2023—Let It Be

Posted on by - 2023

Like all years, 2023 held the good and the bad. For me, the scale tipped more toward the bad side, but thankfully, most of that is well behind me. I have much to celebrate today, my 35th wedding anniversary, so let me reminisce.

Photo by Qui Nguyen at unsplash.com

Why a picture of coral? Symbolizing longevity and success, coral represents the 35th anniversary. Neither plant nor rock, coral is animal, an invertebrate that can live for hundreds, even thousands, of years! A sign that these beautiful old fossils and their strong union will last nearly into eternity.

 

Oops, those aren’t the old fossils but the young cuties in 1987 and 1988, respectively. These are fuzzy stills taken from the video interviews we did at the dating club where we met, then known as American Millionaires International (“AMI”) on West 57th Street in Manhattan. No, we weren’t millionaires or anywhere close, even further from that mark after AMI took a big chunk of our money in membership fees! Worth it, though, right? The people at AMI eventually realized the name was a little off-putting and changed it to “Invitations.”

For those of you in the dating app click-and-swipe generation, here’s how the antiquated system worked in the 80s. I filled out a two-sided, single-page questionnaire with basic info and still photos, what AMI called the “Perfect Match Profile.” I’d go there and leaf through the binders of profiles, find the ones I liked, and ask to see the corresponding videos with scintillating questions like, “What’s your idea of a romantic date?” and “Where do you see yourself in five years?” If I liked a video, AMI would snail mail a postcard to my chosen one, asking him to come in and look at my profile and video. If it’s a “yes” from him, AMI snailed me a postcard with his phone number. It was up to me, the initial chooser, to call the amenable chosen one. If someone chose me first, it would go the other way around. Don’t think I had too many of those.

What a process! Had to be patient in those days.

I’d been in the club for a year and had about eight dates before meeting Kevin. He was new, and I was his first, occasioning his tongue-in-cheek comment that he didn’t get his money’s worth on the exciting dating scene. I told him, “You lucked out big time.” The eight dates I had were painfully awkward. My favorite was the guy who had a fantasy of driving me to the restaurant on the back of his motorcycle. On the phone I said, no way, I’ll meet you outside and we’ll take a cab. He showed up at my building with his motorcycle anyway. On the intercom, I nixed the motorcycle ride again and refused to open the door so he could leave his helmet in my apartment. When we got back from the date, his helmet was no longer dangling from the handlebars.

Six months to the day after our first date at Windows on the World, Kevin proposed—also at Windows on the World. I could guess what was coming as he nervously whispered his practice lines. So could the party of four sitting at the next table. Before Kevin could take out the ring box, one of the men blurted in a Texas accent, loud enough for us to hear, “I think he’s going to propose!” It was a “yes” from me, of course, uttered shyly to Kevin as he put the diamond on my finger, with my back partially turned to that boisterous (drunk?) group.

Soon after, we went back to AMI and politely demanded our profiles and videos as keepsakes. When they found out we were engaged, the cry went out, “Engagement here!” Three or four startled singles in the library looked up from the profile books and started clapping. AMI agreed to release our profiles and videos only after shaking us down for a Member Profile Interview to publish in their newsletter. The writer got creative and colorful in exaggerating our respective career titles and “quoting” our remarks about the fabulous AMI system.

And the rest is history.

I owe Kevin, as well as other family members and friends, my gratitude in helping me through my 2023 health setback. Chemo, surgery, and most side effects are now out of the way with complete success, so it’s full speed ahead with good health in the New Year! I had to quit teaching dance for several months, but I’m back now and looking forward to teaching many adult classes in 2024.

This photo with some of my students at Scarsdale Ballet Studio was taken in February before I went on break. I danced at home during this period to try and keep in shape.

 

Here is a still from a short piece of choreography I recorded in July, pre-surgery. You can watch it here on YouTube.

 

The writing life continues. Had a lot of fun appearing on the Voice of Indie podcast in August. You can hear it here. The two hosts, Beem Weeks and Stephen Geez, are excellent writers with interesting books I recommend.

Didn’t get anything published in 2023 but wrote a few stories and I’m close to finishing a book-length collection of short fiction. Murderous Ink Press will be publishing my story, “A Father’s Duty,” in one of their 2024 anthologies. I’m most excited about my new novel, Indelicate Deception, a character-driven family drama with an element of suspense and social thematic underpinnings. Although one of the characters is a lawyer, the novel is a far departure from my Dana Hargrove suspense novels. I finished the first draft early in the year, polished it, and am sending out queries to literary agents. Wish me luck trying to get this book out to the world sooner than later!

Dear friends, here’s to health, happiness, and peace in 2024 and beyond,

Vija

The Orchid Hour: Book Review & Conversation with Nancy Bilyeau

Posted on by - Fiction Favorites & Awesome Authors

For this installment of Fiction Favorites and Awesome Authors, Nancy Bilyeau returns to talk about her new historical mystery, The Orchid Hour. (Isn’t the cover beautiful?)

