Disturbance: the basics

I've written two long posts this week, so this one will be a little shorter. It won't be all I'll have to say about Disturbance, but I hope it will answer a few of your questions.

When will Disturbance be published?

It will be available on June 21. Some copies will probably be available for the California Crime Writers Conference.

Is it an Irene Kelly book?

Yes.

In what formats will Simon & Schuster make it available?

Hardcover and e-book.

Is it true that this is a sequel to Bones? Do I have to read Bones to understand what's going on in Disturbance?

Some time has passed since the end of Bones when Disturbance begins, but serial killer Nick Parrish is back. Don't worry, you can read Disturbance even if you haven't read Bones yet — the plots stand by themselves, and if you read Disturbance first you won't be lost, etc. That said, I think you'll probably enjoy Disturbance more if you remind yourself of the events in Bones, and you'll probably enjoy Bones more if you read it first. It is currently available in paperback and as an e-book.

Is Bones based on the TV show?

No. It was published before the show first aired.

What's Disturbance about?

[Okay -- read no further if you don't want to know anything about the plot! Potential spoilers of some events in the story.]

Disturbance finds Irene facing an old enemy: serial killer Nick Parrish, last seen in Bones, has recovered from his injuries, and has vowed to have revenge. Others dismiss her fears by reminding her he's in prison, but Irene finds little reassurance in that. He's connected to the outside world through an online group of misguided fans that calls itself The Moths.

They seem intent on disturbing her peace of mind, playing unnerving tricks. But matters take a darker turn when the frozen body of a young woman is found in the trunk of a car parked near Irene's home. The corpse is has been painted — decorated with moths. She won't be the only calling card Parrish's helpers leave for Irene.

Irene has other upheaval to contend with. The newspaper where she has worked most of her adult life is shutting down. Being a reporter has been more than a job — it has been a bone-deep part of her identity. Reporting for the Express was the work she dreamed of doing from childhood, a career in which she excelled, and telling the stories of her community has brought her satisfaction and a sense of purpose.

She's tough and resilient, but this is a blow that leaves more than a bruise. Can she reinvent herself, or even find the will to do so?

Nick Parrish may not give her time to answer that question. He's back. And he's not alone.

The Messenger: Shade

As many of you know, I love dogs. (Cats, too, but alas, I'm allergic to them). Perhaps that's why I'm especially attached to a dog who appears in The Messenger — Shade, who is a cemetery dog.

Although not all readers will stop to figure this out, Shade is actually the oldest of the characters in the book, although there is nothing decrepit about him. He's a large, long-haired black dog. Shade is Tyler's benevolent and protective companion. Although Tyler's existence has been one that has denied him long-lasting human relationships, he has had the comfort of Shade's loyalty.

Mysterious, large black dogs are a staple of fiction and folklore, whether as ghosts or fierce inhabitants of the moors near Baskerville. They guard the gates of Hades, or come upon unsuspecting riders at midnight.

Cemetery dogs are part of the legends of many societies, and their roles vary from tale to tale and place to place. Seen racing next to a carriage at night in England, they would presage death, as they would if they walked into a church during services. In present day, they might cause a car crash on a lonely road at night. These large black dogs are often said to have glowing eyes. They would most likely be encountered near bridges or at a crossroads (the latter are often described as places of mystical power, perhaps because they are places of transition). In some places they work for demons, snatching souls and taking them to the devil.

Yet other tales portray them as wholly benevolent. They may guide lost travelers. They may loyally guard the grave of a person they were close to in life.

Cemetery dogs, in particular, often have the task of guarding graveyards. We could probably use a few more cemetery dogs now. Although perhaps more of a problem in the 19th century, grave-robbing is not entirely a thing of the past. I imagine that people who believe a large black (perhaps supernatural) dog is fiercely protective of a cemetery might think twice about disturbing those who rest there.

