Why so Series-ish: a guest blog by Lauren Willig

The winner of the signed copy of MALICE AT THE PALACE is Karen in Ohio!

JULIA SPENCER-FLEMING: August must be the month for fabulous historical fiction! Our own Rhys Bowen with her ninth Her Royal Spyness mystery, MALICE AT THE PALACE, and the writealicious Lauren Willig with the last (sob) of her Pink Carnation Series, THE LURE OF THE MOONFLOWER were both released yesterday! If you're one of the few readers who hasn't discovered Lauren's hard-to-pin-down series (Humorous Romantic Napoleonic-era-romp Spy Thrillers/Academic Mysteries) you must leave your computer, hie to your local independent bookstore, and purchase them immediately.


Okay, done? You're back? Good. Because not only has Lauren made the HRN-e-rST/AM genre her own, she's also been writing beautiful stand-alone historical fiction weaving mystery and romance with intriguing settings like colonial Kenya, the Pre-Raphaelite movement and, in THE OTHER DAUGHTER, the Bright Young Things of 1920's England.

Did I mention THE LURE OF THE MOONFLOWER and THE OTHER DAUGHTER came out only two weeks apart? And that Lauren has a toddler at home? And that she wrote her first book, THE SECRET HISTORY OF THE PINK CARNATION, while she was in Harvard Law School?

Just typing that made me tired. We Reds may consider giving up writing our books and just let Lauren handle everything for us.

Hi, Jungle Reds! Thanks so much for having me back here. Whenever I visit, I feel like I’m sinking into a cracked leather sofa in a good friend’s den. It’s a place to kick back with a drink in your hand, a shoe dangling off your toe, and a long, deep breath.

I could use a long, deep breath right now. I’ve had two book releases in two weeks: on July 21, The Other Daughter, a 1920s stand alone novel (my attempt to see what would happen if I tried to channel Mary Stewart and Evelyn Waugh, add a lot of caffeine, and stir), and now, yesterday, The Lure of the Moonflower, the twelfth and final book in my Pink Carnation series.

Can you tip that bottle of wine over my glass again? Thanks.

The adjective that seems to constantly attach itself to the Pink series is long-running. (Although, really, when it comes to long-running, I’ve got nothing on Deb! I raise my glass to you, sweetie.) I’m deeply bemused by this. I wrote the first Pink Carnation book, way back in 2001, as a way to avoid writing my dissertation. It was a lark, an inside joke, a swashbuckler gone Blackadder with spies swinging through windows, Napoleon being soundly put in his place (by a chaperone with a purple parasol), the odd heaving bosom, and a few comic sheep. But a publisher saw it as something more than a private amusement and signed me up to write another one. And then another one. And a few more.

So here we are. With the Pink series in my rearview mirror—so to speak—I’m thinking about series, the care and feeding thereof. Close-ended series, open-ended series, ongoing protagonist series, barely tied together series, and those series that are really just one book told in multiple installments.

My Pink Carnation series was a series by accident. Which means that, instead of sitting down and thinking all of this out in advance, it simply accrued. The books each featured a separate Napoleonic adventure and separate protagonists, tied together in three places: by the spy master (spy mistress?) known as the Pink Carnation; by the characters all being part of the same very interwoven world; and by my modern framing character, an American grad student named Eloise, who popped by from time to time to announce that she’d found a new cache of documents, spill coffee on herself, and stumble into a few mysteries of her own. It was a not-a-series that turned into an open-ended series, each book largely carrying its own weight, which, around book six or so had developed enough of a larger story arc that it needed to be shepherded into a close-ended series, so I wouldn’t leave readers hanging like that blasted 1990s remake of Dark Shadows that ended in the middle of an extended flashback. (I’m still miffed about that.)

To be honest, I’m pretty glad that it all happened by accident, because there was no way, back in 2001, that I could have planned half of that. I’m a big believer in the chaos theory of writing: that the stories you stumble into in that dark closet of your mind, tripping over spare characters, and sending odd bits of plot crashing around and banging you in the back of the head, are much more interesting than the ones you keep carefully dusted on your shelf, ready for use.

But now that my Pink series is done, I’m in the position of having to figure out what to do next. Theoretically, writing a series ought to have taught me Deep Writing Lessons that can be applied to my next venture, whatever that might be. The problem is… I’m not sure what those are.

