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Cyber Monday Website Extravaganza!!!


New pages! New covers! Music! Prizes!

Er, actually, I don’t know about the prizes. I guess I would have to have a contest of some sort for that. Any suggestions? I have an autographed copy of ROCK PAPER TIGER I could kick in.

What I definitely do have is a lovely revamped website to reveal! Check it out! lisabrackmann.com! Yes, you may have been here before, but it’s newer! Shinier! And multi-media-rrific!

From the books page you can navigate to the page that’s all about my upcoming novel, GETAWAY (hmmm, maybe an ARC of that. What do you think, Soho Press?). You can also check out the grand reveal of YEAR OF THE TIGER, which is ROCK PAPER TIGER in British! (my UK editor hastens to add that the actual cover will have “blingin’ gold foil” on it—I can’t wait!…hmmm, maybe a copy of YEAR OF THE TIGER would make a nice prize…I don’t have one yet, but I will…)

Finally, something completely different…music! Yes, actual MP3-quality music! Written and sung by me! (and played by some truly talented musicians)

Many thanks to my wonderful web designer, Ryan McLaughlin of Dao by Design for his typically fantastic job!

Returning to Earth…

(cross-posted on my blog, included here for the photos!)

Greetings! Okay, that was a longer posting hiatus than I’d intended. But I think I’ve taken my last major out of town trip for the year, so, time for a catch-up.

Bouchercon was awesome! What can I say? All the cliches about how writers spend all this time alone in front of computers, talking to themselves in character, then getting let out and getting together en masse, and there are parties, and a bar?









Okay, well, it’s possible that there may be some truth to these cliches.

I had a wonderful time. I have to say, hanging out with the Soho Criminals is something I would love to do more than once a year. What a great bunch of folks all around! I’m only sorry that I missed the bowling tournament. Next time, I swear…

Also, I really enjoyed St. Louis. Let it be known that for all the travel I’ve done in China, I have barely been anywhere in huge swathes of the United States, the midwest in particular. I was pleasantly surprised by a lot of what I saw — the downtown still shows a lot of signs of economic distress, but they are trying. So many lovely old buildings being repurposed and so many more waiting to be revamped and enjoyed. There are good restaurants and bars—

(this is The Bridge Tap House)

—a wonderful bookstore, Left Bank Books (and while I’m on the subject of bookstores, another great one there is Big Sleep Books)

—the amazing Old Post Office


—and of course, the Arch!

Everybody told me I needed to see the Arch, and that moreover, I should watch the documentary they show there on the making of it called MONUMENT TO THE DREAM (here’s a trailer).

“Everybody,” in this case, was right. The Arch impressed me on many levels. I loved the simple, elegant design. Loved the weird, diver-capsule-like elevators that haul you to the top. And the view is wonderful.

The documentary, too, was fascinating, focusing on the tremendous design and engineering challenges the Arch posed, and the impressive work of the builders and crew in meeting those challenges.

Watching it was unexpectedly poignant. It reinforced some things I’d been thinking about, a lot. We no longer seem to build great things in this country, not like that. We don’t build factories, universities, high speed rail, infrastructure—we can’t even maintain what we have.

We sure don’t build grand and beautiful monuments.

In my passing through Saint Louis, especially when I took the train to the airport, I saw so many shuttered factories…beautiful red brick buildings. Empty. Stripped of their useful machinery, the remains of it rusting.

Plenty of people have warned about the dangers of basing too much of an economy on FIRE: “Finance, Insurance & Real Estate,” and I’d add to that, “Empire.” Our economic crash and prolonged recession/depression would seem to be proof enough, though in truth, if you look at the growth of income disparity over the last thirty years, it’s a crisis that’s been years in the making. But with the crash, we can’t hide from the truth any more, that we’re living in an empire in decline.

It’s a good thing, to be out of denial, and as hard as the forces of reaction and repression continue to push their “divide, conquer and privatize” agenda, the public dialog has changed, and they know it. We can thank Wisconsin and Occupy Wall Street for that, for giving voice to what so many people have experienced and discussed in private, or even publicly, but without a rallying point to give our voices traction. It’s no longer possible for pundits to sputter unopposed about “the left and class warfare” when it’s now abundantly clear who has been waging war on whom.

Anyway, I have more catching up to do, but I think this is enough for one post…

Bouchercon!

But first…

The West Hollywood Book Fair is coming up on Sunday, Oct. 2nd. I’ll be there on a panel with some wonderful authors: Dianne Dixon, Tim Hallinan, Ryan David Jahn, and Thomas Perry, moderated by Wendy Hornsby. Our panel, on literary thrillers, is at 11:30, but there are great panels and events going on all day, and it’s free! If you’re in the Los Angeles area, I hope you’ll stop by.

