Five on Friday - Lisa Unger

Happy Friday all. Today Longmire Days kicks off and I spent yesterday roaming around Buffalo, Wyoming--the basis for Durant in the Walt Longmire books. I had breakfast at the Busy Bee, peeked in the Occidental Hotel and visited Crazy Woman Canyon. There will be more pictures after my trip, but here's a fun one for you this Friday, the counter at The Busy Bee

And while I'm out fighting all the Longmire fans at this weekends festivities, I have a new Five on Friday for you. Lisa Unger is no stranger to the blog, and I'm thrilled to have her back.

Lisa is the New York Times bestselling author of the Lydia Strong and Ridley Jones novels as well as three novels set in her fictional town called The Hollows and three standalones. The most recent Hollows book, In the Blood, comes out in paperback on Tuesday. And in Lisa's near future, she's going to delve into the YA fantasy realm. You can read more about that on her website. But now let me wander off to the Longmire festivities and let Lisa take over the Five on Friday hot seat!

The most bizarre place I ever found inspiration for a story was my own mailbox! I received a mailer, which featured an advertisement on one side and, on the other, an age-graduated photograph of a missing child. I was struck with the idea that someone might be lost and never found. Then I had this thought: What if I looked at this flier and recognized myself? That was the germ for BEAUTIFUL LIES.

The last book I recommended to someone was Bird by Bird by Anne Lamott. It is one of my very favorite books about the craft. Lamott writes eloquently about process, the journey, and the emotional truths of the writing life. I find inspiration whenever I pick it up.

My biggest pet peeve is people who put their seats all the way back on the airplane. I understand that some people are tall, and that airplane seats are uncomfortable. However, the very least you can do is look behind and ask if it’s all right. I consider it an allegory for a larger issue. If everyone had a little more consideration for others, the world would be a better place.

A superstition or ritual I have to observe when I write is: I have absolutely no superstitions or rituals to observe when I write. I think those things are just excuses not to write, as if to say: “If conditions are not perfect I can’t do what I intended to do today.” There are too many real world distractions internal and external, too many obstacles to finding that creative head space. Why set yourself up for failure by imposing more conditions?

The #1 item on my bucket list right now is: I don’t really have a “bucket list,” mainly because the whole idea of it is depressing. I live pretty close to my truth and my husband Jeffrey and I are intrepid travelers and explorers, so when there’s something I want to do, I generally do it. But, I will say that Asia is a big gap in my travel experiences. And my fantasy trip right now is taking the Orient Express from Singapore to Bangkok. I’ll let you know when we book it!

Many thanks to Lisa for joining us today for Five on Friday! I'm in agreement with Lisa on the airplane seat thing. And, the Orient Express sounds very exciting...and idea-provoking. Thanks to you all for being patient with me as I got ready for this trip. More fun details to come. You can watch the Facebook and Twitter accounts, for live-ish updates from Buffalo. In the mean time, happy reading my friends!!

My Life According to Books 2012

Several years ago, my friend and fellow blogger, Pop Culture Nerd, started an annual tradition for us. She posted her "Life According to Books" based on a post she had seen. Since then, each year she creates new starter sentences and we each complete the sentences with book titles from things we've read in that year. I always look forward this fun meme.

Yesterday she posted her 2012 version. Be sure to stop over and see her fun responses. And today I have mine for you. So here we go:

Every Monday I look/feel like THE FEAR ARTIST (Timothy Hallinan)

Last time I went to a doctor/therapist was because (of) THE CUT (George Pelecanos)

Last meal I ate was BEFORE THE POISON (Peter Robinson)

My savings account is CRIMINAL (Karin Slaughter)
When a creepy guy asks for my number I LOCKDOWN (Sean Black)

Ignorant politicians make me HEARTBROKEN (Lisa Unger)

Some people need to spend more time ON THE OUTSIDE LOOKING INDIAN (Rupinder Gill)

My memoir could be titled THE WHOLE LIE (Steve Ulfelder)

If I could have, I would’ve told my teenage self THE THINGS THAT KEEP US HERE (Carla Buckley)

In five years I hope I am TAKEN (Robert Crais)

I love to see what others say for this, so either leave your responses in the comments or make your own blog post and share the link with me so I can check them out. It's fun, give it a try.

Happy Reading!

Lessons I've Learned...

...from books I've read so far in 2012. A little fun to kick off your week.

