You Have the Right to Six Words - The Penultimate Post

Well just because we're getting down to the final two weeks doesn't mean we can skimp on the quality of the posts! We have a whopper of a line-up today. Since it's so close to the holidays now, I am linking the authors' book titles to independent bookstores. As always, I don't receive anything for the links, I just wanted to help make finding the books as easy as possible for you.

But, hey, let's get to memoirs, shall we?

The first author on our list of memoirists this week has made a huge impact on the crime fiction genre. You simply can’t say crime fiction without including Sue Grafton in the list of influential greats. She, of course, writes the internationally best-selling Alphabet series that began in 1982 with A IS FOR ALIBI. Sue’s writing career started long before this novel, however. She spent fifteen years writing screenplays for television, including collaborating with her husband Steven Humphrey to adapt the Agatha Christie novels A Caribbean Mystery and Sparkling Cyanide for television. But ultimately Sue would return to her first love, fiction writing.

It was her fascination with related titles like John D. MacDonald’s color titles and Harry Kemelman’s days of the week that led Sue to the idea for the Alphabet series. And just yesterday she released U IS FOR UNDERTOW. I think she happened on a pretty swell idea, don’t you? As “Z” looms closer and closer, fans wonder what will come next because they certainly don’t want Z to be the end. The second and third books, B IS FOR BURGLAR and C IS FOR CORPSE, earned Sue the first and second EVER Anthony Awards. She’s since earned an additional Anthony, a Shamus award, the Ross Macdonald Literary Award, and this year Sue Grafton was given the Grand Master Award from the Mystery Writers of America.

Of course, people familiar with the Alphabet series know protagonist Kinsey Millhone lives in the fictional town of Santa Teresa, California, which is modeled after Sue’s own home of Montecito. And while Sue may claim that Kinsey is the “younger, smarter, thinner version” of herself, we know that Sue enjoys gardening, good cuisine and cats. She defines success as “doing what I want to do and answering to no one...except my cats, of course.”

So how does Sue sum this incredible lifetime of achievement?

Father wrote mysteries, now I do.

And I think I'm safe to say that her influence will now forever be felt in the genre. So excited to have Sue Grafton join us today.

Next up is another author releasing a book this week. Tom Schreck released his third Duffy Dombrowski novel, OUT COLD, this week. Tom spent 25 years working as an addictions counselor and now teaches at the collegiate level. He can also be seen occasionally on HBO judging world championship boxing. Somewhere amidst all those responsibilities he finds time to pen the Duffy series that started in 2007 with ON THE ROPES. Tom also does freelance writing for various publications.

Tom's love of basset hounds carries over into his Duffy Dombrowski novels in the form of Al, Duffy's trusty basset hound sidekick. An advocate for basset hound rescue programs, Tom donates many proceeds from the sale of his books to the rescue programs.

Another characteristic that Tom shares with his protagonist is a love of Elvis Presley. Duffy drives a Cadillac and listens to Elvis on 8-track tapes with Al riding shotgun and drooling.

Tom's books make me smile and his memoir is no different:

Woof, Arooo! Concentrate,Woof, Surrender, Treat.

Don't forget that you can enter to win all three Duffy Dombrowski novels here and Tom will be back on Friday for an outstanding interview. Check back!

Next up on our list of memoirists this week is an amazing woman. Megan Abbott is the Edgar Award-Winning author of four novels; this past July she released the fourth, BURY ME DEEP which was inspired by the true story of Winnie Ruth Judd, the "Trunk Murderess." Her shorter work has appeared in various anthologies and she is the editor of the Edgar-nominated A HELL OF A WOMAN: AN ANTHOLOGY OF FEMALE NOIR. In addition to her fiction work, Megan published a non-fiction work titled THE STREET WAS MINE: WHITE MASCULINITY IN HARDBOILED FICTION AND FILM NOIR.

