Singing Those Veterinary Blues

Karen-in-Ohio made an excellent point, asking how families manage the kind of expenses that pets can incur. There are hundreds of small charities out there helping owners with overwhelming medical bills. If you search for "charities to help pay vet bills in -my state-" you'll quickly see what's out there. If you're an animal lover, looking for a way to help folks in straightened times, this is an excellent way to do so.  

 

 

JULIA SPENCER-FLEMING: Those of you who are regular visitors to JRW will remember the saga of Walker, the $15,000 cat. I was discussing the epic while a guest at Hallie’s house, and she pointed out it was more like $17,000, with the USDA certification fee, the in-cabin airline pet fees, and having to buy Youngest a brand new ticket when we discovered Jet Blue didn’t allow pets to travel IN the plane. So for now, Walker will be known as the $17,000 cat. That’s $26,265 CAD, for our northern friends.


I say for now, because I recently discovered Walkers stubborn refusal to put on weight is due to a hyperactive thyroid. Easily cured by giving him two pills a day (at the current cost of $200 a year) for the rest of his life, which should be another 13 to 17 years, if he doesn’t escape the house again and fling himself under a passing vehicle. OR I can solve the problem at one go with a radioactive iodine treatment for $1,700 - $2,000.


Dear readers, I invite you to picture my face upon hearing this.


Reds, have any of you gone to absurd lengths to keep a pet healthy? Does anyone have a veterinary tale as unbelievable as mine?


RHYS BOWEN: My daughter’s dog just tore an ACL. This involves surgery at UC Davis veterinary hospital, plus constant monitoring for two weeks, plus being confined to a small area so that she doesn’t overuse the leg. A month before surgery she tore the second ACL. That surgery will be two months after the first one. And believe me, neither is cheap. I gather the ACL tear is a common problem of the breed. My other daughter who has a delightful mutt sniffed and said, “Pure breeds!”


DEBORAH CROMBIE: Our German shepherd Jasmine hasn’t quite caught up with Walker, but it’s close–like maybe a new sofa and a trip to England amount on the good old Citibank card. What happened to her was so bizarre that I don’t think you can blame it on the breed. We will probably never know what caused the infection in her neck, and it wasn’t a sudden decision to commit to surgery or a course of treatment, it was one trip to the vet, another to the pet ER, then another to the vet, etc., etc. The good news is that after three months, even though she still has a couple of staples and still has a wrap around her neck and a soft e-collar, she’s almost completely healed. I sure wish we’d had pet insurance!


HALLIE EPHRON: I’ve never had a dog, and cats only briefly before being hospitalized with asthma and having to give those sweetie-pies up. But I get it. A pet is a commitment, a chore and a delight. Heck, we took our hamster to the vet when he came down with testicular cancer. Of course we did.



JULIA: Hallie, I'm trying SO hard not to laugh at the idea of hamster testicles...


HANK PHILLIPPI RYAN: Oh, my darling cat Lola lived to be 20, and in her most senior years, she was often at the vet. She would NOT get into the cat carrier to go there, though. She would stick her legs straight out wide, stiff, like a cartoon cat, and refuse. The only way to get her to the vet was to put her on my shoulder where she;d ride like a parrot. Of course, I would have done anything for her, even at the end, where she was still fine, but frail, and would eat only fresh ground turkey or chopped up fresh shrimp. Fine with me, whatever she wanted.



As for giving Walker pills, Julia, good luck with that. Lola would gobble up whatever I gave her to try to hide her pills–lamb, tuna, chicken–then swallow dramatically, then daintily spit out the pill.



JULIA: I've bought some fancy pill pockets, Hank - we'll see how well they work.


