The Aaron Elkins Lifetime Achievement Award Interview at Malice Domestic

I had the honor of being asked to fill in to conduct an interview with Aaron Elkins, who was being given the Lifetime Achievement Award at the 25th anniversary Malice Domestic. I wrote a little bit about the interview in my Malice Domestic recap blog post earlier this month. 

Since then, several people who weren't in attendance have asked for more details about what we talked about in the interview. Here are some of the fun things I learned about one of my favorite authors:

Learning a Literary Idol is a Real Guy – and a Great One

Aaron Elkins is one of the nicest guys imaginable. Even though we'd never previously met, because he enjoyed my debut novel and he knew how much I loved his books, he thought of me to fill in for Barbara Mertz (aka Elizabeth Peters), who was scheduled to conduct the interview but was sick with pneumonia. We met for the first time for coffee the day before the interview, and after my initial star-struck-fan moment, we hit it off as much as we'd hoped.

Travels with Barbara Mertz/Elizabeth Peters

Because Barbara Mertz couldn't be there, it seemed fitting to kick things off with a couple stories about her. The two of them have been friends for decades. In the '90s, Aaron and his wife Charlotte took a Nile Cruise with Barbara. Barbara's most well-known mystery series is the Amelia Peabody Egyptology mystery series, so the trip location was fitting – and straight out of an Agatha Christie novel. Aaron recounted how several of the other passengers seemed to have stepped straight out of a classic detective novel – so much so that he didn't think anyone would believe it if he'd put it in a book!

Writing What You Know

Aaron Elkins' first Gideon Oliver mystery novel, Fellowship of Fear, was the first novel he wrote. It's about a physical anthropologist who gets an assignment teaching at military bases in Europe. Which happened to be just what Aaron was doing at the time. He had some really ingenious plot points that involved deductions Gideon made about skeletal remains. It turns out Aaron never thought those forensic anthropology deductions would be the hook for a continued series. But because he's such a smart guy and made the subject so fascinating, that's what all the readers and reviewers responded to. Thus the Gideon Oliver "skeleton detective" mystery series was born. (And he confirmed he never fudges the forensic details in the books.)

People Confusing Writers With Their Characters

Aaron mentioned how readers often imagine Gideon Oliver to look like him. Well, Aaron is guilty of the same thing – when we first met, the first thing he said to me was "But you're so tall!" He was confusing me with my character Jaya Jones, who's five feet tall. As for me, I'm six feet tall in heels.

The Gideon Oliver TV Show

In the late '80s, ABC made a series of Gideon Oliver mystery movies. I remember watching them at the time, and thinking how funny it was that they were so different from the books. Gideon Oliver was played by Lou Gossett, Jr. as a Columbia University cultural anthropology professor who solves cases with his daughter – not the childless, White, West Coast physical anthropology professor of Aaron Elkins' books. Aaron was paid a consulting fee, but wasn’t asked to consult on the accuracy of the episodes. And with much of the media attention he received after the TV show came out, interviewers assumed the books were just like the show. I've tried to find the series on Netflix to watch it again, but sadly it's not there!

Writing With a Spouse

Aaron has written several novels with his wife Charlotte. How are they still happily married? It turns out they don't actually write "together" in the same room at the same time, but pass things back and forth. That sounds like a much more sensible arrangement.

Fan Gifts

Notice the skeleton tie he's wearing in the photos above? He has several skeleton ties, all of them gifts from fans.

Thank you to event photographer Greg Puhl for the wonderful photographs!

Eating in London and Lisbon for Vegans & Vegetarians (& Anyone Who Wants Great Tasting Healthy Food)

Cancer sucks, but taking good care of yourself doesn't have to. If I had to give up delicious food to eat right, I wouldn't do it. Because I need to avoid hormones in my food, at home it's easy to buy organic food and cook from scratch to make the tasty meals I want to eat. Traveling is trickier. The easiest way to eat right while traveling is to seek out vegan food. Here are the great places I found on my recent trip to London and Lisbon.

Vegan London

Le Pain Quotidien: A worldwide chain of organic cafes that's springing up in more and more locations. I loved eating here when in Paris and Los Angeles last year, so I was happy to find several locations around London. This is one of those restaurants where there's so much good food on the menu that I never know what to order. They serve the usual cafe foods -- salads, soups, sandwiches, quiches, pastries -- but done brilliantly. They serve fish and meat, and the numerous vegan options are noted with a V on the menu.

Dessert at Le Pain Quotidien: Coconut milk pudding with chia & raspberry.

Vitao: Vegan food in Soho. They've got a mostly organic buffet for lunch, a more formal dinner, and green juices all day. It's a small space, so if you're at all claustrophobic, avoid peak meal times. So delicious we braved the crowds twice.

Vitao: vegan food in Soho, London.

Drummond Street: A whole street full of vegetarian Indian restaurants, all serving the traditional thali meals with a range of dishes served on a steel tray with several small steel bowls. The street is just south of Camden, not far from the British Library.

