The Magic of Bookstores

 LUCY BURDETTE: I am certain I am not the only person reading this blog who has an obsession with bookstores. Whenever I visit a new town, a stop to the local bookstore will always be included. Each store has its own personality. Of course, I check to see whether my books or the books of my writing friends are there. Often bookstores are small, and the number of books published every year is enormous, so I am not disappointed if I don’t see familiar titles. It’s a special bonus however, if I do! This year I stopped at the Midtown reader in Tallahassee with my sister, and also visited The Bookshelf in Thomasville, Georgia. While at a family wedding last weekend, we went to Sherman’s Maine Coast  in Damariscotta, where we spotted a full shelf of Barbara Ross books and also Jenn’s Love at First Book. Here is what I found at Thiemers Magazin in Copenhagen. Hooray, Jenn is everywhere!

I feel particularly lucky to have wonderful independent bookstores in both of my hometowns, RJ Julia in Madison CT where I often have a launch party, and Key West Island books and Books and Books in Key West, both of which are extremely supportive of local authors.

Though I don’t do nearly the amount of touring that our own Hank does, I visited two amazing stores in the past month. Jeff Kinney (the writer) established An Unlikely Story in Plainville, Massachusetts. This store is absolutely magical!

And as I mentioned on Wednesday, John and I stopped at Ann Patchett’s Parnassus in Nashville while we were there for the Bouchercon conference. We found Jenn again!

This reminded me that my first real job out of college was working as a clerk at a bookstore. Sometimes I dream of owning one myself, but then I remind myself that I should have thought of this 20 years earlier lol. Instead, I will visit as many stores as I can reach, and support them with as many purchases as my nightstand can hold!

How about you Reds, are you hooked on bookstores as well as books? Any favorites to tell us about?

Where to Find Your Next Great Read

JULIA SPENCER-FLEMING: Debs has gotten us off to a great start on reading in the new year, talking about what we’ve read in 2022, weighing the pros and cons of book journaling, and sharing suggestions on audio narrators you should be listening to. I want to shamelessly piggyback on her excellent work because I kept running into the same issue when I was talking about these things: where do you find your next great read?

In The Before Times, I used to go to one or another of the several independent book stores we’re blessed with in the Portland, Maine area. Or I would spend an hour or two browsing the shelves at one of the local libraries. I often attended professional events like Book Expo America, the American Library Association annual conference, and regional meetings like the New England Booksellers Association’s. In other words, I was encountering newly published, to-be published and new-to-me reads all the time. Or if not all the time, at least often enough to accumulate piles of TBR tomes.

Now? Not so much. All our local libraries offer remote check out - I can order a book and pick it up. The same thing for my favorite bookstores. Call me Overly-Cautious Octavia, but I don’t linger anywhere where the vast public is in, out and hanging around. And even if I were fine with browsing, it feels more like recreational shopping to me, which I was never a fan of, and am less so now. I want to get in, get what I want, and get out. 

All this is a long-winded way of saying I need help finding places for recommended reads! Of course, right here at JRW we have a tremendous resource in all our widely-read members, and every time we have a “what are you reading?” conversation, I’m taking notes. But where else can I go? Where do I get information on the new non-fiction I haven’t heard of, or the most-anticipated science fiction, or upcoming releases of authors I already love but don’t track? 

Reds, what are your resources? Where would you point readers?

HANK PHILLIPPI RYAN: I’m completely interested in all of your  answers to this! With Mystery Scene Magazine gone (sigh), and the NYT Sunday Book Review so elite, where do you all go? How do you hear? Of course I read reviewers I love–and some of them are right here on JRW! And I know I can rely on them. So keep those reviews coming, AND if you have a site, you darling reviewers, put it in the comments!

Because of course I am always looking for new, I am so lucky to host CRIME TIME on A Mighty Blaze and First Chapter Fun–and I have to say ,both are wonderful ways of finding new books!  The bookers (big insiders in book/bookstore/publishing world) on Crime Time schedule the interviews, so I get the benefit of their expertise and connections–that’s how I got introduced to Deepti Kapoor, and Jordan Harper, and Brendan Slocumb and Chris Whittaker and Janice Hallett and Lisa Jewell (now my absolute idol) a whole list of other fabulous authors early in the process. The bookers really know their stuff!  

