Left Coast Crime - Part 2

Saturday was just an all-around spectacular day at Left Coast Crime. I started out at a panel called "You Say Teepee, I Say Hogan." All the panelists dealt with Native American tribes in one way or another in their books. It was rather fascinating to see the array of tribes that these authors illustrated through their writing.

Margaret Coel's fascination with the Arapahoe started through research she was doing primarily through books, but through the course of her 16-book series featuring Father John and Vicky she came to know the Arapahoe personally and interacts with them regularly. But her own position as an outsider made her want to write her books around someone with a similar situation, thus Father John.

Craig Johnson, of course, has the Cheyenne in his Walt Longmire series. He feels that it's important to reflect the Indian culture honestly in his books. And he emphasized their rich sense of humor. All of the panelists agreed that the Indians have a wonderful sense of humor. Craig says if you don't pick up on it, you will quickly become the butt of it.

Shannon Baker writes about the Hopi and her interest was sparked by a controversy involving piping sewage water to a mountain for the creation of snow to ski.

Following the Indian culture panel, I headed off to an all-woman panel on the forensics behind the books. This panel included J.T. Ellison, Robin Burcell, and L.J. Sellers, moderated by Jan Burke.

Robin, having been in law enforcement herself had some first-hand experience with the real life forensics. J.T. and L.J. have both made great efforts to learn about those aspects of law enforcement. J.T. has observed autopsies and fared far better than she thought she would. L.J. has been at the scene of the crime for evidence gathering.

Robin's advice for how to get the inside scoop on this information if you're writing a book, offer law enforcement free food! Offer to take them to lunch or dinner and pick their brains. While certain practices like ride-alongs aren't as common as they once were, there are other opportunities to learn, such as citizens' academies.

Of course the question came up in this panel about how much is too much when you're writing about the forensics. There's an obvious "ick" factor, but where do you draw the line?

Robin says she's always followed her grandmother's advice on painting, "when you're painting a brick wall, you don't paint ever brick. You paint enough so the viewer knows it's a brick wall and you let their brain fill in the rest." L.J. says anything she puts in the book has to move the plot along. Anything used strictly for reaction is excessive.

This was just a full day of great content. The next on my list was Laura Lippman's interview with Twist Phalen. It was a wonderful interview and I walked away feeling like I knew Laura better than before, so that's a definite plus.

Laura spoke to the fact that she doesn't care about the number of female writers vs male writers, who is being reviewed where, etc., etc. Instead she cares about the number of stories about women vs the number of stories about men. She hopes that her body of work will be a reflection of the "woman" through her time.

Laura believes that crime fiction has no limitations and she hates the phrase "transcends genre." She's always been proud to be a crime novelist and believes people need to stop using euphemisms for what they do. Own it, and be proud of it.

Her next book will be called After I'm Gone and the idea for the story came from her husband. She says it is the first time she's allowed someone to give her an idea for a book.

The final panel I attended for Saturday (I missed a panel I wanted to see because lunch took too long, what can you do) was the panel featuring the Rocky Award nominees: Chuck Greaves, Craig Johnson, Margaret Coel, Beth Groundwater and Darrell James.

The panel started with a question for Craig: are you Walt Longmire. And Craig responded with his wife, Judy's regular response to this question, "Walt is who Craig wants to be in 10 years, but he's getting a slow start." Craig also says that the tv show has not affected how he writes his characters at all.

Chuck Greaves says he chose Pasadena for the setting of his books because LA has been done by many and better. He was looking for something new and different.

The approach to writing varies widely on this panel. Chuck heads into uncharted territory without a map. Craig takes a map but doesn't necessarily always refer to it, and as a former engineer, Beth Groundwater "engineers" her plots with a lot of planning and preparation.

The tidbit I found most fascinating in this panel was learning Craig had done some mountaineering in the past and that the Chapter 12 scene of The Cold Dish is derived from an experience he had while climbing in Russia. It's little things like this that make panels, book events, etc., so fun for me.

O.k. in the interest of not making this post any longer than it already is, I'll save the rest of Saturday for tomorrow's post. There is still plenty to come! As you can see, I thoroughly enjoyed Left Coast Crime and would highly recommend it to any crime fiction fan. I've already signed up to attend Monterey in 2014.

Then tomorrow we'll talk Left Coast Crime awards and an amazing Guest of Honor interview between Craig Johnson and Lou Diamond Phillips.

You Have the Right to Six Words - Week 23

Here we go, pluggin' right along with another week of "You Have the Right to Six Words." We are up to Week 23 and I don't know about you all, but I'm still havin' a blast. I'm especially thrilled with this week's line-up. I have to tell you that when I started this project I initially got a plethora of responses from male authors. And don't get me wrong, I love the male writers in the crime fiction genre; I love them dearly, and many of them can be found on my list of favorites. But, I also know that there are a lot of great women out there writing in the genre, too, and I didn't want them to go unrepresented. You see, I'm an equal-opportunity crime fiction fan. I don't care what gender the writer as long as he/she is writing a great book!

Well this week, I have three amazing female crime fiction writers and I am beyond honored to have them represented here. And I think if we asked our lone male represented this week, he'd also be honored to be surrounded by these smart, talented, witty, beautiful women. So, let's find out who they are!