1. Don't look in the trunk! The next time I'm offered 50 grand to not look in the trunk, I'll not look in the trunk, no matter how much noise I hear. (Gutshot Straight by Lou Berney)

2. When planning your child's wedding, move mountains to get the first choice location. It may seem like an impossible task, but that second choice locale can really cause problems. (As the Crow Flies, Craig Johnson)

3. If someone writes to you saying you're their child, immediately burn the letter and move far away. Curiosity did, after all, kill the cat. (Playing Dead, Julia Heaberlin)


4. If a guy can't afford his own car and has to use yours, do NOT let him move in with you. In fact, don't date him at all. (Heartbroken, Lisa Unger)

5. When it comes to family, help hide the body. It is, after all, family.  (A Bad Day for Mercy, Sophie Littlefield)

6. Never spend the night in a backwoods small town. And most especially never do it if you are traveling with a teen who's been in trouble with the law before. (The Conviction, Robert Dugoni)

7. Reality TV is nothing but trouble. It can even affect people not directly involved in the show. It's bad, bad, bad! (Vanishing Point, Val McDermid)

8. Imaginary friends are real. A different kind of real, but real all the same. (Memoirs of an Imaginary Friend, Matthew Dicks)

9. A bag of donuts can buy you anything. No one can resist donuts, especially a P.I. who can't help but do the right thing. (Lullaby, Ace Atkins)

10. Fate despises suicide. You don't need to bother even trying. Fate will interfere and make you realize the life before trying suicide wasn't all THAT bad. (The Survivor, Gregg Hurwitz)

Crime Writers as Adjectives

I saw this article last month and today I was doing some interview work and used the term Fitzgeraldesque, which got me thinking about what adjectivized versions of crime writers names would mean. Don't worry; I won't be anywhere near as focused on sex as the Flavorwire writer was.

The one that jumped to mind immediately was:

(James) Burkeian

Exceptionally atmospheric detail that entices all the senses.

And you know I absolutely had to have one for:

(Robert) Craisish

Characterized by loud shirts and funky socks.

or

Pertaining to intimate bonds between adult heterosexual males.

(Craig) Johnsonesque

Having desirable qualities. A Johnsonesque town is one everyone wants to visit; a Johnsonesque character is one everyone wants as their friend.

(Bryan) Gruleyian

Containing hockey metaphors.

(Lee) Childish...wait, maybe that one doesn't work so well, how about Lee Childian...Childesque???

Marked by a nomadic nature.

(Gregg) Hurwitzian

Having a whirlwind of emotion. If it makes you laugh, cry, scream, rejoice...it's Hurwitzian.

I haven't forgotten the criminal woman. Here we go with theirs:

(Sophie) Littlefieldesque

Of or pertaining to creatively smart women.

(Karin) Slaughterish

Marked by a dark, painful history.

(Rosemary) Harrisian

The quality of blossoming.

(Lisa) Ungerian
Of or pertaining to the psychological examination of one's actions.
(Cara) Blackesque

Marked by French couture.

I started with Burkeian and I'll finish with a Burkeish:

(Alafair) Burkeish

Of or pertaining to a love of Nutella

or

Having an incredible knowledge base of pop culture

O.k. so my creative genes aren't that strong. Help me out here. What crime writer adjectives would YOU add?

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.

DARKNESS MY OLD FRIEND - Lisa Unger

Slowly but surely, I'm getting my reviews from Shelf Awareness posted here. Today I have another, this one by Lisa Unger - her most recent novel, DARKNESS, MY OLD FRIEND. This review appears, of course, with permission from the folks at Shelf Awareness.

First line: "Failure wasn't a feeling; it was a taste in his mouth, an ache at the base of his neck."

Jones Cooper retired from his beloved position with the Hollows Police Department and now “putters” around the house. Instead of people coming to him with law enforcement issues, they call him to water their plants and take care of their pets while they are out of town. This occupies his time, but it doesn’t fill the hole in his life that his job loss created.

When Michael Holt returns to the Hollows looking for answers to his mother’s disappearance, Jones’ calm is shattered. Michael’s mother’s disappearance was the first major investigation for Jones Cooper many years ago; it always remained unsolved and now Jones is pulled back into the case. After all these years can he figure out what really happened?

In the follow-up to her novel Fragile, Lisa Unger brings back some beloved characters while also introducing new residents to the Hollows. The small town setting allows Unger to highlight her strongest writing skill: character relationships. Whether husband and wife, parent and child, doctor and patient, Unger probes the mysteries of human connection, leaving her characters raw and exposed to the critical stares of her readers. When the plot sews them back together, the end result isn’t necessarily the sum of the pieces.

The resolution to this plot may be anticipated early by some readers, but the greater mystery lies in the resolution of the characters themselves. This is the beauty of Unger’s writing and it is what keeps readers glued to pages.

DARKNESS, MY OLD FRIEND is available in hardcover from Crown and on audio from Random House Audio

FRAGILE - Lisa Unger

First Line: "When Jones Cooper was younger, he didn't believe in mistakes."

In the small town of The Hollows, a secret lingers, haunting its inhabitants. Some of the inhabitants know the secret that haunts them while others feel the effects but don't know their origins. When a teenage girl goes missing, the secret rears its ugly head demanding to be acknowledged.

Jones Cooper is the head of The Hollows police department, so he's called on when Charlene goes missing. Charlene also happens to be Jones' son's girlfriend. At first it appears that Charlene has run off to New York City, but neither Charlene's mother, nor Ricky Cooper, believe that to be the case. Whatsmore, Charlene and Jones both know the ghost that haunts The Hollows and it's eerily similar to the disappearance of Charlene.

