Double header: Rhys Bowen's and Hallie Ephron's BOOK LAUNCHES!

TODAY is the book launch for both Hallie and Rhys! 

Lady Georgie goes to Kenya in Rhys’s Love and Death Among the Cheetahs.

Emily Harlow goes to the storage unit in Hallie's Careful What You Wish For. 

So as we both prepared to hit the road and sign a zillion books we took a moment to have a telephone chats and compare notes:

HALLIE EPHRON: Love and Death Among the Cheetahs—great title, and quite a departure for Lady Georgie, isn’t it?

RHYS BOWEN: This is book thirteen and in the Royal Spyness series I wanted Lady Georgie to have an exciting honeymoon somewhere. So I put it to my fans, where should she go? Suggestions ranged from Minneapolis to India. 

I decided that Kenya would be a great setting. I’ve always been fascinated by the “Happy Valley” set, and I thought, wouldn’t it be nice if Georgie, who is the most naïve of people, finds herself among these aristocrats who live the most dissolute lifestyle. That set all had farm properties in Kenya and lots of Kikuyu tribesmen working for them. The way the British spoke about the natives was so offensive, even toning it down I had to put in a forward apologizing and explaining.

HALLIE: So Georgie goes there on her honeymoon?”

RHYS: Georgie can’t believe her luck, that Darcy is taking her to Kenya on honeymoon. But as soon as she gets there she realizes he may have had an ulterior motive. He might be on some kind of undercover assignment. 

Georgie’s lived a very sheltered life, and at the start of the series she doesn’t have much self confidence. In this book she’s starting to feel her value as an equal. At the end of the book she doesn’t wait to consult anybody, she makes a decision that shows that she has guts.

HALLIE: This novel really emphasizes the whole British class differences that you like to feature, doesn’t it?

RHYS: It does. This is aristocrats behaving badly! One of the reasons I write the series is to satirize the British class system. 

(We’re talking on the phone and Rhys’s husband chimes in from the other room, “Nothing wrong with the British class system!”). Sorry. He’s a left-over from the glory days of British aristocrats!

But let’s talk about Careful What You Wish For.  (I love your titles, by the way, because they say suspense and creepy from the outset!).  Your novel is scary in part because the setting is so unexotic. 

HALLIE: Unexotic in the extreme! I try to write books with situations that seem utterly believable. Yes, this could happen to me, I want the reader to think. And shudder. 

My new book’s setting is more Minneapolis than Kenya--a Boston suburb that feels an awful lot like where I actually live. And “Minneapolis” can be pretty scary.

Though we don’t have ‘class’ differences the way the Brits do, we certainly have economic differences that are just as telling. The action takes places in two ordinary houses, one over-the-top mansion, and a storage unit. What professional organizer Emily Harlow is hired to sort out in that storage unit drives the story. Stuff my husband would die for: old books, prints, doorknobs.

Like me, professional organizer, Emily Harlow, is married to a packrat. She’s come to terms with it and knows he’s unlikely to change.

RHYS: The person I’m married to saves everything because we might need it some day. You’re married to the person who’s still looking for that wonderful bargain or that special thing at garage sales and always brings home stuff you don’t need.

Did you find writing a professional organizer made you more conscious of your own organization. Did you find yourself folding your socks?

HALLIE: I did. My socks. My T-shirts. My underwear. And it is very pleasing to open that drawer and find all my things neatly rolled and standing at attention. Not so much fun, putting the laundry away. 

RHYS: It hasn’t spread to this house yet. Probably never will. Do you find when you’re writing you take on the characteristics you’re writing about?

HALLIE: I don’t think so. But I test the believability of whatever I’m having the character do. I don’t become them, but I do try them on. Don’t you do that?

RHYS: Sometimes I even get involved in their lives. For example if I’m writing a scene in the middle of winter, I feel really cold. Even if it’s summer. There are times when I’ve snapped at John and then realized I’m not angry at him, it’s Molly Murphy who’s angry with Daniel.

HALLIE: When we started talking I was thinking how different our books are. You write wonderful, tongue-in-cheek, British flavored historical mysteries. I write domestic suspense set in any-suburb USA. 

But this time out I realize we’re both writing about marriage, and the kinds of compromises and tradeoffs that ensue. 

RHYS: You’re right. It’s interesting that settings can be so different but human problems and dilemmas have always been so much the same. So wishing you every success with the new book, that has already garnered such great reviews. I’ll raise a glass to you at my own launch party tonight at Book Passage in Corte Madera and look forward to seeing some friendly faces as I set out around the country this week.

HALLIE: Toasting you back! And hoping to see some friendly faces from Jungle Red at my book launch events: 

Wednesday August 7 @7PM at Brookline Booksmith in conversation with professional organizer Kathy Vines

and
Thursday August 8 at RJ Julia @7PM in conversation with Lucy Burdette.

Where to find us... 

