Wednesday, February 12, 2025

Are You A Good Citizen of Book World?



HANK PHILLIPPI RYAN: We have such a wonderful community here–we’ve been blogging with you all for eighteen years. EIGHTEEN YEARS! (Can that possibly be true? 365 times 18 is the number of blogs we’ve posted. How many is that?)

Anyway, we are so grateful to all of you, and one thing for sure: you are all wonderful citizens of book world. And we are grateful.

One of our fabulous fellow citizens, and massive friend of the Reds, is the brilliant Carter Wilson, whose new book TELL ME WHAT YOU DID is unbelievably tense and intense. I truly was holding my breath reading it. It’s terrific. And I am telling everyone about it.

But Reds and Readers, what does it mean to be a  good and valued citizen of book world? The fabulous Carter has some thoughts. And when you get through Carter’s list, YOU tell us what you think number 10 should be.



Welcome to Book World
  by Carter Wilson


Writers are delicate creatures, full of caffeine and insecurity. We need your help, more than you may think. It’s easy to think published authors have it made—and about .005% do—but for most of us getting published is just the start. It’s a grind. Years of building up a backlist. Decades of getting an audience. And nothing happens without you, the reader. So this is what you can do.

1. Consume the book. Yes, ideally you buy a copy, or maybe several. But you can borrow one from the library. Listen on audible. Get an early free copy on NetGalley. Even borrow one from a friend or neighborhood little library. More important than sales—initially—is word of mouth. Yes, it’s on the author to write a book worth talking about, but if they do and you read it, spread the word.

2. Don’t pirate. My one exception for ways to consume a book is pirating. Don’t get a free copy from some shady Russian website. And if you do, I hope the book stinks and your computer gets infected.

3. Leave a review. So important. Take one minute out of your day to leave an honest review, even if it’s just one sentence. Good places for reviews are Amazon, BN.com, Goodreads, and anywhere on social media. Ideally, you’ll leave a good review, but if you didn’t like the book that’s okay to write about as well. Note: if you leave me a one-star review, make sure to include your address, phone number, and social-security number.

 4. Pre-order. Pre-orders make a difference when it comes to buyers like B&N deciding how many copies they want for their stores. So if there’s a book you’re looking forward to, don’t wait until it releases, pre-order as soon as you can. And you can pre-order from anywhere, not just the big booksellers.

5. Support independent bookstores. So many of these stores are in a daily struggle for survival. Yes, of course, authors also want their books in B&N, Target, and Costco, but indie bookstores are the pillars supporting the entire publishing industry. Stop in, buy a book, get a latte. You’ll be happy you did.

6. Go to a book event. Events are great ways to support authors, and sales at those stores get reported for any potential bestseller lists. Remember how I said authors are insecure? Just think about when a book is launched and three people show up at the main launch event. Do your favorite author a favor and go see them when they’re in town—chances are there won’t be as many people there as you’d expect.

7. Follow authors. Not literally, unless you want to give them a good stalker idea for a story. But if you have a favorite author, follow them on social media, share posts, and subscribe to their newsletter (thank you!)

8. Be patient. We live in a short-attention-span world, and authors aren’t competing with each other as much as we are with everything else vying for your attention (phones, Netflix, Wordle, children, etc). When you crack a book open, reserve judgment for at least 50 pages. Chances are you’re reading something that sold to a publisher from an agent, and went through months of edits and rewrites. Chances are that book took at least one-to-two years to write, rewrite, sell, and edit, and a lot of thought went into every page. It might not be the right book for you, but let it develop long enough to see if it surprises you.

9. Support free speech. This is really the most important thing you can do. Support libraries, donate to free-speech initiatives, fight back against anyone ignorant enough to think ANY book should be banned. And, of course, make sure to vote for folks who rightly think books change lives. After all, literacy is damn sexy.

HANK: Whoo hoo and absolutely. I think number 10 on this list should be “If you love the book, TELL someone about it!” 

Oh, but wait, Carter put that in his number 1. Well, you cannot say it too many times.

What do you think might be number 10, Reds and Readers?