Lisa Unger's FRAGILE is a bit of a departure from her previous thriller novels, but it hasn't departed from Unger's complexity of plot and depth of character. There is a very rich psychological element to her ninth novel, forcing the characters' thoughts and emotions into the limelight moreso than their actions.

Unger depicts the small town in all its beauty as well as its warts and foibles. In some ways The Hollows is so small it's suffocating its residents, and in other ways it's so large that the ugly secret remains hidden for decades. That dichotomy is mirrored in the people inhabiting The Hollows as the past collides violently with the present.

The haunting beauty of FRAGILE is enhanced by Unger's poetic imagery that weaves consistent images throughout the novel:

"She'd spun a web around Maggie's son without his knowing it, without even perhaps her intention. Spider silk was stronger than chain if you happened to be a fly."

"...she felt an awe at how all their separate lives were twisted and tangled, growing over and around one another, altering, aiding, and blocking one another's paths."

The idea that we're all tied into one another, affecting one another, connected. Those connections at once both "fragile" and strong.

Once again, Lisa Unger has succeeded at crafting a gripping tale that will echo in your thoughts long after you've turned the final page.

FRAGILE is available tomorrow, August 3rd in hardcover (ISBN: 978-0-307-39399-9) from Shaye Areheart Books.


I interviewed Lisa for the most recent issue of CRIMESPREE Magazine and with their permission, I'm sharing a couple of the questions from that interview with you today. Here is a segment of my chat with Lisa:

Q. FRAGILE is the new book – did you think I’d ever get to it? As we mentioned in a previous question, it still contains the theme of deception,
of hidden secrets, but this book has its origins in an event that’s more personal for you. Can you talk a little about that? And why this book was
twenty years in the making? What about now - 2009/2010 – made this the right ntime to write this book?

Lisa: This book is very loosely based on an event that took place in the town where I grew up. A girl I knew in high school was abducted and murdered. It was a stunning and tragic event that impacted me tremendously and changed the way I thought about the world. This book is not about that event, per se. I did not research the past in order to flush out the foggy memories I have, or to create a real time line of events. I didn’t want to write that kind of book, mainly because I didn’t want to hurt people who had suffered terribly or to exploit the memory of the murdered girl.

But I have tried to tell this story, or the essence of it before. It has popped up in various partials and been discarded. And I honestly think that it took me so long because I had to become a better writer to tell the story well, and it took me the writing of eight novels, FRAGILE being my ninth, to develop and hone my skills to a level where I could do this justice. I learned in writing this book that one might have ambitions to tell a story but not have the skills, the craft to do it.

I also think it’s notable that the voices who wound up telling this story are older than I am now, and older than the characters who have tried to tell it before. Which leads me to think that maybe I needed to grow up a little to write this book.

Q. Setting plays a very important role in FRAGILE. The idea of the small town; everyone knows everyone else; everyone grew up together, went to school together, etc. It’s hard to be different in a town that small. Several of the characters don’t “fit;” they want to get out of the small town and go to “the city” – “the city” being New York City. And Maggie actually does live in New York for awhile but circumstances pull her back. You’ve described yourself as feeling like you didn’t exactly fit in. Are we seeing an element of you in these characters?

Lisa: I think this is the curse and the blessing of the writer. A writer is first, before anything an observer. And you cannot observe unless you stand apart. I have never felt particularly as if I belong anywhere, except in my immediate family with Ocean and Jeff. So I suppose I have particular empathy for the misfit characters in this book and all my novels.

I grew up in a town not unlike The Hollows. And, you’re right, it is very hard to be different in a place like that. But we moved there from elsewhere, after having lived overseas, so I don’t consider myself of or from a place like that. I sort of arrived there with a different idea of the world than most of my classmates. That place wasn’t the whole universe for me; it was one of many stops on the road. And I always knew I’d be gone from there as soon as I was old enough to leave.

Certainly, this feeling of being on the outside looking in was a prevailing feeling in my adolesence. I did hate the small town life and dreamed always of running away to New York City, which I eventually did. So I suppose I can relate to Maggie in that way.

Q. The other way I thought I heard echoes of you in Maggie’s character was Maggie’s occupation. She’s a psychologist. And she observes. She observes her patients, trying to see into their minds. Not only is she observing in her job but in her family. She’s on the outside of the relationship between her son and her husband, observing, not being able to do anything about the constant battles between them. That outside observation is what you’ve acknowledged is one of your own traits. Does Maggie’s character come from your experiences that way or did you have to research elsewhere to understand Maggie?

Lisa: I did quite a bit of research into her occupation, education, and just the particular challenges of, as a psychologist, having an office attached to the home. I wondered about those boundary issues, and how one separates from patients who are suffering and looking to you for help and guidance.

But I think being a psychologist is, in some ways, not unlike being a writer. One has to have a great deal of empathy, understanding and, yes, a bit of distance from the human condition. Much like the psychologist, you can’t be rolling around in the muck with your characters. You have to be able to see them clearly, hear them, know them to tell them well. But none of my characters necessarily come directly from my own experiences. And, of course, all of them do in their way. So, Maggie, like everyone is some compilation of my own traits, people I have observed, experiences I have had an imagined.

