MBS Pre-FOB Bash

I'm back after another wonderful Festival of Books out in Los Angeles. Last year was very special because it was my first year attending. This year is very special because it was the year I met in person my wonderful friend Pop Culture Nerd! Michael, Christine, Elyse and I wreaked some havoc on the festival this year, and I'm excited to share some memories with you.


Today I'm going to be highlighting "THE" LATFoB pre-party, The Mystery Bookstore's party. Everyone who's anyone attends this party, so I'm still not sure why they let me come, but shhhh don't rat me out.



Last year the party was magical for me because I met everyone for the first time. This year I met a lot of other folks for the first time, but I also met up with some great friends and it was more like a reunion. If you're a regular here at the blog, you may remember that last year I met Michael from Lazy Thoughts from a Boomer for the first time at the MBS Bash. We met up again this year, joined by Christine and Elyse, a.k.a. Pop Culture Nerd. "Kids in a candy store" doesn't begin to describe the four of us at Mystery Bookstore on Friday night! Crime fiction fans surrounded by other crime fiction fans and crime fiction writers? Literally wall to wall! No caffeine or other drugs necessary, it's all a natural high. And while I don't get to physically see Michael, Christine and Elyse on regular basis, I feel as though I've known them all my life. To be able to share things like the festival and this party with them, that's really a great treasure. And we also shared all the pictures. Not only did we trade off on what we took, but most of the time we were doing the "snapping" for each other. So, all of these posts are a group effort!


What other treasures were in the MBS chest this year? Well, the dashing Reed Farrel Coleman! It is so fun to talk to Reed. He IS the natural-born storyteller. He would tire of "telling" far sooner than I would tire of "listening." This is my new Facebook profile picture by the way! Love it!


Brett Battles. You simply aren't going to meet a nicer person. I know I've said this before, but he is a true gentleman in addition to a talented writer. I so enjoy talking with him about everything from families to books to the knucklehead mistakes I make with my iTouch! Brett also formally introduced me to Robert Dugoni, who I've spoken with online but met in person this year for the first time.




My wonderful friend Alafair Burke, who I was certain would be sick of seeing me by this event. But she wasn't and I was excited to introduce her to Michael, Christine and Elyse, as well as my sister. I was in true geeky-fangirl heaven to be chatting with Alafair AND Karin Slaughter!




A party is just not a party without Sophie Littlefield or Kelli Stanley! And I have to admit that I certainly blush any time Gregg Hurwitz calls me "Jen-Jen." Gregg is a genuinely wonderful person and lordy what a talented writer.



I didn't get to talk to them Friday as much as I would have liked, but Juliet Blackwell and Cara Black were also in attendance. I introduced myself to both Mary Higgins Clark and Carol Higgins Clark. And the wonderful T. Jefferson Parker signed his 6-word memoir in the scrapbook!

So wouldn't that be absolutely amazing if those were the only people I met up with? Let's talk a little about who I met for the first time!

Be still my heart, y'all, I finally met Andrew Gross! We were ships passing in the night at Bouchercon, and missing him was my great B'Con disappointment. But I finally caught up with him at the MBS party. And no jokes about the fact that he had to bend down a little so we could both actually be IN the picture at the same time!

Reed gave me my formal introduction to Duane Swierczynski, who I just think is absolutely adorable, but don't tell him I said so. That's not very good for the crime fiction/noir rep, is it? But in all seriousness, a kindred spirit. We talked about how we're not so great in social settings, but around other crime fiction folks, it all just comes naturally. Duane's already lined up for some future face time here on the blog, so it was wonderful to meet him in person this weekend.

Some Facebook author friends I met on Friday: Tim Maleeny, David Corbett and Eric Beetner. And I also chatted briefly with Lisa Lutz.

Some more online friends I met up with at the party were Clair Lamb and Holly West. For someone who's always had problems feeling comfortable in social settings, meeting these ladies was like seeing old friends again. This whole community is special, and the fact that they let me come along for the ride, well that's just a million kinds of amazing in my book.

But the special nods really need to go to the staff at The Mystery Bookstore. The first person to greet me back to the store was Linda. I received the most welcoming hug from Bobby. And Emily, who's always so patient with me on my online orders, knew who I was when I checked out. Pam, the owner, asked to look at my scrapbook and we talked all about it for awhile. Personalization like that doesn't exist much in these days of big box stores and online purchasing. And when you couple that personalization with this amazing party that they throw? They are invaluable to this whole community. And I know I've mentioned this before, but you can always access their website from my blog. If you scroll down to the bottom of the page, their logo links to their site. If you have questions, they have answers. If you need books, they can get them. And they do it all because they love crime fiction. That's all of our common bond. We love this genre and the folks connected to it.