JENN McKINLAY: Oof, I’ve had some pricey vet bills when the schnauzer had his cancerous toe removed and when one of our dogs went into kidney failure while we were traveling and we kept her on dialysis until we could get back (only because she wasn’t suffering and we returned within days). I’ve always had pets and I believe as their person our deal is that I take care of them to the best of my abilities and as long as their quality of life is at the forefront of every decision. Since I like my critters more than most people, paying for their care is a no-brainer. LOL.


LUCY BURDETTE: Agree with the others–paying exorbitant sums for medical care as needed is part of the deal when acquiring a pet. After we adopted Tonka the Aussie, who was “free” because his teeth were not show-dog quality, he tore his rotator cuff three weeks into our tenure. The breeder told us to bring him back, she’d exchange him for another dog. Can you imagine? After three weeks we were hopelessly in love. So we paid for the $3000 surgery and many other procedures over the year. Money well spent for the joy he brought!



JULIA: This reminds me of the Mastercard ads: Pet Food - $30, Pet Cataract Surgery - $3000, Having a best friend for life: Priceless. How do you feel about it, dear readers?

Debs' Hodgepodge Sunday, February Version

DEBORAH CROMBIE: Somehow Super Bowl Sunday has rolled around again! How did this happen? And, um, who exactly is playing?

Sorry, Pats and Hawks out there, just kidding. I don't watch much football, but when I do, I call myself a Kansas City Chiefs fan. (Sorry, you Cowboys lovers. I am a contrary Dallasite.) But I am, as always, in the Super Bowl for the ads, the half time show, and the snacks.

This year it's not just because Bad Bunny is on the bill (although Benito can sing to me anytime) but because I am a big fan of Green Day, who are opening the show. Maybe Kincaid/James readers will remember that in THE SOUND OF BROKEN GLASS, when Andy is supposed to be auditioning for a record producer, it's Green Day's Good Riddance that he plays. I love Billy Joe Armstrong and I'm sure he'll be his usual, um, irreverent self.

As for snacks, I'm having a hard time coming up with something for just two people (and that's assuming I can make my husband sit down and watch the game with me.) But I am tempted by this recipe for nostalgia's sake, Million Dollar Dip, made famous by Dallas's own Neiman Marcus. And maybe we'll treat ourselves to a once-a-year Bloody Mary!

We won't be snuggling up in front of the fire, however–we are in the 70s here in north Texas and will be for the rest of this week. Sending hugs to those of you digging out from more snow, and hoping you are not yet tired of chili.

Not to rub it in, but I was thrilled to get out to the farmers market yesterday, the first time since before Christmas. Apparently everyone else in my town felt the same way because the market was heaving and things were selling out by nine o'clock!

It always cheers me up to see people and dogs, and I was desperate for my favorite salad greens. Not to mention the best latte around!

It will get cold again, never fear, but meanwhile there are the Winter Olympics to watch, so we can imagine snow and ice even if we don't have it.

How about it, lovely REDDIES, what's in your Sunday line-up? Superbowl? Dip? Cheering for Ilia Malinin in the Men's Free Skate?

P.S. One last thing--a grammar question! Should "farmers market" have an apostrophe? (Plural.) My city chooses not to use one. 

Who's Your Top Dog?

DEBORAH CROMBIE: I have a rant! I was so aggravated on Tuesday this week when I couldn't find any way to watch the Westminster Dog Show. We have broadcast TV (antenna!) and we have lots of streaming services (too many!) but none of our options carried the show. Apparently, it was on FS1, which is Fox Sports on cable, and on Hulu+, which is streaming but ouchy expensive. So, I sulked, and tried to keep up with the New York Times live updates, but no pictures, so boo. Here's this year's winner (photo courtesy of Westminster Kennel Club), a gorgeous, sassy doberman called Penny. (Or, officially, GCHP CH Connquest Best Of Both Worlds.)

I couldn't find a photo of the Best in Breed German shepherd, but you can see him at about 22 minutes in this video of the herding group. What a beautiful boy!

