YOUR LOCAL BOOKSTORE, NO MATTER WHERE YOU LIVE.
Did you miss Patrick Millikin’s recent interview of James Sallis at The Poisoned Pen? Wallis, the author of Willnot, also appeared with his band, Three-Legged Dog. I’m sorry the blog can’t show you the performance. But, you can see the photos of the book program.
We have signed copies of Willnot in stock, if you’d like to purchase one through the Web Store. https://bit.ly/290VGgp
Did you miss James Sallis or Cara Black when they appeared at The Poisoned Pen? Marilyn Stasio reviews their latest books in Sunday’s New York Times, “The Latest and Best in Crime Fiction”. https://nyti.ms/28XtoVS
Looking to pick up signed copies of Sallis’ Willnot or Black’s Murder on the Quai? Of course we have them in the Web Store. https://store.poisonedpen.com
Ben Coes, author of First Strike, will appear at The Poisoned Pen on Tuesday, June 28 at 7 PM.
He’ll be joined by Brian Keene, Weston Ochse and Stephen Coonts. Thanks to Criminal Element, you can read an excerpt from First Strike now. https://bit.ly/28LPDtV
Here’s our link with information about the event. You can click on the authors’ names to order their individual books. https://bit.ly/28Ne5KS
Gina Wohlsdorf, author of the debut, Security, and Rachel Howzell Hall, author of Trail of Echoes, recently appeared at The Poisoned Pen. Here are photos from the event.
If you’d like to order signed copies of either book, check out the Web Store. https://store.poisonedpen.com
Are you a fan of Diana Gabaldon’s Outlander? Diana Gabaldon hosts Theresa Carle-Sanders for the signing of Outlander Kitchen: The Official Outlander Companion Cookbook at The DoubleTree Resort. The event will be on Saturday, June 25th at 7:00 PM, although the doors will open at 5:00 PM. This is a ticketed event and tickets cost $40.00 and come with a double-signed copy of Outlander Kitchen. There are only 500 seats available, so we advise purchasing sooner rather than later as we expect to sell out. There will be a professional photographer for fan photos with Theresa and Diana at no additional charge. There will also be a cash bar. Please note that time will not permit a book signing so no personalization requests can be accepted nor personal books brought to the event. Thank you for your understanding.
If you would like to order a ticket for the event, here’s the link. https://bit.ly/28NZX8B
If you want a signed copy of the book, here’s the link. https://bit.ly/28OosAz
Anne Wilson recently hosted Grant Blackwood, author of Tom Clancy’s Duty and Honor, and Whitney Terrell, author of The Good Lieutenant. It seems, from the photos, as if everyone had a great time.
Would you like signed copies of either Blackwood’s Tom Clancy’s Duty and Honor or Terrell’s The Good Lieutenant?
They’re available through the Web Store. https://store.poisonedpen.com
And, Anne Wilson will be appearing again at The Poisoned Pen on Tuesday, July 12 at 7 PM with her debut novel, Clear to Lift. It’s always fun to hear a debut author, and feel as if you were in on the ground floor. You might want to mark your calendar.
Rachel Howzell Hall, author of Trail of Echoes, will be at The Poisoned Pen on Tuesday, June 21 at 7 PM, along with Gina Wohlsdorf.
Thanks to CriminalElement.com, we can link to an excerpt from the novel. It’s a teaser. We hope you’re interested and want to come meet Rachel Howzell Hall on Tuesday.
And, don’t forget! You can order a signed copy of the book through the Web Store. https://bit.ly/25muI74
Did you miss The Poisoned Pen’s recent program with Christine Carbo and J. Todd Scott? Carbo is the author of a novel of suspense, Mortal Fall.
J. Todd Scott wrote The Far Empty.
We do have a few photos to share for those who missed it. The store even had two moderators participate – Karen Shaver and Patrick Millikin.
You can purchase signed copies of Carbo’s Mortal Fall and Scott’s The Far Empty through the Web Store. https://store.poisonedpen.com/
Debut author Gina Wohlsdorf will join Rachel Howzell Hall at The Poisoned Pen on Tuesday, June 21 at 7 PM. Gina’s debut novel, Security, is set at a glamorous resort called Manderley. She agreed to be put In the Hot Seat so you could meet her.
Congratulations, Gina, on your debut novel. Because it is a debut, our readers will want to meet you. Please introduce yourself.
Hello, Poisoned Penners! I grew up in North Dakota, graduated from Tulane University, worked at bookstores in 4 states, taught English in the south of France, earned an MFA at the University of Virginia, and wrote the whole time.