With my Le Pain Quotidien latte in front of the British Library.

Leon: I found this cafe chain because of their tag line "Naturally Fast Food," and ate their organic porridge for breakfast almost every day I was in London. (Yes, porridge is way tastier than it sounds!)

Holland and Barrett: A health food chain with stores throughout the UK. Good for when you want a  picnic lunch instead of restaurant food.

Vegetarian Lisbon

It was easier than I thought it would be to eat vegan in Portugal! And not just in Lisbon. My first recommendation below is a little vegan restaurant in Sintra, which is a popular day trip from Lisbon because of its castles and palaces.

Soul Food: Organic vegan food in a beautiful garden at the foot of Moorish castle ruins in Sintra, just outside of Lisbon. They make veggie juices, too, but the selection depends on the vegetables they happen to have on hand that day. The food was so good that after a full lunch and juices, we lingered for a long time over home-made herbal tea and vegan chocolate cake for dessert. (What? We were hungry after hiking through castle ruins all morning.)

The Green Room: A trendy cafe with lots of great vegan options, like a black bean burger with mango and a root vegetable salad. It's in the Cais do Sodre district, just south of the central part of Lisbon, and unlike most restaurants in Lisbon, it's open all day from noon until after midnight. Most restaurants in Portugal close after lunch and don't open again until 7:30 or 8 p.m. for dinner.

Terra: Beautiful vegetarian buffet with a wide range of Portuguese foods on a winding little road in central Lisbon. (Note of warning: If you use the Happy Cow app to find this place, don't pay attention to where it's placed on the map; it's about a block away from where it's listed.)

Os Tibetanos: Vegetarian curries with vegan options noted on the menu. It's just north of the central part of Lisbon, near the Avenida metro stop where many business hotels are located. It looks small on the outside, but inside has a secret indoor garden that's absolutely beautiful. The food is good, the atmosphere great.

Natural Food Markets: Brio and Celeiro Dieta organic supermarkets are both in central Lisbon. Lots of good options for picnic lunches, and Lisbon has great public squares for picnicing.

Thank you, Happy Cow, as always, for turning me on to many of these restaurants! Not all of the restaurants above are on Happy Cow, but it's a fantastic starting point for any trip.

I posted my Paris and Prague vegetarian recommendations here in November, 2012.

Last Minute Trip to London and Lisbon

I had the opportunity to tag along on a trip to England and Portugal, so I jumped at the chance. I'm home now, jet-lagged but with lots of ideas for new mysteries to write...

Here are my top 10 highlights from the trip. I'll also be posting more photos of gargoyles and castles over at Gargoyle Girl.

1. The British Library's Murder in the Library exhibit in London. 

The A to Z of crime fiction kicked things off with Agatha Christie, and included Sherlock Holmes, Ellery Queen, locked room impossible crime mysteries, train mysteries, the Golden Age of detective fiction, xenophobia in early mysteries, mysteries for kids, and more.

2. Ghosts and Gargoyles in Cambridge. On a day trip to Cambridge, I ran into lots of gargoyles and heard stories about Cambridge traditions including the "night climber" tradition that's been going on for centuries. Under the cover of darkness, students risk expulsion to scale the towers of university buildings and leave behind items such as a Santa hat on a spire and even a car on the rooftop.

3. After arriving in Portugal, I spent my birthday exploring the ruins of a Moorish castle outside of Lisbon! 

4. Birthday dinner at The Green Room Cafe in Lisbon. 

5. Great coffee. Below, a "bica" (espresso) break at Cafe A Brasileira in Lisbon, a 100-year-old cafe where writers and artists congregated in the 1920s and '30s.

6. Great food and great company. I frequented Lisbon vegetarian restaurants including Os Tibetanos and Terra, where I met up with friends who were in Lisbon at the same time, and ate at the hidden Soul Food restaurant in Sintra at the foot of the Moorish castle. (I found so many great options for vegetarians that I'm going to do a full post about them later this week.)

7. Castle Sao Jorge. High on a hill in the Alfama district of Lisbon, peacocks and cats run wild on the castle grounds. So. Many. Hills...

8. Legend of the ravens on Lisbon's coat of arms. According to legend, two ravens guarded the grave of St. Vincent and continued their vigil as his body was transported to its final resting place in Lisbon. The legend gave me the gem of an idea to begin writing a new short story.

9. Architectural details of Lisbon. Below, the remains of the Convento do Carmo, destroyed in the Great Lisbon Earthquake of 1755.

10. Lastly, all the little random things I didn't plan on. I took trolleys through the hilly streets of Lisbon, found friendly people in beautiful settings, and had picnics in centuries-old squares. Not too bad for a trip without much planning to a country I'd never been to before.

Malice Domestic 25: Interview of a Lifetime, Friends Winning Agatha Awards, and More Fun!

I didn't think the Malice Domestic mystery convention could get any better, but it keeps on surprising me. Here are some photos and highlights from this year:

Me and Aaron Elkins after his Lifetime Achievement Award interview.

