Charmed and Fabulous: Rhys Bowen's New Book!

HANK PHILLIPPI RYAN:  Trying to remember when I first met Rhys Bowen--it was at the St. Martins party at...Bouchercon? Or somewhere. And I've never told her this, but she was a vision. I mean--sorry for being sappy, but there was an aura around her. A real glow--of happiness and joy and genuine engagement. And we chatted, and clicked, and laughed and laughed, and there might have been wine involved,  and the next day, she was a Red. (Where was this photo taken, anyone remember? )

Since then, we have been real sisters--sharing success and disappointment and writer's craziness and family rites of passage--and always always, Rhys has a genuine enjoyment and appreciation and gratitude for everything that happens. Even the downs--she faces them with high sprits and optimism.

And her new book? Crowned and Dangerous comes out tomorrow! (Yay! Pre-order here, just saying)   Wow, Rhys--I have never read such glowing reviews! Except for your other books  :-) but anyway, one reviewer (in a  starred review!) called you a combination of Agatha Christie and PG Wodehouse. Well, that's quite a tribute. What do you think about that, dear Rhys? And --if this is even possible--was that a conscious decision?

RHYS: I have a confession to make, Hank. I was in awe when I met you. I mean so chic, not a hair out of place and those impossibly high heels. And then we clicked instantly and becoming one of the Reds was one of the best things that has ever happened to me. You guys are the sisters I never had.

HANK: Aw. xoxo. Meant to be.

RHYS: As far as Christie and Wodehouse. Wow, that is a little humbling and gobsmacking! I don't set out to write like anybody. Every book I have written has been a book I wanted to read and it wasn't on the shelf. I'm flattered that anyone should compare me to such giants but I think I still have a way to go!

HALLIE: Darcy and Lady Georgie are on their way to Scotland get married when Darcy's father is murdered, and so the book takes us to Ireland instead. And what an Ireland it is! Can you tell us about the wonderful settings for the book?

RHYS: Those who read the last book in the series (Malice in the Palace) will know we left Georgie and Darcy in a cliff-hanger, on their way to Scotland to get married. We know the course of true love never does run smooth in books so they run into a blizzard in Yorkshire and then Darcy sees a headline in the morning newspaper that sends him rushing to Ireland and leaving Georgie behind.

I adore Ireland. it's so fresh and green and the people are so warm. So I set the book in horse country, where there are lush meadows with thoroughbreds in them and sweeping hills and old castles. I've visited quite a few of those old castles, had a medieval banquet at Bunratty and even kissed the Blarney Stone (actually not really kissed it. Kissed air about an inch away. Think of all those lips who went before me!)

LUCY: Two questions for you Rhys. First is about lady Georgie's voice, which is one of the things I love most about the Royal spyness series. Did her voice just come to you, or did you have to work on imagining who she was first?

And second is a question about how to maintain such a grueling schedule and exceptional career over the long haul. It was so exciting to hear about your early children's book being fashioned for the London stage. Any advice for writers looking to stick this out through thick and thin?

RHYS: Lady Georgie's voice came to me when I first started to write. I didn't stop until I'd written 25 pages and she still won't shut up. I just listen to her and write it down.  I saw her and knew her instantly and she's been a joy to spend time with. It's such fun to sit at the computer and chuckle.

Second question: 2 books a year. Yes, I'm a crazy woman. The problem is I have two publishers and they both want a book a year. But then what would I do if I didn't write? I think the way for a writer to have a long career is never be satisfied, always wanting to do better than the last book, and being prepared to reinvent yourself. Oh, and to see the play of my book in London was such a thrill!

DEBS: Rhys, I am in awe of you. Two (at least!) very different books a year, and both so good. But I wonder if you look forward to Georgie when you're writing Molly, because Georgie is just so much fun? And another question, the Georgie books always seem so effortless. Do you ever find yourself struggling with the plot or lost in the middle? (And of course I'd ask if you'll ever let Georgie marry Darcy, but I don't think you'll tell us...)

HANK: Oh, that's such a good question! And yes, they do seem effortless. Rhys, do you work solidly on one, and then the next?  Or back and forth?

