A NYTimes rave for our own Julia Spencer-Fleming

HALLIE EPHRON: There's much excitement here at Jungle Red! 

Fireworks! 

Drum roll! 

We're delighted to report that MIDNIGHT COMES THE CRY, Julia's brand new, hot off the presse book, has earned an absolutely glowing review from The New York Times's mystery maven, Sarah Weinman.

We're madly toasting Julia, and happily sharing the news. 

Here's what Ms. Weinman has to say: 

Over 10 books, Spencer-Fleming has examined the joys and ills of small-town life, the limits and tests of faith, and the many ways love can prevail. In AT MIDNIGHT COMES THE CRY (Minotaur, 308 pp., $29), her first book in five years, the longtime Millers Kill, N.Y., police chief Russ Van Alstyne has just resigned. He and his wife, the Rev. Clare Fergusson, have settled in for a quiet holiday season with their 8-month-old son. That is, until a white supremacist group descends upon the town, inciting violence at the annual lighted tractor parade, and Russ gets word from Officer Hadley Knox, the newest member of the Millers Kill police department, that her former partner has vanished after a stint infiltrating local militia groups.

It doesn’t take long for Russ and Hadley to realize that the people they care about are in the cross hairs of malevolence, and that following the procedural playbook won’t keep them alive. Fleming, in her most masterly turn yet, mixes heart-stopping action with deep empathy for her characters.

Goodness! It doesn't get much better than that!

Brava Julia! Russ and Clare can bask. 

Julia's Public Service Announcement: Get Vaccinated!

 LUCY BURDETTE: We are sad to report that our Julia is deathly ill with the return of Covid. (Sounds like a horror movie doesn't it? it is!) While she rests and recovers, she urges the rest of us to get vaccinated! I got mine last week and yes, I felt lousy for a couple of days, but nothing like she's suffering. 

Meanwhile, here's her gorgeous new cover, and a page to pre-order, and here's a link to her last writing post in case you didn't get a chance to read it...

A Night of Mystery: What Would you like to know?

 LUCY BURDETTE: I mentioned this earlier in the week, but as it gets closer, I'm getting more excited! Rhys, Hank, and Julia are going to be our guests at the Key West Friends of the Library speaker series on Monday 1/18 at 6 pm.

As moderator, it will be my job to steer the conversation and help keep things moving. So I'd love to hear from you: What are you most curious about in the writing life, and with these authors in particular? Imagine the best panel/interview you ever heard... What made it so memorable?

And if you haven't signed up yet, here's the link...the events are free, though donations are gladly accepted.

And on another note, thanks so much for all the nice birthday wishes Thursday. I loved spending the day with you! Here was the famous caramel cake:

And here's where you can find the recipe...

And ps, Celia Fowler is the lucky winner of Amy Pershing's A Side of Murder...

How We Live When the World Goes Mad

LUCY BURDETTE: Gosh this has been a hard week in our country. It's hard to stay positive when the bad news and bad behavior keeps piling up from all directions. Rather than sink lower with our collective despair and worry this morning, I decided to try a different direction.

Several things have happened lately that have made me wonder about whether there’s anything positive to learn from this downtime during the pandemic. I’ve heard rumors that some people are using this enforced down time to figure out whether life has meaning as it stands, or whether the activities and priorities we used to have need reevaluation. While we were still in Key West I noticed this beautiful Volkswagen. It reminded me of how I had planned to travel everywhere in a VW van after high school. I spent a lot of time designing the inside of the van with built-ins, including a bed and a miniature kitchen. I never did own a VW van, and I really don’t want one now. But I am eager to get back to traveling. We had a wonderful trip to Paris and Ireland planned, and I’m just as excited as ever to reschedule (sometime!) I still want to see New Zealand (maybe more than ever) and some other places. And we will desperately miss our time with kids and grandkids, though we are doing a yeoman’s job of staying in close touch over Facetime.

Last week, our Key West minister (also my dear friend and character Steve Torrence) asked this question in his message a week ago: Is this crisis an opportunity to see what we’re really made of? And another similar thought, that might be either jarring or reassuring: “Look around, this is how you live when the world falls apart.“

And finally, Ali Beale, the yoga teacher whom I love and have been following online since the world’s been shut down, asked a similar question: Are there things you’ve learned you are happy to do without during the pandemic? Or maybe other activities or dedications to take up?

There you have it, questions for the day: Is this horrible crisis causing you to rethink your life? Appreciate exactly what you have? Plan major changes? Simply carry on? (IMHO, this has been a horribly difficult time so there are no wrong answers!)

JULIA SPENCER-FLEMING: I think my brain has been working on this question subconsciously, Lucy. I had a half-awake dream a while back where I was given the chance to go back in time and re-do things. I woke up with four ideas of what I would have done: be more proactive about health (there was a lot in the dream about me yelling at Ross to wear sunscreen…) have better and more consistent writing habits, tackle the small needs-to-be-repaired issues in my old house before they became big issues, and save for retirement (Ross took care of that while he was alive, but now I have to carry on.) 

Then, of course, I realized these were all goals I can and should focus on right here and now. I knew that, but having them float up into my head from the bottom of my brain made it feel like a revelation. I suspect this pandemic is giving a lot of us time to work on our issues, whether we realize it or not.

