisha is also a foster kid, but she's been with her family more long-term. However, Trisha's foster father has made it clear to Joey that he feels Joey is a bad influence and doesn't want him around. So Joey and Trisha see each other at school and their favorite coffee house, Uncommon Cup.

Joey's plan for early graduation and emancipation is threatened, though, when Joey and his foster father get into a physical altercation. Joey walks out and Wayne Bobbitt changes the locks. In a desperate attempt to hide the current situation from his social worker, Joey begins hiding out at the Huntzel Manor, the home of his classmate Philip Huntzel. Joey has a job cleaning for Mrs. Huntzel four days a week after school. He knows that one room is never accessed by anyone in the family--Kristina's room--so he hunkers down there and slips in and out of the house to attend school.

Joey's plan gets another jolt when his classmate Duncan is hit by a car and fighting for his life in the hospital. The police are looking for the driver of the car and their investigation takes them to Katz, and to Joey.

Property of the State is a YA novel that will keep readers of all ages engaged and enthralled.  The characters are fully realized, dimensional, complex and fun. The story line is suspenseful, including strong plot twists and a mystery sure to keep readers guessing.

Cameron's humor is a bonus in this strong series starter. Joey, being an exceptionally smart teen, excels at the art of sarcasm. And his descriptions of riding in his social worker's car or meeting with his therapist are priceless. But Joey is also a typical young boy, baffled by and bumbling over his growing attraction for Trisha.

As an older reader, I found Joey endearing. His desperate need for solitude and quiet in his world of constant chaos, his desire to do the right thing--even when the universe seems to be conspiring against him--make him an empathetic character.

I'm ready to hand off Property of the State to my niece so she can read it and we can talk about it together. And then we'll both be eagerly anticipating the next Legend of Joey book.

Property of the State is available tomorrow in trade paperback (ISBN: 9781929345229) from The Poisoned Pencil. You can find it at your favorite independent bookstore or any of the following online retailers:

 

  

Where Jen's Book Thoughts Readers Are Reading

Happy Friday. This week has absolutely gotten away from me. I'm nursing my older Labrador who just had surgery, but the surgery went very smooth and it's a sunshiny day so we're full of smiles around here. I have a ton of content I need to get up here on the blog for you, but today we need to take a peek at where another of our wonderful readers is reading.

Bill Cameron is simply a fabulous guy and I'm so excited he's our guest today! In addition to being witty and very adept with Twitter, he's a super talented writer. He's written short and novel-length crime fiction for adults and this June he dips his toe into the YA end of the genre with his new book, Property of the State (which you may remember from me mentioning in the books I'm looking forward to this year). I'll stop yammering so we can get to the fun part. Welcome Bill Cameron!

Here I am outside the Book Bin in Salem, Oregon—one of my favorite stops whenever I make it to our state capital. And the book I’m reading is also one of my favorites, Lock & Mori: the debut from Heather Petty.  

Lock & Mori is a wonderful offering to the world of Sherlock Holmes, a unique and striking look at how Holmes and Moriarty not only first met, but how they worked together to solve a challenging series of murders in London. Set in contemporary London during the pair’s teen years, we see “Lock” as a young man and “Mori” as a young woman, both in their larval forms—already brilliant, already competitive, but raw and vulnerable. The writing is as sharp as the characters’ keen intellects, and the plot as rich as aficionados of Holmes have come to expect. This is a fabulous book worthy of multiple readings. I can’t recommend it more highly.

Such a great contribution to the series. We seem to be bouncing back and forth from coast to coast. Last week we had Judy from the Midwest. Now that the weather is improving I'm hoping to hear more from the middle of the country...and beyond. :-) Check back next week to see where (and what) our next reader is reading. Have a great weekend and happy reading!

Crime Critters Caught Reading Crime - Dark Poodle of the Apocalypse

It's Friday! But goodness, how did it get to be the middle of May already? Yikes. I am however, happy for wonderful spring weather now.

Today we welcome the Dark Poodle of the Apocalypse who was caught reading by Papa Bill Cameron, author of the Skin Kadash series:

"A fan of hijinx, anti-heroes, and generally absurdist humor, the Dark Poodle of the Apocalypse was an instant fan of Johnny Shaw. After devouring Dove Season (both literally and figuratively) she demanded Big Maria the moment it was available. Having learned my lesson with Dove Season, I bought two copies of Big Maria. She gives it Two Tongues Up! Delicious!"

