Sunday, December 29, 2013

The Scoop!


HANK PHILLIPPI RYAN: The week between Christmas and New Years! When we think: “Where did the time go?” And “Next year I’ll do my holiday cards on time, with labels.” And “I should join the gym.”

We also look ahead with delight and wonder and anticipation—anything is possible! 

So what are the Reds up to?

I am about to type the two scariest words in the English language: CHAPTER ONE.  (Chapter one of the next Jane and Jake thriller, Forge 2015! which I think will be titled WHAT YOU SEE.) (“Chapter One” is about all I have right now. Hmm.)

TRUTH BE TOLD is on its way to the galley-makers, hurray. It’ll be out in September 2014, hurray. (When it comes to money, it can be hard to recognize the bad guys.) (Or something like that.)  

THE WRONG GIRL is going gangbusters, on several Best of 2013 lists, hurray, a multiple-week Boston Globe bestseller, hurray, and a Reviewer’s nominee for Best Suspense Thriller. Hurray.

And Mary Higgins Clark award winner THE OTHER WOMAN is out in paperback!

And will I see you at SLEUTHFEST? I'm a featured guest, with Ace Atkins and Laura Lippman! (Nice!) How about you, Reds?

RHYS BOWEN: I'm excited about this year as I have two really fun books coming out--CITY OF DARKNESS AND LIGHT, the 13th Molly Murphy book, is published in March with more fanfare than usual... maybe because it takes place in the art world of Paris! I'll be signing around the country and doing events also with Cara Black, whose new Aimee Leduc book comes out at the same time. so we can talk about Paris then and now.

And in August the new Royal Spyness book comes out: it is called QUEEN OF HEARTS and it takes Georgie on a transatlantic liner and finally to 1930s Hollywood. Palm trees, movie stars...and murder.

Oh, and I forgot to mention that I have another Molly e-story coming out on January 7th. It's called “Through the Window.”

Have a wonderful holiday!

 HALLIE EPHRON: Rhys, as always I am in awe. I am (really I am!) finishing the book that I'm calling NIGHT NIGHT, SLEEP TIGHT. Figuring out the ending. And if all goes well it will (YES!) be out next year. Can I say it's a historical in an exotic setting: 1965 and 1985, Beverly Hills, in the shadow of the movie business.

 In the meanwhile, THERE WAS AN OLD WOMAN is just out in paperback. It's on sale at Hudson News, so if anyone sees it in an airport would you email me a picture? 

 And it just made Sarah Weinman's list of the year's 10 best crime fiction! http://offonatangent.tumblr.com/post/70697707034/favorite-crime-fiction-of-2013.

  LUCY BURDETTE: First, hooray for Hallie on making that top ten list--that was a wonderful book and I can't wait to read about Hollywood. Rhys's books sound delightful too!

I have two books slated for 2014 also, though saying that in print makes my eyes twitch and my neck harden to concrete. (You would twitch too if you knew what page I was on, and when the draft was due, LOL.) That said, SEASON'S GRIEVINGS will be out next December.

But I'm so, so, so excited about my February book, MURDER WITH GANACHE. It's got Hemingway cats, and cupcakes, and wedding drama, and family angst...and a murder of course. But to me it's about finding and embracing family in whatever shape they come...
 
SUSAN ELIA MACNEAL: Congrats, Hallie!
Next year, the fourth book in the Maggie Hope series will be released in the summer — called The Prime Minister's Secret Agent. It's set in Edinburgh, Arisaig, London, Washington, and Pearl Harbor. 

And I'm thrilled to be researching and writing the fifth in the series — the working title is The First Lady's Confidante.

 DEBORAH CROMBIE: The trade paperback of THE SOUND OF BROKEN GLASS comes out in late February.  And in late March, Gemma James/Duncan Kincaid #16, TO DWELL IN DARKNESS!
So I can sort of say I have two books out in 2014:-) (Unlike Rhys, who really does!) I'm very excited about the new book. 

 And I think I will have some other very fun news but I'm not announcing it until it's official, sometime after the first of the year.  So that's my teaser!

