But Who Is She? a guest post by Cara Black

 LUCY BURDETTE: Reds, I’m delighted to welcome our long-time friend Cara Black back to the blog. You probably know her as the author of 21 bestselling Aimee Leduc mysteries set in Paris, but she’s here to introduce something new. You know I will always follow her to Paris...Welcome Cara!

CARA BLACK: 

Bienvenue, Reds and readers, to Huguette! 

But who is she?

Unlike most of my stories, which begin with a “What if . . .?” Huguette began with a “Who is she?” 

I referred to the mistress of Aimée’s treasured grandfather Claude in several of my Aimée Leduc books set in Paris. he always remained a cipher, making me wonder—who is this woman? Granted, she was only a small detail within the Aiméeverse. Aimée herself wasn’t even born when this novel takes place. If you haven’t read the Aimée Leduc series, no worries, this story stands alone.

Huguette’s life reflects the reality of existence  in postwar France, a little-addressed subject in fiction, though very real and within living memory. This time fascinated me. I knew there had to be more than just what is seen in Libération–era photos of GIs kissing French girls on the Champs-Élysées, popping Champagne, and handing out chocolate. That, combined with the stories I heard about the French cinema from a friend’s mother, spurred me to explore this era. The more I researched, the more I wanted to understand what it would feel like if I wasn’t one of the lucky wearing Dior’s new look in 1947. If, facing rationing, power cuts, and equipment shortages in postwar France, I had to fight to survive. 

That brought me to the character of Huguette. An orphaned young woman struggling with the odds stacked against her—and forced to make tough moral choices for the sake of her own survival. Once I had answered the question “Who is she?” I could pursue “What is her story?” and finally, “What if . . . ?”

Though many of Huguette’s circumstances are specific to the times she lives in, I’ve faced plenty of struggles and hard decisions of my own. Difficult choices when it seems like one can’t win for losing. Maybe you can relate to this, Huguette’s journey and resilience may resonate with you. 

Have you experienced a dilemma and knew the outcome would be life changing? And in so doing find an inner strength? 

Let me know.

Cara Black is the author of twenty-one books in the New York Times bestselling Aimée Leduc series as well as the WWII thrillers Three Hours in Paris and Night Flight to Paris. She has won the Médaille de la Ville de Paris and the Médaille d’Or du Rayonnement Culturel and received multiple nominations for the Anthony and Macavity Awards; her books have been translated into German, Norwegian, Japanese, French, Spanish, Italian, and Hebrew. Her latest book HUGUETTE, a novel of Libération comes out in December.

Cara Black---Night Flight to Paris

DEBORAH CROMBIE: It is always such a treat for us to have Cara Black visit on Jungle Red--we fight over who gets to host her! And I'm thrilled to see Kate Rees, Cara's WWII sharpshooter heroine from THREE HOURS IN PARIS, back in her new novel, NIGHT FLIGHT TO PARIS. Just the title gives me goosebumps! Here's Cara to take us on a little virtual adventure!

 

—— Bonjour Reds,

    Thanks for inviting me, Debs. It’s great to visit all you Jungle Reds again. In my story, NIGHT FLIGHT TO PARIS, I explore friendships, especially between women. Who can you rely on and who can you trust when you’re not supposed to trust anyone. And during wartime when your life depends on it?

    Kate Rees, an Oregonian born on a backwoods ranch during the Depression, was raised using a rifle to protect the ranch and hunt game. We’ve met her in the preceding book, THREE HOURS IN PARIS. She’s got a bit of Annie Oakley in her and descends from frontier women. So Kate, now a young widow with sharpshooting skills, finds herself stranded in WW2 Britain. When the British intelligence service discovers this - what better skill to use against the enemy, the Germans, and avenge her family?

    I love research. For me it involves visiting the Spy Museum in Washington, DC to see historical spy gadgets, consulting the French archives and collections of the Imperial War museum in London. And going to Paris! The best part of my job! Debs, I think you might agree with there about going to research in London, right?

    Walking the ground of these cities and places is research for me - it’s about capturing the play of light, the nuances and being in actual places where history/the war happened. To feel the past on a cobbled street in Paris, sites of the Blitz. Visiting Churchill’s war rooms in London was like walking into another time. I could almost touch history at the battle sites and memorials in North Africa. So the challenge is while I visit the places I write about in NIGHT FLIGHT TO PARIS: crawled in the tunnels and Catacombs under Paris, toured the Hotel Lutetia in Paris where the German Abwehr - military intelligence - was headquartered - and walked the Cairo streets, I didn’t go there in 1942. I wish I could time travel. Any writer faces this challenge writing historical fiction and we - at least I do - draw on shared universal experiences. Do my best to evoke another time and place bringing in sensory details.

    I got stranded once in Cairo - robbed in the train station which left me broke. Long story but with a surprisingly happy ending and a good Egyptian friend I have to this day. However, this sense of being stranded in a foreign country where I couldn’t speak the language or even read streets signs brought me to where Kate Rees, my protagonist might be. Her fear. The alienation and otherness she would feel, the myriad difficulties she’d encounter with no one she could trust. Her senses on overload from a place exotic and foreign to her as it was to me.

