Nancy Martin Explains It All: Including Chickaboomboom

"In this stellar first in a new series, Martin introduces Roxy Abruzzo, ultra-sexy Pittsburgh sleuth and owner of Bada Bling Architectural Salvage... "
STARRED REVIEW Publishers Weekly



HANK: Nancy Martin's an amazing mixture of Grace Kelly and Rosalind Russell and Dorothy Parker. That's what I think at least. With a little--hmmm...Glinda the Good Witch thrown in. (Since wonderful things seem to happen whenever she's around.) She's also none of the hardest working and most generous people in the biz.



So when Nancy Martin decided to put her hilariously best-selling Blackbird sisters on hold and go for something completely different--many of us thought--of COURSE. Genius. How did she decide to do it? (And--should we?) As always, Nancy knows all. And is here to dish.



HANK: So, Nancy. You have taken the exciting step of creating a brand new series heroine--where did Roxy (the main character in Our Lady of Immaculate Deception) come from, and why? (Set in Pittsburgh, the series stars Roxy Abruzzo, a tough girl from the Rust Belt “with a heart of black and gold.”)

NANCY: I don't know about you, Hank, but I most enjoy reading books that surprise me. And recently I decided I might scream if I read one more mystery about a sweet woman sleuth with a cat and a cop boyfriend and a meddling mother.





Sure, Agatha Christie mysteries always seemed to feature a vicar and the lady of the manor and the attractive young couple, but when do those stock characters become boring cliches?

Television was turned on its ear by the likes of Tony Soprano, Nancy Botwin and Nurse Jackie. But when I thought about our genre, I wondered: Where are our ground-breaking characters? The bad girls, for instance? The characters who take chances, make wrong choices and surprise readers? Are writers limited to only writing about nice girls? I wanted something new to read, and I figured I'd better try writing it.

About the same time I was stewing about all this, my husband and I bought a very old house which is lovely and full of character, but there's always a disaster looming. (Ex: Two weeks ago, our copper gutters fell down. Ack!) During our repairs and renovations, we have met every kind of contractor known to suckers like ourselv----er, I mean typical homeowners.

The crew we hired to fix the porch, for instance, actually included a couple of guys wearing Lojack ankle bracelets, which the contractor tried to convince me were the "latest thing" for engaged couples. The girl gets a diamond, and the guy gets an electronic locator. Needless to say, we decided to hire a different crew when our kitchen renovation became unavoidable. The woman contractor who took charge of that job got me thinking about tough women in non-traditional careers. Roxy started to grow in my imagination--a woman who considers herself an expert in architectural salvage, but actually runs a junk yard and has to be *really* tough to deal with the people she encounters. Roxy's definitely full of surprises.

HANK: The Roxy books have been described as Chickaboomboom. That is--wonderful.
Um, what does that mean?

NANCY: If you figure it out, please tell me! Publisher's Weekly came up with "chickaboomboom" for OUR LADY OF IMMACULATE DECEPTION, not me. I think it means a girl thriller--a hybrid between a mystery and a suspense novel, but with a woman driving the action--lots of action--and, yeah, there's sex, too. But any other writer who wants to try writing "chickaboomboom" should make her own story choices. Labels can force writers to pigeonhole and limit ourselves.

HANK: You've been such a fixture in the mystery world--and by that I mean a pillar, a goddess, a paragon. How do you think things have changed since you started writing? In fact, how have *you* changed?

NANCY: How have *I* changed after thirty years of keeping my butt in the chair to write books? My butt has changed, that's for sure! Otherwise, I hope I've become more generous to other writers, because we're all in this together.

How has our world changed? The publishing biz definitely ebbs and flows. I rode the big wave of the romance genre in the 80s and jumped ship just as the tide receded. I think we've experienced a similar high tide for mysteries in recent years, and now things are beginning to recede again. The marketplace gets flooded. Readers tire of us or get lost. Technology changes the game, etc, etc.

But one big factor that always drives change in publishing is . . . us.
Writers have the power to make things different. We have more control of our fates than we sometimes think. We need to push the limits, come up with new ideas, stretch the boundaries of the wonderfully flexible literary form that is the mystery novel. Take chances--that's my motto these days.

