And so it begins...

A young woman falls from a window during a party. Everyone was drinking. She was apparently having fun. Was it an accident? Was she pushed? Did she jump?

I'll tell you in 200 pages or so.

Thank you, Richmond Times-Dispatch

from:
Fiction review: five mysteries

JAY STRAFFORD TIMES-DISPATCH STAFF WRITER
Published: September 27, 2009

You're without a definitive idea for a thesis, you've had to have your beloved cat put down, you're working temporarily in a corporate snakepit, you've discovered your temporary roommate's murdered body -- and you're suspected of killing him.

Grad students' lives aren't generally this complicated, but Clea Simon makes it all work in Shades of Grey (216 pages, Severn House, $28.95), the first in her projected series featuring Dulcie Schwartz. The author of four books featuring Cambridge, Mass., rock journalist Theda Krakow, Simon steps boldly onto a new path with Harvard student Dulcie.

And though this is a fine whodunit, it's not just another mystery. Simon gives it a hint of the supernatural -- Dulcie thinks the spirit of her late cat, Mr. Grey, is trying to warn and protect her -- as well as subplots involving hacked computers and Gothic novels.

Dulcie's an intriguing and sympathetic lead character, Simon's plot is well-conceived and the feline angle satisfies without being overplayed. And "Shades of Grey" reminds us that our pets are never gone from our hearts. Give this one a blue ribbon.

One more reason to shop an indie bookstore!!

Amazon now says "Shades of Grey" ships in 1 or 2 MONTHS?! That's ridiculous! But you can order a copy today - signed, no less - from Harvard Book Store or Brookline Booksmith. You can order online, just the same as with Amazon. Or call them! Yup, they ship - and you'll be dealing with a real, live person at a real, live local and independent bookstore.

Friday's Forgotten Books: "Thank You for Not Reading"

One great thing about getting back out in the blogosphere is that I've reconnected with Patti Abbott, whose blog features weekly "Forgotten Friday books," a great place to discover – or rediscover – great, but not best-selling reads.

Maybe it's my mood. Maybe it's the latest rejection for my Dogs Don't Lie (a good rejection, but still...). Maybe it's Mercury still being retrograde. Whatever the reason, I found myself looking through my bookshelf for Dubravka Ugresic's spot-on skewering of the publishing industry, Thank You for Not Reading, and choosing it for my Forgotten Friday book.

Now, TYFNR isn't that old - it was first translated into English in 2003 and I found it as a Dalkey Archive paperback the year later. But it never received the attention it deserved. I guess that's what happens to small press authors without a country (Ugresic writes about feeling at loose ends ever since the dissolution of Yugoslavia) unless they fall into one of two recognized categories: the Gloomy Writer (an Eastern European we welcome, because he confirms our stereotypes) or the self-styled Great Man (as in "The Great Bulli"), one of those self-important, macho types (think Saul Bellows, I did) whose existence depends on subservient women. Ugresic herself is not at all gloomy. Despite the depressing subject matter, this is a laugh-out loud book, at least for those who have lived through the rejections, the silent (or missing) agents, and the general foolishiness of this industry ... and still keep on writing. What kind of world is it where Joan Collins can open a book fair? A very dark and silly one. "Come back, cynics!" Ugresic concludes one particularly sharp essay. "All is forgiven."

This is a great book for days like today, when you get a rejection and are able to think, "Well, at least it's a good rejection." You know who you are.

On a serious note: "The literary market does not tolerate the old-fashioned idea of a work of art as a unique, unrepeatable, deeply individual artistic act. In the literary industry, writers are obedient workers, just a link in the chain of production..." Yup, what more needs be said?

Things you'll do

I found out last night, when a neighbor's pitbull went through my back screen door like it was wet Kleenex, that I am the type of person who will throw herself on a pitbull to save her cat.

We are both ok. (Me and Musetta, that is. I do not care about the dog, whose owner was close behind and took him away.) Interesting thing to know about oneself. Case manager at my mom's rehab asked if this would go into a book. I don't know. It's way too soon.