    My eyes were opened reading the accounts, memoirs and archived letters of young women who worked in the WW2 British Signals division. Amazing heroic stuff and so little known. Only now are various intelligence documents being de-classified and available for research. After eighty years! Many records were ‘lost’ and destroyed so we’ll never know. I consulted files about the listening devices recording captured German POW’s and high ranking military. At one point the POW’s - elite German military - were held in the Tower of London - it was bugged to hear what they were saying. You can’t make this stuff up!   

 

    I grew up watching old WW2 documentaries - black and white ones and Victory at Sea - since they were always on and I later found out members of my family had served. My mother’s cousin  - my second cousin had served in Italy and rarely spoke of it. But the more I learned after he passed, made me curious about this theatre of war. And what I never saw in the documentaries was women’s role in the war. Women were behind the scenes but very much a strategical component.

    Researching woman’s roles during that time I discovered the Russian army had a unit of female sharpshooters/snipers who plagued the German army. Lyudmila Pavlichenko, a battle-tested and highly decorated lieutenant in the Red Army’s 25th Rifle Division, visited the US at Eleanor Roosevelt’s invitation in 1942 and toured the White House.

It surprised me when I did research that the US didn’t follow suit. But women then weren’t allowed in combat. Also, female sharpshooters weren’t allowed in the Olympics until 1970’s games in Mexico City. What an underutilised resource!

      I like secrets. We all have them. Hidden lives intrigue me. Hiding in plain sight. Espionage involves facades shown to the world and different on the inside.  What better place or time for this than with the high stakes in WW2? Kate’s descended from pioneer women, grew up on an Oregon ranch with five brothers and developed grit, resilience and is driven after losing her family. It’s tough to know what I can throw at her next but the war’s not over :)

Wishing you happy reading! Cara

www.carablack.com

It is once again up to American markswoman Kate Rees to take the shot that just might win—or lose—World War II, in the followup to national bestseller Three Hours in Paris.

Three missions. Two cities. One shot to win the war.

October 1942: it’s been two years since Kate Rees was sent to Paris on a British Secret Service mission to assassinate Hitler. Since then, she has left spycraft behind to take a training job as a sharpshooting instructor in the Scottish Highlands. But her quiet life is violently disrupted when Colonel Stepney, her former handler, drags her back into the fray for a risky three-pronged mission in Paris.

Each task is more dangerous than the next: Deliver a package of forbidden biological material. Assassinate a high-ranking German operative whose knowledge of invasion plans could turn the tide of the war against the Allies. Rescue a British agent who once saved Kate’s life—and get out.

Kate will encounter sheiks and spies, poets and partisans, as she races to keep up with the constantly shifting nature of her assignment, showing every ounce of her Oregonian grit in the process.

 Cara Black is the New York Times and USA Today bestselling author of 20 books in the Private Investigator Aimée Leduc series, and two World War II-set novels featuring American markswoman Kate Rees. Cara has received multiple nominations for the Anthony and Macavity Awards, a Washington Post Book World Book of the Year citation, the Médaille de la Ville de Paris—the Paris City Medal, which is awarded in recognition of contribution to international culture—and invitations to be the Guest of Honor at conferences such as the Paris Polar Crime Festival and Left Coast Crime. 

DEBS: I love that we're learning what an important role women played in WWII, and it's always such a pleasure to visit Paris with Cara, no matter the time period. She'll be dropping by today to say bon jour and to answer all your questions!

READERS, what's your favorite fictional WWII setting?

    

Missing My Friends!

 RHYS BOWEN: Recently I've realizing how much I miss my friends. When I first started writing mystery novels I had no idea that I'd be part of such a warm, welcoming community or that I'd make true, lasting and deep friendships--almost like the sisters I never had.

It's been two years since I hung out with my fellow Jungle Reds at Bouchercon in Dallas. And what a great time we had. Lots of good meals and laughter. I'm just praying that all is well by next year's Malice and Julia and I can have our moment in the sun as Guests of Honor.

But lately I have had a couple of treats. I had coffee with Jacqueline Winspear last month and last week I spent a delightful morning at the farmer's market with Cara Black and her husband, who then came back to lunch at our house.

We talked about how we missed our tours together. For many years Cara and I had a book released at the same time in March and set off on a book tour together. We had our share of adventures: the motel I booked because it was on the beach and looked delightful only to find they turned off the hot water during the day and we needed to shower before a bookstore appearance.

Or the time we spoke at a bookstore and were dining with the owner when the whole cafe shook and rattled. Earthquake (it turned out to be quite a major one with people killed). The next morning I was giving a speech at a writer's conference in the Marriott hotel when the chandeliers on the ceiling danced like crazy making a loud tinkling noise. My audience rushed for the doors, leaving me wondering whether I was supposed to go down with the ship or I too could flee.

Cara's experience on that tour was to speak to a ladies Hadassah luncheon. at which they all ate from brown bags but never offered her even a glass of water!

However our most unusual experience was speaking to a nudist resort. That's right. Nudist. We were invited with David Corbett, who was more nervous than we were as we drove up into the mountains. Luckily it was a freezing cold evening and most people were clothed. They made me speak first (Cara always does that!). I'm at the podium when a man walks across, right in front of me. He is wearing a beard and a VERY SMALL BACKPACK. That's it. Strolls slowly in front of me.  I keep talking. He strolls slowly back. I'm dying to say "I've seen bigger and better" but I'm a professional. I don't bat an eyelid.