HANK: Check out Nancy's website--where Roxy even has a playlist!


It includes, of course, Naughty Girl, Bad Girl, and of course, um, Respect. (Any ideas for what she should add?) Nancy will stop by to say hi--so questions for Nancy--or Roxy? Bring it on, sistahs. (And bruthas.) As Roxy says--just keep reading, and nobody gets hurt.

*********************************

Cool stuff:
Winner of the 2009 Lifetime Achievement award for mystery writing from Romantic Times magazine, Nancy Martin is the author of 48 pop fiction novels in mystery, suspense, historical and romance genres. Nancy created The Blackbird Sisters in 2002--- mysteries about three impoverished Main Line heiresses who adventure in couture and crime --as if“Agatha Christie had wandered onto the set of Sex and The City.” Nominated for the Agatha Award for Best First Mystery of 2002, HOW TO MURDER A MILLIONAIRE won the RT award for Best First Mystery and was a finalist for the Daphne DuMaurier Award. Nancy lives in Pittsburgh, serves on the board of Sisters in Crime and is a founding member of Pennwriters. She blogs at the popular and trend-setting The Lipstick Chronicles.

PRIZES! We are delighted to offer a free personally signed copy of OUR LADY OF THE IMMACULATE DECEPTION to one lucky lucky commenter! Winner announced tomorrow...
(if you don't win, sigh, check out Mystery Lovers Bookshop, which will send you a signed copy!)

and also tomorrow...short stuff. (Clue: If you'll be my bodyguard, I can be your long lost pal...)

AN AUTHOR YOU CAN'T REFUSE

"Kozak keeps the laughs and chills in bewitching balance as Wollie uncovers the secrets of Yuri's extended family—and suffers a first-time dating consequence in the surprising denouement."

—Publishers Weekly

You’re at a conference, or seminar, or a party. You hear a huge burst of laughter. And then another one. There’s no question—in the center of that happy group is the hilarious and incredibly clever Harley Jane Kozak.

I love to say it—star of stage and screen. But to us, she’s always a star of page.

Her debut novel, DATING DEAD MEN, won the Agatha, Anthony, and Macavity awards. Its sequel was DATING IS MURDER, followed by DEAD EX and the upcoming A DATE YOU CAN’T REFUSE. Of which Janet Evanovich says: "A page-turner of a mystery. A loveable sleuth. A real winner!"

Like everyone else on the planet, we visit her (and her very talented pals) at her blog The Lipstick Chronicles . But now she’s visiting us.

HANK: Ah, Harley. A question I've never asked before. Sex in a parking lot? A Neiman Marcus parking lot?

HARLEY: Yes, Hank. Times are tough and hotel rooms expensive, and when one is undercover, on-the-fly decisions must be made. Still, parking lots sex does come at a cost, not the least of which is dry-cleaning bills. At least I sent Wollie to Neiman Marcus, and not Wal-Mart. (I also send her to Costco in this book, but not for sex.)

HANK: ON THE FLY?? You see, this is why we love you. A Date You Can't Refuse--tell us more about your latest!

HARLEY: Wollie finds herself a "social coach" -- that is, combination babysitter, bus driver and dating therapist for a trio of eastern euro eccentrics: a heavyweight boxer with substance abuse issues, a Soviet country & Western singer, and an evangelical diet book author. The FBI is involved. Hijinks ensue. And she's being poisoned, while attired in the couture clothing of a dead America's Next Top Model contestant. However, it's more highbrow than I've made it sound here.


HANK: Your wonderful Wollie Shelley--where did she come from in your head? And her name is hilarious...did you think of the name first? Or create the character first, and then name her? Or was she just--born?

HARLEY: She was a greeting card shop owner first -- I saw the shop in my head, and then the woman running it, and then realized she not only manages the shop, she designs greeting cards, and then her name came to me, followed by her wacky mother (who only appeared briefly, in Book #2). I hate to sound like I channel this stuff, but it does sort of feel that way. I imagine all authors work like this, but what do I know? Do you channel your characters, or do you do a by-the-numbers Excel spreadsheet character study?