Same on FCF–we get pitched constantly by people/publicists/publishers who want their authors showcased, and so there’s always a stream of new people. And authors who are already favorites will provide advance copies.

So this can work for YOU, too! Just come to CT or FCF and see who you’ll meet. This week, Deepti Kapoor and Mary Kubica on Crime Time and Pam Jenoff on First Chapter Fun. VoiIà. Your next great reads.

HALLIE EPHRON: I swear by CRIME TIME on A Mighty Blaze and First Chapter Fun. Hank you are such a great resource. It somewhat fills the hole left by so many mystery bookstores that have closed. And I depend quite a bit on my fellow Reds and our amazing commenters to cast a wide net. 

Conferences! Gosh I do hope we get back to feeling comfortable about going in person because there’s no better place to meet new authors and talk to a gazillion readers and find out what they’re enthusiastic about.

LUCY BURDETTE: The one place I will not give up shopping is my local bookstores, Books and Books and the Key West Island Bookstore in Key West, and RJ Julia in Connecticut. Besides browsing in the actual stores, I subscribe to all of those newsletters, so I always get the latest on what’s coming out next. I don’t like to buy books from Amazon, but I do use their algorithms (If you liked this, you’ll like that, etc.)

Other than that it’s word of mouth–I adore our reading blogs here–so many good ideas, and you figure out who has similar taste!

 

JULIA: Lucy, I've been to RJ Julia Booksellers several times, but in my head, it always comes out Raul Julia's Book Store! 

JENN McKINLAY: I let the books find me. Seriously, I don’t think I have ever actively looked for a book in my life. That sounds crazy, doesn’t it? It’s just that I grew up in libraries (Mom was a librarian), then I became a librarian, and I don’t know how or why but books just find me, much like every stray critter in south Scottsdale. And usually, the book arrives just when I am meant to read it.

RHYS BOWEN: Hank, you are doing us a great favor by hosting A Mighty Blaze and First Chapter Fun. And my fellow Reds are great with recommendations.

I am lucky to live near two magnificent bookstores, Book Passage in Corte Madera and The Poisoned Pen in Scottsdale, where they have author events every single night. Barbara Peters of the Poisoned Pen will often host a new author with an established one and I’ve learned about quite a few first time books that way. 

 

Also like many of you, I get sent upcoming books to read and blurb. Some of these are just okay but some are wonderful.

But the most fun thing is to browse when I am in UK. WH Smith, bargain table! Such fun finds and books I wouldn’t normally choose.

DEBORAH CROMBIE: Oh, I am seconding Rhys on WH Smith in the UK, ditto Waterstone’s. The first thing I do when I fly into London is check the book racks at the airport WH Smith’s. (And the last thing when I fly out, for the plane, of course. Otherwise, books seem to find me. Here on JRW, of course, the biggest source.  FCF and A Mighty Blaze, newsletters from The Poisoned Pen and Murder by the Book and blogs by favorite reviewers. And I have to confess that I am addicted to Bookbub (that is a whole other blog..) and I can’t count how many authors and series I’ve discovered because something was on sale for $1.99 and it sounded interesting.

 

 

JULIA: Dear readers, it's your turn now - where do you find your next read? Is it in real life, online, or in the media? I'll add your suggestions to the front page here as they come in! 

Bookstores: past present and future!

 

HALLIE EPHRON: If you open my kitchen cabinet in search of a coffee mug, here’s what you’ll find, front and center.

Every time I see that mug from Mystery Lovers Bookshop in Oakmont, PA, I think of Mary Alice Gorman and the wonderful bookstore she and her husband Richard Gorman made into a required pilgrimage for mystery writers. They hosted a ton of author events and local Sisters in Crime chapter meetings. And an annual event that drew scores of mystery authors on their way home from Malice Domestic and hundreds of crime fiction shoppers.

Watching Mary Alice hand sell books was like watching a virtuoso violinist. She knew just which strings to pluck. Her customers came in empty-handed and left with armloads of books.

What booksellers have a special place in your heart, and do you have any keepsakes from your visits that you treasure?