First up, we have a "do-over." When Robin Burcell first answered the six-word memoir question in her author interview, she was smack dab in the middle of promoting her first Syndey Fitzpatrick novel, FACE OF A KILLER, and her memoir was directed toward the book title. Well, when we re-ran the memoir in this series, it wasn't really fitting anymore. So, we had Robin go back to the drawing board, and today's she back with a real zinger. But let me remind you a little about Robin first.

Robin Burcell is the author of the award-winning Kate Gillespie series about the first female homicide detective in San Francisco. Last year she released her first book in the Sydney Fitzpatrick series, THE FACE OF A KILLER, which is about a forensic artist. Robin doesn't just write these characters, she's actually performed both of the roles throughout her extensive law enforcement career. In addition to working as a homicide detective and a forensic artist, Robin also has experience with hostage negotiations. Robin's next book in the Sydney Fitzpatrick series is titled THE BONE CHAMBER and will be released in hardcover this December. As a matter of fact, you can see her spiffy trailer for THE BONE CHAMBER right now at her website.

So, when Robin did some re-thinking and constructed her six-word memoir, what did she end up with?

Love seeing my kids reading books.

Oh, music to my ears. If only all parents were singing that same song!

Next up is the man who gets to be surrounded by these talented woman this week. And he's no slacker, either. Kwei Quartey visited Jen's Book Thoughts this summer as part of his blog tour for his first novel, WIFE OF THE GODS. A native of Ghana and the son of university lecturers, he was surrounded by books growing up. As a child, he traveled to the United States with his American mother every couple of years, but it wasn't until he was studying pre-med at the University that Kwei and his family moved to the United States for good. Finishing medical school, Kwei is a doctor by day and a writer in his *ahem* spare time? Kwei runs a wound care clinic and is also the lead physician at an urgent care center. In his early morning hours, Kwei writes. His first novel, WIFE OF THE GODS, came out this year and it looks at some of the cultural issues and changes facing people in Ghana today. His protagonist, CID Detective Darko Dawson, finds himself stuck between a culture that is advancing and one that is battling the advancement. Very much like the current climate Kwei observed when he returned to Ghana only a few years ago. Now Kwei is hard at work on the follow-up to WIFE OF THE GODS, as Darko is still speaking to Kwei. So, how would Kwei summarize the experiences to this point?

Some things I would do over.

I can relate to that!

J.T. Ellison not only calls Nashville, Tennessee home these days, she also sets her Taylor Jackson series there. The tough homicide detective came to life in J.T.'s first novel ALL THE PRETTY GIRLS in 2007 and in February she will release, THE COLD ROOM, book number four in this best-selling, critically acclaimed series. J.T. says she was in the midst of reading John Sandford's Prey series when she decided she wanted to give crime fiction a whirl, and she had definitely taken the thriller genre to a new level.

Before deciding to move into a career in crime fiction, J.T. was a presidential appointee and worked in The White House and the Department of Commerce. Then she moved on to the private sector working as a financial analyst and marketing director for several defense and aerospace contractors. But Nashville seemed to be the turning point. It was after moving to Nashville that she started researching forensics and crime then moved on to researching and working with several law enforcement agencies including the FBI and the Metro Nashville Police Department. And the rest, as they say, is history.

J.T. writes short stories, in addition to her novels. She is one of the Friday bloggers at Murderati and main blogger at her own Tao of JT. And she active in various writing organizations, including International Thriller Writers, Mystery Writers of America and Sisters in Crime.

With this complex, diverse background is it no wonder her books are constructed with intricate and complex plots? Nashville Scene's 2008 Best Mystery/Thriller Writer puts it altogether with:

Dreamed a plot, wrote it down.

And the crime fiction community is ever so glad that she did!

Our final memoirist today is one of two people I credit with pulling me into the crime fiction genre. Robert Crais and Linda Fairstein wrote books that grabbed me and wouldn't let me go. In my desire to find more, more, more and quench my thirst for this drug we call crime fiction, I delved deeper and found more and more authors. But it all started with these two. So I am beyond honored to have international best-selling author Linda Fairstein here today to share her memoir.

Linda writes the Alexandra Cooper series and this year released LETHAL LEGACY, book number eleven in that series. She always wanted to be a novel writer, but she took a bit of a detour in life. And that detour helped shape the books she would one day write. Linda graduated from law school, joined the Manhattan District Attorney's Office as an Assistant District Attorney and went to work in what was the very beginning of the sex crimes unit. Linda was instrumental in this ground-breaking department that would cause a major shift in how sex crimes were handled. She was one of the first to use DNA testing in a criminal case, and she was considered for the Attorney General's position in the Clinton administration. Linda's first publication was a non-fiction work, SEXUAL VIOLENCE: OUR WAR AGAINST RAPE, which won great acclaim and became a teaching tool in universities and law enforcement agencies. But a year after publication, she decided to turn to her original dream, writing novels. And she took her vast portfolio of experiences and turned them into the Alex Cooper series, starting with FINAL JEOPARDY.