One of the things I was most looking forward to at this year's Malice was getting to meet one of my two favorite mystery authors, Aaron Elkins. Even more exciting was the fact that Barbara Mertz (aka Elizabeth Peters), my other favorite mystery author, was scheduled to conduct his Lifetime Achievement Award Interview.

It turned out Barbara Mertz came down with pneumonia and wasn't able to make it (don't worry, she's doing better now!), so Aaron asked me to fill in for her. As you can imagine, the thoughts running through my brain amounted to the extremely eloquent OMG OMG OMG!

He knew that I was a huge fan of his books, especially the fantastic Gideon Oliver "Skeleton Detective" series, so he correctly assumed that I'd have lots to talk about in the interview. We'd never previously met, but he'd read and enjoyed my debut mystery novel and gave it a blurb—which, until the day of the interview, was the biggest thing that made me feel like I'd made it as a mystery author regardless of what else happened with my books.

The interview was so much fun! The hour flew by, and I was glad to hear audience members tell me they had as much fun as I did.

 

*UPDATE: Several people who didn't attend the interview have asked me for details about what we talked about, so I wrote up some interview highlights here (including fun facts about Aaron and great photos from event photographer Greg Puhl). 

After the interview, there was more fun to be had. I headed over to my Treasure Hunt panel.

Dorothy St. James, moderator Becky Hutchison, Penny Warner, me, and Susan C. Shea.

Later that night, Penny Warner was awarded the Agatha Award for best Children's/Young Adult mystery for The Code Busters Club, Case #2: The Haunted Lighthouse! Coincidence that she'd appeared on our treasure hunt panel hours before? I think not ;)

Penny Warner with her husband Tom and the Agatha Award teapot.

Susan Boyer won the Agatha for Best First Novel for her wonderful debut, Lowcountry Boil.

The Henery Press crew celebrating with Susan: Christina Freeburn, Diane Vallere, me, Susan, Kendel Lynn, LynDee Walker, and Larissa Reinhart.

Me and Susan—with her super-cool teapot award.

  

Additional highlights:

The Sisters in Crime Guppies Chapter lunch.

Lucy Burdette, Shari Randal, Kathy Krevat; me and Edith Maxwell.

Running into writer friends at every turn.

Top row: Barb Goffman and Leslie Budewitz; me and Daniel Stashower; Bottom row: Maddy Hunter and me; Kendel Lynn, Hank Phillippi Ryan, and Diane Vallere.

Kaye George, Tracy Kiely, Larissa Reinhart, Diane Vallere.

Even on west coast time, the early morning breakfasts were worth getting up for.

Top: SinC President Hank Phillippi Ryan. Bottom: Diane Vallere, one of my fellow debut authors featured at the New Author Breakfast.

I'm looking forward to Malice 26 next year!

PIRATE VISHNU: The Second Jaya Jones Treasure Hunt Mystery — Cover Art!

UPDATE: Pirate Vishnu was acquired by Henery Press in a three book deal for the Jaya Jones Treasure Hunt Mystery Series. Along with a new cover design, the release date is being pushed back a few months, until early 2014. I'm thrilled to have such a great publisher backing the series!

My second Jaya Jones novel comes out September 3, 2013. It's now four months before the book comes out, so Advance Reader Copies have arrived! Here's the cover art and details about the new book:

PIRATE VISHNU: A Jaya Jones Treasure Hunt Mystery

A century-old treasure map of San Francisco's Barbary Coast.
Sacred riches from India.
Two murders, one hundred years apart.
And a love triangle…

Historian Jaya Jones has her work cut out for her.

1906. Shortly before the Great San Francisco Earthquake, Pirate Vishnu strikes the San Francisco Bay. An ancestor of Jaya's who immigrated to the U.S. from India draws a treasure map…

PRESENT DAY. Over a century later, the cryptic treasure map remains undeciphered. From San  Francisco to the southern tip of India, Jaya pieces together her ancestor's secrets, maneuvers a  complicated love life she didn't count on, and puts herself in the path of a killer to restore a revered treasure.

The book is available for pre-order on Amazon and more details can be found on my website.

I had so much fun writing this book that I can't wait until it comes out! It feels funny that I'm heading to Malice Domestic this week to promote Artifact, when I'm most excited about talking about Pirate Vsihnu. Don't get me wrong. I'm having a great time with Artifact out in the world. But I've been focused so intensely on the latest book that it's a bit of a challenge to switch gears!

One of my favorite things about creating a world of characters is when readers really click with what I was going for. Advance reviews are starting to come in for Pirate Vishnu, and it was such a kick to find Jaya compared to two favorite characters of mine: Vicky Bliss in the books by Elizabeth Peters, and Joan Wilder from the movie Romancing the Stone.