RHYS BOWEN: Definitely appreciate my life and my husband. We hug each other and he says “I’m so glad I have you.”  He would never say things like that in a normal world! He’s British and not a great expresser of emotion. I also find that I can appreciate my situation, with enough space around me so we are not on top of each other, lovely views, enough to eat, not to have to worry about money… and realize how many people are desperate. I try to help where I can--food bank etc.

The thing I’m finding hardest is not being able to plan. Usually by this time we have our summer trip to Europe all lined up, a couple of conventions for the fall, my book tour in August...and now an empty calendar. I’m supposed to be co-guest of honor at Malice next year with Julia and who knows if that will happen? I am being very good at social distancing now but can I keep it up for six months? A year? Five years? These are things that haunt me at night. When will I crack and go into Macy’s? (if Macy’s still exists?)

Actually one thing I find I can do without is shopping. I open emails from Chicos and all the other places I have shopped in the past and I think “why bother. I have enough.”  Will that continue, I wonder, or will I go on an insane buying spree at the end of this--throwing out all my old clothes and buying an entirely new wardrobe. 

HALLIE EPHRON: So funny because the one thing I find I truly miss is shopping! We have a Marshall’s nearby and my escape when wit’s end is in sight, is to go see what’s new there. They have new merchandise daily. I rarely buy, but the diversion is welcome.

Like Rhys, I am so appreciating my husband and grateful that I’m home-bound with someone whose company I truly enjoy and who adores my cooking. It helps that he’s good at jigsaw puzzles. We’re on our 6th. 

At the end of the day, I’m surprised at how contented I am NOT to be traveling. My husband and I have traveled since we were first married, all through having babies and on to teenagers and after. I’ve been to the places I felt I *needed* to go, and being home is o-kay… for now. 

As I say, most of all I feel fortunate and grateful. It helps that I can look forward to my daughter Molly living in a rental nearby for the month of July. Plus a ton of ‘virtual’ events. And though I don’t think it will be soon, there’s a glimmer of an end in sight with treatment (first) and eventually a vaccine. In the meanwhile I look forward to becoming an expert ZOOMer.

DEBORAH CROMBIE: I'm definitely appreciating my life and my husband. I'm appreciating the fact that I can see my daughter and granddaughter over the fence--but I really really miss being able to hug them. That's the hardest thing for me. Otherwise, I have to admit I kind of like the peacefulness of not rushing around all the time. I've always had a hard time sticking to a schedule, so the fewer interruptions, the better, as far as my writing goes. And as I have a book due in a few months, I'm really seeing this lockdown as a blessing in disguise.

HANK PHILLIPPI RYAN: Debs, I am so envious.  I was truly off my game for about a month...staying up really late, and then waking up early. I kept thinking--save food, save food. I couldn’t read, and certainly couldn’t write. I was doing my reporter work from home, which is hurray, safer, but extremely complicated.  I’m better now, or on the way to being.  I have never worked this much, ever--with zooms and everything else, and I love love love that we can do it, but I have not had a day “off” for 78 days.

SO differences: I look at my clothes and shoes, suitable for a lifetime of on-air and in-person appearances, and have two thoughts. One--What did I need all those for? And two--I miss the fun of wearing them. Shopping? No. I don’t need one more thing, ever.  I wonder whether that change will stick. I hope I get the chance to find out. I looked at my book tour suitcases this morning, all in a closet. Don’t need those, either. And, I realize, I’m truly okay with that. 

Jonathan and I are in a fine place, with a back and front yard, and a lot of room, and we have a tiny herb and vegetable garden, now, besides all the flowers, and we take walks. We have always been very careful and respectful and caring of each other, but that, for both of us, is greatly increased. It’s very sweet, and we are both aware of it, but really don’t discuss it. He’s incredible about things like emptying the dishwasher, and vacuuming. Without a complaint or any martyrdom. He says he’s happy to be in “our safety bubble.”  (Which, like Rhys’s John, is not a typical Jonathan thing to say.) 

We have not set foot out of our yard. 

So I am trying to write now, and trust the future. I pretend my deadline is still my deadline. I pretend everything will get better. I do a lot of pretending. 

LUCY: Your turn now Reds...What have you learned while the world goes mad?

Pandemic Writing

Southernmost Point, Key West

LUCY BURDETTE: I was interviewed last week about how people are coping with the stay-at-home orders, and at the end the reporter said: “This will all be wonderful fodder for another book in your series!” And I thought, good lord, no, who will want to read about this once we’ve lived through it? I remember there were a spate of books about 9-11 and its aftermath, and I have the impression that most of them sank like stones.

But the reporter persisted a bit, asking how my Key West characters would react to pandemic conditions. So I imagined Hayley Snow buzzing around deserted Key West picking up takeout--though I couldn't picture her reviews getting any traction. And probably her mother, who runs a catering business, would be cooking for people in need. Houseboat Row, I thought, would probably stay much the same. The boats are in close proximity so the neighbors could still sit out on their decks (with masks?) and gab. Hayley would be super-protective of her 80-something roommate, Miss Gloria. But a murder during the epidemic? For what reason? Toilet paper hoarding? Inadequate social distancing? Counterfeit Florida Keys re-entry stickers?

