What We're Writng Week: Julia's Head is Too Crowded

Better Late Than Never Department: The winner of one of Priscilla Paton's Twin Cities Mysteries is Kathy C23, and the winner of one of Susan McCormick's Fog Ladies Mysteries is Lysa MacKeen! Kathy and Lysa, please email me at juliaspencerfleming at Google's email service, and I'll connect you with your authors!

 

JULIA SPENCER-FLEMING: First off, there's not going to be an excerpt today. Why? Because I've reached the stage where I hate everything about the work in progress - the cliched writing, the turgid story lines, the mystery that makes no sense and most of all the swarm of characters cluttering up the page!

Yesterday, Debs wrote about the pleasures of having a deep bench of secondary characters to explore and develop. And it's true, for both the author and the reader, having a large cast can be a joy, as someone who's in the background in one book can step out to be a major player in the next. (For the modern master of this, see Louise Penny.)

But - and here's the place I find myself - the author can spin up SO many secondary and tertiary story lines for these characters that drafting the novel starts to feel like rewriting WAR AND PEACE. (Okay, I confess, I've never actually read WAR AND PEACE. But it does seem as if it must have a LOT of characters running around. The Napoleonic wars didn't happen by themselves, you know.)

In my case, I have my primary sleuths, Russ and Clare, both of whom brought at least one personal issue with them from the 9th book, HID FROM OUR EYES. Then there are my secondary detectives, Hadley and Kevin, who have some major issues to thrash out. I have some cops from Russ's department who have stories that were pretty much MIA in Book 9, not to mention what's going on with the department itself. 

If that wasn't enough, I introduced an old friend for Margy Van Alstyne, Russ's activist mom, and though I really have no need of the pair in the book I'm working on, I like them so much they keep popping up, stopping the action with their cuteness.

There's a reappearance from a couple Clare married in a previous book, and we can't forget the baby and Oscar the dog - if they don't have screen time, it looks suspiciously like neglect - and, of course, there are all-new characters showing up for the first time: bad guys and  abused wives and New York State Forest ranger of Mohawk descent and an ambitious state attorney.

Are you keeping track of all this? Because if you are, you're doing a better job than I am. 

Back when I was struggling to get to the end of ONE WAS A SOLDIER, my dear, ever-helpful Ross had a suggestion: "Why not have a meteor crash on Millers Kill and wipe everyone out?" While it's not the best way to keep a series going, I have to admit it's sounding more tempting every day.

Can there be too many characters and subplots, dear readers? Where's the sweet spot? Should I drop a space rock on upstate New York and start all over again by taking a long research trip to Key West? (It was 9F last night and we have a foot of snow on the ground.) And does "Julia's Head is Too Crowded" sound like creative genius, or mental illness?

Stepping Out Into a New World with HID FROM OUR EYES

Virtual Event: Julia Spencer-Fleming and Jenn McKinlay in conversation on Facebook Live, tonight, April 7, at 8pm EST!

Hosted by the Poisoned Pen Bookstore; information here.

JULIA SPENCER-FLEMING: Reader, they've published it.

After the better part of a decade, disease, death, drop outs and dysfunction, HID FROM OUR EYES is finally, finally here.

In the middle of a worldwide pandemic. Yay?

Here's the thing: I've been looking at my novel for the first time since finishing the (ugh) copyedits back in July, and I'm starting to notice an odd pattern. This book has something to say about our present moment.

"But Julia," I hear you say, "Isn't it about three identical murders taking place decades apart, and the three police chiefs working the cases?" Well, yes, that's what the plot is. But a novel is always about a lot more than the plot. Here's what I saw on my reread of HID FROM OUR EYES that I see differently in April, 2020:

1. Penny wise, pound foolish. At the end of the previous Clare Fergusson/Russ Van Alstyne book, the leaders of Millers Kill decide to put to the vote the question of whether or not to dissolve the Miller Kill Police Department and replace it with patrols by the State Police, saving thousands and thousands of dollars. But through the eyes of police chiefs Harry McNeal, Jack Liddle, and Russ Van Alstyne, we can see how much care, attention and dedication each man puts into his job.  As Russ points out to a voters group, the local cops on the beat stop annoyances before they become problems. 

Sort of like how stockpiling masks, PPEs and ventilators before they're desperately needed means having them available without paying premium marked-up prices. (To say nothing of toilet paper.)