HANK: Oh, some spring full-blown, personalities, characteristics, everything. Charlie, certainly, and Franklin, and little Penny. Who I tried to rename Ella, but it just wasn't her name, you know? And yes, I do think "channeling" is part of it, and I feel incredibly lucky when it happens.
Speaking of channeling--dialogue, too? Do your characters talk to you? Have you ever tried to get them to say or do something that they just won't?


HARLEY: They don't talk to me so much as they talk to each other, but if I don't get it right, they make me rewrite it and rewrite it and rewrite it. My biggest dialogue problem is that one of them will go on and on, a veritable aria, and then I have to go back and remind them that there are other people in the book too and let the other people interrupt, as other people (in my house, anyway) are wont to do.


HANK: Speaking of, um, channeling. I see you on TV all the time. (Thanks, Tivo. And you know, Arachnophobia is even funnier when you see it now.) Do people recognize you from movies and TV? How does your stage and screen experience translate into your novels?

HARLEY: People recognize me on occasion, but it's rare enough to be fun. As in, I never need to punch out the paparazzi. The best is when people recognize me in front of my children, who are convinced that the only life I ever had began on their respective birthdays.

I think acting trains you to put yourself into other people's shoes automatically, which comes in handy when writing novels. Mine are definitely character-driven. My plots are more left-brain; I have to work at making them credible and interesting, and then I have to interrupt my long-winded characters and make them pay attention to plot, to hit the road and carry the action forward because frankly, they'd rather sit at home and yak.


HANK: Anything you wish someone had told you when you started all this writing stuff? When was that, anyway?

HARLEY: That I'd never read fiction in the same way again, and that while I'd get lots of free books (blurb requests, conventions) I'd never have time to read them.

I started to write novels about 15 years ago in a serious way, but I've been writing long (very) letters, journals, plays, poems, and country & western song lyrics my whole life.

HANK: And now you're such a...beloved and loving part of the community. (ACK, sappy. But true.)

HARLEY: Oh, bless you. You make me feel like the mayor. Of what town, I'm not sure.

HANK: Well, Ms. Mayor , you still can’t get away without the Jungle Red Quiz:


Pizza or chocolate?
Chocolate.


Daniel Craig or Pierce Brosnan?
Daniel.


Sex or violence?
Sex

Facebook or MySpace?
Facebook

Katharine Hepburn or Audrey Hepburn?
Audrey

Your favorite non-mystery book?
currently? The Golden Compass


Favorite book as a kid?
The Godfather


Making dinner or making reservations?
reservations


*****And finally, the Jungle Red Big Lie. Tell us four things about you that no one knows. Only three can be true. We'll guess.

I was a National Merit Scholar.
My dad was an Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco & Firearms agent.
I was Courtesy Queen of the first grade at St. John's School
I was a chain smoker, coke addict and pot head

HANK: Well Jungle Reds? Do we think Harley was really the courtesy queen?

And we can also ask her what it's like to work with ten billion spiders.

Harley’s debut novel, DATING DEAD MEN, won the Agatha, Anthony, and Macavity awards. Its sequel was DATING IS MURDER, followed by DEAD EX and the upcoming A DATE YOU CAN’T REFUSE. She’s still a sometimes actress, and lives with her family in California’s Conego Valley. Her short prose has appeared in Ms. Magazine, Soap Opera Digest, The Sun, The Santa Monica Review, and the anthologies Mystery Muses, This is Chick Lit and A HELL OF A WOMAN.

Happy Holidays from Jungle Red Writers

(With apologies and appreciation to Clement Moore...and maybe Dr. Seuss.)

Twas the week before New Years'
And all through this site
Not a blogger was working
Not even to write.

Our books are all saved on our thumb drives with care
In hopes that bestseller lists soon would be there.
Our new novels were nestled all snug in their beds
While visions of royalties danced in our heads.

The Jungle Red sisters, five east and one west
Had just settled our brains for a well-deserved rest.