Linda's protagonist Alexandra "Alex" Cooper bears a strong resemblance to her creator, as does Law & Order:SVU Assistant District Attorney Alexandra Cabot. This, of course, is for good reason. Linda says, professionally Alex Cooper "expresses my passion for the work and what the rewards are and also what the frustrations are." Alex Cabot is of course a nod to Linda's Alex Cooper since the Special Victims Unit was based on Linda's Special Victims Unit. And Stephanie March, who played Alex Cabot, shadowed Linda when she was preparing for the role. I love Alex's character, but I just have to admit a crush on her favorite homicide detective, Mike Chapman.

Linda writes about plots she knows, has created characters she knows, and she also depicts a setting that she knows. Her depictions of New York City and Martha's Vineyard bring both locales to vividly to life. And I have to say that when I saw Linda's memoir, I felt it brought HER vividly to life as well. This IS Linda Fairstein:

Love. Loyalty. Integrity. Courage. Kindness. Laughter.

Thank you so much to all of our memoirists today: Robin, Kwei, J.T., and Linda. This is simply a wonderful group of crime fiction writers. I am so incredibly humbled. And everyone stopping by to read, thank you for letting me gush a tad bit more than usual today. Thank you for sticking with me through this series and enjoying it as much as I have. I still have more to come, and I look forward to next week.

Happy Reading everyone!

Bouchercon Diary - Day Two

Alrighty, let's return to the Bouchercon recap! Friday, Day 1 (for me), was outstanding. How did Saturday have a chance? mmm....

I got up a little on the early side, took care of the bothersome necessities (shower, dressing, etc). Then I wandered out to find some tea and the first panel I was going to attend. I went to the Kindle presentation, more out of curiosity than anything else - I'm not actually interested in getting a Kindle. Kindle/Amazon won't attend our organization's conference so I was interested to see what they would have to say. It was evident pretty early on that the content was directed at authors and publishers, so I quietly bowed out before the session was over. This little disappearing act enabled me to get in line 1st for Lee Child signing table. I wanted to have him sign his memoir scrapbook page. Honestly, had I not been in a position to do this, I probably wouldn't have gotten it signed simply because his lines were always so long and that turns impersonal. To me that's not fun. It's just a matter of how fast can we move people through this line, kind of thing. But, I did get in line first, and I snapped this picture - not so great, but it was all I got.



Then I got back into line, this time to see David Morrell and have him sign HIS memoir page.


By the time I had gotten both of those taken care of, the next round of panels had already gotten under way, so I decided to forgo a panel and wander around. That's when I found this handsome fella hangin' out:


And then I sat for a bit and chatted with this other handsome guy, Duffy Dombrowski's alter ego:


I did by the way get my requisite hugs from both of these fine gentlemen! ;)

Finally, I hooked up with a third handsome guy for lunch! Michael Lister - who in all my giddiness I neglected to grab a picture with - met me for lunch and we enjoyed a very nice conversation. I had the chance to congratulate him on Michael Connelly giving him a shout out about his new book in Connelly's interview from the day before. Michael Connelly and I share an appreciation of Michael Lister's DOUBLE EXPOSURE. And let me tell you how flattered I was that he made time to get together with me when he was flying out that afternoon after his panel. Super, super nice guy. If you ever have the chance to meet him, by all means, snatch it up!

After lunch I sprinted back to my room and reorganized my books in my bag and headed off to what turned out to be the absolute BEST panel I attended at Bouchercon. This panel was titled "IMBA and the Dilys Winn Award." Between the facts that the panel was opposite a panel with Harlan Coben, in a large room and I arrived early, I got a front row seat for William Kent Krueger, Louise Penny and Sean Chercover, moderated by Robin Agnew (from Aunt Agatha's in Ann Arbor). The chemistry of the folks on this panel worked amazingly. All three authors were laid back, candid, funny. They talked about starting out in the publishing business and funding their own book tours. They talked about both good and bad experiences at independent book stores - or in Louise's case, at a library. If you can see in these pictures, at one point Louise was embarrassed by something she said so she swapped name tents with Sean. I heard a lot of people talking about the panel with Harlan Coben that the fact that it was a good one, but honestly, I wouldn't have traded being in this session for anything! Well, maybe that's exaggerating a little - maybe there are a FEW things, but I definitely wouldn't have swapped it for any other session!








Afterwards I toddled over to have Sean sign my books - I'd managed to corner Louise before lunch that day. So Sean signed my books (on one he wrote "P.S. - see ya online" too cool!! O.k., geeky fangirl moment, give me a break!) and then I still had some time; I looked around and found LIBBY FISCHER HELLMANN!! Yay! I was looking so forward to meeting her. I only had to wait for one other person to finish up and I walked up to her table and said, "Libby, I'm Jen, can I come around and hug you?" So, I got to share a big hug with Libby and a little bit of chit chat. I truly admire her and it was a wonderful experience to get to meet her. But again, no picture. I WILL get one soon, though. More on that later. The other person I got to meet at this time, who I was very much looking forward to was Rebecca Cantrell. She's another of the Criminal Minds bloggers. Oh! She is just amazingly wonderful. Just like with Sophie, I felt as though I had known her my whole entire life.