Nancy first appeared here on VBlog after the release of her suspense novel The Blue, set in the rivalrous porcelain industry of 18th century Europe.

The Orchid Hour takes us to the Prohibition Era of the 1920s, when, despite the law, alcohol was flowing freely. The book’s title is the name of a speakeasy that serves as the focal point of the action. Aiming to appeal to a highbrow clientele, the world-class nightclub is decorated with a species of orchid that gives off a heady fragrance only at night. The club’s front is, appropriately, a flower shop, where one must have the trust of the florist to gain entry.

I remember getting a feel for the speakeasy days at a bar/restaurant called Chelsea Place, which operated from 1974 through 1992 on Eighth Avenue in Manhattan. From the avenue, you entered what appeared to be an antique shop. In the back of the “store,” you opened the mirrored door of an antique wardrobe to enter the piano bar and restaurant.

Exciting and glamorous, right? Well, in this novel, Nancy Bilyeau does not shy away from the underbelly of the Jazz Age: bootlegging, gang violence, rising crime, and the Sicilian Mafia (Cosa Nostra). The protagonist, Audenzia De Luca (“Zia”), is an Italian immigrant, young mother, and WWI widow. Two murders that hit close to home give Zia the motivation to transform her conservative appearance and get a job at the speakeasy, where, she believes, she will find clues to the unsolved murders.

No spoilers here! You’ll just have to read the book to find out what Zia discovers! Publishers Weekly (starred review) says, “Historical mystery fans will find this irresistible.” And so did I!

Welcome back, Nancy! Orchids and speakeasies: a unique and interesting combination! How did your vision of The Orchid Hour come to you? Was there any particular NYC nightclub in the Prohibition Era that served as an inspiration?

My vision of the novel began with wanting to write a main character who is touched by organized crime in New York City and that would be part of her story but not her whole story. I created a main character who is born in Italy and immigrates to New York City with her family in the early 20th century but does not act out the stereotypes of Italian American women that you see in movies and television shows.

Because it was Prohibition that basically created the mafia—one of history’s greatest unintended consequences—I thought that putting the novel in the 1920s made sense. I find the first part of the decade more interesting than the second.

The Orchid Hour is a cross between The Cotton Club (which opened at the end of 1923) and Chumley’s, another real-life club, this one a secret speakeasy in the West Village that attracted writers such as Dorothy Parker and Eugene O’Neill.

Your protagonist Zia, a young mother and widow living with her in-laws, is conflicted about her desire to behave according to the more liberal standard American women enjoyed in the Jazz Age as opposed to her family’s rigid expectations under the ordine della famiglia, “the unforgiving, centuries-old code of the villages of southern Italy.” How did these two standards for women differ, and how far did Zia deviate from the Italian code?

Those two standards were a world apart! The ordine della famiglia meant to live for the family, to subordinate yourself to the good of the family. Yet in the 1920s young American women, primarily in the cities, were cutting their hair, shedding their girdles, wearing modern clothes, going out dancing, and seeking independence from their families. To do any of those things was a deviation of the code for Zia.

Some of the characters in The Orchid Hour are purely fictional and others are actual people—especially some of the organized crime figures from the 1920s. What guides you in deciding to use historic figures rather than fictional characters in your novels? As a corollary, what guides you in placing the historic figures in fictional, as opposed to factual, settings and scenes?

I like to put real people in my historical fiction. My main characters are always imaginary, but I often have them playing off real people. From E.L. Doctorow to Philip Kerr, novelists writing fiction set in earlier times have done that. Even Tolstoy slipped Napoleon into War and Peace! These historical figures have had a big impact on the times in which they lived. As I like to put my stories in the thick of things, it seems fitting to populate my stories with these real figures. And they’re such fun to research and write.

Zia’s cousin, Salvatore Lucania, plays a big part in the novel. We get to know Sal through Zia’s eyes, first, as a sympathetic character, then, as she slowly awakens to his true nature and criminal behavior. I thought this was an inventive way to draw both sides of his character, the good and the bad. Any reader who goes into the novel without knowing much about the Mafia [I’ve withheld his more commonly recognized name here!] will be awakened along with Zia. Did you take liberties or stay true to your research in creating Sal’s gentler side?

I did a lot of research into Salvatore Lucania. We won’t give away his nickname, but he’s considered one of the “founders” of the American mafia in the 20th century. He didn’t give many interviews, to put it mildly, and the book about his life that was supposedly written “with” him is most likely a hoax. There’s a ton of contradictory information about how violent he was, how intelligent he was, and what his attitude toward women was. I did follow the most-accepted facts about his family background (abusive father), early poverty, education, and first arrests. Salvatore said he never wanted to have children because he didn’t want to have a son who’d be ashamed of a criminal father. That tells you a lot.