2. Do we really want those people here? In HID FROM OUR EYES,  we get to see the Millers Kill area summer people up close and personal - folks with gorgeous mountain houses who spend money on local businesses and services - but who may not have the interests of the year round residents at heart. Places like Millers Kill - and Maine, where I live - have a love-hate relationship with seasonal visitors, and these days, the feeling is tipping toward one end of that spectrum, as people with second homes in more bucolic areas flee, not unreasonably, from urban areas that have become hot spots for Covid-19. 

In Maine, we've had incidents of petty vandalism and harassment, as natives fear people "from away" bringing contagion with them. In Millers Kill, the relationship between flatlanders and locals takes a darker turn... which, hopefully, we won't see in real life.

3. Blaming the outsider. The three murders in HID FROM OUR EYES may be decades apart, but they take place at the same time of year. One group that comes up again and again in the investigations are the carnival workers who arrive for the county fair each August - closed off, looking down on the marks, with their own lingo and mores. Each of the police chiefs sets the carnies high on their list of persons of interest. Yes, they might be right. But the first reason the ticket-takers, roustabouts and game tenders fall under suspicion is because they're outsiders - a society emphatically set apart from both the townspeople and the second-home crowd.


I don't think I need to point out the parallels in our country today. Bad things start to happen, and it's the fault of the Chinese, or Asians generally, or Italians, or all those people south of the border. They must be behind the problems. Why? Because they're not us.

4. The heroism of ordinary lives. We've been talking about this at JRW over the past couple of weeks - how the nurse next door, your mailman, the kid delivering take-out and the cleaning crew disinfecting the grocery store have become heroes in many people's eyes. Ordinary folks, just doing their job, and in so doing, enabling the rest of us to stay home, flatten the curve, and save lives. Scared sometimes, and worried, and stressed, but still showing up.

I think of my characters like that. The three police chiefs aren't heroes. They aren't climbing any higher on the career ladder. Their goals are to do the job for their small town, one day after another, until retirement. Reverend Fergusson and the people at her church don't think of themselves as heroes, either - they're focusing on helping others in small ways; fixing a meal, listening to a story, offering shelter. And despite pain and PTSD and problems big and small, they all show up, every day, the very act of doing so making the world a better place.

Honestly, dear readers, I kind of wish I had a funny, light-hearted book to offer you, or a thrilling escape into the past, or adventures in lovely and exotic locales. (Lucky for you, you can get those and more from my blog sisters!) But this is what I write, one small, economically depressed corner of the real world, and so this is what I give you. I hope you take a look, and maybe buy it from your local independent bookstore (they ship!) or check it out of your library (librarians are some of those ordinary heroes, working to put ebooks and audio books in as many hands as possible.)

And may we all enjoy better days in which to read and write.



New York Times bestselling novelist Julia Spencer-Fleming took up writing while still a stay-at-home mother, creating Clare Fergusson, first female priest in the small Adirondack town of Millers Kill. Her series has won or been nominated for every American mystery award available, including the Edgar, the Anthony, and the Agatha. HID FROM OUR EYES is her ninth book. You can follow her on Facebook or Twitter.

What We're Writing Week: Why Preorder?

JULIA SPENCER-FLEMING: Like several other Reds have copped to this week, I haven't yet started writing UNTITLED CLARE FERGUSSON/RUSS VAN ALSTYNE MYSTERY #10 (as it's so elegantly called in my contract.) I'm also at the research-and-noodling stage, with half a notebook filled with ideas, questions and themes. Today, I'm in Greenwich NY - just a hop, skip and jump away from Millers Kill - to visit friends and see the annual Lighted Tractor Parade, which I'm pretty sure will feature in the next book.

Instead of talking about writing, then, I'm going to talk about buying. Specifically, pre-ordering books. Lucy mentioned her next Key West Food Critic mystery, THE KEY LIME CRIME, is up for pre-order, even though the book won't be published unto July. So why should you order it now? Why pre-buy Jenn's PARIS IS ALWAYS A GOOD IDEA, also out in July? Or HID FROM OUR EYES, coming in April, which has been available for pre-order for two months now?

For readers, there are several reasons why pre-ordering is a good idea. You don't have to remember that a book you want to read is coming out - you order it when you learn about it, and then have the happy experience of seeing it in the mail or getting a call from your local book store - is there any happier news than, "Your book's here!"