Then the big moment was upon me...my Hot Ticket session! With Michael Connelly! I truly admire him. He doesn't strike me as the kind of person for whom the spotlight comes easy, and that makes me admire him even more. Being in the spotlight constantly all weekend long has to be exhausting when it doesn't feel natural. But anyway, he was wonderful in our session, and answered everyone's questions. The MWA Midwest chapter that organized this did a very nice job and they made sure that everyone had a chance to ask questions and no one person dominated. This is where we found out the little tidbit about Robert Crais. Michael was explaining that both he and Crais had secretly stopped reading each other's work so that the same kinds of things didn't end up creeping into the other's books since they are both set in L.A. But, they concocted the idea to have each other's character cameo in the opposite's book. Each author would send the paragraph that the other's character was in to the other author for final approval. RC had Harry Bosch out behind the police station smoking...four books after Harry QUIT smoking! Michael sent Robert an email that said "BUSTED!" I just love that story. He talked about his feelings toward BLOODWORK, the movie, and the fact that he wouldn't be able to pick a Hollywood name to play Bosch because there isn't an actor that fits his image of Bosch that he's created in his mind throughout the years. I then asked him about audiobooks and if he's unable to hear them because they don't sound like what he believes Bosch should sound like. He said yes, that was exactly the case, but that he did listen to an abridged version of one of his books that Burt Reynolds did because someone told him to do that if he wanted a laugh. He said he didn't find what Burt Reynolds did at all funny!



What endeared me the most to Michael Connelly in this session, was when he said, "I know this is going to sound like I have an ego, and I do have an ego. I know I'm a good writer; I know I'm a talented writer. But there are a lot of good writers, talented writers in this business. I also had a lot of luck, more than any one person should probably be allowed to have." What he viewed as being entirely arrogant, I saw as incredible modesty. This man has made an amazing impact on the crime fiction genre; he has given back so much to the mystery community; and I was extremely humbled to be able to attend this session. It was wonderful. He still intimidates the hell out of me, though!

Afterwards Michael graciously signed our books (and my memoir page), I was able to chat a few minutes with Shannon Byrne, Michael's publicists and a great friend to Jen's Book Thoughts, and then I darted over to the book room to have Reed Farrel Coleman sign my books. He had a panel while I was in with Michael Connelly, so I wanted to make sure I grabbed him. On one book, Reed signed "To sixy Jen." Hehehe! He's so creative!


Alright! Now it was time for the Anthony Awards. I found Jon and Ruth Jordan and David Thompson and asked to follow along because once again, I didn't know where I was going. And we headed on over to the Hilbert Circle Theater. Very beautiful theater but none of my pictures came out thanks to the lighting. I'm sure that you heard about the Anthony Award winners already, so I'll just say that it was special for me to be able to congratulate Sean Chercover, Jon & Ruth Jordan and Chris Grabenstein in person. I was extremely happy for them all. I was also especially happy for Rosemary Harris who was nominated in the category of Best First Novel. S.J. Rozan was a magnificent toast master. What a witty character she is. And Michael Connelly was all class when he awarded S. J. Rozan her award for toast master. She was technically supposed to award it to herself, but he took it upon himself to bestow the award appropriately. Good guy!

After the awards there was a bit of a reception in the lobby. I finally caught up with Robin Burcell. I was so thrilled to have a chance to see her and talk with her and grab this picture:


I also snagged Hank Philippi Ryan so she could sign her scrapbook page. She cried. I didn't want her to cry, but I was also flattered that my project created that much emotion for her. What a lovely, lovely person she is. S.J. Rozan signed her memoir, as did Marcus Sakey and Jason Pinter. I met Megan Abbott in person.

Finally as I wrapped up my time at the theater, I met up with Robin Agnew and my friend Patti O'Brien and we went to dinner at a very nice brewery. Great dinner, great conversation. And the night still wasn't over!

After heading back to the hotel, I made my way to the Artsgarden for the charity auction. The auctioneers were Donna Andrews and Chris Grabenstein - thus, why I said Chris could make his living this way if he ever left writing. The items in this auction were way beyond my means, but it was fun to watch. A character name in an upcoming Sue Grafton went for a couple thousand dollars. Yikes! But, it was all for charity and that is wonderful.




I headed back to the Hyatt hotel bar after that, where I met up with Sophie Littlefield again. She and some others were headed over to Lee Child's Reacher Creature party and they invited me to tag along. So, off I went!

It was rather insane at the Slippery Noodle. The place was wall-to-wall people, so between the live music and all the people, you couldn't hear a thing unless you were right up against the person talking, and preferably with them talking directly into your ear! Plus, if you wanted to move anywhere, you pretty much had to shove your way through. I did get to see Reed Farrel Coleman dancing:


And snapped this picture of Brett Battles and Sophie:


But, I told Sophie I thought I would go; that wasn't really my speed. But, she and Brett left with me and we went to a gen-u-ine Hoosier bar, as Sophie called it! We had a great time there. Fun conversation, cool bartender, people watching. Juliet Blackwell joined us after awhile. Sophie really liked the deer heads mounted on the wall, and we all especially liked the poinsettia decorations which we decided had probably been up since LAST Christmas. But that's o.k., it was still great!

And finally, about 11, we headed back to the Hyatt bar where we met up with Rebecca Cantrell, Kelli Stanley, and I also got to snag Jason Pinter for a picture. I have to watch the scrapbook around him, though! ;) Jason's fun. I enjoy talking to him.