RHYS: Debs, when I'm writing Molly I always dream of writing Georgie, and the other way around. The grass is always greener, I guess. But I could never switch between them. When I'm writing Molly I am in New York, 1905. I sometimes snap at John because Molly is mad at Daniel! And when I write Georgie I am completely in her world. In fact it's hard to switch off. I do plenty of lying awake, staring at the ceiling and muttering to myself! I have to wait a few weeks before I am ready to switch to the other. I can tell I'm ready when I start getting little ideas for plot twists.

HANK: Let me sneak in a little about CROWNED AND DANGEROUS--and yes, let's see that wonderful cover again!

 Nothing is simple when you’re thirty-fifth in line for the British crown, least of all marriage. But with love on their side, and plans to elope, Lady Georgiana Rannoch and her beau Darcy O’Mara hope to bypass a few royal rules...

With Darcy driving me out of London in a borrowed motor car, I soon discover that he isn’t planning to introduce me to the pleasures of sinning in secret—as I had hoped—but to make me his wife!

Of course, there are some quibbles to be dealt with, such as my needing special permission from the King to marry a Roman Catholic and the question of where we might live after the honeymoon. Though he will inherit a title, Darcy is as broke as I am. Even his family’s Irish castle has been sold to a rich American who now employs Darcy’s father as a hired hand.

Throwing these cares to the wind, nothing could deter us from our mission—except perhaps the news that my future father-in-law has just been arrested. It seems the rich American was murdered and Darcy’s father had more than enough motive to do the deed. With the elopement postponed, we head for Ireland where he insists he’s innocent, and it’s up to us to prove it—for better or worse.

JULIA: No question - just pure admiration. I adore the Lady Georgie books and have put so many in the hands of readers. I simply say, "Imagine one of those sparkling 1930's comedies crossed with Agatha Christie" and bam! Who could resist?

I'm also, like Debs, in awe of how Rhys manages two wonderful books a year, traveling with John, book tours and conferences, close relationships with her grown kids, grandkids, and granddogs...and still stay eminently sane and healthy. One begins to suspect a portrait in the attic.

(Rhys: not so sure about the sane part, Julia!)

Congrats on Crowned and Dangerous, Rhys!

SUSAN ELIA MACNEAL: Let me add my congratulations! Rhys, I've never met you in person, but have nothing but respect for your writing, not least the speed at which you write not one, but two series! Hearty congrats on CROWNED AND DANGEROUS!

HANK: Cannot wait or the entire Red contingent to be together, Susan! Whoa. Pick a date--our house! 

So, dear Reds and readers--what questions do you have for Rhys? About when she met the Queen? When she sang with --who was it, Rhys?  And what--can you tell us?-do you love the most about writing CROWNED?

RHYS:  Thank you all so much for this, darling Reds. I feel so blessed to have you all.  One thing I loved about writing Crowned was some new and very eccentric relations. I loved how Georgie and Darcy's relationship is almost shattered and hangs on anyway. And a really complex plot!

And I'll give a signed copy to one lucky commenter!

Hank and Lucy explain it all: How to Help Your Favorite Writers!

LUCY BURDETTE:  Since we have two releases in the next ten days on JRW, we thought you might appreciate some suggestions on how you can make a difference in a writer's success.

* Pre-order the book to let the publisher know how anxious you are to read it.

HANK: Yes, yes! I cannot believe there aren't authors out in the sheets, right? Yelling..please please..

LUCY:  * Leave a review at Goodreads, Amazon, or Barnes & Noble

* Tweet a link to the book with a few words of praise

HANK: Yes yes. Sisters in Crime did a big survey, and found the number one was readers learned about new books was word of mouth. It seems obvious, but it makes a HUGE difference. If you love something, say something!

Can we make that our Jungle Red motto? One kind book word a day. I'm in!

Susan's new Mrs. Roosevelt's Confidante--FAB!--comes out the 27th.

My new WHAT YOU SEE comes out Tuesday. (Aunt Agatha's Robin Agnew's review said it was "Flawlessly done." Whoa.

LUCY: * Use your Facebook status to leave a link or the cover

HANK: There must be some survey about how many times you have to see a cover or photo before it registers in your bran. Anyone know? How much is too much?