So, there's a little taste of my interview with Lisa. This interview holds a special distinction for me. While I'm beyond honored to be asked to do ANY interview for CRIMESPREE, this time I was asked to do the cover story interview. This is a milestone; it is incredibly humbling. And I'm so thrilled to have had my interviewee be Lisa Unger. You can check out the rest of the interview in this latest issue, Issue 37. Oh yeah, plus there's cool stuff from some other folks, like Craig McDonald and Reed Farrel Coleman, but I'm sure that's of no interest to you whatsoever! ;-) It's on its way to subscribers now and should be in select bookstores very soon. If you aren't a subscriber, you can check into that here.

Thank you for humoring me my little moment of excitement. Happy Reading!

Technorati Tags: Lisa Unger, book review, crime fiction

They Said WHAT?

I can't believe another month in 2010 is gone already! Since it is the last Sunday of May, it is time for my favorite lines from books I've read this month. This was a great reading month, and I still have quite a few reviews to catch up on, but here are my favorite lines.

REDEMPTION STREET by Reed Farrel Coleman is simply packed with wonderfulness. I could almost just reproduce the entire book for you here, but since Reed would probably take issue with that, I'll limit it to these lines:

"The funny thing about forgiveness is that it comes from the inside out, not the other way around."

"There's just something men and hardware stores. I am by no means a handy sort. The tool I use best is the telephone, to call the superintendent. It's to civilization's benefit that it was never dependent upon my dexterity to move from one state of development to the next, or we'd still be without fire, stone tools, and the wheel."

This month I also listened to HELL HOLE by Chris Grabenstein. Another book that I could simply give you the whole book. And I guess since that's the case, I'm saying both books are ones I think you should add to your TBR list if they aren't already there. But in the meantime, here's some snippets of goodness from HELL HOLE:

"I'm thinking a deep-fried Baby Ruth would be delicious, once you got past a name that sounds like a gruesome form of child abuse."

"One step at a time. That's Ceepak. Me? I'm forever jumping to conclusions. It's how I wind up flat on my ass so often."

"These people are on vacation. Beer and chips? Down the shore, they're like beef: it's what's for dinner."

"Ceepak steps into the stall. I don't follow. I could easily fit in there with him but two guys squeezing into the same toilet booth at the same time might earn more stares than Ceepak's Kodak moment with the commode. People might think we'd just been playing footsie between stalls and have decided to run for Congress."

"He had journeyed into the valley of the shadow of death and discovered he was the one casting the shadow."

And wrapping up the best lines for this month, I have a couple from Lisa Unger's upcoming FRAGILE. Looking back on these three particular reads from May, I'm seeing three entirely different books, different voices, different styles. It makes me smile. There's so much to take advantage of in this genre. Wonderfulness everywhere. And in FRAGILE, it includes:

"But she knew it was impossible to live a life that way. It was all woven together in one great tapestry - the past, the present, the future - colors and textures mingling and entwined. It was nearly impossible to extract the present moment from what came before it, from what might lie ahead."

"As she told them all about her buried memory, she felt an awe at how all their separate lives were twisted and tangled, growing over and around one another, altering, aiding, and blocking one another's paths."

There you have it. Those are my favorites this month. Did you have any fun lines from reading this month? I hope your June is jam-packed with them!

Happy Reading!

Technorati Tags: Chris Grabenstein, Reed Farrel Coleman, Lisa Unger, Great Lines

Thursday's This and That

Wow! It's been a bit of a whirlwind week. I'm not even exactly sure how it got to be Thursday already. I guess time is distorted when one is up on Cloud 9!

Monday's author event with Craig Johnson was absolutely amazing! So, it definitely warrants it own post. That will be Saturday, so I hope you'll check back to hear about my visit to Mystery Lovers Bookshop hosting Craig. In the meantime, I would like to leave you with a few links that you can enjoy about Craig. I turned a colleague on to Craig's work and we've been talking about him a lot at work, so I shared the NY Times article with my colleague and he dug up this site that shows the original "kit" Craig bought to start his house - he built his home in Wyoming if you did not already know.

Someone asked Craig Monday if Walt Longmire looks like him. I said I wasn't sure if Walt looked like Craig but "he definitely sounds like George Guidall." George Guidall is to Walt Longmire what Mark Hammer is/was to Dave Robicheaux. In my humble opinion of course. But you can check out what Craig things about his books on audio here at this site.

And I would totally LOVE it if Penguin would make one of these for me with a Walt Longmire title! Actually, could I get a set? If anyone's looking for a gift for me...;)

So tonight I'll be thinking about my other favorite bookstore in the entire world, the Mystery Bookstore in LA. The super, wonderful folks on the Pacific Coast will be hosting Craig tonight. Lucky folks!

We had a pretty hefty line-up this week for the six-word memoirs. I don't know...maybe I shouldn't have stacked so many great authors in the first three weeks. Keepin' up this pace is gonna be a challenge. But, I'm up for it. Hope you'll keep checking back.