I don't even think I can write any more about this here.

The waiting is the hardest part...

(Wrote this for the Sept. Shedunnit, the Sisters in Crime newsletter, and thought I'd share here:)


“The first things writers want – and this sounds so basic, but you’d be surprised how unbasic is is in the publishing world – is a quick response. Once they’ve finished a new manuscript and put it in the mail, they exist in a state of suspended emotional and psychic animation until they hear from their editor, and it’s cruelty to animals to keep them waiting.” – Robert Gottlieb, The Paris Review Interviews

Recently, I completed a manuscript for the second book in my Dulcie Schwartz series. It was a difficult birth, seeing as how for some reason I can no longer recall, I’d told my editor that I could easily turn it in within four months. I’d figured out, I think, that if I wrote a mere 2,000 words a day, I’d churn out enough copy and to spare for a cozy-length mystery by my deadline, and still have, oh weeks, to revise the thing.

Did I have a plot at that point? No. Did I have new secondary characters, a crime, a motive, or even a theme? No. Did I have other work – editing, a class to teach, a ghostwriting project? Yes. But you know what? The hardest part of writing what will now be “Grey Matters” (slated for Dec. ‘09 UK publication with Severn House, thank you very much) wasn’t meeting my own, somewhat ridiculous deadline. Nor was it even climbing over the growing pile of discarded papers, opened books, and journal articles that I scrambled through for research. Or even the heartfelt apologies to friends and family members who were either ignored or burdened with impossible tasks (“Of course you were supposed to shop and make dinner – how could I take time to tell you? I’m writing!”). The hardest part by far was the seven weeks following my agent sending the beast off to my editor. It was that month in a half during which I vacillated from “It’s the best thing I’ve ever written” to “it’s utter crap,” from “Well, at least it’s better than the first book” to “does a ghost cat even make sense?” with increasing rapidity. That waiting was relieved, briefly, when my agent sent out a tentative query and we found out that the editor hadn’t received the manuscript. (She must have figured that I simply hadn’t met my own deadline.) We then re-sent it and had a final two-plus weeks, during which I was alternately weepy and brittle, proud and prone to utter despair.

Why is the waiting, to paraphrase Tom Petty, the hardest part? I think largely it’s because for all our isolation, we writers are communication junkies. We want feedback. We deal with our hours alone, muttering things like “minimum lethal dosage,” because they are necessary in order to make the crazy worlds inside our heads into something that we can share. And when they are made as real as we can make them, we want those outside our heads to rush in, walk around, spot the bodies, and scream. When theydon’t, we are disappointed. We feel abandoned. And we slowly go nuts.

Friends, with all the best intentions, tell us to “enjoy the time off.” Like that was possible. They couldn’t see that fun for a writer is synonymous with being hip-deep in a new project, where an overheard comment or a street sign makes you start scribbling notes. When we interrupt family dinners to ask about the force needed to drive a fork through someone’s eye. This is what fun is for us, for me, anyway, and I don’t want time off.

There’s a cure for the ills of waiting. It’s known as starting another project. Because as soon as we get involved in a new story, the old one loses its grip. It becames stale, yesterday’s news. And that has the double benefit of giving us distance, which helps when that manuscript comes back and we need to be gimlet eyed to root out all the errors and awkward bits that we so blithely read over the first thirty-eight times.

Usually, I can do this, too. In fact, while I was waiting on my latest Theda Krakow mystery (Probable Claws), I’d drafted a new work, with a hard-boiled animal psychic. So, at first, when Grey Matters> went off, I went back to that “pet noir,” revising that one more time before handing it to the agent. But then that went out, too, and I was not only exhausted, I was at loose ends. Should I attempt another Dulcie or another pet noir? Return to the dark rock-and-roll mystery that I’ve been kicking around for two years now? Try to write something that didn’t feature cats? Pen an article for Shedunnit?

