SEE YOU IN ASSISI?

HANK PHILLIPPI RYAN:   Yes, yes, more TBR piles below! I am so thrilled to see these—isn’t it reassuring to know that you’re not the only one with a teetering pile of books by your bed? And truly, a wonderful psychological study of reading habits. I am learning so much about you all!

And I bet we are all getting good reading ideas from each other. 

Speaking of getting good ideas—sometimes those come by chance, right? And that is exactly what happened to today’s fabulous guest, the amazing SJ Rozan. 

How did her new series begin? Well, because she is SO glamorous, it began in Italy. In Rome, drinking Campari.  Then on to New York, at a tony party. And then…well, let SJ tell the story. That’s what she does best.

St. Francis and the (Skin of the) Wolf

            by SJ Rozan, blogging at you from Assisi, Italy. 

I've been offered the opportunity to drop over to Jungle Red from my own blog  to give you a little background on Sam Cabot's new book, SKIN OF THE WOLF. 

Why do I care about what Sam Cabot's up to?  Because he's me!  Half of him, the Sam half.  Cabot is Carlos Dews, and Carlos and I met here in Assisi, which is where Sam's story begins. 

For seven years now I've had this great two-week summer teaching gig at Art Workshop International in Assisi.   (If you're pre-published and looking for a workshop you might want to consider coming over here next summer, by the way; but that's another story.) 

ASSISI

Four years ago a Texas-born professor at John Cabot U. in Rome came up here to visit some of the folks at the Workshop whom he knew.  We met, sat around drinking Campari on the terrace, got on very well, thank you, and then he went back to Rome.  Six months after that he appeared at a holiday party in NYC, thrown by the AWI people.  I appeared there too.  

Idle conversation ensued among a bunch of people, the "what are you working on?" kind of thing.  I allowed as how I'd finished the last book on my most recent Lydia Chin/Bill Smith contract and wasn't sure what direction to go in next.  Carlos, for his part, said he had a great idea for a thriller but he wasn't a thriller writer and he had too much respect for the genre to just dive in and make a mess. 

 I sat there smiling appreciatively, liking the "respect" part, when someone said the thing sounded right up SJ's street and SJ, why don't you work with Carlos?  I kept smiling, wishing I'd left the party ten minutes earlier, because how was I going to tell this perfectly nice guy that however good his idea was, I didn't want any part of it?

I hadn't heard the idea, of course.  Carlos loved the thought of working together and he wanted to have coffee the next day and tell it to me.  I figured after that he'd go back to Rome and I'd email and let him down easy.

Never happened.

I heard Carlos's idea, and decided it actually was great, or else it was insane, or both.  We'd pretty much have to write the book to see.  That in itself was intriguing.  Most important, though, was that taking on this project involved doing three things I'd never done: co-writing, writing the paranormal, and writing a thriller.

I'd co-edited, working with Jonathan Santlofer on DARK END OF THE STREET.    And I'd written a Bill Smith/Lydia Chin book, ON THE LINE, in the form of a thriller.  But editing isn't writing and a PI book in whatever form is a PI book.  And I'd stuck to reality my whole career.  World-building, multiple third-person pov's, and the idea there would be someone to call whenever I got into trouble were temptations I saw no point in resisting.

Carlos and I work differently from other co-writers I know.  We work out the plot together, getting the major characters and their motivations organized.  Then he does the research and I do the writing.  It's a division of labor that suits us both; neither of us can understand how a book can have a consistent voice if two people are actually writing it.  (Though some clearly do.  But we don't know how.) 

The rhythm of scenes, the pace of action, dialogue -- that's the part I like.  Our books are history-rich, although not historical novels, and we're both committed to the idea that facts matter; no messing around with geography, history, art.  We insist on getting it right, and as a life-long academic Carlos can research like nobody's business.

The first Sam Cabot book, BLOOD OF THE LAMB, (just out in paperback),  is set in Rome, where Carlos lives.  The subjects are the meaning of the artworks in the churches; the relationship between faith and religion; and oh yes, did I mention vampires?  The second book, SKIN OF THE WOLF,  coming out this week, takes place in New York City, my hometown, and concerns issues of identity, Native Americans, those vampires again, and -- you guessed it -- werewolves.

If the publisher, Penguin/Blue Rider, is pleased enough, there will be more.  We have the third one sketched out, and ideas for a fourth.  I hope it happens, because I have to tell you, I'm getting a kick out of this.

And to think it all started in St. Francis's town, Assisi, where Francis once told a wolf to stop eating people because it was wrong and the wolf, overcome with the Peace of Assisi, stopped at once.  Miracles do happen here.  Hope you like the books, and peace to you all!

HANK: Now, doesn't SKIN OF THE WOLF sound like it would be the perfect fit  to go right on top of these? 

Bill Hopkins' nightstand (with quilt!) 

Kathy Phillips' nightstand (with lighting!)

Sandy Young Moore (better read faster :-)...) 

The high-tech Sherrie Noble (and thank you! I see it!)

Tina Whittle (Whoo, with FOR Tammy Kaehler!)

Elizabeth Conley (being secretive)

David Terrenoire (very tough-looking, right?)

More to come tomorrow..and wait til you see who's here! You LOVE her...and we are all applauding her new book!

SO--IN HONOR OF SJ ROZAN--today's question: Have you even been to Italy? Tell us something wonderful about it. If you haven't been--would you want to?

And a copy of Sam Cabot's newest to a lucky commenter.

(The winner of my TRUTH BE TOLD arc is mmgage.  The winner of Rhys Bowen's QUEEN OF HEARTS is Bonnie Searle!

Email me at h ryan at whdh dot com with your address! 

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SKIN OF THE WOLF
First seen in BLOOD OF THE LAMB, Livia Pietro, Father Thomas Kelly, and Spencer George reunite in NYC.  Livia and Spencer are Noantri -- vampires.  At Sotheby's a mysterious Native American mask is up for auction but two days before the sale a Sotheby’s employee is found brutally murdered. Steps from her body is the  mask, undamaged amid the wreckage of a struggle. As rumors begin to swirl around the sacred object, Thomas, Livia, and Spencer are plunged into a world where money, Native American lore, and the history of the Catholic Church collide. They uncover an alarming secret: the mask contains a power that, if misused, could destroy millions of lives with the next full moon.

In Skin of the Wolf, Sam Cabot blends historical fact, backroom conspiracy, and all-encompassing alternate reality as the Noantri discover they aren't the only humans set apart by their natures—there are Others.

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Sam Cabot is the pseudonym of Carlos Dews and S.J. Rozan.

Carlos Dews is a professor and chair of the Department of English Language and Literature at John Cabot University where he directs the Institute for Creative Writing and Literary Translation. He lives in Rome.

S.J. Rozan is author of many critically acclaimed novels and short stories which have won crime fiction's greatest honors, including the Edgar, Shamus, Anthony, Macavity, and Nero awards. Born and raised in the Bronx, Rozan now lives in lower Manhattan.