I reminiscing today because Cara's publisher is highlighting her latest book, THREE HOURS IN PARIS. If you haven't read it, DO.  It is a tense, brilliant thriller set in the early days of WWII and it's at a special price this week.

Here are the details:

The US ebook of THREE HOURS IN PARIS is $1.99 for a limited time.

it’s a Nook Daily find on 8/23

Kindle Deal of the Day 8/25

Bookbub 8/26 

amazon link here

https://www.amazon.com/Three-Hours-Paris-Cara-Black-ebook/dp/B07V8CQTMY/ref=tmm_kin_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&qid=&sr=

And here's to hoping we can all meet up again very soon!

Cara Black Takes us on an Escape to Paris!

RHYS:  It's always a treat to host my near friend Cara Black when her new book comes out. I have loved all of her books, loved traveling vicariously to Paris with Aimee. But this book is different and I want to shout about it from the rooftops: It's called THREE HOURS IN PARIS and it is a big WW2 thriller, think Three Days of the Condor only with a warm, real heroine. It took my breath away when I read it.

Now the sad part: it was supposed to be Cara's big break out book, the one that takes her to a new level. Only all her events have been cancelled. So I urge you to spread the word in any way that you can.

Here's Cara now to ease our minds with a little dose of Paris.

CARA BLACK:

Dear Reds, I hope you’re doing well and sheltering in place. Right now, I’m missing Paris and feeling la nostalgie. I’m thinking about some of the hideaways in Paris I’d go to write in, places to get inspiration. Those unique libraries, the corner cafes I love, and gardens in quiet, secluded spots bringing peace and that je ne sais quoi that breathes Paris. I’m so happy Rhys asked me to share a few with you. Even though we’re cooped up inside we can go virtually. And when this ends, I don’t know about you, but I’ll be on the first flight to Paris.

To me, Bibliotheque Mazarine is like a historic hideaway on the Left Bank. A librarian helped me locate a rare archive book then assigned me a 19th century desk overlooking the Seine. I loved the smell of the old paper, being surrounded by leather bound volumes and those old wooden ladders to reach the books under a fresco’d ceiling. Housed in a 17th Century building created by Cardinal Mazarin as his personal library, it contains the richest collections of rare books and manuscripts in France and is the country’s oldest library.

Amazingly, it’s open to the public. You just need to sign up and records and books are available to consult. The library is quiet, you hear pages turn and it’s full of historians, researchers and students.

I took many notes; descriptions, details for my story and soaked in the ambiance under a chandelier owned by Madame du Pompadour.

Cafe la Fontaine became my ‘fountain penning’ inspiration. The irresistible urge hit me when I was walking through the lively Charonne district and stumbled upon La Fontaine. This cafe, near a street corner, pulled me with it’s spiral staircase. I don’t think much has changed since the 19th century.

After my discovery, armed with French notebooks, and a new fountain pen, I went often to write over an espresso. A glass of Champagne. I’d go over my notes, update them and sketch out a scene for my book or work in progress. This is a cafe where you can sit for hours. Watch the neighborhood go by. Full of locals, habitués and the cafe owner greets people by name. A real place of the quartier.

Jardin du Luxembourg

The Jardin du Luxembourg is a wonderful park in the sixth arrondissement on the Left Bank - with a children’s playground, a puppet theatre, tennis courts, a place to play ‘boules’, and a pond to sail boats. When there I find a quiet spot, sometimes near a statue to sit and let the words flow. Writing for me happens in a quiet space.

The beekeeping school and working bee hives directly inspired a plot line when I was writing, Murder in Saint Germain. I mapped the area, walked its gravelled paths, then my characters did, too.

For a scene in my new book, Three Hours in Paris, my first ever standalone that comes out on Tuesday, I used the bench overlooking the Marie de Medici fountain, one that I’d sat on often. I’d listened to the gurgling water, felt the soft summer air and imagined a scene. This story is set in 1940 but where I sat felt timeless. My characters would feel what I had been feeling; the heat, the sounds of the fountain, the crunching gravel of the paths and in those days, cigarette smoke. It helped me bring the scene to life.

Cara Black’s book, THREE HOURS IN PARIS, her first ever stand alone comes out on Tuesday, April 7.

In June of 1940, when Paris fell to the Nazis, Hitler spent a total of three hours in the City of Light - abruptly leaving, never to return. To this day, no one knows why.

Cara Black, author of the Aimée Leduc investigations, reimagines history in a pulse-pounding spy thriller. One American riflewoman, one impossible spy mission, one shot at changing the course of history. THREE HOURS IN PARIS is an April Indie Next pick, received starred reviews from Booklist and Library Journal.

RHYS: Cara’s book tour, as many other authors book tours, has been cancelled. Some virtual events will be on her website at www.carablack.com as they happen. Many bookstores are still operating as of now. In fact some, like the Poisoned Pen, are doing virtual events and are not charging for shipping.

If you feel inclined to share Cara's book news and other authors whose books are coming out this month, or are able to support your local bookseller with an order, or request her and other author's books from the library, it would be heartfully appreciated. We are all in this together, thank you!

Rhys on What We're Reading

RHYS BOWEN: Well, we’ve made it through another week, haven’t we? I wonder if it will get any easier if we’re in isolation for a month, for two months?