LUCY:  * Mention the book in your Facebook group or other online forums

* Go to the book signing or launch party!

HANK: Yes, Yes, mine for WHAT YOU SEE is Thursday Oct 22 at Brookline Booksmith. And a fab pre-party on October 21 at FoxTales Books in Atlanta! Y'all come!

LUCY: * Post the book cover on your Pinterest board

Hank. :-(  I am terrible on Pinterest. How about you?
 
LUCY: * Ask for the book at your local bookstore. If they don't carry it, urge them to pick it up and tell them how much you like it.

* Find out which local indie bookstore the author uses and request a signed or personalized copy

* Take a picture of the book you love in a bookstore and post it online. A picture's worth a thousand words on social media.

HANK:  Yes, yes, please! And tag the author. He/she will be so thrilled!

LUCY:  So if you love a book/author, tell the world!

But most of all, enjoy the book! We love writing them and we love to know you are out there reading. And we'd love to hear your suggestions...

And PS, speaking of the new books, Hank and Susan are visiting Mystery Lovers Kitchen today with two fabulous cocktail recipes and a double giveaway. Come say hello!

HANK: And don't forget to…well, you know. Happy Sunday, everyone, and Happy Bookday to all.

Death Angel

HANK PHILLIPPI RYAN: Fan girl moment.

Linda Fairstein is on everyone's list of the most iconic, successful, charming, brilliant, and all around fabulous authors around. Right? I always think her books are like--Law and Order meets Vogue Magazine. Maybe that's just me--but they're so stylish and New Yorky and so insidery. I always feel as if I'm eavesdropping on real people solving real cases...in the coolest and most historic (and scariest) parts of the city.

 Lee Child calls her "the queen of intelligent suspense." And we know Lee is always right.

Her newest thriller, DEATH ANGEL, is out July 30...hurray! And she graciously agreed to chat with us about it..and about all the fascinating behind the scenes stuff that went into it. And--yes indeed--Jungle Red is giving a copy of DEATH ANGEL to one lucky commenter!  

DEATH ANGEL---starts in Central Park.

It's such a fabulous place… with such a storied history.We all have a Central Park memory, I bet.  Linda, you always choose an iconic New York landmark for your books--why the Park this time?

LINDA FAIRSTEIN:   Central Park is the heart of Manhattan. I moved to the city after my graduation from law school, and have lived close to the Park for forty years. As a young prosecutor, I jogged around the reservoir with office colleagues before going down to work. I’ve biked it countless times, rowed on the lake where detectives find the first body in Death Angel, and enjoyed all of the exquisite serenity and physical beauty with which the Park anchors the city. As Alex Cooper says, Central Park is New York City’s great seductress: she lures us in-- natives or tourists, young and old – with all her temptations; forty million of us every year. And yet, as a prosecutor, some of the most heinous crimes we encountered – from murder to sexual assault to physical beatings and rampages – also occurred in this sanctuary.

I’ve always been drawn to the Park, and especially to the more remote places like the Ramble and the Ravine, which many regulars have never explored. The island of Manhattan had sprawled in development from the tip of its southern shore to the mid-50’s before our city fathers gave serious thought to planning a great Greensward inspired by the magnificent European parks. Now, it’s hard for me to imagine this city without the glories of Central Park. It was only a matter of time before Alex, Mike, and Mercer had to dig deep into the Park and its fascinating history to solve a series of crimes.


HANK: So were you a Central Park buff before you wrote Death Angel?

LINDA FAIRSTEIN:  I’m always attracted to stories that expose the rich history of New York City. Behind the elegant exteriors, there are usually some dark secrets, interesting tales – and occasionally, bodies. I’ve spent so much time in the Park, both personally and professionally, that I’ve had the opportunity to visit locations that many people just don’t find by themselves.

When it came time to do serious research, I had two impeccable sources. The first was the Central Park Conservancy, a superb organization which really made possible the restoration of the Park after the fiscal crisis of the 1970’s almost wrecked it. I’ve supported the Conservancy for years, and was fortunate enough to be introduced to Sara Cedar Miller, the Conservancy’s historian and photographer. I wore out several pairs of sneakers trying to keep up with Sara in Central Park. The second source was a great friend, Nan Rothschild, a distinguished urban anthropologist who is a professor at Columbia and Barnard. Nan led the dig in Central Park several years ago which uncovered Seneca Village. I had no idea the village ever existed, and when I find a fact like that, I know it will work its way into the story.

