A frank message to Kotex (men - avert your eyes)

I'm all for improvements in basic everyday products. Henry Ford's cars only came in one color - black - and now they are available in a rainbow of hues. Men can wear shirts that are other colors than white.  Etc.

But I can guarantee you this:  I have never looked at feminine hygiene pads and thought: "Damn, I wish they came with designs!"

It's like they've run through the basic additional features - leak-proof, scented, specially made for different kinds of panties - and they just couldn't think of anything else.

I mean, who needs a design in a spot that is never going to be seen by anyone but you?  In a spot that will immediately be obscured?  Even toilet paper with designs can be seen by anyone who walks into your bathroom, but this has an audience of one.

One who doesn't care.

Even designer Depends (new jeans style, perhaps, like Pampers) make more sense.

Win a copy of Julia Spencer Fleming's One Was a Soldier

Back in the day my publisher asked me if I would blurb a book called In the Bleak Midwinterby Julia Spencer-Fleming. I thought it was fantastic - and I obviously wan't the only one.  It went on to gather starred reviews and awards.

One character had lost a sibling to colon cancer at 25.  Reading that gave me pause.  So many of us write from life - and I knew that colon cancer that young probably had a genetic link. I got Julia's email address and sent her a note saying if that was based on herself, she should probably be screened.

It turned out to be wholly fictional - the suggestion of a nurse she knew - but Julia and I stayed in touch and hung out at Left Coast Crime and then Malice Domestic, two big fan conventions.  She was a ton of fun - what redhead isn't?

Since then she has steadily built a following with:  A Fountain Filled With Blood, Out of the Deep I Cry, To Darkness and to Death, All Mortal Flesh and I Shall Not Want.  All feature the Rev. Clare Fergusson who has a tumultuous relationship with Chief of Police Russ Van Alstyne.



Now comes One Was a Soldier

What it's about
On a warm September evening in the Millers Kill community center, five veterans sit down in rickety chairs to try to make sense of their experiences in Iraq. What they will find is murder, conspiracy, and the unbreakable ties that bind them to one other and their small Adirondack town.

The Rev. Clare Fergusson wants to forget the things she saw as a combat helicopter pilot and concentrate on her relationship with Chief of Police Russ Van Alstyne. MP Eric McCrea needs to control the explosive anger threatening his job as a police officer. Will Ellis, high school track star, faces the reality of life as a double amputee. Orthopedist Trip Stillman is denying the extent of his traumatic brain injury. And bookkeeper Tally McNabb wrestles with guilt over the in-country affair that may derail her marriage.

But coming home is harder than it looks. One vet will struggle with drugs and alcohol. One will lose his family and friends. One will die.

Since their first meeting, Russ and Clare's bond has been tried, torn, and forged by adversity. But when he rules the veteran's death a suicide, she violently rejects his verdict, drawing the surviving vets into an unorthodox investigation that threatens jobs, relationships, and her own future with Russ. As the days cool and the nights grow longer, they will uncover a trail of deceit that runs from their tiny town to the upper ranks of the U.S. Army, and from the waters of the Millers Kill to the unforgiving streets of Baghdad.

Praise
“Spencer-Fleming's most ambitious book yet - think The Best Years of Our Lives with corpses....fans will continue to be impressed by her resourceful determination never to tell the same story twice.”
—Kirkus Reviews

“Spencer-Fleming explores a serious societal issue - the reentry problems of soldiers home from combat... while concocting an an absolutely irresistible combination of crime fiction and romance...this is a surefire winner. This series, as intelligent as it is enthralling, just keeps getting better.”
—Booklist

You can win one of three ARCs!
Just leave a comment below as well as a way to get hold of you if you win.

Make me a star!

A start-up nonprofit funded by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation is developing materials (through videos and social media) for ninth graders who are bored or struggling in school.  And they asked me to appear as an expert on writing and solving mysteries.

Me! I have no idea why they picked me, but I certainly wasn’t going to say no.

A film crew of four spent 10 hours at my house on Friday.  It was an amazing - and exhausting - experience.

They interviewed me about my books, how I write, my high school years, how to plant clues and how to create suspense.  They filmed me walking, running,  practicing self defense and sparring with my Kajukenbo instructor, reading a challenge while wearing my sparring gear, opening various doors, and driving.  (A lot of this was B-roll - the footage they run to make what you are hearing about interesting, so it’s not always just a talking head on screen.)

Do you know how hard it is to assume a normal expression when someone is holding a camera four inches from your face and you are supposed to be acting like you are alone in the car?

The running part nearly wore me out.  Because we were running (little pun) low on time, I would jog to the end of the block, wait for the cameraman to give the signal, and then run toward the camera.  Only once I looked at the camera.  And once a car came by.  And once I thought he meant I should go but he was telling me to wait. And they wanted a couple of good shots to choose from.  And of course I wanted to look fast on camera, so I ran like a gazelle.  And then when the camera was off, huffed and puffed back to the end of the block.

And then they filmed just my feet.  For one shot, the cameraman crouched down and ran sideways without ever looking at the street.  He was basically running blind.  He also held his breath the whole way so it wouldn’t get picked up by the mike.

I changed clothes twice so it didn’t look like it was all done on the same day.  When they asked me to change into a third outfit, I kind of drew a blank.  What did I have that was clean, unwrinkled, attractive and ideally made me look thin and hip?  (Answer:  not a lot.)

I had to say some things numerous times, to clarify a point or to redo a segment when the rumble of a garbage truck intruded.  At the end, when I issued the challenge to students, I probably read it 20 times (“Now try it a little more slowly.”  “Now try it putting pauses between the three paragraphs.”  “Now try to draw out the word ‘suspense.’”)  before they were satisfied.

