Rhys Spreads a Little Christmas Cheer

RHYS BOWEN: This has been the week when the Reds take over the world. Well, not quite. Writers are known to embellish the truth, but this week we are celebrating THREE Reds releases, which is pretty amazing, don't you think.

And Ingrid has kindly given me a day to talk a little about mine. It's called THE GHOST OF CHRISTMAS PAST and is a Molly Murphy book--as you can guess from the cover it's another Christmas story. Having already published two books this year, In Farleigh Field in the spring and On Her Majesty's Frightfully Secret Service in August, I really didn't have time to write a third book this year. I mean, only a crazy person (or maybe our darling Jenn) would think of writing three books in a year. But my publisher kept on at me: couldn't I find time for maybe a shorter book, a Christmas book? And in the end it was easier to say yes.

And my editor said, "Do you have an idea for another Christmas book?"
 And off the top of my head I replied, "How about on Christmas Eve a small child walks out into the snow and simply vanishes. The footsteps just stop."
And she said, "Ooh, I love it!"
And as I walked away I remember thinking, "I have absolutely no idea how I'm going to make that work!"

But it did work, and I think you'll find it both suspenseful and heartwarming. As with all my Molly books, her own story is always woven into the plot. And this time she is in a dark place--I won't tell you why. You have to read the book. But finding this young mother's tragic story helps her to heal from her own depression.

So Jenn and I will be part of the Poisoned Pen holiday party in Scottsdale tomorrow at 2 p.m. and we'll be happy to sign copies for you (books make great Christmas presents. Think of Iceland!)

Also this week marks another huge anniversary for me and real cause for celebration: TWENTY YEARS AGO THIS WEEK MY FIRST MYSTERY WAS PUBLISHED.  Evans Above. With a print run of 2500. And an advance so small that... well let's just say it took care of a trip to Starbucks.

This should be a heartening tale for those of you at the start of your writing careers. I knew nobody in the mystery community. I had zero encouragement from my publisher. My book was on the very last page of the catalog. And in addition to those, when I should have been trying to publicize the book I was instead in Australia with my mum who was dying of pancreatic cancer.

 But I had a three book contract--there was a glimmer of hope. I joined SinC and MWA. I went to as many bookstores as I could. And my second book was nominated for a Barry Award: on a list with Michael Connelly, Ian Rankin, Jeffrey Deaver: I thought someone was playing a cruel joke when they sent me the notification. But it was true. And it gave me tremendous hope. Important people thought my book was worth reading!

My one piece of luck was that in those days there was a mystery bookstore in almost every city. My husband retired and together we criss-crossed the country signing and speaking at any bookstore that would have me. Usually with an audience of 2 or three. Robin Agnew at Aunt Agathas reminded me that the first time it was herself and one Welsh woman at my signing. Last summer they had to hold my event at the library because the store wasn't big enough!

Exactly the same with the Poisoned Pen. Only three or four people but Barbara Peters believed in me and kept inviting me back and now it's quite normal to sell over 100 books there.

 So you beginning writers here is my message: Have faith. Believe in your own talent. Write the best book you can, every time. Be partners with as many bookstores as possible. Speak anywhere you are asked. Make the most of the all the great opportunities MWA and SinC offer you and realize that for most of us it is small steps forward.  Unless the publisher offers you a six figure advance you are not going to get any real help from them. It's all up to you!

So keep working hard. Next February will see the publication of my FORTIETH mystery/suspense novel. Again it's historical and it's called THE TUSCAN CHILD.  And one day you might switch on your computer to see this:

Okay, I realize that the other two are in this position habitually and I only pop in occasionally but it's still very nice!

And I'm happy to give away a signed copy of THE GHOST OF CHRISTMAS PAST to one lucky commenter today!  All you'll need is a roaring fire, a cup of tea and a box of chocolates and you're all set for the season!

Hooray for James Ziskin and Ellie Stone!

INGRID THOFT

It would require a separate blog entry to list the accolades garnered by James Ziskin's Ellie Stone series, but let's start with nominations for Edgar, Barry, Anthony, and Lefty Awards.  The latest installment, Cast the First Stone, will be released next week and is receiving rave reviews (including my own).  I'm thrilled that Jim could stop by to tell us about Ellie's latest adventure and answer your questions.