However, I do need to get caught up on reviews. Hopefully you'll get one or six of those in the very near future. June is just crazy on this blog! Isn't it? Well, crazy doesn't even begin to describe this blog post from the L.A. Times. They have a list of 60 new books to read this summer - have you seen this? THIS SUMMER? Now that's a lot of reading. Michael Connelly's SCARECROW made the list, and so did THE SILENT HOUR. THE ANGEL'S GAME is one I have and am hoping to get to. Donald Westlake's final Dortmunder made their list, as did Pat Conroy's SOUTH OF BROAD. If I was making the list these would all be there but so would THE DARK HORSE (Craig Johnson), THE SECOND DEATH OF GOODLUCK TINUBU (Michael Stanley), TRUST NO ONE (Gregg Hurwitz), MIND SCRAMBLER (Chris Grabenstein), and BREATHING WATER (Timothy Hallinan). But the most blatantly missing title? RAIN GODS? Really? It didn't make their list? Guess that's why no one asks ME to make those lists, huh?

O.k., so I don't want to forget to congratulate Lori from Kansas who won the signed copy of Lisa Unger's DIE FOR YOU. I will be getting that in the mail to Lori this week. Thanks to everyone who entered the contest. And stay tuned. I have some more contests planned for this month!

I don't think I've mentioned here yet that I've been reading the May/June 2009 CRIMESPREE Magazine. Do you have a copy of this? There are some fabulous articles in this magazine! If you don't have a copy; you need to get one!

I still have to wrap up the read-a-thon. There was a final meme that I was supposed to answer and just simply didn't get to it because of my trip to PA on Monday. I had a wonderful time on Sunday reading, though. As you know if you followed my posts then I finished up BREATHING WATER, which I will be reviewing for you later this summer. I also finished THE WAY HOME, George Pelecanos' most recent novel. That review will be forthcoming. It was a beautiful day and I spent most of it on my front porch swing or the lawn chair in the back yard - so the dogs could be outside, too. It was a great time, but if I do something like that again, I need to make sure I don't have a day trip planned the NEXT day, too. Too crazy!

I hope you will check back tomorrow. As I mentioned on Tuesday, I'll be hosting an interview with the author of THE SECRET KEEPER, Paul Harris. I have a feeling we'll be hearing a lot more from Mr. Harris down the road!

Until then...Happy Reading!

***Update 6:36 EST - I have fixed my major, major botch, but if you happen to be coming back to this post, Gregg Hurwitz's book is called TRUST NO ONE. It's due out later this month. TELL NO ONE is the first stand alone that Harlan Coben wrote and that I recently finished listening to on audio book. My sincerest apologies to both authors. Too bad spell check can't catch idiot mistakes!

Thursday's This and That

Wow! June is off to an amazing start, huh? Another backlist title that I want to go snatch up! Again, many thanks to Corey for his contribution on the Monday Mystery Backlist title.

A guest post from Lisa Unger. Have you entered to win the signed copy of her newest book, DIE FOR YOU? Make sure you do that. You can find the details here.

Then we had the second week of six-word memoirs. They are just so much fun. I look forward to hearing what each author is going to say. Hope you do, too.

There's still a ton more excitement to come this month. My blog calendar simply looks wild for June, I'm tellin' ya. So make sure you check back regularly.

Other things to tell you about. You know that I'm going to participate in this Mystery Reading Marathon this Sunday. Looking forward to a full day of reading mystery! I'll be posting some blogs and Tweets about my progress that day, too, so check in with me. Still haven't quite decided what I'm going to be reading, but I have it narrowed down to a couple choices. We'll see. The weather looks like it's going to be agreeable that day as well. I'm hoping I can spend the better part of my 12 hours on the front porch swing with my book!

Then on Monday, I'm headed over to PA to visit the Mystery Lovers Bookshop and see the amazing Craig Johnson. Absolutely can't wait for that!

I don't really tend to join reading challenges, mostly because I just don't end up following through on them. But this one I thought was a fantastic idea. It's about recommending and receiving recommendations. I have to get back over and read some of the other participants' bios so I can make some recommendations. And hopefully, I'll get a great recommendation as well. Maybe more than one. Check it out if you're interested!

Some excellent books have been released recently that I think we need to acknowledge. First ANGEL'S TIP (Alafair Burke) was released in paperback. So, if you've been thinking you want to check it out because I raved so much about it (and it was in my top reads of 2008), now's a great time because it's at a great price! PLUS, the next Elllie Hatcher will be out around February, so you can get caught up before 212 comes out. Also, you know that Lisa Unger's DIE FOR YOU was released on Tuesday. Also released on Tuesday, the book I've been yammering about for several months, THE SECOND DEATH OF GOODLUCK TINUBU (Michael Stanley). I haven't picked up mine yet because on the 15th I'm headed up to MI to Aunt Agatha's bookstore to see the awesome due of Michael Sears and Stanley Trollip. I'll be buying my copy then! I told you June was just a crazy awesome month!

And I'll leave you with this link to the trailer for the book I'm devouring right now, BREATHING WATER by Timothy Hallinan. I use to listen to a radio show that Shadoe Stevens did. So nice to hear his voice again.