By the way there are real-life dogs known as cemetery dogs at the Historic Congressional Cemetery and a few other places. They aren't Shade, but like him, they do play a role in protecting and caring for cemeteries.

One of my own real-life dogs, Britches, had an influence on Shade's appearance. You can see him above (we were out visiting that day) and can probably tell that he's a wonderful old fellow. You may also notice that when he was younger, he posed for the photo used by my sister, Sandra Cvar, to create the print that eventually ended up, full circle, among the images at the top of my site and this blog.

Some catching up

As usual, I'm behind on posting here. And answering questions, and...well, you should see what the house looks like. Or not.

So here's a little catching up. I'll post more about The Messenger tomorrow, and more about Disturbance starting this weekend, including information about a few of the places I'll be appearing when it comes out in late June.

Disturbance is now available for preorder from any bookseller. For a link to the Simon & Schuster page about it: Click here. If your bookseller needs an ISBN to order it, the number is ISBN-10: 1439152845 or ISBN-13: 9781439152845

It will be available as an e-book and will also be available as an audio book from Recorded Books, although I don't have a release date for the audio book yet. Stay tuned.

The Messenger is currently available in paperback and as an e-book.

If you haven't yet signed up for the California Crime Writers Conference, sponsored by Sisters in Crime's Los Angeles Chapter and Mystery Writers of America's So Cal Chapter, take a look at this site. T Jefferson Parker and SJ Rozan are keynote speakers. I'll be teaching a session on Sunday morning.

Book Passage Mystery Writers Conference

One of the best conferences in the U.S. for those who want to write crime fiction is held at one of its best bookstores — the Book Passage, in Corte Madera, California, just across the Golden Gate Bridge from San Francisco. I'm pleased to announce I'll be part of the conference faculty this year.

The conference will be held July 21-24. The faculty also includes John Lescroart, Cara Black, Daniel Silva, Martin Cruz Smith and many other notable writers, as well as editors, agents, and experts.

You can learn more about the conference here, and I'll be posting about it again as we get closer to the time of the event -- but sign up soon, this event has limited space.

Sign up now for Conference Call

I'm pleased to say that I'll be part of the Poisoned Pen's Conference Call on Saturday, June 25, 2011. This will be a great event. Other participants include Laurie R. King, Michael Koryta, Peter Lovesey, April Smith, Dana Stabenow, Juliet Blackwell, Alafair Burke, Marcia Clark, Robert Dugoni, CS Harris, Sophie Littlefield, Lauren Willig, and Patricia Wynn.

Details:

Conference Call
Arizona Biltmore Resort and Spa
2400 E Thunderbird Trail
Phoenix, AZ
Fee is $50, limited to 125 registrants.
To register, call 888-560-9919
or send an email to sales@poisonedpen.com

The Biltmore offers a special conference room rate of $89/night plus applicable taxes.
To reserve your room (don't delay, the conference bloc could quickly
be snapped up):
go to www.arizonabiltmore.com and use the code "ppen11" in the
group/convention box.
Guests can also call 800.950.0086 to book their reservations anytime
(days, nights and weekends) using the same code.

Quick Notes

I'm hoping I'll see some of you at the RT Booklovers Convention at the Westin Bonaventure Hotel in Los Angeles, April 6-10, next week! My panel is on Friday, but I'll be around this great convention at other times, too! The panel is "Striking the Balance: Adding Heart-Pounding Thrills That Work" and it starts at 1:30 pm.

I just posted something on the CLP Blog, "What can I do to improve public forensic science?"

I have a short story in A Study in Sherlock, edited by Laurie R. King and Leslie S. Klinger, which will be published in October.

The schedule for the tour for the next Irene Kelly book, Disturbance, is shaping up. Details soon.

Why I colored outside the lines

In a week or so I'll start to say more about the new Irene Kelly book, Disturbance, so I don't want those of you who've been waiting and waiting for this next entry in the series to fear that you'll have to wait until June to hear anything about it. But since the new edition of The Messenger is out now, I'm going to talk about it first.

