Malice Domestic was great fun, and I always think these things are good for an author to attend, especially one who doesn’t get out of the house much. It’s nice to meet people in the flesh, and DC was gorgeous with all the azaleas in bloom. I haven’t been to DC for over 20 years, since I was a Gov’t Docs librarian! I am the world’s worst photographer, but I did take a couple of photos. It was so nice to see my friends. I roomed with fellow Type M 4 Murder blogger Charlotte Hinger and had dinner with Carolyn Hart, JoAnna Carl, and Hannah Dennison. Did I think the trip was worth the not-inconsiderable expense and jet lag? Click here for a link to the post I did about that topic at Type M last week.
Charlotte Hinger, Clea Simon, Yours Truly
Since I got back two weeks ago, it’s been all Alafair all the time. I told my editor that I’d have 100 pages of the next book ready for her by mid-June, and I’ve been hard at work trying to do just that. Actually, I already have over 100 pages, but they’re not 100 consecutive pages. And when you write a book, you really want your pages to be consecutive.
One very odd thing is that the seventh Alafair Tucker mystery revolves around the aftermath of a tornado, and I had just written a harrowing storm scene when the Moore tornado hit. You can’t grow up in Oklahoma and not have your psyche affected by some very bad weather. I lived many years in Norman, which is about 15 miles south of Moore, so I feared for my Norman friends. They sent me a note last night saying they’re all right but they spent the night in a closet and have decided to move to New Mexico. “Fifty years of this is enough,” she said. I’ve spent the past couple of days checking with my many friends and relatives in OK and thus far everyone I’ve contacted is all right.
A couple of other articles and chats of note that I have done recently: This very week I am honored to be the featured author at the Barnes and Noble Mystery Book Club moderated by Becke Martin Davis. Come by any time this week of May 20 and say hi! Click here for that link.
And last but not least, I posted a guest article on Heidi Thomas’ blog about writing dialect. Believe me, if there is anyone who knows about the vagaries of trying to write dialect and not sound either ridiculous or unintelligible, it is I. That was a fun article to write. Here is the link to that one.
Oh, and since you’re reading, don’t forget that you can read the beginning pages of all six of my books just by clicking on the “About This Book” link under the thumbnails to the left.
And now I must get back to work. I’ll tell you all about it later.
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