When in PW’s pages--There arose such a clatter
We opened the mag to see what was the matter!

To the review pages we turned in a flash
To see Hallie and Jan both praised with panache!

The bookstores were loving “A for M’ by our Ro
And Rosemary’s gardener continued to grow!

And what to our wondering eyes should appear
Rhys and Hank pubbing new ones—and early next year!

But what makes us the happiest—keeps every day new?
We knew in a moment—it’s our blogging crew!

You listen, you chatter, you join in the game
We cheer you, we love you, we call you by name!


Thanks, Laura! Thanks Edith! Thanks Becky and Lee!
Thanks Michael, Susannah and S. Con-no-lly!

We love Maddy, and Rhonda, Felicia and Clare
We hope Amy and JB will always be there

To June and to Karen, to Marianne, too
Love to Janet. And Mo. And to Peter. (He’s new.)

Our guest bloggers were stellar
Chris! Mary! La Barnes?!
To the Paulas, and Maddee, and the fab Cathy Cairns.

To Jane, Gin and Charlaine (queen of the LIST!)
To the Femmes and to Lipstick--consider you're kissed.

Christina! Elizabeth! Alex! Michelle!
Hail “Anonymous” too—your comments are swell.

We had memories, recipes, tales of our youth
We’ve had jokes, and disasters, and telling the truth.

To the top of the lists! To the top of them all!
We’re revising, and writing, and sharing our call!

As dry words before our reviser’s pen fly
When they meet with cliché, and we fix them (we try):

We’ve landed at New Years, and our thoughts go to you
May you read perfect books, may your wishes come true!

May you waste not a word, may you write fresh and new
And fill all your stories with mysteries and clues

And remember: on days that things don’t turn out right
And you wonder if this was a fraud and a fright

You have sisters on line—there are six of us here!
And each one is wishing you all-the-year cheer.

And we all say—we love you! ‘Fore you click from our site--

Happy New Year to All

—and long may you Write!

ON RUTLESS WONDERS

“Twinkle, twinkle little star, how I wonder where you are.”

ROBERTA: Almost eight books into my mystery-writing career, I’ve lost count of the mystery conferences and conventions I’ve attended. I certainly won’t forget my first, the Bouchercon World Mystery Convention in Milwaukee in 1999. I knew absolutely no one, and my timidity was just barely outdistanced by a fierce desire to get my book published. So I forced myself to leave my hotel room to listen to panel discussions and try to meet other authors, publishers, and agents.

Since then I’ve traveled across the country to Malice Domestic, Bouchercons as far away as Alaska, Left Coast Crimes in California, Arizona, and Colorado, Sleuthfests in Florida, Crime Bakes in Massachusetts…After a while, the events take on a familiar rhythm: Appear on panels, attend banquets, sign books, schmooze with writing pals and publishing professionals, greet fans.

Then my buddy Lori Avocato persuaded me to burst out of that mystery rut and try the Romantic Times convention. I joined up with thirteen other mystery types (including our Hank) to form The Mystery Chicks and Private Dix—the zanier the better at Romantic Times. Of course, there were panels about getting published, putting romance in your mystery, and shining on TV. But unlike at our mystery cons, muscled hunks in skimpy t-shirts wandered the halls and the goody tables offered such items as a six-inch felt lobster that was (hint, hint) neither a sock puppet nor a cell phone cover. But best of all were the nightly balls jammed with folks in full costumes—wings, horns, Medusa’s headpiece, lace gowns with plunging cleavage, thigh-high boots, and more. (Lots of pix to come later this week—stay tuned.)

Despite my reservations, I had a great time. Who knows, maybe next year I’ll break out of my rut and pack a suitcase of costumes for the balls! So Jungle Red Writers, what rut have you stepped out of lately and how did it feel?

HALLIE: But it's such a NICE rut...

Actually, I stepped out of my comfort zone a few weeks ago by attending a conference of skeptics--THE AMAZ!NG MEETING International Conference on Applied Critical Thinking. It's run by the James Randi Education Foundation.

