Markus Zusak - A Person With A Lot of Problems

On March 10th I was extremely fortunate to be able to meet Markus Zusak as a part of the U.S. 10th anniversary tour for The Book Thief. I knew before meeting this talented author, that he's an extremely gifted writer. But his presentation in Parma, Ohio at the Cuyahoga County Library proved he's simply an all around spectacular story teller. What follows is my recap of his presentation to a full house.

"Hi everyone. Thanks for coming. I hope you can understand me," the Australian father and Michael L. Printz Honor Award recipient opened his presentation with to chuckles and giggles from the audience at the Parma-Snow Library auditorium.  The full-house was a sharp contrast to his first book event where no one showed, but "the librarian made me read from my book anyway... just to her." This humorous opening was Zusak's way of acknowledging that "you might have published a book, but that doesn't mean anyone's going to care. That's why it's such a privilege to come half way across the world and people turn up when they could be at home watching TV--or telly as we would call it at home."

In his captivatingly creative opening of a discussion about his writing style, Zusak informed the Cleveland audience that he would be telling his favorite story, which cast his brother as the villain. "Someone's always got to be the villain, all right? And I can tell you it's not going to be me," he joked. Zusak explained that he was the youngest of four children and was tormented by his brother--two years older--pretty much his whole life. But he found his chance to exact revenge when he was 15-years-old and painting houses on the weekends with his brother and father:

"We would get out of bed on Saturday mornings at 6:30, be out of the house by 7 and be at somebody else's house by 7:30 painting. And we'd work through to midday and that's when we'd have lunch. We'd sit on paint tins and eat our lunch. Now my brother--and I'm going to teach you an Australian word here--my brother had a red esky, and esky is our name for cooler. So in his red esky, or cooler, he had two sandwiches, a drink and two hard-boiled eggs that he boiled up the night before and he put 'em in the fridge and in the morning he'd put 'em in his esky--some of you can already see where the story's going, or at least you think you do--and at work he'd crack the egg against the wall or on top of his esky and he'd peal it and eat it until one week my dad said to him, 'You know when I was an apprentice painter back in Vienna (my dad's from Austria) I worked with this guy who could crack a hard boiled egg on his head.' And so my brother said, 'I'll give it a try.' Now it's like hitting a rock on your head. I know this because I'm dumb enough, I tried it myself. My brother he's done it, he cracked it, he ate it. He was so proud of the achievement that he did the second egg as well, then he did it the week after and the week after until it just became part of his lunch routine. And then one week, something happened at school. I can't even remember what it was anymore, but I know I had just been pushed around or whatever and I was sitting on the ground and then it was like a ray of light came out of the sky and I saw what I had to do."

Zusak finished the story with the ending you're probably expecting. He swapped out the hard-boiled eggs for raw eggs, and his brother smashed one on his head. A little twist was added when he started to feel guilty and admitted his deed to his dad before lunch who reacted with, "son, that's brilliant! I'm mad I didn't think of it myself." The story is Zusak's favorite not only because it was his revenge on his brother, but also, he says, because it illustrates the way he writes:

1. It's a true story that came from his life.  Zusak says that's the easiest way to tell a story. He feels that your own life is "a much richer mine" of ideas than imitating someone else's work. In the case of The Book Thief, he listened to stories about Europe during World War II as told to him by his parents who grew up during that time. Zusak knew he would write a book with these story gems as his foundation. He thought it would be a 100-page novella. "Obviously it got a bit out of hand."

2. The story contains a wealth of small details. Zusak asks, "why did I tell you all those details? People will often give me a real intelligent answer like, 'oh you wanted us to imagine things more vividly.'" Yes, he says, that's true. But even more so, he wanted the audience to believe him. "People always believe you when you know the small details." 

3. The unexpected or the unusual happens. In the case of this story, the audience expected Zusak to swap the eggs. What they didn't expect--and what triggered the biggest response--was his father's reaction to the plan. Zusak says he was naive when he started writing The Book Thief. And he was lucky he didn't have any skepticism about using Death as his narrator--the unexpected and definitely the unusual.

At one point, Zusak had trouble with Death as his narrator. He was about 200 pages in and he thought it wouldn't work. But his Death was dark and sadistic. He admits, "he was even really sleazy. He'd say the most terrible things. I felt like I'd write a page and have to take a shower or something." So he thought he'd abandon Death as the narrator and use Liesel instead, but then he had new problems. "People think writers have great imaginations. We just have a lot of problems, and your imagination lies in getting around those problems." Then he tried a third-person narration but realized that point of view did everything he was trying to avoid to begin with. That's when he circled back around to Death and wondered, "what if Death is afraid of Humans and afraid for Humans?" This whole process meant he edited the Prologue of The Book Thief around a thousand times before all was said and done. That's what it takes for Markus Zusak to write a book.

