Guest Post: Gwen Florio - Reservations

Gwen Florio's fourth mystery in the Lola Wicks series will be released this week, and we've invited her to share a few fun facts about herself. Enjoy!

1.     I grew up on a wildlife refuge in Delaware. Think thousands of acres of woods and marsh populated by deer, geese, ducks and muskrat.

2.     I have trapped, skinned, cooked and eaten muskrat. I don’t care if I never do any of those things again.

3.     My parents gave in to my begging for a pony when I was nine, but told me I had to learn to stay on bareback before I could have a saddle. I learned.

4.     I still have a bump on my head where said pony kicked me. My kids rub it for luck.

5.     My kids once wrote an illustrated story called “Gwen and the Three Bears” that ends with a drawing of a gravestone reading  “Here lies Gwen, killed by bears.”

6.     I love those kids.

7.     But I am deathly afraid of grizzlies.

8.     I have a grizzly tattooed on my ankle.

9.     A bear could easily catch me. I have come in near-last in a marathon and last in a half-marathon, and have a Last Best Finisher medal to prove it.

10. There’s a bear – more than one – in the WIP. I’m obsessed.

11. I take pictures of my books when I spot them in stores or libraries and send them to my mom, ostensibly so she’ll think I’m making money at this.

12. I will never get over the thrill of seeing my books there.

13. I’ll forever be grateful to my parents for banning TV but never a book, no matter how seemingly inappropriate.

14. As a journalist for nearly forty years, I fiercely believe in the right of reporters to pursue the truth, and the necessity of revealing it, no matter how uncomfortable.

15. As a novelist, I believe fiction is frequently the best way to get at truth. Looking forward to lots of great fiction in the next four years.

***

Journalist Lola Wicks would much rather pursue a story than spend time with people she barely knows. So when an eco-terrorist bombing escalates the controversy surrounding a new coal mine on Arizona’s Navajo Reservation, she’s almost relieved to have a distraction from meeting her in-laws.

But as the violence gets worse and Lola digs deeper, she can’t escape the feeling that her husband’s family is somehow involved—a suspicion that jeopardizes not only her marriage, but also her life.


Gwen Florio (Missoula, MT) has won several journalism awards and been nominated three times for the Pulitzer Prize. Her fiction has won the inaugural Pinckley Prize and the High Plains Book Award and was nominated for the Pushcart Prize for her Short Fiction. She is a member of International Thriller Writers, Mystery Writers of America, Sisters in Crime, Rocky Mountain Fiction Writers, and Women Writing the West. Visit Gwen at www.GwenFlorio.net.

Guest Post: Gigi Pandian - The Elusive Elixir

It's time for some fun facts from Gigi Pandian!

1. I once played the role of Wonder Woman in a play
2. I got married wearing Converse sneakers.
3. As a kid, I didn't have cats or dogs, but rabbits.
4. I have an organic vegetable garden in my backyard, but my husband is the one with the green thumb. I only manage to write fiction about successful gardeners; If I look at a plant, it dies.
5. I think The Goonies might be the greatest movie ever made. Or at the very least it's what inspired me to write my first screenplay.
6. When I was in high school I wrote, starred in (along with my best friend), and directed the epic home movie The Goonies Go to Europe.
7. I love the locked-room mystery genre that was most popular during the Golden Age of detective fiction, and all of my short stories are impossible crime stories. 
8. Like Zoe Faust (the heroine of the Accidental Alchemist mysteries) I adore my Vitamix and use it at least twice a day.
9. Like Dorian (the comic relief in the books) I'm an accidental vegan cook, and cook most of my meals from scratch.
10. Unlike Zoe and Dorian, I'm not a 300-year-old alchemist, nor am I a living gargoyle who was once stone. Sorry to disappoint.
11. I prefer rainy days to sunny ones.
12. I was gobsmacked when the fabulous Terri Bischoff at Midnight Ink wanted to publish the Accidental Alchemist mysteries. I love writing about a mischievous gargoyle chef, but I had no idea others would want to read about him as well. I'm still pinching myself that so many people do.
13. In addition to the Accidental Alchemist mysteries, I write the Jaya Jones Treasure Hunt mysteries. I think this means as a life choice I've chosen fun and coffee over sleep.
14. My dad is from India. I've traveled there many times and I set one of my books there. The opening scene of Pirate Vishnu is based on a true story that happened to my father.
15. I used to run a blog called Gargoyle Girl, posting gargoyle photographs I've taken on my travels. I gave it up in favor of writing novels, but the archives are still there: www.gargoylegirl.com