RHYS BOWEN: I have memories and memorabilia from so many bookstores. When I first started writing mysteries John had just retired and we drove coast to coast several times visiting bookstores along the way.

I have particularly fond memories of Mystery Lovers Bookshop, Mary Alice and Richard and their wonderful festivals of mystery. As a new mystery author I sat at my table at my first festival and saw a long line waiting to get books signed by me. Wow! Amazing!

I remember so many dear friends and stores that are no more. M is for Mystery in San Mateo and dear Ed Kaufman, Robin and Aunt Agatha’s, the store in Thousand Oaks plus several others around LA, Kate’s in Cambridge, Joanne Sinchuk’s Murder on the Beach in Del Ray Beach Florida. 

I have a mug from Kansas City, a little box from Orange County, and I remember the store in Denver where they made a cake to look like the book cover. What a loss these little stores are to our community–they’d hand sell newcomers like me, make us welcome, put on spreads, have a friendly cat…

Thank heavens a few favorites have managed to thrive: Poisoned Pen in Scottsdale is always a favorite, as is Murder by the Book in Houston. Most of the other stores I visit on Book Tour these days are big indies, not specialty mystery bookstores, but I miss those cozy nooks and store pets. 

HALLIE: Reminds me of the potbellied pig who hung out in the mystery bookstore in Tucson. She was a heavy-breather with a gristled snout. 

JULIA SPENCER-FLEMING: I’ve been to every one of those bookstores you mention, Rhys, and their loss is keenly felt. We do have fewer mystery-only bookstores around than when I debuted as an author 20 year ago.

On the plus side, there are actually more independent bookstores opening, as more and more readers come to value what good booksellers can do for your TBR pile and for the community! Over 300 have opened in the past few years, according to the New York Times, and the average bookseller is getting younger and younger - good news, because hauling those boxes from the publishers around isn’t easy.

In that vein, I’d nominate PRINT: A Bookstore, right here in Portland, ME, as my special place.

Founded just six years ago by veteran booksellers Josh Christie and Emily Russo (yep, her dad is Richard Russo,) PRINT has made a big splash in our already great indy bookstore scene. I’ve taken part in several great events with them, including interviewing Michael Koryta and taking part in a lively Sisters in Crime panel presentation. 

Josh and Emily were one of the first booksellers to pivot when everything shut down in early 2020 - we went from canceling my live appearance to streaming to several hundred viewers in a matter of ten days. I don’t have any merch from them, but I do have a stack of books… 

HANK PHILLIPPI RYAN: The very first such a store I remember visiting, with great– well I almost said joy, but it was really more like terror–was Kate‘s Mystery Books in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Remember, Hallie? 

In a ramshackle Victorian house, with a crazy front lawn and all kinds of decorations on the porch, and then you would open the door to this bookstore and there were stacks and piles and overflowing tables of mystery novels in some order that no one could ever figure out, no one but Kate Mattes at least, with the entire store ringed with a all kinds of ceramic cats. 

Cats everywhere. It was nutty and wacky, and Kate never got a computer or a cash register, she would just write out a sales slips by hand and make change from an envelope in a drawer, if I remember. Buying a book from her was incredible, absolutely everyone in mystery world came to Kate’s, but I also remember how long it took to buy a book! The paperwork was so complicated!

She told lots of stories about when she opened the store, most memorably, Robert B. Parker helping her build the bookshelves. Her Christmas parties were famous, everyone came. She’s long gone, (not too long, I guess), but still such a presence in mystery world. (And talk about a gift from her–she hooked me up with RBP, who gave me a wonderful blurb for Drive Time, on his personal stationery, which I have framed in my office.

And of course the incredible Aunt Agatha‘s in Ann Arbor Michigan. Where Robin Agnew, queen of the universe, knew every single mystery novel and every single mystery author, and talk about a virtuoso, could match every reader with the perfect book. 

When their store closed, after 25 years, Robin sent me a framed note from Mary Higgins Clark note that she’d sent as congratulations. I look at that every day.

Two more? Continuing the standing ovation for the indomitable and brilliant Barbara Peters at Poisoned Pen, what would we do without her and her amazing team? And I point you to Page 158 Books in Wake Forest North Carolina, where the Dave and Sue Lucey have taken care of me gorgeously since the beginning of the pandemic. I cannot wait to go visit in person.