Zusak thanked the audience, but he made a special point of thanking those who have tried to get someone else to read the book. "Here's this book, it's The Book Thief. You should read it... It's set in Nazi Germany; it's narrated by Death; nearly everybody dies; and by the way it's 580 pages long."

His dazzling half-hour presentation kept the entire audience enthralled and then eager to ask questions. One of the classic questions of the night came from a student who said she read the book in her 8th grade class and her teacher "picked the book apart." She asked, "Do you put the symbolism in there or is that just something teachers come up with?" Zusak's response:

"How do I put this? [pause] Your 8th grade teacher is right [pause] most of the time. Sometimes not.... I feel like if you write a book with enough intent and put enough in it, the things will be there; the symbols will be there. And you maybe didn't even try to put them in or you didn't even think of it that way.... They're not usually trying to torture you with it; it just feels like that.... The other things I'll tell you about your teachers; they'll often give you books you're not ready for. Like I had to read Catch-22 when I was 16 and I wasn't ready for it, and my teachers knew we weren't ready for that book then, but at least we knew it existed. And we'd come back around and read it in our 20s or when the right time was.... Teachers are brave to do that." 

Some other interesting tidbits that arose in the Q&A session: 

Zusak never meant for Liesel's outcome to be ambiguous. "I must have just buggered up the ending."  But in a nutshell, Zusak never saw Liesel and Max ending up together.

As far as the movie goes, Zusak views it as someone else's work. If he had been writing the movie script, he would have done it differently. But he also points out that as a novelist he can do what he wants and make things as long as he wants. A screenwriter doesn't have that same luxury.

Rudy is Zusak's favorite character from The Book Thief.

Zusak thought no one would read The Book Thief, so he decided he was going to write it exactly how he wanted to write it. He is proud that he hasn't written the same book over and over again. He decided that was the kind of writing career he wanted to have.

Zusak says that writing is sometimes like being a parent. You have to give the reader tough love. You should do what's right for the book--and the reader--even if they'll hate you for it.

Zusak ended the presentation by reading the first page of his next book. It was just a fractional snippet, but after this incredible event, I'll definitely be looking forward to it.

Longmire Days-A Literary Tour of Durant, Wyoming!

As most of you know, my good friend Christine McCann and I set off earlier this month for Wyoming and a celebration of everything Longmire.

We started by flying into Denver and visiting the Denver Zoo, which really has nothing to do with crime fiction, but I wanted an excuse to share my picture of the clouded leopard cub with you.

After our visit to the zoo, we started our trek north to Wyoming. It's amazingly beautiful country and we enjoyed every minute, but we were plagued by spots of rain throughout the drive. This wasn't entirely bad as it also resulted in three rainbow spottings. Photographer extraordinaire Chris managed to catch them out the window while I was driving--didn't drop her camera or hurt herself or anything! They were good signs to start our trip.

The most memorable part of the road trip had to be Chris' sighting of camels as we crossed the Wyoming line. Not really high on our list of what we expected to see in Wyoming. Cows, horses, pronghorn, maybe on the off chance some elk or buffalo, but camels? Didn't see that coming!

We stayed at a quaint little motor court called The Big Horn Motel. Both Chris and I highly recommend it if you make a visit out there. The owner, Trudy Schoonover, is vivacious and fun. She checked in on us regularly to make sure all was going well and let us know good places to visit and eat in the area. The other really fabulous characteristic of the motel is its location. It was close enough for us to walk to every event we attended at Longmire Days but at the same time, it wasn't right in the midst of the activity of thousands of folks. We would both definitely go back!

Trudy was also in the Longmire spirit and we loved that! Here's her chalk drawing outside the motel entrance:

But this is what greeted you most everywhere you looked. People were staying in Sheridan because all the hotels were full in Buffalo. So if you ever plan to go during Longmire Days...make your reservations well in advance!

Since we arrived Wednesday night, we had Thursday to walk around Buffalo, a.k.a. Durant. We ate at the Busy Bee Diner, which is adorable! Every table in the place is different. One is like a picnic table style (with bench seats), another looks like it came from a soda fountain, another is a high boy.

