Friday, May 29, 2009

New Neighbors




HANK: You know how it usually happens. The moving van pulls up across the street. You peer through the slats of the window blinds. You don't want them to see you checking out the new neighbors. Who are they? In goes a fancy stove--Will you be friends and share gourment dinners? In goes a child-size bike--Will they have a weird kid who will set traps for your cat?

New neighbors are always fascinating. And there are new ones in blog world, too. And since we already know they'll be pals, we invited the Pens Fatales for tea!

Their new Blog launches June 1, and we're delighted to welcome them to town.

Who are the Pens Fatales? Check 'em out--and you dont have to look through the slats. They tell tales of mystery, romance, and supernatural suspense: Left to right in the above photo, meet L.G.C. Smith, Adrienne Miller, Martha Flynn, Juliet Blackwell (aka Hailey Lind), Sophie Littlefield, Lisa Hughey, Gigi Pandian, and Rachael Herron.

And read on below to get to know a bit about them. And if that's not enough? The Pens Fatales will be giving away a free book on Monday to someone who posts a comment below. (Check out their site on Monday to see if you won!)

And because we always want Jungle Red to be educational and informative:

Here are the Top 10 things you didn’t know about the Pens Fatales. And yes, see below. There will be a Quiz!

Adrienne Miller has never had to worry about what to name the heroines of her novels. So far, she has named them all after ice cream parlors she loves.

In elementary school, Gigi Pandian wrote a cartoon series chronicling the adventures of Minnesota Smith, a female Indiana Jones.

Getting an equally early start on her life of murder and mayhem, Juliet Blackwell received her first .22 rifle on her eighth birthday and her first motorcycle (a Honda 70) on her tenth. Both were gifts from her father. And yet her mother never asked for a divorce.

In middle school, Lisa Hughey and friends wrote an anonymous gossip column for their school paper based on the TV show Charlie's Angels, calling themselves Cooper's Angels.

L.G.C. Smith knows all the words to "The Battle of New Orleans" and "Sink the Bismarck." When she was four, she used to don her pearl snap shirt, cowgirl boots and hat, mount up on the ol' spring horse, and sing along with an old Johnny Horton record for hours at a time.

One Pen Fatale strictly bides by the Die Hard Rule--If while surfing channels she comes upon any of the franchise's movies, Martha Flynn stops what she's doing to watch.

Rachael Herron can knit backwards, and sometimes does. When asked if she can do so while playing the ukulele, she replied: "Only while knitting forwards."

During college, Sophie Littlefield entered and won a school writing contest. She used prize money to buy a bikini, and hasn't taken first place for any writing awards since.

BONUS FACTS:
Two Pens Fatales led parallel lives before they met: They went to the same University, dated guys in the same fraternity, lived in the same town in Illinois, then moved to the same town in California, all before ever meeting each other.

One Pen Fatale performed as Wonder Woman on stage at the Bedlam Theatre in Edinburgh, Scotland.

HANK: We think they're all wonder women--but wonder who fits the description of those bonus facts… can you guess? (I'm off to BEA today..catch you later! Play nice, now....And tomorrow--one of the funniest funniest blogs you've ever read.) But now--I'm thinkin' the Wonder Woman was--Gigi. Think I'm right?

16 comments:

  1. Hi all--
    Welcome! And please--tell use a bit about yourselves..and what you're working on!

    And how did you get together?

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  2. Hey, LGC, I'll have to send you a picture of me in full cowgirl gear--hat, boots, and cap-loaded six-shooters. I was four too (hmmm), and while I didn't sing, I had a mad crush on Roy Rogers.

    Hank, I'm worried about you--you see a family with a small bike, and you worry that they have a kid who will torture your cat? My newest neighbors decided they wanted smooth mowing and tore out all the plantings in their yard (I rescued a few hostas).

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  3. Welcome to all you new Fatale ladies. I know some of you already, in fact Juliet and I are doing some signings together in July.

    Good luck on your new blog!

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  4. Thanks for the warm welcome, Jungle ladies - we're thrilled to be neighbors!

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  5. Looking forward to your blog! Sounds like fun.

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  6. Thanks for having us! As you might have guessed from the late start to our comments, we're on the west coast. We all live in the San Francisco Bay Area, and came together through our local Sisters in Crime and Romance Writers of America chapters.

    Hank, being the fabulous investigative journalist that you are, you found me out that it was indeed I who played Wonder Woman on stage in Edinburgh!

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  7. Welcome to the blogosphere! Does anyone out there even use that word anymore? ;) Sounds like some rollicking new voices are hitting the scene. Fun, fun, fun. :)

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  8. Welcome neighbors--yes, we'd like to hear about your books! My favorite Halloween costume ever was wonder Woman. I don't think I'd have the nerve to wear it today without a lot of alterations. But maybe Sophie...

    And PS, Sophie is Mike Wiecek's sister--whom many of us know from lurking around Crimebake...

    Hank, I hadn't thought about a kid trying to trap the cat, but I definitely worry about loud teenage parties and too many pesticides. I have 2 excellent neighbors now, but neither cooks. So I'm out of luck if I need to borrow the errant cup of sugar or a couple of eggs.

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  9. I've always had the best of luck with neighbors -- the ones on my street insist on plying me with mojitos and barbecues, and now the cyber-neighbors are a hoot as well! I'm a little miffed, though, that no one assumed that *I* was WonderWoman...Maybe I should adjust my self-image.

    And Rhys, I'm SO looking forward to our summer dates!

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  10. Jungle Red--
    Thanks so much for having us to tea and for the very warm welcome to the neighborhood! :)

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  11. Wow, what a warm welcome. As good online neighbors we promise not to throw loud parties and leave empty beer cans on your pool. Well...maybe promise is too strong a word.

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  12. How interesting to know the things Hank asked all of you. Can't wait to see the new blog that all of you gals create.

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  13. Welcome, neighbors! I am a native Californian transplanted long time now to New England, but when I'm out west in July, I'll see if I can find a few of you. At which SF bookstore should I seek your work?

    Roberta - the errant cup of sugar made me laugh! Get this - on Christmas Day we discovered that we were out of nori for our 'traditional' sushi making (through my bad planning), and would you believe, the neighbors had an errant fresh pack? I live on a great block (in a small historic town north of Boston).

    Edith

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  14. Roberta, our books are across the board between mystery, suspense, romance, women's fiction, YA, so I hope you'll pop over to the "Check Out the Authors" section of our blog on Monday!

    And Edith, a personal favorite of mine is the San Francisco Mystery Bookstore. Our published authors should be there, and I'm not there yet but hope to be soon :)

    Thanks for having us today!

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  16. Oh..what a lovely party..and i missed the whole thing. BEA is wonderul..crowded and buzzing and seeing lots of pals.

    The internet in my hotel room did not work..so I have commandeered the front desk computer. So if anyone needs towels or fresh pillows, I'm currently in charge at the sheraton.

    See all you PF's on Mnoday in your new home...sending cyber-flowers and champagne.

    Tomorrow, an(other) blog you all need to read!

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