(Other than: anyone who tells you that you can write while the baby naps has a much more napping baby than I do. But that’s another topic.)

I’ve been punting the question by writing stand alone novels, each of which is its own unique structural challenge—and rather makes me miss the comfort of sinking into the familiar world of a series. Of course, while I was writing my series, I complained I didn’t have enough time to experiment with new plots, characters, and time periods, so this is definitely a case of beware of what you wish for. The manuscript is always inkier?

So what do you think? Do you prefer open-ended series or close-ended series? Do you think series ought to be planned in advance or develop as they go along? If you were to restart your writing career from scratch tomorrow and could write anything you liked, what would you choose?

You can find out more about Lauren Willig at her website, where you can also see the whole list of  the Pink Carnation series in order, and read excerpts of  The Lure of the Moonflower and The Other Daughter. You can friend Lauren on Facebook, follow her on Twitter as @LaurenWillig, and read lots of extra tidbits and book discussions on her blog, cleverly disguised as the News on her website.

A Day in the Life of Houston's Murder by the Book

SUSAN ELIA MACNEAL: Last summer I had the honor of appearing at beloved mystery book shop, Murder by the Book, in Houston, Texas, to promote THE PRIME MINISTER'S SECRET AGENT and talk about historical mysteries. I appeared alongside fabulous New York Times-bestselling authors Lauren Willig and Beatriz Williams. The evening was facilitated by Murder by the Book's publicity manager John Kwiatkowsky and Sally Woods.

Readers, it was heaven. 

What was so wonderful? The books, of course (my credit card took a serious dent), meeting Lauren and Beatriz (I've been a huge fan of their novels for years and it was lovely to meet them in person), and most of all, the staff, who were knowledgeable and professional and fun and funny. Do you ever meet people and just know that you're going to be fast friends? Well, that's what happened to me when I met John and Sally.

We all read mysteries and thrillers, but I thought it would be fun to take a peek "backstage" at a particularly fantastic mystery bookshop — and what happens behind the scenes. John and Sally, take it away!

JOHN and SALLY: Working in a bookstore comes with all the usual challenges of working retail, and throws in challenges of its own. Those challenges can be trying to figure out which blue book a customer saw on the new release table at another bookstore, trying to remember the name of a long out print book, or explaining for the 5th time why you don’t know if a book is available for the Kindle.

It also comes with some pretty special rewards. We have a lot of customers that have moved away from Houston, but always include a trip to the store when they’re back for a visit. We get to meet authors that we love, hand-sell books that we’re excited about, and spend our days surrounded by books.

Each bookstore is different. Working at a Barnes and Noble is different from working at a specialized indie bookstore. (If you want to know what working at big box store like B&N or Borders is like, read Elaine Viets's Murder Between The Covers, she nails it!)

One of the comments we hear all the time is, "I'd love to work in a bookstore and spend all day reading." We laugh, but know that reading is the last thing we get to do when we’re at work. Here’s what a typical day behind the counter looks like...

9:30 a.m. - Get to the store. If last night's event ran long, start the day by putting the store back together. That includes putting away event chairs, picking up stray books that wandered off the shelf, and picking up empty wine glasses left on bookcases. (If it's Tuesday, put out this week's new releases).

9:45 a.m. - Sort books from last night's event and get them ready to mail out.

10:00 a.m. - Open the store.

10:15 p.m. - Answer email, and update the store’s Twitter and Facebook accounts. Add any newly scheduled events to the website, while still helping customers and answering the phone.

11:00 a.m. - Dave, our UPS driver, shows up with 45 boxes of new books. Each book has to be checked in, sorted, and shelved, while still helping customers and answering the phone. If there are any damaged or missing books, they have to be called into the publisher for credit or replacement.

11:45 a.m.: Answer the phone:

Employee: Hello, Murder By The Book!

Customer: Is this homicide?

Employee: No, we're a bookstore.

Customer: I need homicide.

Employee: I think you should hang up and dial 911.

11:52 a.m. - A customer comes in asking for Victoria Holt’s series about a midwife. You realize she’s looking for the series by Victoria Thompson and give her the first in the series.