I honestly can’t imagine wanting to write about this situation, nor can I imagine wanting to read about it! What about you Reds, can you picture any of your characters rising to this occasion? 

JENN McKINLAY: This is a very timely question since I’m writing about a character in next summer’s WAIT FOR IT, who is homebound for various reasons. Now that I’m in the thick of the manuscript, I have other characters thinking, Why would you settle for being stuck at home? Didn’t we get enough of that last spring? That is the complete reference I will make to this ver horribilis - to paraphrase Queen Elizabeth’s reference to 1992. I’m hoping it’s just the spring and not the whole year! I most definitely do not want to read about quarantine once we’re done with it. 

HANK PHILLIPPI RYAN: Such a deeply fascinating question--and I keep envisioning every writer crafting tales of murder mysteries in quarantine, and rom-coms where the people meet cute in masks and then have a big reveal, how facial recognition will be useless, and meetings missed, and people vanishing and no one notices, and and and and all kinds of plot devices ...but hey. if all goes as we all deeply hope, I’ve got to say I do not want to read that. 

I know of authors who are setting their books-in-progress in 2019, and that’s one solution, I suppose. I love Jenn’s one reference idea, because--we can’t ignore it.

But my upcoming book, THE FIRST TO LIE, which comes out in August, just saying, has no references, of course.

Thinking about this a bit more--the books I’m reading now were “before” and they don’t make me think: oh no, don’t shake hands! It’s the world of the book.

HALLIE EPHRON: I don’t know about my characters rising to the occasion when I’m barely able to do it myself. I keep thinking, “when will it be over?” And that’s not what you want a reader to be thinking while reading your book. 

Funny, what Hank said, because right now I’m reading your new Key West food mystery, THE KEY LIME CRIME, Lucy, and Hayley keeps hopping on and off her motorbike and toodling around town and I keep thinking, Wait, wait, she can’t do that… can she? And I love it that she CAN and I can follow her vicariously when in real life our wings are clipped.

RHYS BOWEN: I’ve already tackled this subject in last year’s book THE VICTORY GARDEN that was set in WWI and then the following flu epidemic. I hadn’t realized until I researched that the flu killed up to a hundred million people worldwide. It was harrowing to write about because the chances of surviving were slim. But my story was about rising to the occasion, how women took over tasks and did jobs they never believed they could do. I like to think that both Molly and Lady Georgie would not shirk from playing their part, going what was required. But as to writing about this…. I’m so glad my books are set in the past!

DEBORAH CROMBIE: I am thinking about this, too. My books have always floated fairly loosely in time, except for a couple that have concrete time references (which I now pretty much regret.) The WIP is set just six weeks after the end of A BITTER FEAST, so would that be November, 2019, or November, 2020, or some unplaceable autumn? I'm going for the latter, although by the time the book is finished I may have to rethink that. I can't imagine wanting to write about this time, and I rather like the idea of my characters' lives going forward in an alternate virus-free world.

JULIA SPENCER-FLEMING: I have the same reaction to Hank - I can see all sorts of plot possibilities to various aspects of the crisis. After all, there's a whole genre of end-of-the-world books. (They never, however, seem to feature protagonists sitting around endlessly binging Netflix - even the apocalypse in this timeline is the worst.)

I also agree with Lucy - it's going to be a while before anyone will be able to get any traction with fiction about the pandemic. It takes time, sometimes a long time, to get enough distance to turn pain into art. But mentions of the pandemic? We'll have to drop them in, at least those of us writing in the present day. The great novel about the 1918 pandemic, Pale Horse, Pale Rider, was published 20 years after the events it covers, but countless novels written before that had men who had been in the war and women who had lost family to the influenza. 

So I can picture Russ recalling having to struggle to get his officers masks and gloves, or Clare telling someone about her church's efforts to keep the food kitchen going, but only if it's all safely in the past, and we can get on with a nice, simple, wholesome murder.

Reds, would you want to read about this pandemic in the future? And do have your copy of Julia's new book yet?

Lucy scores Hid from Our Eyes

Most Anticipated Spring Reads

Jenn McKinlay: I am an eclectic reader, meaning I read everything. There is no genre I won't read. So, while looking at my most anticipated reads for spring, I was unsurprised to see a nice mix of genre there. Show of hands, who reads ALL the genres?

Because I like to share (librarian), here's my short list -- in no particular order -- of my most anticipated spring reads. Believe me, the actual list is much, much, much longer!

I discovered Abby Jimenez when she was a Food Network champ of Cupcake Wars - no, not kidding. She co-owns Nadia Cakes and since I write the Cupcake Bakery mysteries, I was an instant fan. Imagine my delight when she published her first book, The Friend Zone, and it was EXCELLENT! Naturally, I've been waiting for book two and was thrilled when she endorsed my upcoming summer book and then sent me an ARC of The Happy Ever After Playlist, which I just finished and let me just say -- it is FANTASTIC!

One of the cozy mysteries I have been most eager for is Death at High Tide, the start of a new series by my dear friend Hannah Dennison. If you love a good British mystery with delightful wit and a divine setting, Hannah's your writer! The series is about two sisters who inadvertently inherit a crumbling Art Deco hotel on a fictional tidal islet called Tregarrick Rock in the Isles of Scilly. Perfect, right? I've just started it and am loving it! 