JULIA SPENCER-FLEMING: As usual, the rest of you make me look like a slacker. I'm not sure when the trade paper edition of THROUGH THE EVIL DAYS will be released - it probably depends in part on when I finish my work-in-progress, HID FROM OUR EYES. My publisher's goal is for me to finish it by February. My goal is to finish it before 2015. Hopefully, I'll be able to split the difference. 

I've got a couple of very exciting events to look forward to in 2014: in February, I'm going to be the guest of honor, with Robert Dugoni, at MURDER IN THE MAGIC CITY. Then in April, I'll be teaching and speaking at Calvin College's FESTIVAL OF FAITH AND WRITING

In the meantime, I'm going to go crazy wondering what Deb's news is. Deb, can't you let us know? Your sister bloggers? Darn it.  
 
HANK: Debs!  DETAILS!  And wow, a terrific year for Jungle Red—and we hope, for you, too. Thank you thank you thank you for everything...What are you up to?

28 comments:

  1. With all of the Jungle Red ladies busily writing and publishing so many wonderful-sounding books, my new year is going to be filled with reading, reading, reading . . . .

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  2. What great news! I'm really drooling over Hallie's book in airport bookstores (but am not traveling by air until March, so won't see it in person until then). So much reading to do, so little time.

    I also have bunches of good news: The paperback of A Tine to Live, a Tine to Die will be out in early May. In late May 'Til Dirt Do Us Part will release in hardcover. And in the fall sometime the second Lauren Rousseau book will come out, Bluffing is Murder (with me writing as Tace Baker again). So pleased that that series continues. And as soon as I finish Farmed and Dangerous (nearly done), I'm going to start my historical mystery, Breaking the Silence. Busy happy times.

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  3. Edith, when do you sleep?!?!?
    Seriously, sounds like ANOTHER great year for you!

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  4. Congratulations on all that news Edith!

    Julia, but waiting for your book is such sweet, agonizing anticipation...

    Debs, you're killing us!!!!

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  5. Congratulations, all you Reds!! Like Joan, I expect to be busy reading, reading, reading.

    I am in a writing group, "Falmouth Fiction," and am working hard on a mystery. Someday . . .

    Meanwhile, visiting grandbabies.

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  6. So much good news for the Reds. And Edith, I agree with Hallie--you must be the most efficient person on the planet, and have household help. Or never sleep.

    I'm kicking off the new year with a writing assignment, my second for the same magazine. The editor asked me to write several articles last year for a new, once-a-year domicile edition, and one of the articles (on kitchen & bath trends) got rewritten for the show program for the kitchen & bath show. My article was the only one in the program. This assignment is for the upcoming home & garden show program for the same promoter, who happens to be an old, old friend of our family. (Total coincidence, but a lovely one.)

    It doesn't pay gobs of money, just 50 cents a word (half of what I got paid for articles in the 80's, sigh), but it's fun to exercise that part of my brain again.

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  7. So much fun reading everyone's news! (Debs you are a minx). It is so cool to know such smart, successful women. Congratulations, everyone, on all these terrific accomplishments.

    We've just come back from a few days in Birmingham with Donald's family, and we'll be going back in February. I was invited to participate in Murder in the Magic City and am very much looking forward to it. And looking forward to seeing our Julia there.

    While we were gone I learned that Audible accepted WHIMSEY's stipend request, which means it is now eligible for a $100 per-finished-hour production stipend, paid for by Audible. That stipend is very helpful in attracting professional readers in my quest for narrators. Now I have to get busy listening to auditions and make a decision so I can get Whimsey out in its new audio version.

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  8. Edith, amazing. I love the title Farmed and Dangerous.

    Kaye, terrific!


    Denise Ann..you never know, right? Love to your and your writing group!

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  9. KAren in Ohio? Fifty cents a word, huh? SOunds kind of good, actually...and what fun to se those articles be successful! That's a true talent..

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  10. Joan E, thank ou! That's exactly what we rely on..xoxo

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  11. I have to tell you, reading this post just gave me the inspirational boost I need. I always spend the last week of each year looking back on what I have accomplished and setting goals for the upcoming year. It can be a daunting exercise, but everything I hope to do feels much more achievable after reading how devoted to and enthusiastic you all are about the books you're working on.

    I will be finishing up a women's fiction novel (to be published under a pen name); writing the first volume in my new LA 1970s mystery series; and continuing work on next Asia novel (which I foresee being done in about 2 years).