They have this grand bar counter that was brought in from a different Busy Bee when they had to remodel. Evidently their foundation was slowly slipping into Clear Creek, which runs right along side the building--Yikes!

And yes, they even have Walt's "usuals" on the menu. Chris tried the Beef Tips and Noodles and I had the Chicken Fried Steak. They're very comforting foods and golly were they good!

We visited the Occidental Hotel, where you can wander around the lobby but the actual upstairs if off limits unless you're a guest.

They have a collection of vintage hats that you can try on (but please be careful, some are in the neighborhood of 80 years old!), a nice large chess table (where's Lucien?), and effects of the Old West galore!

Toured the Jim Gatchell Memorial Museum housed in the old Johnson (a.k.a. Absaroka) County Library building. And we all know what's supposed to be in that old library right? The sheriff's office, of course! Photography is off limits in the museum so I don't have interior images to share. However, there are exhibits featuring the Indian tribes of the region, the Basque, early settlements, transportation, weaponry and more. Very fascinating tour.

Other fun things around town: The Cold Dish frozen yogurt shop. They weren't open on Thursday, but we did indulge in the yummy treat over the weekend.

How about these characters? Meet Georgia and her traveling dog, Cody. I could imagine them showing up in Walt's world...

There's quite an appreciation of art in the city, too. There are several lovely murals in the town like this one:

Numerous statues representing the West pepper the town and for as small as it is, you'll find a number of little galleries. Even our motel featured local art in the lobby! Here's some art behind a gallery right in the downtown area.

And art was appreciated right in this family's front yard. Now THAT'S creative and they don't require watering!

I saw this and started looking for Boss Hogg. O.k. his car was white Caddy convertible and didn't have Wyoming Whiskey painted on the front fender, but still...

We finished up our day of wandering by driving through Crazy Woman Canyon--yep, it called me home. Really, though, it was stunning! Nature is so incredibly amazing sometimes, isn't it? And I do have to admit I almost had a run-in with what we think was probably an elk. It was dark, fast and I'm pretty sure I suffered a minor coronary while that bugger was crossing the road in front of our car.

It was a pretty full day but oh so glorious. Needless to say, we both slept quite well and were ready to go the next morning when the official festival began the next day.

Thanks for taking the Longmire tour around Buffalo, Wyoming with me. I'll have more on the fun that ensued the rest of the weekend, so check back! Happy Reading...and Boy Howdy! ;-)

Craig Johnson comes to Northeast Ohio

It's a week of event recaps! I was tickled pink to hear that Craig Johnson would be coming to Northeast Ohio this past weekend. I believe I'm now up to seven states where I've attended Craig Johnson events (cue the stalker jokes).

"If you don't mind me saying, that book's goin' awful slow."

In all seriousness, though, it's been an absolute joy to watch people discover the wonderfulness that is Craig and his Walt Longmire series.

The Geauga County Library hosts a "Distinguished Speaker" series each year and this year featured Craig. They had a wine and cheese reception prior to the actual event, and that sold out before I even knew the event was taking place. The main session was standing room only.

So many people are discovering the series through the television show. Just before going to the event I was telling someone that I was going, and I described Craig's books. She said, "you know, that sounds like that television show, Longmire. Do you ever watch it?" I had to laugh and explain where Longmire came from.

Craig's admiration for the Doolittle Raiders came through in his presentation.

No matter the state or the season or any other external factor, Craig continues to be vivacious, appreciative and warm. He was a HUGE hit in Chardon, Ohio.

Craig shared some stories I've heard before: how The Cold Dish came about, casting for Longmire, the woman who recognized Absaroka on Craig's hat. He also shared some brand new stories. And gracious, that's an accomplishment for the fan who's seen him three times this year alone! It was wonderful to hear about the success of Longmire Days in Buffalo, Wyoming this year. Anticipating a few thousand people, they ended up with 10,000. Almost the entire Longmire cast was present. Robert Taylor signed for hours, even when police officers tried to escort him away to take a break and eat, he refused saying the people had waited in line and he wasn't leaving. That's classy!

Craig had a healthy signing line himself Saturday night!

What I probably enjoyed most, though, was hearing about the origins of The Spirit of Steamboat. Craig described attending a reunion of the Doolittle Raiders and getting a chance to fly in a B-25 bomber. He also pointed out that just a few days prior to his event, the final Doolittle Raiders toast had taken place in Dayton.