In addition to her Edgar award for her novel QUEENPIN, Megan is a Barry award winner and a three-time Anthony Award nominee. Megan has a Ph.D. in English and American literature from New York University and lives in Queens, New York City. She also occasionally contributes to the Rap Sheet blog.

When I asked Megan for her memoir she said it is:

Lived in her own head,mostly.

But her fans are oh so happy she's put it all down in print! And if you ever have the chance to meet Megan, you'll quickly discover that she's one of the most generous people you'll ever meet. So thrilled to have her join in today.

And according to Lee Child our final memoirist today "writes like Dostoevsky's hooligan great-grandson on speed." How about that? Brent Ghelfi is the author of the Alexei Volkovoy, a.k.a. Volk, thriller series about a Russian gun-for-hire. The first book in the series, VOLK'S GAME, was nominated in 2007 by the International Thriller Writers for the Best First Novel award; it was also nominated for a Barry Best Thriller award. This past August, Brent released the third book in the Volk series, THE VENONA CABLE, and he is hard at work on the fourth book in the series. The Volk novels have been translated into seven languages and optioned for film. That's a lot of success to wrap up into one life-time, but Brent is looking forward; he says,

Three careers. Wonderful family. What's next?

Let's hope a lot!

Oh, my most heart-felt thanks to Sue, Tom, Megan and Brent for making this week's post so spectacular. I'm completely humbled to be joined by these writers I so greatly admire. I hope that you have enjoyed their memoirs as much as I have, and I hope that you enjoy their books as well.
Next week will be the final week for this year's memoirs. I don't know if I'll be able to match this week. It's going to be tough, but I'll see what I can do. I'll hopefully see you all then!
Happy Reading!

Murder and Mayhem in Muskego V

**Warning: photo heavy**

So, Murder and Mayhem in Muskego. This was the first time I attended this event that takes place at Muskego Library up near Milwaukee. It is truly an amazing event, and I am so glad I made the trip.

The event starts out with an optional meet and greet session on Friday night. The authors were ushered via white limo from their hotel to the library where a wine meet and greet was held with about 40 guests.

(M&M Emcee, Tom Schreck)

The emcees for the weekend were Tom Schreck and Libby Hellmann. They kicked off the festivities by introducing the one panel that took place on Friday evening, moderated by Dana Kaye. This panel included Jamie Freveletti, Tasha Alexander, Andrew Grant and C.J. Box. They talked about some general topics related to writing and their respective books.


If you step back and watch what happens on this night of the event, you'll witness a very spectacular element of the crime fiction community - a sense of giving. They share their stories, their advice, their time. They listen to experiences and ideas and sometimes just general small talk. They sign books and take pictures. No one is too "big" or too "famous" or too "busy." It's all about sharing.

(C.J. Box)

Saturday is a much more populated day for the event. Several hundred people attended on Saturday and the parking lot was literally packed when we arrived. The day was actually started with a crime scene panel of two Chicago cops: Michael Black and David Case. This was followed up by the "In and Out of Character" panel featuring Brian Azzarello, Cara Black, Sam Reeves, Marcus Sakey. Their vast background and experiences led to a variety of topics in this panel. Brian was able to talk to differences between writing work he's commissioned to do and work he initiates himself. Marcus spoke to his experiences with having his works optioned for film. Cara spoke on how she ended up writing about a character in France. Sam addressed writing under two different names.

(Cara Black, Marcus Sakey, Sam Reeves, and Tom Schreck)

Following "In and Out of Character" Megan Abbott moderated what started out as "The Thriller Boys." However, since Barry Eisler wasn't able to travel, Jamie Freveletti rescued Megan from the male domination of this panel. In addition to Megan and Jamie, Jim Born, Brent Ghelfi and C.J. Box all discussed elements of thrillers.

A very nice lunch split up the day. The authors spread out throughout the lunch areas and dined with the guests. I spent this time discussing Robert Crais with Megan Abbott. First of all, I could not have asked for better company, but someone who wants to discuss Elvis and Joe and RC with me, too? Yep, pretty much the best lunch ever!