***

About the new book, The Elusive Elixir

Dorian Robert-Houdin, the three-and-a-half-foot gargoyle chef who fancies himself a modern-day Poirot, is slowly turning into stone, and it’s up to Zoe Faust to unravel the alchemical secrets that can save him. When they discover that a long-lost stone gargoyle with a connection to Dorian has reappeared in Europe, the stakes are even higher.

From Portland to Paris, Zoe searches for the hidden knowledge she needs, but a cold case that harkens back to 1942 throws her off course. With an ailing friend desperately trying to discover his own elixir of life and a new romantic interest offering the first chance at love she’s had in nearly a century, Zoe is torn between a dangerous form of alchemy and her desire for a safer life.

 Gigi Pandian is the USA Today bestselling author of the Accidental Alchemist mysteries, the Jaya Jones Treasure Hunt mysteries, and locked-room mystery short stories. A cancer diagnosis in her 30s taught her two important life lessons: healing foods can taste amazing, and life’s too short to waste a single moment. Gigi spent her childhood being dragged around the world by her cultural anthropologist parents, and now lives in the San Francisco Bay Area with her husband and a gargoyle who watches over the backyard garden. Gigi’s fiction has been awarded the Malice Domestic Grant and Lefty Awards, been nominated for Macavity and Agatha Awards, and her most recent novel Michelangelo’s Ghost was recently named a “Best of 2016” cozy mystery by Suspense Magazine.

Visit her at gigipandian.com, connect with her on Facebook (facebook.com/GigiPandian) and Twitter (@GigiPandian) and sign up for her email newsletter (http://gigipandian.com/newsletter/). 

Fifteen Fun Facts: Linda O. Johnston

This week, Midnight Ink presents Fifteen Fun Facts about Linda O. Johnston, author of the Superstition mysteries. Her latest, Knock on Wood, was released earlier this month.

1. I'm a cynophilist.

2. I'm addicted to Cavalier King Charles Spaniels.

3. I met my first Cavalier on the London Underground on my first trip to London.

4. Unsurprisingly, my favorite mysteries to write, and to read, contain pets, particularly dogs.

5. I wrote two cozy mystery series starring dogs and other pets before I started the two series I write for Midnight Ink: the Kendra Ballantyne, Pet-Sitter series, and its spinoff Pet Rescue Mysteries.  The two series I write for Midnight Ink are the Superstition Mysteries and the Barkery & Biscuits Mysteries.

6. I happily live in Los Angeles but considered myself a displaced Pittsburgher for years.

7. My current Midnight Ink release, KNOCK ON WOOD, is my forty-first published novel.

8. I also currently write romance novels--paranormal romance for Harlequin Nocturne and romantic suspense for Harlequin Romantic Suspense.

9. I'm a happy wife, mother, grandma and dog mom.

1o. I'm a chocoholic.  Dark chocolate?  Yum!

11. J'ai étudié le français pendant douze ans quand j'étais une jeune fille, mais I don't really speak French now.  (I almost got that correct on my own,  although I did double check it.)

12. I used to really enjoy writing  and negotiating contracts when I was a practicing real estate attorney and consider contracts another form of fiction.

13. I love to do crossword puzzles.

14. My first published novels were time travel romances.

15. My first published fiction was a short story in Ellery Queen's Mystery Magazine and won the Robert L. Fish Award for best first mystery short story of the year.

Knock on Wood is available online and in bookstores now!

Midnight Ink | Indiebound | Barnes & Noble | Amazon | Your local bookstore

Visit Linda online.

Fifteen Fun Facts: Kathleen Ernst

This week, Midnight Ink presents Fifteen Fun Facts about Kathleen Ernst, author of the Chloe Ellefson mysteries. Her latest, Death on the Prairie, was released earlier this month.