I reviewed Steamboat right before it released, and during this event Craig read from the book. I was able to get it on video to share the experience with you all. A small taste from a small book with a mammoth heart. I hope you enjoy this reading:

Murder & Mayhem in Muskego 2013 - Part 1

As you know, last weekend was the annual Murder & Mayhem in Muskego conference in Wisconsin. The majority of the fun takes place on Saturday, but Friday night is a meet-and-greet with many of the authors. At the meet-and-greet, one panel is hosted and this year I was asked to moderate that panel.

I had a panel full of fun people and laughs are always welcome at the end of the week. So I decided on a game show format for the Liar, Liar panel. Each of the authors sent me fun tidbits about themselves before hand and I took one of those tidbits as their "truth" then altered the others ones. The volunteers/contestants had to guess which was the truth.

My authors on the panel included Dana Cameron, Julie Hyzy, Sean Doolittle, Marcia Clark, and Chris Holm. They were all super fantastic and I can share the entire panel with you since I video taped it. Special thanks go out to my friend George Lichman who ensured the camera kept running during the panel. So when you have some time to kick back and enjoy some laughs, here is the Friday night panel from the 2013 Murder & Mayhem in Muskego, LIAR, LIAR:

Gregg Hurwitz Comes to Cleveland!

Wednesday was the big day here in Cleveland. My dream is that one of these days, people will turn out for a book event like they turn out for a sporting event. A girl can dream, right?

In the mean time, a good crew of folks showed up to the Strongsville Public Library to meet Gregg Hurwitz. And based on what I heard from people's snippets of conversation, they all left thoroughly impressed with him.

I had two special honors on this particular visit. The first was playing chauffeur for Gregg. I took him to the special pre-event soiree that the library hosted. They held a contest for library patrons and ten lucky winners got to meet with Gregg before the event to enjoy some food and conversation in a small setting.

Gregg shared some stories about visiting a middle school earlier in the day, where the kids asked him questions about writing comics and working with Nick Jonas. One young girl wanted to shake his hand because he had shook Nick Jonas' hand. Kids are funny!

He also shared stories about his Russian book tour and his connections to Cleveland. It was informal and fun. And Gregg asked as many questions of the attendees as they asked of him.

Following that meet and greet, I ushered Gregg over to the library where people were starting to fill the event room. The second honor I had Wednesday night was introducing Gregg to the awaiting audience. I always get nervous doing these things, and they never go exactly as I plan, but it was pretty good, I think. It's harder to tell from behind the podium than listening in the audience.

When the star took the podium, though, things went terrifically. Gregg told the audience that writing was the only thing he ever wanted to do, and I do believe he was born to tell stories. He tells them as easily and as smoothly in person as he does on paper. Well, I don't know how easily the on paper comes for him, but he makes it look easy anyway.

At first the stories may have been a bit difficult and he shared the rejection letters that reflected his difficulty, including one--jokingly--from his own sister. It was through his efforts to improve that he picked up his desire for research. Early in his career he was a bit more "daring" than he is now as an older, married, dad. But it was through research efforts that he often stumbled on unplanned details and elements that worked their ways into stories. He says he realized,

As a writer, you're not filling in the blanks to a story that you already know; part of what your job is is to be open to new opportunities.

Gregg says that the writing opportunities he's been afforded have been among his greatest honors and there are still times that he sits at his desk amazed he is able to write for a living. His experiences writing comics have fulfilled childhood dreams. And the process of writing for TV--seeing his ideas go from his head to the page to reality (or at least TV reality)--was amazing and ignited much of the same magic he felt as kid growing up and reading.

This year marked another milestone for Gregg. He had his first movie shot: Careful What You Wish For. Gregg says it's basically Body Heat but instead of William Hurt it's a 17-year-old kid.

These days Gregg focuses less on forensics/explosions/stunts and more on investigating how having a family makes you vulnerable; he looks at incredible pressures and how they work on individuals and their relationships. Gregg has a natural characteristic that I envy. He looks at perfectly normal situations to you or I and sees stories in them. He describes it as taking the world you're in and turning it about 15 degrees off kilter.

As he started to talk about the new book TELL NO LIES, he quoted someone talking about San Francisco (where the book takes place) "if you ever get tired of walking in San Francisco, you can lean against it." Since Gregg has been in L.A. for 15 years now, he went back to San Francisco to refresh himself with it and do his research. He said he did a lot of "walking and driving and hiking and leaning."

Because of the ideas of class and race he was considering for his story, he felt the story could only take place in San Francisco because those two elements are so different in San Francisco than anywhere else.