Carter Wilson is the USA Today bestselling author of ten critically
acclaimed, standalone psychological thrillers, as well as numerous short stories. He is an ITW Thriller Award finalist, a five-time winner of the Colorado Book Award, and his works have been optioned for television and film. Additionally, he is the host of the Making It Up podcast and founder of the Unbound Writer company, which provides coaching services, writing retreats, and online classes. Carter lives in Erie, Colorado in a Victorian house that is spooky but isn’t haunted…yet. His latest release is TELL ME WHAT YOU DID, which Kimberly Belle calls “The perfect book for readers who love their thrillers gripping and utterly original.”





TELL ME WHAT YOU DID


"A brilliant thriller...I didn't just read this book, I devoured it in an adrenaline fueled frenzy!" —Lisa Gardner, #1 New York Times bestselling suspense author

She gets people to confess their crimes for a living. He knows she's hiding a terrible secret. It's time for the truth to come out...

Poe Webb, host of a popular true crime podcast, invites people to anonymously confess crimes they've committed to her audience. She can't guarantee the police won't come after her "guests," but her show grants simultaneous anonymity and instant fame―a potent combination that's proven difficult to resist. After an episode recording, Poe usually erases both criminal and crime from her mind.

But when a strange and oddly familiar man appears on her show, Poe is forced to take a second look. Not only because he claims to be her mother's murderer from years ago, but because Poe knows something no one else does. Her mother's murderer is dead.

Poe killed him.

From the USA Today bestselling author of The Dead Girl in 2A and The New Neighbor comes a chilling new thriller that forces the question: are murderers always the bad guys?

Tuesday, February 11, 2025

Are You in the February Flats?

HANK PHILLIPPI RYAN:  Later this week we'll talk about Valentine's Day, so keep your Valentine's stuff until then. But remember, however many years ago it was for you, those days in February when you were in college or high school? Those dank freezing days-- well wait, I'm remembering Indiana and Ohio, your experiences may be different—of that progression from the holidays in December and the new year in January and then we were into.. The flats.

 

That's what we called it in college, I'm remembering now, the February Flats. Where there was just... nothing.

 


The wonderful Jacqueline Faber takes us into dark academia this February-- and isn't all academia dark in February?  See what she has to say about her debut (yay!)THE DEPARTMENT, and then think about your own academic Februarys. And we'll talk on the other side.

 

Oh, and a copy of THE DEPARTMENT to one lucky commenter! (And look at that gorgeous noir-y cover!)

 

 

The Season of Love…and Bitter Cold

by Jacqueline Faber

 

If The Department is a love story, it’s one that will break your heart.


I couldn’t pick a better month to launch my dark academic thriller than February — a month that celebrates the wild exuberance of love, while sending (literal) shivers down the spine. February is the no-man’s-land of winter, spring still impossibly out of reach, fall but a distant memory. It’s the absolutely perfect time to introduce my novel to the world.

 

On the surface, The Department is about a college girl, Lucia, who goes missing one afternoon. From the outside, she appears reckless, courting danger in all sorts of complicated ways. But she’s running from something, which won’t let her go. When Neil, a jaded philosophy professor at her university, learns of her disappearance, he feels drawn to it for reasons that are embedded in his own past. The more he learns about Lucia, the more obsessed he becomes, until his unsanctioned, amateur sleuthing takes a sharp turn. Suddenly, he must confront the shocking secrets of his own academic department, raising suspicion about his closest friends and colleagues.

 

Underneath this fast-paced whodunit, however, The Department is really a story about how we live with our losses, navigate the pain of the past, and attempt to transcend our own inner tumult.


Yet, when I sat down to write this piece, reflecting on its connection to the month of February, it occurred to me that something else is at work, too. At the heart of my book, beneath even this feverish exploration of trauma, is a fundamental longing for human connection, that ever-present search for love — propitious or ill-fated — that drives us all.

 


As we round the bend toward Valentine’s Day, I find myself reflecting on the way that this occasion elicits such big feelings in people. A holiday that is maligned for its kitchy Hallmark trappings and unrestrained consumerist fantasies. But also a commemoration of our deepest and most abiding human need.


