News, Views, and Shmooze....

If You're Looking for a Gift....

If you're looking for an under-twenty-dollar gift for the holidays or for any occasion...

And if you're like me, and you don't know what to get...

And you're not sure about the color, or style, or size...

And your choices are limited...

And you don't want to give another tie or sweater or umbrella, or another item that you suspect will be returned...

Consider giving a book.

Like  Now You See Me..., my new Molly Blume mystery, available in quality paperback at $13.95.

You can get a signed copy at one of these stores where I've recently appeared.

Or you can contact me ([email protected]) for a signed book plate.

Try the recipe for butternut squash souffle at the back of the book. It's my daugher's. It's delicious.

Let me know how you like it.

And have a happy Thanksgiving, and a happy holiday season.

The Crepuscule: A Eulogy for Small and Independent Bookstores

Yesterday, while contacting bookstores to let them know about Now You See Me..., I was sad to learn that Avenue Victor Hugo in Boston closed its doors. On the store's website I found the following, which I'm posting with permission:

The Crepuscule Twelve reasons for the death of small and independent book stores Ever thankful to those who made the effort before us, with heartfelt apologies to those who are still in the fight and the few who support them--offered upon the closing of Avenue Victor Hugo Bookshop in Boston. 1. Corporate law (and the politicians, lawyers, businessmen and accountants who created it for their own benefit)--a legal fiction with more rights than the individual citizen, which allows the likes of Barnes & Noble and Walmart to write off the losses of a store in Massachusetts against the profit of another in California, while paying taxes in Delaware--for making ‘competition’ a joke and turning the free market down the dark road toward state capitalism. 2. Publishers--marketing their product like so much soap or breakfast cereal, aiming at demographics instead of people, looking for the biggest immediate return instead of considering the future of their industry, ignoring the art of typography, the craft of binding, and needs of editing, all to make a cheapened product of glue and glitz--for being careless of a 500 year heritage with devastating result. 3. Book buyers--those who want the ‘convenience’ and ‘cost savings’ of shopping in malls, over the quaint, the dusty, or the unique; who buy books according to price instead of content, and prefer what is popular over what is good--for creating a mass market of the cheap, the loud, and the shiny. 4. Writers--who sell their souls to be published, write what is already being written or choose the new for its own sake, opt to feed the demands of editors rather than do their own best work, place style over substance, and bear no standards--for boring their readers unto television. 5. Booksellers--who supply the artificial demand created by marketing departments for the short term gain, accept second class treatment from publishers, push what is ‘hot’ instead of developing the long term interest of the reader--for failing to promote quality of content and excellence in book making. 6. Government (local, state and federal)--which taxes commercial property to the maximum, driving out the smaller and marginal businesses which are both the seed of future enterprise and the tradition of the past, while giving tax breaks to chain stores, thus killing the personality of a city--for producing the burden of tax codes only accountants can love. 7. Librarians--once the guardians, who now watch over their budgets instead--for destroying books which would last centuries to find room for disks and tapes which disintegrate in a few years and require costly maintenance or replacement by equipment soon to be obsolete. 8. Book collectors--who have metamorphosed from book worms to moths attracted only to the bright; once the sentinels of a favorite author’s work, now mere speculators on the ephemeral product of celebrity--for putting books on the same level with beanie babies. 9. Teachers--assigning books because of topical appeal, or because of their own lazy familiarity, instead of choosing what is best; thus a tale about the teenage angst of a World War Two era prep school boy is pushed at students who do not know when World War Two took place--for failing to pass the torch of civilization to the next generation. 10. Editors--who have forgotten the editorial craft--for servicing the marketing department, pursuing fast results and name recognition over quality of content and offering authors the Faustian bargain of fame and fortune, while pleading their best intentions like goats. 11. Reviewers--for promoting what is being advertised, puffing the famous to gain attention, being petty and personal, and praising the obscure with priestly authority--all the while being paid by the word. 12. The Public--those who do not read books, or can not find the time; who live by the flickering light of the television, and will be the first to fear the darkening of civilization--for not caring about consequences. Thus, we come to the twilight of the age of books; to the closing of the mind; to the pitiful end of the quest for knowledge--and stare into the cold abyss of night. John Usher From THE HOUND by John Usher, copyright 2004. Permission to reproduce is granted to all upon request with proper attribution.

