Happy New Year!

(With apologies and appreciation to Clement Moore...and maybe Dr. Seuss. And here's a little instant replay from last year..just for Auld Lang Syne.)

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!

Who Killed the PinUp Queen?

HANK: It's really difficult to go to a group appearance with Toni Kelner. She is SO FUNNY--and so droll and so soft-spokenly southernly hilarious, she has the audience in stitches (whatever that means) and they mob her afterwards, thronging for books. Her husband is a motivational genius, and her daughters are marvelous and hip and smart.

Bless their hearts. (Little southern humor I learned from Toni.)

Anyway--Toni is everywhere! Writing her own books, editing anthologies with someone named Charlaine Harris (heard of her?) and winning awards. She also is the absolute QUEEN of TV trivia! (We should try to stump her. Anyone? It's kind of impossible..)

But today, she's talking about another queen. A pin up queen.

The Mystery of Bettie Page

There were lots of pinup queens during the fifties, but only one Queen of the Pinups: Bettie Page. Her photos range from outdoorsy bikini shots that wouldn't even raise an eyebrow to seriously kinky bondage and domination pictures, and everything in between. But whether she was posed as a dream girl next door, a sultry vixen, a bound beauty, or a stern dominatrix, the camera loved her. Her photos were ubiquitous from 1951 to 1957--the best estimate is that she posed for half a million pictures and worked with almost all of the amateur and professional photographers in New York City. Then, at the height of her popularity, she left the modeling business.


That could have been the end of the story, but in the 1980s and 1990s, Bettie's photos started re-emerging, and artists based a multitude of drawings and comic books on her. As interest grew, the search for her began in earnest, and there were endless theories about her "disappearance." Had she been murdered by a mobster? Been abducted by a sheik for his harem? Gone into a convent? What could have happened to the so-called Dark Angel?


In 1993, Bettie finally came forward after having heard about the frenzied search. She was amazed that anybody even knew who she was, let alone cared. She'd been living in obscurity for most of her life, and was nearly broke at that point. For a few years, she would only give interviews by phone and if her likeness wasn't shown, saying that she wanted her fans to remember her as she had been, not as an old woman, but in 2003, she did allow her picture to be taken for Playboy, in which she'd last appeared as a Playmate of the Month for January 1955.


So what was the mystery of her disappearance? It was no mystery at all, really. She stopped modeling for a combination of reasons: she was getting older, the laws surrounding pinups--particularly where bondage was involved--were getting more strict, her acting career had never taken off, and she got religion. So she left New York and went on to live her life. She had some good times and sadly many bad times before fame found her again. Bettie died just over a year ago, but still continues to inspire artists, models, film makers, and even musicians (including Bob Dylan, who included an image of Bettie on the back page of the album booklet of his brand-new album, Christmas in the Heart).


More importantly to me, Bettie inspired this mystery writer to write Who Killed the Pinup Queen?, the second in my "Where are they now?" series. My protagonist Tilda Harper is a freelance entertainment reporter who specializes in tracking down the formerly famous to write about them, so Bettie Page's story is right up her alley. Tilda interviews the once buxom Sandy Sea Chest, who has discovered late in life that there's still plenty of interest in her, and who has gone public with her story. When the former model is bludgeoned to death, Tilda sets out after the killer.


When I decided to use pinup queens for a backdrop for a mystery, I knew I wanted to draw on Bettie's story. But which story should I use? The story of the disappearance, and the fans' search for her years later? The real story of her life? Or the legends about what could have happened to her? I decided to use all three.


Sandy, the murder victim, takes pleasure in her pinup past and capitalizes on it with a web site from which she sells autographed photos and t-shirts. But another former pinup Tilda encounters is desperate that her past--which she considers sordid--stay deeply hidden. And a third has disappeared completely, even more thoroughly than Bettie did, creating a special challenge for Tilda.


Of course, none of these stories are exactly what happened to Bettie Page and none of these characters are exactly like Bettie herself. Despite all that's been written about her, and all the pictures, and the movies of her, and the movies about her, she's still a bit of an enigma. I suppose the irony is that even though Bettie bared all for the camera, she still kept her secrets.
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Of course you can't wait to read the book--comment for a chance to win an autographed copy! And if you have a TV trivia question for Toni--let's see if she can answer..