And that's where I called it a night, but lord, what a night it all turned out to be! Another awesome day at Bouchercon! Tomorrow I'll wrap up with the last day of Bouchercon and the scrapbook pictures. I hope you'll check back. Until then, happy reading!

You Have the Right to Six Words - Part V

Welcome back to "You Have the Right to Six Words: Six-Word Memoirs from Crime Fiction's Greatest Writers." We're amassing some pretty great memoirs here and there's still plenty more to come. Hope no one is growing bored. I know I'm excited each time I have another response to participate in the project.

This week we'll recognize two authors who had book releases yesterday, as well as two additional folks. All four have great memoirs, so let's get started.

For our first review from an interview, of course we have to have Chris Grabenstein. Chris presently holds the office of Chapter President for New York's Mystery Writers of America chapter. This week the former improv comedian/advertising commercial writer released his fifth novel in the award-winning John Ceepak mystery series, MIND SCRAMBLER. Also this year, his fourth Ceepak novel, HELL HOLE, came out with a brand new cover in paperback and his young reader's novel, THE CROSSROADS was awarded the Agatha for Best YA/Children's Mystery. THE CROSSROADS is also nominated for an Anthony Award for best Children's/Young Adult Mystery. In August, THE CROSSROADS' sequel, HANGING HILL, will be released. So with all these books and all this success, it's no surprise that Chris' memoir would be:

Life is good. Full of stories.

In December I interviewed Robin Burcell who is the author of the award-winning Kate Gillespie series about the first female homicide detective in San Francisco. Last year she released her first book in the Sydney Fitzpatrick series, THE FACE OF A KILLER, which is about a forensic artist. And Robin doesn't just write about those roles, she's actually performed both of them. Robin has an extensive law enforcement background. In addition to working as a homicide detective and a forensic artist, Robin also has experience with hostage negotiations. Robin's next book in the Sydney Fitzpatrick series is titled THE BONE CHAMBER and will be released this winter. But Robin will be stuck with this release because it won't work as well for her six-word memoir as THE FACE OF A KILLER did. Her memoir?

Read THE FACE OF A KILLER.

Yesterday I informed you that we would uncover Gregg Hurwitz's six-word memoir today. I'm sure you don't have that short-term a memory, but a quick re-cap on our guest of honor from yesterday. The Harvard & Trinity College graduate is the author of nine (as of yesterday) thriller novels. The most recent, released yesterday, is TRUST NO ONE. Three of his nine novels feature U.S. Marshall Tim Rackley, and the remainder are stand alone novels. But Gregg's writing resume branches further than crime fiction novels. He's also done script writing and is becoming quite the comic book writer as well. While, in his words, he has a lot of "ass in the seat" time to write novels, when he isn't in that seat, he's often out playing soccer.

You know those "take a penny, leave a penny" containers you often see at stores? Well, Gregg is going to take advantage of the word Alafair left behind a few weeks ago because he asked, "can I have a bonus word?" Now who can say no to Gregg Hurwitz who:

Wanted to do everything all the time.

The last new author I'm going to feature today celebrated a birthday yesterday. So, I want everyone to head on over to either her website or The Outfit, where Libby blogs, and wish Libby Fischer Hellman a very happy birthday! In addition to a slew of wonderful short stories, Libby is the author of the award-winning Ellie Foreman series. Last year the Ellie Foreman series gave birth to a spin-off, so to speak. Georgia Davis, a supporting character in one of the Ellie Foreman novels, took the spotlight for Libby's amazingly poignant novel, EASY INNOCENCE. Davis and Foreman will team up this fall in Libby's sixth and newest thriller novel, DOUBLEBACK. Around that same time AN IMAGE OF DEATH from the Ellie Foreman series is going to be re-released. Libby says her memoir is

Perennial late bloomer: marriage, kids,writing.

I simply say, thank goodness she bloomed, no matter when. The crime fiction world wouldn't be near as good without her contributions!

Woo, I'm looking back at these memoirs for this week and this is a spiffy week. Can you believe all these awesome crime fiction writers played the six-word memoir game with me? Wow, I'm so humbled. This is fun. I think we'll have to do it again next week. Same time, same place, four different memoirs. Hope to see you then!

Happy Reading!!

Fighting Crime on the Streets and on the Page - Robin Burcell

During Bouchercon this year, Robin Burcell was a guest blogger on Read Street. I had been following their series on Bouchercon and was very intrigued by Robin's post. So, I checked out her website where she had Chapter One of Face of a Killer. I read the first chapter and immediately requested the book from the library, even though it hadn't been released yet. I wanted to make sure I was on the request list early and at the front of the line! And as you'll recall from my review, I wasn't disappointed!

In addition to creating FBI forensic artist Sydney Fitzpatrick, Robin is also the author of the award-winning Kate Gillespie series. Kate is a homicide investigator for the San Francisco Police Department.

I knew from perusing her website earlier, that Robin had rather extensive experiences herself in law enforcement, so of course, my interest was peaked and I had to see if I could find out more. Robin was so nice to tolerate my nosiness and answer my questions - in the midst of her book tour even. So, folks, here she is, my final interview of 2008 and the author of Face of a Killer, Robin Burcell!