Now, where was I?


Right! The Bouchercon! Bouchercon 2011 is in St. Louis, a city I’ve never visited. I hear they have great barbecue…

I’m on two panels, the first on Thursday at 4 PM, “SEMPER FIDELIS-Landmark 1,2,3 Crime fiction & the military. Where the two meet. Matthew C. Funk (M), B. Kent Anderson, James R. Benn, me, Martin Limon, Charles Todd,” the second on Saturday at 1 PM, “NEVER LET ME GO-Majestic A,B,C Passport to murder. Peter Rozovsky (M), Lisa Brackmann, Roger Ellory, David Hewson, Martin Limon, Anne Zouroudi.” My wonderful publisher, Soho Press, is also hosting a cocktail party on Friday at 4:30, to introduce Lene Kaaberbol and Angnete Friis, authors of the international bestseller THE BOY IN THE SUITCASE—I’ve read it, and it’s an awesome book! I’m told there will be ARCs for some lucky guests. And I’ll be manning the International Thriller Writers booth on Friday from 12:30 – 2:30.

I’m so looking forward to seeing old friends and meeting some new—if you’re attending, feel free to tweet me!

Now I just need to get Shack by the Sea ready for my house-sitters…

ETA: New Event!

Just added—I’ll be at the Paragraph Party hosted by Left Bank Books. Check out this lineup: “Chelsea Cain will be the Mistress of Ceremonies for the evening, and paragraph-reading guests include Cara Black, Tasha Alexander, Eoin Colfer, Deon Meyer, Daniel Woodrell, James Benn, Peter James, Stuart Neville, Paul Doiron, Marcia Clark, Martin Limon, Dana Haynes, Leighton Gage, D.E. Johnson, Lisa Brackman, Gianrico Carofiglio, Judith Rock, and Nancy Means Wright.” We’ll all be reading a paragraph, just one, from our latest work. And then we’ll sit around, sign books, chat and drink beer, because the party’s being held at the Bridge Tap House & Wine Bar. How cool is that?

Upcoming Events!

This has been a busy year for me, both travel and event-wise. I just got back from New York (fantastic!) and I haven’t even written about my trip to Ashland yet (awesome!). But before I sit down to write anything complicated, here are the rest of July’s events (more detailed information on the calendar):

July 14: I’m at the Wiseburn Library in Hawthorne, 7 PM, with a bunch of awesome mystery authors from Sisters in Crime—Eric Stone, Hannah Dennison and Jeri Westerson—authors’ books will be on hand courtesy of Debbie Mitsch’s wonderful Mystery Ink! We’ll be discussing the use of foreign settings in crime fiction, outsider versus insider protagonists, historicals, research, accessibility, and, you know, a lot of cool stuff!

July 20: I’ll be discussing SAN DIEGO NOIR at the San Diego Central Library at 6:30 PM, along with editor Maryelizabeth Hart and contributors Jeffrey J. Mariotte, Martha C. Lawrence, Ken Kuhlken, and Diane Clark!

July 22: I’ll be at the San Diego Comic Con on a panel discussion of “Crime as modern morality tales” at 12:30 PM with so many authors I don’t know if I should even try to list them but what the hell…

“Max Allan Collins (Kiss Her Goodbye, The Nate Heller series), Barbara Collins (Antiques Knock-Off), Jeff Mariotte (CSI: The Burning Season), Diane Clark and Astrid Bear (San Diego Noir), Gar Anthony Haywood (Cemetery Road), Gary Phillips (Angeltown), Paul Malmont (The Astounding, the Amazing, and the Unknown), Lisa Brackmann (Rock, Paper, Tiger), and Gregg Hurwitz (You’re Next) explore the dark streets of imagination with San Diego Noir editor Maryelizabeth Hart. Room 8”

And we’ll all be signing in the autograph room after that.

Finally, rounding out my July, on July 30 I’ll be signing and chatting at the Manhattan Beach Barnes & Noble, from noon till 2 PM? Ish? We get tired? Not sure.

As for August, I plan on sleeping. A lot.

Off to New York!

My house and cats are in the hands of a sitter, and I’m heading for NYC shortly on a red eye*, the excuse being that ROCK PAPER TIGER was nominated for Best First Novel in the Strand Magazine Critics Awards, and they’re throwing a party. I really don’t expect to win (I mean, look who I’m up against!) but I’m thrilled to be in such fine company.