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Toni L.P. Kelner multitasks. In mysteries, Who Killed the Pinup Queen?, the second in her "Where are they now?" series, is just hitting the shelves. In urban fantasy, she edits anthologies with Charlaine Harris. Death's Excellent Vacation is due out in August. In short stories, she has her first noir story coming out in March in Carolyn Haine's anthology Delta Blues. Kelner has won the Agatha Award and a Romantic Times Career Achievement Award, and has been nominated for two other Agathas, four Anthonys, and two Macavitys. She lives north of Boston with author/husband Stephen Kelner, two daughters, and two guinea pigs.

'The most hilariously funny and deadly serious mystery debut since Janet Evanovich's One for the Money.'
**Library Journal*starred review


When Brad Parks' editor asked me to blurb his book, FACES OF THE GONE, I said sure, send it, I’ll read it. Fellow journalist, good guy, St. Martin’s publishes the only highest quality. It’s probably going to be fine.

When I closed the book, I mulled it over for a bit, then handed it to my husband. I said: Honey? Could you read this, too? What I didn’t say: I thought it was such fun and so good—I figured somehow I might be wrong. But Jonathan agreed.

I have one little problem with it—smiling now—which Brad understands full well. And I’m sure he wont be able to resist talking about it.

HANK: What was the first seed of your book that you thought of? The main character? The twist of the plot? The setting. When did you think—oh, hey, this could work!

BRAD: In my case, it was the crime. I had covered this quadruple homicide in Newark, this grisly, execution-style slaying: Four people shot in the back of the head, left to die in a vacant lot. The crime was a total mystery. No one knew who did it, why, or even how these four people in particular had come to know each other. So one day -- with the real-life murder still unsolved -- I just started typing. I invented this journalism-hero protagonist, Carter Ross, a guy who was the kind of investigative reporter I maybe always hoped I could be. And, page by page, he solved the crime for me. Though, to be honest, I really had no clue what I was doing. It was pretty much a high wire act right until the moment I typed "the end." Then I had to go back and try to make it seem like I knew what I was doing all along.

HANK: So recently you got--an email? And the subject line says: Library Journal review.

BRAD: Yep, it was an e-mail from my editor at St. Martin's, Toni Plummer, and it came in at 8:51 a.m. on the last Wednesday in October. The subject line was "FW: FACES OF THE GONE LJ." The top of it, the part Toni had written, simply said "One word: Wow." I read the review, then calmly poured myself a spot of tea...

No, actually, I started parading around my home office (which also doubles as my kids' playroom), tripping over Thomas the Tank Engine trains while impersonating a marching band doing "STARS AND STRIPES FOREVER." I must have done this for close to 10 minutes, because my reply to my editor went out at 9:01 a.m., and it read: "One question: Do you think 'The most hilariously funny and deadly serious mystery debut since Janet Evanovich's One for the Money.' would fit on a tattoo? Because I'm about to have that inscribed on my chest." Shortly thereafter my agent, Jeanne Forte Dube, called and said, "Forget tattoos. I'm thinking Turnpike billboards!" And then we took turns hyperventilating for a while.

HANK: Having a first novel published is such a complicated thing. You see your actual book. There it is, the thing you loved, and worked on for so long, and it actually exists. I don't know about you, but I look at every person on the street, assessing: have they read it?
Tell me about what you're thinking these days.

BRAD: Well, first off, Hank, you're so popular, everyone you pass on the street probably HAS read your novel.

HANK: Oh, absolutely. They all wear I Heart Hank t-shirts. And I get all the good tables at restaurants.

BRAD: That's only because they're afraid you'll go undercover and expose unsanitary practices in their kitchens if they're not nice to you. Anyhow, what was the question again?

HANK: (You guys see what I mean, here...) Anyway, Brad, what's it like being a debut author? Heady? Humbling?