Besides, last year Real Life intervened and I did a lot less blogging than I wanted to do, so this allows me to do a bit of catching up.

Why, some of you wonder, did I step outside of writing crime fiction to write a supernatural thriller? Was I trying to jump on the vampire bandwagon? Did I have a sudden urge to "go woo-woo"? Was I sick of writing about Irene? Ending the series?

The Messenger is not my first foray into writing about the supernatural. My short stories "Ghost of a Chance" and "The Abbey Ghosts" have supernatural elements in them. The Messenger was, however, my first attempt to write a novel in that genre.

As for the popularity of vampire novels, that had no influence at all. Some writers are happy doing a lot of market research and deciding what they'll write based on that. I'm not one of them. I've never taken that approach to choosing what I'll write.

I should mention that there are no vampires in The Messenger. I'm not knocking them — I have favorite books among the vampire fiction — especially Anne Rice's powerful Interview With The Vampire, one of those rare books from which I can recall image after image, phrase after phrase, more than ten years after last reading it. And Charlaine Harris's incredibly fresh take on the world of vampires added to my respect for her writing.

I am admittedly not very "woo-woo." I tend to be skeptical and think the vast majority (if not all) of the so-called "reality" shows on television about "paranormal investigators" are ridiculous. At the same time, I have beliefs that I haven't arrived at through rigorous use of the scientific method. I just prefer to keep most of that to myself, so that we all get along a little better.

I have a belief about writing: if I've done it well, you should be able to engage your imagination with what's on the page without having to know a thing about me. Odd thing for a blogger to say, I know, but there you have it.

I'm hoping that the fact that there will be a new Irene Kelly book out in June will put to rest all the anxieties readers seem to have about my being sick of writing about her or ending the series. This is my third time through this — heard the same kind of thing when I wrote Flight and when I wrote Nine. It's okay. I'm fond of Irene, too. Sometimes, the best thing I can to for the next Irene Kelly novel is to stretch in another direction before coming back to the series.

The reasons I wanted to write The Messenger are many, but most of them have to do with observations, questions, and Tyler Hawthorne.

My ideas for books, when not ordered from the Secret Warehouse of Fabulous Ideas for Novels That Only Published Novelists Know About, And How Unfair Is That.com, often evolve out of observations that spark questions. I saw friends freaking out about aging, and mentioning things along the line of, no matter who that old lady was in the mirror, inside, they were still twenty-four. And I heard, especially through my work with the Crime Lab Project, people who wished they had been able to have one last conversation with someone they loved, now deceased. Or had a loved one fall into a coma before dying, and longed to hear that loved one speak, and wondered if the loved one could hear and understand what was being said to him. And taking this from another perspective — as one person said to me, "If any of us were told we only had five minutes to live and could make one last phone call, very few of us would dial the office."

So what if you appeared to be twenty-four forever? Not because you had a wormy portrait in the attic, but as a result of some other supernatural agency.

And what if you had a gift that allowed you, if you took the hand of someone who was dying, to hear that person's thoughts, allowing them say (through you) what they longed to tell their loved ones?

These are not questions that would fit well into an Irene Kelly novel. Nothing in the Irene books up to now have suggested that she inhabits a world in which such things could happen.

These questions led to other questions, and I longed to explore them. So I decided to color outside the lines, and that was how I met Tyler, whom I'll talk about next time.

The Messenger is out in paperback!

I'm excited to announce that Pocket Books has just published The Messenger in paperback! Get ready for some posts about this book -- I had lots of fun with the research. Yes -- even supernatural thrillers can require research!

Death investigation gets some long needed attention

Most of you know that I am an advocate for the improvement of public forensic science. I just posted something on the Crime Lab Project blog that I hope you will read.

It's a list of stories published/aired in a joint effort by PBS/NPR/ProPublica on the state of death investigation in the United States.

Death investigation in this country is a mess. And it's too important to be left in a mess. Please take the time to become informed about this issue.