"Move over Vicky Bliss and Joan Wilder, historian Jaya Jones is here to stay! Mysterious maps, legendary pirates, and hidden treasure—Jaya’s latest quest is a whirlwind of adventure."
—Chantelle Aimée Osman of THE SIRENS OF SUSPENSE

I'm getting ready for the Malice Domestic mystery convention, taking place in Bethesda, MD this coming weekend. I'm on the Treasure Hunt panel on Saturday, May 4 at 3 p.m., signing at 5 p.m., and featured on the New Author Breakfast on Sunday, May 5 at 7 a.m.

A New Short Story is Out: "The Hindi Houdini"

I've got a new short story out this week!

"The Hindi Houdini" appears in Fish Nets: The Second Guppy Anthology, 22 More Tales of Murder and Mayhem from the Rising Stars of Mystery, published by Wildside Press.

The anthology features stories from mystery writers in the Guppies chapter of Sisters in Crime.

In "The Hindi Houdini," magician Sanjay Rai, aka The Hindi Houdini, solves a locked room mystery at the Napa Valley winery theater where he performs.

If you're reading the Jaya Jones series, you'll recognize Sanjay, Jaya's best friend. A magician and escape artist, he chose the moniker "The Hindi Houdini" because it paid homage to his Indian heritage and his favorite illusionist—and because he liked the rhyme better than Hindu Houdini.

Sanjay ended up with the starring role in this story because as a magician he's well-suited to solving locked room "impossible crime" mysteries. When I had the idea for the puzzle in this story, I knew Sanjay was the guy to pull off solving the seemingly impossible crime.

My first published short story, "The Shadow of the River," appeared in the first Guppy anthology, Fish Tales, published by Wildside Press in 2011. I had written the story well over a year before that, and I was still finding my voice as a writer. In that story, Jaya Jones is the star—but it's told from the point of view of a Watson-like side kick who narrates what Jaya is up to! It's also a locked room mystery, but a rather simple one compared to "The Hindi Houdini." Now that I've been doing this for a few years, I feel like I'm starting to find my groove. 

What short story am I going to write next? I'm thinking about an art theft mystery starring another character from the Jaya Jones series, Lane Peters, based on my personal experience with an art heist at the Louvre...

Fifteen Months After Cancer: Fearless & Feeling Like Myself Again

It's been fifteen months since I finished chemotherapy and radiation treatments.

I definitely fall into the camp that believes what doesn't destroy me makes me stronger. I continue to feel healthier than I've ever been -- thank you Kris Carr and Post Punk Kitchen! -- and am enjoying life more than ever.

However, as I've recovered, I've felt strangely unlike myself in two key ways. First, I no longer had my old (BIG) hair. Second, I no longer had my ability to eat or drink anything I wanted to.

Though it turns out I can pull off short hair (here I am in August of 2012), I didn't really feel like me with that hair.

Now, though my hair isn't nearly as long as it used to be, it's long enough that it gets blown over in the wind and has a life of its own. In other words: I'm back to feeling like my hair is my own. 

As for food, I used to take pride in the fact that I would try any dish put in front of me, a la Anthony Bordain or Andrew Zimmerman (of the Travel Channel's Bizarre Foods show), and drink any spirits no matter how high the proof (absinthe, anyone?).

After finding out that certain foods would greatly increase my risk of cancer recurrence, I realized I needed to change my eating habits. But where would I be without my identity as a fearless eater? There was no way I was going to become a boring eater. Well, it turns out there was a different way for me to be fearless with food: I learned to cook.

When I got sick, we'd recently moved into a house with an amazing kitchen. Before that, living in Berkeley and San Francisco made it easy to walk five minutes in any direction and get any type of food we desired, so there was no need to cook in cramped apartment kitchens with electric stoves. But in a gorgeous kitchen with a gas stove and plenty of counter space, I was already tempted to learn to cook.

It turned out that cooking from scratch was easier than I ever imagined. Granted, it's not fast; it's quite time consuming. But who knew that cooking could be so much fun, and that healthy foods could taste so absolutely amazing? So now instead of being someone who will try any food, I'm someone who can cook up any dish I feel like eating -- and have it be both delectable and good for me. Not too bad, as trades go.

And yes, I do all my writing in the morning so I have time for leisurely cooking in the evening.

Mixing the ingredients in a wild ride salad.

Homemade vegan butter with a cashew base.

Homemade raw chocolate.

Our greenhouse in the backyard.

Photos from Left Coast Crime 2013 in Colorado Springs

After nearly getting snowed in, I'm back from Colorado Springs, where I attended the Left Coast Crime mystery convention. I've been attending mystery conventions for a few years now, and it's always inspiring to hang out with fellow mystery writers and readers. It's especially cool this year to have a book out, because I got to meet readers who've enjoyed Artifact. So much fun!

Here are some highlights:

The New Author Breakfast. Author Mike Befeler generously runs the author breakfasts, where new and established authors talk to readers about their latest books. At the New Author Breakfast, Mike introduced the roughly twenty debut authors in attendance. On California time, it's always a bit of a challenge to get up for 7:30 a.m. breakfasts, so I'm not sure how coherent I was when talking about Artifact, but I discovered lots of new writers I want to check out!