JENN McKINLAY: Since I live in the same neighborhood as the Poisoned Pen Bookstore, it’s small wonder that I have a longstanding relationship with Barbara Peters, the owner, and her employees - Patrick, PK, Susan, Tracy, and John - to name just a few. 

Barbara and her crew aren’t just booksellers to me. They’re friends and mentors and their shop is a sanctuary when the writing gets hard and I need to get out of the house and visit with book people. 

Also, Barbara and her husband Rob have taken to Tik Tok, which impresses to no end and is forcing me to raise my game. LOL. 

Another favorite is Murder by the Book in Houston. My friend Dean James (Miranda James) worked there the first time I signed in Houston and it’s become a favorite stop of mine ever since. And I can’t forget Mysterious Galaxy in San Diego. I love this quirky little shop and the staff who work there are the nicest booksellers in the biz.

And here’s some happy news from the NYT: “But there has also been a sharp and sustained rise in new bookshops, and more than 200 additional stores are preparing to open in the next year or two, Ms. Hill said.”

Read more here: https://www.nytimes.com/2022/07/10/books/bookstores-diversity-pandemic.html

YAY!!!

LUCY BURDETTE: Can you believe I’ve never been to either Poisoned Pen or Murder by the Book? Maybe this year… I adore indie bookstores and I feel so lucky to have them in both my hometowns.

RJ Julia Booksellers in Madison CT has been an amazing supporter, starting with my very first book launch when SIX STROKES UNDER came out in 2002! I love having book parties there–I always bring cake. And I’ve spent a truckload of $$ buying books in that gorgeous space. 

In Key West, we have two wonderful but very different indie bookstores. 

Suzanne Orchard runs Keywest Island Bookshop, a little shop on Fleming St with tons of local, used, and some new books. She handsells the Key West mysteries like nobody’s business. 

Books and Books on Eaton Street was founded by George Cooper and Judy Blume. It’s a gorgeous little store with a great collection and sometimes the bookseller is Judy herself!

DEBORAH CROMBIE: I'm not much of a keepsake keeper, but if I were, I'd have mugs from Murder By the Book in Houston, and from The Poisoned Pen. I've been to many wonderful bookstores, but these two began as, and remain, my favorites. I've never missed a book launch signing at either store, and they were so kind and supportive when I was a newbie author and not sure of the ropes. Barbara Peters at the Pen is a force of nature in the mystery world!

HALLIE: Bookstores are the glue that connects authors to readers, and we've all been privileged to be invited into their worlds. 

What are the bookstores that have connected you with the writers of the books you love?

What we're writing week! Hallie's churning out press releases...

HALLIE EPHRON: It's' WHAT WE'RE WRITING WEEK, and boy howdy do I wish I could tell you I'm working on a new book. But instead I'm churning out press releases and guest blogs and generally flailing about in an effort to promote CAREFUL WHAT YOU WISH FOR which I finished almost a year ago and which comes out next week. 

It's very gratifying when a press release actually gets picked up in a local paper. Yes, there are still local papers. Lucy submitted this to her local Shoreline paper, humping my event at RJ Julia with Lucy on August 8, and voila...

Then there are the 37 other press releases I sent out to local media, talking up my event at Brookline Booksmith on August 7 in conversation with professional organizer, Kathy Vines (Clever Girl Organizing). So far, bupkes.

And I apologize if you're on my newsletter list. Though I promised you not more than a few newsletters a YEAR, last month alone I sent two.  (If you're NOT on my newsletter list, by all means go to my web sign and for heavens sake, sign up!)

I know, all of this smacks of desperation. But such is the world I live in.

As everyone knows by now, the main character (Emily) in CAREFUL WHAT YOU WISH FOR is a professional organizer who's married to a packrat. This is something with which I have firsthand experience since I'm happily married to a man who’s happily wedded to his stuff and spends his Saturday mornings yard sale-ing.

Here are my very own tips for decluttering your spouse:

- Pick your battles: If his bureau drawers and closet doors shut, what’s inside them is not your problem. Your challenge is to stop thinking about it.