12:30 p.m. Thirty minutes for lunch

1:15 p.m. - Patrick, our mailman, brings an advanced reading copy that that’s been eagerly awaited. A happy dance ensues.

2:05 p.m. - Check for online and email orders.

Tracy Carlson

3:00 p.m. - Archie, our FedEx driver, shows up with 3 boxes full of special orders. Each book has to be checked in, sorted, and customers need to be contacted to know their books have arrived.

4:00 p.m. - Meet a teenager in town for a lung transplant. His family is in Houston temporarily, and he loves mysteries. Show him some staff favorites, and recommend some great places to visit while in town.

4:45 p.m. - A customer from Shreveport stops by the store on one of her quarterly trips to Houston. After spending 45 minutes helping her pick out titles, she asks for a hug when you carry her bags out to the car for her. Your bookseller heart skips a beat.

5:00 p.m. - If there's an event that evening, put out chairs, set up the signing table, put out wine.

5:45 p.m. - Take Jack Reacher, the store dog, out for a potty break.

6:00 p.m. - Close for the day, unless there’s an event.

If there is an event:

6:10 p.m. - Author arrives. Take them to the back to sign presales (books ordered by people who couldn’t make it to the signing).

6:30 p.m. - Introduce the author to the crowd.  Double check for last minute orders for signed books while trying to pay attention to the author’s talk.

7:15 p.m. - Author talk is winding down, tell the crowd we have time for one more question. When the talk finishes, line customers up so they can get their books signed.

8:00 p.m. - Signing line is finished, take the author to the back to sign books for people that couldn’t make it, and the rest of the store stock. Once the stock is signed, thank the author for coming and put the store back together.

8:30 p.m. - Head home (11 hours after the day started). This is where we actually get our reading done.

As you’ll see, there wasn’t any time for reading. We might get a few minutes to read while we’re on our 30 minute lunch break, but any reading is done once we get home and finally put up our feet at the end of a long day. That book we just recommended? We read it while we were off the clock.

At the end of the day, we all love what we do. No one ever worked at a bookstore to become rich. We do it because we love books, and we love finding the right book for the right reader. And that’s the best perk of this job, having someone come back and tell you they have found a new favorite book or author.


SUSAN ELIA MACNEAL: Thank you John and Sally, for taking the time to drop by today and all that you do. (Also — Jack Reacher! He's adorable!) Reds and lovely readers, have you ever been to Murder by the Book? Have you ever worked in a bookstore or wanted to? What does your ideal bookstore have? (Mine has a few cats.... No offense, Jack Reacher.) 

John and Sally will be dropping by to answer all of your questions, even "what's the name of that book, you know — the blue one...."

John Kwiatkowski, Publicity Manager at Murder By The Book since 2010

In previous career incarnations, John has sold model and toy trains, and been a barista.  Prior to joining the Murder By The Book team he managed one of the local chain bookstores.  When his nose isn't in a book he loves going to concerts, seeing musicals, going to Las Vegas, and spending afternoons in Hermann Park.

John's favorite authors include: Arturo Perez-Reverte, Tasha Alexander, Kelley Armstrong, Melissa Marr, Daphne Du Maurier, Wilkie Collins, Jacqueline Sussan, Victoria Laurie, and Louise Penny.

Sally Woods at Murder By The Book since 2011

Sally has been in the bookselling biz for almost 20 years.  She comes to MBTB via various Houston indie bookstores.  She did have a life prior to bookstores, but that seems long ago.  She is also somewhat new to the mystery genre and is learning about new authors all the time.

Some her favorite authors include: Stephen King, John Sandford, Dean Koontz, Sue Grafton, Kevin Brockmeier, Dan Chaon, Gillian Flynn, Joyce Carol Oates (especially the short stories), Margaret Atwood, and newly discovered Peter James.  

Aunt Agatha's Robin Agnew — and a Day in the Life of the Kerrytown BookFest

SUSAN ELIA MACNEAL: Today I'm delighted to introduce Robin Agnew and Jamie Agnew of Aunt Agatha's New and Used Mysteries, Detection, & True Crime, an absolutely wonderful bookshop (not to mention the 2014 Raven Award winner) in Ann Arbor, Michigan. I was privileged to meet Robin and Jamie at the KerryTown Book Festival this past fall, an annual gathering of book aficionados, which Robin plans and runs in her role as president.