The latter seemed like a good idea, the methadone that would wean me from the shakes and the cravings. But while I dithered and tarried, picking up books (like those Paris Review interviews) and putting them down again, I had news. My editor had accepted “Grey Matters,” and I had to get to work on revisions. No word on the other project yet, but that’s okay. I’ve got a deadline again. A project. And so of course, I immediately got to work on this. Just keep those deadlines coming, folks. Anything less is cruelty to animals, and you know how I feel about that.

So you want a signed book...

I wish I could travel everywhere, but small press budgets (and small-writer budgets) don't make that possible. However, even if you can't come to one of my readings, you can buy a signed book from these lovely, indie bookstores. If you buy your book BEFORE my event, I can even personalize it – sign it to you (or your cat). Both these stores ship and will have extra signed books on hand after my events. Call or email them for details:

Brookline Booksmith Brookline MA. 617-566-6660. My reading is THIS Thursday, Sept. 10, 7 p.m.

Harvard Book Store, 1256 Mass. Ave., Cambridge, MA 617-542-READ. My reading is next Tuesday, Sept. 15, 7 p.m.

"Shades of Grey" September!

Yow, it's September! And Shades of Grey, my first Dulcie Schwartz mystery, is making its US debut (in reality) with a (virtual) tour.

Yes, I will be doing some live in-person readings. But this time out, I'm focusing on the online world. That means you can drop by and say "hi" at:

Lesa's Book Critiques, Sept. 1 (interview)
The Conscious Cat, Sept. 4
One Writer's World, Sept. 5
"The Well-Read Donkey," (Kepler's Books blog) Sept. 8
Lesa's Book Critiques, Sept. 8 (guest blog)
Caroline Leavittville, Sept. 9
Musings of a Bookish Kitty, Sept. 10
Mayhem and Magic, Sept. 10
Cozy Chicks, Sept. 13
"The Well-Read Donkey," (Kepler's Books blog) Sept. 15
Cozy Murder Mysteries, Sept. 25
The Lipstick Chronicles, Sept. 26

I'll be talking about "Shades of Grey," sure, but also about other books, reviewing, publishing, research... you name it. And I'll be offering some giveaways, too. No, I won't say at which posts! You'll have to come on by, leave a comment, ask a question. Join in for Shades of Grey September!

"Cries and Whiskers" in mass market!

Finally! Cries and Whiskers – the third Theda Krakow mystery – is now available in a mass market (read: cheap) paperback edition from Worldwide. Cool new cover, too!

Laying back

Got back from vacation this week and haven't done much of anything – nor, for the first time in a long while, do I have a new project on deck. In part, I'm waiting for the page proofs of "Grey Matters," which will pub in the UK in December (and the US soon after). And my agent has sent out "Dogs Don't Lie," my "pet noir," not that we'll hear anything till after Labor Day. And next month, "Shades of Grey," the first Dulcie Schwartz mystery, officially pubs in the US. So it's not like I haven't been busy (and I do have my hands full with various editing assignments, a nice change of pace). But I'm wondering what to work on next. Several readers have queried me about another Theda Krakow book, to follow up "Probable Claws." So maybe I should work on one of those. Or maybe in a few weeks, my Dulcie publisher will ask if I'm game to sign up for two more of those mysteries. Or "Dogs Don't Lie" will sell to a publisher who wants a sequel. Or maybe I'll be moved to start something entirely different.

It's Friday, so I'm definitely not starting anything today. But what should I do next? Wait for a clue from outside or....

Truth in fiction

We were on the beach in Provincetown when the news broke about the CIA hiring Blackwater to carry out assassinations. Strangely enough, this kind of thing was what I talked about with Joe Finder, author of the great new thriller Vanished, in this week's Boston Phoenix. Read it here.

Oline Cogdill likes "Shades of Grey"!

"It's easy to get caught up in the adventures of grad student Dulcie Schwartz." – Oline Cogdill, Sun-Sentinel

Big sigh of relief - and big thanks out to Sun-Sentinel critic Oline Cogdill!