Freakin' Scalzi. I straight up love this guy. Smart and funny, he's a writer's writer. Plus his Twitter feed features his cat Smudge, so we were simpatico even before I found this series, which I love. The Last Emperox is book three of the of The Interdependency Trilogy, and I am here for it. Not for nothing, but Scalzi pens a heck of a heroine and this space opera is a supercharged rocket of a ride. Strap in!

Lori Wilde has been a friend and mentor to me for years. When we met up at Bouchercon in Dallas, we had a lot to share as we'd both been moved into women's fiction by our publishers. I have been anticipating The Moonglow Sisters ever since. Three sisters raised by their grandmother, inseparable until a betrayal cuts their close ties. How will it play out for Maddie, Shelley, and Gia? No one writes better complicated family dynamics with warmth and wit than Lori. Her book arrived on my doorstep yesterday and I can't wait to dig in!

Okay, there's anticipation, and then there's ANTICIPATION! No eager-to-read-list would be complete without mentioning our Julia. At long last, number nine in her series drops this spring and I am over the moon.

I have loved Claire Fergusson and Russ Van Alstyne from book one and I can't wait to have them back in my life. Seriously, I am clearing my calendar and booking a long reading sesh with Hid From Our Eyes on it's release day, April 7th, and I suggest you do the same!

So, tell me, Reds and Readers, what are your most anticipated books this spring? And do you read all genres or no?

Let's Play...Never Have I Ever

JENN McKINLAY: All right, I’ve been a Red for a little over two years now, and while I know quite a bit about my fellow Reds there are some holes in my information, so let’s lean in and do a deep dive. Yes? It won’t hurt. I promise. Take a look at the list and tell us which “Never Have I Evers” you haven’t done. I’ll go first.

The List: 1 Point for Each (lowest score wins)

I am lucky number seven! No to helicopters (maybe someday if the opportunity arises), being arrested (shocker, I know), bungee jumping (no thank you), falling asleep in the movies (not with how much they cost these days!), Disneyland (yes, I know, it's an oversight), skydiving (only if the plane decides to fall from the sky), and no tattoos. Most people are surprised that I don’t have a tattoo (I guess I’m the type?), but the truth is I have commitment issues. I could barely commit to the Hub never mind permanent ink! Plus, I have a friend who got a rose tattoo when she was young and as the years have rolled along and gravity has kicked in, it’s become a long stemmed rose. Placement is everything! 

All right, Reds, you’re up!

HANK PHILLIPPI RYAN: Oooh. No missed a flight (I HATE saying that out loud), no arrests or piercings or tattoos, no births or handcuffs, no peeing (what does "in public" mean? Like, at a baseball game in a portapotty?), red light or bungee jumping. Well, maybe the red light, but not on purpose. It was yellow, it truly was.  NO skydiving, forget about it.. Does that make me a 10?  


HALLIE EPHRON: I’m an eleven… guessing that’s not a winner. I have never been pierced (not even my ears) or (surprise surprise) been bungee jumping or skydiving. Tattoos: I inadvertently gave myself one pricking my arm with the nib of a pen that had been dipped in India ink. I'm not counting it. I've missed connecting flights. Never arrested or rode in an ambulance. Peed in public? Does on the side of a hiking trail count? 

And weird coincidence: right now I'm reading Joshilyn Jackson's NEVER HAVE I EVER. It's riveting.

LUCY BURDETTE: See that's what really holds me back on tattoos...the drooping and the mind-changing. That puts me at six, including the dreaded peeing in public. You don't need to know all of the details, but it involved a terrible traffic jam on a bridge, too much coffee, and a coffee cup. Looking back, it was kind of amazing that I pulled it off. (TMI? Jenn did ask...)

I think I've told you I ran a red light on my bike, and that's been worked into the opening scene of the next book, THE KEY LIME CRIME. There was another before that (or was it a stop sign?) that resulted in the accident. Very scary--hope never to repeat that!

RHYS BOWEN: It's nine for me. I can see that mostly I've been a good child: no tattoo, no red light, no handcuffs, no arrests and never skipped school. I did go riding instead of studying for my big religious studies final (and managed to pass by one point). But I have narrowly escaped death, been in an accident and broken bones, and certainly peed it public if being halfway up a mountain with no cover of any sort counts (especially when I was squatting when the mountain train came by and forty pairs of eyes looked down at me!)

JULIA SPENCER-FLEMING: Body piercing - does that include ears? I got mine double pierced back in the eighties, though I've let the second set of piercings grow in. I've never sky dived - as the daughter and wife of Air Force vets, I know the smart move is to stay on the inside of the plane. Never bungee jumped, either, as I'm pretty sure my stomach wouldn't stand for it. I've never fallen asleep in the cinema - that was Ross's thing. He loved his $11 naps. And I've never been in handcuffs. So I'm five? Four, if ears = body piercing. 

I have been arrested, I have a tattoo, I've peed in public and I've ran quite a few red lights in my day. I also missed TWO flights from London to the States AT Christmastime ON two consecutive days. Ladies, I think I may be the bad girl of the Jungle Reds. 