This is the place to be before the L.A. Times Festival of Books. If you have the chance to attend, don't pass it up. This IS an event you would regret missing!

I'll have more about the festival in upcoming posts. But in the mean time, check out PCN's fun post about her Festival Highlights, her post that includes a photo montage of the weekend, Michael's post about the pre-Party and his recap of the weekend. Geez...I'm the pokey poster around here! Happy Reading!

Update with Odds and Ends

Today I'm headed out of town for work. I'm not sure if I'll be able to post anything before I get back or not. In the event I can't I wanted to leave you with a few items to check out.

First, I'll give you a general update on Week 1 of the "World's Favorite Detective" tournament. It's been an interesting Week 1 actually with several contests volleying back and forth depending on the day. There are very few blowouts and most contests can still go either way depending on these last two days of voting. The voting booth for Week 1 will be open through tomorrow, so if you're pulling for your favorite detective to move on, now's the time to rally your friends and get the votes!

I was very excited to see that on Monday alone there were over 600 voters. Very cool. I hope you all continue to come back each week throughout the tournament and support your favorite detectives. I also hope you check out some whose names aren't familiar to you...or rather weren't familiar before the contest started. I'm hoping to do some highlights on the detectives when we get down a little further. I would have loved to have done a highlight for every single detective in the tourney, but time simply wouldn't permit it. That doesn't mean you can't check them out on your own. I've already requested audio books from some of the authors I wasn't familiar with before this. Very excited to discover some new detectives!

So, be sure to check back next week for Round 2. I return from my work trip Saturday night. If I can get to it, I'll post the winners of Round 1 Sunday, otherwise, I'll have it up for you on Monday and the new voting will start.

If you didn't have a chance to catch my interview with Tom Schreck earlier this week and you would like to, you can see that here. Tom turned the tables on me and I was in the interview hot seat this time. Tom's a super wonderful person, an extremely talented writer and I was honored to hang out with him at his blog.

And I also spent some time with my dear friend Kaye Barley this week over at her blog. I talked about my special family and I answered the question everyone's been asking me, "What is your six-word memoir?" So, if you'd like to see that, you can do that here.

Alright, I'm done being narcissistic for today. I want to talk about other cool places to visit if you haven't seen them already. I've actually fallen so far behind in my own blog reading that my friends are ready to send the lynch mob after me, I think. Naomi and Corey are staying very busy over at The Drowning Machine. Be sure to stop by there for a couple awesome reviews as well as an Indie Bookstore highlight. Absolutely love that!

Michael has been highlighting the Elvis Cole/Joe Pike series on audio book at his blog. I believe I talked about this before, but this is truly a series that I get excited about every time I hear he has a new post. To combine my love of Crais with my love of audio books is heaven to begin with. But Michael is a connoisseur and it's so much fun to discuss these audios with him. I just never tire of it. Anyway, he's up to THE FORGOTTEN MAN. You can check that out here. And he has links to the remainder of the series if you need to catch up.

Michael's also been doing a series on movie Title/Credit Sequences. He's up to Part 4 on that series. You can see that here. Again he adds links to the previous posts if you need to catch up. I have been reading them utterly dumbfounded. I can't even contribute I feel so unworthy! I love his film knowledge. I feel as though I get an education every time he hosts a post. It's great!

And my idol, Pop Culture Nerd, is getting super fancy on us these days. She put together a slide show of fashion from the Academy Awards. I don't need to hit People Magazine's website, PCN has all the inside scoop I need. And it's far more fun to dish with her than People Magazine! You have to go over and see this slide show. Her captions are half the fun. Make sure that you see Robert Downey, Jr. Seriously, I laughed out loud at that one. My colleagues thought I was off my rocker. Damn cubicles! If you haven't been over to check out her site lately, what are you waiting for? Lots of fun stuff going on there. Had I not been visiting, I'd have never heard about Tom Kaufman. See, that's why I hate getting behind on my blog reading!

