The Genius by Jesse Kellerman

First Line: In the beginning, I behaved badly.

New York City gallery owner Ethan Muller has been tipped off that one of the tenants in a building has disappeared, leaving behind some very strange, very original artwork. When Muller goes to take a look, he is-- quite simply-- blown away by the originality of the art... and its potential for making a lot of money.

When the art goes on display in Muller's gallery, it draws the attention of the police because the subjects of the pictures look exactly like the victims in a cold case from several years ago. 

Ethan begins receiving letters telling him to stop displaying the art, and he and the police both think that the missing tenant is either the link to a murderer-- or the murderer himself.

When I begin reading a book, the only real expectation I have is that it will be good. I don't care how it gets me to the Land of Good, I just want that to be my destination. Unfortunately my train to the Promised Land was shunted off on a siding and never made it to the end of the line when I read The Genius.

The Genius is more family saga than thriller. Criminal investigation in this book is not all glitz, glamour, action, and suspense. Here it's quite a hard slog to get to the answers. The premise-- who is the missing-- brilliant if eccentric-- artist named Victor Cracke is the one thing that kept me going clear to the end of this book. The only thing I really found interesting was the background information provided on the cutthroat art world. All the characters left me cold.

When I finally learned the identity of Victor Cracke, I discovered that I'd been led in, through, and out of the (to me) tired story of a rags-to-riches family who covered up and denied much in order to retain its veneer of respectability-- at great cost to those who needed its love and protection the most. It was a story that I just was not in the mood for in any size, shape, or form. There are times when I have no patience whatsoever for the type of people Kellerman's story was all about. This was one of those times-- which means your mileage most certainly will vary!
 

The Genius by Jesse Kellerman

ISBN: 9780515146059

Jove Books © 2009

Paperback, 560 pages

Thriller, Standalone

Rating: D

Source: Paperback Swap 

At The Poisoned Pen with Faye, Jonathan & Jesse Kellerman!

It's a rare occasion when Denis and I aren't the first ones at an author event at The Poisoned Pen, but this was an exception. After all, it's not often that the writing Kellermans-- Faye, Jonathan, and Jesse-- make an appearance together here. I'd had a feeling that this was going to be one of those standing-room-only nights, and I was right. The staff hadn't even finished putting out all the chairs before people were pouncing on the ones they wanted to reserve.

Happy Birthday!

Happy 25th Birthday to The Poisoned Pen!

Since the next day was Yom Kippur (Friday, October 3), owner and host Barbara Peters decided that The Poisoned Pen would celebrate its 25th birthday a day early, and two cakes were brought out for everyone to enjoy. (I never got a chance to see the kosher one.) Denis enjoyed his slice of cake; I declined mine because I wasn't willing to discover how good I was at juggling notepad, pen, camera, cake, napkin, and fork. I may not be a cook, but even I know that would've been a recipe for disaster!

While the cake was being cut, Barbara told us about the open house that would be held on Friday, December 12 from 4 to 8 PM to celebrate this very important birthday. Open to all, and with plenty of food and drink, there are also going to be special appearances by Diana Gabaldon, James Sallis (and his band), Dana Stabenow, Jenn McKinlay, Donis Casey, Betty Webb, Eileen Brady, and many other authors. Even though I'm sad that Denis won't be able to attend, I know where I'll be that evening!

"Read this, you'll hate it."

L to R: Faye Kellerman, Barbara Peters, Jonathan Kellerman, Jesse Kellerman

Barbara introduced her guests by saying that it had been six years since all three of them had appeared at The Poisoned Pen together, and that Jonathan and Jesse were the only father and son to be nominated for an Edgar Award. 

Faye spoke first, telling us that she had always been a storyteller, even as a child. When she and her family would visit her grandparents, Faye would be so full of stories that her grandmother would ask, "Is this child normal?" As Faye was growing up, they discovered that she was phonetically dyslexic, which means that she had trouble reading and spelling because she couldn't break words down into their sound parts. She did find out that she has a natural affinity for math, and she eventually went into dentistry. 