I had hoped to video record Gregg reading from TELL NO LIES but unfortunately my video recorder didn't have those same hopes. However, I do have audio recording for it. This first excerpt is a reflection of his use of San Francisco:



And he followed that up with a suspenseful scene near the beginning of the novel:



During the Q&A session Gregg revealed that he's always "thought in stories." And that ideas are often a result of truly listening to other people with the mindset that they could have something to teach you. He also says bad movies and bad books have been inspirations for him.

When a member of the audience asked Gregg if writing was a huge pressure...to make a living and support a family. He said it was more so early on, but in reality we all face those pressures as the economy has shown. Even people who thought they had secure jobs discovered otherwise.  But true writers don't feel as though they have a choice. They need to write--it's a compulsion--to tell stories; it's what they're called to do, so he had to make it work and he didn't put a lot of thought into safety nets.

To Gregg, drama is characters interacting with each other, so relationships are paramount. While he wants his books to be page turners, he doesn't want his readers to feel like all they are reading is plot. So character and psychology are key.

One of the things that make novels more intimate than comics or movies or tv is the relationship between writer and reader. Each reader brings their own experiences to a book, so they see things through their own unique perspective. 

One final tidbit I want to share is Gregg's thoughts on ereaders and story delivery. He described himself as a drug dealer. He wants to sell you the drug; how you consume it after that is completely up to you. :-) He is adamant about having the delivery methods available to everyone, though. Publishers finding ways to make ebooks accessible through libraries and have purchase methods available through independent bookstores, etc. But in the end, Gregg Hurwitz is a story teller. He simply wants to be able to tell his stories. And aren't we the lucky ones for it?!

This event was very special to me. I was so thrilled that Gregg made it to Cleveland for this book tour, so I celebrated the event. And part of that celebration was creating a t-shirt that I have to give away to a lucky reader.

Here's the front of the shirt. It says, "I Tell No Lies. I'm a Gregg Hurwitz Survivor."

And the back reads "And You're Next!" Gregg signed the back of the shirt as well.

As a bonus, with this shirt, I have a paperback copy of Gregg's The Survivor to go along with it.

So help me celebrate this incredibly talented young writer. I'll open this up internationally. I may have to break open my piggy bank to mail it, but I really want everyone to have an opportunity, so complete the form below BY MIDNIGHT EASTERN on September 8th for your chance to win. Good luck!

Spring and Summer Events

I've sort of fallen behind in my event recaps. I've collected some fun video and pictures, so I think it's time to give you a run down on where all I've been this spring and summer.

Following Left Coast Crime, I made a drive up to Ann Arbor to see Brad Parks at Aunt Agatha's Bookshop. He talked about concealed carry permits, struggling to make things up and how his daughter christens a new book. In addition, he performed for the crowd both of his famous....er, notorious...serenades:

And his reading was also quite entertaining!


In May, I took a trip to Columbus to see Carla Buckley. She was appearing at The McConnell Art Center, a beautiful facility, prior to the Ohioana Book Festival. Carla spoke about both her debut novel, The Things That Keep Us Here and this year's highly successful follow-up, Invisible.

Nice backdrop for Carla, right?

Carla shared how she decided on the ideas for each book and how the subjects terrified her personally. There were several aspiring authors present, so she answered questions about her writing process and schedule. She discovered a great problem when she had a guest and was trying to write...it simply didn't work; she felt obligated to tend to her guest. So she started going to the library, which turned out to work very well for Carla. She's since moved out of Ohio, so I hope she's found a great replacement library near her new home!

Also in May I met Tim Green. I didn't have to travel far for this event. If you're a regular blog reader you'll remember me talking about the Young Author's Program that takes place in Lorain County each year. I've helped with the author the past two years and again this year. You may know Tim from his adult legal thrillers (although it's been several years since he published one of those) or from his time on the football field, but Tim was coming to talk to the Lorain County young'uns because he also writes sports stories for young readers.

During an open house, Tim signed books for his young fans!

Tim's enthusiasm with the kids was electric. He was all over the stage, animated and energetic. He told them stories about how hard he had to work to be a professional football player, how hard he had to work to be a writer and a lawyer. But in the end, he emphasized that all of that takes a back seat to how people treat each other.

Tim started his presentation in a jacket.

The kids laughed at his antics, ewwwww'd at his story of vomiting and wanted to know when he would write a soccer book. It was a highly successful Young Author's Conference.

By the end of his presentation, though, the jacket was gone...too hot!

June brought about my first trip to Nashville, TN, to visit friend and blog reader, Chris. We visited the Nashville Zoo (my favorite thing to see when visiting a new city) and a new-to-me mystery bookstore, Mysteries and More.

