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| POSTED : 10/25/2009 2:05:26 PM |
| Dexter and Helen Hawthorne is part of Literary Florida on WLRN, 91.3 |
Jeff Lindsay, the creator of the "Dexter" novels, and I are the two mystery authors featured on "Literary Florida" on "Under the Sun," the award-winning public radio show. "Under the Sun" is on WLRN, South Florida's NPR station. We were joined by Joanne Sinchuk, founder of Murder on the Beach Bookstore in Delray.
We have about nine minutes of this amazing hour. Co-hosts Alicia Zuckerman and Dan Grech had us in the hot seat for almost an hour.
Humorist Dave Barry, poet Campbell McGrath and novelist Edwidge Danticat are some of the region's other literary figures.
You can also learn about the talented Miami Poetry Collective and their poetry slams.
Listen to the show on on the Website, www.WLRNUndertheSun.org. The Web will have the one-hour show and each individual segment.
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| POSTED : 4/29/2009 1:31:46 PM |
| I Want to Read Your Columns |
And I want you to read them, too. You email me at least once a week asking if I'm still writing a column. The answer is yes.
I blog Wednesdays and occasional weekends for the Lipstick Chronicles, and you can read them for free. Here's a direct link to my Lipstick blogs.
http://thelipstickchronicles.typepad.com/the_lipstick_chronicles/elaine_viets/
I know you'll enjoy my blog sisters, Nancy Martin, Sarah Strohmeyer, Lisa Daily, Kathy Sweeney and Harley Jane Kozak. So catch our blog at http://thelipstickchronicles.typepad.com
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| POSTED : 9/7/2008 12:50:59 PM |
| Are you still writing your columns? |
You bet – in two different media. Both are absolutely free.
You’ll find me blogging every Wednesday on The Lipstick Chronicles. I share TLC with six hilarious women – Harley Jane Kozak, Nancy Martin, Sarah Strohmeyer, Michele Martinez, Kathy Sweeney and Lisa Daily. You'll enjoy their books, I promise.
Pour yourself a cup of coffee and take a look at what we have to say at www.thelipstickchronicles.typepad.com/
I also do radio commentaries for the NPR station, KWMU, the third Wednesday of every month. Commentaries are aired at 5:30 a.m. and 7:30 a.m. KWMU is in my hometown of St. Louis at 90.7 FM. No matter where you are, you can listen to live streaming on the Web. Or catch up on past old commentaries at kwmu.org/programs/commentaries/archives.php?aid=33
Stop by and enjoy.
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| POSTED : 5/23/2008 2:15:10 PM |
| CLUBBED TO DEATH is No. 12 on Barnes & Noble's mystery bestseller list |
Am I excited? You bet.
I used to work at a Barnes & Noble store in Hollywood, Florida, and the staff was very kind to me. It's a real thrill to learn that my latest Dead-End Job mystery, CLUBBED TO DEATH, is number 12 on the Barnes & Noble hardcover mystery bestseller list.
Thank you, book sellers and book buyers.
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| POSTED : 5/18/2008 8:31:56 AM |
| CLUBBED TO DEATH in Marilyn Stasio's New York Times column |
Marilyn Stasio is the mystery maven of the New York Times -- and her reviews also run in Variety. I was delighted to see CLUBBED TO DEATH mentioned in her Sunday Book Review column.
CLUBBED TO DEATH is the seventh Dead-End Job book. In this mystery, Helen and I worked at a country club. Hope you'll enjoy reading it.
Here's a sneak peak at Ms. Stasio's column:
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/05/18/books/review/Crime-t.html?_r=1&8bu&emc=bu
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| POSTED : 3/10/2008 4:29:19 PM |
| I've been given my very own murder weapon |
This weekend, my sixth Helen Hawthorne myster, MURDER WITH RESERVATIONS, was awarded the Lefty at the Left Coast Crime conference in Denver. The Lefty is given for the funniest novel of 2007.
In keeping with the Colorado theme, the award was a miner's pick ax. There was no way I was going to try to get a pick ax on a plane, so I had it shipped. The shipping service wrapped it in bubble wrap for the trip.
I can't wait for my award to arrive. I'm sure I'll have the only engraved pick ax in South Florida.
Thanks to everyone who voted for MURDER WITH RESERVATIONS.
And congratulations to the other Lefty nominees, including Donna Andrews, Don Bruns, Jeff Cohen and Jess Lourey. You'll enjoy their books, too.
