They're here!

My new bookmarks, that is. (Pictured front and back.) Email me with your snail mail address if you'd like some!
(You can also pre-order your Shades of Grey and your Probable Claws now, too!)

California dreamin'

I'm sitting here in my Cambridge office, hoping the temperature really does hit 50 degrees today, but in my heart I'm in California. In print, too: The San Francisco Chronicle ran my review of "Revenge of the Spellmans" today. Fun book - and if any of you liked the first of the series, and the second less so, take heart. Lisa Lutz has discovered new sources for madcap mayhem in this third outing.

I've also been given a shout-out by Victoria Zackheim on the Kepler's Bookstore blog, The Well-Read Donkey. I contributed an essay to Victoria's lovely anthology, "For Keeps: Women Tell The Truth About Their Bodies, Growing Older and Acceptance," and she's the guest blogger over there this week for this wonderful Menlo Park indie. Thanks, Victoria!

Dreamwork

Sometimes, I think writers never stop working.

I'm deep into the first draft of the second Dulcie Schwartz book, and I've started dreaming about it. Nothing useful, like "oh, she should be stalked by the killer" or "why not make the tortilla into a clue?" No, dreams that I'm about to go onstage and I haven't finished reading the script. Or that I'm posing naked (but it's ok, in the dream, I have a body like Karita Matilla's, which is all one could want for a woman of our age). It's disconcerting. I wake up and am confused to realize that I'm not writing, that I have, in fact, been asleep. But I like to think that all that subconscious stuff will play out in the text as I chip out word after word from my grudging mind.

Decisions, decisions...

So, I'm getting bookmarks made up to give away at my various events, conferences, etc. (Malice Domestic! Murder Underbones party on April 21!). I think these look pretty great, but I'm not sure about the "The feline ghost did try to warn her..." (on the back/Shades of Grey side). It's short and to the point, but would it be better as "Her late, great cat came back to warn her...."? Does that say "ghost cat" clearly enough? Is it better? Worse? Let me know! And if you want a bookmark (or five) let me know, too. (This is the front and back of the same bookmark.)

Happy anniversary, PW blogger Barbara Vey!

Wow, can it have been two years? Publishers Weekly "Behind Her Book" blogger Barbara Vey is celebrating two years of blogging about all sorts of fun books -- romance, mysteries, you name it. She's having QUITE the party on her blog today, with tons of prizes, book giveaways, and more. The party lasts all week, but today is devoted to mysteries, suspense, and thrillers. Come on by!

A Reliable Wife

Read this book.

Separated at Birth?

Since I posted my Shades of Grey cover (left), my buddy Brett pointed out its similarity to this REM cover (right).

Well, there is a similarity in tone, I agree. But it's nothing like what happened when my first book, Mad House, came out in paperback with this beautiful, evocative cover (bottom left) and then, a few months later Hootie and the Blowfish's album "Musical Chairs" was released (bottom right):



I mean, at least I really love REM!

From one pet psychic author to another

Joyce Lavene interviewed me on her wonderful blog today. Check it out!

Seeing "SHADES OF GREY"

Coming in June from Severn House. You can read an excerpt here.

Shades of Grey SENT (again)

Today I finished going through the copy edits and then went out and shoveled out my car. Hoo boy.

When I write "pissed"...

I mean "pissed off," that is, "annoyed." Imagine my surprise to read that my British copy editor assumed that my character was "tipsy."

Two people, separated by a common language! (Still working through Shades of Grey copy edits.)

HAPPY MARDI GRAS!

Happy Mardi Gras everyone! Have fun! Be safe!

Translating into English - update!

I have the copy edits! They look ... fine! Did you know that the British (or is this just my publisher) do not use a period after "Mr"? True! Big sigh of relief (about the edits being fine, not the loss of punctuation).

Translating into English

I've just gotten the cover copy for Shades of Grey from my editor and I am having a bit of culture shock. Not only does my British publisher Severn House hyphenate room-mate and sub-letter, but it has my heroine "in the frame for murder."

It all sounds quite charming, put that way. But I'm sort of dreading the copy edits of the book itself. (At least I spelled "Grey" in the British fashion, quite unconsciously.)