I just got an email from the director, and he asked me not to cut my hair in case they need to come back to town this week and film for a few more hours.  

What’s amazing is that all this footage will be condensed to less than 15 minutes of finished product.

It's my Write-a-versary

Three years ago was my very first day as a full-time writer.  After many, many years of bosses (some great, some not-so-great, some pure evil), I struck out on my own.  I knew I had a contract coming my way for a nice chunk of change, and I knew it was now or never.

So I gave notice and packed up my emergency makeup, my snacks, my photos, and the little cup where I kept spare change.  I said goodbye to a lot of folks and tried not think to had about whether I was crazy to quit when the stock market had lost 40 percent of its value and I hadn't actually signed said contract.

It is so nice to be free of the crazy BS - reorgs, reviews, meetings with no purpose, people agreeing with a stupid idea because the person who presented it is their boss.  No traffic, no pantyhose, no paying for coffee (unless I want to), no crazy bosses, no waiting for the elevator, no "metrics."

It's not all sunshine and lollipops.  I've got health benefits from my husband, and everything else I pay for out of pocket (like retirement) or simply don't have.  I net out less than I did when I worked full-time (but I was well-paid).  There have times when I have done the math and wondered exactly how we were going to pay the mortgage.

But you know what?  It has worked out.  I've had a bunch of books out:  Face of Betrayal, Hand of Fate, and Girl, Stolen.  Heart of Ice and The Night She Disappeared are in the works.  I've got contracts for four or five more.

And I am so much happier!! All day long I get to kill people (or at least make them worried they might be killed) and it is so much fun.

Did you get an ereader for Christmas?

Did you get an e-reader for Christmas? Do you like it?  [Full disclosure: I would love to have an i-Pad, but right now that falls under the category of "wants," not "needs."]

Anyway, if you are looking for some inexpensive books to load on your e-reader, I have an immodest suggestion:  mine! All five that I've put up were originally traditionally published and got good reviews. Learning to Fly and Buried Diamonds originally came out from St. Martins.  The other three came out from Harper Collins.  I'm pricing them all at just $2.99.


Learning to Fly: A Novel has been optioned for film twice, translated into three languages (I actually made a ton of money in France), and went into four printings.  It was a finalist for the Oregon Book Award and the PNBA award, and got got two starred reviews. It's about a pregnant 19-year-old girl named Free who hates her life - and then she walks away from a multi-car accident with a dead woman's ID and a bag of cash that originally belonged to a drug dealer.


Circles of Confusionwas my first published book (the fourth I wrote, though).  Claire Montrose inherits what might be a long-lost Vermeer painting.  A Booksense pick, and a finalist for both the Agatha and the Anthony awards.  I went to a lot of banquets the year after it came out, and let me tell you, it's impossible to eat while you wait for them to announce the awards.


Square in the Face was the second in Claire's adventures.  Claire helps her friend track down the child she gave up to a secret adoption agency.  Finding the girl is the only chance for a bone marrow match for a younger sibling.  This was inspired by an experience that happened to my brother's friend.


In Heart-Shaped Box, Claire goes to her 20th high school reunion.  At the beginning, a cheerleader is found strangled to death.  In her hands is a hand carved wooden box with her photo in it.  Claire and a number of other women at the reunion have also received boxes.  Next to Circles of Confusion, this is probably the most popular book in the series.


Buried Diamonds explores a 50-year-old mystery - and reveals the hidden past of Claire's roommate.  This was a darker book.  It was a worthy end to the series.

Here's a link to all my books on the Kindle.

All these books should be available on any e-reader platform (I went through Amazon for the Kindle and Smashwords for everything else).  Don't have any e-reader?  There's a free Kindle app available for both Macs and PCs.

Cynthia Leitich-Smith gets me to spill the beans

New York Times bestselling author Cynthia Leitich-Smith has what has to be the best-read blog in all of kids' lit.  It was a dream come true when she asked me to write about how to turn up the tension in any kind of book.

Bad books!

Have you read any of these bad books?

- The Joy Luck Club
- The Name of the Rose
- The Pillars of the Earth
- The Hot Zone
- The Giver
- The Things They Carried

Those are just few of the "bad books" listed by PABBIS.org - Parents Against Bad Books in Schools.  [Full disclosure:  I think of it as Pablum.org].  People have gone through books and looked for any instance of sex, sexual innuendo, violence, swear words, and mentions of God that aren't prayer.  And then these books, with a handful of cherry-picked words or sentences, are labeled "bad."

In case you were wondering how The Hot Zone, a non-fiction book warning about exotic viruses, ended up on the naughty list, here's what's wrong with it, according to PABBIS:  "Has graphic detailed descriptions of the effects of the Ebola virus on the body [really?  in a book about viruses?  How dare they!];  4 uses of the f-word, 16 uses of the s-word, 4 SOB’s, 1 bastard, 2 Christ’s/Holy Christ’s, 1 GD; Brief mentions of pimps/prostitutes, how someone’s [testicles] swelled up “like a blue monkey’ and a statement of how a man infected his wife through sexual intercourse."

The whole idea makes my blood boil.  Check it out here:  http://pabbis.org

To learn more about book banning, click here.

What world are these folks living in?  In my world, a girl who goes to my daughter's school was given a box of 300 condoms by her mother for her 14th birthday.  An f word or an s word or GD is not going to ruin kid's ears (or eyes).

In the Bible, Lot had sex with his daughters.  Or how about "Your breasts are like twin fawns of a gazelle"?  And don't get me started on all the violence in the Bible.