That's quite the recommendation! I also like the rating system.

In addition to Bill's  novels, he's also written a fair number of short stories, which is where I first became familiar with his work. If you like simultaneously dark, humorous and insightful, I think you'll enjoy Bill Cameron. And you can check it out. Bill's a very generous guy with his work and offers some of his short work as free downloads on his site. One of my favorites--sorry it isn't free, but worth tracking down--is "The Last Ship." I read it in the West Coast Crime Wave anthology; I'm not sure if it's appeared anywhere else.

My pet tip for today: while I love this time of year, I always get grumpy around the Fourth of July. If you have pets, don't leave them home alone when you head out to see a fireworks display. Keep your pets away from any fireworks (pretty common sense), but be cognizant of the sounds as well. Because their hearing is so different from ours, the noise of fireworks can be very painful for your pets. I have to close my house and opt for air conditioning and still my dog is affected by the noise. The other thing I have to watch for is debris that is in my yard the following morning. People set off the fireworks but don't retrieve the trash it creates, which can extremely toxic to animals if they get a hold of it.

So, protect your pets from the fireworks. And if you're not a pet owner, please be considerate of the animals around you when you decide you're going to let off fireworks simply for your own amusement. You don't like it much when someone else puts you in pain for their amusement, so you know...

Five on Friday - Bill Cameron

We made it! The world didn't end! Or wait, is it supposed to end later today? I haven't been keeping up with the details obviously. I've been too busy trying to fit just a few more books in before we are no longer. ;-)

Today will be the last Five on Friday for this year. Don't fret, I'm going to be working on recruiting more victims...er....I mean, interviewees for 2013. I've been overwhelmed by your wonderful reactions to these posts, and they're fun for me, too! So I'm going to try to line up a great selection for you in the coming year. But next week will be for my end of the year, top 10 lists. Plus I owe you a post on my visit to the Crime and Punishment Museum AND I have some more reviews, but those may have to wait. So much fun still to have in 2012, right?

I just got my update newsletter from the Left Coast Crime folks and was embarrassingly giddy over the fact that Lou Diamond Phillips will be interviewing guest of honor Craig Johnson. How cool is that? I'm so excited that I'm going this year! Well, I was excited before, but now I'm extra excited. If you're thinking about going, here's the link for their site. I believe registration will go up a little if you wait until after the 1st to register.

And since we're talking about registering for conferences, remember about 2013's Bouchercon, which will be in Albany, NY. They also have a discount on registration if you do it before January 1st.

O.k. that's all for my babbling today. Now let me introduce today's Five on Friday guest. I know Bill thought I forgot about him. He sent me his Five on Friday almost first...back in the summer...but he said, "post it whenever is good." Today is that day! And Bill Cameron is a perfect way to wrap of the 2012 Five on Friday.

Bill is another author I highly recommend you follow on Twitter if you're there. He makes Twitter fun. I've also learned that if I wanted anything from Bill, I could probably bribe  him with bacon to do almost anything. No really, Bill is a wonderful person and an extremely talented writer. I've read some of his short fiction and I have two of his books on my ereader and several on my shelf because I enjoyed the short fiction so much. I'm looking forward to indulging in his Skin Kadash novels very soon! In the mean time, you too can enjoy some of his short fiction right now! He has a holiday story for you on his site now. You can either read it online or download it for your ereader (any kind of ereader).

In the mean time, I shall let him take over and have all the fun!

I have to assume Bill is conjuring up stories in the hammock!

1. My favorite place to read is: My wife would probably say it was the bathroom. I scoff at that notion. (Ahem.) I say it’s my backyard, though of course the weather has to cooperate. Which, since I live in Portland, doesn’t happen often enough to suit me. Sometimes I sit in the swing, sometimes in the Beverage Chair, and sometimes the hammock (though the hammock often causes napping to occur). They’re all equally awesome. (Though, I suppose, the bathroom is pretty great too.)

2. The most famous person I ever met was: This would have to be Arnold Schwarzenegger, though it was at a time when he was not as famous as he would eventually become. I can’t remember the exact date, but it was post-Conan and but not yet Predator. I’d gone to the Cincinnati airport to pick up a friend, and because this was at a time before we started protecting our freedom by giving it up, I’d walked down to the gate to wait.