1. I wrote my first novel 20 years before I sold a novel to a publisher.

2. I’ve been a vegetarian for over 40 years.

3. I also know how to turn hog intestines inside-out with a knitting needle to make sausage casings.

4. My husband and I got married twice:  once in my sister’s back yard, and once wearing 1860s attire in an old church, surrounded by reenacting friends.

5. Once I won a blue ribbon in a Jack-and-Jill crosscut saw competition.

6. After graduating from college, I went backpacking for 2 months on the Appalachian Trail.

7. I love amphibians.

8. My vegetable garden generally has a jungle-like appearance because I hate to thin or top anything.

9. I am a middle child, which explains a lot.

10. I do not Tweet.  Ever.

11. Several times a year, I go on writing retreats with my cat.  I once spent a week in a cabin with only a small woodstove for heat while the outside temp dipped to -20.  And got a lot of writing done.

12. For ten years, before becoming a full-time book writer, I developed and scripted instructional video programs for public television.

13. I would rather drive from coast to coast than spend half an hour driving in a congested urban area.

14.  Years ago, when  my husband developed my first website, I refused to let him post a photograph of me.  Yes, I got past that.

15. I’m a pretty good writer, but still cannot find the words to adequately express my gratitude to all of the readers, editors, family members, etc. who make it possible for me to do what I love! 

Death on the Prairie is available online and in bookstores now!

Midnight Ink | Indiebound | Barnes & Noble | Amazon | Your local bookstore

Visit Kathleen online.

Fifteen Fun Facts: Sheila Webster Boneham

This week, Midnight Ink presents Fifteen Fun Facts about Sheila Webster Boneham, author of the Animals in Focus mysteries. Her latest, Shepherd's Crook, was released earlier this month.

1. Fiction, memoirs, poetry, essays—I love books of all kinds.

2. I entered my first dog show (obedience trial) with my Lab, Raja, in 1994. We didn’t qualify, but we had fun.

3. Before dog shows, there were horse shows.

4. I studied in Egypt and taught at universities in Tunisia and Kuwait in the 1970s & 80s. I brought a dog home from Tunisia.

5. Folklore and cultural anthropology—my PhD.

6. Since 2009, we’ve lived in Indiana, Nevada, and North Carolina. Where next?

7. Birds and flowers—some of my favorite photographic subjects.

8. Long walks. No ear buds.

9. Tea! Especially blackberry sage or ginger.

10. I paint (but not as much as I’d like to)—mostly watercolor, some colored pencil and oil.

11. Nectarines and cranberries. Not at the same time.

12. Dogs I’ve lived with—Chihuahuas, Labrador Retrievers, mixed breeds, Scottish Deerhound, Miniature Schnauzers, Irish Wolfhound, Golden Retriever, and, of course, Australian Shepherds.

13. Long train trips—days at a time.

14. And cats! Long hair, short hair, a rainbow of colors.

15. Busy cafes and music through my earphones—best writing environment for me.

Shepherd's Crook is available online and in bookstores now!

Midnight Ink | Indiebound | Barnes & Noble | Amazon | Your local bookstore

Visit Sheila Webster Boneham online.

Fifteen Fun Facts: Jeff Cohen/E.J. Copperman

This week, Midnight Ink presents Fifteen Fun Facts about Jeff Cohen (otherwise known as E.J. Copperman), author of the Asperger's Mysteries. His latest, The Question of the Unfamiliar Husband, will be out tomorrow!

1. I am an unapologetic New York Yankees fan.

2. I have owned three rescue dogs. The current one is a beagle named Gizmo.

3. I can play an almost-decent version of “Here Comes the Sun.”

4. One of my children teaches algebra in the Bronx.

5. I once sold a pretzel to Yogi Berra.

6. I spent 20 years writing screenplays with various degrees of no success.

7. I will not eat fish. No. Not even that one.

8. I played Barnaby Tucker in “The Matchmaker” in high school. Killed.

9. I’m not fat. I’m just the wrong height.

10. I am a feminist. In fact, I might be two feminists.

11. I spend hours playing Mac Brickout but I’m really writing.

12. I drive two Priuses (Prii?). Not at the same time.

13. My town has a Kosher Dunkin Donuts.

14. I’m allergic to rabbits.

15. Currently I’m listening to Circe Link. But Paul Melancon and A.J. Croce are great, too.

Purchase The Question of the Unfamiliar Husband online and in bookstores everywhere!