Please email me if you’d like me to answer any of your questions or concerns like “IS it normal to want to put a pillow over your husband’s face while he is sleeping because he’s driving me crazy?” Okay, only some of the time. Most of the time he’s being really good. Except when he brings in a package and PUTS IT ON THE JUST CLEANED AND DISINFECTED COUNTER!


Earlier in the week I talked about the gift of time, which should translate into time for reading all those books I’ve meant to read but never did. But you know what I find? I find it hard to concentrate. So no complicated mystery stories, nothing too dark, and certainly nothing too sad. It has to have a happy ending (except that for some reason I’m finding Harry Potter just fits the bill. Maybe because he’s battling against terrible odds and finally wins … unless you are Dobby).


So I find I’ve been re-reading things I’ve enjoyed before. Kate Morton’s The Forgotten Garden. Some of Louse Penny’s early Gamache books, and now Laurie King’s The Beekeeper’s Apprentice which I must have read when it first came out and I didn’t know who Laurie King was.


Unfortunately I’m at my Arizona winter retreat so I don’t have access to all my library of children’s books and old favorites which I’d normally read in times of stress. My entire collection of Agatha Christie for example. So I’d like to hear from you:


What are you reading right now? Any suggestions for books in the time of plague?


LUCY BURDETTE: Ha ha on the pillow over hub’s head. I texted with friends yesterday and we agreed (1) maybe we’d have more time to write in jail, and (2) we’d look good in orange.


Bad jokes aside, I feel very lucky to have my hub holed up with me! I’m reading an unusual book called THE GULF by Belle Boggs. It takes place at a rundown motel in Florida, where a poet and her ex-boyfriend are trying set up a writing seminar for inspirational writer wanna-bes. I wanted something other than a murder mystery for once, and this is very different!


I’ve also started THE MOTH CATCHER, a Vera book by Ann Cleeves. I’d say this is comfort reading because I know and love the characters. And I also pre-ordered Julia’s new book, coming VERY SOON--HID FROM YOUR EYES. Let’s all do that and then we’ll have a virtual book party!





JENN McKINLAY: LOL, Rhys. Yes, quality time with the fam has begun to feel more like doin’ time. Thankfully, I have a plethora of ARCs to read for endorsements and for once I actually have time to savor them instead of wedging the reading into every spare minute I can find. So, that’s nice. Let me just say there is some really terrific fiction coming out this year and next like our Lucy’s KEY LIME CRIME (July), Devon Daniels’s MEET YOU IN THE MIDDLE (Sept), and Lauren Elliott’s A PAGE MARKED FOR MURDER (Oct). Other than that, I am trying to write, catching up on my Netflix backlog, and doing a lot of procrastibaking. I’m on a shortbread bender at the moment.


DEBORAH CROMBIE: I thought I would do so much reading! But, like most everyone else, I’ve been very distracted. An advance copy of Lucy’s THE KEY LIME CRIME helped get me through the last couple of weeks! Now I’m missing being in her fictional Key West--virus free! Now I’m reading an ARC of Cara Black’s WWII standalone, THREE HOURS IN PARIS, which comes out next week, and I can tell you that it’s gripping! And so looking forward to our Julia’s book, HID FROM OUR EYES, out next week as well. I’ve been waiting SO long! This is my big anticipated read of the spring!


Rhys, you’ve tempted me to go back to Harry Potter. I’d started the Jim Kay illustrated edition with Wren a few weeks ago, but we are not co-reading for the time being… Or I might pick up one of my all-time favorite reads in times of stress, a Dick Francis novel.


HANK PHILLIPPI RYAN: Oh, gosh, my brain is having such a difficult time focusing. Luckily I have the new Kate White HAVE YOU SEEN ME and Roz Nay’s HURRY HOME--both sinister and twisty. The new Samantha Downing arc just arrived, hurray, called HE STARTED IT. I am sure it’ll be wonderful--she’s so talented. I cannot wait for Cara Black--you are all so lucky to have read it--but mine will arrive on pub day.


I am loving SOMETHING WONDERFUL, a bio of Rogers and Hammerstein by Todd Purdom. (I appeared with him on one of my last book tour events, sigh.) It’s wonderful, and a fascinating examination of how those geniuses worked together. ANd has a lot of the discarded lyrics, which are fascinating. (Can you believe So Long, Farewell with a verse that says something like: “So long, farewell, and now we must aloha; I know it’s sad, but time for me to go-ha.” Isn’t that hilarious?


I’ve been very tempted to read all the Agatha Christies, I must say, but suddenly my life is all about decontamination and dinner-making, and worrying that I am not writing. Books all seem to have a weird subtext now, like when you see old movies on TV where people are standing too close together. My mind is still searching for a new normal, so I’m thrilled to see all these suggestions.


HALLIE EPHRON: I”m reading Wendy Corsi Staub’s heartstopping THE BUTCHER’S DAUGHTER - the finale of her The Foundlings Trilogy. You’lll have to wait until the end of August to see how it all comes together. I also have Raymond Chandler’s FAREWELL MY LOVELY, just to remind myself what an amazing writer he was.

And I’m reading PRIVATE INVESTIGATIONS - an anthology of essays by mystery writers on the real mysteries they’ve experienced in real life. Both Rhys and I have essays in the collection, edited by Victoria Zackheim. It comes out in a few weeks, y’all will be hearing much more about it then.