- Catch him unawares: At a quiet time, say, “Honey.” Pause and wait. “I need to ask you something.” Pause. “You know that pile on the basement stairs…”

- Bring in reinforcements: Got any grown children up your sleeve? Enlist them to help execute whatever plan to which you get Honey to agree. Your help will probably not be welcomed.

- Bribe, barter: The promise of homemade lobster bisque or a back massage can be a powerful incentive.

- Sublimate: It will be much easier to write a book about his clutter than to get him to change.
- And finally, if he speaks to your heart, keep him.

My good news is the book got a full page review in TIME. Yup, that TIME. The review was written by (drumroll) Jamie Lee Curtis. Click here to read it! 

I am over the moon. I am such a fan of JLC. Adored her in A Fish Called Wanda. I was in wildly applauding when (in 2002) she posed in her skivvies in an unretouched photograph for MORE Magazine looking normal--aka not perfect! That went viral before there was such a thing as going viral. Then she made waves when she let her hair go gray. And she became a WRITER! 

She is, in short, a girl after my own heart. And she loved my book. SHE LOVED MY BOOK! I am over the moon.

More good news: A STARRED review in PUBLISHER'S WEEKLY. The reviewer called it. “Outstanding… may be the first domestic thriller to weave in Marie Kondo’s decluttering theory about discarding things that don’t spark joy.”

Please forgive me my frenzy of shameless self-promotion. It will pass.

In the meantime, please check out my brand new web site (another reason I've not written anything) to see where I'll be speaking (Brookline Booksmith August 7, RJ Julia in Madison CT (with Lucy!) August 8.  And if you can stand to hear more about me me me and my book book book, go to my web site and sign up for my newsletter.

If you want to read the first two chapters gratis, go here. And here.

Okay. Now I'll shut up.

Or not...

Are you a neatnik? Organized in the extreme? A saver? A collector? A packrat? Do you live with someone who has, let us say, different priorities when it comes to keeping stuff. Any tips for negotiating those differences?  

GIVING AWAY MY LAST advance reader's copy to one lucky commenter.

Book Addicts Unite

Lucy in 2009

LUCY BURDETTE: I confess that I am greedily, unredeemably addicted to books. I can’t wait to enter each new world created by an author, visit places I’ve been (or haven’t,) and root for my new friends, the characters. I might own more books than I can finish in a lifetime, but hmmm, what if none of them were books I wanted to read at that moment? I have suffered a bookless panic twice--both times abroad. The first time, I carried a stack of books in my luggage that I judged would last me more than a week. But I got sick and spent more time reading than I'd expected. And we were in Barcelona, so the selection of English books in bookstores was quite limited. Ack! Ack! A ten-hour flight home with nothing to read? Impossible! The second time my new Kindle failed--on the first day of the trip. I had to read whatever anyone else in the group had finished...

So I can’t help buying books at every store I visit. Over the last two weeks of December, I hit the Key West Island bookstore and Books and Books in Key West, RJ Julia Booksellers in Madison CT, and the Strand bookstore in New York City (twice, because I was afraid I might've missed something the first time through—it was very crowded, you understand, and that made it hard to browse.) 

This bookish greediness might help explain why I have volunteered five times to judge the Mystery Writers of America Edgar Award contest for best mystery of the year: twice in the best novel category, once in young adult, once in best TV series (OK those were DVDs not books,) and this year in the middle grade mystery fiction category. One of the bonuses of serving as a judge is that you receive your own copy of every book submitted. (In the first photo, you can see part of the loot I collected during my 2009 best novel tenure--we had to whittle the winners down from over 500 books.) 

Here’s part of my current TBR stash—I didn’t buy all of them, some were Christmas presents, and that was followed by a big birthday (they’re all big at this point…) The six on the top right I tore through and loved right after the MWA reading was concluded. 

Inquiring minds must know, what’s on your pile? I have a niggling feeling most of you share my addiction…And how do you choose what's next? AND PS, SEND ME A PHOTO OF YOUR TBR PILE AND I'LL TRY TO POST AS MANY AS I CAN ON SATURDAY!! raisleib at gmail dot com

And PPS, don't forget to come back tomorrow for our JRW book discussion of Bel Canto!

