When a writer creates a character, it’s a combination of research and imagination. And so it was when I was writing NOT IN TIME and building the character of Genevieve McKenna. I read extensively about art history and how provenance research works. I interviewed a museum employee about how artwork is handled behind the scenes. (My request for an actual visit behind the…
Read MoreWhat did I do at the 2016 Dallas Book Festival? Exactly what everyone else did! I listened to authors speak and then hurried out to the bookstore The Wild Detectives set up in the lobby to buy books and get them signed. I’m not going to tip my hand on what I bought, because some of those books are gifts. I will say…
Read MoreThe Dallas Book Festival is just days away! Join other North Texas book lovers on April 30, in downtown Dallas at the Central Library Look for me at 12:50 in the Community Exchange room on the first floor, appearing on the Keeping Dallas in Suspense panel with writer L.A. Starks. I’ll also have a table on the first floor. Stop by and say hello…
Read MoreHello, 2016. I’m back at work on Boys I Have Dated and some other exciting projects. (More about that later…) But in the meantime, I wanted to share a source of great reads. The 2016 Tournament of Books kicked off today. I always discover new authors in the TOB, so if you’re looking to add to your To-Read pile, be sure to check…
Read MoreI’ve been away for a bit, because I had to have a bum shoulder tended to. (Free advice: Don’t tear your rotator cuff or your labrum.) Just before I went on medical hiatus, writer Lorrie Irby Jackson did this great piece on Not in Time. You can check out more of Lorrie’s work on her website, motherofcolor.com. She’s got great insight on current…
Read MoreWoman in Gold, which opens in theaters April 1, is based on a true story of looted art. It stars Helen Mirren as Maria Altmann, a Los Angeles woman who takes the government of Austria to court to recover a Gustav Klimt portrait of her aunt. Austria maintained the painting was willed to a state museum; Altmann and her lawyer, played by Ryan…
Read MoreSaturday night was the Tables of Content event at Southern Methodist University, where I was one of the “Top 10 Haute Young Authors” featured. I fielded so many interesting questions from the guests at the event — about my books, about my background, about my writing process. I get this question often at readings, and one person asked me Saturday, too: How do…
Read MoreAmazon’s business practices and ongoing dispute with Hachette Publishing have led some readers to take their book-buying bucks to independent bookstores. A couple people have asked me about this, thinking it’s automatically bad news for me because they assume my books must only be available from Amazon. Not true! You can order both Not in Time and Identity paperbacks through the website of Powell’s,…
Read MoreI admit it: I was nervous. But I survived my first reading and signing event last week at Dr. Sue’s Chocolate in Grapevine. In fact, I more than survived. I had fun! Once I realized more than four people were going to show up, I figured out everything would be fine. Now I’m really looking forward to my next event, which is Sept.…
Read MoreAnd who doesn’t like chocolate? No one I’d like to know! (Well, OK, my friend Rebecca, but she’s allergic, so that doesn’t really count.) Come join me Aug. 13 for an event called Sweets & Suspense at Dr. Sue’s Chocolate in downtown Grapevine. I’ll be reading from Not in Time and signing copies (which you can buy in the store), and Dr. Sue…
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