JULIA SPENCER-FLEMING: Comfort reads for me. I’m re-reading Lucy’s Key West Food Critic series because it has everything my life does not right now - solvable problems, delicious food I don’t have to make, beautiful settings and warm weather. I’m also rereading in my usual favorite genre, science fiction: the more recent books of Lois McMaster Bujold. I’m not usually a big rereader, and I think I’m enjoying it precisely because I know what’s going to happen. Unlike here in the real world.


Side note: The Maine Millennial and I were talking about this sense of uncertainty, and I realized the next week, day, hour has always been uncertain - it’s just when things are trundling on as normal we can forget that inconvenient fact.

Back to books - I’m really excited about some books I’ve ordered from one of my local independent bookstores. I’m getting THE LAST EMPEROR, third in an amazing series by John Scalzi, the SF author even people who don’t get SF can read and love. Also Tessa Wegert’s DEATH IN THE FAMILY, because murder on an isolated island is irresistible now. And finally, I’m looking forward to Deb’s current read, THREE HOURS IN PARIS, by Cara Black. Did you know it’s on Amazon’s Editor’s Pick for Best Books for April? I think it’s going to be a BIG book.




NOTE FROM RHYS: Cara will be our guest on Sunday, sharing her favorite sites in Paris. And I LOVED the book. It's brilliant.




















So, dear friends, what are you reading? Can you read? Is it old comfort reads or fun new books?

Aimée Leduc's Paris, spycraft in Bel-Air

HALLIE EPHRON: A new Aimée Leduc mystery is the next best thing to a trip to Paris. I love the series, and today I'm thrilled to be hosting its delightful author Cara Black.

Cara, you’ve taken your readers on 19 adventures, each to a different part of Paris. I remember being blown away by your first, Murder in the Marais, cheering books later when Aimée found herself pregnant and tracking a serial rapist in Pigalle. Loved her computer savvy and fearlessness, her fashion sense and Kohl eyes, and the way you interweave history into every story.

I know you’re touring now with Aimée’s new adventure in Bel-Air. Not a tourist destination, or is it?

CARA BLACK: That’s right, Hallie, Bel-Air, in the 12th arrondissment is off the beaten track in Paris.

I’ve visited Paris often over the years and been so lucky to stay there due to the generosity and tolerance of my Parisian friends who’ve offered a couch, or a bedroom and sometimes an apartment in exchange for cat-sitting. One of these friends is Madame Gerbault, the mother of my French neighbor in San Francisco, who lives in Bel-Air and that her quiet, seemingly peaceful quartier had been the royal hunting grounds of the kings and site of the worst excesses of the Revolution ie the guillotine at Place de la Nation where 1,306 victims had been executed and their bodies dumped in a mass grave...literally, next door to her apartment.

I discovered that like everywhere in Paris, history is only below the surface. And that Madame Gerbault’s quartier was ripe for my story.

HALLIE: You took a huge leap when you got Aimée pregnant and now she’s a single mother. But you’ve followed Raymond Chandler’s advice: “A really good detective never gets married.” But how complicated life is now for her with Chloé to worry about. And yet… that very thing becomes integral to the plot of your new book. Tell us about it.

CARA: Aimée is a single mother juggling her business - at the detective agency where she must earn the baguette and butter it too along with her responsibilites as a mother and her bébe Chloé her priority. Add to that Chloé’s biological father, Melac, a problematic relationship and her American mother Sydney, who’s popped back into her life (she’d abandoned Aimée when Aimée was eight years old) who never makes it easy. Aimée feels a push and pull with Melac since he’s Chloé’s father but knows him not to be ‘marriage’ material or is he...?

HALLIE: Ooh, I like that romantic tension!

In this book you take a deep dive into international spycraft and post-colonial Franco-African politics. Tell us about how you researched that.CARA: My friend Laurence, a French journalist, went to live in the Cote d’Ivoire - Ivory Coast - a former French colony in Africa that had been the shining jewel in the necklace of France-Afrique as they called it. Cote d’Ivoire had a stable government and political scene, the French language, profitable chocolate trade, an easy access for the French on an exotic holiday but according to Laurence all was not rosy. This intrigued me and in 1999 when my story is set, a coup d’etat was in the works and the Cote d’Ivorian government overturned in a coup d’etat on Christmas day in 1999.

I researched with the help of Laurence, who sadly, died there in a plane crash last year. I also met French aid workers from UNICEF who’d been stationed in French Africa in the 90’s and a French military advisor (African division) to the UN who provided invaluable info and historical data. Of course, I’ve fictionalized certain elements and veiled some characters, but basically a lot of these events happened.

HALLIE: How does this book take Aimée into uncharted territory, and where are you thinking she might go next?CARA: The world of espionage fascinates me - especially the female component and how talented women can be as spies. Blend-in, stand out and all shades in between doing undercover, right? From Mata Hari in WWI, to the many unsung SOE female operatives in WW2 occupied Europe, to the Cold War and present day. Aimée’s mother we learn, SPOILER, worked with the CIA and is a freelancer now, who embroils her daughter in her work involving the Cote d’Ivoire.

I think Aimée is wired - despite her fighting it - to be a great spy...that’s if she took the offer she gets. It was fun to play with this possibility, dangle it in front of her and I’m leaving that open ended...

HALLIE: ... and leaving US dangling!

If readers want to catch up with you on tour, where should they head?