I adore dog shows. I think it's fascinating to see the variations in all the different breeds. Of course, I have my favorites--German shepherds, obviously. I also love all the Herding Group, the Working Group, and the Hunting Group, especially the spaniels, but I have cheered for little bichons and terriers and all manner of dogs.

This made me think about why we love the dogs that we love. We have had German shepherds (Jasmine, who will be twelve on Valentine's Day (ish) is our 4th) because Rick's family kept a friend's German Shepherd for a few months when he was about four. From then on, the GSD was the perfect dog for him and there is no substitute.

I love them, too, but as you might guess from the dog I gave Gemma in my books, I have a big place in my heart for cocker spaniels, both the English and the American varieties. A cocker was my first dog as an adult, brought home by my ex-husband as a six-week-old puppy--as a surprise! Here I am with my darling boy, Taffy, in my author photo on the back flap of DREAMING OF THE BONES.

Where Kit's little rescue terrier, Tess, comes from I don't know, as we've never had terriers in our family, but I can tell you that she looks like a Norwich terrier.

Dog genetics are endlessly fascinating to me. My daughter, Kayti, and her family adopted a rescue puppy after Christmas. Her name is Tillie and she's missing one of her front legs--it had to be amputated due to a bad break. Look at her little face!!

Kayti sent off her DNA to be tested and while waiting for the results, she did a fundraiser for the rescue organization, giving people a chance to guess Tillie's lineage.  

You can see that we were all convinced there was terrier or schnauzer in there! We were so wrong.

Here are Tillie's DNA test results.

Tillie and Jasmine are cousins!

Dear REDs and readers, do you have a favorite dog breed? And, if so, why?

Cooking with a Little Help

DEBORAH CROMBIE: I know quite a few of us have been cooking-challenged in the last couple of weeks. When you can't get out to the store, for whatever reason (iced in for a week here!) you have to get creative. So did I pull out my favorite cookbooks as I was perusing the pantry and planning meals?

Uh, nope, I'm a little embarrassed to admit. I searched for recipes online. Don't get me wrong–I love cookbooks. But I'm more likely to read them than I am to actually cook from them. I've almost finished reading the copy of Samin Nosrat's GOOD THINGS I got for Christmas, but have I made anything from it? Oops, no, although I even bought the special vinegar for one of her salad dressings... Maybe tomorrow...

I do, however, have favorite online cooking sites that I use practically every day. 

#1 is New York Times Cooking.

I know it's a subscription, but to me it is absolutely worth it. I love that I can save recipes in my searchable Recipe Box. And I really love the comments from other readers. They can be incredibly helpful and have often made the difference between a recipe that is just okay and one that goes on instant dinner repeat.

#2 is Jeanine Donofrio's LOVE & LEMONS. I actually have one of her cookbooks that I never think to open. We're not vegetarian but I'm always trying to ramp up our fruit, veggie, and grain proportions, and she's a terrific resource on how to cook all of those things.

#3 is another vegetarian site, COOKIE + KATE. If one of your New Year's resolutions is to eat healthier, this will inspire you.

I also subscribe to The Washington Post's Eat Voraciously column (free with the paper's digital subscription) and I subscribe to Mark Bittman's substack, The Bittman Project which does require a small fee but is a great resource for healthy eating and food news.

And of course there is Ina Garten, the Barefoot Contessa, who can be relied upon for many a great recipe. (Short ribs, anyone? Yum, I think, with this cold weather, those might need to go on my menu this week…)

Darling REDs, do you turn to favorite internet cooking gurus in a pinch, or do you actually use your trusty cookbooks?

LUCY BURDETTE: I requested and received 3 cookbooks for Christmas and Birthday, including Good Things. I’ve only made one recipe from Dorie Greenspan’s cake book. John wonders why I need cookbooks when I get everything online? BIG SHRUG. I’m an addict!

I love New York Times Cooking, Once Upon a Chef, Sally’s Baking Addiction, King Arthur, and most recently, Alexandra’s Kitchen. And more…

DEBS: Oh, I use Once Upon a Chef, too!