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| POSTED : 11/18/2007 9:29:22 AM |
| Will There Be a New Dead-End Job Book? |
You bet. You can expect more adventures from Helen Hawthorne in the future.
I fact, I just turned in the next Helen book, CLUBBED TO DEATH. It's set at a country club in South Florida. I worked at one which shall remain nameless. If I had a dollar for everytime I heard "Do you know who I am?" I'd be a very rich woman.
CLUBBED TO DEATH will be out in May, 2008.
Is Helen's awful ex-husband, Rob, gone for good?
Ah, that's a question any ex-wife can answer. Ex-husbands never conveniently go away. Helen and her friends will be drinking cheap box wine by the pool at the Coronado Tropical Apartments for at least two more books.
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| POSTED : 11/5/2007 2:38:49 PM |
| My new Josie Marcus, Mystery Shopper book is out! |
It's called ACCESSORY TO MURDER.
Hope you'll enjoy the third adventure of Josie Marcus, retail spy and single mom. This time, Josie's best friend's husband is accused of murder and adultery. Alyce is determined to stand by her man, and she asks Josie for help.
Josie is loyal, and she tried to hide the fact that she can't stand Jake.
There's also the question of the designer who's dying to get out of town.
As usual, this Josie book is set in St. Louis, in Maplewood. You'll enjoy Josie's favorite restaurants, as well as the fabulous Turtle Playground and Laumeier Sculpture Park.
ACCESSORY TO MURDER is a paperback original from Obsidian, an imprint of Penguin. It's $6.99.
If you'd like a free bookplate for your copy, email me at eviets@aol.com
PS: Check out the LINKS section for a long list of bookstores that will carry ACCESSORY TO MURDER
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| POSTED : 8/22/2007 10:12:31 AM |
| Funniest Hotel Employee Contest Winner |
“It's hard for me to believe that my story occurred 34 years ago,” Rebecca John said, “but I guess you can't argue with Father Time.”
For the Great $500 Book Giveaway to celebrate my new mystery, set at a hotel, Rebecca took us back to New Year’s Eve, 1972. “Oh, what a time to be young and full of love for life on the edge,” she said.
Indeed. That was the year that Watergate started with the bugging of the Democratic National Committee headquarters. Bumpers said, “Honk if you love Jesus.” Richard Nixon declared the first presidential drug war – and lost it.
“If you can remember the late 60's up to the end of the 70's, you probably weren't having the same kind of fun as I and the rest of the members of the Traveling Bar Crew,” Rebecca said.
“We worked as a group of six. Three members made up the lounge band and the other three tended bar and worked as cocktail waitresses. We were working at a hotel outside of Lancaster, Pa. The manager booked the band in a few different hotels around the northeast. The band was really quite good and had a fairly large following.
“This particular New Year's Eve we were all working our tails off. The crowd was out to have as much fun and imbibe as much liquor as possible” before the bar closed at 2 a.m.
Rebecca and two crew members “worked the floor serving all those happy drunks with a smile and a smart remark. The tide slacked off slightly around 1 a.m., so while the band was on break we all decided to take five for a ‘smoke’ break. Remember, it's the seventies and we were all children of the flowers. We really didn't have time to retreat to the band room for privacy.
“Did I mention that at midnight we had started to celebrate with the customers since they always wanted to buy the band and crew drinks to show how much they liked us? On occasion alcohol has been known to cloud a person’s good sense.
“Anyway, back to the smoke break. Six of us plus a few joiners-in were looking for a place to burn one or two. In a side corridor was a utility closet that seemed to fit the bill, so in we squeezed. Up we lit. Silly we got. Cough we did – until nirvana was achieved and we had to go back to work.
“We proceeded to work out the night, made some swag and had an all-around good time until closing when we had to clean up. Then we moved the party to the band’s rooms and had our own celebration.
“Along about 3:30 a.m. the manager knocked rather forcefully on the door. We greeted him with cries of joy. He was in a snit. Did we think that maybe the utility closet wasn't precisely the most discreet choice?
“ ‘Oh, ho,’ the crew said. ‘We took precautions and laid a towel along the crack at the bottom so no noxious fumes escaped.’
“ ‘Oh, ho,’ the manager said. ‘Did you notice the HUGE louvered vent in the door?’
“We were in no shape to grasp the concept of bad bar crew so we were put on notice that at 2 p.m. New Year’s Day we were having a meeting to discuss the situation in depth.