As an author speaking on a panel and signing with fellow authors and meeting readers, everything at the KerryTown Book Fest was absolutely perfect. Only Robin and Jamie know what really goes on behind the scenes to make such a large and complex (not to mention fun!) event run so smoothly, and I thought it would be interesting to peek behind the scenes with Robin — take it away!

ROBIN AGNEW: Along with running Aunt Agatha’s, I have been involved in running and planning Ann Arbor’s annual Kerrytown BookFest, since 2004.  Through the years of the bookfest I have served as “author wrangler” (my original job), secretary, operations chair, vice president, and I have now served as president for the past couple of years.  

As we are a small, hands on board, and we share duties including obtaining permits from the city, renting equipment, finding a hotel with available rooms during busy football weekends, PR, fundraising, grant writing, finding volunteers, signing up 100 or so vendors each year, poster commission and distribution, programming, set up, tear down, and making sure all parties involved are pleased.  Authors, exhibitors, bookfest visitors - we want everyone to have a great day.

Luckily, a capable board means that while I am part of the discussion of all these things I am not part of the nuts and bolts for all of them.  My central focus is on author programming.  Each year I start with a “seed” – an author I’ve spoken with or met, often at a book signing at the store or at a conference – and from there, the planning begins to grow organically.

Last year my “seed” author was Simone St. James.  I had moderated a panel with her at Bouchercon and was delighted by her.   We actually had two seeds last year, as the year before we had hoped to book Chris Raschka, a two time Caldecott medalist with ties to Ann Arbor, and he was unavailable.  In 2014 he was available so our marquis panel became a panel with 3 Caldecott medalists - Chris, Brian Floca, who won in 2014; and Erin Stead and her husband, Philip.  Erin won in 2011.  

Moderating is tricky, as tricky, I’ve discovered, as the rest of the panel.  For this one I turned to Debbie Diesen, author of the “Pout Pout Fish” books, and asked her.  She’s presented at many of our bookfests in our Children’s area, she’s adorable, and she said yes right away.

And what of Simone’s panel?  I asked her at Bouchercon and she agreed, and then it took a couple more months to hear back as she figured out her schedule.  Meanwhile, I went to the board and said I *really* wanted Susan Elia MacNeal.

Who else?  I asked Tasha Alexander, who lives in Chicago, is beloved by readers, and who has been to he bookfest and the store many times.   She said yes.  And then I read The Ashford Affair by Lauren Willig and loved it so much I asked her.  She said yes in an eyeblink and was possibly the lowest maintenance author of the entire day.  

Who to moderate?  I wanted Anna Lee Huber, who lives close-ish, but knew she had a baby on the way.  To my surprise she also agreed and one of the joys of bookfest last year was that many of these women, while fans of each other’s, hadn’t met.  

OK, easy panel out of the way.  What next?  I often do a  

“guy” and a “girl” panel as far as mysteries go (sexist but true) and  the basis for the guy panel was Michael Harvey.  He’d been to the store  and I was so entranced by him I asked him on the spot.  He agreed and I built the panel around him, which eventually included Edgar winner Theresa Schwegel; newbie and local author Elizabeth Heiter, and frequent bookfest speaker and buddy, Loren D. Estleman.  I asked an old friend and mystery fan to moderate and he was on board immediately.  He couldn’t believe all those writers were going to be in the same place, and I have to say, that’s my programming goal in general. So mystery panels set.  

What else?  We often use the Michigan Notable Book Winners list as a template and one of the first people off the list all of us wanted was Matt Phelan, whose book, Bluffton. was a Notable winner.  We built a graphic novel panel around him, eventually including Jim Ottaviani, Dave Coverly of Speedbump fame (Dave and Jim are both local and had been with us before). At the last minute I substituted in Matt Faulkner when another author had to cancel.  As it happened, I had heard Matt on NPR talking about his book Gaijin: American Prisoner of War, and had dreamed of booking him.

Moderator? Knowing he was a comic book geek,  I asked local NPR talent Michael Jewett. Luckily I know his wife, a former bookseller and a mystery fan - she made him agree, and he was fabulous.