    I am so grateful to all of the Reds, and to everyone who comments here, for being so candid and generous with their writing lives. Many thanks to you all, and Happy New Year!

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  12. Kim! Love to see you..and of course you'll blog on Jungle REd about EVERY one of those, right? xoxo

    Can't wait to hear details..

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  13. Yeah, writing is generally not the way to wealth.

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  14. Miss Edna is glad to hear about so many great books coming out in 2014!

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  15. Of course, Hank! Wish I could make some of the early-in-the-year mystery conferences this year. Would love to see you sooner than Bouchercon, but I'll just have to be patient :)

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  16. Looks like reading is on my resolution list! Since many books are still boxed up from the move I will have to shop for new ones...Darn!

    My project this year is to put down on paper my swirling mess of ideas for a presentation (or twelve...I have a lot of ideas!) on the importance of play in preschool and how play can be used to meet learning standards in early childhood education. (It will be more interesting that than description. Really!)

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  17. Edith, your titles crack me up! Farmed and Dangerous! And I agree, you must never sleep. I want you to come and organize me.

    We are a busy bunch, and I am, as always, inspired by all of you.

    I forgot to mention that THE SOUND OF BROKEN GLASS was voted one of the Best Mysteries of 2013 by iTunes! Pretty cool. And that I will be at Tucson Festival of Books in March, and then Left Coast Crime in Monterrey. And Bouchercon next fall, too. Hoping to see some of you along the way.

    (And no, none of that is my news, so you'll just have to wait another week or two:-))

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  18. *gulp* The book I've been writing with my son (first in a series, prequel and part of book 2 in process) will be ready to shop for an agent and publisher. Now the scary stuff starts!

    Happy New Year, each and every one of you!

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  19. Good luck Fran! fingers crossed...

    Kim, delighted we could inspire--sounds like you're pretty darn productive anyway...

    And Kay--congrats on the audio stipend!

    And Karen, I one time got paid a dollar a word for a pretty big article in GOLF FOR WOMEN. I think it paid more than the advance on my first novel LOL. And the best part was, the subject was about my golf mysteries. The editor kept emailing to say we want more about the stories and the character and your research. So, paid well to blab about myself!

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  20. Deb, I hope to see you in Tucson - I will be on 2 panels (1 mystery and 1 lit) and possibly moderating one of the mystery panels. I believe Rhys will also be there. Anyone else? It would be so wonderful to meet face to face!!

    And Lucy, I'm definitely productive when it comes to organizing :) It's the execution that requires the extra nudge!

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  22. YAy, Fran! Keep us posted...

    And paulabuck, that sounds fascinating!

    Tucson festival? LOVE to go...maybe they'll invite me some time!

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  23. Hank, I've invited myself to the Tucson festival the past 2 years in a row :)

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  24. No, I have no household help (and you'll know it when you visit my house)! And I sleep 7-8 hours/night. Maybe I'm efficient? Sure doesn't feel like it sometimes... But thanks for your support and cheers, friends.

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  25. Sounds like my 2014 is going to be filled with reading. And helping friends celebrate their new releases, including my friend Annette, whose debut book comes out in March from Henery, and the second comes out in the fall.

    As for me, the print version of my first middle-grade should be out, as well as the third volume in the series (digital and print). I want to submit more short fiction to various places and finish my first Laurel Highlands novel. Oh, and I AM going to attend Lee Lofland's WPA in the fall.

    I am also (gulp) going to start more aggressively marketing for freelance copyediting/proofreading, as well as book formatting for those who want to go indie, but hire out the formatting. It's slightly scary, which as a friend of mine would say, means it's probably the right thing to do.

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  26. Very exciting, Mary! Crossing fingers!

    And we are so excited for Annette, too!

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  27. I'm trying to catch up on the Reds' blog, as I've had family and grands for the past five days. Today, I get some quiet time.

    As I read through all of the upcoming books and events for the Jungle Red authors, I truly felt like a kid in a candy shop. So many delicious treats popping up for me to grab. Lucky for me and the rest of your readers, you ladies don't seem to have an off button. Last year was the year I became acquainted with this power group of talent, and I now have so much to look forward to every year.

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