DEBORAH CROMBIE: I'm a seven. Ears pierced when I was fourteen, with a needle. Never regretted it. Broke my collar bone at two, falling off a chair. (Uncoordinated, anyone?) Broke my pelvis at fourteen, when hit by a car. (That brings in the near death thing.)

No bungee jumping, no helicopters, no skydiving. (Seeing a theme here?) No Disneyland (deprived child, parent of deprived child.) No cruises. No handcuffs. I'm still conflicted on the tattoo. I look at images of British-themed postage stamps, and try to image where I could put it that wouldn't stretch... Peeing in public? Too many side of the road episodes in Mexico as a kid. And on one traffic jam on the M4 in the UK, if I had had any sort of bottle or cup, I'd have used it. I've refused to drive on a UK motorway ever since.

Okay, Readers, your turn. What is your number of Never Have I Evers?

Mothers in Fiction

 LUCY BURDETTE: it’s Mother’s Day, and we celebrate all of the wonderful mothers in our clan! But we also realize that mothering comes in many shapes and sizes. Even if you didn’t have a perfect mother, or wish you done things better, we can always admire mothers in fiction. So that’s today’s subject – tell us about a mother who caught your eye and why.

The first one that came to my mind was the character of Maria in the ​S​ound of ​Music. J​ohn​ and I saw this show again this past winter – a wonderful production in Key West​.​ I knew the musical well because I played Brigitta in our high school version.​ ​​(The peak of my acting career LOL.)​ Seeing it again so many years later, I was struck by Maria’s powerful mothering instinct for the children who are her charges. ​She explains them to their own father, she manages to win over even the impossible teenager, she herds them all to safety when the Nazis threaten. She's totally too good to be true--but hey, it's fiction!​

HALLIE EPHRON: Such a good question. The mother who comes to mind is Ma, the mother of 5-year-old Jack in Emma Donoghue's ROOM. She tries to create a "normal" loving environment for her child in a situation that is anything but normal. The grandmother in Roald Dahl's THE WITCHES. She smokes cigars and loves her grandson even after he's been turned into a mouse.

HANK PHILLIPPI RYAN: Hmm. Very thought-provoking! And since the only mother that instantly springs to mind is Calpurnia -who is not Jem and Scout's mother, of course, and Atticus Finch-as-mother, whose wife haunts him--you'd think there would be more good mother figures. I'm really thinking about this now. Mother's are often nags, or dismissed, or crazy or creepy or obsessed (TRUST ME) or simply not pivotal.  Someone to be gotten away from. Hmm.  Am I wrong? Help me, Reds and readers. Seriously. I think we Reds ought to do an anthology to full that gap. 

RHYS BOWEN: the quintessential awful mother is Mrs Bennett in Pride and Prejudice. Poor Lizzie... Complete embarrassment! But she is so well written that she is not over the top,but quite identifiable. I'm also thinking of Georgie's mother in my Royal Spyness books. Completely self absorbed, incapable of any mothering. Also rich, gorgeous and a man-magnet. Poor Georgie... But she makes for great comedy and drama. I was trying to think of good mothers. Little House on the Prairie? But she is too passive. She should have stopped her husband from dragging them all over the country!

DEBORAH CROMBIE: I've been mulling over this for days. It's made me realize how seldom we see fully-realized mothers in fiction. On the classics side, I thought of Mrs. March, in Little Women. She worries, she grieves, she has a temper--she's human and fallible. And, later, in Jo's Boys, Jo herself is a mother. In a little less classic example, there's Mrs. Murray in A Wrinkle in Time. She's a scientist, so we do get the sense that she has a life outside of her role as mother of Charles Wallace, Meg, and the twins. And what about Mrs. Weasley, in the Harry Potter books?


But these are all, except for Jo March in Jo's Boys, peripheral characters. This has seemed especially true in crime fiction, and I was thinking about it quite a few years ago when I created Gemma James. I wanted to write a woman who was ambitious and good at her job, but whose role as a mother is an integral part of her story and her identity. I hope I've succeeded. Rhys's Molly Murphy is another great example--I would love to see more!

LUCY: Debs, can't believe we didn't come up with those two!! And of course we are looking forward to more of Clare as mother...

JENN McKINLAY: Such a good question! Of course, if we're talking Disney mothers, they're dead, or if she's a stepmother, she's evil. You gotta love the consistency. As for fully realized fictional moms, I love the Anne of Green Gables series in its entirety, and Anne becomes a wonderful mother after being an orphan. She reminds me of Deb's pick Jo in Jo's Boys. Other moms I get a kick out of are, Stephanie Plum's mom in Janet Evanovich's bounty hunter series. She's just so relatable to every mom I knew growing up. I also love Susan Elizabeth Phillips's depictions of moms as she really gives them the complexity a mama character requires, plus, she's wickedly funny.

Okay Reds, your turn to tell us about a fictional mother who caught your eye and why. And happy Mother's Day to everyone who mothers in whatever form that may take...