You can also skip waiting in line, ensure you'll actually be able to get your hands on a copy, and avoid getting spoiled as to the events in the book - because you'll have read it before anyone else!

B&N has a funny list of why pre-order, including this gem: "You can take the time before the book’s arrival to build yourself a cozy reading nook with food and water supplies and possibly plumbing. That way, when the book finally arrives, you can sit down and read without interruption."

But the number one reason to pre-order is that it materially supports the authors you love. No, we don't get our royalty payments any faster. (Oh, that it were!) Instead, pre-orders are one of the major ways our publishers gauge reader interest and commitment to our books. A book with strong pre-orders garners buzz in the industry - the numbers are passed around to book stores and publishing news outlets. Like any other product, just hearing an item is popular makes people more likely to check it out. (Doubt that? Look at the lines out the door at Apple stores the day a new iWhatever comes out.)

Good pre-order numbers tell bookstores they might want to order a few more copies, just in case. The publisher is going to consider upping the initial print run to keep up with demand. If a book is in the running to get on the New York Times bestseller list, every pre-order counts as part of the first week's sales. Since making the list depends on the number of books sold in a single week, you can see how important pre-orders are. (I'm pretty sure it was pre-orders that lifted me over the bar the first time I made the NYT list.)

Pre-orders help authors that aren't competing for a bestseller slot, too. Ever wish you could call a publishing company and say, "Hey! I love this person's books! Keep them coming!" Well, a pre-order does exactly that. And when its time for your favorite author to negotiate a new contract, you can bet everyone involved will be looking at those pre-order numbers to see how devoted her or his readers are. 

So I hope you'll consider pre-ordering THE KEY LIME CRIME

and PARIS IS ALWAYS A GOOD IDEA (it's 24% off at B&N!)

and HID FROM OUR EYES.

But please, don't stop with the Reds. Whenever you have an author you're passionate about, think about pre-ordering. It really, truly helps, and believe me when I say, we're grateful.

Miss You, Wish You Were Here

DEBORAH CROMBIE: It has been a big couple of days for the REDS at Bouchercon in Dallas! Wednesday night we got together for the Jungle Reds dinner that we had literally been planning for months. This was the first time that we had all seven been together at the same time!!

And it was the first time that Jenn and Julia had actually met in person! Can you believe that? Although of course they said they felt like they had know each other forever--which only seems natural, as we are all together every day on the blog. We had a terrific time, as you can see. (Sorry you got washed out with the flash, Julia.)

Yesterday was filled with interviews and signings and Bouchercon activities, and then--drumroll-- our reknowned Jungle Red game show. This year it was Who Wants to Be a Mystery-aire (we are nothing if not original!)

Here we are in our two competing teams: Rhys, Jenn, and Hank as the Tangerines; Hallie, Lucy, and Debs as the Greens; and Julia as moderator. Nikki Bonanni served as timekeeper, while Dru Ann Love and Gigi Sherrell Norwood kept score.

We had a full house!

And lots of participation from the audience, although I'm sorry to say that the Tangerines beat the Greens by a smidgen.

From there we went to our official Jungle Reds group photo shoot, which was great fun. The photographers were very patient with us--imagine getting seven women to agree on the most flattering shot... But we did (eventually) and then we had some fun posing with the ARC of Julia's upcoming book.

And after that it was off to the bar for very well-deserved drinks, especially as the official cocktail the Hyatt has created for Bouchercon is called Drop Dead Red.

It has been wonderful to put faces to so many of our readers, and, please, if you follow the blog and are here at Bouchercon, come up and say hi. We want to meet you! 

And those of you who are sharing long distance, well, we miss you!

What We;re Writing Week - Julia's promotions have begin!

The winner of an Advance Readers Copy of A BITTER FEAST is: Flora Church! Flora, please send your mailing info to Debs!

JULIA SPENCER-FLEMING: Yesterday, Debs talked about some of the many pre-publication things going on for A BITTER FEAST: her first (but surely not last) starred review, a graphics banner for promotions, and signing endless tip sheets for a special  author-signed B&N edition. 