As I was sitting (reading, of course), a giant man sat down next to me. He was eating popcorn, and when I glanced over at him he smiled and said, “Would you like some popcorn?” The thing is, even though I’d seen his movies to date, I didn’t recognize him until he spoke. Then I had the only reasonable reaction to Arnold Schwarzenegger offering you popcorn: I panicked.

After failing to get a response from me, he went back to eating popcorn until his flight was called.

3. My favorite kind of cookie is: Prolly a peanut butter cookie, but not just ANY peanut butter cookie. It has to be homemade and have actual nut bits in it. And in answer to the question you didn’t ask, my least favorite kind of cookie is commercial, concrete peanut butter-oriented cookies like Nutter Butter. They are so not a proper peanut butter cookie that I reject them utterly.

4. My favorite brand of athletic shoe is: What kinda weirds me out is the fact I have a favorite brand of athletic shoe. For eons, this was something I cared nothing about. My favorite brand was the brand on sale. I did have an UN-favorite brand: Nike. I have never understood the whole Nike mystique. The shoes are ugly and cost too much, even on sale. And, sorry, but I don’t care how good they are (were): Michael Jordan and Tiger Woods are great big jerkweasels.

And yet, now I have a favorite brand of athletic shoe. New Balance. Happened by accident. Which is to say, they were on sale and I bought a pair. And, oh my, they fit so well. And they weren’t ugly. It is possible there is a New Balance endorser who is a jerkweasel, but if so, I don’t know about them. So now when I buy a new pair of athletic shoes, I buy New Balance, even if they aren’t on sale.

And....

The #1 item on my bucket list right now is: Rafting down the Colorado River through the Grand Canyon. This idea has been with me for about twenty-five years. Way back in the Dark Ages, when the internet was called CompuServe and was accessed via a string stretched between two soup cans, I read a book called The River That Flows Uphill by William Calvin. It told of a group of scientists who went on a two-week raft trip through the canyon. During the trip, they had those free-ranging late night conversations about the meaning of everything we all have at some point in our lives, but because these people were all super brainiacs with giant buckets of education jammed into their skulls, the conversations were fascinating enough to put into a book. Not only does Calvin offer a fascinating look at the Grand Canyon itself from both geological and anthropological perspectives, but also shares deep and wide-ranging discourses on human evolution, the rise of intelligence, and the history of the universe. Ever since I read that book, I’ve wanted to do the same thing. Of course, when my raft trip finally happens, the late-night conversations will all consist of, “You want another beer?” and “Why, yes. Thank you.” 

"Jerkweasel" now joins "sentence enhancer" as my two favorite curse words! I completely expect to see Merriam-Webster name it the best word of 2013. Did I say this was the prefect way to end this year's Five on Friday? I hope you enjoyed it! And I'm looking forward to next year's series as well. Thanks for coming along for the ride!

Have a super great weekend. I hope you have time for reading in the midst of all your holiday plans and preparation!

Happy Reading!

The Last....I Promise...Bouchercon Post

I apologize for taking so ridiculously long to get this final Bouchercon post finished. But here we go, my final recap for this wonderfully amazing convention.

Saturday in St. Louis was the big day for me, and I started it off by attending my good friend Erin Mitchell's panel. She was moderating a Bouchercon panel for the first time this year, and actually she moderated two panels. This panel included one of my heroes, Gregg Hurwitz, the exceptionally talented Lisa Unger and a relatively new-to-me author, Linwood Barclay.

Erin was well prepared and did a wonderful job leading the panel. All of the panelists were humorous and generous. And one of the links among the panelists is their tendency to create ordinary characters and put them in extraordinary circumstances.

Gregg emphasized the importance of relationships in the stories. One of his goals as a writer is to encourage his readers to invest in not only the characters but the relationships they have throughout the books. And he's moved away from writing villains. As he's matured as a writer, he's turned more to antagonists than villains. (I just love that statement. I think it's often what makes the difference between a good book and a great book.) In terms of his protagonists, he's also shifted. His early books dealt with characters whose jobs it was to investigate the crimes involved. But as Gregg's shifted more to common people as protagonists, the motives for what draws them into their circumstances becomes wide open.