Gigi Pandian & Mike Befeler.

A Concealed Weapons Fashion Show. This was such a fun idea. A group of writers dressed up as mystery characters and walked down the catwalk. The audience was supposed to guess where they were hiding weapons, then the participants pulled out their hidden weapons.

The Concealed Weapons Fashion Show included Brad Parks as 007 and Rhys Bowen as her character Lady Georgie.

Panels and Pals. We had a great group on the Occupations to Die For panel. Tammy Kaehler writes about a race car driver, Ellen Byerrum is a reporter and writes about one, Patricia Wood has an FBI agent character, and Naomi Hirahara writes about a Japanese-American gardener plus has a new series coming out with a 22-year-old female bicycle cop. This was one of those panels where we could have gone on and on chatting about how our various characters solve mysteries.

Naoimi Hirahara, Ellen Byerrum, Gigi Pandian, Tammy Kaehler, Patricia Wood.

Here's Susan Shea with Terry Shames, both pals from my Northern California Sisters in Crime chapter, at the SinC table in the book room. Susan moderated the other panel I was on, Literary Inspirations for Traditional Mysteries. Any time I get to talk about the Golden Age of detective fiction is a good time!

Susan Shea and Terry Shames at the SinC table.

One of the reasons I love attending conventions is because it's possible to make the most wonderful connections that never would never happen if we all stayed in our writing cubby holes. I met author Deb Ledford when she and I were on a panel together last year. Here's Deb with my NorCal pal Mysti Berry.

Mysti Berry & Deb Ledford.

Author Interviews. One of the guests of honor at the convention was author Craig Johnson, who writes the Longmire mystery series that's now an A&E TV show. Lou Diamond Phillips is a big fan of the books, so he asked to audition for the TV show (he plays Henry Standing Bear). His flight was delayed for most of the day due to the snow storm, but he stuck it out so he could be there to do the interview with Craig Johnson.

Lou Diamond Phillips interviewing author Craig Johnson.

Fan Guest of Honor. Tom Schantz of Rue Morgue Press was the fan guest of honor. Rue Morgue Press (which takes its name from the Edgar Allan Poe story that's credited with being the first mystery story) brings classic mystery novels back into print. Since I love reading Golden Age mysteries, I think it's so cool that they do this.

Tom Schantz of Rue Morgue Press.

The book room. My bag was much heavier when I left Colorado, because it was stuffed full of books. Don and Jenn from Scene of the Crime, booksellers in the book room, have been really supportive of me as a new author — and they also tempt me with lots of books I want to buy... Here they are with Ingrid Willis, who's organizing Bouchercon 2014 in Long Beach, California.

Don and Jenn Longmuir from Scene of the Crime books, with Ingrid Willis.

Getting outside. Though it's tempting to feel like you're missing out back at the convention hotel, taking short breaks is essential. I spent a couple of hours with Mysti Berry at the Garden of the Gods.

Garden of the Gods, near Colorado Springs.

At Garden of the Gods.

Snow! On Saturday, a big storm blew in. I was relieved I'd gone on an excursion the day before and that my flight wasn't until the following day.

Attendees voted for the Left Coast Crime awards. Winners were announced at the banquet:

• Catriona McPherson won the Bruce Alexander Historical Mystery award for Dandy Gilver and an Unsuitable Day for a Murder
• Rochelle Staab won the Watson (best side-kick) for Bruja Brouhaha
• Craig Johnson won the Rocky (best novel with a western setting) for As the Crow Flies
• Brad Parks won the Lefty (best humorous mystery) for The Girl Next Door

Lastly, here's Toby and Bill Gottfried at the table with information about next year's Left Coast Crime. "Calamari Crime" takes place in Monterey, California, March 20 - 23, 2014. I'll be there!

Toby and Bill Gottfried, organizing next year's Left Coast Crime.

Done With Revisions: PIRATE VISHNU Comes Out September 3, 2013

Gigi's post-chemo hair, March 2013.

Revisions inevitably take longer than anticipated. For me, it tends to take me about twice as long as I estimate. Since I've learned a thing or two over the last few years, I doubled the time I thought I needed to finish revising Pirate Vishnu: A Jaya Jones Treasure Hunt Mystery. 

It worked! I made my deadline!

I sent off the manuscript to my copy editor over the weekend. Advance Reader Copies will be out in May, and the novel will be published September 3, 2013.

Now it's time to relax and have some fun! Well, perhaps I'd better clean my house, too... After ignoring housework while finishing these revisions, the house is a bit of a disaster area, especially my study. But even though I neglected housework while finishing the book, I remembered to take photos of my hair growing out. Here's the latest one.

Later this week I'm heading to Colorado Springs for Left Coast Crime. I'll be on two panels at the mystery convention. If you'll be there, please find me and say hello!