To go to the CLP Blog, click here or copy and paste this link into your browser:

http://tinyurl.com/47ujfgd

The next Irene Kelly book

I'm literally just finishing it. The title is Disturbance, it is scheduled to be out in June, 2011. More details soon!

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We interrupt this series of posts...

I will continue talking about LCC tomorrow. Today, while working on the CLP News, I came across some news stories in the Mobile Press-Register I think everyone in the U.S. should read -- about a massive backlog of fingerprints in Alabama. I talk about them on the Crime Lab Project's blog.

Left Coast Crime 2010 - Part II

The convention organizers graciously agreed to work with the Crime Lab Project and the California Institute of Forensic Science to sponsor a special event on Wednesday, March 10.

The Left Coast Crime 2010 Forensic Science Day. They also very generously agreed to donate all proceeds from the day to the Crime Lab Project Foundation, to be given to the CSFI. Rose Ochi tells us that these funds will be used to help graduate students purchase materials to carry out their research.

So not only were we offering something unique to attendees, they were supporting a great cause!

The day took lots of planning and preparation, and we're all indebted to the CFSI's Rose Ochi for her early support of the event, to Harley Sagara for his many efforts, and to Howard Ho for his additional help.

This was a full-day event at the Hertzberg-Davis Forensic Science Center at California State University, Los Angeles. The HSFSC is a new facility that houses forensic science services for the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department and the Los Angeles Police Department. It is the largest "full service" crime lab in the country. It also includes training and research facilities as well as classrooms.

Attendance was limited to 75 and the event sold out weeks ago.

Here's a quick look at our day.

8:30-8:45 Welcome

We were honored to be welcomed by Cheryl L. Ney, Associate Vice President for Academic Affairs and Dean of Graduate Studies at CSULA.

Rose Ochi, the Executive Director, California Forensic Science Institute and I, in my role as head of The Crime Lab Project, made additional opening statements. Harley Sagara served as our ringmaster throughout the day.

A series of excellent presentations followed:

8:45-9:45 The Crime Scene

Don Johnson, CSULA School of Criminal Justice and Criminalistics

9:45-10:45 Questioned Documents

Mel Cavanaugh, Questioned Documents Examiner, Sgt (Ret.) LASD Scientific Service Bureau

11:00-12:00 Forensic Science and the Courts

Myrna Raeder, Professor of Law, Southwestern University School of Law

After lunch, we split into smaller groups for a tour of the HDFSC. The tour was followed by three more excellent presentations:

2:00-3:00 Firearms

Allison Manfreda, Criminalist II, LAPD Scientific Investigations Division-

Firearm Analysis Unit

3:15-4:15 Trace Evidence

Lynne Herold, Senior Criminalist LASD Scientific Service Bureau/Trace Section

4:15-5:15 Biology-DNA

Katherine Roberts, CSULA School of Criminal Justice and Criminalistics

I did an informal follow up session for writers on using what we had learned. Each attendee also received a handout with lots of additional information.

The feedback from our attendees has been incredibly positive and their reviews of the day have been stellar. I'm sure we'll do another event at the HDFSC for CFSI, and I've been talking to other convention organizers about doing a similar program at a future Left Coast Crime. When I know more about that, I'll let you know.

I was especially glad that my husband, Tim Burke, was able to join us for this day. He hears me talk about this stuff all the time, and we've donated to CFSI, but this was his first chance to actually look around inside the building!

Tomorrow: LCC 2010 - Part III

Left Coast Crime 2010 - Part I

I have so much to tell you about Left Coast Crime 2010! So much, I'm going to turn this into several posts.

I was one of the Guests of Honor this year, and I consider this among the highest honors I've received.

I was asked to be a GOH a few years ago by Paul Anik, an incredibly bright and energetic lover of mystery books. He collected them, and reviewed for "I Love a Mystery."