HALLIE EPHRON: My go-to source is The New York Times Cooking, too. But I also find myself dipping back into the first cookbook I ever used: The Joy of Cooking. It’s cover has decayed and many of the pages are stained, but it’s so easy to follow, simple and reliable. I’m not a fan of recipes that include obscure ingredients or fancy equipment. (No air fryer or sous vide or crockpot even …)

And then there are all the recipes I’ve cut out or printed over the years, which I keep in a series of manila folders (Mains, Desserts, Soups…)

DEBS: For some reason, I've never really cooked from Joy, even though I have the 1970s edition and the newer one. You Joy fans will have to list me some of your favorites to try.

JULIA SPENCER-FLEMING: Ladies, I have to confess. I cook because I like to eat. Any small stirrings of cooking as a creative act were trampled underfoot by thirty years of making dinners (and lunches) for a family of five. If I could hire someone to make delicious, healthy meals for me, I’d do it in a minute, and I’d never open the oven again except to re-heat take-out pizza.

That being said, if I am looking for a recipe for a dish I’ve never made before, my technique is to search with a list of the main ingredients, see what pops up, and then sort the recipes by the number of reviews and how many stars each one received. Then I go back and forth, reading several of them. Sometimes, I choose just one. Other times, I mix and match. If a dish was a success, I’ll bookmark it, which is the modern version of the manila folders with newspaper and magazine clippings which I, like Hallie, collected.

Where are they now? I guess we’ll find out when my Swedish Death Cleaning is complete.

DEBS: Julia, mine in are the kitchen bookshelf, and I do actually use some of them!

RHYS BOWEN:  I have become anti-cooking. After fifty years of feeding a family every night all I want is a personal chef to call me when dinner is on the table and delight my senses. But one thing I do still enjoy is making soups in the winter. My friend Susan Shea gave me a lovely book called Sunday Soups for Christmas and I have already tried a couple of them.

I do save recipes I see online but I have to confess that my rule for trying them is now how good they might taste but how many ingredients they have. If I scan down and read “first grate the ginger, crush the garlic and saute the xxx then put aside while you…”  No. My favorite meals these days are things like lamb chops, asparagus and new potatoes or pan fried petrale sole. 

DEBS: So many of the NYT recipes tell you that you can make them in 30 minutes. I will tell you that THEY LIE. I used to think I was just a really bad cook because things would take me at least twice as long, but I see other people in the NYT comments saying that they lie! Maybe in a professional kitchen, with someone to prep...

HANK PHILLIPPI RYAN: I think I get a newsletter from–All Recipes? Which I never make anything from, but I get ideas. Like–oh, I have chicken and mushrooms, and that’s an interesting way to put them together. And then I do it my way. Sometimes I enter the ingredients I have, and see what it comes with that’s different. I am less and less inclined to try something complicated. I have NO time for that.

I do have a stash of cookbooks, though, and if I need any advice, I go to Mark Bittman or the Blue Strawberry Cookbook. They always know.  I will never give up my young-bride compilation of recipes clipped from the Washington post and who knows where else, some in handwriting on  peoples index cards and some weird copies from an office copier (I bet) and all taped with now-yellowed and brittle scotch tape into spiral steno pads. I bet it has chicken divan and fondue sauces and chicken Kiev and french onion soup (Julia Child's) and boeuf bourguignon and fettucini Alfredo.Things like that.

Recently I calculated that in the time I’ve been married to Jonathan I have probably cooked 7500 dinners. Just saying.

JENN McKINLAY: I don’t cook so while I love looking at cookbooks — the Magnolia Bakery cookbook is divine! — I handed my apron to the Hub during the pandemic and never took it back. So recipe searching isn’t for me, although I will ask the Hub to cook chicken or fish or whatever I’m hankering and he is wonderfully accommodating and a much better cook than I am. 