Linwood believes that his background as a humor columnist paved the way for his career writing fiction - he always had a rather careless regard for facts, he says. Linwood likes to write about people who are ill-equipped to deal with bad people...as opposed to folks who are well-trained (i.e., P.I.s, cops, military, etc.). Part of his reason for this is that he doesn't know what it's like to be "well-equipped" to deal with bad people and he's extremely lazy; he doesn't want to have to research for months to find out what it IS like to be these people. Instead he wants to know what people like him would do if faced with those bad people; for Linwood, it heightens the suspense. He also pointed out that there's more room for transition in the character because they have to overcome a lot more in order to triumph.

For Lisa, it's always a character that she hears speaking to her or one that she's seen that pulls her into writing a novel. But while writing FRAGILE, The Hollows, her setting, started to evolve as a character and have its own personality and a "beating heart." Above all else, Lisa feels it's imperative to have an equal level of compassion for all her characters. That compassion lends itself to authenticity in the creation much more than researching "people."  Lisa also believes that writers are first and foremost observers. They are acutely conscientious to who and what goes on around them.

The panel was a most wonderful way to start the day. My only regret is that more people weren't able to experience it. One other perk of this panel was snagging Will Lavender who was in the audience and getting this picture.

If you haven't already read my raving about his book, DOMINANCE, I encourage you to do so. After having met Will in person now, I know that he's not only talented, but an extremely wonderful person as well.

Another author I caught up with on Saturday was Bill Cameron. He was signing at the Crimespree table and I stopped by so he could sign my copy of COUNTY LINE. I cherish all my pictures with the authors I meet, but I have to say, I really like this picture a lot:

O.k., so I already yapped and yapped quite a bit for this final post, and this isn't even a fraction of what happened on Saturday. Before I give you the grand finale, I have to congratulate one of the most wonderful people in crime fiction...Hilary Davidson, as you know, won the 2011 Anthony Award for Best First Novel. And I have to memorialize that here at the blog. If you've ever been so happy for someone's success that it completely eradicated your own disappointment for yourself, then you know how monumentally excited I was for Hilary to win this distinction. Congratulations, my friend! No one deserved this more:

And one more thing. I promise, this is it. I GOT TO MEET AYO!! This is Ayo Onatade who is part of the Shots Blog crew, and she is just wonderful. She's funny and smart and kind and I have to figure out how she can live closer to me because I started missing her the minute I said good bye. She lurks around here at the blog from time to time, but there's nothing like spending time with her in person. Thank goodness for Bouchercons!

As promised, here is the finale...Please try to overlook my bumbling in the beginning and I apologize profusely for the person who kicked the camera toward the end of the interview and wasn't kind enough to move it back. You can still see both of us, but we're quite off-center... my interview with the spectacular, funny, intelligent, talented, and genuine, Val McDermid - 2011 Bouchercon International Guest of Honor.

The Pokey Little Bouchercon Post

Yes, I'm still blogging about Bouchercon. Yes, it is a little sad on my part. In my defense I had three other planned posts for last week, and the last two posts I have are totally worth waiting for. Why you ask? Well let's take a look at Friday in St. Louis!

The morning started bright and early with a very nice breakfast co-sponsored by the Midwest chapter of Mystery Writers of America and CriminalElement.com. The breakfast was held for librarians, bloggers, booksellers and other related conference attendees. Guests of Honor Charlaine Harris and Colin Cotterill spoke, while additional Minotaur authors hosted individual tables.

Brad Parks and Sabrina Ogden

Charlaine Harris

Colin Cotterill deep in thought about Charlaine's speech?

Ali is tweeting? Or Facebooking maybe?

Once we had full tummies, we could move on to the programming of the day. For me that started with a panel called "Shake and Finger Pop." It's a bit of a misleading title as the panel dealt with fight sports in crime fiction. The panelists included Jamie Freveletti, Tom Schreck, Christa Faust, and Frank Bill all moderated by Eric Beetner. It's fascinating to hear the way each of the panelists views fighting in relation to plotting and their characters. Tom Schreck and Frank Bill have more of a boxing background and Jamie Freveletti is a martial artist with a black belt in aikido. Christa Faust's character is a former porn star, and Christa pointed out parallels between the porn industry and professional fighting.