CARA: As you read this I’ll be mid-tour and at the wonderful Poisoned Pen in Scottsdale AZ this evening. Then on to bookstores in the LA area; Mystery Ink, Chevalier’s Books, Vroman’s, Mysterious Galaxy then back east to NY, NC, and Houston and in July in DC with pal Sujata Massey. It’s all on www.carablack.com at events and hope some of your readers can come by to help me celebrate 20 years of Aimée Leduc. I never knew when I began writing that I’d have a more than a twenty year intimate relationship with my fictional detective!

HALLIE: Readers and Reds, have you been to Paris or only experienced it through pictures? See anything that would inspire YOU to write a nice juicy crime novel?

Tucson Report

RHYS BOWEN: For those of you who are still knee deep in snow, I thought I should share some sunshine and warmth. This weekend I took part in the Tucson Festival of Books. For those of you who have never attended, it is huge! They reckon over 100,000 visit during the two days. It takes place at the University of Arizona with panels going on in all the various auditoriums and in tents along the mall. Hundreds of authors, ranging from children's writers, poets, science fiction, to cook books. There is a culinary tent with demonstrations. CSpan is there. And the mall is lined with booths: publishers, bookstores, non-profits, national parks.

Unfortunately I didn't have time to browse because I was given a full schedule, and let me tell you that it takes half an hour to walk from one end of the mall to the other. So on Saturday I had a signing at a booth, had to run back to meet my escort to be taken to my panel (at the other end again), then had to grab a bite for lunch before I was back at the other end to conduct a workshop on writing the historical mystery.

On Sunday the same sort of thing. I signed in the morning with Tess Gerritson whom I had never met, although we share the same agent.

Then a panel on women in wartime: with the fabulous Kate Quinn (of Alice Network fame) and Lynda Loigman whose new book is The Wartime Sisters

Packed house. Lots of good questions, and I learned so much. Kate's new book, just out this week, is called THE HUNTRESS. There is plenty of buzz about it. It features the Night Witches--an all female squadron of Russian  bomber pilots in WWII. They were called Night Witches because they used to cut the engine on their planes and coast in silently to drop their bomb, restart the engine and get out of there. So the Germans thought they sounded like witches on broomsticks. They would return to base, take ten minutes to refuel, reload and be off again. Over ten missions per night, seven days a week for three years. And only 27 percent of them were killed!

What a great story. And Lynda's was equally fascinating. Two sisters working in the Brooklyn Armory, which was  like a small town during the war, with all amenities, entertainment, gossip columns. One of the things I like about conferences and panels is that I always learn such a lot and come away with fabulous books to read.

The other thing I like is having time to catch up with dear friends. On Saturday night I had dinner with Cara Black and Kent Kruger. We sat outside, under the stars, and had Middle Eastern food. And laughed a lot. Perfect.

 Now it's back to work again. I'm so near the end of my first draft that it's hard to stop.
And by the way--everyone sold out of my new book, which was very nice!

I do hope this has brought a glimpse of sunshine to you! If you want to plan a winter escape next year, then you might want to consider this festival. I met a lot of people who had flown down for a week in Arizona, escaping from blizzards and cold.
 Which bookfairs have you attended?

"Oh, Kaye!" chats about Paris

In case you haven't heard, I'm going to Paris.

My first trip to Paris.

F  i  n  a  l  l  y ! 

If you haven't heard, then I have to assume you don't live on Planet Earth since I've even been stopping complete strangers on the street for the past year to share my news.

Yes, yes, yes - I'm a bit of a pain in the neck when I'm excited about something.  I know, I know.  I can just go on and on and on about it all until I am on a person's last nerve.  Believe me, former husbands loved pointing out what a pain in the neck I could be.

But.

It's my first trip, so you know, I deserve to be excited, right?!

Oui!

Luckily, Don Barley finds my enthusiasm to be more of a plus than a minus.  Suffice to say, he is one of the good guys.  One of the best.

But, Don Barley is not going to Paris with me.

I'm going with three women friends.

Lesa Holstine -  I think some of you might know my friend Lesa (wink, wink 😊).  

And long, long time very dear friend, Vickie Smith.

And new friend to me, but very long time friend of Vickie's, Lisa Butler.

We've rented a wonderful house through Airbnb that Vic found for us.  

It's in Montparnasse.  And as it turns out, not far from the home of Jim Haynes.

Some of you are probably familiar with Mr. Haynes, but for those of you who are not, "nearly every Sunday for the past 30 plus years, Mr. Haynes, a Louisiana-born expatriate, has opened the doors of his former sculpture studio in Paris and invited the world to come dine in largely the same spirit."

There are several articles, and videos, about him on the web, including an interesting one from The New York Times.  

I am fascinated by Jim Haynes.  He has, however, been experiencing some health issues and is quite elderly, and I'm not sure the dinner parties will continue.  But.  We'll see.  Right now his webpage says to check back in September. 

But.  Who knows . . .  perhaps we'll see him sitting on his front step and we can say "Hey!"  That would be cool.

And, oh my, have we planned some adventures!

We will, of course, do many of the things you're supposed to do as a tourist in Paris. A boat trip down the Seine to watch the city light up in the evening, a trip to Versailles and Giverny.  Wandering through Montmartre, Latin Quarter, Saint-Germain, and Marais, and ice cream at Berthillon's on Île Saint Louis.  