The Big Book Club

Hank and Hallie in front of Michael Jordan's poster

LUCY BURDETTE: Last fall, I received an email from Colleen Doyle LaFrancois inviting me to participate in a BIG BOOK CLUB event at the Mohegan Sun Casino here in Connecticut. I LOVE book club events. And the Mohegan Sun is a blast. But February…when I was in Key West...not going to happen. I was so disappointed! But now the Big Book Club event part two is scheduled for October 27 in Old Saybrook and they have plans for an even bigger event in February 2014.

As it turns out, both Hallie and Hank attended the Mohegan Sun event and had a wonderful time. And Colleen is here today to tell us what's on tap for the event at THE KATE (which by the way, is the Katharine Hepburn Cultural Arts Center in Old Saybrook, a totally gorgeous facility).

COLLEEN: Thanks for asking, Lucy ... and better yet, thanks for participating!  We are really excited about our first ever event at The Kate, which provides a beautiful and very intimate setting for this fun program.  Doors will open at 10:00 a.m. and YOU will be first up at 10:30 to discuss The Key West Food Critic Mystery Series.  Can't wait to hear how Hayley Snow came to life as your heroine. 

 Then, at 11:15 we will hear from Suzanne Palmieri (aka Hayes), an "up and coming" author from New Haven who has a really amazing personal story that she will tell our guests all about.  Suzanne is the author of the new book, "The Witch of Little Italy," an engrossing tale about love, family and witchcraft, and also "I'll Be Seeing You" which she co-wrote with Loretta Nyhan, although they've never met in person.

At noon, Bliss Gourmet of Westbrook will be serving delicious boxed lunches (included in the ticket price) and the cash bar will open for business! For October's Breast Cancer Awareness Month, there will be fun interactive art activities by The Drunken Palette (now with studios in downtown New London and in Westbrook at The Shops at Waters Edge) to benefit The Terri Brodeur Breast Cancer Foundation.

After lunch, we'll hear from Psychic Medium Angelina Diana who will speak about spirit communications and perform random readings throughout the audience. Buckle your seatbelts for that one!

Next we'll hear more about witches from Brunonia Barry, NY Times bestselling author of "The Lace Reader" and "The Map of True Places." 
 By now everyone will be hungry for something sweet, so Bliss will be baking up some of YOUR key lime cupcakes from "Topped Chef" for a quick afternoon coffee break.
  






Finally, B.A. (Barbara) Shapiro, author of "The Art Forger" will be interviewed by Olwen Logan from The Lyme Academy College of Fine Arts about her very popular book which centers around Boston's infamous Isabella Stewart Gardner museum heist and the high-stakes world of artists and art collectors.
 
A portion of all book sales by RJ Julia Bookseller will benefit the Terri Brodeur Breast Cancer Foundation.  Tickets are $55 for the full day's events and can be purchased at www.thebigbookclub.org

LUCY: That sounds like a wonderful day! And the Mohegan Sun event this year promises to be even bigger and better than last year--you have a new partnership. Tell us about that.

COLLEEN: YES!  We are thrilled to announce that we are working with The Mark Twain House and Museum (MTHM) to present this fabulous encore event on February 21-22, 2014  The staff at the MTHM are pros at putting on large scale author events, recently hosting Stephen King at the Bushnell Theater in Hartford for over 2,500 ticketholders. We will also be hosting a fun after-hours party called Books and Bars, which will take place in one of the resort's nightclubs.  Last year, Hank was our surprise guest at Bobby Flay's Bar Americain where readers shared their comments about  "The Other Woman."  It was really a blast and we can't wait to do it all over again in an even BIGGER way this coming February.  

LUCY: thanks for stopping by Colleen...Okay, reds, raise your hands if you're coming! And tell the truth, if you went to an author event at a casino, how would you really spend your time?

Hurray for independent bookstores day!

ROBERTA: We hear so much bad news about independent bookstores closing, I thought we could use a day to celebrate our favorites. I'm lucky to live in Madison, CT, which hosts one of the best bookstores in the country, RJ Julia. But I love each indy I've visited because of their interesting selections, friendly, well-informed booksellers, and wealth of events they bring to a community. Can you think of a better way to spend an afternoon than perusing a room full of books and choosing which you'll bring home? (I'm making it sound like a singles bar--trust me, the bookstore experience wins hands down!)