I’ve seen way too many horror movies. I love Mexican food. Pugs are probably my favorite thing on the planet; if I happen to pet one, my whole day is better.
I’m (charmingly?) scattershot at introducing myself.
Tell us about the Manderley Resort.
It’s the most opulent, luxurious, beautiful hotel you’ve ever seen, built on a flawless stretch of Santa Barbara beach. With service unmatched and safety guaranteed, you’ll leave all the worries of your life behind. I promise.
A fifty-by-fifty-yard hedge maze out front will entertain the adventurous – but please skip it if you’re at all claustrophobic. The rows are somewhat narrow, the correct path is hard to find, and there are all those red roses, with their sharp thorns.
The pool is an ecological wonder – a former underwater cave, it’s primarily lit with phosphorescent algae. Not recommended for children, of course, as the naturally occurring rock is unforgiving of falls.
And inside? Twenty floors of pure bliss – or, excuse me, nineteen. The twentieth floor is off-limits to all but security staff. Excuse me again, eighteen floors. There is no thirteenth floor at Manderley. Bad luck, you know . . .
Tell us about Security, without spoilers.
Security is the story of a luxury hotel getting ready for its grand opening. A skeleton crew staff is putting the finishing touches on every detail so the gala later this week will be the talk of Los Angeles. A skittish maid is counting toilet paper on the second floor. The manager is up to no good in his office. The head chef is reading his underlings the riot act.
Their boss is holding it all together, barely, until a man from her past arrives and throws her whole night into turmoil.
And unbeknownst to all of them, The Killer is cleaning blood off his hands in Room 717. Masked, immense, and unrelenting, he hunts them down one by one.
Who will live, who will die, and just who is telling the story?
What made you decide to write?
I was an insomniac as a kid. I didn’t like to dream asleep; I much preferred to do it awake. So I’d sit up at my little pink desk and write stories on the backs of my father’s mimeographed English quizzes that he had by the pileful in our house.
I wrote a memoir at age 11, and yes, I too find that hilarious. I started trying novels in junior high, kept trying through high school, and could never finish one — until I finished one at age 22. I was hooked. I never really stopped after that.
I read a few reviews of Security that hinted as to who the reviewers were reminded of when they read Security. But, what authors do you feel influenced you?
Stephen King. As a teen, I read everything he wrote.
Daphne du Maurier and Shirley Jackson, the grand masters of haunted places populated by haunted people.
And, out of left field, Alain Robbe-Grillet, a French modernist from the mid-twentieth century, who wrote an entire first-person novel called Jealousy in which the pronoun “˜I’ does not appear once. Jealousy is such a mind-bend — can’t recommend it enough.
Now, I’m going off-topic. Hypothetically, you have the money to live any place you want. You can’t pick Denver. Where would you live, and why?
Fortunately, a lot of places qualify, so I’ll just tell you what it looks like.
I’m near the beach; it’s walking distance but not right outside my door. There’s a really good coffee house in walking distance, too, and several restaurants that serve excellent soup. Several others serve excellent Mexican food. Snowy winters happen, but they are short and – this is important – not North Dakota brutal.
Where do you take friends when they come to visit?
In Denver? Tattered Cover. It’s embarrassing, but most of my friends know that my idea of a good time is a book store. I’m so in the right line of work.
Describe yourself in 5 words or phrases.
How about song lyrics?
1) I swim for brighter days, despite the absence of sun
2) Love is not a victory march, it’s a cold and it’s a broken Halleluja
3) Imagine no possessions
4) I don’t care if they eat me alive, cuz I’ve got better things to do than survive
5) I’ve got a long way to run
What’s on your TBR (To Be Read) pile right now?
Descent by Tim Johnston. I’m halfway. I stopped to revise my second book for Algonquin, and it’s killin’ me — the suspense!
Arcadia by Lauren Groff. I’ve heard so many amazing things about her.
Nocturnes by Kazuo Ishiguro. The word “˜genius’ gets tossed around a lot. But he’s a genius.
Better by Atul Gawande. I’m in the middle of this one too, but here I’m progressing. I can read nonfiction, but not fiction, while writing fiction. Gawande’s writing is a clinic in clarity.
Thank you, Gina! (I liked your answer with song lyrics. I may have to adapt that for future interviews.)
As I said, Gina Wohlsdorf will be at the Pen on Tuesday, June 21 at 7 PM. But, Security is already available through the Web Store if you’d like a copy. https://bit.ly/1t5fk0W