INGRID: Let's talk about your main character, Ellie Stone.  What inspired you to write a female character based in the 1960’s?

JIM: Through the first five novels, Ellie is a twenty-something woman in 1960-62. She was born in 1937 into a cultured, academic family in Manhattan. A series of family tragedies has left her the last Stone standing. She now works for a small-town daily newspaper in upstate New Holland, New York, where she must use her guile to do a man’s job while wearing a skirt. She’s not consciously aware of blazing any trails for women; she just wants a career that doesn’t come with a boss’s hand on the rear.

I wanted to make things as interesting and as tough as I could for my fictional newspaper reporter. Constant, regular challenges and conflict. That's part of the reason why I chose to write a female character set in the not-too-distant past. The early 1960s interested me because of the moment in history. We were entering a new decade that would bring political upheaval, war, the women’s movement, and the sexual revolution. But the Ellie Stone books predate those cultural seisms by a few years. Ellie’s both a witness and a catalyst in a changing world, one drink and one man at a time.

IPT: What do readers think about Ellie? 

JWZ: People seem to react to her better and better as the series progresses, perhaps because they’re getting to know her. It’s always a challenge when you introduce new characters. It takes some time for readers to feel comfortable with them, especially if you take some chances. Sometimes writers overreach and try to cram too much personality or backstory or description into the first pages of a new series.  Of course, in the best of all worlds, the writer achieves the perfect balance, and character and reader hit it off instantly.

But the most consistent feedback I get from readers about Ellie is that they love her spirit. She’s tough without being harsh. Wickedly funny and passionately empathetic at the same time. And they worry about her. She has some “bad” habits—drinking, smoking, putting herself at risk. And, of course, men. Readers often wish she’d be more careful. I think that’s great. It means they care about her. But I like to ask readers, “Do you wish Jack Reacher would take fewer chances?”

IPT: Bravo to that question!  Can you tell me about your time working in the film industry?  Has that played a role in your writing?

JWZ: My time in Hollywood was on the post-production side, specifically subtitling, translation, and visual effects. We translated and subtitled thousands of films and television shows (from Citizen Kane to Duck Dynasty) into as many as fifty languages. All of it contributed to my understanding of storytelling. One thing I realized early on was to appreciate the work screenwriters did, even on a bad movie. The screenplay made sense of the story.

I confess, however, that I did not learn about scriptwriting in any traditional sense. At least not the three-act structure people talk about. For my purposes, I call that “beginning, middle, and end.” It’s something I feel intuitively when telling a story, and I try not overthink it.

Translation, too, teaches valuable lessons about narration. Finding the right words, telling the story succinctly, reducing to the bare minimum without losing the essentials of the plot and the characters. And that goes for visual effects as well. There’s a visual lexicon in film that can be applied to description and action in fiction as well. Visualizing a scene helps me construct my narrative.

IPT: What has surprised you most about becoming a published author?

JWZ: How quickly one book turns into five with a sixth in progress. If you take it professionally, you’ll be surprised how productive you can be.

And a couple of other things. One, how generous mystery writers are. I love meeting and talking to writers and readers, and worry that too many writers miss out on this perk. At conferences and readings, they might see someone who intimidates them, who looks too shy, and they avoid that person. I want to search out people like that. I’ve met some great friends in this industry that way, readers and writers. I’ve learned a lot from them. Received invaluable feedback and support. And thanks to the generosity of the “big” writers, you can approach them. Even the biggest names give generously of their time.

And two, I am appreciative and so impressed by the work publishers do. Editing, cover design, and publicity. Of course, I knew there were people who did those things. But when you actually witness it up close, it’s remarkable how good the final product turns out.

IPT: Is there a wannabe book lurking in the back of your brain?  Something you would write if you didn’t have to consider agents, editors, and fans?  A romance? Sci-fi?

JWZ: Well, actually, the Ellie Stone books were those wannabe books once upon a time. I didn’t know if anyone would want to read a 1960, twenty-something female newspaper scribbler written by a man of certain age. But I fell so hard for Ellie, I sensed others might too. She’s just so fun to write.