Literary Inspirations for Traditional Mysteries
Friday, March 22 at 9 a.m.
With panelists: Sara J. Henry, Charlotte Hinger, Christopher Lord, Susan Shea, and Mary Vensel White

Occupations to Die For
Saturday, March 23 at 11 a.m.
With panelists: Ellen Byerrum, Naoimi Hirahara, Tammy Kaehler, and Patricia Wood

Here's a tiny teaser of the new book I just turned in. More details will follow in April, along with the book cover.

Pirate Vishnu: A Jaya Jones Treasure Hunt Mystery

A century-old treasure map of San Francisco.

A sacred treasure from India.

Two murders, a century apart. 

Historian Jaya Jones has her work cut out for her. 

New Glasses to Celebrate a First Royalty Check!

With my first royalty check from Henery Press, I bought myself cool new glasses!

Since I'm going to have short hair for a little while as it grows out, I wanted to get more dramatic glasses. My prescription hasn't changed in years, so I didn't really need new glasses. But I liked the idea of doing something fun with a royalty check. I hadn't stopped to do that after Artifact came out, so it was fun to slow down and think of getting something to celebrate Other People's Baggage.

I fell in love with these glasses at the beginning of February. I meant to post photos sooner, but somehow it's already the end of the month... Actually, I know exactly how it happened. Revisions. But they're almost done!

Now back to my hole where I'm revising furiously... 

Two Progress Reports: Book Revisions and Post-Chemo Hair

My Pirate Vishnu book revisions and my post-chemo hair growth have something in common: they're both going strong, but also taking longer than I'd hoped!

My subconscious solved one of the biggest remaining problems in the book, so I can tell I'm almost there, but I've gotta put in the time to get there. To that end, I'm keeping this short so I can head back to the cafe to keep writing.

I've never had hair this short, so I'm glad I decided take regular photos of my hair as it grows out. The curls are getting long enough that hair gel tames them a bit, so I no longer have to rely on hats!

A Balancing Act

The verdict is in on my new book proposal.

The good news: my agent loves the story and characters! But (you knew there had to be a "but," didn't you?) she has some substantial edits, too. They're good ideas, but the challenge is that I'm currently deep in revisions for the next Jaya Jones treasure hunt mystery, Pirate Vishnu.

How to stay focused? A mini writing retreat with the Pens and friends.

To stay on track for Pirate Vishnu to be published a year after Artifact, I need to remain focused. The sequel is in pretty good shape right now, but that's not good enough. I can feel it coming together, and that's an exciting feeling! Unfortunately, the silly book doesn't seem to want to write itself. I have to put in the time to make it come together. And at this stage in the process, I can't work simultaneously on another project.

After receiving my agent's revision notes last week, at first I was tempted to dive right in. But common sense caught up with me. I don't want to write books that aren't as good as I can make them. There's a temptation to give in to a sense of urgency, but I have to remind myself to fight against it. I'm in this for the long haul, so I don't want to drive myself crazy and burn out. 

Therefore the new mystery series idea is on hold until later this spring. I'm striking a balance: I'm going to write the best books I can, but also keep a rigorous writing schedule so I'll be able to write all the books I want to write!

In the meantime, I'll have some new short story news to share very soon, and if 2012 is any indication of how quickly time goes by these days, Pirate Vishnu will be out in no time. 

—Gigi

Fingers Crossed for My New Mystery Series Proposal

Tree in a front yard in Portland, Oregon.

Today is a satisfying day. I turned in a new book proposal to my agent!

I'm still writing the Jaya Jones Treasure Hunt mystery series (I'm deep in revisions for the next book), but I also have an idea for a new mystery series I'm trying out.

I've been spending a lot of time in the Portland area since my parents moved to Oregon, and between the friendly vibe of the city and the gorgeous walks in the woods, I thought it would be a fun place to set a mystery.

For NaNoWriMo, I wrote a draft of a paranormal mystery featuring Dorian the gargoyle. I love NaNoWriMo, because you can write ridiculous things without feeling silly about them--and the best part is that some of those ideas turn out to be fantastic. Dorian came to life more than I'd imagined, and I found myself coming up with ideas for a whole series.

Starting with that NaNoWriMo rough draft, I created a book proposal to show my agent. Fingers crossed that she likes it and thinks she can sell it! Once I know more, I'll share further details.

Walking in the woods in Portland.

Dorian the gargoyles loves a good classic mystery.

Post-Chemo Hair: Cute Hats to the Rescue!

I've been documenting my hair growing out after completing chemotherapy (a few of the earlier pics are here and here). Having short hair has been a trip. Here's what it has looked like lately. In December my curly hair went through a mad scientist phase, shown below. Cute hats to the rescue!

Celebrating the New Year with a Giveaway

My Christmas gift bounty of books has brought me many hours of enjoyment already, but as for the task of finding space on my bookshelves... Well, it firmed up my resolve. I'm now an ebook reader convert. I'd already been reading ebooks for the past year while traveling, and I found it was much nicer than I expected. I guess that shouldn't be surprising, since the words are the same regardless of the medium. But since I'm such a visual person, I expected to miss reading physical books more. I'm still going to buy print books, but my default is now ebooks. The upside? It's even easier to buy more books!!!

