Mystery Weekend Roundup for November 30th, 2013

The Book Lists Are Here!

The end of the year Best Book Lists are pouring in left and right. J Kingston Pierce, editor of the award winning blog, The Rapsheet, just issued his list, as did Sandra Parshall and Publisher's Weekly.

If you have any Irish booklovers in the family (and who doesn't?) check out Declan Burke's post on his blog Crime Always Pays, to find out who won the Irish Crime Novel of the Year, and see the full list of nominees. There's more than one winner in this pile.

I'll keep you posted, as this is just the beginning.


Take Your Child To A Bookstore

Founded by suspense writer Jenny Milchman, this celebration of reading has returned. Take Your Child To A Bookstore is on December 7th. Started in 2010 with 80 bookstores, the event has grown rapidly, with over 600 participating this year. It's a great way to promote reading for children.

To find a location near you, click on the website link here.



The Perfect Christmas Gift

If you're a mystery fan looking for Christmas Cards to sent out, consider these cards featuring the face of Edgar Allen Poe. Available through the Barnes & Noble website, usually ships the same day. Spend 25 dollars and get free shipping (2 to 6 business days).


And if you'd like some expert help in picking a book, then visit your local independent bookstore today, November 30th, for assistance. Local writers will be on hand around the country at many independent bookstores to recommend just the right gift. At Mysteryscape in Kansas, authors Nancy Pickard, Linda Rodriguez, Sally Goldenbaum and Anola Pickett will be there to help.

Writers Born Today - Louisa May Alcott and the Power of the Dark Side

It's the birthday of Louisa May Alcott, born November 29, 1832. She is best remembered as the author of popular novels depicting domestic bliss, like Little Women and Jo's Boys. These stories brought her the financial success she had struggled to find her whole life.

But Louisa May Alcott had a secret life, a dark side. Under pen names like A.M. Barnard, she wrote Gothic thrillers which featured strong, independent women bent on revenge and murder. Recurring themes in these stories of "blood and thunder" as she called them, include madness, infidelity, drug abuse and obsessive love. One of these tales was considered so scandalous that her editor refused to print it, and it sat undiscovered among her papers until 1993. It was finally published in 1995 as A Long Fatal Love Chase.

She was raised in Concord, Massachusetts, where she counted among her friends and educators such esteemed philosophers as Ralph Waldo Emerson and Henry David Thoreau. But the family lived in grinding poverty, and by the age of 15 she was determined to work at anything to earn money...a seamstress, servant, teacher. During the Civil War she went to Washington, D.C and worked as a nurse. Typhoid fever forced her to return home. 

Six years before the success of Little Women, she entered a contest and won first prize, 100 dollars. The story, Pauline's Passion and Punishment, was published anonymously and was the first of several thrillers that supported her and her family. It wasn't until the 1940s that literary scholars discovered that these thrillers had been penned by Alcott.

After the success of Little Women, Alcott found herself constantly in the public spotlight. The attention made it impossible for her to continue writing the thrillers that she loved. Despite her liberal upbringing, 19th century conventions and her father's influence dominated her actions.

"I think my natural ambition is for the lurid style. I indulge in gorgeous fancies and wish that I dared inscribe them upon my pages and set them before the public. And what would my own good father think of me...if I set folks to doing the things I have a longing to see my people do? No, my dear, I shall always be a wretched victim to the respectable traditions of Concord."

Behind a Mask: The Unknown Thrillers of Louisa May Alcott

 

 ---Madeleine Stern, editor

60 Years Ago Today, The Long Goodbye is Published

In 1953, after several years of struggle, Raymond Chandler's novel, The Long Goodbye, came to print. He wrote the book while nursing his wife through an extended illness, which eventually took her life. It had a profound impact on Chandler. His last years alone were marked by alcohol abuse and loneliness.

The Long Goodbye is one of Chandler's most personal stories, and he put a lot of his own suffering into the characters. He told his agent, "you could not know the bitter struggle I have had in the past year to achieve enough cheerfulness to live on, much less to put into a book."

Anthony Boucher gave the book a rave review in the New York Times, and declared it one of the best private eye novels ever written. Today it is recognized as a classic work of art and helped cement Chandler's reputation as a great writer. In 1955 the Mystery Writers of America awarded The Long Goodbye an Edgar for Best Novel.


"To say goodbye is to die a little."

                     from The Long Goodbye

TRUE CRIME TUESDAY for November 26, 2013

Senate Demands Answers on NSA Surveillance, Inspector General Says "We're Broke"

The Inspector General who is in charge of the NSA and other intelligence has replied to a request from Congress demanding answers about the massive data collection on millions of Americans.

Charles McCullough III has told Judiciary Committee Chairman Senator Leahy that the NSA doesn't have enough money to investigate the allegations.

Oh, really? That's convenient.