Q: I'm in awe of these different roles you've held as a member of the law enforcement community. And you were the first female officer for your department - much like Kate is the first female homicide detective in San Francisco. What prompted you to enter law enforcement?

Robin: A friend who thought it would be a good job kept telling me to apply. I really only applied to keep her from asking me if I had applied yet. Truth is, I'd thought about it when I was younger, but never thought it would be something I could do - until I got the job.

Q: Were there any barriers in your department as the first female officer that made you consider giving it up?

Robin: You mean besides the guys who didn't want me to work there, who told me to my face that they weren't ready for women on patrol, who liked to "up" the tension with suspects to see how I'd handle myself in a fight, or all the things that made me go home and cry at night? No, no barriers whatsoever.

Q: Like Sydney, you're trained as a forensic artist. What led to that element of your career?

Robin: I was an artist first (runs in the family). I thought it would be a great idea for our department to utilize my talents, but couldn't really convince anyone in the department how valuable this could be. Finally I drew a portrait of a lieutenant's grandson and brought it in. The rest was history.

Q: Can you share an especially rewarding or memorable experience from your work as a forensic artist?

Robin: There have been many, but one in particular stands out. A young girl was kidnapped, and I was called in to do several drawings from witnesses, working straight through the night. We took the one I thought was the best, made fliers to post in all the store windows, and had the suspect identified before we even found them the next day. (We arrested him and the young girl was found relatively unharmed.)

Q: You've also worked as a hostage negotiator. Wow! When did you have time to work with all the training you must have been undergoing for these positions?

Robin: The training happened over the course of years. The way it works is they pull you from the street, send you to a school for a few weeks, then bring you back.

Q: Any thoughts of a new character who's a hostage negotiator?

Robin: Not a bad idea. I'll have to consider that one!

Q: Robin, you've been in law enforcement for awhile now, filling a plethora of different roles. What prompted you to want to write? Did you always have aspirations of writing crime fiction?

Robin: Like the artistic side of me, writing also runs through my veins. My grandfather was a sports editor for a major newspaper, and he was a very poetic writer as well. And my love of reading certainly didn't hurt! For as long as I remember, I wanted to write; I think because I was always so disappointed when a good book would end, I wanted to continue the stories on and on. I eventually took to writing when I'd bought out every book in a store by my favorite authors and couldn't find any more of what I wanted to read.

Q: Who, if anyone, would you say has influenced your style of writing?

Robin: Good question. Early on, Michael Connelly's The Poet was one of the first books that made me want to write a police procedural. I thought he had a very authentic voice. And I really liked the early Patricia Cornwell Scarpetta books.

Q: I'm stealing this question - I'm admitting it up front. I heard it asked of an author in another interview and I loved it, so I'm going to ask you: If you could go out on a date with ANY fictional character (from a book), who would you choose?

Robin: Jack Reacher

Q: So, you're still a criminal investigator AND you're a novelist. Do you have any time for hobbies or outside interests? How do you fill those extra few minutes you have when you aren't eating or sleeping?

Robin: Extra few minutes? Somehow I lost those between the science projects and homework that is always discovered at 9:30 the night before the kids recall it is due.

Q: Obviously Sydney and Kate have some similarities to you. How much wold you say they are like you and how do they differ from you? Do you ride motorcycles?

Robin: They both have the same moral values that I have. The things that are important to them are important to me: family, truth, justice, that sort of thing. But unlike me, they have no kids and usually have a hard time with a steady relationship. I've been married to the same guy for over twenty years. They have a hard time getting past 6 months with a guy. I think because they are overly dedicated to their jobs, which makes for more exciting fiction when you have to chasing after crooks on very cool motorcycles, or jetting off to foreign countries. I haven't been on a motorcycle since I was a kid, so that part is my fictional alter-ego. In other words, Kate and Sydney get to say all the cool things that I'd like to say, investigate the ultra-cool, ultra-dangerous cases, experience the thrill of the chase and not have to worry about the kids at home, or getting in trouble at work because you do the exact opposite of what your boss tells you, all to solve a case.

Q: Would you say that ideas for the plot drive your writing or do the characters take control when you sit down to create?

Robin: I usually start off with the plot, but the characters end up taking it over. Always a lot of fun to see where we end up!

Q: One of the things that struck me in Face of a Killer was the scene at he beginning of the novel where Sydney is working with the rape victim to create the drawing of the attacker. It comes across as very realistic,very authentic. Do you ever run into problems trying to keep the realism present and still maintain enough "action" to keep readers turning the pages?

Robin: I do use a lot of my real cases to bring that authenticity to my novels. I've done forensic drawings in hospital rooms, at police departments, even in the morgue. It's important to me that a reader picks up one of my books and knows that he is going to get a taste of what it's really like to be a cop. The caveat is that there is no novel or TV show or movie that can be totally realistic without boring the reader/viewer. Altering realism has to be done. In the opening scene, we don't get to experience the hours it actually takes to complete a drawing. I offer the highlights, the important questions, how the drawing actually would take shape, what it's like to work with a victim, then move on to the story, all in a matter of a few pages, not a few hours. The same holds true for all the time we cops spend writing reports. I might say "spent the next few hours writing reports, then left for the evening," just before I move on to what is important in the story, what we're really reading it for. After all, you can't ignore the realities of police life. You can, however, gloss over the boring stuff and get to the action.