There were about 300 of us with the usual panels and banquets and book sales but a much younger and more heterogeneous crowd, at a somewhat down-at-the-heels hotel outside Fort Lauderdale...all the room smelled like smoking rooms. Speakers talked about 911 conspiracy theorists and predatory psychics who prey bereaved parents of missing children. The focus was on activism/how to fight back against pseudo-science. A big split in the group: can we have the same kind of debate over whether God exists that we can over whether explosives brought down the World Trade Towers. It was a decades-old group that's been galvanized to new life with rise of Creationism and the push to bring it into the schools as an "alternate" to the science of evolution, and the religification (my word) of government and public discourse. We can all imagine a Muslim or a Jew or a Born Again Christian running for President...but never an atheist.

The group's founder and guru, magician Amazing (James) Randi, crusading scourge and debunker of psychics and the like, was there indefatigably performing magic tricks and taking part in lively discussions. He's got to be eighty years old and looks like an elfin Gandalf with his long white beard--talk about a great character for a book.

The highlights of the meeting was hanging around with a lot of young people who are passionately engaged in the headier questions of our time and who drink astonishing amounts, and learning a luscious new word: badonkadonk. To amuse myself (and to avoid writing), I've used it indiscriminately to replace words on the first page of my new novel (Authorities yesterday issued a badonkadonk... When I didn't hear from her I knew something was badonkakonk... We're trying to badonkakonk everyone she knew.....)


HANK: My rut? (I'm sure I have stepped out...haven't I? At some point?) But I'm too tired to think of it.Just got off the plane from Pittsburgh and I need a nap. A big big nap. And Roberta was too protective of me to reveal that I was the one who thought the 6-inch felt giraffe I got from the erotica publisher was a cell-phone cover. Badonkadonk!

There's much too much to tell about the conference (more later, we promise, including photos), but I leave you with one vignette:

I'm cranky because my key card to my hotel room keeps getting demagnetized. Not once, not twice, but five times at least. Why why why? I am trying to keep from bursting into tears as I call the hotel security for the fifth time. Are you putting your key card by your cell phone, they keep asking? That'll demagnetize it. No no no, I try not to yell. There's nothing like that.
I'll skip the middle--but just reveal that, turns out, the reason my card was getting demagnetized was that I had attached an adorable Lipstick Chronicles pair of plastic flashing red lips to my name badge. My key card was in the pocket of my name badge. And um, the lips were held on by a, um, magnet.

More to come, including my elevator ride with..wait for it...Fabio.

RO: Wow ee wow...it will be tough to follow that act at Malice this weekend. Ball gowns and party dresses? On the rowing machine this morning (rut) I was trying to make the monumental decision which pair of black pants and black shoes (rut) to pack for Malice. I need some Romance in my life!

What rut have I crashed out of lately? Let's see...I've only been a published author for 65 days so I'm not in that rut yet....still like my husband, so that's not it. No longer feel like I have to blow-dry my hair three times a week? That's been pretty liberating...and soooo....badonakonk!

JAN: My rut doesn't have to do with conferences, which I have to admit, still twist my stomach into knots, but writing. I'm writing a screenplay -- something I haven't done in a few years. To refresh myself, I've been reading screenplay writing books -- and I have to tell you, even though its all the same stuff I use in my mystery novel writing -- conscious goal, unconscious goal, midpoint, etc. -- it's somehow inspiring to be thinking about it all again. I'm also merging my journalism background with my suspense writing experience for the first time (the screenplay is based on a true story of a real life murder), and I'm having the time of my life.


ROBERTA: Hallie, it IS a nice rut! Hank, you met Fabio??? Jan, a screenplay--that's so exciting! Ro, I'd like to follow your lead!

By the way, we have Mystery Chix t-shirts to give away to two lucky visitors this week so don’t be shy with your comments...And the person who comes up with a cool give-away like those flashing lips but suitable for Jungle Red Writers gets something cool back...can't tell you what exactly...maybe a badonkakonk...

Welcome to Carnival of the Criminal Mind's March offering! And we're so happy to be on the merry-go-round.