Midnight Ink | Indiebound | Barnes & Noble | Amazon | Your local bookstore

Visit Jeff (slash E.J.) online.

Fifteen Fun Facts: Mark Stevens

This week, Midnight Ink presents Fifteen Fun Facts about Mark Stevens, author of the Allison Coil mysteries. His latest, Lake of Fire, was released earlier this month.

1.  I think any meal that involves jalapenos is a good one.

2. I write my first drafts by hand. In old-school notebooks. With a pen.

3. I’m the son of two librarians. (There are very few of us, based on my sampling of the generation population. We are a lucky bunch. Anyone who grows up learning to love to read is lucky.)

4. I covered the devastating 1985 earthquake in Mexico City. I got there in time to ride out a magnitude 7.5 aftershock. I will never forget the sensation.

5. I used to play bass in a band that opened for Styx at the corn festival in western Colorado.

6. I know one really good card trick. I’ve known it since I was about eight years old. I don’t know any others. It’s really easy to learn and it works.

7. I am a big fan of Patricia Highsmith and have read both biographies plus all of Highsmith’s fiction. I’m glad she’s getting her due. Read Suspension of Mercy if you get a chance.

8. I’m a big fan of John Updike and read the terrific biography last year by Adam Begley. True, Patricia Highsmith and John Updike don’t have much in common. Except that they both make you want to keep reading.  Read the “Rabbit” books if you get a chance.

9. I was married in a double wedding.

10. I’ve visited every state. It’s a fluke. It wasn’t a “thing.”

11. I still root for The Colorado Rockies. It doesn’t get much sadder or pathetic than that. I mean, I watch games in September when it hasn’t mattered for a long, long time.

12. I like Project Runway and Top Chef. I’m a sucker. Face Off is really good, too.

13. Give me any reality TV show about survival and I’m there. A friend just turned me on to Alone. The old show Survivorman inspired one of my characters, Devo. Devo plays a big role in my new book, Lake of Fire.

14. Cracker is my all-time favorite band. I will travel a long, long way to see that band. But in late August, they played in Nederland, Colorado. (Here’s a pic I took at that show.) I think David Lowery, the guy on the right, knows the secret to the universe. He's just not telling us.

Cracker

15. I once was the babysitter for two brothers in the town where I grew up (Lincoln, Mass.) One of the brothers was a 7-year-old. His name was John Flansburgh. John went on to form a terrific band, They Might be Giants. I was a fan of the band’s first album long before I figured out, “hey, I know that guy.” John and his pal John Linnell opened up rock and roll in a whole new lyrical and tuneful way, to my way of thinking. Check out “Birdhouse in My Soul” or, an early one, “Don’t Let’s Start.” They are still making great, great music and they post free songs here every week.

Lake of Fire is available online and in bookstores now!

Midnight Ink | Indiebound | Barnes & Noble | Amazon | Your local bookstore

Visit Mark Stevens online.

Fifteen Fun Facts: Catriona McPherson

This week, Midnight Ink presents Fifteen Fun Facts about Catriona McPherson, author of various psychological thrillers. Her latest, The Child Garden, was just released yesterday.

1. I've never been inside a gym.
2. The only food I refuse to eat is eyeballs. (Because they're not food.)
3. I love gardening, but once I killed mint.
4. Doris Day is my style icon.

5. (But) I got married in shorts.
6. Cats are better than dogs.
7. I found my stove in a dumpster.

8. My perfect Friday night sounds like a mobster: Couch Pizzatelli.
9. I've visited twenty-five US states so far.
10. There are seventy-nine dresses in my wardrobe. And one pair of jeans.
11. I've been called 'Sir' while wearing one of the dresses.
12. My decorating style is maximalist. #19patterinsin1livingroom
13. I collect Stavangerflint.

14. Pleasure is not a source of guilt for me. So—loud and proud—Project Runway!
15. I have never owned an i-Anything.

The Child Garden is available online and in bookstores now!

Midnight Ink | Indiebound | Barnes & Noble | Amazon | Your local bookstore

Visit Catriona McPherson online.