And finally, please go over and wish my good friend Jenn from Jenn's Bookshelves a happy blogiversary. She celebrated two years of blogging this week. And she has a nice contest going on in honor of her blogiversary where you could win the book of your choice! Can't beat that! You have until March 15th to enter for that contest. And you know if you have trouble deciding what you want, I'll be happy to give you a long list of suggestions! ;-)

All right. I'll shut my trap now...or rather my fingers, I guess. I just wanted to make sure I left you with enough fun stuff until I return. I promise some reviews next week. I have still been reading, I swear, even though I haven't done a very good job of posting the reviews in a timely manner. But you know, you can also always follow me on Twitter. I tend to talk about books there while I'm reading them (as well as other various odds and ends). I put the link to my Twitter page over in my side bar if you aren't already following and would like to, just click my little Twitter bird.

Have a great weekend everyone. I hope it is filled with sunshine and happiness and BOOKS! And remember to VOTE!!!

Preparing for Muskego

A couple fun things for you as I'm preparing for Felonious February up at the Muskego Public Library this weekend. If you're in the area, you should come. It's going to be fun!

First, my very good friend Michael from Lazy Thoughts from a Boomer is running a series on the Robert Crais audio books. Michael is an expert on audios and especially on Robert Crais' audios. He's running through the whole Elvis Cole/Joe Pike series and we're having some fun discussions about them. If you haven't checked this series out, I encourage you to do so, even if you think you aren't an audio fan, it's still a great look at how different interpretations can create different effects in reading. Fun stuff, and many kudos to Michael for the series. It's fantastic!

I'm grossly behind on my blog reading, and I need to get over and chat with Hank Phillippi Ryan who is guesting at 7 Criminal Minds this week. What a fun, talented woman. Stop over and say hi to her!

Don't forget to enter your nominations for the World's Favorite Detective tournament. The form for entries is here. Thanks to everyone who has been helping to spread the word. We aren't going to have any trouble filling the 64 slots. The question will simply be who fills those slots. And there's still time to sign up to participate in the "Detectives Around the World" theme week. Info on what to do for that is here. We've got over 20 participating blogs right now, and everyone is welcome. There will be lots of prizes and lots of fun. Hope you'll join in.

And finally, I want to share this trailer for Alafair Burke's 212 with you. For those that don't know, I will be interviewing Alafair at Felonious Friday this weekend. It's my first LIVE interview, so wish me luck. Alafair's an old pro...me, I'm the novice! But, while I'm traveling to Wisconsin tomorrow, I have my review of 212 set for you to check out. To prepare for that, check out this fun trailer:

Craig's Having a Birthday! Yes...It is so.

That's right! Today is Craig Johnson's birthday. On Facebook he asked for no cards but for everyone to raise a glass in his honor today. So, for Craig Johnson, ya'll!

Happy Birthday Craig! Also this weekend, Craig is out in the big city being inducted onto the MWA board. In addition, Alafair Burke will take the president's seat for the New York chapter in 2010. Hail to the Chief!

I'm very excited about all of the bloggers who have signed up for "Detectives Around the World" so far. We're really going to have a selection from around the world, too! You all are really motivating me on this project. If you would like to learn more about the details of participating, please e-mail me and I'll send you the information. Please pass the word along to other bloggers you know. It doesn't have to be exclusive to book bloggers. Anyone who wants to participate is welcome! We are going to celebrate detectives for a week in April; what could be better than that?

If you haven't already seen them, you really should check out Michael's pictures from Robert Crais's book launch at Book Soup in California. They will make you smile. Folks in my neck of the woods, remember that RC is going to be in Dayton a week from Sunday (the 24th). If you're going, drop me a note and let me know, so I look for you. I can't wait!

That about does it for me today, I think. Have a wonderful weekend. If you're lucky enough to have Monday off, enjoy the long weekend. If you're like me and it's just a regular weekend, make the most of the days you've got! :) And don't forget to say a little prayer or send some good thoughts to the folks in Haiti. Rich or poor, everyone should be able to spare a few of those.

Happy Reading!