Jonathan Kellerman

While Jonathan was a psychologist for many years, Faye learned that she hated dentistry and began writing at home while their children were napping. One day when Jonathan had their third child snoozing on his shoulder, Faye thrust a manuscript at him, saying, "Read this, you'll hate it!" Jonathan said, "It was one of those moments. Why should she be a writer? She's the math genius. I'm going to hate it. How am I going to tell her? We're going to have a big fight. This is not where you want to be! I started reading it, and it was really very good. I had known Faye for thirteen years, and I never knew she had any writing talent at all. It was freaky. I told her, 'Honey, this is really good!' and she said, 'No, you're just saying that," and we had a big fight. But I finally convinced her and I called my agent. My agent loved it, and she got published right away. Neither one of us came from a writing background, neither of us was encouraged to write, yet here we both are making a living from it."

Nature or Nurture?

Barbara wanted to know Jesse's experience. "Were you sort of compelled into writing? You began as a playwright, isn't that correct?"

Jesse Kellerman

"I wouldn't say that I was compelled," Jesse replied. "People frequently ask is it nature or nurture, and obviously it's a bit of both. The way I look at it is that every family has its own language, and our family's is a very story-driven language. It's how we understand the world. 

"I have a son who's five, and he runs around telling stories. He recently dictated a short story to me. He's in pre-school, and they have them keep journals. Most of the journals are what you would expect from pre-schoolers. They're incoherent and all over the place. My son's are very linear; they have a plot. One of the parents of another pre-schooler came up to me and said, 'Your son seems to have a better grasp of plot than the other children.'  I don't know if it's because that's just the way my son is or because of the way I talk to him."

"When you talk about the nature-nurture," Jonathan said, "I love to tell this story. My first novel was published in 1985, and Jesse was born in 1978, so he was seven, and during that time I was a psychologist. He didn't see me as a writer. But when he was three years old, he came to me and said, 'I wrote a story, write it down!' And he started to dictate stuff to me. So clearly it was biological-- and with two parents! It's like with Stephen and Tabitha King who have two kids who are very good writers. I think we understand that when it comes to sports it can run in families, and with math... and now maybe with writing in some cases."

Barbara Peters enjoying the evening.

"Sometimes when people ask me I like to say it's because we all share a genetic aversion to normal employment," Jesse said, which made everyone in the room break into laughter. 

As I looked around, all I saw were smiles. Everyone was enjoying themselves so much, and it was such a wonderful thing to see. 

Dentistry as preparation for bodies and victims...

"There's one more thing I wanted to bring up before we start talking about the plots of your books," said Barbara Peters, looking at Faye. "I was visiting your website, and you were saying that dentistry prepared you for the human body and victims because you had to study gross anatomy in order to be a dentist."

Faye Kellerman

"Dentistry not only allowed me to look at a body, and a dead body, from the inside out," Faye said, "what dentistry really did for me more than even taught me about science which is good in and of itself, it taught me how to be organized. When you go in for any sort of procedure, the last thing you want is to have your dentist or doctor start fumbling for an instrument. I approach my writing in pretty much the same way. I lay out everything I need to do my writing, I look at my outline, I go over the work I did the day before-- I'm very, very organized. And of course knowing the body from the inside out when they discuss something, I can actually visualize it because I have done gross anatomy."

As a psychologist, Jonathan worked in a hospital for many years, in oncology and he was the head of the psych program for the Children's Hospital of Los Angeles. "I saw a lot of human experience," Jonathan said. "I got involved with the criminal justice system as an expert witness. I had a very interesting time in psychiatry, and I was privileged-- without ever planning it-- to be thrust into all sorts of experiences and to meet people from all walks of life. It was a tremendously enriching experience in what they now call diversity."

It was when he entered private practice that Jonathan became interested in the hard-boiled California crime writers of the previous generation-- in particular Ross MacDonald. When he read MacDonald, he thought, "Whoa, psycho-pathology in Southern California. I can do this!"  

Murder 101

When Barbara Peters read Faye Kellerman's Murder 101, she thought it was a fascinating book because the author had decided to shake things up. Decker has retired, and he and Lazarus have moved back to New York state. The area is accustomed to routine small town crime, and it's now being faced with solving a murder. Faye also brings in a youthful element.

Available Now!

"When you have series characters, you've written them a certain way, and you can't change that," Faye said. "What you can do is to put them in different situations and see how they respond, and that's what I've done here. Putting them in a small town also allows Rina to take on more roles that wouldn't have been appropriate in Los Angeles, and Pete can also become a mentor. It was so much fun. First of all, since they moved back East I got to allow them to wear winter coats. You here in Arizona will understand! So there's a change of season, a change of atmosphere, and a change of architecture."