DEBS: How about it, dear readers? Do you reach for a cookbook, look up a dinner recipe online--or order out!

Brad Parks--With Friends Like These...

DEBORAH CROMBIE: Here at JRW we know we can always count on Brad Parks for a witty and entertaining post--as well as terrific thrillers. Today he's here to celebrate his latest, THE FLACK, and, well, I'll let him tell you about it!

With Friends Like These...

 

BRAD PARKS: Thanks, Deb! It’s always great to be back here at Jungle Red.

Everyone here knows I’m a rascal who likes to stir the pot, so today I’m going to ask you to think about a friend.

And not just any friend. Your best friend.

Hopefully you have one. Or maybe, if you’re really lucky, even more than one.

Whatever the case, you know who the person is: Your bestie. Your ride or die. Your rock. That person who would not only help you move, they’d help you move a body.

            You know, like the kind of friends you have here at Jungle Red. (Especially in the move-a-body department . . . I have it on good authority Rhys is an expert.)

My latest novel, The Flack, features two such friends.

Curt Hinton and Angel Reddish were college roommates at Northwestern who—despite differences in background and temperament—turn into close companions and confidantes, the kind of friends guys don’t always have anymore.

(It’s true: Did you know men are fifty percent more likely than women to report that they have zero close friends, according to the Survey Center on American Life? And people wonder why we die sooner.)

            Angel and Curt went their separate ways after college graduation but remained BFFs. Curt launched a career in journalism. Angel became a rising star in the logistics industry, eventually landing a spot as chief operating officer at Balco, the Bay Area Logistics Company.

            Which is how, at the beginning of The Flack, they are reunited. With Curt’s newspaper sliding into financial oblivion, Angel comes to the rescue, helping him land a job at Balco as vice president of corporate communications—a “flack” as they’re known in newspaper jargon.

            It’s a plush gig: a $350,000 salary; plus a housing stipend, a $50,000 signing bonus, and a free Rivian to zip around in. And it couldn’t come at a better time, since Curt’s wife is pregnant with their first child. It has that happily-ever-after feel to it . . .

Except—this being crime fiction—there has to be a twist, and there has to be a crime.

            It turns out Angel has been keeping a secret from Curt.

It’s a pretty big one.

And—this isn’t much of a spoiler, since it happens on page two—it gets Angel killed. As Curt begins to investigate, it sends him down a very dangerous road. I can’t say too much more (because then it would get spoiler-y), but it does make me think about friends and secrets and leads me to that stir-the-pot question I want to ask:

What’s the biggest secret your best friend ever kept from you?

How did it come to light? Did you understand why they didn’t tell you? Did it cause a rift in your relationship or were you able to forgive them?

 

I’ll be giving away a free autographed copy of The Flack to one random commenter. For more about me, visit bradparksbooks.com. For more about moving bodies, ask Rhys.

 

Seriously. She’s good.

 

International bestselling author Brad Parks is the only writer to have won the Shamus, Nero, and Lefty Awards, three of crime fiction’s most prestigious prizes. His novels have been translated into sixteen languages and won critical acclaim around the globe. The proud father of two terrific kids, he splits his time between Virginia and California.

DEBS: Okay, I'm snickering, and wondering just exactly what bodies Rhys has moved!

Readers, confess your bestie's secret--or just say "hi"--in the comments, and you'll be entered to win a copy of THE FLACK!

 

 

Neighborhood Bookstores

DEBORAH CROMBIE: There's been much in the news lately–hooray for some good tidings–about the resurgence of physical bookstores. Barnes & Noble is expanding–we have a gorgeous new store in a suburb nearer us than the old one, a definite cause for celebration.

But an even bigger cause for celebration is that we now have our very own  neighborhood bookstore! It's called, appropriately enough, NEIGHBOR BOOKS, and is on our historic town square here in downtown McKinney, less than a mile from our house.

