Seattle Mystery Bookshop

Doing a Little Damage Control in Seattle

  Flew up from Los Angeles this morning to visit the wonderful Seattle Mystery Bookshop to sign my new novel Damage Control, which is just out this month and already into a third printing. Folks here had to scramble to get First Editions, but they're signed now folks, so get them here while you can.

It's been great fun chatting with customers and getting grilled by J.B., who was fascinated by the new perfume column I write monthly in the Los Angeles Times Magazine. J.B. wears Royal Lime aftershave by the way. And I'm wearing Serge Lutens' amazingly indolic and yummy Fleur d"Orangier.

A light rain is sprinkling and soon I'll head off to Olympia, where I'll be speaking at the Olympia-Timberlake Library this evening.

Thanks to J.B. and Fran and Adele for the wonderful and warm reception.

Denise

 

 

If you missed Denise here but you're in the area over the weekend, she'll be at the Northwest Book Fest over in Kirkland, so drop by and say hi!

 

New Display: Mysteries from the Dark Continent

In honor of "Michael Stanley" being here to sign next week, we thought it was time to put up a display of their ("Michale Stanley" is two authors: Michael Sears and Stanley Trollip) books as well as many of other African mysteries that have come out over the years.

Matthew Head, Deon Myer, Suzanne Arruda, Jassy Mackensie, James McClure, Malla Nunn, Kwei Quartey, Tamar Myers, Robert Wilson, Lawrence Block, Elizabeth Peters and, of course, Alexander McCall Smith.

Michael Stanley (both of them) will be here to sign his/their three books with Detective Kubu on Monday, Oct 3, noon. Come in and meet them!

You Can Go Home Again

I left the Pacific Northwest more than forty years ago.  Not because I never saw the sun here.  Or because moss had begun to grow out of my ears.  Or because my clothes never dried and odd fungi covered the nether parts of my body.  No, I left to see the world.  Well, been there now and done that.  And although I have, in the decades since deserting this wet, green neck of the woods, found the place I now call home--Minnesota--I still think of the Cascade Mountains as my second home.

I love coming back.  I love being reminded that it wasn't all cloudy skies and days of drizzle.  That there are mountains here so lovely they take your breath away.  And rivers like beautiful snakes slithering across deep, lush valleys.  And people so nice they could be--well, they could be Minnesotan.

So I'll come back, next year and the next, until I've worn out my welcome.  And if you're in Seattle when I'm here, I'd love to have you drop by the Seattle Mystery Bookshop, and I'll bend your ear a little.  But only a little, promise.

Kent

 

 

Awards Announced at the 2011 St. Louis Bouchercon

2011 Shamus Awards, given by the Private Eye Writers of America

Best Hardcover P.I. Novel: No Mercy by Lori Armstrong

Best First P.I. Novel: In Search of Mercy by Michael Ayoob

Best Paperback Original P.I. Novel: Asia Hand, by Christopher G. Moore

Best P.I. Short Story: “The Lamb Was Sure to Go,” by Gar Anthony Haywood

The Hammer Award (Best P.I. Series Character): Sara Paretsky for V.I. Warshawski. Paretsky also has been honored this year with the Mystery Writers of America’s Grand Master Award and with Bouchercon 2011’s Lifetime Achievement Award.

The EYE (Lifetime Achievement Award): Ed Gorman. Gorman has written numerous standalone detective novels as well as the Jack Dwyer, Tobin, Leo Guild, Robert Payne and Sam McCain series.

This list was posted on the Mystery Scene Magazine website. To view more awards - the Anthony, Macavity and Barry awards, click here.

Congratulations to all the nominees and winners!

AAAAARRRRRRRRRRRR!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Today is notable for two reasons:

First, it is the birthday of the witty and luminous Laurie R. King who was born this day in Alameda, CA. Her latest book, with Mary Russell and Sherlock Holmes, is The Pirate King

 

Second, this is National Talk Like a Pirate Day! So shiver me timbers and yo ho ho!! Avast ye maties! Get a cracker for yer parrot and prepare the plank for someone is sure to be walkin' it before the Sun is over the yardarm! AAAAAAARRRRRRRRR!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

    HAPPY BIRTHDAY LAURIE!!!!!

 

 

 

 

How He Does It

There's any number of reasons why authors stop touring. Touring is a big deal. It is expensive for the publishers (plane tickets and hotel rooms and transportation) and takes the author away from the new book they're working on and their families, and they can be gone for weeks on end. It is inevitably discombobulating. Sometimes it is the author who decides to stop and sometimes it is the publisher. In some cases, the author no longer needs to tour to help sell books. In other cases, the expense of touring is wasted due to low sales.

When authors are no longer touring, they will sometimes go to one location to sign books and then the books are sent off to the shops who ordered copies. Sometimes they'll go to the bindery, sometimes the publisher's warehouse, sometimes the publisher's offices in NYC and sometimes to a bookshop near to where they live.

Case in Point: Here's James Lee Burke signing stacks and stacks of his latest, Feast Day of Fools at Fact & Ficiton in Montana. He doesn't need to tour to sell books but he is willing to continue to sign for his fans. Don't know if the boxes to the left against the wall are full or empty, but you can see demand for signed copies is still strong.

 

Some of those are our copies.

Thanks Jim!

We agree with Jefferson

  

Thank you, each and every one of you, for keeping us from looking like that!

 
 

How They Used to Do Things

 
This is along the lines of 'they just don't make 'em like they used to'.

The book in the above photo is an early reprint of Sax Rohmer's The Mask of Fu Manchu. The book was copyrighted in 1932 and there is no date for this Collier edition but it probably dates from the 30s as well. There's no dust jacket, which is how we could see this design imprinted on the front board. We took a number of photos but none could really capture it clearly, but in addition to the skull and spider there are three words woven into the web: to the top left of the skull is 'MYSTERY', to the lower left is 'INTRIGUE' and to the right is, strangely enough, 'LOVE'.

Try to get THAT with an e-book!

NEW YORK TO DALLAS scavenger hunt starting in less than 24 hours!

Are you ready to test your JD Robb knowledge?

Be a detective like Eve Dallas and help promote the NEW YORK TO DALLAS scavenger hunt!

Visit the Robb fanpage on Facebook for a list of blogs to follow along on September 14 (the day after NEW YORK TO DALLAS goes on sale) for clues to different murder locations throughout the In Death series.

There are awesome prizes for the winners!

 J.D. Robb, New York To Dallas, Putnam hc, $27.95,  On Sale September 13

Seattle pirates

  So where would a Pirate King tour take me but Seattle, of course?  And where in Seattle but the Seattle Mystery bookstore? --where they understand the piratic impulse.  Arrrgh!

However, I'm not sure what to think of this weather.  Where's the rain?  What is that brown stuff on the hills?  Isn't this the Pacific Northwest?  Must be part of the California takeover...

But thanks, SMB, for the rousing welcome!

Laurie R. King