Barbara brought in the Louis Comfort Tiffany angle and the high number of pieces he did for mausoleums. Most of his work is religious. Stained glass for churches and synagogues, mosaic works.... In doing research, Faye discovered that there is a lot of theft in graveyards-- urns, monuments... all the way to edgers and lawnmowers.

The Golem of Hollywood

The Golem of Hollywood is a joint writing venture of Jonathan and Jesse. The Golem began as a Jewish myth, but is now universal, having been used as the basis for novels like Frankenstein and even appearing in The Lord of the Rings.

Jonathan Kellerman loves writing the Alex Delaware novels, but he is a writer and once in a while he wants to do something different. During a trip to Prague, he was inspired to use the Golem as the basis for a novel with more supernatural elements. He didn't know if anyone was going to like it, but he wanted to try. One evening at the dinner table, he asked Jesse if he would want to write the book with him. Originally Jesse wanted his father to write the entire novel, but he soon came on board whole-heartedly.

Available Now!

Everything looks favorable, and The Golem of Paris will be out next year, but there's always some skepticism when established writers do something different. Jonathan sent the novel to Stephen King, who read it and three days later sent Kellerman an email of praise, saying that he could recognize both writers' voices in the book.

"I loved the premise when Dad told me about it. He was basically ego-less during the entire writing process," Jesse said.

Burned-out LA detective Jacob Lev is at the heart of the novel. He is a loner, a tortured soul, and Jonathan knew he didn't want to write this solo because it was going to be a big book.  "At the core, this book is a crime novel," Jonathan said. "Writing with Jesse was something I couldn't do until he'd had his own success. It was a wonderful collaboration that was done through a long series of emails since Jesse lives in a different city."

Jonathan then went on to say, "Writing is proprietary. Your novel is the next closest thing to your child. That's why we get so mad when we get a bad review; it's like someone insulting your kid! But you have to start out completely differently in a collaboration."

Faye Kellerman and Barbara Peters

Faye then insisted on saying a couple of things about The Golem of Hollywood. "Jacob Lev is a great cop. He is driven, and I love driven characters! Also, I'd like to say something about the collaboration between these two. There is something magical that happens when two people who are blood related write together. There is a symphonic quality to the writing because there are genetic commonalities. That's what you have in this book. There are such smooth, beautiful transitions in the book that you would never ever think this was a collaboration. It sounds like one voice."   

"The book starts in Prague, then jumps to Los Angeles. Why LA?" asked Peters.

Jonathan laughed. "I love LA. It's what I know, plus the title is just so enticing!" 

The Poisoned Pen's event coordinator David Hunenberg wanted to know... what if Decker were the LA cop facing the Golem?

Jonathan replied, "It wouldn't happen. It was a twisted case that required a twisted guy."

Faye agreed. "The case chose Jacob," she said.

"We wanted to write a crime novel with supernatural elements, but also a romance. A cosmic, mega-romance," Jonathan said. "And we're very happy. Not only was the book chosen by the Book of the Month Club, it was also chosen as a selection by the Science Fiction Club, the Crime Club, and the Romance Club. So I think we did a decent job on that romance!" 

Next?

Faye's next book is A Seminar in Death, the follow-up to Murder 101. It dabbles a bit in theoretical mathematics, so-- at last-- Faye's talent in that area will be used.

As for Jonathan, he's currently working on The Golem of Paris with Jesse. He just finished the final editing on the next Alex Delaware novel which is called Motive and will be out next March. He was also inspired to write a non-Delaware crime novel titled The Murderer's Daughter which will come out next May. He's about 30% into yet another Delaware novel which will be out a year from this coming March and is called Breakdown-- "possibly the most psychological Delaware novel."  (I think we were all feeling a bit exhausted-- or at least had sympathetic writer's cramp-- listening to all this hard work!)

As for Jesse, "The Golem of Paris is taking all my time."

During a brief question and answer period, a woman asked how Jonathan and Jesse divided the work on The Golem of Hollywood. "I did the verbs," Jesse quipped, which brought down the house. Both men were conscious of trying to see through each other's eyes and of trying to write with each other's voice as they worked. 

"I respect Jesse tremendously as a writer," Jonathan said. "Actually many many times he did things I couldn't do. He's got tremendous talent. I'm very proud that he's my son, and it's a pleasure to work with him. That's a big kick when you can write with your son! It was just wonderful."

As the evening ended, all I could do was echo Jonathan: it was just wonderful.