Jamie Freveletti and Christa Faust

Jamie Freveletti

Christa Faust and Tom Schreck

Tom Shreck and Frank Bill

The next session I attended was Ridley Pearson's interview by Jeff Abbott. I know from my own experiences interviewing Ridley, that he's a wonderful interviewee. Add to that Jeff Abbott is a fabulous interviewer and this session was outstanding! Jeff rocked the house with his self-deprecating sense of humor, his knowledge of his subject and his appreciation for Bouchercon as a fan conference. Sometimes participants forget that. This isn't a writer's conference. The fans come to know the writers more than the writing. The unfortunate part of this interview was its time slot. The charity bowling tournament was going on at the same time. I'm sad more people couldn't have enjoyed this wonderful interview. And sadly, I arrived a few minutes late, so I didn't get to record it. That was my biggest regret of the conference. But here are some pictures from the fun:

Jeff made Ridley really think on this question.

This picture says so much about the entire interview.

 

Ooooh, I think Ridley is telling a secret!

I just love this shot! Doesn't Ridley look like an excited little kid? So much fun!

Following Ridley's interview I opted to see Dark Angel: Morally Challenged Heroes. This was an extra special panel for me because two people I've gotten to know and really like through social media were teamed up here. Chris Holm was the moderator and Bill Cameron was one of the panelists. And I can attest that they are super great people and it was wonderful to get to meet them in person. Also on this panel were Blake Crouch, Theresa Schwegel, Michael Wiley and Leighton Gage. After a little unforeseen informercial, the panel was off and running and quite entertaining. The interesting outcome was that none of the authors really viewed their heroes as morally challenged.

Chris Holm and Bill Cameron

Theresa Schwegel and Michael Wiley

The programming element of the day ended with one of my highlights for the conference: Gregg Hurwitz interviewed Robert Crais. I'm not going to say a lot about this interview because I have it recorded for you to see yourself. If you didn't get to attend, here's your chance to see it. If you did attend and just want to relive it...here you go. What I will say is that Gregg Hurwitz did an exceptional job. He understood the idea of the fan convention and created an environment where the fans could know the man behind the writing. It was fun, humorous and enlightening. Gregg has given me much to aspire to in the realm of interviewing. And that's enough from me. Here's the video:










Finally, I'll wrap with our gift to Robert Crais. The Craisies did a little brainstorming and with the initiative of Naomi Johnson (The Drowning Machine) we got jersey's that said "The Craisies" across the front. Then we each picked an RC character and had the name put on the back. He was gifted the #1 shirt:

Bill Cameron - Crime Readers Caught Reading Crime...

...in an indie bookstore.

Today we have another crime writing Bill. This one is on the opposite side of the country from Bill Loehfelm. Bill Cameron, author of the Skin Kadash series, has a new book coming out soon. How does he have time to be reading in an indie store? Shouldn't he be out promoting or something? Just kidding. But not about the new book. Bill's next installment in the Skin Kadash series is COUNTY LINE and is out next month.

In the meantime we have this OUTSTANDING picture of him from Murder by the Book in Portland, Oregon.

Here I am at Murder by the Book, Portland, Oregon, reading One Was A Soldier by Julia Spencer-Fleming. Julia's work is always wonderful, but she's really outdone herself with this one. I was chatting with Jean, one of the owners of Murder by the Book, and we agreed One Was A Soldier is one of Julia's best. Thoughtful, engrossing from the first page, with layers upon layers of intrigue and humanity. I love it!

Murder by the Book is one of my all-time favorite bookstores. In the mystery community, we have been blessed with some truly amazing shops (including other great "Murder by the Books" in other cities). Portland's MBTB is run by some of the smartest, most fun, and funny women in the bookselling biz. They've taken great care of me during my still young career, and every other writer I know who's visited feels the same way. When you come to Portland, you have to include Murder by the Book in your itinerary.

I was just commenting the other day how much I've enjoyed this series because I've been able to discover so many new indie bookstores. The love everyone has shown them has been inspiring. Thanks so much to Bill for giving us a glimpse of Murder by the Book, Portland.

I think it's a great time to show your indie store how much you appreciate them. Go forth and find a new book, then Happy Reading!

Crime Writers Caught Recommending Crime

'Tis the season to start thinking about holiday gifts. I wanted to figure out a fun way to share book recommendations for the crime fiction reader, so I asked some friends to help me out this year. Each weekday throughout November and possibly into December, I'll have a picture of a crime fiction author recommending a book that he/she enjoyed and would recommend to others. Then I will pair the author's recommendation up with a recommendation of my own. The stipulation I gave everyone participating was that it didn't have to be a book published this year, but it did have to be in print. So you won't have to chase it down or pay a fortune for it.