And, this is timely, seeing as how there was an interesting piece here just a few days ago by Vicki Stiefel about tattoos.  

I have two tattoos and have considered another.  And have considered having it done while in Paris.  I've Googled and found tattoo parlors in Paris and I've Googled ideas for French tattoos.  

Some of these ideas are lovely, some are a bit too-too for my taste.  But.  I'll keep you posted . . .   It would, after all, be a souvenir that doesn't require any luggage space.

While checking our Parisian tattoo parlors, there will be much to do.  Much to see.

SO much to do and see, including a booklover's mecca  -  Shakespeare & Company

Because I'm one who believes, quite firmly, in stopping for a few minutes to live in the moment, where better to do this than some of the glorious parks, gardens, and squares in Paris?

One very small, very special, square is not far at all from Shakespeare & Company.

Square René Viviani

Besides having a lovely green area with benches on which to sit and rest your weary soul, and tired ol' feet, you get one of the best views of Notre Dame.

And, you get to quietly commune with the oldest living tree in Paris.  And, I have a "thing" for trees - wonderful old stately trees.  I seek them out, and they speak to me.  

Also, because of the way things are in our world right now, it's become important for me to think about things with a little more reflection than maybe I once did.  For that reason, while in Square René Viviani, I'd very much like to spend a quiet moment at a "sculpture decorated with stags’ heads and water drops that represent aspects of the legend of St. Julien. In addition, there are infants, some of whom have wings while others appear to be lifeless. Under the Vichy government (the govenment of France that collaborated with Nazi Germany from 1940 till 1944) more than 11,000 infants were deported by the Nazis to Auschwitz because they were Jewish. About one hundred of these children lived in the vicinity of this square in the 5th arrondissement. "

11,000 infants deported by the Nazis to Auschwitz because they were Jewish.  We need, I think, to be remembering this right now.

And, while we have agreed on many things we'll be doing together, there are some things that some of us want to do that others don't - like The Catacombs, for instance. 

And on those days we'll head off in different directions and meet back in our courtyard to chat and giggle about our day over a glass of wine and decide where to go for dinner.

Each of us agree that in addition to some planned outings, we also love the art of flâneusing, and allowing serendipity to have her way with us.

(anyone here read Lauren Elkin's "Flaneuse?"  I recommend it).

Museums, Gardens, Eating, and Shopping, oh my!

We're only going to be there a week, so we'll miss a lot and probably will just have to go back another time . . .  bless our hearts.

Actually, Vickie and Lisa have been before so Lesa and I are counting on them for a lot of their Parisian knowledge.

We're also planning some "different" sorts of adventures.

While Lisa and Vickie are doing a wine and castles tour, Lesa and I are having breakfast with the giraffes at the Parc Zoologique de Paris.

Doesn't that sound fun?

I can't wait.

And we're treating ourselves to a 1920's style photo session.

One of the interesting, but lesser known, things in Paris I want to see is Le Passe-Muraille - 'the man who walks through walls'. It is a larger than life bronze statue representing a man half trapped in a stone wall. 

And, I want to go to Deyrolle

And, I'd like to see Rimbaud's poem, Le Bateau Ivre (The Drunken Boat) on a Parisian wall

And I intend to ride, and photograph, every carousel I can find.  

Including the Dodo Carousel, which is actually the Carousel of Extinct and Endangered Animals, and it's located in the Jardins des Plantes.  

I would very much like to visit at least one of the
les passages couverts (18th century glass-roofed shopping galleries).  

You can take a tour of them here



AND, I hope I can find and photograph The Angel of Rue de Turbigo

I've always been fascinated by architectural details.  What better place to find and photograph some of the most exquisite, magical architecture than Paris.  I will be in my own little version of heaven.

Windows and Doors and Angels, oh my!

I know I've already told you about some of the reading aka "research" I've been doing for the past year.

(Speaking of research.  Did you know there are apps you can load on your phone that will tell you where the closest public restrooms are?!  Well.  There are.  And, that's important stuff.)

I'm pretty sure I've told you how I've been saving my pennies 'cause a gal needs to be prepared for shopping while in Paris.

Excusez-moi, combien est ce foulard, s'il vous plaît?

Right?

Oui !

And I've probably told you about this delightful little book!

The Little Black Book of Paris.  

I adore this little book!

A small (4-1/4 inches wide by 5-3/4 inches high)  guidebook from Peter Pauper Press (https://www.peterpauper.com/product_info.php?products_id=5808). 

It's full of helpful information (and a lot of very fun information!)

It's broken down into chapters by neighborhoods, but not necessarily arrondissements.  

Each neighborhood chapter has sections on landmarks, arts and entertainment venues, restaurants, cafes, hotels, chic shops, and after-dark stops along with a fold out map for each neighborhood.

There are also some blank pages for adding notes.  Thus comes my only complaint - not enough blank pages, so I ended up making use of the margins on many pages, thanks to friends telling us about their favorite places to shop, to eat, to have hot chocolate, etc. (Daniel Hale says definitely Cafe Marly for hot chocolate) 

And by the way, Dear Travelers - Paris is not the only city with its own Little Black Book . . .  do check them out!