R.I.P., Socks

Socks, the black and white tuxedo cat who had been adopted by the Clintons in the White House, earning the sobriquet "First Cat," was euthanized yesterday. Socks, who had been living with former White House secretary Betty Currie since the Clintons left the White House in 2001, was reportedly 20 years old and had been undergoing treatment for cancer for several months.

Strange inspirations

What inspires you?
I've had some problems sitting down and writing this week. Maybe I'm tired. Maybe this is a natural down time, some 30,000 words into my new project. Maybe it was working sick all last week...

Anyway, each morning I've told myself that it's ok if I don't make my word count. But something keeps coming up. I went to the gym and realized, "Aha! The letter opener is stolen!" (this makes sense to me). I got a call from a friend and realized, "Dulcie hasn't hung out with her friends in a while." I get yelled at by my cat (a common occurrence) and... well, you guessed it. I've made my word count each day this week (thus far).

My UCLA students asked me recently how to keep on writing. I think the only answer is that you do it. One inspiration at a time.

Shyness.

While it is very nice to be quoted in The New York Times (as a mystery author, no less), I need to qualify. I'm not that shy. What I was trying to tell the writer was that, given my druthers, I'd prefer to be home with my husband and cat than out at a conference. And I had in fact just experienced a major economic setback. So cancelling out was in part to save the airfare and hotel, but it also allowed me to follow my heart and stay home, rather than sit around a hotel bar and think about how much money I was spending. I guess that was too complicated and he needed to boil it down. Ah well, it's all press, right?

"Grey Matters" is a go!

Well, my editor liked my synopsis for the second Dulcie book. Loved it, actually. Which is very heartening, especially considering that I only have about 100 pages written and so I'm really just guessing how it will all turn out. (In all fairness, I do know my characters pretty well by now, so I think my guesses are close. Plus, she's an editor. She must know that we never stick to our synopsis letter for letter, right?)

And in even better news, I think my coldy-flu-y virus is finally abating. I no longer want to whine and cut my own head off. I'm beginning to realize how behind I am on everything. This is progress.

C.J. Sansom's "Revelation"

this ran today in the Boston Globe. A bit trimmed, but you get the idea. Still sick...

Oh, and this link isn't a pre-order link to Shades of Grey. Not yet. Right now, it is just a sign up for alerts – so they'll let you know when the new book is available.

Sick as a dog, happy as a cat

Jon and I are taking turns wandering from room to room and falling asleep on various pieces of furniture. Musetta seems to approve. Wish I felt like a human, but just found out that "Shades of Grey" is now available for pre-ordering on Amazon, which makes it seem much more real. Why pre-order, though? Why not just available for ordering? (I'm not questioning the process – please, pre-order! Just the phrasing: Do we really need the "pre"? Can't you just "order" an item to be shipped when it is available?)

She likes it!

I can't really complain about being busy. I much prefer it to being bored! Still, sometimes it's overwhelming and sometimes just deeply confusing to have multiple projects in various stages.

But sometimes it all becomes clear. Yesterday, I heard back from my editor at Severn House: She likes what I've done with "Shades of Grey" (really likes it, words like "even stronger" and "great" were bandied about) and so the manuscript is moving on to copy editing. And so yesterday, I had one of those instinctive reactions. Yes, I'm already deep into the next Dulcie book. Yes, I have "Dogs Don't Lie" waiting for me to re-read and revise it. And, yes, I'm gearing up for the "Probable Claws" launch. Still, after I got that news, I just had to take a break and spend most of the afternoon cleaning – really cleaning. My nose is still stuffy from all the dust I raised, and even in this weather I was bathed in sweat. No matter. The nest is now ready for the next project to hatch!

And... I'm now an Indiebound affiliate! Which means that this link should take you to an independent bookstore near you.

And finally, this is just plain silly!

Where do you get your ideas?

People often ask where I get my ideas. Now I have a perfect story to tell them!