Maybe the NSA doesn't have the money for an investigation because they're spending it on data centers that are continually suffering from unexplained equipment failures. According to the Wall Street Journal, an NSA data storage center in Utah has had 10 meltdowns in the past 13 months, and no one has been able to figure out why. According to the article, "each incident caused as much as $100,000 in damage". That's 1.3 million dollars in overrun costs.

You can ask a lot of questions during an investigation for 1.3 million dollars. But hey, it's just money...your money.


Santa May Be Running Late This Year

If you've already started putting out the Christmas decorations and hung the stockings over your fireplace, take a break. Santa may not be on time this year. Seems he's been arrested.

According to the Boston Globe, Santa has been charged with groping a female elf. So far, there's been no comment from Kris Kringle, or his spouse, Mrs. Claus.

The good news is, Santa was able to post bail, which is set at 1,000 dollars.

The bad news is, he's due back in court on December 24th...Christmas Eve.

Christmas Eve? Uh, can someone point out to the judge that Santa is going to be a bit busy that day?


Tip of the Week - Don't Use Social Media To Taunt the Police

Rolando Lozano will have some time in jail to think about that one after he posted on his Facebook account a challenge daring police to track him down. The cops took the challenge, and he was arrested 15 minutes later. Police had already arrested Lozano's brother Damian as a suspect in a series of car break-ins and were looking for Rolando. He obliged them after seeing his mugshot on the facebook page of the Rosenberg police department.

COPS & ROBBERS AND CRIME WRITERS

Crime Writers and the Movies That Inspired Them

On Tuesday evening, TCM is showing several notable crime films, along with an hour long special featuring crime writers who were inspired by classic film noir. The guests include crime writers like James Ellroy, Joseph Wambaugh and Otto Penzler. Tess Gerritsen also appears with commentary on the role of the femme fatale in crime movies.

After the hour long special, TCM is serving up several classic films of crime, such as The Asphalt Jungle, Bonnie and Clyde, and The Taking of Pelham One, Two, Three.

The special airs at 8 PM EST and again at 11 PM. Check the link on TCM for more information and to see the full schedule.


Linda Rodriguez Interview on KCUR Radio

Linda Rodriguez is appearing on the Kansas City radio talk show, Central Standard today. The program airs on  KCUR at 10 AM CST. You can listen live, or check out the interview later on the show archives. Linda, President of the local Border Chapter of Sisters In Crime will discuss the organization and its role in supporting crime writers.

Linda publishes a popular mystery series, which started with Every Last Secret, winner of the Malice Domestic Award for Best First Traditional Mystery Novel in 2011.

Hank Phillippi Ryan at the Kansas City Library with Sisters in Crime

Here's the video from Thursday's ceremony celebrating Sisters In Crime Border Chapter 5 year anniversary. Since it's 45 minutes long, here's a rough Table of Contents.

Introduction by Linda Rodriguez, Border Chapter President
0.00 minutes

Nancy Pickard's Role and Gift  (Nancy founded the local chapter)
3.05 minutes

Hank Phillippi Ryan talks about the journey to her career as a fiction writer
4.53 minutes

Questions Session
37.12 minutes



MYSTERY WEEKEND ROUNDUP for November 23, 2013

Hank Phillippi Ryan Comes To Kansas City

We were thrilled to have Hank Phillippi Ryan, award winning writer of thrillers such as The Other Woman and The Wrong Girl at the Kansas City Library on Thursday, November 22nd. Sisters in Crime Border Chapter is celebrating its 5 Year Anniversary, thanks to writers like Nancy Pickard, who helped establish the local chapter.

Hank spoke at the Kansas City library about her career as an emmy winning investigative journalist, and how she met the challenge of switching to fiction. The transition seems to have worked. She has won the Agatha, Anthony and Macavity awards. I'll post a video link to her speech on this blog as soon as it's available.



Suspense Radio Interviews Beth Groundwater

Beth Groundwater will be interviewed today on Suspense Radio about her writing career and latest mystery novel, A Basket of Trouble, the latest in the Claire Hanover series. Beth lives in Colorado and uses the beautiful scenery as material and inspiration in her books. 

She'll be answering questions after the interview, but if you can't listen in, you can find it in the archive following the show.



Cozy Mystery Contest

If you're a fan of cozy mysteries, here's a chance to win some books from the Cozy Chicks, featuring novels from writers such as Julie Hyzy, Lucy Burdette, Krista Davis and Daryl Wood Gerber.


Get Ready for Pitch Wars!

Are you a writer with an unpublished manuscript? Need some help finding an agent or polishing the novel? Then sign up for Pitch Wars, for your chance to find a mentor who can help get that novel into shape. The next submission round starts December 2nd. Check out the link for details and to pick out a mentor who may be interested in your work. There are 32 participants, so you'll have plenty of options.  Polish up those queries and get ready to pitch!