This is a huge deal for us, as until now our closest bookstore has been our Half Price Books–not that I'm dissing Half Price! They are great, and have hosted lovely events for me in the past. But there is nothing that compares to having a good general bookstore nearby. Neighbor Books stocks everything from classics to the latest best sellers. They also discount books for a small monthly or yearly membership fee. This is a classic mom-and-pop (Joey and Ginny!) business and we want to do all we can to support them. I'm not sure what the space originally housed, but we know it dates back to 1888 and it's great to see our old buildings housed so creatively.

I ordered (because they'd sold out) a copy (probably insanely considering the weight of the hardcover!) of THE LONELINESS OF SONIA AND SUNNY by Kiran Desai, and while it's lovely that the store will special order anything for you, the best thing about the shop is browsing. On my first visit I found a gorgeous rerelease of E. Nesbit's THE RAILWAY CHILDREN, which I had never read.

I took it home and spent the rest of the day reading it from cover to cover. What a treat! This book was foundational for 20th century English children's literature and I don't know how I managed to have such a gap in my reading. (Nesbit herself is a character for another post–I'll just say that those Edwardians really got up to some stuff!)

Dear REDs, are you lucky enough to have a neighborhood bookstore?

RHYS BOWEN:  I’m the luckiest person in the world because my neighborhood bookstore in California is Book Passage. I’ve known owner Elaine for over 40 years and always launch my books there. I’m also on the faculty ( with Hallie) of their annual mystery conference. They are a true neighborhood magnet with classes and events every night. And they host all the big names. I have found myself speaking between Hilary Clinton and Amy Tan!

Also my neighborhood store in Arizona is the Poisoned Pen. Owner Barbara Peters is a dear friend and regular lunches with her are a highlight of my time in Arizona. Every mystery writer in the world comes to The Pen! I love stopping by to meet friends. 

HALLIE EPHRON: Though they’re on the other coast, I’m a huge fan of the Poisoned Pen and Book Passage. The owners are brilliant at what they do. Survivors and thrivers and nurturers! And, as we say here in Boston, “wicked smaht.”

And there’s a new independent bookstore that just opened near me - The Next Chapter Books in Quincy, MA. They are filling a long empty void. Come to Quincy for the Asian food and the history; stay for the books!

LUCY BURDETTE: I too am very lucky with bookstores! In Key West, we have two with quite different personalities. Key West Island Books is small and quirky with lots of local books and used books too. Suzanne has hand sold hundreds and hundreds of the Key West mysteries. We also have Books and Books, a nonprofit founded by Judy Blume and her hub. It’s much more modern and literary and very fun to browse. In Connecticut, we have one of the best bookstores in the country, RJ Julia Booksellers. I’ve had almost all of my launches there. It’s gorgeous and they have so many wonderful author events. It’s a dream for a book addict like myself!

JULIA SPENCER-FLEMING: I’m going to start with a quote from The Penobscot Bay Pilot: “According to a 2023 story by MaineBiz, there are roughly 37 independent bookstores in Maine. With a population of 1.3 million people, that works out to be one bookstore per 35,000 people as opposed to the national average of one bookstore per 54,299 people.” Yay, Maine!

I have an embarrassment of riches when it comes to local bookstores. My closest one, about a 13 minute drive away, is The Bookworm, which is in a two-hundred year old house STUFFED with new and used tomes. In Portland, I love PRINT: A Bookstore (that’s how they spell it) for co-owner Josh Christie’s appreciation of mysteries. (It’s also the best place around to get progressive and queer literature for my daughter and daughter-in-law.)

If I’m on my way up to visit said daughter (and my grandson!!) I can stop at Gulf of Maine in Brunswick, and If I’m staying in Bar Harbor (which everyone should do at least once in their life) there’s Sherman’s, a Maine small chain which is up to ten stores throughout the state. 