BRAD: I guess I'm still in that phase where I find it incredibly gratifying that anyone -- other than my mother or someone legally required by the bonds of marriage to do so -- wants to read my book. And if they actually like it? I start to get a little dizzy. My publication date was Dec. 8 and on Dec. 9 I got my first piece of legitimate fan mail from a woman named Maureen in Massachusetts. It began, "I just finished your first book...WOW. As an avid reader of mysteries, I can't wait until your next book." In some ways, getting a note like that is even better than the Library Journal review, because it came from a real reader who said she had never written an author before but just felt moved to do so in this case. I mean, getting a note like that, I felt like I could have flown all the way to Massachusetts to thank her personally.

HANK: (She wrote me that, too. Oh, gee, not really…but I know what you mean. A stranger—reads your book and likes it. That’s a real moment.) )So, your life is changing. After you get back from thanking the Massachusetts fan—are you thinking of yourself in a different way? The pressures? The—expectations? The lack of control over your future? (Or are you still just reveling?)

BRAD: Paaaaarty!! Wha? Huh? Were you sayin' somethin' Hank?? I'm having a tough time hearing 'cuz the music is so loud. Okay, there we go (had to find the volume control). I guess I AM really trying to heed the advice everyone gives a first-time author, which is: Your debut only comes once, so enjoy it. And I am. I mean, the notion that someone actually wants my signature on a book I've written? Incredible. That's just not getting old anytime soon. Of course, it probably helps that Book Nos. 2 and 3 in the series are already written. That takes some of pressure off. As for "the future," I guess I've tried to take a very long-term view. The fact is, writing books is my dream and it's what I want to keep doing for the rest of my life. So I figure I've got a long time to build an audience and can enjoy the process of doing that one book -- and one reader -- at a time. I don't know. Is that naive?

HANK: When someone asks-what do you do for a living—what do you say? Seriously, if you can.

BRAD: Usually I just say, "I'm a writer." But I'm thinking I need to change that. Because I think when you say "I'm a writer" I think what people hear is, "I'm a shiftless, lazy, unemployed bum who is only pretending to be a writer so you will be slightly less ashamed of me." Example: For more than a year now, I've been writing at this coffee house nearby me. I probably see the owner of this coffee house four, five times a month, and we always chat and exchange pleasantries. Finally, publication date comes, and we hold a big book launch party at my wife's school. Well, who should show up but the owner of the coffee house -- only he's looking at me in a whole new light, apologizing the whole time. "Everyone comes into my cafe and says they're a writer," he said. "I didn't know you were a real writer." So maybe I need to start saying "I'm an author." I don't know. Still feels a bit... pretentious or something. Or maybe I just need to bring my son everywhere with me. He's two-and-a-half. When you ask him what Daddy does for work, he says, "Daddy is auffer. He writes books."

HANK: Rewind a moment. Your Book 2 and 3 are already written? Are you daft, man?

BRAD: Darnit, Hank! Here I was going to try to go this whole interview without pointing out the inherent superiority of print reporters to TV reporters, and now you've forced it out of me. See, unlike you beautiful people on TV, who can get by on your charm and good looks, we lowly, humble newspaper reporters learn to work for a living. So that's what I've been doing. I signed my book deal in July 2008 -- and book No. 1 was written by that point, of course. It's now December 2009. So, two more books in 18 months? Really not that big a deal. I mean, shoot, James Patterson has probably published 28 books during that span.

HANK: Ahem. Happily, you don’t have to rely on TV reporters purchasing your books to make you a best-seller! And don’t worry, I won’t mention this to any of my pals on the Today Show or Oprah. (Just kidding.) (Probably.)

And just to prove there's no hard feelings, Jungle Red is giving away an autographed copy of FOTG! Just comment to be entered to win.

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Brad Parks debut novel, Faces of the Gone, is the first in a series from St. Martin's Press (December 2009). Parks relied on his experiences as a staff writer at The Washington Post and The (Newark, N.J.) Star-Ledger to create Carter Ross, an investigative reporter for the fictional Newark Eagle-Examiner. A graduate of Dartmouth College, Parks lives in Virginia with his wife and two children. His website is http://www.bradparksbooks.com