There is no confusing my provocative, dark thriller for a cozy Valentine’s read. And yet, in the way that it speaks to our longings, our loneliness, and our existential hunger to be seen and understood, it feels entirely apropos.

 

Whether February has you retreating to the couch with a gothic horror novel, seeking comfort in friends and family, or professing your undying love, I hope you feel adored this holiday season.

 

Did you ever have a crush on someone in college? What were your academic Februarys like?

 

HANK: Ohh, yes, I had several big crushes in college! The most amusing of them was Henry V. Yes, somehow, I read my Shakespeare, and fell madly in love with the dashing Henry, who evolved into a dashing and brave and romantic hero. I used to dream about him.


I will never talk about this again, but there you have it.

 

How about you Reds and readers? And remember, a copy of Jacqueline’s intense THE DEPARTMENT to one lucky commenter!

 

(And pssst. Breaking news! Jacqueline will join us in The Back Room on March 9, with Tess Gerritsen, Pam Jenoff, and Gigi Pandian! Details coming soon!)

 

 


ABOUT THE BOOK

Philosophy professor Neil Weber can’t think of one good reason to get up in the morning. His wife has left him, his academic research has sputtered, and the prospect of tenure is more remote than ever.

Until Lucia Vanotti disappears.

A college student at the Southern university where Neil teaches, Lucia has a secret of her own—one that haunts her relationships and leads to destructive, reckless behavior. When Neil is drawn into the mystery of her disappearance, he finds himself suddenly relevant again. But at what cost? Each clue pulls him deeper into Lucia' s dark past, but also into the hidden lives of his closest friends and colleagues.

What drove Lucia to risk everything? And why does Neil, a professor who hardly knew her, care to find her? From campus classrooms to sex dens to backwoods hideaways, The Department shows the world through the eyes of Lucia and Neil as they descend into obsession, delusion, and the dangerous terrain of memory—uncovering the trauma that drives them to behave in ways even they themselves could never have predicted.

 


ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Jacqueline Faber holds a PhD in Comparative Literature from Emory University and has taught at New York University. Her work explores questions about memory, loss, language, and desire. Steeped in philosophical, psychological, and literary themes, her writing is grounded in studies of character. She lives with her family in Los Angeles. The Department is her debut novel. Connect with Jacqueline online at jacquelinefaber.com and Instagram at @jaxfaber.

 

Monday, February 10, 2025

Are you in the LUNCH BUNCH?


HANK PHILLIPPI RYAN:  
Know what I really love? 

Lunch.



Breakfast can be great, even transporting, when there's lovely cinnamon raisin toast, or a perfect bagel.

Dinner, too, runs the gamut from ordinary to heavenly, all depending. But for dinner, those “what’s for dinner” and “why do I have to think of it again?” questions weigh heavy.

But lunch. Oh, dear lunch. I look forward to it so much and I have to admit, I have the same thing every day. Half of a sandwich with real turkey, on When Pigs Fly pumpernickel bread or rye bread, with Honeycup mustard. And sometimes with arugula. Accompanied by 4 Siete chips, and 3 slices of new dill pickles from Grillos.

Reds and Readers, this is so heavenly, I cannot tell you. I honestly look forward to it.

Okay, from time to time tuna salad, or just plain tuna, if need be. But it’s not just the lovely sandwich, it’s the 20 minutes or so of not being at my desk (As I am EVERY OTHER MINUTE) and just thinking about whatever I want to think about, and every single bite is so delicious.

When I was on the road as a reporter, lunch was always CRAZINESS, with food grabbed whenever we could, eating a salad in the backseat of a speeding news car and trying not to get salad dressing on my suit. (If I don’t have lunch, I just...collapse.)

And so much pressure! Once, out on breaking news, I was so hungry, and SO on deadline, that I rushed into a deli, asked the guy “How long for a turkey sandwich?” and he said “two minutes!” and I said “too long!” and raced out of the place.

Reddies, how do you feel about lunch? Are you a creature of happy habit, like I am, or more adventuresome? (Or is it adventurous?)


Anyway, tell me about yourselves–are you ladies who lunch?