You know, the state motto is “The Way Life Should Be,” and honestly, I think the profusion of local bookstores is a big part of that!

HANK PHILLIPPI RYAN:  Well, of course, Barbara Peters is the bookstore queen and fairy godmother to all.

Around here, we have some amazing bookstores! Ten minutes away, Newtonville Books, whose brilliant owner Mary Cotton was the mastermind behind my movie theater launch of ALL THIS. (Her first store hosted my very first bookstore event! Imagine that! 20 years ago.)

And An Unlikely Story, where I have interviewed many a bestselling star–Ware! Jewell! Sager! Abrams!--is absolutely magical. Jeff Kinney (yes,the Wimpy Kid) is the owner, and he is a flat out genius. (I’ll be there next week interviewing Adele Parks!)

A bit farther from home but still “neighborhood”--BookLove in Plymouth, and as Hallie mentioned Next Chapter Books, and if you are on the Cape, you must visit the wonderful Titcomb’s.

JENN McKINLAY: I just just checked the distance on Google Maps. I am exactly 3 miles from the Poisoned Pen Bookstore in Scottsdale. Hub and I love being so close. We shop there at least once a month, go see authors we love who are passing through, and have become close friends with the owners and staff, who are the best in the biz. Very lucky! 

DEBS: Readers, do you have a neighborhood bookstore? Tell us all about it!

I should add if you don't have a regular neighborhood store, many of the stores mentioned offer online sales. Two of my favorites are The Poisoned Pen and Murder by the Book (in Houston.)

Lori Rader-Day--What's Your Obsession?

DEBORAH CROMBIE: I am such a fan of Lori Rader-Day and I am beyond chuffed to have her visiting us again here on JRW. And this book, WRECK YOUR HEART, I have to tell you, is an absolute corker! It's a pick-it-up-and-don't-put-it-down read, so I'm warning you. Block out some time for this one. 

And this cover?? If there were awards for most fun covers, this one would definitely be in the running!

What’s your obsession?

By Lori Rader-Day

I have been lucky enough to be invited to visit Jungle Red Writers for every one of my books.

In my guests posts here, I have talked about Muppets and nail polish and cookies made of ground-up angel’s wings. About the metaphor of the time loop in the movie Groundhog’s Day reflecting the realities of writing. On the death of Saturday morning cartoons, the “Dukes of Hazzard,” and the hazards of nostalgia. About the fantastic cream teas and afternoon teas I’ve enjoyed as “research.” About stargazing and my cousin the astronaut and my childhood, viewed from the back of a motorcycle. And about the playlists I have always made for my books, from the music I listen to as I write.

But really? I have only one topic, no matter what I’m writing about.

Obsession.

Writing is all about obsession, absorption. What can I care enough about to spend the vast amounts of time required to write a novel? What can I care about, even as the muddled middle stagnates, as the first draft’s finish reveals my disappointments and the long road of revision ahead? What can I care about all the way to the last, teeny, tiny edit, when I can finally let it go? 

(My agent once said of my editing process, "No one does it like this, Lori," and I am still chilled by that.)

Time passing means we never cross the same river twice, as the saying goes. What I’m obsessed with right now might be spent in the process of writing, used up, and I’ll never think about it again. (Except when I’m holding up a copy of the book in front of readers and explaining why they should join me in my obsession, at least for a few hundred pages.) I might regret the loss of that obsession, that glorious time when I was able to dedicate myself fully to a topic, when it was my job to care so much about, say, the historical records of one lovely English house once owned by Agatha Christie.

 

(It was a lovely time to be obsessed with Agatha's house while I was stuck in mine in the pandemic lockdown.)