For those of you who still appreciate print books, you can enter to win a signed Advanced Reader Copy of Artifact -- courtesy of my new year's cleaning of my study, during which I found a few remaining ARCs! These are uncorrected proofs from last spring before the book was released, so you'll need to put up with a few typos on Jaya's adventure.

Goodreads Book Giveaway

Artifact

by Gigi Pandian

Giveaway ends January 17, 2013.
See the giveaway details at Goodreads.

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Happy New Year!

Gigi 

A Book Cover's Unintended Consequences

Once a book leaves a writer's personal computer and goes out into the world, it no longer belongs to the author. Readers give a novel a life of its own through their personal interpretations.

In the few months since Artifact has been out, it's been fascinating to read reviews that focus on different aspects of the novel that the reviewers found compelling. I'm lucky the reviews have been overwhelmingly positive so far. But what I didn't expect was the reaction to my book cover.

I love my book cover. And from the enthusiastic comments I receive from readers, they love it as well. Then what am I talking about, you ask? I'm referring to the reaction from people who aren't my core audience of female traditional mystery readers.

As a graphic designer, I was able to design my own cover art. Part of a designer's job is strategy. One of the key questions a designer begins with is identifying the target audience. Therefore I studied the book covers of recent mystery novels I enjoyed that I knew had a similar target audience—books where I thought if a reader liked one of those books then they might enjoy mine, too. Here's a picture of a few of those books. Notice the similar elements in these books and my own cover.

The problem?

I may have been too narrowly focused. While my book cover has been successful at signaling to fans of "lighthearted, fun, well-researched, puzzle-plot mysteries with a strong-willed female protagonist and a dash or romance" that Artifact is for them, it turns out that the book has the potential for broader appeal.

Here are a few things that clued me in to this unintended consequence of creating a cover for my core readership:

1. ForeWord Reviews is a literary magazine that reviewed Artifact. They have gave it a great review, but in their email blast that promoted the review, they began:  "Don't let Artifact's cover discourage you. It's a classic mystery that will appeal to those who enjoy complex puzzles—complete with quirky characters, suspense, and romance." Ha! I'm happy they decided to read and review it in spite of the cover. 

2. I've been doing a bunch of events this fall to promote the book. On numerous occasions, men came up to me after I spoke to tell me that my treasure hunt mystery sounded like something they'd love, but that they'd never pick it up based on the book cover. I admit I assumed it would be women who would be my primary readers. But looking at the reviews of Artifact on Amazon, roughly half of the reviews are from men. Live and learn!

3. This is something I already knew, but didn't realize would be an issue: the book cover looks like it could be a Young Adult book. The book is definitely YA-friendly—there's no sex or violence or swearing on the page—so it's appropriate for young teens. The cover is very appropriate in that sense. But I've learned that some people won't pick up a mystery if they think it's specifically for young adults. And the flip side is that some readers enjoyed it as a Young Adult book and wondered why it wasn't categorized as a YA book.

Book covers are completely subjective, of course, so no cover is going to please everyone. Even if I could go back in time, I'm not sure I would go back and change my cover. Though I may lose some readers because of the cover, I'm also able to find mystery readers who have a greater chance of enjoying the book once they pick it up. There are so many books published each year—I read some statistics that put the number at over a million—that it's important to stand out quickly to the people most likely to appreciate a particular book.

Lastly, styles of book covers change over time. Here's an example of the book cover of one of my favorite books, Borrower of the Night by Elizabeth Peters. You can see how it has changed over the decades.

Will Artifact ever get a new cover? Who knows. For now, I'm having a lot of fun hearing from readers who've found the book, regardless of why they picked it up.

—Gigi 

Suspense Magazine Names ARTIFACT One of the Best Books of 2012

I'm so honored that Suspense Magazine has selected Artifact as a "Best of 2012" book in their year-end issue!

This month's issue is free to download on the Suspense Magazine website. I'm on page 46 as one of the best debut mysteries of 2012. It includes a fun little interview in which I talk about a new project I'm working on.

Now I'm off to read the rest of the magazine to get good recommendations before Christmas. If you're a mystery reader and don't already subscribe to Suspense Magazine, I highly recommend you check it out.

--Gigi

Photos from the LA & OC Book Launch Parties for "Other People's Baggage"

I'm back from a fantastic visit to southern California. I was in town for two book launch parties for the Other People's Baggage mystery novella collection with co-authors Diane Vallere and Kendel Lynn. We were at Traveler's Bookcase in Los Angeles on Thursday night, and at Mystery Ink in Huntington Beach on Saturday afternoon. What great bookstores! The events were a lot of fun. Here are a few photos.

And if you missed the parties but are interested in the book, more details about Other People's Baggage (including links to buy it in print or as an eBook) can be found here on the Henery Press website.

Kendel, Diane and me popping champagne to celebrate the book launch!