{Link to the event on Livestream}

The 2012 Poisoned Pen Conference

Inside the Aztec Room at the Arizona Biltmore

Friday, July 13 was my very first Poisoned Pen Conference-- and my very first time visiting the Arizona Biltmore, so I was excited. Denis dropped me off right in front of the main entrance, and I had just enough time to get inside before the rain started bucketing down.

This year's sell-out conference was held in the Aztec Room, and I have to admit that I caught myself staring up at the walls and ceiling quite a bit before things started. The metallic paint glowed, the pre-cast concrete blocks and the supports cast intriguing shadows in what was originally the Wrigley family's movie room. Unfortunately, what set the architectural details off to good advantage was not optimal for photography, so I apologize in advance for the poor quality of the photos. (As I begin to tell my tale, you'll also become acquainted with the misbegotten water pitcher that kept trying to obscure the authors' faces....)

I barely had a chance to look around to see if two of my favorite Arizona book bloggers-- Gaye of Inside a Book and Lesa of Lesa's Book Critiques-- were present and accounted for when a lively bunch of ladies sat themselves down at my table and we all began to get acquainted. Before I knew it, the conference began. We were scheduled to meet three authors before noon, have lunch while Dana Stabenow talked to us about some of her research, and then meet four more authors in the afternoon. As hostess with the mostest, Poisoned Pen owner Barbara Peters began speaking, I kept my ears open while checking to make sure the camera worked and that my pen and notebook were at the ready.

~~~ Alex Kava ~~~

Alex Kava

The conference began by introducing me to Alex Kava, author of the Maggie O'Dell series about an FBI criminal profiler. (I haven't read any of her books...yet!) Peters told us that Alex has been coming to the Poisoned Pen for ten or eleven years-- once on her own dime. Alex smiled and said that her publisher originally thought that "book signings meant Super Savers and Wal-Marts" and that she'd once had her photograph taken with bags of charcoal in a huge stack behind her.

Kava told us that she's been learning as she goes along. In the beginning she'd never read series books, and she didn't want to write a series. She even found her main character, Maggie O'Dell, very annoying and didn't like her, although her friends told her that Maggie's irritating qualities bore an uncanny resemblance to Kava's own. Because she didn't like Maggie, Kava found it easy to put her in dangerous situations. It wasn't until an FBI agent told her that they (FBI agents) were real people with real lives that Kava began to see Maggie in a different light and begin to like her.

Kava's latest book, Fireproof, involves arson in Washington, DC, which means that Maggie O'Dell gets to stay home for a change. In doing research for the book, Kava discovered something very interesting. Washington, DC has a Mini Metro System that takes the homeless to sleep shelters out in the warehouse districts at night, then returns them to the city during the day where they can get food and other necessities.

The author then went on to tell us a bit about her writing process. She is self-taught, and when she began, she gave herself a deadline to write a book and a deadline to get it sold. She was teaching and had a newspaper route at the time, and she put her all in realizing those deadlines before it was time to give something else a try. She also talked about how difficult it is to write a standalone book within a series. To her, each book must stand on its own merits yet entice readers to read other books in the series. 

At one point Barbara Peters said, "You like things that go bang. I figure it's because you're from Nebraska and you're trying to liven things up." With quips like that-- and Kava's reactions to them-- we were laughing throughout Kava's talk.

~~~ Francine Mathews ~~~

Francine Mathews

Having recently read and loved Jack 1939, I was eager to meet the second author of the morning, Francine Mathews, who also writes under the name Stephanie Barron. She talked a bit about writing under two different names, since that is something about which most readers are curious.

Many authors do not stay with one publishing company throughout their careers, and-- listen to the convoluted thinking of publishers here-- when authors move on, Publisher B can often think that Publisher A "owns" the name the author wrote previous books under, and that if that name is kept and readers head for that author's backlist, Publisher B is helping Publisher A earn money. If they do think like that, it can very easily be a reason why an author begins to write under a different name. (Is that line of thought complicated enough for you?)

Mathews, a former CIA analyst, worked on the personality profiling of Eastern European leaders after the Berlin Wall fell. Three of the books she has written were CIA-specific and they had to be submitted to them for approval before they could be published. One of the joys of writing Jack 1939 for her was the fact that all the action occurs pre-CIA, so nothing had to be approved by the agency first.