Simon makes her elements of the supernatural work in `Shades of Grey'
By OLINE H. COGDILL
Sun-Sentinel

-"Shades of Grey," by Clea Simon; Severn House (216 pages, $28.95)
It's easy to get caught up in the adventures of grad student Dulcie Schwartz in the start of this new series by Massachusetts author Clea Simon.
The appealing Dulcie is at a crossroads in her life: She's looking for a thesis topic in gothic literature; her best friend and usual roommate is gone for the summer; and she's just had to put her beloved cat, Mr. Grey, to sleep. To add to her woes, Tim, her housemate for the summer, is a self-centered jock who has little patience for education and a snobby girlfriend.
Duclie soon thinks she's in a gothic novel herself when Tim is killed. The trauma of having someone murdered in her own home is hard to comprehend. Now his girlfriend keeps coming by looking for something hidden in his room.
Her temp work in an insurance agency takes a weird turn with computer viruses and petty thefts. Then there is the little matter of the ghost of her cat that she swears keeps popping up.
Simon makes her elements of the supernatural work by keeping this aspect as believable as possible in "Shades of Grey." Simon brought that same sense of realism to her four cat mysteries by showing how the felines enhanced the lives of their owners. In that series, she never stooped to making detectives out of the cats, as have other cat mysteries. She brings the same standards to "Shades of Grey."
Simon also layers on the gothic ambience as she shows the joys of a library and the terrors it can hold after dark.
Dulcie is a likable, intelligent young woman who also often says the wrong thing and worries that she doesn't always fit in. She aces the test of realism in "Shades of Grey."

© 2009 San Luis Obispo Tribune and wire service sources. All Rights Reserved.
http://www.sanluisobispo.com

Thank you, Library Journal!

"This series launch ... is for readers who like their feline cozies mixed with a touch of the paranormal." – Library Journal on Shades of Grey

Full review (including what I hope is a typo: Theo?)

REVIEW
Author: CLEA SIMON
Title: SHADES OF GREY
Publication: LIBRARY JOURNAL
Issue: 1ST AUGUST 2009
Shades of Grey, Clea Simon. Severn, $28.95 (240p), Sept 2009, ISBN 978-0-7278-6781-0

Graduate student Dulcie Schwartz is working as a temp and renting a room to another student for the summer to make ends meet. When her roommate is murdered, Dulcie hears her dead cat’s voice warning her about dangers. VERDICT This series launch by the author of the Theo Krakow series (Cries and Whiskers) is for readers who like their feline cozies mixed with a touch of the paranormal.

Vicki Lane cracks me up

Vicki Lane, author of the marvelous Elizabeth Goodweather mysteries, never fails to entertain. I had the pleasure of meeting her at Bouchercon a few years back and ever since have read and thoroughly enjoyed her carefully crafted, smart whodunits.Though I believe she may now be working on a standalone, her main series features a smart, feisty widow who runs an herb and flower farm in the Carolina hill country. The latest, In a Dark Season, is up for an Anthony award. And she also provides a monthly newsletter. Today, the newsletter included the following clip - which reminds me of both Elizabeth and (forgive me) Vicki herself. This is what I aspire to.

Thank you, Booklist!

"Well paced and tightly plotted, Shades of Grey debuts a promising series from the author of the Theda Krakow mysteries." Thank you, Booklist!

Author: CLEA SIMON
Title: SHADES OF GREY
Publication: BOOKLIST
Issue: 1ST AUGUST 2009
Shades of Grey, Clea Simon. Severn, $28.95 (240p), Sept 2009, ISBN 978-0-7278-6781-0

Twentysomething Dulcie Schwartz is a doctoral student at Harvard, struggling to find a thesis topic, mourning her recently deceased cat Mr. Grey, and working a summer temp job. Then, one afternoon, she thinks she sees Mr. Grey and believes he warns her not to go home. When she enters her apartment, she finds her despised subletter dead with her knife in his chest. Mr. Grey, Dulcie’s mother informs her, is her spirit guide; that’s fortunate because Dulcie could certainly use extraterrestrial help, seeing as she finds herself suspected of both murder and hacking into her computer system at work. Well paced and tightly plotted, Shades of Grey debuts a promising series from the author of the Theda Krakow mysteries (Probable Claws, 2009). With scholar Dulcie as the main character, and most of the action taking place on the Harvard campus and inside the Widener Library, it should appeal to a wide audience, including fans of both cat cozies and fiction that uses an academic frame story (Lauren Willig’s The Secret History of the Pink Carnation, 2005).