Green Gams and Legs

Last Saturday night, after making havdalah, I should have started packing for my six-day, four-day tour. It would have been the smart thing to do, especially since I'm not good at packing. I'm way too indecisive, and always take along too many outfits, just in case... And sometimes I forget to take along items that I need. More about that later.

But instead of packing I went on-line to check my e-mail--presumably to make sure there were no last minute emergencies, but whom am I kidding? I'm addicted to e-mail. And before I knew it, it was 10 PM--time for my live radio interview with Zev Brenner of Talkline.

So of course, I was wired after the interview, which went well (thanks again, Zev!), and I didn't get to sleep till well after midnight. And I had to get up at 5:30 to get to the airport an hour before my 8:15 AM flight to San Francisco.

San Francisco is a beautiful city, even when the weather is overcast, as it was Sunday. I took a cab to the Montecito Inn, where I would be staying. From the name I'd excepted a hotel in the suburbs, something quaint. In fact, I was a little concerned when the cab driver entered what was obviously downtown San Francisco, but there was the hotel name on the marquee on Ellis Street.

The book fair chairpeople had obtained an early check-in for me -- or had tried to. When I arrived, the harried front desk clerk informed me that no rooms were available.

"But it's been arranged," I said. I tried not to sound irritated. I'm not sure I succeeded.

"Right, but we don't have any rooms available."

I needed to change, to freshen up. Not a dire emergency, but...I wanted to check into a room.

(I flashed to a book tour years ago, when I arrived after ten at a hotel where I had a guaranteed late arrival to be told there we no rooms available.

"I have a guaranteed late arrival," I said.

"Correct. But we have no rooms."

I pointed out that guaranteed meant, well, guaranteed. The clerk agreed. I ended up sleeping in a conference room--I insisted on two folding beds-- and was awakened by the entry of a maintenance man who almost had a heart attack when I screamed.)

"Are you with the Jewish book fair?" a young woman standing in front of the hotel desk asked Sunday.

I told her I was. She was, too: Ruth Ellenson, editor and contributor to The Modern Jewish Girl's Guide to Guilt.

I told her I'd met her parents a few times before they moved to New York.

"Maybe you can take my room," Ruth offered. "I'm checking out."

As it happened, another room became available just then. Ruth left for the book fair. I shlepped my luggage and laptop to my room, unpacked, checked my e-mail (I know, I know...), and changed into a DKNY earth-tone cotton brocade jacket, a brown suede skirt from Anthropology (my new favorite store), and a pair of brown sling-back pumps that are just about bearable.

That's when I realized I hadn't packed brown pantyhose. I had brought black hose--too stark. I had brown tights. Too opaque. (Am I sounding a little Goldilocks?) Somehow instead of black, I'd packed a pair of Hanes "Loden."

Loden is a shade of green. (I couldn't recall why I'd bought them.) There is green in my brocade jacket. I slipped on the loden, eyed myself in the narrow full-length mirror in my compact room. Looks fine, I thought. Lovely. Very lodenesque.

But when I stepped outside the lobby and made my way to my waiting cab, I noticed my legs. They were green. Moss green, like the stuff you see on a pond and don't want to touch. There was no time to run up to my hotel room and slip on the brown boots I'd packed. I hurried into the back of the cab and blessed the sudden drizzle and accompanying fog that darkened the sky and made my gams less noticeably green.

The San Francisco book fair was a one-day event with several program tracks. My panel, with two other crime fiction writers--Rita Laiken (Getting Old Is Murder) and Michael Simon (Bloody Scissors), was moderated by mystery maven Rabbi Lawrence Raphael of Sherith Israel, who edited two mystery short story anthologies, Mystery Midrash and Criminal Kabbalah. (My story, "Bitter Waters," a modern take on the biblical sotah, is in the second collection.) In the audience were people I'd met on earlier trips to the Bay area, and Judith Greber, aka Gillian Roberts, the author of the Amanda Pepper series (Judy and I share an interesting coincidence).

I opened. I don't love being first (except at a sale at Nordrom's), but we were going in alphabetical order. And I was grateful to be standing behind a lectern that hid my very green gams. Rita was next. She spoke with warmth and humor about her protagonist, Gladys (she's based on Rita's mom), a Florida amateur senior sleuth. Michael delivered a powerful reading from his novel (his training as an actor was evident).