What is Carnival of the CM, you ask? Well--the website says: "It’s a movable feast, a progressive party, a chance for bloggers to get to know one another and for readers to get introduced to blogs they might have missed. Each blogger who participates hosts the carnival by posting a round-up of what’s going on in the blogosphere: what are people saying, reading, reacting to, complaining about, and who said something brilliant that shouldn’t be missed."

Check it out at http://crimecarnival.wordpress.com/

But you can read it here--first! Because this month--we're hosting! And thank you to the wonderful Barbara Fister for inviting us.

When this month arrives in New England and the northeast, it brings hope that someday, winter will be over. Not soon enough, of course, and not for good (there's always that April snow storm), but there is a promise.

Hank says she saw three robins today. And the snow on the sidewalks has melted. But we certainly don't want to wish the time away--when there's so much to do and so many wonderful things happening.

In Jungle Red world, Rosemary's book just came out. Hallie's newest: 1001 Books for Every Mood, will be on shelves momentarily. Hank's first book got an Agatha nomination for best first novel. Roberta's now President of national Sisters in Crime and her latest mystery is flying out of stores. Jan finished the manuscript of Teaser and the rest of us can't wait to read it.

At Jungle Red Writers, we're having a great first year. And we're surviving the winter by making it cozy with cocoa and lattes, good friends, lots of revisions, and certainly with the help of some great books and some great blogs.

Since there are so many great blogs to choose from, we limited our search. Our theme is Strong Women, a topic near and dear to all five of our hearts.

JAN: I have a quote on the bulletin board over my laptop which reminds me to "be funny, be profound, or be quiet." And this is how I feel about blog writing.
In the be funny category, I love to check in with The Good Girls Kill for Money Club,(http://www.good-girls-kill.com/) which has made me laugh hard over Valentines' Day (Regina Harvey,) kids' school assignments (Sara Rosett,) and relating to Felix the Cat (Diana Killian.)

In the be profound department, I like Writer's Plot (http://www.writersplot.typepad.com/) where Kate Flora started a full-scale controversy by being refreshingly honest about the mystery writing business. I applaud her candor, which I found cathartic.

In the both Profound and Funny category, I offer Mo Walsh's Momentary Lapses blog (http://momentary-lapses.blogspot.com/. She doesn't blog to fill space on a daily basis, but speaks when she has something to say.

She made me weep over Christmas with an incredibly honest and soulful revelation about losing a child, and made me laugh out loud more recently with her spoof, called The Decomposing Press Room, where her fictional publisher offered examples of the new detective series its launching. The series featured everything from a garbage man (making remarkable sleuth sense) to a virtual detective that is a software program.

HALLIE: In the some things wise/vintage and other things smart/hip category...
The Lady Killers (http://theladykillers.typepad.com/the_lady_killers/) are the former, and in their blog "seven female writers of mystery fiction share their wit and wisdom, writing tips and travel experiences." What a group: Rhys Bowen, Sharan Newman, Ann Parker, Carola Dunn, Jane Finnis, Mary Anna Evans, Cara Black.

I'm enjoying Ann's multi-part blog on the etiquette of wooing, Victorian style, complete with simply gorgeous Victorian valentines from http://www.indiana.edu/~liblilly/valentines/valentine.html. Rhys for musings on what it takes to write these suckers, and her real pleasure in being in the company of other writers: "It is still a source of wonder to me that we enjoy each other's company so much. In other genres writers regard each other as rivals. We are a huge sorority and fraternity, hanging out together whenever possible, sharing in each other's triumphs and disasters." And of course Cara for sojourns to Paris and everything French.

On the hipster side...I know Jennifer Cruisie isn't, strictly speaking, a crime fiction writer, but her latest book's got hit men and a kidnapping to season the romance and humor Her blog, "argh ink" (http://www.arghink.com/), is honest, always amusing, and her play-with-your-brain posts are a hoot. At one point, she tells us she's thinking of writing about a mystery writer who's sick and tired of her series, and she asks our help in coming up with mystery titles with colors in the name. Her list begins:Red Hot and DeadYellow Rose of CorpsesGold Dead FingersHow Now Brown Shroud (from Gaffney, of course)Lavender's Dead, Killer, KillerTan Little CorpsesOrange You Glad I Didn't Say Murder? There's also a fascinating piece about splitting with her agent who incidentally represents many mystery authors.
I am in awe and taking notes...this girl can blog.

HANK: How about My Love's Like a Dead Dead Rose? Or: Who Blue Him Away? Okay, maybe not.

How does Nancy Pickard do it? Her books are astonshingly well-written, and her blog Ah Sweet Mystery of Life http://sweetmysteryoflife.blogspot.com/ The bloggers are four amazingly successful writers, three from the south shore of Massachusetts, another who moved from there to California. It's quite an unusual story. When the blog began, they were just a writer's group, like so many authors have, who met every Monday to share and critique their work. All had aspirations to write the great novel. None had sold. They took turns writing very honestly and caringly about their ups and downs, their fears, their writing techniques. Faithful readers participated in every element of their journey. And sure enough, two of them are now beyond-belief successful, and the other two are well on the way. (Go look at their bios! And you won't be able to resist checking Publisher's Lunch.) It's always inspirational.

And Lipstick Chronicles. http://thelipstickchronicles.typepad.com/ What can I say? This group has got it. Perfectly. Put together the blazingly successful team of Harley Jane Kozak, Nancy Martin, Sarah Strohmeyer, Elaine Viets and Michele Martinez, add Rebecca the Bookseller, and you've got an irresistible combination. Oh, and the elusive and mysterious Me, Margie. (Just saying.) What makes TLC so intriguing, though, is that the topics sometimes appear to be all fun (The obituary of a lady wrestler named The Fabulous Moolah, or losing a favorite ski hat, or male cheerleaders, or one called :"The Oscars Suck and I Don't Care") but inevitably they turn out to be clever, intelligently written, thoughtful and satisfying. And oh, so very very funny.

ROBERTA: I love reading blogs that lay it all out, in a helpful way. Tess Gerritsen does just that (http://www.tessgerritsen.com/blog/). She's a hugely successful crime writer, with books like THE MEPHISTO CLUB to her name, but she speaks from the heart about the difficulties and joys of the writing life. A recent post is "The Writer's Guide to Staying Sane"--it may be too late for some of us--with tips like:

*Stop checking your Amazon index
*Stop Googling yourself
*Learn to say NO
*Exercise
*Chase other interests

There, that should keep us busy! If not sane...

And last but not least, check out the blog that'll be hosting the next carnival, HEY THERE'S A DEAD GUY IN THE LIVING ROOM (http://www.heydeadguy.typepad.com/.) They deserve a shout just for the title alone, but the content is good stuff too--comments on writing and crime fiction from the perspectives of booksellers, publicists, editors, writers, and our favorite smart a** agent, the irrepressible Janet Reid. (And yes, I know there are men in this group and we're writing about strong women--we made an exception. Besides, we like those guys!)

RO's caught in airline hell book tour hell, so she'll weigh in shortly! thanks for stopping in at Jungle Red Writers...

RO: Thanks for understanding. I assumed I'd get stuck somewhere on this tour..going through Chicago four times at this time of year it seemed inevitable. But I got stuck in Miami of all places! Go figure.

Two of my favorite blogs these days typify March weather - lions and lambs. (I can't help myself...I'm a gardener and hoky sayings rule in the gardening universe...along the lines of "When you hear the cuckoos shout, 'tis time to plant your tatties out.")

ANYWAY, the lions (lionesses?) are the estimable women of The Outfit - Barbara D'Amato, Michael Allen Dymmoch, Libby Hellman and Sara Paretsky. Yes there are guys in The Outfit, but I confess I always think of it as the grande dame blog. http://theoutfitcollective.blogspot.com/

And the lambs? A group of relative newbies who've just started a fun blog promising mysteries, humor and high heels. I personally love all of those things, and The Stiletto Gang has inspired me to pack a pair of heels on my upcoming trip to Left Coast Crime. Hope it doesn't snow! Check out http://thestilettogang.blogspot.com/