Q: Now Sydney works for the FBI. And you thank a couple of special agents in your acknowledgements section, but what kind of research did you have to do to find the necessary details for that element of Sydney's character? Was it just a lot of question and answer, did you spend time with the agents? And FBI agents really punch a time card? I don't know what that stood out so much to me - I guess because "little things amuse me!"

Robin: Some of the research was done "on the job," since I've worked with FBI agents on a variety of cases, and have been friends with a few over the years. But working with one is not the same as being one, and there is no doubt that they do things differently than us local cops, so that part definitely had to be researched. And like you, I was surprised by the time card! But I took a tour of the San Francisco field office, and sure enough, there it was on the wall. I had to ask if they really used it, and was assured that they did!

Q: Dave Dixon absolutely cracks me up. He has his calendar to retirement, but he's still several YEARS from retirement. You don't need to name any names, but was there an inspiration for him?

Robin: Yes. I think he's a culmination of several supervisors that I've had over the years - as well as supervisors I wish I'd had. I really ended up liking his character in the end. As for that calendar, I know several cops who have kept one. Nowadays, they actually make little electronic clocks, and you can punch in the day, and it works backwards, citing the time to the second. A coworker had one in her office, years before she was due to retire.

Q: I'm also a fan of Kathy Reichs' books. And I watch the television show Bones. There is a forensic artist on the TV show (Angela). And in a presentation I heard from Kathy, she joked about how her role in the television show was to keep the writers true to forensic science. Then she did a comparison of what her office looked like compared to Tempe's on the show. Quite different. What she did point out was that all the technology on the show is available, but mostly no one has the money for it. All that leads me to the question for YOU! ;) Sydney mentions how forensic artists usually aren't skilled enough to pull off sculptures, do you think the computerized 3-D recreations used in the Bones television show are a realistic expectation for the near future or is it merely science fiction?

Robin: There's this saying: if you can imagine it, it can be done. I have to think that way back when, the first science fiction book that talked of flying to the moon was probably considered pure fantasy. And look where we are today. And spaceships with talking computers? Yeah, right. So, sure, why not holographic models of forensic drawings. But reality is that the money has to come first, so until then, the best drawings will be the old fashioned way, with pencil and paper. And 3-D images don't translate well to newspapers.

But it's funny about Kathy mentioning what her office really looks like. (Like you, I'm also a big fan of hers.) I was on a tour of the FBI headquarters in Washington, D.C., in October, and I joked with a couple of the guys about where their glass-enclosed offices and cubicles, cool instant DNA evidence access, private jets and holographic imaging equipment were all located. They laughed and mentioned something about a budget crunch. Reality is that it's a typical government building, with normal offices for the supervisors, and the agents sit in cubicles like you'd see in the Dilbert comic strip. Oh, and the private jet? They're still waiting on that.

Q: On the HarperCollins website you mention that you're working on the next boo in Sydney's series. It sounds absolutely amazing! Sydney's headed to Rome. Is there a tentative time that this book will be available for us? It doesn't sound like it's a plot that will allow Sydney and Kate to hook up, though. Any plans for them to be together in a novel down the road?

Robin: The Bone Chamber is the title of the next Sydney book, and I believe it is due to be released November 2009. The story starts of with her flying to Quantico in order to do a forensic sketch/ID from a skull. You're right, however, in that when she heads off to Rome, there is little chance that she and Kate will be working the case together. Perhaps in the future. One of the reasons I decide to move to the FBI for my new series was that Sydney, being an agent, could move around the country on cases (or out of the country, even). It was a new freedom that allowed me bigger options when it came to plots!

Q: O.k., last question, I promise! I always like to end with my memoir question. There is a famous book out called Not Quite What I Was Planning: Six-Word Memoirs by Writers Famous and Obscure. What would be YOUR six-word memoir?

Robin: Read THE FACE OF A KILLER!

So there you have a glimpse into the law enforcement world. You can learn more about Robin, Sydney and Kate on Robin's website. In addition, Robin had a guest post recently over at Off the Page. She talks a little more in depth about balancing the realism with fiction.

Many thanks to Robin for taking the time to answer all my questions...amidst the book tour, the science projects and the homework! I'm so thrilled to have had the chance to learn a little more about the woman behind Sydney Fitzpatrick! And I'm definitely looking forward to The Bone Chamber next November.

And thank you to all the readers who made these 2008 author interviews so much fun for me! I'm looking forward to 2009!

Face of a Killer - Robin Burcell

Sydney Fitzpatrick is a forensic artist for the FBI. On the twentieth anniversary of her father's death, she's called in to do a sketch of a rapist. When her suspect starts baring resemblance to a suspect in another rape case, Sydney is partnered up with Tony Carillo to investigate.

Meanwhile, Sydney decides it's time to confront her father's murderer who is awaiting execution at San Quentin. She simply wants to know why he killed her father, but instead she ends up having doubts that the man DID kill her father. Then when her father's old army buddy sends her an envelope before he commits suicide, things looks even more suspicious. Everything seems to be tied to a picture in the envelope. A picture of her father with several other men; a picture of a group of men who look sort of like...special forces.