Happy day!

It's my birthday and my editor emailed to thank me for my revisions and the copy editor has already touched base with some proposed cover copy (all this for "Grey Matters") and Jon is making dinner tonight and all is good!

One small step for man...

What do you remember about Apollo 11? Has it retained any magic for you?
I was seven years old, one week away from my eighth birthday. And although I was allowed to stay up, I fell asleep - but I remember being shaken awake to see that historic broadcast. We had landed on the moon - and it was on TV! All in time for my birthday! With all the hoopla surrounding the anniversary, I still get a little choked up thinking about it. How about you?

Thank you, Bristol Library!

A nice introduction to my Theda series, from a librarian's blog.

Farewell, Kate's Mystery Books

Kate Mattes started me writing mysteries. We've all known that she was trying to sell the store for quite a while now, but just heard about this last night and I'm sad. Thank you, Kate!

Kate's Mystery Books closing on August 1
An e-mail from the Porter Sq Neighbors mailing list.

Many of you have been aware that I have had the building which houses the store on the market for awhile. I have finally sold it. I of course have mixed feelings about this but know it is the right decision for me. The new owners have allowed me to stay on for a while but Kate's Mystery Books will be closing on August 1st. Between now and then, everything in the store will be sold at 25% off. On Saturday, August 1st, we will be having a packing party from 11-5 AND we will also have our Annual Yard Sale (books $1 and under) at the same time.

I hope you can get in in the next few weeks to say good-bye although I won't actually disappear. We will be having author events at different venues and of course we will have the annual holiday party so there will be opportunities for the mystery community to get together. You will get notices of them from me.

It is sad though to close the store. I hope you can join us on August 1st to celebrate the good times we have had and to help pack everything up. I know we can do it, as we have done it before. (Remember the bus?)

It is been a true joy for me to have had the opportunity to me such interesting and diverse people and i will definitely miss you.

Best, Kate


--
Kate's Mystery Books
2211 Mass. Ave.
Cambridge, MA. 02140
617/491-2660

Hours: Sun.-Mon: 12-5
Tuesday: CLOSED
Wed-Thurs.: 12-7
Fri.: 12-6
Sat.: 11-5

Liberté, Egalité, Fraternité

Happy Bastille day!

A really fun read for the holiday: Dancing on the Precipice:The Life of Lucie de la Tour du Pin, Eyewitness to an Era.

From my review: "Lucie de la Tour du Pin may have been only minor nobility, but her status guaranteed her a front-row seat at the major events of the late 18th century, while allowing her to survive upheavals the likes of which Europe had never before seen...."

Revision hell

I am in revision hell. Basically, I am re-reading "Grey Matters" for the umpteenth time and it is driving me nuts. I want to second guess every sentence, replace every image. This is my last change to make serious changes (though I'll see it again after the copy editor gets through and again on proofs) and the pressure is enormous.

I don't know why it should be this way. I liked this book before I sent it off. And my editor likes it a lot, too. In fact, she had very few suggestions for changes and the book is already scheduled for publication. I've printed out her email to remind me of this, whenever the going gets too rough.

Still, reading and revising again feels like pulling my fingernails out. And then trying to replace them. I hate it. I hate it. I hate it. OK, back to work.

She likes it! (BIG sigh of relief)

Heard from my Severn House editor today and GREY MATTERS is a go! This is just a private email, and of course, she's the editor who bought the series so she's biased, but I cannot tell you how nice it is to read bits like "As well as a good story, it's a fascinating and very realistic picture of the academic world with all its rivalries and politics." Well, I'm not sure how realistic it is, but if I made it believable, I'm thrilled.