Paul and his wife, Barbara, traveled all the way to Santa Barbara to surprise me an appearance there, and you'll get a glimpse of his sense of humor when I tell you that Paul, an attorney, "served" me with a "subpoena" -- an invitation to be a Guest of Honor in that format. I was so flattered -- the first mystery convention I ever attended was Left Coast Crime 1992, so Left Coast Crime has always been special to me. When Paul offered this prestigious honor to me, of course I immediately agreed!

Paul's enthusiasm was contagious, and over the next two years I saw him make many efforts to ensure that LCC2010 was a success.

Then tragedy struck. In early 2009, Paul died of a heart attack. He was an active man, and far too young to be lost in this way, and it was a great shock to all who knew and loved him. To have someone so full of life and laughter suddenly taken from us seemed incomprehensible. (You can see a photo of him and read more about his life here.)

Paul's committee of volunteers carried on his work. Putting a convention together isn't easy under any circumstances, but this group did so after losing the chief organizer of the event, and while dealing with their own grief over his loss.

They dedicated this convention to his memory, and I was deeply honored to be seated with Barbara and his children, Vanessa and Ben, at the convention banquet.

In tribute to Paul, LCC 2010 created the Panik Award, given for the "best Los Angeles noir book published in 2009." It was won by Linda L Richards for Death Was in the Picture.

I think Paul would have been very pleased by how his convention turned out. I heard nothing but raves from attendees. He worked hard to ensure that his fellow mystery readers would have a great experience, and the committee ensured that happened. And I think he would have been especially happy to know that his pick of Downtown Los Angeles as the site of the event proved to be a excellent choice.

Ed Thomas

I learned today that Ed Thomas has passed away.

I can't tell you how hard it was to type those words. I knew he had been ill, knew that he was not expected to survive, but still it's hard. Even as I would not wish a moment's suffering on my beloved friend, it is so hard.

In 1992, many months before my first book was published, I received a call from a bookseller in Orange, California. Ed Thomas, the owner of Book Carnival, had read an advanced readers copy of Goodnight, Irene, and invited me to sign at his store when it was published. He was kindness itself, and I accepted his invitation.

So my first book signing was held at Book Carnival, and I came away from it with a false impression that every signing at any store might include a huge turnout. My humility was soon returned to me. But after that, I tried hard to arrange matters so that Book Carnival would always be my first signing date. Although I wasn't always able to prevail over plans my publisher's marketing department made, every time I published a book I signed there as soon as I could. It wasn't the turnout, although they always managed a good one for me, but I would have been happy to return in any case — because that 1992 phone call was the beginning of two treasured friendships — Ed and Pat Thomas were unfailingly kind to me over the next 18 years.

Ed had already been in the book business a long time when I met him. The number of authors who felt a family-like loyalty to him is legion, and by the time I met him already included Dean Koontz, Michael Connelly, Robert Crais and scores of others. For me, each visit to that store was like a visit home. Pat and I would talk about Texas and family and friends; Ed would tell jokes and stories; they would always treat you right. I would come to a friend's signing and still be in the store over an hour after it ended, talking to Ed and Pat.

Ed would tell me a joke (he had my number early on re judging how earthy they could be) and Pat would blush and wave a dismissive hand at him and say "Oh, Ed!" even as she laughed with us.

The Book Carnival is one of the oldest stores of its kind in the country. In 2003, Ed and Pat Thomas traveled to New York for the Edgars, where they were presented with the Raven. They were richly deserving of the acknowledgement.One of my favorite photos was taken of the three of us that night, and you can see it here.

