What We're Writing: Susan Works on Three Books at Once

SUSAN ELIA MACNEAL: Hello, lovely readers! What am I writing? What am I not writing? Or promoting? Or editing? Or researching? Or....

Let me explain.

MRS. ROOSEVELT'S CONFIDANTE, the fifth book in the Maggie Hope series, is coming out on October 27 (yay!), so I'm doing interviews and writing articles and blog posts for that. 

Here's a bit about MRS. R. :

In this latest riveting mystery from New York Times bestselling author Susan Elia MacNeal, England’s most daring spy, Maggie Hope, travels across the pond to America, where a looming scandal poses a grave threat to the White House and the Allied cause.

December 1941. Soon after the attack on Pearl Harbor, Winston Churchill arrives in Washington, D.C., along with special agent Maggie Hope. Posing as his typist, she is accompanying the prime minister as he meets with President Roosevelt to negotiate the United States’ entry into World War II. When one of the First Lady’s aides is mysteriously murdered, Maggie is quickly drawn into Mrs. Roosevelt’s inner circle—as ER herself is implicated in the crime. Maggie knows she must keep the investigation quiet, so she employs her unparalleled skills at code breaking and espionage to figure out who would target Mrs. Roosevelt, and why. What Maggie uncovers is a shocking conspiracy that could jeopardize American support for the war and leave the fate of the world hanging dangerously in the balance.

The reviews so far have been great! 

Publishers Weekly calls it "MacNeal’s enthralling fifth Maggie Hope mystery." 

RT Book Review made it a Top Pick and says: "Bestseller MacNeal continues the Maggie Hope Mystery series with another winner filled both with fact and marvelous fiction." 

Kirkus says: "MacNeal paints an engrossing portrait of a country on the verge of war, with many laws suspended and prejudice rife—a world not that much different from today."

And Booklist states, "The indomitable Maggie [is] in top form."

I'm also gearing up for the MRS. ROOSEVELT'S CONFIDANTE author tour, which will roll through Fairway, KS; Washington, D.C.; Wellesley, MA; and Newburyport, MA. Here are the dates and details:

Tuesday, October 27 – FAIRWAY, KS

  

7PM

Talk & Signing

Rainy Day Books

2706 W 53^rd St.

Fairway, KS 66205

Wednesday, October 28 –  WASHINGTON, D.C. 

6:30PM

Talk & Signing

International Spy Museum

800 F St., NW

Washington, DC 20004

Thursday, October 29  –  WELLESLEY, MA

7PM

Talk & Signing

Wellesley Books

82 Central St.

Wellesley, MA 02482

And one reading with our brilliant Hank!

Friday, October 30  — NEWBURYPORT, MA

5:30 PM

A Night of Mystery at The Jabberwocky

Jabberwocky Bookshop
Join the award-winning Hank Phillippi Ryan and NYT Bestselling author Susan Elia MacNeal for an evening of conversation, book signings, wine and cheese!

Hope to see you and meet in person!

Also — just received notes back from my editor at Random House on the book I just turned in — THE QUEEN'S CONSPIRATOR (aka the "Blackout Ripper" novel) — so I'm working on edits and rewriting some sections. It's due in the beginning of November, to which I say, after a week at Bouchercon and the tour coming up, "HA!"



And then, because my seventh Maggie Hope book is due next fall (which will be here before you know it), I'm starting by researching the setting and time — Paris, in the spring of 1942. I'm reading and watching documentaries about Coco Chanel (including Hal Vaughn's troubling tome, SLEEPING WITH THE ENEMY: Coco Chanel's Secret War), Serge Lifar, and the Paris Opéra Ballet right now. As well as researching the build-up to the infamous Vel' d'Hiv roundup of over 13,000 Parisian Jews, including over 400 children, which happened in July of '42.

And then — in real life — there's Kiddo's Halloween costume, and what he wants to go as seems to change daily.....

On a more somber note, on October 20 we mark the one-year anniversary of Miss Edna's death.

Thus, I have no short-term memory, am drinking lots of coffee, and trying desperately to keep my head above water....

All good thoughts and prayers appreciated.... And if I forget something, mea culpa and I promise to have my head back in the game come November!