But I also have other ideas brewing. Lots of them. A couple of thrillers in particular. Not modern-day thrillers, but throwbacks to the 1970s. The Cold War provided a fantastic backdrop for stories, don’t you think? I particularly love Frederick Forsyth. And Graham Greene. I’d like to write like them. How’s that for aiming high?

Jim is giving away a copy of Cast the First Stone.  Just comment to enter!

CAST THE FIRST STONE
February 1962: Tony Eberle has just scored his first role in a Hollywood movie, and the publisher of his hometown newspaper in upstate New York wants a profile of the local boy who’s made good. Reporter Ellie Stone is dispatched to Los Angeles for the story. But when she arrives on set to meet her subject, Tony has vanished. His agent is stumped, the director is apoplectic, and the producer is dead. Murdered.

Ellie is on the story, diving headfirst into a treacherous demimonde of Hollywood wannabes, beautiful young men, desperately ambitious ingénues, panderers, and pornography hobbyists. Then there are some real movie stars with reputations to protect. To find the killer, Ellie must separate the lies from the truth, unearthing secrets no one wants revealed along the way. But before she can solve Bertram Wallis’s murder, she must locate Tony Eberle.


James Ziskin (Jim to his friends) is the author of the Edgar-, Anthony-, Barry-, and Lefty-nominated Ellie Stone Mysteries. A linguist by training, James studied Romance Languages and Literature at the University of Pennsylvania. After completing his graduate degree, he worked in New York as a photo-news producer and writer, and then as Director of NYU’s Casa Italiana. He spent fifteen years in the Hollywood post production industry, running large international operations in the subtitling/localization and visual effects fields. His international experience includes two years working and studying in France, extensive time in Italy, and more than three years in India. He speaks Italian and French. James lives in Seattle. He’s represented by William Reiss of John Hawkins and Associates, Inc.

Surprises! Thoughts for the New Year.

RHYS BOWEN: I'm the sort of person who loves surprises. I still remember the time my father surprised me with an expensive gift I'd always wanted but never dared to ask for one Christmas. My husband John is very generous but tell him to surprise me for a special occasion and I'll get either nothing or a book on battles of WW2 (yes, he really gave me that one year). He does not think outside the box.

 So as we look back at the year and as every program on TV has its top ten events of the year list I thought I'd ask my Jungle Red sisters for a single happening that surprised them, either pleasantly or not.
 For me, in a year of good things career-wise (like being #1 in Mystery on Amazon for a couple of heady days) the big surprise of the year was seeing my son's proposal to his fiancée on YouTube while I was on a ship in the Mediterranean. They'd been together for two years so not a complete surprise but it was still a shock to go on Facebook and read that Dominic had changed his status!

 And is there one thing you hope will happen this year--something you're looking forward to or wishing for (or even dreading?). We're all looking forward to Dominic and Meredith's wedding this summer--up on a mountain above Clear Lake CA, and the wedding party all sleeping in yurts afterward. Quite an adventure! I'm also hoping to attend the Warsaw book fair as my books apparently sell well in Poland. Who knew!

 So do share, JRW Sisters--something that surprised you this year and something you wish for in 2014.

HALLIE EPHRON: Yurts? Yikes. 

I confess I don't watch my Amazon numbers, but I hope when I hit it big someone will be watching and let me know. Nothing has topped the birth of our first grandchild. I know, bo-ring. But really, it's just about the best thing I've ever (not actually) done. Second best, getting "There Was an Old Woman" on Sarah Weinman's top 10 list of 2013 crime novels..

Looking forward to getting comments back from my editor and getting the new book exactly the way I want it. And then taking a few weeks off writing bettween books. That I am REALLY looking forward to.

 All to all the Reds and readers I wish a happy, healthy, productive and fun year ahead.

SUSAN ELIA MACNEAL: Happy New Year! Last January, I traveled solo to Edinburgh and Arisaig to research the Special Operation Executive (SOE) spy-training camps for THE PRIME MINISTER'S SECRET AGENT. I never expected that I would absolutely and completely fall in love with Scotland! It was also an incredibly positive experience for me to go on my own — I spend a lot of time in the roles of wife, mother, and daughter-in-law, and it was freeing and eye-opening to spend so much time on my own. And I still can't believe how gorgeous Scotland is — even (perhaps especially?) in winter. I feel privileged to have visited and met so many new friends.