To celebrate independent bookstores on "Anything can happen Friday", here are links to two blog posts that feature some of those stores. The first article (I should confess) is from my own husband's website, Top Retirements, in which he ponders whether you can choose a retirement community by its bookstore. The second essay is from Jim Huang, owner of the Mystery Company, an independent mystery bookstore in Indiana. He talks about his store's involvement in the community.

And now your turn--tell us about your favorite bookstore. And then go out and buy some books today!

Super Tuesday.

RO: For a lot of people those two words are incredibly exciting. After all of this time the party will be focused on one person. No more waiting. That's right, February 5 will mark a whole new era in history.

I wonder what I should wear?

You knew I meant MY party didn't you? Not those other two. I've tried to stay calm about this. I mean, I've known it was coming for 22 months - elephants have given birth in less time. The launch party for Pushing Up Daisies is in a very cool Greenwich Village mystery bookstore (Partners & Crime, 44 Greenwich Avenue, in case anyone is inspired to join me in celebration.)
Think Audrey Hepburn's bookstore in Funny Face. I'm thrilled that they said yes, and that friends have promised to fill the place so I don't feel like a flop. It's just what I'd hoped for, and it'll be great, but also the start of a whole new career as a Shameless Self-Promotional Hussy.

Later this week I'll be blogging from Glendale Arizona - no, not the Super Bowl recap The other big attraction there this week, my signing at Poisoned Pen Bookstore. Barbara Peters, the owner of the legendary store has chosen Daisies as a First Mystery Pick so I'm thrilled to be meeting her for the first time. Then, on to Birmingham Alabama, where I'll be participating at Murder in the Magic City and Murder on the Menu. Let the games begin,as they say.
In the meantime, what were your first book parties like? And if they haven't happened yet, what would you like?

HALLIE: My first launch party was at the wonderful Kate's Mystery Books. The novel was AMNESIA (the first in the Dr. Peter Zak series), the year 2000, and I was celebrating it with my co-author Don Davidoff. Friends and family and fans were snaked out onto Mass Ave in the rain. It was at that moment that I understood that when a friend has a book launch, the biggest gift you can give that person is to BUY THE BOOK! It was quite the high. Rosemary: ENJOY!

ROBERTA: Rosemary, this is so very exciting, even from the sidelines! I had my party at my hometown bookstore, RJ Julia's in Madison, CT. They had to move it to the library across the street because the turnout was so big. That's what I'm grateful for--that all those friends and family members made an effort to celebrate my launch. I will always remember that night and I hope you have a similar lovely experience! I echo Hallie's advice: enjoy every moment!!

RO: You guys are so sweet.

HANK: How many times had you thought about it? Before Pushing Up Daisies was even named, let alone written? There you are, in a wonderful place, with a huge stack of your first book and a long line of people who are eager to read it. Can anything be more perfectly once-in-a-lifetime? Now it's real. You did it. You did it. My first book party was at Ralph Lauren on Newbury Street in Boston. It was June, and it was about a million degrees outside. It was so hot the AC tanked, and we had to open all the windows. People were drinking champagne and chatting and buzzing and buying books and books and books. All my friends and pals were there, even competitors from other TV stations, my Mom from Indianapolis, my Dad from Washington DC. The smile quotient was very high. A smile still comes to my face when I remember it. People said--"oh, your hand must get so tired from signing books." Are you kidding me? I could do it forever. I wish you long lines, much joy and many sales. Two pieces of advice: Don't worry. And take some time to relish the occasion. You did it, sistah.

JAN: Too devastated by Superbowl loss to reminisce on my own book parties gone by at the moment, but want to offer congratulations on your two big successes this week: Giants victory and book launch party! Sorry I can't be there to celebrate with you, Ro, but I know you will have a fabulous time. Savor it!

RO: It's going to be hard to top the last thirty-six hours....Lee Child asked me to sign a copy of my book for him at Love is Murder and THE GIANTS WON THE SUPER BOWL!!!!!!!!!!!!

...but I shall try.