Some minor revisions to make – adding more kitty bits, I think – and then onto copy editing! Plan now is for Grey Matters to pub in the UK next Dec., which probably means US release in March 2010. Phew. A little hard to believe. And now... back to work!

Nice bit of advance news (thank you, Examiner!)

This makes me so happy!

"The first release in Clea Simon’s Dulcie Schwartz series, SHADES OF GREY (Severn House, September, 2009) has everything a mystery-lover could hope for–an engaging heroine, an intriguing plot, plenty of smart, sophisticated dialogue, and wonderful secondary characters. " – Mary Kennedy, Examiner.com

The internal editor

I originally posted this on the Kepler's writers' blog last week. But I find myself talking about this topic with friends and thought I'd repost here:

“Bash it out now. Tart it up later.”

This has become my mantra since my buddy and fellow writer Brett Milano first passed it along several years ago. The phrase originates with pubrocker Nick Lowe (who also penned the deathless “What’s So Funny About Peace, Love, and Understanding?”), he tells me. All I know for sure is that those eight words have saved my writing life.

Bash it out. That’s the essence of this advice, and the reason it is key is that this is the single most difficult part of writing. Bashing it out. Getting the words on paper. Putting word after word to make a sentence, a paragraph. A scene.

Apply butt to chair, I frequently tell prospective writers. Start typing (or scribbling). Just (to paraphrase a shoe ad) do it. That’s the first hurdle, the threshold into being a writer. And it is both high and hard to overcome.

Why is this simple first step so horribly difficult for so many of us? I blame the internal editor. Face it. There is nothing so wonderful as the book you are about to write. We are dreamers. Storytellers. Idealists – or we wouldn’t want to write at all. In our heads, before we’ve committed anything to paper, our ideas are quicksilver. Starlight. Translucent. But as soon as they appear in the light of day, they become fixed in the physical world with all that implies: They become leaden, earthbound. Not fun. It’s a terrifying transition from limitless possibility to concrete immobility, and it is enough to freeze up even the most experienced author. Whatever we write cannot compare to what we imagine. And so to our internal editors – our writing superego or our internalized mothers or high school teachers – it isn’t good enough. We aren’t good enough. And so we don’t write.

We tell ourselves that we are writing. That we are just searching for the right word. The right phrase. The opening scene that will spark everything off. But in truth we procrastinate. We fiddle. We cook. When I’m trying to start a project, I do more loads of laundry than a two-person household demands. I know this about myself now and accept it as part of my process – and then, I sit down and start the work.

Because if we are going to write, if we are going to be writers, then at some point we have to do the deed. We have to actually set words down and build them up, scene by scene, into something that others can read. We have to overcome the horrible, crippling doubt and dare to make it real.

Over the years, I’ve learned various techniques to get me over the threshold. One of those is, of course, fear of deadline. When you earn your rent by what you write, fear is a great motivator. This often works for students, too, and explains why so many assignments are penned only hours before deadline. This fear can be useful, and I confess I’ve allowed myself to wallow on occasion on a more nebulous, existential variety: Maybe I don’t have any more books in me. Maybe I’ve done it all and should simply teach full-time or take up PR. For while there is absolutely nothing wrong with either profession, the idea of not writing terrifies me – and gets me back to work.

I’ve said before that I believe the ability to write is like a muscle, and keeping the muscle in shape helps, too. All those years doing journalism have given me some fall-back techniques – surefire “ledes” to start a story that I can use in fiction, too, if need be. I’ll also assign myself fairly arbitrary word lengths – say, 1,000 words a day – and make myself do them.

But basically these techniques only work because of the second part of the mantra, the “tart it up later.” I can use a hackneyed device (“start with a quote”) or bash out 1,000 words of transitional sentences because I know I can fix it later. I tell myself that in a month or two, whenever I have a draft, I can choose to rewrite the entire work – or toss half of it. I can bash it out now, because (as I remind myself), I will have the opportunity to tart it up later. That’s the promise I make myself and to my internal editor. In exchange, she lets me write.