After the audience Q &A we signed books in the lobby. Then I was picked up and driven to Palo Alto, where I gave a talk sponsored by Emek Beracha, the Palo Alto JCC, and Women's American ORT. Phyllis Friedman, west coast regional director of ORT and a new friend, made the "shidduch" and flew up to lend support - and make sure I behaved.

I gave my presentation. I signed books. I met lovely people and saw a former student. I had Krispy Kreme donuts, followed by a lovely dinner at the rabbi's house. At ten o'clock a car service took me back to the Montecito Inn.

No one mentioned my loden hose.

All in all, a perfect day.

West Hartford

Thursday morning, after a two-hour conference call with my fellow Sisters in Crime board members, I had lunch with Sandy and Gloria, two college classmates who live in Rockland County (Sandy was my roommate). Sandy brought lunch to the hotel; Gloria brought coffee and cookies. We sat in the hospitality lounge of the hotel and reminisced. Much fun.

Later that afternoon, Micki drove me to West Hartford, where I did a JCC book fair program with Avery Korman, who wrote Oh, God and Kramer Versus Kramer, and spoke about his new novel, A Perfect Divorce. I enjoyed meeting Avery--okay, yes, I was a little bit in awe. I mean, Kramer Versus Kramer. That was a landmark film that changed the perception of divorced dads.

I was also tickled to meet some fans with whom I'd had an e-mail correspondence, and a number of women who love mah jongg, as I do. (Three Mondays without a game, and I'm seriously in withdrawal.) One of the women I met teaches a mah jongg class at the West Hartford JCC. I connected her with one of my fans--the fan is planning on taking the class.

Micki's husband had been a little worried about her driving to and from West Hartford--especially at night. I could see why, especially when we neared New York, and the highway became labyrinthian. But we made it just before midnight.

I called home, did a few sudoku.

Did  few more in the airport the next morning, and on the flight home, where my seatmate turned out to be an L.A. friend--the son of my late mother's best friend.

At home, seven long hours later, I checked my e-mail (yes, I'm addicted) and found a Google alert: The Jewish Press had picked up an interview that first ran in the Jerusalem Post.

And on my doorstep was a box containing copies of the November issue of World Jewish Digest that featured my essay about my late father ("Last Dance").

Rockland County Rocks

Sometimes an evening turns out to be more powerful and special than you imagined. That's what happened last Wednesday at the program I participated in for the Rockland County JCCY, a program put together by book fair chairperson Micki Leader.

Wednesday I did my morning interview, promoting my talk at the JCCY.  I shared air time with Phil Rosenthal, an investigator (and the inspiration) for the Rockland County Sheriff's Computer Crime Task Force, whom I had met over the phone a fews days before.

Phil  gave excellent on-air advice to parents:

Don't allow your teen to have a computer in his or her bedroom. Place the computer in the family room.

Buy a program that will allow you to track your teen's on-line activities--chat rooms, IM pals, sites that he or she visits.

If your child shuts off the computer when you pass by, worry.

Phil and his colleague, Shlomo Koenig, also with the sheriff's task force, were on my panel that night, along with William Lashner, whose book Falls the Shadow you should all read. It's a terrific legal thriller, and Bill's protagonist, Victor Carl, has a unique voice. And then there's Bob....

Bill and I talked about teens at risk in our novels, about how predators are democratic and affect all people, on all socio-economic levels. We talked about our protagonists, who take on responsibilities toward others--sometimes with reluctance.

Phil and Shlomo walk the walk. They are both Orthodox Jews--unlikely investigators. Phil, orignially from Chatanooga, hid a gun in his sock in high school to protect himself against Klu Klux Klan classmates who threatened him. Shlomo wears the traditional Chasidic peyot (sidelocks). Both go online and pose as fourteen year old boys or girls to catch online predators.

The good news: They have a hundred per cent conviction rate.

The bad news: According to Phil and Shlomo, for every predator they nab and put away, there are thousands out there.

So, where is your teen's computer?

If It's Monday...

Right now I'm sitting at a desk in a hotel in West Bloomfield, Michigan, a suburb of Detroit, and it's the first time I've had in weeks to blog.