Mysterious Weddings

LUCY BURDETTE: I love the idea of inserting weddings into the Key West mysteries—the possibilities for conflict are endless. Plus, Key West is in real life a very popular wedding destination. So we see every kind of ceremony, from two people who've stumbled off a cruise ship to get married on the beach to unbelievable extravaganzas ending with fireworks. The caterers in town are experts at setting up for a wedding and tearing it all down the same night so it looks as though absolutely nothing happened the next day. There are several bakeries specializing in gorgeous wedding cakes, and there are beautiful tropical wedding flowers and plenty of places to party. 

My good friend and wonderful character Steve Torrence conducts a thriving wedding business on the side of his police and church work—I think he did at least four over one weekend in April. When I started to think it was time for Hayley Snow to tie the knot, I realized that I've already had two weddings in this series--one took place at the Hemingway Home in Murder with Ganache (I absolutely love that cover!) and the other in Killer Takeout in a closet during a hurricane. There is supposed to be a wedding in A DEADLY FEAST, but I'm going to save that story for tomorrow when the book is out!!

Reds, do you put weddings into your books? Why or why not? 

HALLIE EPHRON: Realizing I've never put a wedding in a  book... except as back story. But it is the PERFECT setup for conflict, and talk about high stakes! Don't tell anyone but I'm about to celebrate my 50th wedding anniversary. What can I say, I got lucky the first time, and the truth is we were SO young it could easily have been a disaster. I did not have a wedding dress (never wanted one) but the one thing I did get at my wedding was great food. Big surprise, right? I'm stealing this from someone, but I do think what makes a good marriage is marrying someone whose annoying habits you find charming.

RHYS BOWEN : I have had a wedding in all three of my series.  If the series goes on long enough and there is a romantic interest then eventually you have to marry off the characters. Lady Georgie got married last year although enough bad things happened before the wedding that the outcome wasn't certain. But it was fun to write. As for a good marriage... I can beat Hallie by two years. I don't have a secret except be lucky enough to choose the right partner in the first place and to work at it... It also helps to be in the same page in the big things... Money, child rearing, religion. But Hallie I still find his annoying habits, annoying!

JENN McKINLAY: Lots of weddings here! All of my series have weddings. Primarily, because I start with a thirty-something character and after ten books and one or two relationships it seems to be the natural order of things. I haven’t written many books beyond the wedding in any of the series so I’ll have to see if it’s a series killer or not. Hmm...

DEBORAH CROMBIE: I've only had one wedding, Gemma and Duncan's, and it was very low key. I had a lot of worries that marrying them would be a series killer, but not so far! But, weddings as a source of conflict, that's brilliant. Somehow I've never thought of putting another wedding in one of my books. Lucy, you've given me ideas!

Oh, and I'm about to celebrate my 25th. Not too bad, considering this is marriage #2:-)

HANK PHILLIPPI RYAN: Didn't Shakespeare end all of his comedies with weddings? It's the perfect way to wrap up of loose ends and providing a moment to reiterate theme and provide emotion and  indicate to the readers (and listeners) that the characters' lives will continue. So--all good.

I had a wedding in FACE TIME, and I have to say I adored it. (Not Charlie's of course.)  It really was one of my favorite things I've ever written, and it even makes me weepy now to think of it. My mom said she'd cried at the scene, and my editor did, too!  Pretty interesting, considering it's a murder mystery.

Interestingly and now that I think of it : in domestic suspense, it doesn't feel so natural. Hmmm. Have to multiply that over.

Gosh, we are coming up to year...22! Amazing. Awww. It really seems so recent. 

JULIA SPENCER-FLEMING: Ross said our marriage was the best twenty years of his life...on our thirtieth anniversary. (Picture me with serious side-eye.) I guess it took me at least a decade to find his annoying habits charming, Hallie! My top priority for a good marriage (or really, any other relationship) is communication and follow-through. You have to be willing to sit down and actually talk about your feelings, expectations, issues, etc. And then both partners need to follow through with the agreed upon action. I remember vividly the point where I realized Ross was The One - it was the fact that if I said, "This is bothering me," he listened, gave his point of view, and then actually DID something about the thing that was bothering me. (Except for picking his socks up from the floor, And after fifteen years or so, that just didn't bother me anymore.)

Weddings: I've had two, described very briefly, because they were sweet add-ons to the main story, not the focus. I have seriously thought about doing a short -to- Novella length story about Clare and Russ's wedding, in part because I'd really love to see Clare's snobbish Southern Belle mother dealing with the fact the groom-to-be was a cop thirteen years older than her daughter. Plus, her mother drives Clare insane. You're so right, Lucy, that the possibility for conflicts are endless when it comes to weddings. Even if you don't throw a death in the mix, the combination of money, family, expectations and Pinterest-fueled delirium could drive a whole novel.

Lucy: Julia, we want the novella please! Hank, you are so right about suspense not lending itself to weddings...

For Red readers, do you like reading about weddings in your mysteries? 

Reds: Back in force at Bouchercon!

BREAKING NEWS! Jungle Red Writers win the Anthony Award for Best Online Content!
 
HALLIE EPHRON: Today, Reds are at Bouchercon, the world's premier mystery conference. This year it's at the Vinoy Renaissance St. Petersburg Resort. Very elegant. Literally thousands attend, and if you're there, you might spot one of us wearing a red leopard pashmina. We are, it turns out, quite fashion-forward since animal prints and the color RED have been proclaimed officially IN this year, according to fashion pundits.