“At 5 a.m. some of us decided to go to Philly to see the Liberty Bell. I can't believe we survived those days without maiming ourselves or anyone else. We didn't get back for the meeting until 2:35.
“Motel rooms offer limited seating arrangements. We were ranged around the room on various surfaces,” including a folding bed. “The boss lectured us on the inadvisability of tokin' in the closets. We were all suitably chastised – right up until the bed two of us were sitting on folded right up and trapped us inside like the filling in a sandwich. Heads sticking out one side and legs and feet out the other.
“Everyone in the room lost it – even the manager – and the meeting ended.
“I'm sitting here laughing from the memories. It's hard for me to realize I'm going to be 60 in a year from now.”
Thanks, Rebecca, for a funny story. Your $250 gift certificate for the Great $500 Book Giveaway will be on its way, so you’ll have even more to read.
Special thanks to our judges, TLC regular Tom Barclay, Kay Gordy and Jinny Gender.
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| POSTED : 8/14/2007 2:48:21 PM |
| And the winner is . . . The Funniest Hotel Guest Story |
This March, I announced the Great $500 Book Giveaway, in honor of my new Dead-End Job mystery, MURDER WITH RESERVATIONS. MWR is set at a hotel. I was swamped with funny stories from hotel guests and employees.
Here’s our first winner:
Funniest Experience as a Hotel Guest
Sue Jochens of Shawnee, Kansas, has a group of friends from around the country “who see each other about once a year – Moms’ extra long weekend. Party time!”
Three years ago, they met in July at a small southern inn. Charming photos showed “a little lake, an adorable wooden bridge, gorgeous night lighting, a pool, manicured lawn. It was small enough that a group of 50 could party all the time without disturbing anyone.
“Did I mention the inn was in a dry county?”
The partygoers stopped at a liquor store for supplies after they met at the airport. “Now, I’m not saying I bought much,” Sue said, but her credit card company called. “A rather substantial purchase had been made at an adult beverage package store. Did I authorize it? I was so proud.”
Party on, Mom.
The inn wasn’t anything like the photo. “There was no pool. That’s where we always gather, laugh and drink. There was a humongous lawn, but no lawn furniture. That pretty little lake was more of a swamp. The bridge was roped off with a foreboding ‘Off Limits Dangerous’ sign. A girls’ softball team had destroyed it after a game.
“No booze, no pool, and a broken bridge. We should have backed off then.”
But they didn’t.
“We settled in, and made a trip to a discount store to buy cheap lawn chairs, snacks, ice and other goodies, since there was no restaurant within spitting distance. Another bad sign.
“Back at the inn, we arranged our chairs on the lawn under the trees, made drinks and returned to the gossip circle so we could start catching up.
“Did I mention the tree was full of ticks and the lawn teaming with chiggers? We made another run for various sprays. Hint No. 1: Always cover your vodka glasses when spraying insecticides.
“The inn’s handyman (dubbed Tractorman for his preferred mode of transportation) took to us like the chiggers, and made himself available for hauling stuff all weekend. We never had to haul a full cooler or folding table across the lawn. We surmised that he had never seen such a group of laughing, poker playing, cussing, drinking, good-looking broads who, since they owned the place for the weekend, partied after dark on the lawn in their pajamas.
“That beautifully manicured lawn was so full of holes we were forced to position coolers, empty chairs and other sundries over them so we’d stop falling into them. The falls weren’t so bad, but the spilled liquor was getting serious.
“A unique feature was the bathroom. The tub was right up next to the toilet, and I’ve never seen a tub so narrow. I could not take a shower without taking the shower curtain with me. It clung to my body like Saranwrap, like a two-year-old having to pee. It even followed me out of the shower. If only my husband was so enamored of my hips.
“Finally dried, I flung the towel over the curtain rod and escaped. A few minutes later, I heard a loud noise in the bathroom. The weight of the towel had brought the curtain and rod crashing into the tub.
“So went the four days. It was one of the best long weekends ever.”
Thanks, Sue, for a funny story. As Judge Jinny Gender said, “These women could have a good time at the Bates Motel.”
Sue chose Mystery Lovers Bookshop as her favorite bookstore. She’ll get a $250 gift certificate from MLB, so she’ll have plenty to read on her next vacation.
And thanks to our judges, Tom Barclay, Kay Gordy and Jinny Gender.
Next week: The best hotel employee story.
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