Last Monday(it seems like a month ago) I flew to New York  for the first part of my book tour for NOW YOU SEE ME... My husband, bless his heart, upgraded me to business class, so I was able to stretch my legs while I spent several enjoyable hours working puzzles in the Will Shortz book (Easy to Hard) that his publisher sent me. By now the "easy" are too, well, easy, and the moderate are doable. Most of the time.  I still make the occasional error, and have to erase and start again. Sometimes, on the easy ones.

My seatmate, a New York transplant who is building a house in Los Feliz and thinking of moving back to New Yorik, works as a commercial agent (he connects celebrities with brand merchandise).  He gave me a sample of his Norma Kamali hand cream (nice!). We talked about Norma and Walmart and commiserated over our rodent problems, though his are in the past. When he was a kid, he convinced his parents to let him attend a Jewish school for a few years  (he's Catholic) because most of the neighborhood was Jewish. And that explains why his pronunciation of Jewish words was perfect. He also told me that Sarah Jessica Parker's new fragrance, Lovely, isn't. And that the you can buy Norma Kamali fragrances only at her Manhattan store. So it's still Poeme for me. And Paris.

After landing in JFK, I took a cab to Manhattan. The fare, with the tip, was $50. My cabby didn't have change of a hundred (somehow the twenties I thought I had in my wallet had disappeared). Well, he did have change - thirty singles,  and several rolls of quarters. When I was less than excited, he was nice enough to stop at a bank and change the hundred. Who says New York cabbies aren't gems?

I spent Monday night with Martha, a college classmate in the Upper West Side. I lived in the neighborhood with four roommates after I graduated from Stern College, in a five-bedroom apartment on 81st and West End Avenue--with a foyer the size of a living room, a butler's panty, huge dining and living rooms...all for $400 a month.

You could cry. You probably are crying.

My publicist met me outside Martha's West End Avenue lobby at 8:00, and we walked three blocks to Amsterdam and 84th, where I was to tape an interview with Zev Brenner, who hosts Talkline. Zev is in between studios, so we met at an Internet store (is that the right word?)---a perfect setting, since NOW YOU SEE ME... deals with teens at risk and focuses on a high school senior who runs off with a man she meets in a chat room. It took some time to position the cameras and transform the store into a "studio." And they had to iron out some glitches -- someone from the Asian restaurant across the street asked Zev's cameraman to adjust the lights, which were disturbing some of the diners. While I waited to tape the show, I logged onto the Internet and checked my e-mail. By the time we finished taping, it was close to 11. One of Zev's staff drove me home. He told me he was with the New York police, his girlfriend did stand-up comedy, and he warned me not to walk at night by myself. I promised I wouldn't.

Tuesday I did a drop-in signing at the Black Orchid and caught up with Bonnie Claeson, the store's wonderful owner. I generally sign at the other Manhattan mystery book stores, but one store had sold all their copies of Now You See Me..., and the other two stores don't have trade paperbacfks signed. Oh, well. Bonnie told me the book is doing extremely well, and that's why trade paperback, right? Right.

Later that afternoon I taped a radio interview in one of the conference rooms at Random House. From there a cab took me to Annie Chen Restaurant in Fresh Meadows (that's in Queens), where I gave a talk for AMIT. I had eaten almost nothing the entire day--a few strawberries in the morning, two cups of coffee, a handful of trail mix and two pieces of chocolate from Weisz Jewelers on 47th Street, where I had a ring repaired while I waited. So by the time I arrived at the restaurant, I was hungry. And the food was delicious. Especially the wanton soup, and the buffalo wings. I had seconds.

A great evening, and not just because of the buffalo wings. I saw people I'd met before, and made new friends, one of whom drove me back to Manhattan, where I hurriedly packed my bags, said goodbye to Martha, and left for Rockland County. It was after midnight when I checked into a spacious room at the Nanuet hotel, a newly remodeled Comfort Inn that isn't your typical Comfort Inn. I checked in with my husband and kids back in L.A., talked to my brother, finished a sudoku puzzle. I asked for a 7 AM wake-up call -- I had a radio interview at 7:15 in the morning.

And off to bed.

More tomorrow...