Have a GREAT Thursday and happy reading!

You Have the Right to Six Words - Take 2!

It's Wednesday and time for more six-word memoirs from crime fiction's greatest writers. And you came to read the memoirs, not my rambling, so let's not waste any time.

Lisa Unger was my guest blogger yesterday for the release of her book DIE FOR YOU. In honor of that release, we'll start with recapping Lisa's six-word memoir from her July 2008 interview. Lisa is the best selling author of BEAUTIFUL LIES, SLIVER OF TRUTH, and BLACK OUT. Lisa's lived all over the world but now calls Florida home with her husband and daughter, Ocean. And all of her experiences lead her to this memoir:

Better than I could have imagined.

I'm still in awe of the fact that in August I interviewed the Scientific Director of the Department of Defense Joint POW/MIA Accounting Command, Dr. Thomas Holland. Tom is also the author of the Kel McKelvey novels. Kel is the the Scientific Director of the U.S. Army Central Identification Laboratory, Hawaii (CILHI). He helps in identifying the remains of Americans from foreign wars. Both ONE DROP OF BLOOD and K.I.A. were on my list of top reads of 2008 for their dynamic characters, engaging plots and plot twists, and especially for their humor. Tom's sense of humor makes his memoir very fitting:

There should've been a goon squad.

As I type, remembering these two interviews, I have a smile on my face. What fun I had with these writers. If you didn't have a chance to see their interviews, I encourage you to take a gander back. In the mean time, let's add some more fun with two new memoirs.

John Lescroart (pronounced "less-kwah") is the best-selling author of the Dismas Hardy legal thriller series. His books have been translated into 16 languages in 75 countries. John waited fourteen years to submit his first manuscript, and then he did so at the urging of his wife. Within six weeks, he had two publishing offers for SUNBURN. While holding down a job as a word processing supervisor at a California law firm, John continued to write until he had a life-threatening scare of spinal meningitis that convinced him to quit his day job and work at writing full time. John Lescroart has published 19 novels with number 20, A PLAGUE OF SECRETS, set to release June 30th. With a life full of experiences like this, it's no wonder his six-word memoir is:

Married well. Loved my kids. Wrote.

Recently I had the pleasure of meeting the fourth author of today's six-word memoirs. Craig McDonald is the author of HEAD GAMES, which was nominated for both a Gumshoe and an Edgar Award in the category of Best First Novel AND was a Anthony Award finalist AND was short listed for a Crimespree Magazine Best First Novel award. But that simply isn't enough for Craig. He's also an award-winning journalist and written some non-fiction in addition to his most recently published novel, TOROS AND TORSOS. It's a no wonder that Laura Lippman says Craig is "wily, talented and—rarest of the rare—a true original." It's also no wonder that Craig's six-word memoir is

Born to write; writing to live.

Wow! Four more amazing crime fiction writers. I think I'm making it hard to keep up the quality...naaaaaaaaaaaa! We still have more amazing writers to hear from, so I'll see you back here. Same time, same place! You can come back before then, but we'll talk memoirs again next Wednesday. So glad you stopped today!

Happy Reading!

Lisa Unger has "The Disease"!

You would think that with best-selling thrillers published in over 26 countries around the world, a new book coming out today, and a gorgeous family Lisa Unger would be footloose and fancy free. But, that's not the case. She has a problem, a disease. And she's here today to share it with us. Please welcome guest blogger and best-selling author, Lisa Unger!

The desire to write is a disease, a congenital condition. Writers are born with the germ. We don’t contract it later on. Hopefully we discover what’s wrong with us early, otherwise perhaps we wind up institutionalized rather than published. I am sure there’s a cure -- a traditional education, a 9-5 job, or an angst-free childhood. Any or all of these things, and myriad others, can drain the urge, freeze the words before they reach the page. But the germ remains, dormant, waiting for the right conditions to start to grow.

I don’t remember a time before I defined myself as a writer. I found a shelter in books as an early, avid reader. I went there, into Story, as often as possible, made a home there, when the real world wasn’t very comfortable or very friendly. I don’t remember the moment where I realized that I could build that place, not just visit what another had created. But there must have been that moment. There are reams of paper, filled with childish hand … bad poetry, maudlin short stories, fantastical plays, rambling essays. Later I wrote newspaper articles for school papers, then real ones. I remember my first byline for The Riverdale Press. I wrote about a Seder dinner for Russian immigrants at the local Jewish Center. I bought the paper at a real newsstand and floated around looking at my name during my commute to work. I would have written about anything, and did – little league games, local parades, shower shock (don’t ask.) All I have ever wanted to do was write.

But, of course, I have done many other things, the usual – babysitter, waitress, retail sales girl. After college, certain that I could never make a living as a writer, or just lacking the nerve, the confidence, the financial backing – I went into publishing. And I worked in the industry for nearly ten years – a closet writer, stealing time, working on subway trains, over bad take-out lunches, on weekends, in the wee hours of the morning and late into the night. But there were months where I didn’t write a word (remember what I said about that 9-5 job?). I remember feeling an unhappy agitation during those times, a vital part of myself neglected, abandoned, laying fallow. And then -- epiphany. The dream was drifting. I was letting it go. I knew I’d look back and hate myself for never even trying to make it, never trying to write what I really wanted to write.