As writers we get asked a lot… isn’t it easier to write a book once you’ve already done it a few times? The truth is… no. It gets harder. One of the reasons this is true, I suspect, is that we are worried about stepping into that river and finding the same water. We don’t want to write the same book over and over. Even series authors want to outdo themselves from book to book. But as a standalone author, I am at pains to keep discovering new things to obsess over to form the basis of my character’s job and life and dilemma. For each book, I must learn enough to, if not to become the leading worldwide expert, then at least not embarrass myself. As someone who is research averse, it’s about finding new topics I don’t mind spending the time on.

For my latest book, Wreck Your Heart, it was music.

Am I a musician? No more than I was a sociology professor, hotel cleaner, handwriting expert, night-sky photographer, construction company administrator, or a rejected and reassigned World War II nurse. No more than I was a mother, or widowed, or kidnapped as a child, or Agatha freaking Christie herself. I write fiction, so I’m allowed to play with these roles, imagine and reimagine what these lives might be like so that my readers receive the same opportunity.

If I do my job right, my readers will wonder about each character… is their obsession mine?

For instance: Am I a good singer? No. But I was willing to put the time the vocalist protagonist of Wreck Your Heart needed. Oh, poor me. I had to listen to music (which I would have been doing anyway; here’s the playlist for Wreck Your Heart). I was compelled to read memoirs by some of my favorite recording artists. I was forced to witness the awe of the shared experience of a live music audience, to watch how audiences interact with performers, how stage lighting paints skin. Again and again, concert after concert, poor me.

(See that little woman with the big shadow on the wall? Look for her in Wreck Your Heart!)

Actually, though Wreck Your Heart is about a musician yearning for rockstar status, the book became, in the end, about obsession, about putting your whole self into what you care about, about laying yourself open to criticism and derision and vulnerability by being your truest self. Loving something or someone fully is what makes us human. The thing you love most can be the lens through which you see the world in all its brightest colors.

I said it to Jungle Red Writers readers long ago: obsession is good for you. It’s been good to me. As soon as I figure out my next obsession, I’ll start singing about it. So to speak.

What are you obsessed with, Jungle Red readers? Tell me everything.

Here's more about WRECK YOUR HEART: 

Ann Cleeves called it “wisecracking and wonderful.” Elle Cosimano called it “Phenomenal.” Library Journal and Publisher’s Weekly both gave the book starred reviews. 

 

The book is the instant USA Today bestseller Wreck Your Heart, a crime novel with a big heart, about a country and midwestern singer out to catch her big break before family—or murder—wrecks everything.

 

Dahlia “Doll” Devine had the kind of hardscrabble beginning they write country songs about. As part of Chicago’s—yes, Chicago’s—country music scene, Dahlia is an up-and-coming singer in spangles and boots of classic country tunes. Up and coming, that is, until her boyfriend up and went, taking the rent money with him.

 

So Dahlia is back to square one, crashing in the apartment over McPhee’s Tavern where she performs and relying on the kindness of the pub’s owner—again. When the mother Dahlia hasn’t spoken to in twenty years shows up and then disappears again—really disappears, leaving a distraught half-sister Dahlia didn’t know she had—and a body is discovered outside McPhee’s, the two mysteries threaten not just the place Dahlia has made into a home, but everything she’s believed about her past, her dreams for the future, and the people she was just, maybe, beginning to let into her heart.

Lori Rader-Day is the USA Today bestselling author of eight novels including Wreck Your Heart, The Death of Us, Death at Greenway, The Lucky One, and Under a Dark Sky. She has been nominated for crime fiction’s highest award, the Edgar Award, and has won the Mary Higgins Clark Award, the Agatha Award, three Anthony Awards, and an Indiana Author Award. She has also been nominated for Thriller, Barry, and Macavity awards. Lori is a former national president of Sisters in Crime and a former national board member of Mystery Writers of America. She lives in Chicago, where she co-chairs the crime fiction readers’ event Midwest Mystery Conference and teaches creative writing at Northwestern University. Visit her at www.LoriRaderDay.com.

DEBS: And you can stop in today to say hi and tell Lori all about your obsessions!