RHYS BOWEN: I am a lady who lunches…meeting a friend for lunch is a treat I try to do every week. I have special places where I love to eat in both Phoenix and Marin County and friends I love to eat with. It breaks up the day so nicely and makes me work harder at my morning writing, knowing that a good meal awaits me. I am not a big eater so usually it’s a salad, or sushi or Chinese food or fish tacos.

At home my lunch is usually soup in the winter. I make big soups with various vegetables: carrot, parsnip, butternut squash and we freeze them so there is always one ready in the freezer. My favorite, however, is tomato soup with grilled cheese. My total comfort food. When the weather gets warmer lunch is avocado with chicken breast, or ham, or leftover salmon, or a beet salad, depending on how much time and effort I want to put into it.




LUCY BURDETTE: Oh lunch is a problem! I want to eat more vegetables but I confess it usually ends up as melted cheese on half a bagel. Although today I am just back from a divine lunch with Hallie, Barb Ross, her hub Bill, and our good pal Pat. We ate at a wonderful hole-in-the-wall Mexican place that was amazing. Now I have lunch for tomorrow…if only I can stave off a nap for this afternoon, I could get some words written!


HALLIE EPHRON: I confess, lunch for me is usually leftovers because I still haven’t figured out how to make DINNER FOR ONE. I adore meeting friends for lunch, or having friends over. When all else fails, I make myself a sandwich with Italian canned oil-packed tuna with celery and onions and pickle relish and mayo on a slice of Dave’s multi-grain bread. Another standard is a Waldorf salad with apple, walnuts, raisins, celery, mayo, lemon juice. (I wish I could move the Mexican place (tacos al pastore!) I ate lunch at with Lucy today but I’d have to move the people, too!)

JENN McKINLAY: You might have sold me on lunch, Hank. Lunch is the one meal I’m okay with skipping. I eat a hearty breakfast – oatmeal with a banana or yogurt with granola or pancakes with an orange – and coffee, lots of coffee! Dinner is whatever the Hub is cooking and there are no sweeter words than “Dinner is ready” comin from the kitchen while I’m holed up in my office.

But lunch, unless I’m meeting someone, is a cheese stick and some figs or a slice of toast with peanut butter - just enough fuel to power through the afternoon’s words. But now, I’m rethinking. Also, I love Grillo pickles!



DEBORAH CROMBIE: I love going out to lunch. Even on my own, if I have an appointment or an errand that puts me out in the middle of the day, but my very favorite thing is lunch out with my daughter.

I love lunch at home, too. It’s a break to look forward to, and I usually read while I eat. Or if my lunch is too messy, which is often the case, I just enjoy looking out the window. I eat leftovers, or sandwiches made with some Boursin cheese, tomatoes (Camparis are good for this,) arugula, sprouts, and sometimes Trader Joe’s sauerkraut, which I know sounds really weird but it’s delicious. Also big Greek-ish salads, and I love avocado with smoked tuna or salmon. Yum.




Hallie, I want to know which Italian canned tuna packed in oil and where you get it!

JULIA SPENCER-FLEMING: I adore lunch, in part because I never eat breakfast. (I know, I know, but I’m just not hungry in the morning.) I sometimes have leftovers, because, like Hallie, I still tend to make large-ish amounts of food for dinner, but my favorites are my sandwiches. I add everything; mayo, mustard, greens, meat, cheese- remember when stacked sandwiches were called “Dagwoods?” I doubt anyone under the age of fifty would get that reference. Count me in among the lunchtime readers - I want to enjoy my food, not shovel it down while answering emails.

We’ve been having very cold weather, so my current choice is grilled cheese or a toasted egg and cheese (luxurious!) In the summer, there’s nothing better than open faced tomato sandwiches with thick slices of tomato and Miracle Whip (or mayo for you purists.) Okay, is anyone else hungry now?

HANK: Oh, yes, when summer comes, tomatoes rule. And we can discuss the inappropriately named Miracle Whip at a later date. 


Much later.

How about you, Reddies? Where do you fit in the lunch bunch?

Oh, and BREAKING NEWS! Join us for a LIVE Reds and Readers Happy Hour on our Facebook page @RedsandReaders --Thursday February 20 at 5PM ET! Will we see you there?