HANK: Speaking of Seneca Village--Why did you feel it was important to include in your narrative?

LINDA: Once I heard the story of Seneca Village, I couldn’t imagine writing about the Park without including this interesting piece – the houses, schools, churches, cemeteries; it was truly a village. And the people, I still wonder, where did they wind up? If something haunts me enough and works its way into my imagination, I often find that it will resonate with my readers, too.

As I have spoken to people about Death Angel, I have been surprised by how few New Yorkers are aware of the Seneca Village history, or of the fact that Central Park – but for the enormous glacial erratics – is entirely manmade, down to the trees planted in each area, by the design team of Olmsted and Law. Readers always write to me about their love of learning about the historical aspects of New York City in my series. People who live here now or who were raised here really enjoy learning more about places and institutions which seem so familiar to them, but have hidden stories and those readers elsewhere who have never been to New York tell me that this kind of historical detail is what brings the city alive to them. So of course I had to include it!

HANK: The Dakota! Such a icon..I’ll always think of Rosemary’s Baby, and of course John Lennon.

LINDA: Everybody I know is fascinated with the Dakota, the first “apartment” building in Manhattan designed to lure rich and prominent New Yorkers away from their Fifth Avenue mansions. It’s been used in fiction many times – the inspiration for the apartments in Rosemary’s Baby, the building in the wonderful Finney novel Time and Again, in thrillers by Harlan Coben and Lee Child. And sadly, in real life, it was the home of John Lennon, and its front gate was the scene of his murder.

I have a good number of friends who live in the Dakota and I love to visit them there. But until I wrote this book, I’d never stopped to study its history – which is fun – and which made me even more anxious to get an invitation to go back there and poke around.

HANK: Speaking of poking around... Death Angel involves a lot of internal conflict between the police force and a judge. Is this, um, just fiction?

LINDA: In each of my novels, I have drawn on some aspect of my professional experience – thirty years as a prosecutor in the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office – to give some life to the stories. There are personal conflicts – from time to time – between and among many of the individuals in the different agencies that make up the criminal justice system. They are not always as extreme, nor as personal, as the relationship I create in this book, but they exist. Some have been more complicated than the one I wrote about here – which is completely fictional – but it is an area I wanted to explore to show how personal relationships can truly interfere with the work of the system.

HANK: You are so incredible with endings! Death Angel wraps up with a surprise that pulls from all the different storylines within the novel. So do you know exactly how you are going to end the novel? Or do you improvise as you go along?

LINDA:    My usual process is to start with the world against which my story is going to be set – in this case, the rich background of Central Park. Then I decide on my victim – because we usually meet her or him early on – and figure the reason for which the murder would have occurred. And then, yes, I figure out the ending next, and I do it for a couple of reasons. Readers of crime novels tend to be very intelligent. They like the stories to be suspenseful, and most don’t mind trying to sort out the red herrings from the real suspects. But at the end, when the killer is revealed and the motive is explained, it has to make sense and come together for the smart readers. So if I know who the killer is at the outset, it allows me to try to leave clues along the way and build to a conclusion that holds together.

The second thing, for me, is that Alex Cooper doesn’t carry a gun. Although she has been in a couple of circumstances in which she can get her hands on one, she doesn’t like guns and isn’t comfortable with them. Other crime novel protagonists are. So I need to figure out where the story is going to end – and how – so I know that Alex can figure out some way to extricate herself from jeopardy, if that becomes necessary. Most of the plot highlights are known to me when I set out to tell the tale, but there are inevitable twists and turns that develop along the way, much to my delight and often to my surprise.


HANK: Is there a character you most enjoy writing? Why?