The most fascinating part of Mathews' talk was listening to her describe her love of research ("This is why I write: to learn things"); how a little-known photograph or a gap in the historical record can fire her imagination to find alternative endings. When asked how much of Jack 1939 is fact and how much fiction, Mathews advised us, "If there's any doubt in your mind, regard it as fiction."

All too soon, time was up, and I had a list of book titles scribbled in my notebook!

~~~ Jesse Kellerman ~~~

Jesse Kellerman

The last author before lunch was Jesse Kellerman, son of writers Jonathan and Faye Kellerman. Unlike his parents, none of Jesse's five books are part of a series. There was a gap between his fourth and fifth books due to his three-year-old child, and when he began writing Potboiler, Jesse wanted to have fun with the book and with the thriller genre. 

When reading an advanced readers copy of a book, he noticed that it contained blurbs. How can it have blurbs if no one's supposedly read it yet, he wondered. This led to his idea of "fake blurbs."  He emailed many thriller authors and asked them, "Would you blurb this fake author and his fake series?"  He had a response from Stephen King in fifteen minutes. Lee Child replied, "This is one I've always wanted to use: 'Of all the books I've read this year, this is one of them.'" Consequently, if you're a reader who doesn't pay attention to blurbs in the books you read, I suggest you break the habit for Potboiler!

First published at the age of twenty-four, Kellerman was wise enough to know that he would never be able to match his best-selling parents. He wanted to go in his own direction without distancing himself from his family-- which was undoubtedly a surprise to his publisher, who signed him believing the company was getting a serial-writing clone of his parents. 

Jesse told us that he is currently writing three books at once ("a very ill-considered decision!"), and that he is working on a book with his father.  We'd already mentioned the Serial Killer Triad-- three things most serial killers have in common (bed wetting, arson, the torture/killing of animals)-- and Kellerman was asked if there's a Serial Writer Triad. He did have one suggestion-- "a person who's a bit OCD and loves routine"-- but was distracted and didn't finish, which I thought was a shame. I think that's a brilliant question, and I would've loved hearing his other two ideas!

~~~ Lunch with Dana Stabenow ~~~

Dana Stabenow

It's my opinion that the organizers of this year's Poisoned Pen Conference thought we were all Olympic Gold Medalists in Multi-Tasking. In our break for lunch, we were supposed to buy books, get in a very long line for lunch, eat, find the restroom, talk with authors and other attendees, and listen to Dana Stabenow talk about her love of research. ("Research is a siren song.") I narrowed my choices down to buy books, talk to other attendees, and listen to Dana.

Dana had us all smiling and laughing with tales of her journeys. Her enthusiasm is absolutely wonderful, refreshing, and contagious. Her Kate Shugak books are wildly popular in Italy, where they are called "CSI: Alaska." She shared the titles of some of the books in her personal reference library, and she ended with this piece of truth: "I've read; I've studied; I've traveled. I've done my due diligence. Now it's time to write."

~~~ Mark de Castrique ~~~

Mark de Castrique

Right after lunch one of my favorite authors, Mark de Castrique sat down at the table with Barbara Peters. He writes two series (which I love) as well as two books for Young Adults, and his latest, The 13th Target, a thriller centered on the Federal Reserve in Washington, DC.

When he first began to write, he was told "Write what you know," and that started him off with his series featuring Barry Clayton, an ex-cop who returns to North Carolina to help run the family's funeral home business. 

At one time Mark's dad was an undertaker, and the family lived above the funeral parlor. As a small child, Mark had to be forcibly removed from a visitation because he'd crawled up behind the casket and was singing, "So Long, It's Been Good to Know You." (I'm so glad I wasn't attending that funeral. I probably would've been thrown out for laughing.)

Author Margaret Maron is a huge fan of Mark's, and even his editor (Barbara Peters herself) has come to trust him whenever he wants to write something new because "he's such a great writer." I concur. De Castrique never forgets that people are at the heart of any story, and I love his characters. 

Mark told us the background behind his latest book, The 13th Target, and that he was afraid that something was going to happen that would make it dated before it was ever published. He noted that that was a concern when writing thrillers that doesn't matter in the other types of books that he writes. His next book? Sam Blackman will be returning. Yes!

~~~ Howard L. Anderson ~~~

Howard L. Anderson

When Barbara Peters read Albert of Adelaide, the story of a rogue platypus in Australia, she loved it, and when talking with a fellow publisher, she mentioned that it was a pity that the author lived in Australia because she'd love him to attend the Poisoned Pen Conference. In short order, Barbara found out that author Howard L. Anderson is a district attorney who lives in New Mexico!