That sounds a little like a trick, doesn’t it? But it’s not so much outwitting the internal editor, as it is buying her off. I’m just typing, I tell her. You’ll get your turn later. And for a little while, she leaves me in peace.

Thank you, January Magazine!

"We engage with the work of the authors we love on many levels." So begins today's January Magazine Author Snapshot. It then goes on to say incredibly nice things – concluding: "Mystery, music, nightclubs, animals in danger: on a certain level, it’s an unlikely combination, yet, somehow, it works very well. And why? That special blend, I think: passion, heart, understanding and voice, voice, voice. Simon’s is as strong and clear as the passion she brings to the stories she tells."

January Magazine is a must-read, a 12-year-old online journal of the arts, with news, reviews, and interviews updated daily. I check in whenever I can, for information and just plain fun. But still, somehow, when editor (and fab author) Linda L. Richards asked me a few months ago if I wanted to be "snapshot," I said, sure and filled out an email interview. I never expected something as nice as this. Thank you, Linda! Thank you, January Magazine!

Michael Jackson, RIP

The weird face. The pedophilia, I know, I know...

But watching the coverage – especially those amazing early clips of the Jackson 5 and those Thriller videos – is making me sad. I grew up with Michael (well, I grew up, anyway). He was two years older than I was, which makes seeing him so young doubly poignant. I think for folks my age, he was like our Elvis: a great, seminal musician and force in music who had faded into sad irrelevance or worse. But we still didn't expect to lose him just yet.

RIP, Michael.

This explains a lot

Turns out, Severn House never got the manuscript of "Grey Matters" that I worked so hard to get in by the May 31 deadline! Am experiencing waves of relief and annoyance as I re-send. Am asking for confirmation, and if I don't hear by tomorrow will send again. Phew. I guess. You'd have thought they'd have asked, no? Only found out because agent sent out a "so?" query.

Anyway, my UCLA class starts today and I'm working on another guestblog for the Kepler's website. I think I'll write more on process, maybe on outlining or not, planning... or not.

Update: just heard that editor got the re-sent "Grey Matters." Loves the blurb, will read ms. "a.s.a.p." Which means a whole new wave of anxiety. Why do we do this again?

The fallow period...

What do you do while you're waiting for to start your next project? How do you replenish the creative juices? How do you stand it? That's the topic in my guest blog today at Kepler's Well-Read Donkey, a blog for writers and all who love books, sponsored by the great SF indie bookstore. Please drop by and share your thoughts!

I am creeped out...

by Helen Oyeyemi's "White is for Witching." As I hope my review in today's Boston Globe makes clear, I didn't love it. But it did get under my skin!

Happy Saturday.

She likes it!!

Just heard from my darling, beloved agent. The delay was because she was in fact re-reading Dogs Don't Lie and ...

she likes it! "A lot" (why doesn't she love it?). She found the characters "extremely appealing" and thinks readers "will connect with them." (So, why doesn't she love it again?)

Nevermind, I'm happy. I'm more than happy. I'm thrilled. I'm chortling with joy. And she is putting a list together so the thing can go out to editors next week. And then I can be on tenterhooks once again, waiting....

am seizing this moment of joy with both hands, boys and girls. Both hands.

No news

... still no news, except a quickie note from my agent saying she'll "get back to me as soon as possible." Am trying to focus on other things: my UCLA course starts next week, I'll be guestblogging at Kepler's Well-Read Donkey, too. Hard to concentrate on anything else right now though.

The wait begins...

Two weeks ago, I sent off to my agent the manuscript of my second Dulcie Schwartz mystery, Grey Matters. Today, I sent her the ms. for Dogs Don't Lie. Now, the waiting begins.

No, I didn't write a book in two weeks. I had written Dogs Don't Lie for fun, starting about a year ago. The basic premise - of a hard-boiled tough gal who just happens to be able to hear what animals are thinking - comes from a short story I wrote for Dead Fall, an anthology of New England crime writers. I'd been reading a lot of noir (Megan Abbott, Linda L. Richards) and thinking about the whole cutesy "animal psychic" thing and, voila, Pru Marlowe and her irascible tabby Wallis were born. If it takes off, I want to call the genre "pet noir," as in "bete noir." Of course, we'll have to see if it takes off.