LINDA: Mike Chapman is my favorite character to write – hands down. When Mike’s in a scene or has a major segment of dialogue, I find myself smiling and channeling back to a bar stool in Forlini’s, listening to some of my smartest detectives telling stories at the end of a long working day. Mike is a composite of some of the best and brightest – and funniest – guys with whom I have handled such deadly serious cases. His character is loaded with some of my most wonderful memories of the prosecutorial work that I did for so long. In those many exhausting hours in front of a computer writing a book, Mike is the guy I most want to have hanging out with me, keeping me going – and maybe having a cocktail with me at the end of the day.

HANK: Okay, so dish. Mike Chapman and Alex Cooper. In Death Angel there’s even more teasing of the reader than usual…. Is this something we can expect more of in the future?

LINDA: There is no question that I get more mail and more comments at my appearances about Alex’s relationship with Mike than about any other thing. Coop has worried about what to do for quite a while now –it’s clear that Mike is her best friend and that she loves him dearly but she is also fearful that District Attorney Paul Battaglia would break up their professional partnership if they became entangled romantically. It just seemed to be the right time and place to test the waters.

HANK: Okay, I can’t resist. Is Alexandra Cooper based on you?

LINDA:  It’s hard not to laugh as I try to answer this. Fifteen books ago, when I created Alex Cooper, I was still a prosecutor in charge of the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office Sex Crimes Unit. I had written a non-fiction book about our work, but had always longed to write crime fiction. And in the 90’s, it was an exciting time in fiction for strong female protagonists in a non-traditional role. There was Coop! A bit too young to experience what I had in the 1970’s – when there were only 11 women in my law school class and seven on the staff of the DA’s office when I joined. The old adage “write what you know” seemed perfectly on point. Through Coop, I felt that I could show my passion for the job – especially since sex crimes and domestic violence, although age-old crimes, were getting first-time attention in the criminal justice system.

While Alexandra Cooper’s professional life is written with all of my experience and love for her work, I have taken great liberties with her personal characteristics. No, I didn’t have a trust fund – but I gave her one to allow her to have the Vineyard home, which provides such an escape from the pressures of her job. Lots of fictional changes on her personal side. She’s younger (much younger now than when I started to write her), thinner, and blonder – but she loves her work, just as I did. There’s a lot of me in Coop, but also a lot more that she knows which, in hindsight, I wish I had known at the time.

HANK:  Grr. What a moment to run out of time!
Don't forget to comment to be entered for DEATH ANGEL...have you ever been to Central Park? Anything interesting happen?



Find Linda at: www.lindafairstein.com
Twitter: @lindafairstein
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/LindaFairstein  (go like the page right now!)

He's Brad, He's Brad, He's Really Really Brad

Hank Phillippi Ryan: Whoa. Brad Meltzer. I have to say—he’s cool. He’s funny, he’s smart, he loves comics and he has a TV show. And his books—well, two things. One: he’s written I don’t know how many number on New York Times Bestsellers. And two: he’s an inspiration. He says he sent his first manuscript, all those years ago, to twenty publishers. And he got 24 rejections! Why? Read on.

And now, his newest book is out. THE FIFTH ASSASSIN –which Kirkus says has a “double whiplash bombshell conclusion”—is about—well, read on.

If you attend one of his book tour stops, ask him about Batman, and he’ll love you forever. And leave a comment today—because two lucky winners will win personally signed copies of the FIFTH ASSASSIN—I’ll get them for you myself!

Brad’s the king of research, too. You know what I’m gonna say. Read on.

HANK: Hey, Brad. Welcome to Jungle Red. The Fifth Assassin sounds so tantalizing--did you find any evidence of real connections between the four successful presidential assassins?

BRAD MELTZER:  Hey, Hank. Hey, Reds. Officially, there have been over two dozen attempts to murder the President of the United States. Only four have been successful. Of the four men that succeeded, here’s what they had in common: Most of them weren’t drinkers. None of them did drugs. All four of them were surprisingly...and outrageously...neat. And none of them - except for that moment when they pulled the trigger - was ever identified as a troublemaker.

Beyond that, they each planned their act for weeks. And of course, they were all blessed with patience. But when you lined them all up, the true cause of success came from the one attribute that can never be contained: All four were men with a cause.

HANK: So? A connection?