About twenty-five years ago, self-proclaimed "chronic malcontent" Anderson found himself telling a fellow attorney's five-year-old daughter bedtime stories with a twist. (For example, Peter Rabbit was really a member of the Irish Repubican Army....) He also found himself writing a few of them down, including the story of Albert, a very unhappy platypus living in the zoo in Adelaide, Australia, who decided to escape and find a place where he could be happy and loved for whom he really is. All those stories were put away. 

Three years ago, Anderson was teaching English at the Chilean Naval Academy in Valparaiso when he decided to finish Albert's story. He spoke a bit about changing some of the terminology into Australian English, and we all laughed when he said, "Australians love the book; Adelaide is incensed that Albert hates Adelaide!" In fact, we laughed a lot while this so-called malcontent spoke. He admitted that "I hate leaving characters alive. They're just loose ends!" and also let us know that it won't all end with Albert. There's another book that needs to be written, featuring two female characters and a tale of misspent youth and the dangers of love and religion. I, for one, will be looking forward to that next book!

~~~ Martin Limón & Timothy Hallinan ~~~

(L to R) Limón, Hallinan, Peters

The final panel of the day contained two more of my favorite writers. The theme for this year's Poisoned Pen Conference was "Experience the Exotic" and (with the possible exception of that rogue platypus) Martin Limón and Timothy Hallinan were the most exotic writers in the group. Limón (South Korea) and Timothy Hallinan (Thailand) bring their respective countries to life, never forgetting that it's the people who should always be at the heart of any story. The humanity that each writer brings to his books is extraordinary. Both are published by Soho Press which, as Barbara Peters noted, is a wonderful publishing house known for mysteries in exotic locales.

Martin Limón

Martin Limón's characters, military police officers George Sueño and Ernie Bascom, allow us to experience South Korea in the 1970s, told us a bit of the background behind his latest book, The Joy Brigade, which became available July 10. This book takes readers into North Korea, something that hasn't happened in previous books in the series.

Limón was in the Army in South Korea during the 1970s, and he admitted that he had a less than stellar military career due to incidents like the time an officer found him speaking Korean.

"Don't speak Korean to them; they'll lose respect for you!"

"Does that mean that when we're in the U.S. we shouldn't speak English?"

One of the reasons why I enjoy Limón's books so much is that there are maverick characters who behave in unexpected ways. The villains are unpredictable, too. Sometimes they're Korean, sometimes they're Americans, sometimes they're both. I can't wait to read The Joy Brigade and review it here!

Timothy Hallinan

Timothy Hallinan is the author of another of my favorite series featuring Poke Rafferty, a writer living in Bangkok, Thailand, with his Thai wife and adopted daughter. In fact, if I'd had a flashlight, I would've stayed in the pool reading his latest (available July 17) The Fear Artist after the sun went down this evening.

Right off the bat, Hallinan told us, "One of my models for writing a book about an outsider-- a Western protagonist-- living in an Asian culture is Martin's books." His main character's job is to look at the Thai culture from the outside, and what Rafferty often finds is "a mismatch of expectations."

Hallinan called the bad guy in The Fear Artist "the worst villain I've ever written. I'm rather proud of him." He mentioned that Limon's series is still in the early years of the  1970s after eight books, but that he made the "mistake" of having a child as one of the main characters, so time is progressing much more quickly for him as a writer. Having a young girl as a character has its drawbacks: "I've never had a daughter, and I'm dismayed at how my fictional daughter is growing up"-- proof that characters come to life for writers every bit as much as they do for readers.

Hallinan ended by mentioning the fourth book in his Poke Rafferty series, The Queen of Patpong, which was nominated for the Edgar and Macavity Awards. When he finished writing it, the book's plot was quite a departure for him, since a large part of it is in flashback telling readers of Rose's life before she met Poke. Hallinan was convinced that readers wouldn't like it. He asked Barbara Peters to read it. Peters' verdict? She loved it. Hallinan looked out at us and said, "Barbara Peters saved The Queen of Patpong."

~~~

As hard as it was to believe, the Poisoned Pen Conference was over for another year. There was little left for me to do but take my notebook, books, and writer's cramp out to the lobby of the Arizona Biltmore and turn on my cell phone so my British chauffeur knew it was time to collect me.

What a wonderful experience! The second they let us know that we can sign up for 2013, I'm there!