Upcoming Events!

This has been a busy year for me, both travel and event-wise. I just got back from New York (fantastic!) and I haven't even written about my trip to Ashland yet (awesome!). But before I sit down to write anything complicated, here are the rest of July's events (more detailed information on my calendar):

July 14: I'm at the Wiseburn Library in Hawthorne, 7 PM, with a bunch of awesome mystery authors from Sisters In Crime—Eric Stone, Hannah Dennison and Jeri Westerson—authors' books will be on hand courtesy of Debbie Mitsch's wonderful Mystery Ink! We'll be discussing the use of foreign settings in crime fiction, outsider versus insider protagonists, historicals, research, accessibility, and, you know, a lot of cool stuff!

July 20: I'll be discussing SAN DIEGO NOIR at the San Diego Central Library at 6:30 PM, along with editor Maryelizabeth Hart and contributors Jeffrey J. Mariotte, Martha C. Lawrence, Ken Kuhlken, and Diane Clark!

July 22: I'll be at the San Diego Comic Con on a panel discussion of "Crime as modern morality tales" at 12:30 PM with so many authors I don't know if I should even try to list them but what the hell...

"Max Allan Collins (Kiss Her Goodbye, The Nate Heller series), Barbara Collins (Antiques Knock-Off), Jeff Mariotte (CSI: The Burning Season), Diane Clark and Astrid Bear (San Diego Noir), Gar Anthony Haywood (Cemetery Road), Gary Phillips (Angeltown), Paul Malmont (The Astounding, the Amazing, and the Unknown), Lisa Brackmann (Rock, Paper, Tiger), and Gregg Hurwitz (You're Next) explore the dark streets of imagination with San Diego Noir editor Maryelizabeth Hart. Room 8"

And we'll all be signing in the autograph room after that.

Finally, rounding out my July on July 30th, I'll be signing and chatting at the Manhattan Beach Barnes & Noble, from noon till 2 PM? Ish? We get tired? Not sure.

As for August, I plan on sleeping. A lot.

Off to New York!

My house and cats are in the hands of a sitter, and I'm heading for NYC shortly on a red eye*, the excuse being that ROCK PAPER TIGER was nominated for Best First Novel in the Strand Magazine Critics Awards, and they're throwing a party. I really don't expect to win (I mean, look who I'm up against!) but I'm thrilled to be in such fine company.

This will be my first trip to New York in years, and certainly my first trip as a published author. I figure, I'm getting a bit of a late start on this career, and I want to enjoy every moment of it. Well, the moments that don't involve obsessive angst over comma placement and "like" versus "as if."

I'll be meeting with writer friends I know only from the interwebz, and I hope to visit some of the fine people I work with at Curtis Brown and Soho Press. Plus do a fair amount of strolling and sidewalk cafe sampling.

Can't wait!

(*my eyes are already soooo red from the copy edits)