Things got off with a bang at opening ceremonies Thursday with our very own Rhys Bowen's In Fairleigh Field winning a Macavity Award for best historical mystery! Other winners are Anthony Horowitz for Magpie Murders (best mystery), Sheena Kamal for The Lost Ones (best first mystery novel), and Paul D. Marks for "Windward" (best mystery short story).

And here's Lucy and Hank at the Sisters in Crime breakfast with Kellye Garrett and Sherry Harris. As SinC's new President, Sherry got the official seal of office.

Here's what we're all up to at Bouchercon.

LUCY BURDETTE: I put the red leopard pashmina in my suitcase first so I wouldn't forget! So looking forward to meeting up with Debs, Hank, Ingrid, and Julia. Our Reds panel is on Saturday at 4 and I bet it will be tons of fun. I am also moderating a great panel of culinary mystery writers on Friday at noon--sadly it's opposite a lunch with Lisa Scottolini, but hopefully we'll get a crowd anyway. And I will meet and chat with people from the Crooked Lane publisher, and participate in author speed dating, and attend the librarians' tea. Phew! It's going to be a very busy couple of days but I'm so looking forward to seeing Red Readers there. Who's here?

DEBORAH CROMBIE: Lucy, I put my pashmina in first, too!  I'm so looking forward to seeing the other Reds, and all of our online friends who will be there, too.

I'm on one of the kick-off panels, 10 AM on Thursday morning. It's called Just the Facts and we'll be talking about how we get our police procedural stuff right (at least I hope I get it right.) After the Opening Ceremonies on Thursday night, I'll be signing 50 free books, along with all the other Harper Collins authors who are attending. And then there's our REDs' game show panel on Saturday afternoon at 4! In between, I'll be meeting with friends and fans and folks from my publisher. Maybe I'll even manage to get to a panel or two this year!

INGRID THOFT: Don’t count on getting to any panels, Debs!  There’s always so many people to see and once I start catching up with someone, it’s hard to tear myself away at the appointed time! 

I’m moderating a panel about amateur sleuths on Thursday afternoon, then the Opening Ceremonies, and dinner with my publisher.  Friday is a free day except for a lunch and the Shamus Awards at which I’ll be giving out the award for Best Paperback Original.  The highlight of Saturday will be the Jungle Reds panel, of course.  I may have to call on my fellow Reds when prepping to leave; my hubby helped me pack into a smaller suitcase this year (pashmina included!) and I may need a couple of you to sit on it! (Photo is Ingrid with Reed Farrell Coleman.)

HANK PHILLIPPI RYAN:  My brain is frying! There are so many fabulous panels, but I fear.. well, I cannot wait, anyway.

Opening ceremonies, yay, where everyone will be! And then my publisher dinner that night.  Friday, I'll be signing at the Forge hospitality room at 1:45--what book? Trust me, I'm not sure. And SO MANY meetings! On Saturday, a panel at 11am on how authors turn real life crime into fiction, and then at 3, the Guest of Honor panel, and at 4 the REDS panel! And at 6, I am auctioneer (with Lisa Unger) for the live auction!  (This is gonna be interesting...) .

Then the Anthony's! Where I will not mention that JUNGLE RED is a nominee! YAY!
And yes, only a carry-on. We shall see!

(Photo below is Hank with Charles Salzberg, Reed Farrel Coleman, Krista Faust, Roseanne Coleman, and Linwood Barclay.)

JULIA SPENCER-FLEMING: I'm writing this Friday morning, after attending the opening ceremonies with Lucy and having the great pleasure of seeing Rhys's IN FARLEIGH FIELD win the Macavity Sue Federer Award for best historical novel!

For me, this Bouchercon feels like a coming-out party - it's been over two years since I've done any big mystery world conferences. I'm just grateful when people recognize me!  My only have-to-be-there event is the REDS panel on Saturday - and I had a moment of PANIC while packing when I couldn't find my pashmina. I remember Youngest "borrowing" it and thought, if she's taken it up to university with her... but no, thank heavens, it was hanging in her room.

 I'm looking forward to lunch with my editor, my publisher's cocktail party, and dinner with my dear friend Jeff Cohen, all on Friday. Other than that, I'm just going to be hanging around looking for someone to talk to (and possibly buy me drinks, I'm not too proud.) So if you see me, stop me and say hi!


HALLIE: And now I'm so sad that I'm not there. Rhys is home, too, editing galleys and writing. We'll post more pictures as they come in. And please,

IF YOU SEE A RED LEOPARD PASHMINA, SAY SOMETHING!

 TODAY at Bouchercon 2018:
Annette Dashofy and Liz Milliron

TODAY eager readers lining up for the Librarians' Tea in the Grand Ballroom

Misheard Lyrics: Mondegreens!

JENN McKINLAY: I'm married to a musician, which is no surprise because I love music. I love listening, singing, and feeling that visceral punch to the chest from a really great song. Here's the thing, I never get the lyrics right and the poor beleaguered Hub has to listen to me sing, "Summer breeze, makes me feel fine, blowing' through the chasm in my mind..." Which, frankly, I think makes more sense then "blowing through the jasmine in my mind" but whatever. He's ever patient with me.