Last week, I sent an advance reading copy (bound galley) of "Probable Claws" off to a woman who runs a website on cozy mysteries. This week, I followed up to make sure she had gotten it. She responded that she had, but because it was sent via media mail it had been opened and inspected by the US Postal Service. Wonderful woman that she is, she asked why.

She was told that everything that is sent via media mail is X-rayed, for starters. And, I quote:

"I asked the lady at the post office and she said if there's anything in "media mail" that doesn't belong (like drug-impregnanted paper,which, she says, is a problem), the feds return it to the sender."

Which blows my mind. First of all, that drug-impregnated paper is common enough to be a problem. And also that they send it back.

You know this is going to show up in a book at some point.

and... here's my latest review for the San Francisco Chronicle. Nina Killham's "Believe Me."

THANK YOU, PW!!

Publishers Weekly, Feb. 2, 2009

Probable Claws Clea Simon. Poisoned Pen, $24.95 (264p) ISBN 978-1-59058-564-1
Music journalist Theda Krakow once again proves a feisty and determined sleuth in Simon's lively fourth cat-themed mystery (after 2007's Cries and Whiskers). Theda alternates between the cat world, dominated by her pet, Musetta, and the Boston area music scene, about which she writes for local magazines and newspapers. When her retired policeman boyfriend, Bill, buys into a successful club that's a cop hangout, Theda can't help feeling a little jealous, though she admits she also has a problem with Bill's attitude—he's too patronizing. Meanwhile, contaminated cat kibble at the animal shelter run by her friend Violet may be the work of a poisoner. When Theda, guided by blood on Musetta's paw, discovers Rachel, a shelter vet, lying on the treatment-room floor with a fatal stab wound, she gets arrested for Rachel's murder. Well-drawn characters, a plot with many strings to unravel and plenty of appealing cats make this another winner for Simon. (Apr.)

Sent!

Yesterday at around 3 p.m. I finished the revisions on "Shades of Grey" and sent the manuscript back to my editor at Severn House in London. Within minutes, I'd gotten a very nice response (which makes me wonder about the hours she keeps). I guess I must have been more keyed up than I thought, because I teared up as I read the last page and then suddenly felt exhausted. The cat was enjoying her midday nap, so I fitted myself into the remaining third of the bed and slept for about a half hour. Then I got up... and wrote 1,300 words on "Grey Matters," as I am tentatively calling the sequel.

Often I feel sad when I finish a book. I think I've been working on this one for so long that maybe that won't hit me. Maybe I'll just feel relieved?

mucking about...

just back in from an hour of trying to break up the ice dams in front of our house. the snow has turned to rain and it was getting deep and my neighbor Peter and I were out there, trying to chip away. now my hands are all cramped, but it was a really nice change from working on revisions. made me think of Ratty in "The Wind in the Willows" (there, I can do u/c!), mucking about it boats...

very satisfying when the water finally began to flow!

Animal logic...

Musetta has moved back into my office!
I don't know why, but for about a month, my beloved cat had not been sitting with me when I worked. Was I too loud? Was there a draft (I mean, a new one) in this old house? Was it something I said?

For whatever reason, she'd been spending most of my working time in two other rooms. But as of yesterday, she's back and I can hear her mutterings and snorts as she sleeps.

Which is good, because I need the help. I'm supposed to get the revised manuscript of "Shades of Grey" back to my editor by early February. But I also feel like I need to get a good running start on the sequel (tentatively titled "Grey Matters"), because that's due end of May! And I'd love to have a minute to re-read the draft I did of my pet psychic mystery, too. Plus, I just heard that the MWA is accepting submissions for a new anthology and I'd love to try my hand at another pet psychic story or maybe a short Dulcie caper...

And then there's the money work – the stuff that pays significantly more per page or per hour, and keeps us all in Iams. I'm halfway through my UCLA class, so I won't short them. But when will I get to that editing job I was just given? Or helping that businessman draft his proposal? Aiee...

Tell me I'm not the only one with time management problems? How do you cope?