Another favorite book is this one, and I can't recommend it enough.  Even if you're not planning a trip to Paris, it's one you might enjoy

Due to all this "research," I have read a LOT about Paris during this past year, fiction and non-fiction.  So, I have, of course, ended up with  a huge list of recommendations, but I'll be posting that in a separate piece for those who are interested.

Except -

I have to tell you about this one.

A Paris All Your Own - Bestselling Women Writers on the City of Light

Contributing authors include Paula McLain, Therese Anne Fowler, Melissa Shapiro, Jennifer Coburn, Maggie Shipstead, Lauren Willig, Cathy Kelly, Rachel Hore, Meg Waite Clayton, Ellen Sussman, M. J. Rose, Susan Vreeland , Megan Crane, Michelle Gable, J. Courtney Sullivan, Julie Powell, Jennifer Scott,  AND our very own Cara Black. Edited by Eleanor Brown.  

"These Parisian memoirs range from laugh-out-loud funny to wistfully romantic to thoughtfully somber and reflective."

Speaking of our Cara.  She'll be leading one of her wonderful Aimee Leduc tours in Paris the same week we're going to be there, so we're going to be sitting in the audience in the tearoom at WHSmith while Cara talks about "Murder in Saint-Germain."

We're all pretty excited.

And guess what?

WHSmith has also ordered a few copies of my "Whimsey."

Am I excited about seeing MY "Whimsey" on a shelf in a bookstore in Paris?

Pfffffft.

Well, yes.  Yes, I am.

But, did I tell you about my travel journal?

Right up front I'm going to admit making a mistake with this, but . . . 'tis done.

To those of you who love, use and appreciate a really nice journal, use a fountain pen and enjoy painting sketches in addition to writing - this is not the journal for you.

Debs will be one of the first to agree with me.

I got this leather bound journal on-line for not much money - $10 or $12 maybe.  And it is pretty.

But.

The paper is thin so forget using a fountain pen or paints.  Not only is going to soak through the page, it's going to soak through the next page too.  It is no Iona journal (darn it!). 

But it's working out okay now that I've discovered it's flaws.  One has to learn from one's mistakes, right?

I'm working with crayons and colored pens (ballpoint only!) and colored pencils illustrating some pages and jotting down some thoughts  before we get to Paris.

I'm like a kid with stickers, so yes, lots of stickers too.

I'm an on again/off again journaler, and have been all my life.  Remember those little leatherette diaries with the lock?  Santa brought me a new one every year.

One thing I have always been is a journaler when traveling.

This was in Greece many, many years ago.  When I go back and read the journal I kept for that trip, it's almost like being there.  It's enough to make me know that I will, one of these days, go back.

Sometimes while journaling, I might sketch a scene - it does not matter that I can't draw worth a diddly - I do it anyway.  


Sometimes I'm just capturing a thought.  Or writing down a quote, or a piece of poetry, or just a quick phrase that touches me in some way.


And because I'm excited about this trip, I've started my journal early.

See what I mean about not being able to draw?  I can't even color!  But.  You know what?  It doesn't matter.  It's all fun and creating is good for us.

And -

Stickers rock!

especially 3D stickers!  Who knew?!

Okay.


Packing.


Packing is hard.

Especially for some of us who are "nesters" and feel we need to have everything we own with us wherever we go.

So, I did a "practice pack."

Here's a couple pictures of some of the things I pulled out of the closet to choose from.

Casual little black dresses (okay - and, one little red dress) to be perked up with accessories.

I just grabbed some and tossed them onto the bed.

Then I decided what I'd wear on the plane, put a couple things back into the closet, and with the help of space bags, I packed up clothes, shoes, jammies, toiletries and undies.  And a few, very few, pieces of jewelry.


Resulting in . . . 


Ta DA ! ! !

One under-the-seat bag and a backpack.

Yes.  For real.  

Five little black dresses, one little red dress, two pairs of shoes, leggings, scarves, reversible cape, undies, jammies, travel size toiletries and make-up.  Space bags rock. 


However,

Once I proved to myself I could do this, I changed my mind.

What about souvenirs?!  I am not coming home from Paris without souvenirs (besides that "possible" tattoo, that is). 

Excusez-moi, combien, s'il vous plaît?


So.  I'm sticking with the small under-the-seat bag, but forgetting the backpack and carrying a tote/purse on the plane with me.  I have a small suitcase that would fit in the overhead, but, truth be told, I think I'm going to just check it.  I'll have really necessary items in my purse/tote and/or small under-the-seat bag. 

It's non-stop from Charlotte International to Paris, and if my suitcase gets lost for a couple days, I'll be okay.  If it gets lost for the entire week, I'll consider it a shopping emergency. 😊  

In Paris.  😍

A. Shopping. Emergency. In. Paris. 




Okay, so now, Dear Reds, I know most of you have already taken your very first exciting trip to Paris, and many of you have been back many times.

So, how about some sharing of your favorite places.

In particular . . .

Best crepes!

Best macarons!

Best coffee!

Best hot chocolate (Is it Cafe Marly like Daniel Hales says?)!

Best beef bourguignon!

Best breakfast!

Your favorite patisserie, boulangerie, cafe, bistro, restaurant?

Favorite place to shop - for clothes, for lingerie, for perfume, for stationery, for books, for small souvenirs to bring home for friends and family, for antiques, for jewelry, for scarves, for shoes?

Your favorite night spot for music?

Your favorite small art gallery?

Your very favorite thing ever about Paris !!!