The fabulous bookstore staff who hosted us: Traveler's Bookcase owner Natalie (top right) and staffer Victoria at their Los Angeles bookstore, and Mystery Ink owner Debbie with staffer John at their Huntington Beach bookstore. 

Display of our books along with our raffle giveaways. Since the theme of the novella collection is travel and mixed-up luggage, we filled each of these three mini suitcases with gifts from the parts of the world where our stories took place: Carmel-by-the-Sea (Diane's novella "Midnight Ice"), Texas (Kendel's novella "Switch Back"), and Edinburgh (my novella "Fool's Gold"). 

Everything was airline-themed at our snacks and drinks table. 

Mingling at Traveler's Bookcase before we read from our novellas.

 With Daryl Wood Gerber (who also writes mysteries as Avery Aames).

With wonderful old friends who stopped by.

Reading from our novellas at Traveler's Bookcase on Thursday, November 29.

 Over at Mystery Ink in Huntington Beach on Saturday, Dec 1, not far from where I grew up in Orange County.

 Chatting with attendees at the signing.

Authors Juliet Blackwell and Ashley Ream stopped by.

Diane and Kendel signing books.

Thanks to everyone who came to one of the events. And an especially big thanks to Traveler's Bookcase, Mystery Ink, and my amazing co-authors Diane Vallere and Kendel Lynn. Writing books isn't the solitary experience I expected it would be, and for that I'm very thankful.

--Gigi

The Night of Writing Dangerously

I received a last-minute invitation to attend the NaNoWriMo Night of Writing Dangerously write-a-thon last night. So I scrapped my plans to try out a new recipe from the fabulous new Kris Carr cookbook, and headed to San Francisco!

The Night of Writing Dangerously serves the dual purpose of being a benefit to raise money for the Office of Letters and Light and providing a place where NaNoWriMo writers from all over the world can come together as a group to get to know each other and be inspired to finish their novels. I'm not kidding about people coming from all over the world. There were people at the event from all over California and across the US -- plus a couple dozen people from Canada and even a few people who traveled from overseas!

Writers who raise $250 or more can attend the yearly event and bring a guest. I've raised money and attended in the past, but didn't have the time or energy to do it this year. I thought it wasn't in the cards for me to attend this time, until it turned out Rachael Herron -- author, knitter, and wonderful friend -- had an extra ticket.

The event was a success. Their goal was to raise $50,000. They raised over $60,000. And on the personal level, I wrote about 2,000 words, bringing me to 40,000 words of the 50,000 NaNoWriMo challenge. I'm not a great night-time writer, though, so I don't think the scenes I wrote last night were very good. But the most important thing about writing events like this is to be inspired by other writers. I had fun with old friends and made some new ones. And by the end of the evening, I was positive I could turn the messy draft I'm writing into a great proposal I'll be able to show my agent.

The Julia Morgan Ballroom in San Francisco, filled with 250 writers.

Me and Rachael taking a break from writing. 

 Snapshot of my workspace: laptop, program, and vegan cupcake. 

NaNoWriMo Halfway Point

Heading to a Berkeley cafe to write after voting.

It's November 15th today. Halfway through November, meaning it's also halfway through National Novel Writing Month / NaNoWriMo.

I turned in the next Jaya Jones novel to my editor in October, so while she reads it this month, I'm using NaNoWriMo to experiment with a new project. I don't know yet if I'm succeeding, but I've got close to 30,000 words of a story. That puts me slightly ahead of schedule to reach 50,000 words by November 30.

Yes, 50,000 words isn't a full novel, but it's the number of words in the NaNoWriMo challenge, and it's a great number for a first draft!

I know a lot of people don't get it. If I'm a writer, why can't I write whenever I want to? I know a lot of writers can do that every day of the year, but that's not me. And it's not just because I have a day job. I love my day job, so it doesn't sap energy from me. But it takes a lot of focused work to write a good novel. The collective energy of NaNoWriMo gives me the staying-power to throw myself into the difficult stages of a new project and write every day, even when it's tough. Once this messy draft is done, then I can work at a more sustainable pace to turn it into something good.

I learned something else a few years ago. Even with my own study at my house, I can't write at home. I know it's psychological, so every so often I give it a shot. Last weekend, I sat down at my desk to write... and promptly got up to cook a delicious winter squash soup and chilled lentil cucumber salad. Sigh.

Green smoothie in my NaNoWriMo "Novelist Fuel" mug.

Luckily, I've got a lot of local friends who will meet me at a cafe to get a couple solid hours of writing done with minimal chit-chat. 

And when my friends aren't free, there are NaNoWriMo write-ins. The gatherings are listed by region on the NaNoWriMo site. I've gone to a few of them this year, and I've never left with fewer than 2,500 words, not to mention having had some inspiring conversations—though never too much talking, because we're there to write!

A NaNoWriMo "write-in."

Now it's time for me to sign off and get back to writing. If you're doing NaNoWriMo yourself, don't worry about how many words you've got right now. Just keep going!