Talon show

I love living in Cambridge. I was walking into Inman Square. Had my head down to look for icy patches, and suddenly I see a movement to my right. There, sitting on a fence, was a hawk, eating a pigeon. He looked at me - we were just about eye level - as if to say, "Yeah, lady? Whadya want?" I'm afraid I went "eep," and he flew off, right in front of me - INCHES away – across very urban Inman Square, to finish his meal on the awning of Cambridge Family Health Center. Not a healthy place for pigeons, I guess.

I watched him for a while, along with a few other people – a man unloading a truck who confessed to being a little afraid of him (I pointed out that the hawk would be scarier if it were still hungry), a woman who had my reaction when we pointed the hawk out ("eep!" followed by laughter), another who said that she sees hawks all the time from her office window - and the ground below is always littered with pigeon bits! - and a guy in a car who looked up and asked, "Is that a gull?" Oh, please.

(This is a US Wildlife photo. Substitute in a busy city intersection, hawk sitting first on wire fence, then on purple awning.)

Happy Inauguration Day!

Just took a break to watch the swearing in and listen to President Obama's speech. Oh, it's fun to say that!

Just got the text of Obama's inaugural speech: Read it here.

Pete Seeger rules

Somehow the predicted "two to four inches" became seven in yesterday's snowstorm, so spent much of the day digging – and then taking a long work (errands are more fun when the new snow is crunching beneath your books). I love my new crop of students – they're so energetic – but when I got home, fully intending to read their latest assignments, I turned on the TV and was hooked. HBO was re-broadcasting the "We Are One" concert, the celebration of Obama's inauguration. I'm a sucker for ceremony, and this had it all. Plus Pete Seeger! The man is 90, right? But there he was, standing and playing banjo and leading tens of thousands of people in a complete (and I mean with the great, full, revolutionary lyrics) singalong of "This Land is Your Land." So inspiring.

The other great surprise? Garth Brooks. I'm not a huge country fan, to put it mildly. But he got up and led a choir – and those tens of thousands – through "Bye, Bye Miss American Pie," "Shout," and some other vaguely inspirational song (maybe one of his
own?), like an inspired preacher. Truly moving!

Also really adorable to see Malia taking photos during the concert, just like any pre-teen fan. Okay, anyone know what that third Garth Brooks song was?

Introducing Dulcie Schwartz

Dulcie Schwartz was born for academia. A grad student at Harvard, she lives for research. Her discipline – the Gothic English novel of the late 18th Century – may seem minor to some. But for Dulcie, it's reason to dive into the library, into the ordered, reasoned world of books. At least, until her roommate is murdered, her mother starts calling with some strange psychic dreams. And the ghost of her late, great cat Mr. Grey appears to help her through it all ... or over the edge.

Dulcie is the heroine of "Shades of Grey," a slightly paranormal mystery I've been working on for more than a year now. And now Dulcie and her oddball cohorts have found a home at Severn House, a British publisher that has begun expanding into the US. Severn will be bringing out "Shades of Grey" in hardcover in the UK in June, with a US edition to follow (probably in August), and we're hoping for a trade paperback sometime after that. They've also contracted for a second Dulcie book, which I'm working on now!

Theda Krakow – my rock critic heroine – will be back in April in her fourth outing, "Probable Claws," with Poisoned Pen Press. And, yes, I still have that "pet noir" book in the works. Right now, it is drafted and I'm letting it sit – the better to see what needs fixing. Maybe that one will find a home within the year.

In the meantime, please give Dulcie a warm welcome! She's had a rough couple of months. But she's one of my favorite gals, and I look forward to introducing her around and spending more time with her!

Heartbreaking

No, this is not my big announcement, but I have to write this.

One of the perks of my life is that my husband often brings home books to me. Books he thinks I might like to review, or books that he is pretty sure he won't want to assign for review but that he'll think I'll like. Sometimes these pile up and gather dust. Sometimes, though, I love them.