This will be my first trip to New York in years, and certainly my first trip as a published author. I figure, I’m getting a bit of a late start on this career, and I want to enjoy every moment of it. Well, the moments that don’t involve obsessive angst over comma placement and “like” versus “as if.”

I’ll be meeting with writer friends I know only from the interwebz, and I hope to visit some of the fine people I work with at Curtis Brown and Soho Press. Plus do a fair amount of strolling and sidewalk cafe sampling.

Can’t wait!

(*my eyes are already soooo red from the copy edits)

New SAN DIEGO NOIR Events! (and off to Oregon!)

I’m doing a couple more events for SAN DIEGO NOIR — the first at the wonderful Bay Books in Coronado on June 23rd, the second at the Ocean Beach Branch of the San Diego Public Library on June 25—I don’t have a time for that yet, but since it’s Saturday, I’m assuming during the day.

Two things writing this brief post made me think about…

First, independent bookstores are awesome. You’ve probably heard me say that before. I had such a great time at the Mysterious Galaxy Birthday Bash—an event like this, where literally hundreds of loyal customers turned out to celebrate Mysterious Galaxy, its role in the community, in bringing authors and readers and books together, really brings home the value of local bookstores. Bay Books is another San Diego treasure—an absolutely lovely store on a charming street that’s well-worth a visit and a stroll.

Second, libraries are awesome. And you’ve probably heard me say this as well. I just did a quick scroll through the San Diego Public Library’s events calendar. My event isn’t posted yet, but have a look anyway. The incredible diversity of the offerings is something we should all be celebrating. Libraries are repositories of our collective knowledge and aspirations, and they are centers of community—the values and resources that we hold in common. The opportunities that libraries provide all citizens, particularly those who are poor and struggling, are absolutely invaluable.

We’re living in a tough time, and it’s more than the bad economy. I’d call it an almost spiritual crisis (and I’m not religious). It’s a collapse of the notion that we have a commons, places that belong to all of us, that we all support and that support us in times of need. Libraries, parks, schools, wilderness: all these are a part of our commons, things that shouldn’t belong to individuals, but to all of us, and to our children and their children to come.

(I’d add in health care, a social safety net and a secure retirement, but I am trying to step off my soapbox, so…)

Er, Oregon. First stop on June 7, Powell’s! After that, Klamath Falls, Ashland and Medford! Check my events calendar for information…hope to see some of you along the way…

Oregon in June! And San Diego next week!

I’ll be doing a few events in Oregon in early June, including the world-famous Powell’s Books in Portland on June 7. I’ll also be in Ashland and Klamath Falls — more details to come, but here’s a link to the wonderful organization who is sponsoring my Ashland leg, the Ashland Mystery Readers Group. Events there are scheduled for June 10th and June 11th.

I’m really excited about this! I have never been to Oregon, and it’s past time to remedy this situation.

For those of you in the San Diego area, as mentioned, I’ll be at the fabulous Mysterious Galaxy Bookstore’s 18th Birthday Bash on Saturday, May 14, along with a whole bunch of authors signing Akashic Book’s latest Noir release, San Diego Noir. There are signings going on all day, and cake! Mysterious Galaxy is a fantastic indie bookstore, and those of you in the San Diego who haven’t been there are missing out—what better time to visit?

(for details, addresses, directions, times, etc., just check the events calendar)

San Diego Noir!

Noir Kitty

My next book…

Because I am into instant gratification, because I’m also sort of lazy, or distracted, or in a hurry…I’ve had a tendency lately to announce big news on my Facebook author page. The beauty of this is that it automatically tweets out to my Twitter feed, and yeah, I’m weirdly addicted to Twitter (SEE: evidence of my short attention span, above).

Anyway, it seems to me that major news merits its own blog post, even an abbreviated one. And that selling my second novel to Soho Press is major news.

Here are a couple of announcements about the deal, on Publishers Marketplace (under “Thrillers”) and Publishers Weekly.

If you’ve been following my blog, guest posts, tweets, or eavesdropping on my random conversations, then you already know how much I’ve enjoyed working with Soho, what a great job I think they’ve done with ROCK PAPER TIGER and just how all-around awesome I think they are as a press and as a collection of human beings. I’m thrilled to have the opportunity to work with them on my next book, which will be published in early 2012.

And which still needs a title, other than “The Book That Tried To KILL Me™” All suggestions cheerfully welcomed!

Coming Soon, to an MP3 Player Near You!

I’m very pleased to announce that Audible has acquired ROCK PAPER TIGER for a future audio book release. More details as I get them. But can I just say, I am totally entertained by the notion of someone else reading my book aloud?