Jokes and stories were part of each of my visits to the store, but nothing excited Ed like discovering a good read. I never walked out of Book Carnival only carrying the book I came in for. That was okay — I happily anticipated discovering a new (to me) writer with each visit. It was what every writer knew when they were at the store — Ed loved the books he sold. He knew mystery and dark fantasy (the store's specialty). He was extremely well-read in the genres, and also read beyond them. He knew book collecting, but he was not one of those folks with an untouched library. He learned what his customers liked and remembered that, so that even if a book could be bought cheaper somewhere else, they came to his small store for all that he offered them beyond a buck off. And what he offered was a great deal of knowledge and personal service. He was a man who wouldn't tell you he liked something he didn't. He wouldn't tell you a rare book was worth more than it was. The buyer didn't have to beware at the Book Carnival.

I always loved to exchange stories about some of our wackier encounters with the public. Ed once told me a story about getting a call from a man who asked him where the store was.

Ed told him the address.

The man said, "No, it's not."

"Yes, it is," Ed said.

Ed listened with growing incredulity as the guy started to argue with him about it. "Look, whether you believe it or not," Ed said, "I'm standing right here in it."

How I wish he was standing right there now, that I could drive there tonight and visit one more time, and let him know how very much I'll miss him.

Radio tonight

I'll be on Desert News Talk Station KNewsRadio.com 94.3 FM with host Christopher Rice tonight at 7:15 PM Pacific talking about the Crime Lab Project. If you get a chance, listen in and call in! http://www.knewsradio.com

Books on the iPhone/iPod

There are a number of formats you can use to read (or hear) my books now, including electronic editions. An addition to these formats is one I just became aware of -- Iceberg Reader offers several of my books for the iPhone and newer iPods. Just go to the App Store on your phone and search by my name, and you'll see the list of currently available books.

If you'd rather listen to the books on your iPhone or computer or other device, you can also download or purchase other formats of my audio books from iTunes, Recorded Books or Audible.com.

Fallbrook's Writers Read is final 2009 appearance

I'll be in Fallbrook, California for an evening with Fallbrook's Writers Read on Tuesday, December 8 at Café des Artistes, 103 S. Main Street. Fallbrook is in northern San Diego County, just inland from Oceanside. I recommend arriving in town early enough to take a walk through its galleries and stores in the downtown area. I often have lunch at Café des Artistes when I'm in town -- definitely worth a stop if you're in the neighborhood.

Doors open at 5:30 with a supper menu available. I'll be reading and signing books beginning at 6 PM.

There's an open mic for others to share original poetry and prose from 6:45 to 7:30 PM.

My friends at San Diego's fabulous Mysterious Galaxy Books will be providing books for sale and signing.

Except for a sold-out event at the Los Angeles Regional Crime Lab, this will be my last scheduled public appearance for this year. I've intentionally kept my schedule clear until March 11-14, 2010, when I'll be at Left Coast Crime in Los Angeles, where I'm a Guest of Honor.

I hope to see you in Fallbrook and hope you have signed up for both Left Coast Crime and the special Forensic Science Day at the convention.

Happy Holidays, and thank you again for your support this past year!

Not Going to World Fantasy Convention

I'm sorry to say that due to circumstances beyond my control, I won't be at the World Fantasy Convention. I'll be offering my membership to the convention through the Live Journal site:

http://community.livejournal.com/worldfantasycon

I look forward to trying to get to this one in the future. For those who are going, have a great time!

Music on Hold - Or While You Wait for Me to Post Advice for Writers...

I'm trying to get the next book finished, so not much posting going on, I know. But for those of you who are looking for writing advice and publishing advice, let me give you a couple of links to sites that are worth your while. Read them. Twice.

First and foremost: SWFA's Writer Beware. My friend Lee Goldberg spearheaded a successful effort to get additional support for this site from MWA — and MWA deserves praise for pitching in -- one of its many efforts on behalf of writers.

I strongly encourage you to spend a lot of time on that site.

Then, take a look at Pub Rants (short for Publishing Rants.) Agent Kristin Nelson kindly takes the time to instruct newcomers (and experienced writers as well) on this blog, which will give you her views on the business of publishing and help you to understand the work of agents and how they can help you -- and how you can best approach them. Start with the Agenting 101 blogs!

More later. I have to get back to work....