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Apr 29, 2011

Thoughts on Stagestruck

The thing that most surprised me is how contemporary this eleventh DI Diamond book is.  There are plenty of pop 'stars' who try and turn from autotune to acting - only a few make it. 

The crime that plays out in the first couple of chapters of Stagestruck is malicious in the extreme but also some gorgeous misdirection.  The mix of old theatrical superstition and up to the minute media frenzy is perfect and when Diamond breaks his own rule you almost don't notice.  Stagestruck is out in June.

Apr 25, 2011

The colour pink

Pink on the cover of a book is normally a huge no no.  It means romance novel, and coming from a household where at one point my mum consumed Barbara Cartland novels like they were catnip (it was a phase)  I've seen enough heaving bosoms and broad chests to put me off for life - and that was just the blurbs.  So I was wary of Beth McMullen's Original Sin - about a wife and mother who used to be spy but the blurb sounded fun so I gave it the 50 page treatment and hadn't even got that far when I started loving it.  The book is out in July.

Apr 24, 2011

Weren't books small back in 1992?

The first Kate Shugak mystery is a feather-light 199 pages, but it still packs a punch.  The character appears fully-formed you almost think you've come in a book late.  I've never really been that interested in Alaska especially now but I  have to say the book brought the place alive for me.  I will definitely be reading more - when I can get my hands on them.  A small aside - I wonder if the thriller Whiteout borrowed heavily from Stabenow's books.

So back to small books - most titles doesn't matter what the genre are around 400 pages these days but more pages means you can charge more for them.

Started Stagestruck by Peter Lovesey yesterday. Now this is another series I need to pick up from the beginning.   I hope these are all set in and around Bath - its one of my favourite cities.

Apr 22, 2011

Rules to write by

Rule number one, never write during a thunderstorm.  It will make you worry that the power is going to go down, which leads me to rule two.  Always, always save your work, and always always check that said work appears on the memory stick you think you saved it to.  Break either of these rules and you - like me yesterday afternoon - could lose four hours worth of writing.

I plundered the arcs cupboard on my last shift, once I've finished the Dana Stabenow, I have Stagestruck by Peter Lovesey and Original Sin by Beth McMullen -oh and the fourth PJ Tracy book 'Snowblind' just came in.

Apr 19, 2011

Nothing here for sixty minutes to investigate

Just finished Plugged which I've dubbed comedy noir, Colfer's Irish ex-soldier Danny McEvoy is great and I hope that this wasn't a one-off (I loved the Artemis Fowl books - they're for middle readers - and it seems that Colfer can turn his hand to any genre which not every writer can do).  The book's out in August.  Ice cold crime is next and I'm supposed to be getting more ms feedback today -  which always make me nervous.

Apr 13, 2011

Winter - you're fired

Seriously this much snow in April.  Enough already!

Hubby is in Atlanta and this week's vanishing before my eyes.  I did manage to get a lot of reading done.  The Psychopath Test by Jon Ronson is non-fiction and comes out in May and I know he's doing an interview on NPR so hopefully we will be able to get plenty of copies.  Armed with the verbal and non verbal cues that psychopaths exhibit Ronson, interviews former CEOs, a patient in broadmoor, has a brush with scientology and meets a former spy with messianic tendencies.  I would like to have seen him journey into the corridors of power in Washington DC and our very own houses of parliament where imho you can't throw a stone without hitting a dozen of them.  Oh and the difference between Psychopath and Sociopath - there isn't one. 

On a lighter note, read the second Stephen Chance book Septimus and the Minster Ghost, which is a gentle mystery and Dead Run by PJ Tracy which is not!

Last night was the Rita Mae Brown reading and I went along because when I get the chance I like to hear authors talk and Rita Mae did just that, instead of reading from her book she talked about all sorts of things.  She made us laugh, she imparted a little of her process, and it was a pleasure to shake her hand and get the book signed.  Also nice to hang out with Wendy, some of her bookclub ladies and Paige.  Only one assigned book this week which is Eoin Colfer's (the Artemis Fowl guy)  new thriller Plugged, and a book which Ice Cold Crime sent me for review, the rest is gravy, lots of gravy.  Today I have to write a blurb for Psychopath Test and order the next PJ Tracy from the store, it'll be odd working tonight.

Apr 6, 2011

Thunderball feedback

I had my first feedback from draft #3 yesterday.  'Read it in a single sitting, much meatier, loved it.' and those are exact quotes.  Forget cloud nine - I'm on cloud ten!

Apr 4, 2011

Winged Obsession by Jessica Speart

Rookie fish and wildlife agent Ed Newcomer is on the trail of the world’s most notorious butterfly smuggler in this strangely gripping true story. 

Newcomer becomes obsessed with catching Yoshi Kojima and having blown his first and second chances due to Kojima’s almost supernatural ability to detect when he’s being hunted, Newcomer goes undercover once again. This time he’s not the one obsessed as the case takes a decided odd turn. Will he get his man?   

Jessica also has a personal angle to this story. She befriended the smuggler in the course of her research and felt guilty for doing so but Kojima was getting ready to set her up too. 

A Tree falls

Well actually a tree branch - but it was the size of a couple of SUVs and it was blocking the car park at Coffee Connection Sunday morning.  Luckily it fell during the night so no cars were crushed.  I got a lot done yesterday including a completed outline for book number 3.  Its a reading day today, after the latest Maisie Dobbs I've got The Trinity Six the brand new novel by Charles Cumings.  I'll post the review for it soon.

Apr 2, 2011

When these come out you have to read them.

In the Garden of Beasts is a must-read when it comes out.  Its set in 1933/34 in Berlin and even the students who fell asleep in History class know those dates.  Larson charts the rise of Hitler through the eyes of a pair of Americans Ambassador William Dodd and his daughter Martha.  Calling Dodd a political Cassandra is spot on, but as Larson points out there are no heroes here.  Coming in May

Another must-read is The Hypnotist by Lars Kepler, (June) think Stieg Larsson crossed with a touch of Red Dragon.  Fast-paced, gripping.  I couldn't put it down.