Today I'm going to talk about some of the promotion efforts my own publisher is putting on to get you all excited about the April release of HID FROM OUR EYES. To start, for the entire month of August, the ebook edition of my debut novel, the one kicking off the Clare Fergusson/Russ Van Alstyne series, is on sale for $2.99! 
 

 Just in time for your August vacation, you can get it wherever ebooks are sold:

Kindle: https://amzn.to/2LXuDXk

iBooks: https://apple.co/2GGQHkB

Nook: http://bit.ly/2YkAext

Kobo: http://bit.ly/32ZVmrD

Prefer an actual, made-of-paper book when you're on the beach? We got you, fam. Head on over to Goodreads and sign up to win one of 25 copies Minotaur is giving away!

Here's the link to enter the contest.

"Julia," I hear you say, "Why is there a giant yellow 1 in the picture for the special $2.99 ebook price?" I'm glad you asked. HID FROM OUR EYES is the 9th book in the series, and there are eight months until it comes out. For each one of those months, Minotaur will be putting an ebook on sale for $2.99 (and running a Goodreads contest, and, oh, yes, there's something going on at Bookbub on the 15th of this month - and I don't even know what that goodie is going to be!) We'll be going through the series in order, the first book this August, the second in September, etc, etc.

So why my publisher doing this, besides the fact they're a splendid group of people? For the same reason Hank's run contests to give away copies of THE MURDER LIST and a big free sneak peek excerpt.  Hallie's publisher has a free chapter of CAREFUL WHAT YOU WISH FOR and Deb's book TO DWELL IN DARKNESS is on sale this month for only $1.99   It's because, as my publisher Andrew Martin once wisely said, "The book sells the book."

We want to sell our new books, and we hope that if you read one of the older novels - or get a juicy first chapter - you'll sign up and pre-order the next one. We also do social media stuff (I'm going to be getting on to Instagram...) we make personal appearances, we give cool things away to readers. But ultimately, we all gamble on the fact that if you like X, you'll also like Y. And if you can be enticed to try a new author at a low, low price, you might just be willing to pony up a bit more for the latest book when it comes out.

So, dear readers, our fates are in your hands. Tell me what are the best ways to sell YOU on an upcoming book?

WHAT WE'RE WRITING WEEK: Cover reveal for HID FROM OUR EYES!

JULIA SPENCER-FLEMING: I'm going to tell you all right up front, there's no excerpt from me today. I went back to the archives to see what I had already shared of HID FROM OUR EYES  and was amazed (dumbfounded, in denial) when I counted up all the time I've shared excerpts from my work-in-not-very-much-progress. 15 times, at an average of 400 words apiece, totaling 6000 words of a 114,000 word book. Like Gypsy Rose Lee in GYPSY, I've gotten down to my shoes and fan, and I need to duck behind a curtain quick before I give it all away.

I'm on the second round of edits right now, and it's going painfully slow. My editor is very good; he has a great sense of story and character, and a real ability to suggest changes that will shore up the weak spots. It's not his notes, it's me. After over five years with this manuscript (the first excerpt here was in November 2013!) I'm just so DONE with it. It's reminding me of mowing my lawn - I start out  filled with enthusiasm, meticulously cornering and overlapping the blade swaths, and three hours later I'm stumbling around the very back of the garden, sweaty, foul-tempered, and leaving all sorts of clumps and drifts of grass standing tall.

Which is not to say I won't do the job. I want HID FROM OUR EYES  to be good, and I want you, dear reader, to enjoy it very much, and the key to both those things is to rewrite and edit and polish and then do it again. In the meantime, I'm planning and plotting and dying to get started on the as-yet-unnamed 10th book in the series. Some authors will say they're daunted by the bare page - not me. It's like a clean linen sheet, waiting for me to roll in. My books are never as good as they are on the day I start a new novel, with the story spinning out before me in a Platonic ideal of fiction. This one will be perfect. It's not unlike getting ready for a first date - the time when you're alone at your apartment playing music and spritzing perfume is often the best part of the night.

Don't worry, as soon as I finish with the edits, I'm going to get very excited about HID FROM OUR EYES again. The wonderful folks at St. Martin's Press are planning all sorts of bells and whistles - giveaways and contests and special features and a great big book tour. I'll be sharing it all here and on my website and at my Facebook page, and I'm going to start with the gorgeous and ominous cover they've designed. Taa daa!