So I did what a writer must, I gave up the romance of it all, got serious about the craft, the hours, the tenacity it takes to tell a story – a real story with a beginning, a middle and an end, populated by people who live and breathe. I did exactly what I now tell people they must if they want to be a writer – I wrote. Every day. Every day until someone said they’d buy my work for a nickel and a cheese sandwich. And then I wrote more, worked harder.

Now I am a full time writer, in other words a chronic sufferer, fully immersed in the
symptoms of my condition. But this is where romance ends, because the writing life, the act of creating and publishing, making a living creatively, requires the same effort and discipline it takes to make a living doing anything. I write in the mornings, my golden hours from 5 AM to Noon. I don’t wait for the muse, or fuss over whether conditions are right. (I am a mother, so conditions for writing are almost never right.) I have no rituals or special needs (caffeine helps, though). I am just present, working, until I’m flying. The process for me is equal parts work and magic. There is a craft, a thing that I practice and hone. But there is something more gauzy, indefinable, something that doesn’t always come when its called, a freedom, a flight, a loss of self, where the pages click by and characters speak and you disappear into the world you’re creating. But if this doesn’t come, the real writer still writes. She must.

Often, at booksignings and speaking engagements, I speak with aspiring writers, eager to be published. They ask me about agents and advances, copyrights and publicists, copies sold and bestseller lists. I give them the few answers I have, and tell them what I know to be true -- that none of those things matter. Writers write because we have to; we are compelled by our disease. We write long before we’re published, and we will write if we never publish another word. Publishing is incidental, something we seek as we write every day, trying to get better than we were the day before. I tell them that getting published takes a little bit of ability, a little bit of luck, and sheer, never-say-die tenacity. There’s really nothing more to it.

Many people look disappointed, suspicious, as though I have a secret, some shortcut to success, that I will not share. I don’t. I live my own advice. If there’s another way to be a working, published writer, I don’t know it. But I always know the real writer, the fellow patient, suffering the disease that wants no cure. She’s sitting in the back of the room, clutching a notebook, too shy to raise her hand. She’s listening and observing. And she’s writing down every word she hears.

Lisa Unger is a New York Times, USA Today and international bestselling author of literary thrillers. Her writing has been hailed as "masterful" (St. Petersburg Times), "sensational" (Publishers Weekly) and "sophisticated" (New York Daily News) with "gripping narrative and evocative, muscular prose" (Associated Press). Her novels have been published in over 26 countries around the world. Her latest novel DIE FOR YOU is available today, June 2, 2009.

BUT WAIT!! You can win a copy right here. Lisa has graciously donated a SIGNED copy of DIE FOR YOU to one lucky winner from my blog. To be entered in the drawing for this awesome book, simply send me an email - forbyone(at)yahoo(dot)com - with Lisa Unger in the subject line and your name and mailing address in the message. If you Tweet about this giveaway (include @jenforbus in your tweet and give me the link in your email), I'll put two more entries in for you. Don't tweet? Don't worry! Send an email to at least five friends telling them about the giveaway - cc: me on the email. I will take all entries through June 10th, so don't delay. Get your entry in TODAY! (U.S. and Canadian mailing addresses only please.)

For more information on Lisa and her writing, visit her at http://www.lisaunger.com/ .

Q&A with Lisa Unger

My third and final author in the summer author Q&A series is New York Times bestselling author, Lisa Unger!

Since I started a trend with Michael Koryta and Alafair Burke, I have to share with you how I came to know Lisa Unger's work. Lisa introduced herself to me on MySpace! Boy, did I feel like I was "somethin'"! Since she took the time to say "hi" to me, I definitely needed to make time to at least check out her books. I borrowed Beautiful Lies on audiobook from the library and was hooked immediately! Lisa's books are fast-pasted, overflowing with plot twists and suspense. They really grab you right away. I'm so glad she took the time to introduce herself. Her books have added a tremendous amount to my reading experience this year.

I blogged earlier that I won Lisa's contest, winning signed first additions of all three of her books. Now I have two sets - the beautiful signed copy that sits in a place of honor, and the set I loan out to friends. I am constantly referring Lisa's work to people who like suspense and mystery, and I've not heard of anyone being disappointed yet. The audio versions are equally great. A Sliver of Truth was the follow-up to Beautiful Lies, and Black Out is Lisa's third book that was released in May of this year. She has a fourth book in the publication process to be released in 2009 and is hard at work....uhm, well maybe not RIGHT this minute (see interview below)...but she has book number five in the works for 2010. So very happy to hear that an early retirement isn't in the cards for her!

Let me quit my babbling and get on to the good stuff! Here is Lisa Unger:

Q. On your blog, you often mention what you're listening to; what/who have you been listening to recently that you would recommend others check out?