"The Journal of Dora Damage" was one of the latter. Jon saw the cover – the lettering in gold in an archaic type, against an uneven red background, with the inset of a woman's midriff in a corset - and thought, "Ah, a historical!" Always a good bet for me. When I picked him up on Friday evening, it was one of about five books in his bag (to be fair, one was a Lincoln bio for his mom). Well, as I waited for him to run in to pick up our take-out dinner, I found it and started reading. I never stopped. "The Journal of Dora Damage" is a wonderfully imagined story, the tale of an impoverished (think Dickensian) young wife with a sickly husband who is forced to take over her husband's bookbinding business in order to survive. And in order to survive, she takes whatever clients she can gets. That soon means she is binding private pornography collections. The year is 1860, and new laws have made it permissable to own (though not publish) pornography, and a certain set of gentlemen are now eager to show off their collections. Add in that one of the lady wives of these gentlemen is involved in the American abolition movement, and the stage is set for a wonderful, character-driven adventure of gender, race, and class politics, all spearheaded by a likable and independent heroine. Anyone who has enjoyed Sarah Waters' "Fingersmith" or "Tipping the Velvet" would love this book.

(I believe this is the UK cover; my edition is red.)

The book is 452 pages, and late yesterday I realized I was nearing the end. So I flipped to the end flap to find out about the author of this wonderful book. Ideally, I'd find she'd published other novels or had others in the works. What I read broke my heart: "Belinda Starling lived in Wivenhoe, Essex, with her husband and childred, and died in August 2006. The Journal of Dora Damage was her first book." A two-page note by her brother at the book's end explains more. Starling had scheduled surgery for a bile-duct cyst for shortly after the completion of this book. The surgery seemed to go well, but then an artery burst. More surgery followed and, as he says, "she never left hospital." She left her family, which includes two small children. She also left her readers. We may not have known her, but we will miss her.



On an unrelated note, I thoroughly enjoyed (even if I wasn't wowed by) the new Barry Unsworth. A very timely read, as well.

Drumroll, please...

Am waiting for something to arrive in the mail, but as soon as it does, I will have a big announcement!

In the meantime, Chris Verstraete hosted me in her series of writing tips over at her Candid Canine blog. Drop on by to see what I and her other guests have suggested!

Whoops - forgot that this review was running today. Hope it reads okay.

Holy Toledo, Catwoman!

Wow, a few months ago Abby Ellin (a former Boston Phoenix writer) called me for a comment for a piece she was doing on men and cats for the New York Times. That piece got around, and last week I got an email from Rod Lockwood of the Toledo (OH) Blade. He wanted to interview me for a piece about a cat show. So we chatted about, in his words, "ancient myths involving cats and how they came to represent feminine stereotypes and eventually were demonized. You know, Batman’s a good guy, Catwoman is bad. Cats are associated with witches and they’re generally considered mysterious ... that kind of stuff."


Read more here.

Font of wisdom

My writing buddy Caroline Leavitt, that is! She suggested that while I'm revising my current WIP, I print it out using a different font. No matter how familiar I am with my own work, she told me, it would look different this way – and I'd be able to catch more things to change. Usually, I print everything out in Times, a classic font that I love. But this time, following her advice, I printed out the first 60 pages in Courier, which looks a little like an old-fashioned typewriter. I wasn't sure her system would work for me, but I figured, well, I can try 60 pages this way. That's not that much paper...

But much to my surprise, she's right! I'm catching everything from dull sentences (well, I hope I'd catch those anyway) to repeated words, bad punctuation, you name it. I'm printing out the rest of the manuscript in Courier right now, and when I read it through again I'll try yet another (Helvetica perhaps? Arial? Or elegant-looking Copperplate?). In retrospect, I can't see how I ever re-read my manuscripts before, and I'm definitely incorporating this smart tip into my UCLA writing class.

Anyone else have any tips to share? Any favorite fonts?

Reader response...

Well, at least one kitten is enthralled by my current work-in-progress, even if the other finds it a snooze.


(Thanks to my friend Naomi who sent me this photo of her two kittens, Lentil and Chickpea, who joined her as she bravely read through a first draft.)

To the Nines!

Does anyone know the derivation of the phrase "dressed to the nines"? I've got to find out.

In the meantime, happy 2009, everyone! One of my resolutions is to keep this blog a little more regularly updated - and I can tell you already I hope to have big news for you all within the next week or two. Stay tunes and have a grand rest-of-the-holiday weekend!