I'm not sure I know exactly where to start with this review because I loved every aspect of this book. The characters were wonderfully developed. Their interactions together were absolutely smooth and completely believable at every level.

Sydney's ex comes in to town because he's on surveillance. He's surveying Sydney due to a hit the FBI believes has been put out on her. This obviously causes internal conflict for Sydney and tension between the two of them.

Sydney and Carillo cracked me up as partners. Imagine the most fun pairing of law enforcement officers from television or the movies; Sydney and Carillo match if not surpass any great combo! Their banter was so realistic and their personalities fit like Yin and Yang. One of my favorite scenes with them is when they head out to follow up on a lead (that they really aren't supposed to be following) and Sydney's surveillance team is with them. They pull into a methadone clinic and the surveillance guys want to know WHY they are there:

"Just need to stop by and have a chat with someone about renewing a prescription," Sydney said.

"Birth control pills," Carillo added.

Jared looked up at the sign. "It's a methadone clinic."

"Damn, Carillo. We are so not sleeping together tonight."

"Way to go," Carillo told Dunning as they walked past him, toward the door. "I was this close."

And the best part about Sydney and Carillo? They DON'T jump in the sack together; don't even hint at doing anything like that. It is so refreshing to have a male/female team that doesn't end up in bed together!

Another refreshing element of this book - the law enforcement characters aren't swearing every other word. They are intelligent enough to carry on a conversation in which they can express themselves without excessive profanity. It's a beautiful thing.

The plot kept me glued to the pages in this book. I was in the dark about the outcome until the very end. And Burcell does an outstanding job of throwing in twists each time the reader thinks they have the mystery nailed. It is also a plot that keeps you guessing without throwing in some unknown factors right at the end. In addition the two subplots kind of weave in and out of each other leaving the reader wondering if they're connected or if it's just all a strange coincidence. The reader is challenged at every page turn in this book.

While the plot was very well constructed, I have to admit that the element of the book that hooked me right away was the authenticity. Or at least in my limited knowledge what I perceived to be authenticity. And, it's very subtle which makes it that much more powerful. When Sydney goes in to the hospital room with Tara, the rape victim, she has to convince Tara to help her draw the sketch. Understandably, Tara doesn't want to relive her nightmare by picturing her attacker again:

"Tara. I know this is hard for you."

"How can you know?"

She blazed right past that question with, "Trust me when I say that you have it in your power to help us catch this person and stop him from hurting anyone else. But we can't do it without your help."

"I can't -- "

"How old was he?" Sydney cut in, not giving her a chance to think about what she was doing.

"Um, late twenties, early thirties."

"What race?"

"He was white."

"You're doing good, Tara. How tall?"

And Sydney goes on like this until Tara is able to help her start sketching. This section just struck me as I read it. How it completely made sense but wouldn't have ever been what I expected. Sydney didn't coddle and coo; instead, she forced Tara to focus on fact and detail and put emotion to the side long enough to create a sketch. Sydney modeled that. She wasn't cold so much as she put the emotion aside to get the job done. But just that simple exchange of dialogue made a powerful impact on me as a reader. That realism carries through the entire book even with the conspiracy notion looming throughout. An authentic conspiracy; what a novel idea!

A couple other odds and end about this novel that I really enjoyed. First is Topper. Topper is a poodle that Carillo calls a sheep:

"Didn't know you had a sheep," Carillo said.

"Topper is not a sheep. He's a poodle."

"A poodle, huh? That's why they give them the foo-foo haircuts? So you can tell they're dogs and not livestock?"

The endearing thing about Topper is not that he's a poodle; it's that his personality reminds me of my own dog. Very happy-go-lucky, likes to be around people, but if someone is not the "right people" Topper lets you know. If my dog growls about a person, I know something isn't right. I'm sure a lot of people who aren't "dog people" would find Topper unbelievable, but having experienced such a dog myself, I know Topper is realistic, and for me he added a lot to the dimension of the book.

Of course, I mentioned the other day in a special post about the sketches at the beginning of each chapter. I just find that so unique and fun.

And the final item I'm going to mention is kudos to whoever the proofreader was for Face of a Killer. Lately I've noticed a lot of basic proofing errors in books I've been reading. They are essentially typos that were somehow overlooked. I don't think I recalled one single typo in this book. Since it has been so prevalent lately in my reading, a clean read is noteworthy! ;)

Yes, I'm finally going to wrap up this review! I loved Face of a Killer. The humor, the three-dimensional characters, the authentic plot all make this an outstanding crime fiction novel. I'm looking forward to the next one!

It's the Little Things!

Yes, little things amuse me. It really doesn't take much. And this new book I'm reading - Face of a Killer by Robin Burcell - is not only keeping me glued to the pages, but it has this nifty little added bonus (for people like me who amuse easily) - illustrations! Check this out for Chapter One:

Very nice, huh? Check out Chapter Four:

And Chapter Eight:

And Chapter Eleven (this is as far as I've made it, and I DON'T read ahead):

Pretty cool, huh? The main character? She's a forensic artist...a sketch artist for the FBI. See, I told you! Little things amuse me. But, I'll definitely remember this book! ;)