Recently, I learned that misheard song lyrics, which are unintentional and not at all like Weird Al Yankovic's parody of songs, actually have their own terminology. They are called mondegreens. Somehow this makes me feel that singing the wrong words is a less egregious offense, you know, because it has a name so it's legit.

Little known fact: My nickname when I lived next-door to the AZ state liquor commissioner, Howard Adams, was "Ave Maria". Why? Well, he was a good Irish Catholic boy and I was a sinner, but we spent many a happy hour together where I would imbibe too much and then sing Ave Maria in Latin, which he loved. Those words I never got wrong, most likely do to the fear of eternal damnation. Plus, it was Latin!

So, how about you Reds? Do you get the songs right or wrong? And if you do get them wrong, what's your most dazzling mondegreen? Here's another personal fave, because...donuts!

Crystal Gayle's donut problem.

HANK PHILLIPPI RYAN: You know why they’re called mondegreens, right? It’s from something like an Irish folk song, about someone who was was slain by somebody-somebody, and they "laid him on the green."  Someone thought it was "and Lady Mondegreen."

Anyway, don’t get me started on song lyrics.  “in the night with the light from a bulb?” “Excuse me while I kiss this guy?”
And what are those impossible lyrics from Rocket Man?  Burning up his face down here alone?  (it's really "Rocket man, burning out his fuse up here alone" which make no sense at  all.)

JENN: I had no idea where "mondegreen" came from, Hank. Oh, I love that back story. And "Excuse me while I kiss this guy" is a classic! Jimi Hendrix, FTW. 

Jimi!

RHYS BOWEN: One of the most used Mondegreens is what is called in the US Ring Around the Rosie.  In England where it originated, it is Ring a ring of roses. A pocket full of posies. Atishoo. Atishoo. We all fall down. It is a creepy song about the great plague of 1665. The ring of roses is the rash around the body that signifies you have the plague. You carry flowers and herbs in an attempt to ward it off. Atishoo is the sneeze and we all fall down. You die anyway.
But my favorite mondegreen came when I was singing with the local opera chorus. A flamboyant and fun gay guy who sang with me insisted that the song "She's a must to avoid" was really "She's a muscular boy."

LUCY BURDETTE: I'm always singing something and usually with words made up to fit the person or pet in front of me. For example, Tonka's favorite song was "T-t-t-Tonka, beautiful Tonka, you're the only d-d-d-dog that I adore..." But I'm desperately searching for mondegreens and all I can come up with is: "One toe over the line sweet Jesus, one toe over the line..."

HANK: Lucy! I love that!

HALLIE EPHRON: JASMINE of my mind? I always thought it was canyons of my mind. Go figure. And of course I pledged allegiance to the republic for Richard Stans. My granddaughter mangle the lyrics of every song she sings. And sings. Except supercalifragilisticexpialidocious she nails.

DEBS: Hallie, I though it was "canyons" too! "Jasmine?" You have to wonder what they were smoking...

JULIA SPENCER-FLEMING: Hank, I thought it was "burning up his face up here alone" too. I can't think of any mondegreens that you all haven't already mentioned, but, like Lucy, I'm constantly singing songs with new lyrics to my pets, kids, etc. "Oh, Louie, you're so fine, you're a fun dog all the time hey Louie" (clap clap, clap clap) "Hey Louie," (clap clap, clap clap) To the tune of "Hey Mickey," of course. 

I also do it with pop songs on the radio, which drives Youngest absolutely bonkers. There's one out now where the Camila Cabello sings, "Half of my heart is in Havana, na, na na. He took me back to east Atlanta, na, na, na..." and I will go on, "I like to eat a nice banana, na, na, na. While I am wearing my pajama, na, na, na." I usually can't get further than a couple of bars before I start getting threats from my daughter.

JENN: So, you clearly have a strong song parody game, Julia. Love it!

Another Elton John mondegreen classic!

DEBORAH CROMBIE:  I had no idea that misheard song lyrics were called mondegreens! And I love Hank's explanation. But here's the thing. I have a terrible time remembering song lyrics at all, unless I'm prompted by someone singing them. It's a weird brain gap, like not getting algebra. But if Rick starts singing something, for instance, I can immediately fill in the lyrics (and usually correctly) even when he can't remember them. And I can sing along with songs on the radio just fine. Brains are very quirky.

INGRID THOFT: Okay, the most memorable mondegreen isn’t really family friendly, but I’ll let you fill in the blanks.  Famously, in my family, one of my sisters was sure that the lyric from The Motels’ song “Only the Lonely” was “only the lonely g*t l$#d.”  In fact, the lyric is “only the lonely can play.”  Not necessarily that different in meaning, but a bit different when it comes to singing along in the car!  The lyric that I always think should be a mondegreen but isn’t?  “You’re a vegetable” sung in the bridge of Michael Jackson’s fantastic “Wanna Be Startin Something.”  That one always leaves me scratching my head!

JENN: When Hub was reviewing a John Fogerty show, Fogerty embraced the mondegreen and sang "There's a bathroom on the right" as opposed to "bad moon on the rise" and pointed to the right. Hub said it was pretty hilarious! 

How about you, Readers? What's your most common mondegreen? And for all the earworms I've now planted in your head, you're welcome!