After lunch was finished and cleaned up, the ladies of the "Who Needs Mean Streets" panel took the stage. They were moderator-less, so they asked emcee Tom Schreck to help out. And Tom's humor matched up with the wits of Joanna Slan Campbell, Denise Swanson, Shirley Dammsgard, Julie Hyzy and Deb Baker, literally stole the day. The audience was constantly laughing. It was a hit. I have to say that I especially enjoyed Denise's comment when asked why she chose writing mystery over writing romance. She explained that she had been a school counselor for many years, and after having been in the public school system for so long, there weren't many people she wanted to romance, but there were plenty she wanted to kill!

This wrapped up the traditional panels and the remainder of the afternoon was a more intimate stage show. First Blake Crouch interviewed F. Paul Wilson.



Next Jan Burke and Laura Lippman spoke informally about topics relevant to both of them.



And the day wrapped with an incredible interview of Jeffery Deaver by Sandra Ruttan.



Having the chance to experience this event was fabulous. But I was lucky to experience time with three other extraordinary people. Jon and Ruth Jordan of Crimespree Magazine have "adopted" me into the Crimespree Family. And I have to tell you that this is not only an unbelievable honor but it is the joy of my life. I started my blog because I love talking about great books and talking about the people who write those books. To be able to meet those people and hang out informally with them and feel like a part of that crime fiction family is a gift unlike any other. Jon and Ruth have offered me that gift in addition to their amazing friendship. So believe me when I say I know how fortunate and blessed I am, and that I have plenty to be thankful for during this Thanksgiving season.

(Ruth Jordan, Jon Jordan, Jim Born)

I also had the pleasure of spending time with Judy Bobalik because she was my roommate in Milwaukee. What an angel! Judy and I met online via Facebook, Twitter, etc. We met briefly in person in Indianapolis, but I really had much more of a chance to get to know Judy here in Milwaukee. An additional blessing! I am so honored to call this woman my friend.



This was an incredible weekend, and I'm still floating a bit. I'll leave you all with some additional pictures of this astounding crime fiction family. My thanks to each and every one of these folks. They not only made this a great weekend for everyone attending Murder and Mayhem, but they gave me a dream weekend. Happy Reading everyone!

(F. Paul Wilson and Jon Jordan)

(What a pleasure to spend time with Brent Ghelfi)

(I finally got my picture with Libby Fischer Hellmann, a great writer and wonderful person)

(When Tom wasn't busy with his emcee duties he was checking sports scores? There aren't enough great adjectives for Tom: fantastic writer, funny man, genuine and generous person.)

(What a thrill to spend time with Megan Abbott. When she wasn't moderating her panel she spent a lot of time listening to what the other panels had to say as well as making loads of time for the guests.)

(Jeffery Deaver signed an ornament for one fan who is giving it as a gift. She shared it with me as she lamented not bringing a second one to be signed for her!)

(Everyone hanging out with Jeffery Deaver after Saturday's full day.)

(C.J. Box was another author who spent a good amount of time listening to his peers in their respective panels.)

(I was so thrilled to have the opportunity to talk with Tasha Alexander and Andrew Grant. Two incredibly nice people as well as talented writers.)

(C.J. Box was wearing the birthday hat Saturday night since his birthday was Monday. Happy Belated Birthday, C.J!)

(Brent Ghelfi, C.J. Box, Judy Bobalik, and Jim Born just yuckin' it up.)

(Jeffery Deaver likes salt and vinegar potato chips. Jamie Freveletti couldn't find exactly what he wanted, but she managed to rustle up the parts!)

Watch this space...

...for an upcoming report on my first Murder and Mayhem in Muskego.

Hi everyone! I returned this evening from Milwaukee, Wisconsin, where I had an absolute dream of a weekend. I'm not going to have time to put together a Monday Mystery Backlist post, but I promise I'll have one next week. What I will be working on is my recap of this fabulous weekend and Wednesday's post for Six-Word Memoirs. So in the meantime, here are a few sneak peeks of what's to come: