Promotion: That's What Friends Are For!

HANK: It's almost here! Jessica Speart--a true friend of Jungle Red--worked for years on WINGED OBSESSION. It's a tale of greed, obsession, and sexual temptation in the vein of The Orchid Thief – the story of the world’s most wanted butterfly smuggler, the rookie U.S. Fish and Wildlife agent who finally brings him down, and the writer who found herself at the center of the story.

Whoa. Terrific, huh? It comes out in April. But so far, no one is buying her an ad in the New York Times. So what's a writer to do? Jessica--as usual--has a great idea.

IT’S HARD TO WRITE A BOOK

PROMOTING IT IS EVEN TOUGHER

by Jessica Speart

I thought I had it made when I got my first three-book contract. The Rachel Porter Mystery Series was ready to rock-and-roll.

Two years later, I knew my life was on the upswing when my publisher asked me to write three additional mysteries. Then came books seven and eight in the series and the big time seemed to be just around the corner. Books nine and ten appeared and, suddenly, the roller coaster ride was over. My publisher hit me with the news that they’d decided to drop my series. It felt as if they’d killed my first-born child and I don’t even have kids.

Reinvention can be a bitch. But that’s what we have to deal with as writers. My reaction was to spend the next two years hitting my head against an imaginary brick wall. Eventually, I tired of that and decided it was time to suck it up and move on. I’d actually come up with a nonfiction book idea just as my former editor asked if I had something else in mind.

Glory hallelujah! Everything came together and I landed another book contract. Only this was a much bigger and better deal. Three editors – and a couple of panic attacks - later, the book was finally done.

There was another rush of excitement as I had a new website created, worked hard to gather author quotes (God bless Lee Child and Lisa Scottoline. They’re now in my nightly prayers) and a few early reviews rolled in. Daily Candy called Winged Obsession “one of the great nonfiction reads of the new year” and Philobiblos highly recommended it. Even Penthouse jumped on the bandwagon. I never imagined an adult magazine would be in my future! But the real cherry on the cake is that Winged Obsession will be an Indie Next pick for April 2011.

Now it was time for the big payoff. I’d been dreaming about my upcoming book tour. What I really craved was the gratification of personal contact. After all, isn’t that the reward at the end of the job? You actually get to travel the country, meet with readers and sign your books. Right?

Wrong.

I love my publisher – and my publicist is the absolute best - but I was deflated to learn that a tour wasn’t in the plans. Tours are no longer considered cost effective and the best use of publicity funds. Rather, there will be regional appearances and a 25-city radio satellite tour. My responsibility is to blog, blog, blog, and to interact on Facebook and Twitter as much as possible. Move over, Charlie Sheen.

That’s all well and good, but I still want to get out in the big wide world and actually talk to people. I need a break from sitting behind the computer and social networking for a while. What’s an author to do?

All I can say is: thank God for mystery conventions and conferences. I quickly signed up for both Thrillerfest and Bouchercon. The upside is that I’ll be able to mingle with fellow authors and readers. The downside is that both events are enormous. Consider them the mystery/thriller equivalent of the Superbowl. It never matters how hard I try. I always feel a bit lost and out of place.

The antidote? I’ll also be attending a fairly new mystery conference that makes me feel right at home. Literally. Murder 203 takes place on April 9-10th in my hometown of Easton, Connecticut. I attended last year and had a terrific time. What’s not to like about a line-up of wonderful crime writers, including his year’s special guest: the fabulous Carolyn Hart. Murder 203 is much like Crimebake in that it’s a smaller, more personable conference. I’m hoping to see lots of friends there and make many more. And isn’t that what it’s all about?

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Jessica Speart is an investigative journalist whose focus is on wildlife law enforcement, endangered species issues, and the environment. Speart created her sleuth--U.S. Fish and Wildlife Agent Rachel Porter-- after years of investigating wildlife and drug-trafficking crimes for publications such as The New York Sunday Times Magazine, Omni, Travel & Leisure, Audubon, National Wildlife, Mother Jones, Wildlife Conservation, Earth Journal and Animals Magazine. When she began to find the characters she covered stranger than fiction, she turned her pen toward mysteries. There are ten novels in the Rachel Porter series.

Then a funny thing happened. Jessica recently wrote her first narrative nonfiction book upon discovering that the truth really is stranger than fiction. WINGED OBSESSION will be published by Wm Morrow in April 2011.

Prior to writing, Jessica worked as an actress in NYC, where she appeared off-Broadway, as well as in commercials and soap operas.

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Carolyn Hart is the Guest of Honor at this spring's Murder 203 in Connecticut--one of Jungle Red's favorite conferences. Wanna go? There's still room!

Register Today!

Here’s what this entitles you to:

- Two full days of author panels and talks for readers and aspiring writers
- Book signings
- Giveaways and free raffles
- Silent auction and live auction (including an opportunity to “buy your way”
into someone’s next mystery)
- Two breakfasts and Saturday lunch
- Our fabulous Cocktails & Crime reception on Saturday evening

Lethal Legacy

Ro: Welcome back, Linda Fairstein, author of the best-selling Alex Cooper series. I just finished Lethal Legacy and I loved it! I’ll never be able to pass the New York Public Library on Fifth Avenue without thinking of the intrigue behind those doors, and underneath the library itself. Did you already have extensive knowledge of the library before you started to write LL or was the research done specifically for the book?

Linda: Don’t you just love the NYPL? I hope your readers will come see the little video on my website (http://www.lindafairstein.com/) which features some of the library’s hidden treasures.

Ro: The video is extremely cool, and it was fun to see the hidden rooms described in the book.

Linda: All of my research was done exclusively for LETHAL LEGACY. I love libraries and I am fascinated by rare books and collectors, but I was always afraid to approach the administrators there because it’s such a, well, such a literary place, and I write more commercial fiction. But I have a great friend who is on the board of trustees, and she took me by the hand and introduced me to the fabulous David Ferriero, who is the head of the NYPL’s four research libraries, and embraced my project with open arms. I had visited the library, of course, and I had read several books about it, so I knew some of the wondrous things that were inside, but on my research tours I was given access to more incredible books, maps and manuscripts than I ever imagined. I spent several weeks doing research there, and they practically had to kick me out to get rid of me.

Ro: The details in the book were fascinating. Are the works you described in your book real and did you have a chance to see any of them?

Linda: All the books and maps described in the novel are indeed real. I have a great affinity for that world, and am fascinated by the people who are such generous patrons of our libraries and museums, and those who need to possess the rare objects for their own pleasure. I collect modern first edition crime novels and mysteries, and each time I publish a book, I treat myself to an old “rare” book, but so far I wouldn’t say that I’ve got anything to kill for. Any of your readers can see their treasures, too. The NYPL conducts two tours a day – and David is toying with the idea of the deadly Alex Cooper tour, to see some of the hidden sites to which I had access. But you can see the first Gutenberg Bible brought to America or the last letter that Keats wrote to Fanny before he died or rare political manuscripts and hundreds of sixteenth century maps of the world. It’s the most fascinating cultural institution we have in New York.

Ro: Luc Rouget, Alex’s sweetheart, is my dream date. Please tell me he’s based on a real person.

Linda: Oh, Luc! My readers either love or hate him – nothing in between. And yes, he’s based on a real guy. Before I met my husband, I had a long romance with a fabulous Frenchman named Andre who was a restaurateur and lived in a fairy-tale village in the south of France. Talk about escaping from the violence and mayhem of my day job! So he’s very real, and very kind and charming….and I think we’ll have a mystery set in the world he inhabits before too long.

Ro: How have you been able to maintain the excitement in the series after almost a dozen successful books?

Linda: Maintaining the excitement and the tension is tough to do, as all your writer-readers know. I’ve studied this genre forever by reading in it so extensively, and am always inspired by the ways that other writers I admire keep their stories fresh. Coop ages much more slowly than we do, you may have noticed. There are only three or four months between stories, so she’s not aging in real time. That helps me a lot in terms of plotting her personal evolution. And then there are endless advances in forensic techniques, and no shortage of criminal schemes. Loyal readers come back to series fiction if they like the characters and invest themselves in their stories, so that keeps me thoroughly engaged, too. There are so many series I hope will never end that it makes me focus on my own work, to keep Alex and Mike and Mercer vital enough to attract their fans.

Ro: You’re involved with a number of groups dedicated to women’s issues and child welfare. Are there any in particular that you’d like to tell our Jungle Red readers about?

Linda: Thanks for this opportunity. I’m on a number of non-profit boards, and my primary focus is on helping victims of violence – both in the courtroom and in the recovery process. SAFE HORIZON is the country’s largest victim advocacy organization – http://www.safehorizon.org/ – and it does extraordinary work, moving victims from crisis to confidence. Check the website to see the great range of programs it has – including brick-and-mortar facilities for battered women and their kids that are real homes, individual apartments in safe houses and not the horrible ‘shelters’ we used to see. We have just opened a state-of-the-art Child Advocacy Center – for victims of sexual assault – the child makes one stop – and there, at this beautifully calm center, she or he is examined by one of the best pediatricians in the city, sees a detective and district attorney, and has his or her own social worker/advocate assigned.

My board colleagues surprised me by dedicating the staff wing in my honor, for my thirty years of prosecutorial work; and when my mother died so suddenly last summer (she had been a pediatric nurse and worked for forty years with abused children), we raised funds to dedicate the pediatric medical suite in her memory. We partner often with Mariska’s beloved Joyful Heart (http://www.joyfulheartfoundation.org/) to do more alternative healing, and we have a huge gala coming up in May (buy a ticket!) at which Mariska will speak, Chris Meloni will emcee, Dick Wolf will be honored, and Sheryl Crow will perform. Then, if you want to do some forensic research for your writing, check out the Virginia Institute of Forensic Science and Medicine (http://www.vifsm.org/) where all the cutting edge law enforcement technology is tested and taught. Sign up for a seminar and use it in your work!

Ro: It’s really wonderful that you’re giving so much back. It's a great example for the newbies among us.

What’s up next for you? We know Alex Cooper loves Martha’s Vineyard, any plans for a series set there?

Linda: Alex loves the Vineyard. For her, as it was for me, Martha’s Vineyard is really the beautiful, calm paradise that restores her when she is overwhelmed by everything in her professional life. It really transports her, and she feels completely safe, soothed by the water that surrounds that tranquil island. There are wonderful Vineyard series – my friend Cynthia Riggs has a great one going, and the much loved, late Phil Craig is still a Vineyard vacation must-read. I know I’ll set something there one day, but probably not an entire series. It’s a dramatic setting for a good stand-alone.
Next one is the still-untitled twelfth in the series story, which will have Coop and gang back about the same time next year. I couldn’t resist marching into all the political scandals and personal peccadilloes that have overtaken New York politics in the last year. So the historical setting is the rich background of city politics – and the only three remaining Federal period mansions in Manhattan, all of which date to 1800, and have riveting political histories. Gracie Mansion, home of the rich merchant Archibald Gracie, and given to the city for our mayoral residence – but our mayor has a fancier mansion – so imagine what goes on at Gracie, with nobody home! The other two are Hamilton Grange – the home of Alexander Hamilton; and the glorious Jumel Mansion in Harlem Heights – and the widow Jumel married Aaron Burr. Gracie, Hamilton and Burr were all involved in a murder case in 1800 – and so, the new scandals have a link to the old. That’s the next territory. I’d love to come back and talk to you about it then.
Thanks so very much for letting me drop in to chat. Best to all!
http://www.lindafairstein.com/

photo: Peter Simon

Linda will be stopping back to answer any questions on the Alex Cooper series, writing and research. And you’ll have a chance to see Linda in person at these upcoming events.

4/ 18 – Keynoting the first Connecticut mystery conference – MURDER 203 (tix and info at http://www.murder203.com/) Four Jungle Red Writers will be there too!
4/23 – Hosting Luncheon at the Plaza Hotel for God’s Love We Deliver (tix and info available at http://www.glwd.org/)
4/28 – 6-8pm – Mysterious Bookshop – Signing the new MWA anthology – THE PROSECUTION RESTS
May 1 – 12-2pm – Luncheon for the Morristown, NJ Junior League (tix and info available at http://www.mnjjl.org/)
May 14 – 12-2 – Domestic Violence Committee of Central CT– Luncheon honoring Joan Lunden
May 14 – 6-8pm – SINC event at NYC’s Muhlenberg Branch of the NYPL
August 2 – Martha’s Vineyard Book Festival in Chilmark!

On Murder at the Library

RO: I met Jane Murphy, JR's guest blogger today at Malice Domestic last year, as it happens I was putting out seed packets for Pushing Up Daisies and she asked if I was the author becaause she'd been hoping to meet me! As if that wasn't enough to make me love her, she's a librarian at he Westport, CT Public Library and one of the founders of Murder 203, a new crime fiction event to be held in Easton and Westport, CT on April 18-19, 2009. http://www.murder203.org/

Late breaking News..Murder 203's just confirmed Guest of Honor is NYTimes Bestselling author Linda Fairstein.

JR: Hi Jane - lots of our readers are also writers. Tell us a little bit about how you choose titles for your library.

JM: Hello, Jungle Red readers!
Every author’s fondest wish is to find her book on the cover of the New York Times Book Review. Assuming you do not expect this to happen for you in the foreseeable future, where else can you expect librarians to find out about your book? Besides the NYTBR, most libraries rely heavily on the reviews in Publishers Weekly, a general trade publication, along with Booklist, Library Journal and Kirkus which are read mainly by librarians. Many libraries distribute free copies of a monthly called BookPage and I always look there for new titles as well. I do the mystery ordering for my library, so I also check Mystery Scene and Mystery News. I understand from talking to authors over the years that the review slots are hard to come by, but I urge you to check with your sources (SinC, writing support groups, how-to books) about how to submit your book to these key media.

You know, sometimes even a not-so-good review might have just the right punch words to grab my attention. Librarians pride themselves on what are called subject strengths, and, for example, if your book is set anywhere in the state of Connecticut I will buy it because this is a key strength of my collection. I also buy a lot of international mysteries because there is a big demand for them in my community. Each library is different and you never know who will be looking for just what you have to offer. This brings me to another point. When you provide a summary or book description to any source make sure to be as specific as you can about where the book is set and exactly what genre you feel it belongs to. You do not want the reviewer to decide the latter for you, nor do you want to confuse or mislead the book buyer. Let’s have no disappointed readers.

I often find out about books from promo items when I attend mystery conferences such as Malice Domestic and CrimeBake. I regularly check for bookmarks and flyers on the display tables and often come away with titles that I would have missed otherwise. In fact, that is how I found out about Roberta’s Advice Column series.
I get many e-mails from enthusiastic new authors offering to come speak at my library or offering their title for discussion by my Usual Suspects reading group. The competition for the meeting rooms at my library, as with many others, is fierce, and we generally book high profile authors to keep our attendance numbers high. And I don’t think my reading group is unique in their desire to read mostly classics and first titles of long-lived series. That’s just the way it is. (However, I once had a fledgling author show up at one of my book discussions and introduce himself to the group and I have since become one of his most ardent fans. You could try that.)

Also, I generally will add any books that are sent to me, although not all libraries accept donations. You could clarify that with a simple phone call or e-mail.

By the way, even librarians judge a book by its cover, but that’s another story for another day.

Jane Murphy is a librarian at the Westport Public Library in Connecticut, where she has her own readers’ advisory blog. Jane has been working with the librarians at nearby Easton Public Library (with some invaluable assistance from Rosemary Harris) to launch Murder 203: Connecticut’s Mystery Festival scheduled for April 18th and 19th. Attendees will enjoy panel discussions, book signings, writing tips from the professionals, and a unique opportunity to mingle with authors and fellow crime fiction enthusiasts at the "Cocktails and Crime" reception on Saturday evening.

Linda Fairstein will be the Guest of Honor for our inaugural event. Visit our official website for details or e-mail mysfan@murder203.com.

On Libraries

" My library was dukedom enough " The Tempest

Brooklyn Public Library, Grand Army Plaza

RO: Anyone who knows me, knows how bullish I am on libraries. Perhaps it was all those days spent in the children's section at the Clarendon Branch of the Brooklyn Public library, before I graduated to the temple of knowledge at the library's Grand Army Plaza branch.

When I was in the first grade, I was a transfer student from a Catholic school in my former neighborhood (two months and I still have the scars..but that's another blog.) My name was put at the very bottom of a large chart in my classroom. Stickers were put next to our names for every book we read that year. Maybe there was a prize, I don't remember, but for me it was the honor - and I had some catching up to do. I wanted to have the most little stickies and be known as the best..even though I was the new kid. (Hank...how's that for competitive?)

I haunted the library and the librarian kept them coming..biographies, horse books, dog books, children's classics. I did eventually have the most stickies and more importantly, a love for reading that continues today.

This weekend I'll be in Denver for the MidWinter meeting of the American Library Association; I'll be spending one day at the St. Martin's booth and the other helping out at the Bouchercon booth.(If you're there, stop by,say hello, pick of an ARC of The Big Dirt Nap and some snazzy Jungle Red bookmarks.)

Librarians today can be a mystery writer's best friends. They don't care how big your marketing budget is, or how many days it's been since your pub. date. All they care about is that you've written a good book and are willing to visit their libraries. I've visited dozens in the last year and didn't do one event at a Barnes & Noble (not that I wouldn't, if you're out there..;-)

Anyway, on Wednesday Jane Murphy from the Westport, CT Public Library will be guestblogging here. She's one of the organizers of a new mystery event being held in Connecticut this April, Murder203, http://www.murder203.com Come back to see what Jane has to say, and in the meantime, how about telling us some of your best library experiences?

JAN: I loved bringing my kids to the library when they were little. The Westwood Library had (has) a terrific children's room and in the summer used to award the kids leaves to put on the tree mural for every book they read. My kids developed a love of reading that endured.
But most of all the library is what gives me the strongest sense of community. It's sort of like the Cheers bar -- where everyone knows your name.

ROBERTA: I spent a ton of time at my hometown library in Berkeley Heights NJ when I was a kid. We all hauled home stacks of books and then disappeared into our rooms to read. Last month, I was elected to the library board in my current home town. (My husband was the chair for eight years so I believe this could be a case of political nepotism...) On election night, we had a huge disappointment when the bond for major renovations was voted down by a slim margin. Some people--not many but enough--think we don't need libraries these days because we have the Internet. That sounds crazy to me!

RO: That's because the internet is so reliable and 100% accurate, right? (I'm joking, of course...)

RHYS: The public library was my first big adventure. It was the first place I was allowed to go alone in the evenings in my teens. And the first time I was allowed to prowl the adult section, unsupervised (yes, I did take a peek at Lady Chatterly and similar items, I guess, but I also discovered Dorothy Sayers, and all those wonderful Golden Age mystery writers). I spent so long there that my father was convinced I went there to meet a boy--he was very protective. At that stage in my life, twelve or thirteen, the books were more enticing than any boy.
Since being a writer I have done library events all over the country and love connecting with readers and librarians.

HALLIE: I remember getting my first library card, and reading a gazillion biographies (Clara Barton, George Gershwin, Marie Curie...) and all the Betsy, Tacy and Tib books. They didn't ALLOW children in the adult section back then, and what I remember is the momentous day when I reached whatever age it was that I could go upstairs and breathe the rarified air up there. I still don't know why they had that rule. Maybe to keep the noise down upstairs, or maybe to protect our fragile minds from the muck of Faulkner and Lawrence.
A little silver lining of the downturn in the book business has been a boom in library use. I love mine. YAY MILTON LIBRARY. And they're about to reopen a brand new library in a few months.

HANK: Yay NEWTON LIBRARY! It's beautiful, welcoming, relaxed, and the folks there are infinitely knowledgeable. And of course the Boston Public Library is the elegant lady of the city. Gorgeous, full of riches and full of wonderful secrets. I adore it.

RO: I just found out that I'll be doing an event there this March...I'm so honored to have been asked.

HANK: When I was growing up, waaaay in the exurbs, the nearest library was in my school. I treasured my library card, and somehow it made me feel like a part of something. I read the encylclopedia, volume by volume, sitting in that library. All those blue biographies when I was like, eight: Clara Barton, Girl Nurse? Or Dorothea Dix, Girl of the Streets? Something like that? ('Girl of the streets' doesnt sound exactly right...but you know what I mean.) On the school bus, I would lug home the limit, ten books. And not let my sisters touch them.
And you had to be really really really quiet. Scary quiet. Now, chatting with librarians, I know they're trying to change their image from stern disciplinarians into being wonderful guides through a fantastic new world. Maybe they need--superhero uniforms?

RO: Yes..all those biographies...Booker T. Washington and Luther Burbank were two that I remember reading when I was little...and something about someone who took care of lepers! (I was a serious kid..) Wonder what bios kids are reading today? Anybody know?