Once I had drafted Dogs Don't Lie, I got some happy news. My editor at Severn House wanted a sequel to Shades of Grey - and wrote it into the contract. And so in January, I set Dogs Don't Lie aside and threw myself into writing Grey Matters. I wrote it pretty quickly, for me. I'm sure it will need revisions, but I think I turned in a pretty strong mystery, so I have reason to believe she'll like it. And once that was sent off, I could go back to revise Dogs Don't Lie. It was sort of perfect timing – I still loved the book, but enough time had passed so I could see its flaws. Dogs Don't Lie is not under contract to anyone, and so next week my agent will just start sending it out.

Sounds good, right? I actually like being this busy and despite a sense of growing fatigue (and growing disgust with the state of my office), I've been happy these past few months. It's the new part - the waiting - that I can't stand. This part of the process just wrecks me. As soon as I'd sent off DDL, I started worrying that I hadn't hidden a crucial clue well enough. And then that I'd hidden it so well that it wouldn't make sense. Now I've even started worrying that my Severn House editor won't want Grey Matters. Basically, I'm swinging between wild optimism (these are my best works ever... Dogs Don't Lie will be my breakout book) and despair (you can fill in the blanks).

I am tired. I need to clean my office and catch up on my outside assignments. The waiting has begun.

April Smith interview

Two of April Smith's smart, subtle Ana Grey thrillers were recently reissued. I grabbed the author as she was on assignment in New York... read more here.

Goodbye, Readerville

Readerville, an early online home for many of us writers, readers, and book lovers, closed down today. I confess, I hadn't visited in a while, seduced away by newer social media and by my own work. But for nine years, Readerville was home, an online watercooler where I could count on emotional refreshment during the day. I met several friends there, who remain friends in the real (as well as the virtual) world, and I'm sorry it won't be around for others. Major kudos to founder/creator Karen Templer for keeping it going as long as she did. Thank you, Karen, and best of luck with all future ventures. Readerville, RIP.

FYI - I had the honor of writing about one aspect of Readerville for The New York Times a few years ago.

Lesa Holstine on "Probable Claws"

Librarian and critic Lesa Holstine reviews Probable Claws today. I won't quote the entire review here, but I can't resist:

"Once again, Clea Simon skillfully brings together the various aspects of Theda Krakow's complicated life. Not every author can intertwine cats, the rock music scene, and the problems at today's newspapers. Over the course of this series, though, Simon has managed to build sympathy for Theda, a woman who often alienates even the people who love her, as she gets so caught up in her current story or passion, whether it's cats or rock music, that she neglects her personal life. Readers who appreciate complicated characters, and intricate plots, will appreciate Simon's latest crime novel, Probable Claws."
– from Lesa's Book Critiques

Thank you, Lesa!

Real-life drama

Does anyone else remember Stan Mack's "Real Life Comics"? As cell phones have become omnipresent, the possibilities are not only everywhere, they're hard to ignore. I just spent ten minutes behind a good-looking, well groomed youngish man in line at the pharmacy. It was quiet in there, and the following one-sided conversation was quite audible to everyone. As were, I'm afraid, his romantic woes:

"Yeah, I know, I know. If she were a man– I mean, I've been talking to people and everyone feels that if she were a man, it would be different. Yup, she's getting a free pass."
(pause)
"No, it's not just the thrill of the chase."
(pause)
"So it seems I'm a nice guy, but I'm just not very exciting."
(long pause)
Uh huh, uh huh." (Short pause) "To be honest, I find that borderline insulting."
(long pause)
"It's all right. I'm so out of it from lack of sleep and from 'The Deal' that I almost don't care. Oh, gotta go."
Hangs up and tells the woman at the counter. "I didn't want to be one of those people on a cell phone."

And people ask me where we get our ideas.