March 24, 2003

Artifacts is due back from the printer by April 30. It can be ordered directly from the publisher at www.poisonedpenpress.com at that time. If you pre-order now, your copy will be autographed, then shipped directly to you. It should be on the shelves of mystery bookstores by May 15. If your favorite bookstore doesn't have it in stock by that time, just ask for it--they should be able to get it for you within a couple of days. And it will be available from all the major online booksellers, as well.

My first public appearance came as a complete surprise--Lesa Holstine at the Lee County (Florida) Book Festival contacted me on March 6, hoping I could fill in for an author who'd had to cancel at the last minute due to a family emergency. While I was more than willing to help out, it was a bit nerve-wracking to pull myself together and make the 5-hour trip to Fort Myers, with little more than 24 hours' notice. But I got there on the afternoon of March 7, in plenty of time to attend the Authors' Reception and, afterward, to make some notes to prepare to sit on two authors' panels. My first efforts as a panelist went pretty well, considering that I'd never actually seen an authors' panel discussion. Check out http://www.bookbitch.com/reading_festival.htm for a report on the entire festival (a large and exceptionally well-run affair) and several mentions of this humble author. I particularly enjoyed meeting P.J. Parrish, David Morell, Randy Wayne White, and Jonathon King, all of them extremely kind to a brand-new writer.

Close on the heels of the Lee County Book Festival was SleuthFest, a conference for published and aspiring mystery writers. It was an exciting and information-packed weekend. Some of the highlights for me were hearing Sue Grafton speak on 12 Things That Are Probably Wrong With Your Manuscript, attending Daniel Keyes (of Flowers for Algernon fame) speak on plotting, and hearing Dr. Henry Lee discuss forensic science.