I'm linking each recommendation to an independent book store, so if you want to quickly and easily order it, just click on the book title's link. Each recommending author will be linked back to his/her website. I hope you'll take some time to check out authors who may be new to you. You'll see some new faces here this month. I'm very excited about that.

So, let's kick "Crime Writers Caught Recommending Crime" with a wonderfully funny, talented writer, who also happens to be one of my favorite people to follow on Twitter. Bill Cameron, author of DAY ONE, is recommending JUNKYARD DOGS by Craig Johnson. I don't think you can go wrong with Craig Johnson.

Bill says, "I can never get enough Walt Longmire. Hell, I want to BE Walt Longmire. There's nothing like settling down with a Craig Johnson novel, can of Ranier at my side, for an evening's read."

So then my recommendation for the first day of CWCRC is a book by an author who was new to me this year. I read THE LOCK ARTIST by Steve Hamilton earlier in the year, but it has stuck with me all year long. I am regularly recommending it to friends and family for the layered plot, the masterfully sculpted characters, the haunting tone. And I originally listened to it on audio from Brilliance, and can equally recommend the audio as well. THE LOCK ARTIST is truly a must for any crime fiction fan.

O.k., Day 1 brings you a recommendation of Craig Johnson's JUNKYARD DOGS from Bill Cameron and Steve Hamilton's THE LOCK ARTIST from yours truly. Check back tomorrow for another great holiday gift recommendation!

Happy reading and holiday shopping.

You've the Right to Six Words - Week 3

June is here and so are the next round-up of six-words from our favorite crime fiction writers.

Memoirist number one just released his newest thriller, DAY ONE, on June 1. Bill Cameron is all about number ones. Actually DAY ONE is Bill's third novel, but he's also had his shorter work published in three anthologies: KILLER YEAR, PORTLAND NOIR, and also due out this month FIRST THRILLS. Anne Frasier said of Bill's writing, "Real is the word that immediately comes to mind when stepping into a world created by the exceptionally talented Bill Cameron. The landscape he illuminates is one we've seen before, but never with such focus or appreciation."

In addition to his writing, Bill plays "staff to a charming yet imperious cat" and his poodle. When he isn't at their beck and call, you might find Bill blogging over at Criminal Minds or chatting on Twitter. Bill and his wife reside in Portland, Oregon, and it's a good idea to test the waters before approaching Bill because

"Oh, I'm in a mood now."

Simon Wood also has a new book out. TERMINATED is Simon's nineth publication, seven novels and two collections of short stories. From his most recent short story collection, ASKING FOR TROUBLE, comes "Protecting the Innocent" which has just earned Simon a Dagger Award nomination from the Crime Writers Association.

Simon is a man who lives to conquer his fears and do what most wouldn't expect. He suffers from dyslexia but is a writer; he fears heights but is a licensed pilot in the United States and the United Kingdom. Simon loves travel and says he won't be happy until he's visited every country on the planet. He's also an avid soccer player. So when he has time for his furry family, too, I don't know. But a long-haired dachshund and four cats depend on Simon and his wife, Julie, for their well-being. That's quite an accomplishment list for a man who started out in engineering!

So how does he sum this all up in six words? With

"Possesses a small talent for disaster."

And rounding out our memoirists this week is Jan Burke. Probably best known for her Irene Kelly series, the Edgar Award-winning novelist also penned FLIGHT, a bit of a spin-off of the Irene Kelly series because it features Irene's husband, a standalone novel, and a collection of short stories.

In addition to her own writing, Jan has worked to help others through her work on the Sister's in Crime guide to getting published, BREAKING AND ENTERING, and the MWA handbook, WRITING MYSTERIES.

Oh, you think that's enough contribution? How about the fact that Jan is the founder of the Crime Lab Project to encourage greater support for forensic science in the United States?

And finally, seeing as our first two authors are dog people, I simply couldn't have the third not be. Jan and her musician husband Tim have two dogs, Cappy and Britches. Based on her memoir, I would have to say that Jan has made the best of all life has thrown at her:

"Great time. Thanks for inviting me."

I'm sure I speak for far more than myself when I say, "so glad you could come, Jan!" And so glad all of the authors today could contribute and be a part of the six-word memoir project this year.





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