First Quill Awards

PW Daily reports on the results of the 2005  Quill Book Awards:

Jon Stewart and J.K. Rowling were the big winners at last night's first-ever Quill Awards, each taking home two prizes. Rowling's Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince was voted the book of the year by the reading public and also won in the children's chapter book/middle grade category. Stewart's America (The Book) won in the humor category, while the audio edition of the book topped the voting in the audio category.

Stewart's opening monologue poked fun at the idea of the Quills, observing that it took a long time to combine the glamour of literature with the gravitas of an awards show. He even had advice for first time authors: "Get your own TV show." Comedian Robert Klein was also on hand, bemoaning the fact that now that he is finally a published author (The Amorous Busboy of Decatur Avenue: A Child of the Fifties Looks Back), "people have stopped reading."

And the winners, as posted on the Quill site, are:

Book of the Year - presented by Brian Williams
Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince
J.K. Rowling, Mary GrandPré (Illustrator)
Arthur Levine/Scholastic

Debut Author of the Year - presented by Kim Cattrall
The Historian
Elizabeth Kostova
Little Brown & Company

Audio Book - presented by Tony Roberts
The Daily Show with Jon Stewart Presents America: A Citizen's Guide to Democracy Inaction
Jon Stewart and the Writers of the Daily Show
Time Warner AudioBooks

Children's Illustrated Book - presented by Elmo
Runny Babbit: A Billy Sook
Shel Silverstein
HarperCollins Children's Books

Children's Chapter Book/Middle Grade - presented by Jules Feiffer
Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince
J.K. Rowling, Mary GrandPré (Illustrator)
Arthur Levine/Scholastic

Young Adult/Teen - presented by Anthony Rapp
Girls in Pants: The Third Summer of the Sisterhood
Ann Brashares
Delacorte Press

General Fiction - presented by Erica Jong
The Mermaid Chair
Sue Monk Kidd
Viking Press

Graphic Novel - presented by Jonathan Lethem
Marvel 1602 Volume I
Neil Gaiman, Andy Kubert, and Richard Isanove
Marvel Comics

Mystery/Suspense/Thriller - presented by Stephen J. Cannell and Annie Parisse
Eleven on Top
Janet Evanovich
St. Martin's Press

Poetry - presented by Robert Klein
Let America Be America Again: And Other Poems
Langston Hughes
Vintage Books

Romance - presented by Candace Bushnell
44 Cranberry Point
Debbie Macomber
Mira Books

Science Fiction/Fantasy/Horror - presented by Tamara Tunie
The Stupidest Angel: A Heartwarming Tale of Christmas Terror
Christopher Moore
William Morrow & Company

Religion/Spirituality - presented by Matthew Modine
Peace is the Way: Bringing War and Violence to an End
Deepak Chopra
Harmony

Biography/Memoir - presented by Nick Hornby
Chronicles: Volume One
Bob Dylan
Simon & Schuster

Business - presented by Maria Bartiromo
Freakonomics: A Rogue Economist Explores the Hidden Side of Everything
Steven D. Levitt and Stephen J. Dubner
William Morrow & Company

Cooking - presented by Rocco DeSpirito
Rachel Ray's 30-Minute Get Real Meals: Eat Healthy Without Going to Extremes
Rachael Ray
Clarkson Potter

Health/Self Improvement - presented by Dr. Joyce Brothers
He's Just Not That Into You: The No-Excuses Truth to Understanding Guys
Greg Behrendt and Liz Tuccillo
Simon Spotlight Entertainment

History/Current Events/Politics - presented by Tony LoBianco
1776
David McCullough
Simon & Schuster

Humor - presented by Dave Barry and Ridley Pearson
The Daily Show with Jon Stewart Presents America: A Citizen's Guide to Democracy Inaction
Jon Stewart and the Writers of the Daily Show
Warner Books

Sports - presented by Len Berman
Faithful: Two Diehard Boston Red Sox Fans Chronicle the Historic 2004 Season
Stewart O'Nan and Stephen King
Scribner

PW Daily adds that an edited version of the more than four-hour event will be shown on 14 NBC Universal-owned and -operated stations October 22 from 7-8 p.m.

That's a Friday night, so unless I get my daughter or son to TIVO the program, I'm out of luck.

I have to get TIVO....