And last year — making the New York Times bestseller list was pretty darned great! And being nominated for an Edgar Award, as well as the Dilys Award, Sue Federer Historical Fiction Award, Macavity Award and then winning the Barry Award. And being asked to join the Jungle Red Writers!

 In 2014? I'd like to keep my sanity doing this wife/mom/novelist/elder-caretaker thing…. And I'm also looking forward to the publication of THE PRIME MINISTER'S SECRET AGENT in the summer of 2014 and writing THE FIRST LADY'S CONFIDANTE.

I wish a happy and healthy New Year to my fellow Reds and fellow readers!

 HANK PHILLIPPI RYAN: HAPPY NEW YEAR! What do I wish for? I daren't even say.

 Last year, oh, well of course--standing with Mary Higgins Clark as THE OTHER WOMAN on the MHC award? I still almost burst into tears when I think of it.
 THE WRONG GIRL is on several best of lists, and up for an award already!
 TRUTH BE TOLD is coming. and I am about to type "chapter one" of WHAT YOU SEE. Perfect for New Year's Day, huh?

I still feel like such a newbie author, so every day is filled with joy and panic and possibilities. Hard to imagine what might happen in 2014--honestly? I'm trying not to. One day at a time.

But I do love you all...and wish you every happiness. And oh, good health. Very very very good health.

LUCY BURDETTE: Our trip to Paris and Provence was not a surprise--but it was completely lovely. Maybe it was surprising that I was able to bike 20 miles a day (though my bike and I did spend some time walking up the steep parts!) The food and the scenery and the company (my sister, brother-in-law, and hub) were delightful.

As for next year, I look forward to more writing, and to the publication of MURDER WITH GANACHE, which I think is my favorite book yet. (Though I've probably thought that with every book right before it came out:).

Happy New Year to all my JRW family--I'm so grateful for each of you! xoxo

JULIA SPENCER-FLEMING: Oh, goodness. Surprises. THROUGH THE EVIL DAYS making the USA TODAY list. Discovering Youngest seems to be naturally gifted at archery (I know, who would guess?) Getting to go on a lengthy booktour (I thought it was all internet these days. Thankfully, I was wrong.) Highlights: having a terrific time at the Edgar Awards weekend (and being there when Hank won the Mary Higgins Clark award!) Our family weeks at Pemaquid Point and in DC. The Boy's high school graduation, and moving him into Trinity College for the first time.

What I'm looking forward to in 2014: The Smithie's graduation. The Youngest starts high school (I can't believe it!) Finishing HID FROM OUR EYES. And, through it seems like stealing fate, fall 2014 will mark four years cancer-free for Ross - one year closer to that all-important number five. Oh, and something fun - getting together with you all at Bouchercon and trying yet another wacky Jungle Red game show!

What I'm grateful for? All my friends and sisters here at JRW! Happy New Year!

DEBORAH CROMBIE: Surprises in 2013? THE SOUND OF BROKEN GLASS breaking (excuse the pun) the top ten on the New York Times Hardcover Bestseller list was a whopper!  But I think I was even more surprised by the emotional punch. It was the last day of my tour, with a signing in Dallas. I stood up in front of a room full of people, many of them old friends and friends of my parents, and came unglued. That was a first in all my years of book signings...

I was surprised by my daughter's wedding.  Not surprised that she got married, but that she decided she wanted a wedding, as she'd always said she didn't.  And surprised by how absolutely lovely and perfect it all was. (Not a bit surprised that she was an exquisite bride, or by how much I love my son-in-law!)

And I was surprised by how hard it was to lose my mother.  She was ninety-two and had been ill for years--had, in fact, been on hospice for the last three and a half years, so it certainly wasn't unexpected.  But I don't think anything can prepare you for that sense of loss.

All in all, a very eventful year, made richer and better, in every way, by the support and friendship of my fellow Reds.  Wishing all of you, and all of our readers, a sparkling and brilliant 2014!

RHYS: And I second that. Also how blessed I feel by the support and friendship of my fellow Jungle Reds, and our online friends too! Raising my champagne glass to you all!