Appreciating Book Bloggers This Week

Welcome to Book Blogger Appreciation Week everyone! One of the topics that is suggested by the Book Blogger Appreciation Week committee is to blog about our favorite blogs that didn't make the short lists in award nominations. There are so many great blogs available in this blog-o-sphere of ours. Sometimes they get lost amidst all the ... sorry ... crap that's out there. Yeah, there's plenty of that, too. So, please allow me to share with you some outstanding blogs that deserve recognition every day:

Lazy Thoughts from a Boomer is absolutely one of my all-time favorite blogs, period. My great Boomer friend, Michael doesn't always blog about books; it's much better than that. He mixes in music and movies and "kids say the darnedest things." It's absolutely wonderful. And he's my go-to guy on recommendations for audio books. He is IN THE KNOW about great narrators and excellent recordings. And on top of being one of my favorite bloggers, he's also a great friend. When I traveled to SoCal to attend the L.A. Times Festival of Books, he met me, chatted up authors with me, secured my panel tickets, bummed around with my sister and I...he just made my trip a million times better than it would have been without him. So he's a prime example of the Internet creating friendships that wouldn't have otherwise existed. I hope you'll take a few minutes to recognize Michael's great blogging work; stop over and say 'hey.' I'm sure you'll enjoy his blog as much as I do!

Lesa's Book Critiques is a definite must-read for mystery-loving readers. This amazing librarian keeps all of us in the know on the latest and greatest in the mystery genre! I've often said to Lesa that I view her as my blogging mentor. I'm regularly pestering her with ideas to see what she thinks of them and if I should try them. And she never seems to tire of my pestering either. Lesa and I share another link, and that is the state of Ohio. Lesa was a librarian in NE Ohio in a previous life, and we let her get away. Now she's in Arizona hatching up all these amazing programs for her library and I'm wishing she was running MY library! Although, I've been trying to coax her into getting web cam set up so I can experience virtually! ;) Lesa hosts a series called Authors at the Teague, and she regularly shares those events on her blog. She also shares the Brown Bag Luncheons that she sponsors for her staff and for the community. Every week she hosts a fantastic book give-away. And of course, her blog is full of reviews and interviews and guest posts. But one of my absolute favorite features of Lesa's blog is her "Treasures in my Closet" posts. Here she shares with us mysteries that are upcoming releases so we can wait on pins and needles for them to make it to our bookstore shelves.

Kaye Barley is one of the most well-known folks in the mystery community. She writes the Meanderings and Muses blog. While she doesn't consider herself a reviewer, she is definitely an appreciator of great mystery literature. All this year she has been hosting guest posts from various folks throughout the mystery community. And she's more than generous to share with us experiences she has at author events. And what is especially fun is when she blogs about special topics like hats and inaugurations and tea parties! If you don't feel at home and loved at this blog, there may not be much hope for you, sorry. I hope you'll visit Kaye and soak up a little of the love that emanates from Meanderings and Muses every single day.

There are three published authors who have blogs I read religiously. Of course I often mention Alafair Burke who blogs about everything from her books to her job as a law professor to pop culture. She also has a knack for finding the best video clips from UTube.

Tim Hallinan's blog is very artistically centered. He hosts guests who talk about the creative process and what works for each of them. He's shared segments of books he's working on, and he's a wealth of knowledge when it comes to great book recommendations. He knows the genre well.

And finally, the most recent blog to be added to my must-read list: Louise Penny. In my eyes, her blog is just like her Three Pines series: quaint, funny, warm, inviting. A little less murder, though. She is a consistent blogger and it's nice to feel that regular connection with her. Maybe it's intimidation, I don't know, but I mostly lurk there; I've never left a comment. It's just nice to BE at her blog. I simply love it.

And finally, I want to recognize two collective blogs, each hosted by a group of mystery writers. First is a new blog this year: 7 Criminal Minds. They are comprised of Gabriella Herkert, CJ Lyons, Rebecca Cantrell, Sophie Littlefield, Kelli Stanley, Shane Gericke, and Tim Maleeny. I look forward to reading this blog every day. It is a virtual panel where each of the authors responds to the same question - a new question is posed each week. From questions like "Do you control your characters or do they control you?" to "What characters would you most like to see in a cage match?" This blog is never boring! The second blog I want to mention is The Outfit. This is a group of authors representing Chicago. It includes ten different authors: Sean Chercover, Libby Hellmann, Marcus Sakey, Sara Paretsky, Laura Caldwell, David Ellis, Barbara D'Amato, Michael Allen Dymmoch, Kevin Guilfoile, and David Heinzmann. And here you can find any kind of post from some of crime fiction's greats. Again, it's never boring on The Outfit!

There are so many more blogs that deserve recognition on this day. Blogs that didn't make the short lists. But I wanted these particular blogs to know that they are on my short list every single day! Thank you for all your hard work! Happy Book Blogger Appreciation Week!

Note: I usually try to post just once a day, but for this week's celebrations, I'll have an additional post later today. Hope you don't mind.