The rest of the festival - ten panels, a children’s area, and a book arts specific area - are programmed in a similar way, using the expertise and connections of my fellow programmers; Lynn Riehl, an events coordinator at a large independent bookstore in town (Nicola’s) and my buddy. PR maven Bill Castanier, who has connections all over the state.

Each of us get wild hairs, are approached by authors we know with ARCs, run into people at parties or conferences, and before we know it we’ve programmed the day.  I was happy to include newbie mystery author Sam Thomas as a moderator on an historical biography panel, for example.  Another example: having drinks with Tim O’Mara after the Edgars in May, he suggested being a “writer in residence” at the store for the day.  We transferred his idea to the bookfest and Tim was booked all day talking to would be writers.

The day of the festival (this coming year September 13, 2015) we welcome about 4,000 visitors with our panels being vigorously attended.  For me the day passes in a flash as I run around trying to make sure everything goes smoothly, along with selling books.  Thankfully we divide bookselling duties - several stores share out the panels.

Then I go home exhausted at the end of the day and somehow, start to think about the next year.  This coming year my “seed” is Denise Swanson.  Tune in and see who joins her!

SUSAN ELIA MACNEAL: Robin, thank you so much for giving us a look backstage! What else can you tell us about the 2015 KerryTown Book Fest? 

Readers, have you ever been to a book festival? Are you surprised by how much work goes on behind the scenes to pull such a complicated event off? Please let us know in the comments!

Aunt Agatha’s

213 South Fourth Avenue

Ann Arbor, Michigan 48104

734.769.1114

Hours of Business:

Monday - Thursday 11-7

Friday & Saturday 11-8

Sunday 12-5

store@auntagathas.com

THE CURIOUS HISTORY OF HIGH HEELS

DEBORAH CROMBIE: I've been watching singing competition shows religiously the last few weeks. (My semi-excuse for this is that I have a girl singer in the WIP, but the truth is that I would watch them anyway--The Sing Off, The Voice, and yes, American Idol.)

But whatever my rationale, it was while watching girls strut or totter across the stage in bizarrely high heels that I began to think about why we women do this to ourselves, and sparked by the historical mysteries I've been reading the last few weeks, WHEN we began to do this to ourselves.

In Lauren Willig's and Teresa Grant's books set in early 19th century Europe and Britain, I've gathered that women wore slippers. Or boots. Sensible, as they walked a lot, and the dances at all those balls were serious aerobic exercise! And then in Rhys Bowen's early 20th century Molly Murphy books, Molly and the other women seem to wear reasonably practical shoes, although Molly does complain about climbing an ivy vine up a wall in her "pointed and impractical shoes."

So, I wondered, were the tortuous heels a mid-to-late 20th century development?

It should be obvious by now that I am no fashionista, but little did I realize the extent of my ignorance!

I don't know if there's any evidence of pre-literate humans wearing high heeled shoes, but the Egyptians did. The upper classes, both male and female, wore them as a mark of status. And Egyptian butchers wore them for more grisly reasons--to keep their feet out of the slaughterhouse blood. Greeks and Romans wore them. Pattens and chopines were invented in the Middle Ages, outer wooden platforms that kept expensive inner shoes out of the mud and manure. (Yes, that is a shoe on the right...)

Catherine de Medici is said to have introduced the formal high heel in the 1530s, and we have been up and down--excuse the pun--ever since.

The feminist revolt of the 1970s against high heels as symbols of male subjugation didn't last long. (Think Sex in the City.) Heels now are higher than ever, and some women are even having their feet surgically altered to fit more comfortably into stilettos. Ouch.

If you want to know more, here's a fascinating little history here:

So what about you, REDS and readers? Low or high? Manolo Blahnik's or Birkenstocks? And to our guys, do you notice--or care--when women wear heels?

While, like Catherine de Medici, I could use the extra height, and I'll wear a moderate heel when absolutely necessary for dressing up, I otherwise live in my Teva's...

(P.S.--the winner of Lauren Willig's The Garden Intrigue is Reine! So, Reine, if you'll send me your mailing address at deb at deborahcrombie dot com, I'll pass it along. You lucky girl, you.)

LAUREN WILLIG'S GARDEN OF INTRIGUE

DEBORAH CROMBIE: As we are still feeling historical (or perhaps hysterical) this week, the wonderful Lauren Willig joins us with a few thoughts about why we like history mysteries, and talks about her new book, THE GARDEN INTRIGUE.