Westward WeHo

I promised I'd report about the fourth annual West Hollywood Book Fair, which took place Sunday, October 2, in San Vicente Park--across the street from the Blue Whale, a huge building that houses interior design companies.

The weather was mild--much milder than it had been several days before, when the Santa Ana winds pushed the temperature into the 90s. I found the Green Room (they're never green) and finally met Corey Roskin, who organized the book fair (last year we kept missing each other).

I also reconnected with Adreana Robbins (daughter of the late Harold Robbins, I just discovered tonight when I Googled her). Adreana had published her first novel, Paris Never Leaves You, when I first met her at my book signing for Blues in the Night at Barnes & Noble in the Grove several years ago. Now she was moderating a panel of first novelists.

My first stop was the Southern California Mystery Writers of America booth, where I spent an enjoyable hour handing out literature about MWA to a number of people who stopped by, and getting to know my fellow booth-sitter, Nancy Meyer.

My panel was next--"Gals with Guns,"  with Linda Palmer, Naomi Hirahara, Taylor Smith, and Carolyn Wheat. Linda did an excellent job moderating, and the audience seemed engaged. Interesting note: Naomi, who incorporates Japanese words in her mysteries, decided not to include a glossary. I do have a glossary at the back of all four Molly Blume books. At the same time, I try to make the words understood through their context.

Following the panel, we all signed at Mystery & Imagination. From where we were sitting, I could hear Jan Burke interviewing Christopher Rice (son of Anne Rice). Lots of laughter, lots of applause. After that I signed at the Mystery Bookstore booth.

Highlights of my day:

Meeting my fellow writers and new-to-me readers.

Visiting with one of my favorite librarians, Pearl Yonezawa, who told me about her forthcoming trip to Wales.

A man wearing a tropical-design shirt stopped by the MWA booth--apparently to tell Nancy and me the name of his book. He then informed us, in unnecessary detail, that he needed to use the restroom--or else.

Another man with bleached blond hair approached, took a comb from his pants pocket, ran it through his hair, and said, "See you."

So "Kookie" Ed Burns, and yet not.

What Are the Odds...?

...that, during a talk for a Hadassah chapter in Carmel Valley (north of San Diego), when you happen to mention that you'll be doing an online video chat with a book group meeting at a pubilc library in Lima, Ohio--someone in the audience tells you she's from Lima, Ohio?

...that less than a minute after you finish doing an interview with a reporter from Atlanta Jewish Life , you receive an e-mail from a reader in Atlanta?

...that a Minneapolis-based visitor to screenwriter/novelist Robert Avrech's alternately heartwarming and heart-rending blog (Seraphic Secret) noticed his kind mention of the mass market release of my Molly Blume mystery, Grave Endings--because she had just read in a school newsletter about my upcoming November ninth visit to Minneapolis?

I love when that happens.

Don't you?

Kvetching Along

Another book on Yiddishsims to add to my collection:

Michael Wex's Born To Kvetch. People had a brief write-up a while back, and William Grimes gives a detailed review in today's New York Times:

Mr. Wex, a Yiddish translator, university teacher, novelist and stand-up comic, has many such examples up his sleeve, but "Born to Kvetch" is much more than a greatest-hits collection of colorful Yiddish expressions. It is a thoughtful inquiry into the religious and cultural substrata of Yiddish, the underlying harmonic structure that allows the language to sing, usually in a mournful minor key.

Yiddish is the language par excellence of complaint. How could it be otherwise? It took root among Jews scattered across Western Europe during the Middle Ages and evolved over centuries of persecution and transience. It is, Mr. Wex writes, "the national language of nowhere," the medium of expression for a people without a home. "Judaism is defined by exile, and exile without complaint is tourism," as Mr. Wex neatly puts it.

To be Jewish, in other words, is to kvetch. If the Rolling Stones' "(I Can't Get No) Satisfaction" had been translated into Yiddish, Mr. Wex writes, "it would have been called '(I Love to Keep Telling You That I Can't Get No) Satisfaction (Because Telling You That I'm Not Satisfied Is All That Can Satisfy Me).' "

Read the entire review. And check out the author's web site, where you'll find excerpts from the chapters. Like Chapter One: Kvetch Que C'est?

Sounds  "ge'shmack."