Rhys’s schedule 

Hallie’s schedule 

Read excerpts from CAREFUL WHAT YOU WISH FOR

Read Chapter 1

Read Chapter 2
Read Chapter 3

Read an excerpt from LOVE AND DEATH AMONG THE CHEETAHS

Read Chapter 1 

Talking about fictional couples whose differences were a driving force in the story, what books, TV shows, movies come to mind? Rhett and Scarlet. Elizabeth Bennet and Mr. Darcy. Jim and Pam. And...

Clever Kathy Vines: Tips for Decluttering

HALLIE EPHRON: I'm in the middle of writing a book about a woman who's a professional organizer; she helps people declutter their lives. She's married to a man who's an inveterate collector... Cue scary music. 

So I was thrilled to meet Kathy Vines, the author of "“Clever Girl’s Guide to Living with Less: Break Free from Your Stuff, Even When Your Head and Heart Get in the Way.”  Her goal: to "help people untangle their relationship to their stuff."  

Kathy runs Clever Girl Organizing®. She's a Certified Professional Organizer®, productivity specialist, coach, and speaker. I'm delighted to welcome her to Jungle Reds.

Kathy, why do you think our lives have become so "cluttered," and is it just about the stuff?

KATHY VINES: First, I’ll share that MY definition of clutter as anything that gets in the way of us living how we most want to live. When something isn’t something we need, use, or love right now, it has the potential to be considered clutter.

Why? The easiest answer is that things are just not as expensive as they were in early generations (easier to buy), and the quality is poorer (more necessary to replace). And our homes tend to be larger, and so “I don’t have room for this” isn’t a pain point for many people… until, of course, they’ve filled it all up.

I usually find one of two prominent kinds of clutter personalities when it comes to holding onto stuff. Some are anchored in the past, holding onto items that mark the passage of time even if the items are boxed away and never looked at. The others are fixated on the future, envisioning imaginary scenarios in they “might need it someday.” When past or future items represent a significant proportion of what someone owns, it becomes a signal to me that maybe they’re not living as connected to their present reality and current needs as they might.

HALLIE: Where do you see the line between healthy collecting and cherishing and dysfunctional coveting, shading over into hoarding.

KATHY: There are three red flags for “at-risk collecting” for me:

1) When someone is not able to enjoy the full collection because space limitations.

2) If the primary goal of “it will be worth money someday” but there is no evidence in the marketplace that this is true and

3) When the burden (from the cost it may take to keep it up, to the energy to keep it clean, to the valuable square footage it is taking up) is greater than the enjoyment of the collection itself.

HALLIE: What's the first thing you do when you meet a new client?

KATHY: I want to know someone’s goals and, but more importantly, I want to understand WHY that goal is there. When I get a better understanding of the emotional connection to why someone wants to invest in making this big change, it helps me motivate and reinforce the hard work that decluttering can require.

HALLIE: Can you tell us about one of your most challenging projects, and how it turned out?

KATHY: Some of the toughest projects are when I am working with couples and each has a very different (and strong!) opinions about his/her spouse’s stuff, and years of emotional investment in those opinions! Voicing those opinions in a session can derail the spouse’s progress, might be an excuse for not focusing on your own tough choices, and a be bit awkward for me to be in the middle of! More than once, I’ve had to ask one spouse to leave the space for a while in order to get forward progress “for the team,” reminding them of WHY they wanted to do this in the first place.

HALLIE: Ooooh, I LOVE THAT ANSWER. My book, my book, my book, as Hank would say.

What (five?) tips would you give someone who's trying to manage the stuff in their life?

KATHY:
1) Make sure everything has a home. When things don’t have a home, they tend to surf from spot to spot, always creating the “I don’t know what to do with this” clutter.

2) Know your strengths and pitfalls, and create your systems around them. If you keep putting items ON TOP of a box lid, rather than opening the box, stop using boxes with lids. If you stash things in drawers and can’t remember what’s in them without looking, then drawers aren’t your friends.

3) If you’re in a mixed-marriage (one of you is organized, and the other is not), recognize the two of you genuinely do NOT see your space the same way and likely never will. Create clutter-free and clutter-safe zones that you mutually agree upon. All-or-nothing is just not a tenable strategy.  

4) When you hear yourself say, “I might need this someday,” challenge yourself to see if you’re confusing the word “need” with “use” or “want.” It can be *really* easy to overstate “need,” and harder to part with something once we give it that label of importance.

5) Finally, as I say in my book: “Be kinder to yourself than you are to your stuff. Forgive your past, and focus on your future.” Whether we feel guilt about letting something go or failure when we stare at the 2-sizes-too-small clothes in our closet, the emotional investment we make in our stuff doesn’t always put us at our best. When we view ourselves as more important than our stuff, we have a better shot at removing those challenges and being happy!

HALLIE: Kathy will be dropping by today, so pile on with any questions or stories you have about your own relationship with clutter, fraught or otherwise. 

And be sure to stop by GOODREADS where she's running a book giveaway through September!

Getting Organized with Mary Jane Maffini.