Lisa: Right now, I'm very into The Killers. A little bit retro but totally hip and modern. Both albums I have, Hot Fuzz and Sam's Town, are fabulous.

Q. What book have you read in the last six months that you would recommend to people who enjoy YOUR work?

Lisa: Right now I'm reading Kate Atkinson's Case Histories. Honestly, she's brilliant. It's really the best book I've read in so long.

Q. What/who influenced you to become a writer? Did you always want to be a writer or did you have other aspirations as a child?

Lisa: I can't ever remember a time when I didn't think of myself as a writer. I'm not sure what inspired me early on, other than I've always been a voracious reader. Along the way I've had some very supportive teachers who encouraged me. But I've never wanted to be or do anything else. So I feel very, very blessed to make my living this way.

Q. I know you aren't PHYSICALLY touring this year, but what has been a memorable moment for you on a past tour?

Lisa: My last two book tours I conducted with my daughter Ocean. On the first tour, she was four months old. On the second, she was just over a year. During both tours I was nursing her. Touring with your nursing baby is not for the feint-hearted, trust me. I always say that my daughter has been breast-fed in over 100 bookstore parking lots and back rooms across the country -- this is my most vivid memory of the last two outings. It was kind of crazy, but also really wonderful, too.

Q. Do you have time for any hobbies or outside interests with a toddler and a writing career? If so, what are they?

Lisa: I am an avid reader, of course. I also enjoy boating,kayaking, traveling, cooking, and watching films with my hubby. I manage to squeeze some of this in now and then. Actually, I'm writing this looking out on Rue Des Pyramides in Paris. Not too bad.

**Lisa, I have to say, I'm jealous of that view! Hope you have a great time!!

Q. Do you have any interest in selling movie rights for any of your books? If you do, and (o.k., think fantasy land here) you were told the movie had an open-ended budget and YOU could pick your leading star, who would you want to play Ridley and/or Annie/Ophelia? Why?

Lisa: I would love to see one of my books on the big screen. But I could never answer the question about who might play Annie or Ridley. I see each of them so clearly -- especially Ridley -- that I'm not sure I am the best person to make this choice. Anyway, there might be some good news about this soon, so keep checking back at my blog for more in the weeks to come!

Q. There is a book out called Not Quite What I Was Planning: Six-Word Memoirs by Writers Famous and Obscure. What would be YOUR six-word memoir?

Lisa: Better Than I Could Have Imagined.

Isn't she awesome? And I know what she means about seeing her characters so clearly. Anytime a movie was made out of a book I liked, the actors never seemed to live up to MY imagination of who they were. BUT, I will say that I'm very intrigued by her little teaser there...Lisa's blog is on my bloglines, and I look forward to updates from her. You can also find out more about Lisa and her books at her main website.

Thank you, Lisa, for your time and your wonderful responses. I'm so thrilled you were a part of my blog this summer.

Don't forget everyone! Check back on Monday for a special surprise to wrap up the summer series! Thanks for stopping by and Happy Reading!!

Sliver of Truth - Lisa Unger

**Warning: If you intend to read Beautiful Lies, this review of Sliver of Truth with contain information that will end up being spoilers for Beautiful Lies. Read Beautiful Lies first.**



Ridley Jones is back in Lisa Unger's second book, Sliver of Truth. When the FBI show up and want to see her personal photographs, she thinks they are back about Project: Rescue. But what they are really back about is the shadow lurking in all of her photographs. Could that really be her "Uncle" Max, the man she learned was her biological father? No, she was sure it couldn't be him because she had spread his ashes after his death. Surely there was another explanation, and she needed to find out what it was so that all of these people would quit pursuing her to get to Max.



As with Beautiful Lies, this book is full of wonderful twists and turns in the plot. And Unger does a fantastic job of keeping the storyline interlaced with that from Beautiful Lies. After all, how many people's lives are a series of short stories? Not many; most people's life events interconnect. I did find myself asking a few questions about the surprise turns that take place in this novel in relation to how they fit in Beautiful Lies, but definitely nothing enough to ruin the book.



One of my favorite things about Unger's writing is her voice. I love that Ridley is supposed to be talking to the reader. There were several points in the book (I listened on audio on my mp3 player) where I found myself asking a question about the plot or something, and it was as if Ridley knew what I was thinking because she would immediately address the question I had. One point specifically that I remember is when I thought, "geez, this poor woman sure has to go through an awful lot for one lifetime." And right then Ridley says, "does this really happen to people?" I chuckled to myself. It's as if Unger's admitting, "yes, this is a little 'out there' isn't it? But it COULD happen; you never know."



The major new character in this novel is Dillon Grace, an FBI agent. The way Unger sets up his character leaves the reader wondering the entire novel if he is legit or not. But, despite my caution in warming up to him, I did like his character. I liked how his British accent came and went depending on his stress level. Ann Marie Lee, the narrator, did a great job interjecting those changes.



Another great effort from Lisa Unger. Her talent with suspense is superb in these two books. She's put Ridley through a lot in two books, though. I don't know if Ridley would be able to withstand another one!