I've just discovered Lauren's books, I'm happy to say, (although sorry not to have done so sooner) when I was signing last month at The Poisoned Pen in Scottsdale and Barbara Peters, goddess of bookstores, put THE ORCHID AFFAIR in my hand and said, "Here. Read this. You'll love it." Barbara's recommendations cannot be ignored and this was no exception.

And so I was hooked. Napoleonic Paris. Spies. Romance. And knee breeches. All bracketed very cleverly by an ongoing contemporary story that ties the books in the series together--and now I have a new book to look forward to as well as the earlier books in the series!

Lauren has kindly offered to send a copy of THE GARDEN INTRIGUE to one of our lucky commenters, and I'll announce the winner in tomorrow's post.

Oh, and one more thing. Lauren looks much prettier in a tiara than Brad Parks (no offense, Brad:-)) And now, here's Lauren!

LAUREN WILLIG: I heard that there was some discussion over here about literary salons and things historical, so, inspired by Brad’s appearance last week, I couldn’t resist donning my best tiara and barging over—because, really, wearing tiaras and talking about history are two of my very favorite things. It’s what got me into this job. (The history, not the tiaras. Although getting to wear a tiara to work is always a perk.)

To paraphrase a completely inappropriate source, the past had style; it had flair. Fans, coaches, gilded ballrooms, clever turns of phrase, knee breeches… all these are catnip to me. I’ve always preferred court intrigue to electoral politics. The more mistresses involved, the better. (Charles II, I’m looking at you.) For those of us who have always felt that we might have been born in the wrong era, historical fiction is the best way of rectifying that. We get all the glamor and intrigue of an earlier era without the inconveniences of lack of contact lenses, toothpaste, and flush toilets. Until they invent a proper time machine, historical fiction is the best thing we’ve got going (without any of those pesky worries about throwing off the time space continuum and all that sort of thing.)

In historical fiction, we get to hobnob with history’s most interesting characters. It’s the best possible sort of VIP room, and a VIP room to which anyone with a library card is invited. In previous books, I’ve gotten to hang out with the ruler of Hyderabad, Lord Wellesley, George III (during one of his mad phases), and even Jane Austen. In my latest book, The Garden Intrigue, my heroine, Emma, knows everyone who is anyone in Napoleonic Paris. She’s best friends with Napoleon’s stepdaughter, collaborating on a project with Robert Fulton (yes, the guy who invented the steamboat!), and a frequent visitor at Josephine Bonaparte’s country house, Malmaison. Emma’s relationships mean that we get to see the Bonapartes at home, in all their squabbling glory. It’s like gossiping about old friends—or frenemies.

I also believe that historical fiction serves other, deeper purposes. It provides us with a safe space, a happy never-never land in which we can deal with troubling issues in a non-threatening way. Like fantasy and science fiction, historical fiction has the capacity to provide a laboratory for the working out of real world problems. I’ve always been fascinated by the way historical fiction tends to mirror the preoccupations of our own age. I don’t think it’s any accident, as the disparity between rich and poor rises, that we’ve seen a corresponding interest in books set in the Gilded Age. Likewise, I’ve long wondered whether the rise in popularity of Jane Austen and everything Austen-related in the past decade has had something to do with the decay of courtship rituals in modern society. As we find ourselves in a world that seems romantically unsettled, it provides comfort to imagine a society in which courtship was played by the rules. Historical fiction provides both a cautionary tale and a corrective, a mirror for our current concerns.

Along those lines, someone made an interesting point on a panel I was on at the Tucson Festival of Books this weekend (for which I would provide an attribution if I could remember who it was. Oh, well.). In historical crime fiction, we have no DNA samples. There are no lab guys in white coats coming to provide an anodyne scientific solution to the crime. Instead, historical crime fiction, because of the lack of all those high tech doodads, is forced to rely upon analysis of characters, the whys and wherefores—a why-dunnit, as much as a who-dunnit—to solve the crime. In an age of electronics, it’s sometimes useful to back away from all the devices beeping and ringing around us and take a good, hard look at people instead.

It doesn’t hurt if some of those people happen to be wearing knee breeches.

Which is your favorite historical era?