We drove into downtown Nashville where I almost got us in an accident when I squealed out loud because I saw Tootsies Lounge, which I had just recently encountered in Whistling Past the Graveyard (yes, I get a little goofy when I see landmarks from my books). We didn't go in; seeing it from the outside was sufficient for me.

TOOTSIES!!!

But the great highlight was attending Craig Johnson's signing and meeting Rhonda, another friend and blog reader, in person for the first time. Here we are altogether. We didn't have near enough time to hang out together, but it was still a highlight of my year to be with these two special friends.

Books bring people together!

I did, however, manage to call Chris by ANOTHER friend's name and was thereafter the butt of all the jokes...from Craig, too. I don't even know who my friends are!

But in all seriousness, Craig's event was very enjoyable. I heard some old stories but some new ones as well. It was heartwarming to hear how the entire cast of Longmire showed up for his Santa Fe event. Robert Taylor had to film that day, but in the midst of the event the audience got all excited...through the windows behind Craig, Taylor had pulled up in the truck from the show and was waving to everyone.

Craig explained that he knew Robert Taylor was the right for the role of Walt
because he was the only one who removed his hat during the audition!

Craig also admitted his wife informed him that he falls in love with each of his female characters. He acknowledged that she was right! All the women in Walt's life serve as a pride of lionesses, each responsible for her part in Walt's upkeep.

July involved a trip to Washington D.C. Last time I visited the Crime and Punishment Museum and this time it was the International Spy Museum. The museum was fascinating, but I have vowed never to visit D.C. during a holiday again. Oh my goodness the people. [Begin public service announcement] And please folks, if you have children under the age of say 4, they don't understand the museum and they don't want to be in those crowds anymore than anyone else. However, they ARE more likely to throw a temper tantrum in the crowd. Please reconsider taking them, for your sanity and the sanity of all those around you. [End of public service announcement]

The museum was full of fun facts and displays, all the cool gadgets and paraphernalia--like a "dog doo transmitter" (honest to God). It was also rather interesting to learn that the Bond car from Goldfinger inspired intelligence agencies to incorporate similar features into their high security vehicles. There were displays about hot air balloons, homing pigeons, Pinterton (his logo inspired the term Private Eye), female spies and The Red Orchestra. I was fascinated with The Red Orchestra because they were a Russian spy ring that used codes based on obscure works of fiction. Smarties!!

And of course the special event at the museum was the James Bond Villains exhibit. I'm not a big Bond junkie, but I did find it fascinating that Ian Fleming described Bond as a compound of all the secret agents and commando types he had met during the war. And that he chose the name James Bond from the author of the 1947 Field Guide of Birds of the West Indies because he thought it was the dullest name he'd ever heard.

Sorry no pictures from the museum because I followed the rules that said, "no photography in the museum." Evidently I could have taken my camera as there were quite a few others there snapping away. Ah well.

And finally, this month I was able to see Hank Phillippi Ryan here in Cleveland. She was here for a library/Sisters in Crime event that kicked off with an interview of Hank.

It's a small world: Hank's interviewer was my instructor for
American Lit in a summer course I took one year!

She spoke about how her first idea for a book came from a spam email that she received at the age of 55. And as she began to develop Charlotte McNally, Hank gave her protagonist the same concerns she was facing: a woman married to her job, successful but worried about what happens when "the camera didn't love her anymore."

With The Other Woman, Hank's most recent, and incredibly successful, novel came from an idea Hank had that just seemed too big for Charlie. And it came from a line Hank read in PEOPLE Magazine, "You can choose your sins, you can't choose your consequences." However, she assured the audience that there will be more in the Charlotte McNally series.

Since the event was sponsored by the Sisters in Crime of NE Ohio, there were plenty of aspiring writers in the audience, so questions about her process ran rampant during the Q&A session. Hank imparted this little nugget for everyone: "There's no secret way to writing. There's only the way that works for you."

Yes, it has been quite a busy and wonderful summer. And of course I'm still super excited because the grand finale is coming next month with Gregg Hurwitz's visit to the Strongsville Library. I'm very hyped to share with you about his new book, but that will come later. And of course I'll share with you about the event, for everyone who's too far away to join us. PLUS, I'm going to have a extra special surprise from the event. Stay tuned! Remember if you're planning to attend the event, you need to register. It is free but they need to know how many people will be there.

Hope you enjoyed the pictures and tidbits from my summer of events. Have a super Tuesday and happy reading!