Dear readers, have you ever had to finish up the job when you really wanted to sneak out and start something entirely new?

Our Brag Book

BREAKING NEWS!  HAPPY SUMMER READING!   >TRUST ME by Red Hank Phillippi Ryan is now (briefly) $2.99! "A knockout" "Mesmerizing" "Riveting psychological suspense" "Dazzling" -and now: "on sale!"  Here's the link:
https://us.macmillan.com/books/9780765393081

AND NOW: 

JULIA SPENCER-FLEMING: We don't usually flog our own book info too hard here at JRW, but we we've been sharing exciting developments between ourselves, and Lucy said - quite insightfully! - that we should do a blog post where we share our good news and interesting tidbits with you.  

My first piece of news is that I'm the Guest of Honor at the Malice Domestic Conference in Bethesda next year! I'm very excited because A) my career literally began at Malice, when I won the St. Martin's Press/ Malice Domestic Best First Traditional Mystery Award in 2001 and B) the Toastmaster will be my dear friend Jeff Cohen (aka E.J. Copperman.) We're going to have a blast and I hope you'll come, too.

You'll have the chance to see me at several other venues from now through the fall, as I begin to pick up the pace of appearances again. I'm teaching and speaking at Maine Crime Wave in Portland at the end of this month, I'll be appearing at Crime Bake and Bouchercon (where two other Reds will be making special appearances, see below...), and I'm part of the fun and intimate Murder by the Book in Bar Harbor in mid-October.

But the best news of all? I have a publication date! HID FROM OUR EYES will be released April 7, 2020! I know it seems like a long time from now, but since I'm going to start writing Clare & Russ number 10 in June, I'm hoping it gives me a chance to finally finish one book before the release of another

LUCY BURDETTE: I'm finishing up the first push of spreading the word after publication of Key West food critic #9, A DEADLY FEAST! Madly, madly writing THE KEY LIME CRIME. Meanwhile, I got so tickled when I saw A DEADLY FEAST in Woman's World best books of the week, placed right next to Janet Evanovich:

"Filled with lighthearted humor and quirky characters, this fun whodunit begins when Key West food critic Hayley Snow gets a phone call from her friend Analise, who says a customer collapsed dead during one of their seafood tasting tours." Woman’s World Magazine

HALLIE EPHRON: Yay, Lucy! WOMAN'S WORLD! And featured alongside that nobody, Janet Evanovich!!My good news is a starred review from Publisher's Weekly for my August book, CAREFUL WHAT YOU WISH FOR. I'm over the moon, and so is my publisher. 

“This outstanding standalone from bestseller Ephron (You’ll Never Know, Dear) may be the first domestic thriller to weave in Marie Kondo’s decluttering theory about discarding things that don’t spark joy. … Appealing characters and some suspenseful detective work help elevate this in-depth look at people’s emotional attachment to things. After being a finalist five times, Ephron may finally win the Mary Higgins Clark Award for this one.”

RHYS BOWEN: I've had several pieces of good news recently. My Lake Union books have sold over a million copies in the past two years. This means I get my portrait hung on the wall of Amazon HQ. How cool is that? And the latest book, THE VICTORY GARDEN, has just passed 100,000 copies. Who'd have thought it when my first Constable Evans novel had a print run of 2500. Also my book, THE TUSCAN CHILD, has just been nominated for a Fresh Fiction award. I've no idea what that is, but it has to be good. And my next Royal Spyness book , LOVE AND DEATH AMONG THE CHEETAHS, comes out in August. Details of my crazy tour are on my website.

HANK PHILLIPPI RYAN:  Whoa. all that great news! You have to admit, it's amazing. Congratulations, dear pals. Let's see--I'm the American Guest of Honor at Bouchercon! And I am still floating over that incredible honor. I'm paired with Lifetime Achiever James Patterson, who I get to interview, how cool is that? (And I'll let Debs tell her own Bouchercon news.) . THE MURDER LIST  comes out August 20--and an early reader just tweeted: "All right! If John Grisham and LIsa Scottoline had a book baby, this is it! And I loved the ending!"  Yay. 

 THE MURDER LIST was also named a Most Anticipated Book of Summer 2019 by Crime Reads--so that's amazing, too. (My book tour will soon be on my website--whoa.) And the mass market paperback of TRUST ME is getting an astonishing print run. I cannot even believe it. So. Like I said. Yay.