RHYS: What is not to like about Mary Jane Maffini--she's a little bundle of positive energy, she keeps dachshunds (my favorite dogs),she's a well-known, well-respected figure in Canadian crime circles (not on the most wanted list),winner of Arthur Ellis awards, former president of Canadian Crime Writers and now Agatha winner. And in addition she's my good friend and roomie at conventions.

First of all, welcome MJ, congratulations on winning the Agatha teapot for best short story!
Malice must have been a bitter-sweet occasion for you. You and I had a chance to do a presentation on the life of our dear friend Lyn Hamilton. This was the hard part. But then the good part was that you won the Agatha teapot. Tell us about your feelings, looking back on this Malice.
Do you have a special Lyn story?

Mary Jane:Lyn was usually my roomie at Malice and I had so much fun with her that it is always bitter-sweet, as you say. I wish she’d been there to hear our presentation and to see the room full of her friends, readers and admirers. Of course, she was there in spirit and must have seen that there wasn’t a dry eye in the house.

Lyn and I had a lot of fun at Malice and, over the years, every time I had a panel, I would look into the audience and see Lyn smiling encouragement. We would fit in a shopping jaunt too and the game was to see who could find the best jacket or the best shoes. We spent a lot of time hooting with laughter and we both came back refreshed and ready to roll again.

RHYS: You write about a person I desperately need in my life--a professional organizer,who would probably die of shock if she saw my office.
Is this character close to you? Do you have experience in organizing peoples lives? Has writing about her helped you to become more organized or were you already super neat and tidy?


Mary Jane: I wish! For most of my life, I suppose you could have described me as ‘a professional disorganizer’. When I first discovered the type of help that professional organizers offer, it made a big difference. I now own a towering stack of organizing books and magazines (all tax-deductible, thank you very much) and they’ve helped immensely. The writing and promoting life is hectic and irregular, with tons of paper, travel, as well as research material. I would have drowned in debris without organizing tips. I came to realize that organizers have a lot of power. They also have access to their clients’ homes and lives and can draw insights from the way people handle their ‘stuff’. I decided that an organizer could make an excellent sleuth and Charlotte Adams was born. I often still ask myself, “What would Charlotte do?”

RHYS: Tell us about the latest book in your series.

Mary Jane: The Busy Woman’s Guide to Murder is the fifth Charlotte Adams mystery. Charlotte is stunned to get a call for help from her ‘regular’ 911 operator, Mona Pringle. Mona is hysterical over the return of Serena Redding, the beautiful, clever, popular bully who, along with three followers, had terrorized her in high school. Mona threatens to run her old enemy down with her car. Charlotte offers soothing words until the first of several fatal hit and run accidents. As bullies begin to bite the dust and Mona goes into hiding, Charlotte needs to find Mona, stop to killing and, just maybe, deal with her own guilt at not stopping the bullying when it might have made a difference. As usual issues with the police mean she’s often on her own. Small naughty dogs and organizing tips included!

RHYS: I gather you have a new project underway--a new name, writing jointly with your daughter? Tell us about that and what it is like writing with a partner, especially a daughter.

Mary Jane: I am very excited about the new series written with my daughter, Victoria. As Victoria Abbott, we’re enjoying watching the book collectors mysteries unfold. We get a kick out of the crotchety collector, Vera Van Alst, and Jordan Bingham, the young assistant with the smart mouth and the shady relatives, of course, Jordan would do well to avoid the police. We are feeling our way around the process. It’s great to work with someone who is younger and funnier. We do some of our work together, some scenes are written separately and often we create a scene together on the phone. I like the high energy of those meetings and the laughter. They never feel like work. The first book is tentatively entitled The Christie Curse, but time will tell if that lasts.

RHYS: You've been touring around to promote this book. Any particular experiences you'd like to share?

Mary Jane: What a great trip! Vicki Delaney, Elizabeth Duncan and I spent a week in North Carolina with the amazing mystery woman Molly Weston. Molly had arranged events at a dizzying rate in bookstores, libraries and even the Carolina Club where an expat Canadian showed up with a giant flag! We loved meeting the readers and librarians. Then we were off to Malice where the tribute to Lyn was a special to me. Festival of Mystery is run by the amazing folks at Mystery Lovers Bookshop in Oakmont, PA was next. This is an experience that is a dream for every writer and no reader should miss it! After a fifteen day road trip having fun, it’s always great to be home, surrounded by real dogs and family. Time to get back to writing.

Thanks for interviewing me, Rhys. It’s always fun to spend time with you and Molly and Lady Georgie!

RHYS: An organizational tip please?

Mary Jane: Here's a tip to make life better: never go anywhere without a book
(print or e-reader) in your pocket or handbag. Other people may be bothered by lineups and slowdowns, but you'll get to enjoy the found reading time!

RHYS: Amen to that! I'm off with my Kindle full of books tomorrow!

Thank you for visiting, MJ. Good luck with your new ventures.

RHYS: And thank you, MJ. Now please come and rescue my office from clutter!