BRAD: Here's their real connection: You can divide assassins into two categories: Howlers and Hunters. The howlers threaten us by sending scary notes and calling in bomb threats, but the good news is, they rarely follow through. They just want attention, so for them, howling and making noise is enough. It’s different with hunters. Hunters act on it. They research, prepare, plot - and follow that path to a goal. But howlers aren’t interested in hunting. And hunters aren’t interested in howling. Needless to say, from John Wilkes Booth to Lee Harvey Oswald, all four assassins are hunters.

HANK: Have there actually been copy-cat assassination attempts?

BRAD: When Timothy McVeigh blew up the federal building in Oklahoma City, he was wearing a t-shirt that said Sic Semper Tyrannis. And back in 1994, a man named Francisco Martin Duran tried to kill President Bill Clinton by firing twenty-nine shots at the White House. But on his drive from Colorado to Washington, did you know he stopped in Dallas, Texas, passing the Book Depository…and that when he got to DC, he even stayed at the Hilton Hotel where John Hinckley shot Reagan? These assassins have never been forgotten.

HANK: You’ve actually had former Presidents Clinton and George HW Bush help you with research for your novels. How was that?

BRAD: President George HW Bush let me ask him some of the most macabre questions I’ve ever asked. I'll always ask him about little details about White House life that only he and a few others could possibly know. But asking a President about the hidden staircase in the White House Residence is different than asking him about what it's like to know that someone's out there planning your death.

HANK: Your research is so legendary--a museum that held the body parts of Abraham Lincoln and the bullet that killed him? How did you ever…

BRAD: Thanks to our TV show, I get the craziest email of anyone. Once, I had someone bring the Holy Grail to one of my book signings. The real Holy Grail, he insisted.

 So for The Fifth Assassin, I wasn't surprised when one of my longtime readers told me that I needed to come to a museum that almost no one knew about. I asked him what they had there. What made it so important? And then he told me: We have pieces of Abraham Lincoln's skull, the bullet that killed him, and even the bones of John Wilkes Booth...as well as the body parts of some other people I'd be interested in. The museum was run by the Army -- it's the National Museum of Health and Medicine. And yes, the government has all these items. You better believe I went there.

HANK: Did you know what you were looking for at the museum for THE FIFTH ASSASSINS? Which came first, the plot or the info?

BRAD: I had no idea that I'd be holding onto the bones of John Wilkes Booth or the brain or one of the other Presidential assassins. But when someone shares a brain with you, you pay attention. Needless to say, sometimes you plot the book, but sometimes, the book takes you for the ride. I also think, after recently burying both of my parents, this book had no choice but to be about growing up.

HANK: Ah. Yes…Over the course of the past four years, you’ve lost both your parents. First, your mom to breast cancer, and then your father died suddenly. Can you talk a bit about the bond you shared with your parents and how losing them influenced the writing of THE FIFTH ASSASSIN?

BRAD: My parents came from nothing and gave me everything, making me the first in my immediate family to attend college. Needless to say, as I wrote THE FIFTH ASSASSIN, I wasn't at all surprised to see that it was about...growing up. Burying them, I had no choice but to write about growing up. I didn’t plan it that way, but that's where the book decided I needed to go. I owe them way more than that.

HANK: Your first book came out when you were 27. What would 42 year old Brad say to the young Brad now that you’ve had so much experience under your belt?

BRAD: Enjoy your hair. Your hair is your friend! Also, when a reader brings the Holy Grail to your booksigning, run the other way.

HANK: Aspiring writers are often curious about how bestselling writers make it. You received 24 rejection letters for your first novel. Huh?

BRAD: When I started writing, my first book got me a quick 24 rejection letters. To be clear, there were only 20 publishers, and I got 24 rejection letters, which means some people were writing me twice to make sure I got the point. But I love those 24 rejections. To this day, when I sit down to write, I think of that moment when I got my 23rd and 24th rejections. It inspires me to start the day – and reminds me to never take any of this for granted.  And I'll see you in a week or so in Boston at Brookline Booksmith!

HANK: Ah, Brad, that’s wonderful. Okay, gang, questions for Brad? And don’t forget, two lucky winners will get personally signed copies of THE FIFTH ASSASSIN!

And Brad will be coming to a bookstore near you! (And he often brings decoder rings...)