Forge Books signed me to two more standalone books for 2020 and 2021--YAY! (And kind of hard to believe.)   I'm working on THE FIRST TO LIE right now. 



JENN McKINLAY: Our collective cup runneth over. Along with Rhys, but in a separate category, my latest library lover's mystery HITTING THE BOOKS has been nominated for best cozy by FRESH FICTION! If you want to vote for us, go here!   

Also, I recently sold THE GAP YEAR my very first women's fiction book to Penguin Random House in a six figure deal with the publication date slated for July 2020. I am crazy excited for this book to come out!



 
DEBORAH CROMBIE: I'm so excited that Kincaid/James #18, A BITTER FEAST,  will be out on October 8th, 2019! I'll be doing a national tour--although I have no idea where yet--and lots of other fun stuff. The ARCs have now gone out to reviewers, so the next couple of months will be nerve-wracking, as we can all attest.

Meanwhile, I'm beginning the next book, Duncan and Gemma #19. I even have a title! Hoping to write this one a little faster, folks!

Oh, and I'm also a guest of honor at Bouchercon, along with Hank! It's in Dallas, my home town, and I think it's going to be fabulous conference. I love my city and can't wait to see lots of you there!

JULIA: Joy and riches abound. A reminder to our dear readers - the best way you can support the authors you love is to ask your local library to stock their books or to pre-order the books for yourself! Our publishers love pre-orders. Love them.

Okay, dear readers, now it's your turn to brag. What amazing things are going on with you and yours?

What We Have Written Week: HID FROM OUR EYES

JULIA SPENCER-FLEMING: My last novel, THROUGH THE EVIL DAYS, was published in November, 2013. In the five years since then, I've dealt with illness (mine,) boomerang children, college drop-outs, college searches, serious depression and what feels like a statistically unlikely number of loved ones dying on me. I struggled mightily with writing, and it often felt like I was never going to get back up on the horse I so loved to ride.

Which makes it all the sweeter to tell you today that the ninth Clare Fergusson/Russ Van Alstyne mystery, HID FROM OUR EYES, is done, turned in, and in the editing process right now. The projected publication date is "Winter '20," most likely January or February.

Here is a short video of me bringing the ms to St. Martin's Press.




And here's an excerpt, picking up shortly where I left off the last time we had WWW week - Russ and Clare, his mother and former chief Jack Liddle are on their way to a fundraiser to benefit the save-the-police-department campaign.

   Russ refrained from asking again about staying behind. It might not be so bad, with Jack Liddle to talk to. He was actually going to have the men up front and the ladies in the back on the way over, but somehow his mom and Liddle wound up sitting in the back with Clare riding shotgun as usual. Mom spent most of the ride catching Liddle up on the Save Our Police campaign – what there was of it to this point. What a name. “Too bad we're not a sheriff's department,” he said quietly to Clare. “Then it could have been SOS.”

      “How about Save Our Badges?” she suggested. He laughed.

        The road to the Langevoorts was typical of summer homes in the mountains. First a winding paved road, then a gravel-covered turnoff leading to several private drives, then another long stretch of rutted, beaten dirt. Most people who came to the Adirondacks liked to keep things rustic and traditional.

         They parked, and Liddle got out of the vehicle, crossed behind the rear and held the door open for Russ's mother. Clare, who had exited under her own power, gave Russ a pointed look. “I'll do it for you, darlin', but you have to have the patience to stay put until I collect you.” He tucked her hand in the crook of his arm.

       “Yeah, that's not really my style,” she said. “What a lovely camp.” It was a picture-perfect example of High Adirondack architecture, all creamy varnished logs and deep eaves. There was a broad slate walk to the doorway, with an overhang to keep off the rain. “That's odd. Don't these sort of places usually have a porch?”

       “It's on the other side of the house,” Liddle said. “Wraps around on two sides.” Russ looked at him. “I've been here before. A long time ago, but it hasn't changed much. It belonged to Mr. Candice, then.”

       “He was the last president of the company,” Clare said. “Kent Langevoort took over from him. And now, of course, he's handing the reins over to someone else.”

       “And so the wheel of time turns,” Liddle said. “MakeS me miss the old days, once in a while.”

       “Trust me,” Margy said. “If you were a woman, you wouldn't be nostalgic at all.”