Finally, a question that may be of interest to writers. The Zia chapters are in first person, and other chapters with different POV characters are in third person. What considerations went into deciding this structure for The Orchid Hour?

All of my novels up to now have been written in the first person. I wanted to experiment in this book. I think it increases suspense to bring in other points of view. Sometimes the reader knows more about a threat to Zia than Zia knows herself!

Thank you, Nancy. We look forward to your next great novel!

Dear readers: If you happen to be in Manhattan, pick up an author-signed copy of The Orchid Hour at The Mysterious Bookshop. (They also ship if you want to order online.)

The Orchid Hour is also available wherever books are sold, including these: Bookshop.org, Barnes & Noble, and Amazon (P.S. The e-book is currently on SALE for 99 cents on Amazon for a week).

Nancy loves to place strong female heroines in fascinating historical settings. Check out Nancy’s website for descriptions of all her novels.

Summer eBook Sale

Posted on by - 2022, The Dana Hargrove Novels

 

Just a quick note to let you know about this!

Summer 2022 is the time to pick up the first 5 Dana Hargrove novels in ebook.

Less than a buck each, marked down from $4.99.

Tell your friends!

Here are the links for my author pages at these booksellers:

Amazon

Barnes & Noble

Apple iBooks

Kobo

Here’s the sale schedule!!»»»»»»

 

 

“Informed, thrilling action in and out of the courtroom, and few can portray it better than V.S. Kemanis. Highly recommended.”  — The San Francisco Review of Books 

 

 

 

Goodbye 2021, Hello 2022

Posted on by - 2021

Looking back at this time last year, I recall the general mood among so many people to be done with 2020, with big hopes for a brighter 2021. In some ways it seems like “déjà vu all over again” after a year of continuing societal, economic, political, and health challenges for many of us.

But the threshold to a new year also presents the opportunity to count our blessings and make resolutions to build on the year’s accomplishments. As I wrote on this day a year ago in 2020: Positivity and Perfect Vision, I choose to “Accentuate the Positive”! I hope that you have found many positives in 2021 to keep you going strong into 2022!

Foremost, I’m grateful for my husband and daughters, sisters and brothers, friends and neighbors. In new ways, we got to know each other better and support each other.

My husband and I did not travel much in 2021, but the trip we took to Niagara Falls in April was a highlight, beautiful and memorable. Read all about it in my Discovering America Travelogue (5): Waterfalls! I look forward to new road adventures in 2022.

2021 was filled with my two favorite activities: dance and fiction. My adult ballet students stuck with me for many wonderful virtual classes through the first half of the year, and I resumed teaching in the studio in the fall.

Scarsdale Ballet Studio: quiet moment before class, Fall 2021!

 

For the students still dancing at home, I created and posted instructional videos. Are you a dancer? Check out my YouTube Channel for adult ballet and jazz dance classes!

My home studio: Jazz dance and ballet classes on YouTube

 

On the fiction front, my suspenseful story “Golden Silence” was published in a fantastic anthology, Autumn Noir. Don’t be fooled by the story’s title—the tale is darker than “golden” and quite atmospheric…

“Golden Silence” in Autumn Noir

 

My sixth, and last, Dana Hargrove novel is scheduled to release January 25, 2022, and currently on pre-order everywhere. Power Blind! I’m proud of this one. Anyone reading this blog post may request a free digital review copy. Read more about Power Blind on this website (links: book summary and non-spoiler book review excerpts) and if you think it’s for you, send me an email through the Contact Page.

Power Blind, the sixth standalone Dana Hargrove legal mystery!

 

I’ve been working on 2022 editions of all my books, with updated afterwords and formatting. Today, the 2022 editions of my first three story collections are live and newly enrolled in the Kindle Unlimited program. Subscribers may read them for free: Dust of the Universe, tales of family; Everyone But Us, tales of women; Malocclusion, tales of misdemeanor.

Story Collections, 2022 editions, now on Kindle Unlimited

 

And speaking of free stories, here’s one you can pick up for free on several sites: Wattpad, B&N, Apple, and Kobo. “GEN LD3” is my first attempt in the soft sci-fi genre. Influenced by the events of 2020-2021, the story starts out rather dark, but has an uplifting ending. I hope you like it.

GEN LD3: A short story

 

Meanwhile, ideas for new stories and a novel are swirling in my head. I eagerly await more pounding on the keyboard!

Thanks for reading. Here’s wishing you and yours a very Happy and Healthy New Year! V.S.K.

2020: Positivity and Perfect Vision

Posted on by - 2020

Perfect Vision

In 1989, the lure of big cash, fame, and glory, inspired me to write my first novel. The “Turner Tomorrow Fellowship Award” called for unpublished works of fiction on the theme of creative and positive solutions to global problems. Set in 2020, with an oh-so original title, Perfect Vision was to be my stunning debut novel, featuring a cast of fascinating, prescient characters who creatively avert a future dystopia. I gave it a happy ending. Sadly, however, Ted Turner passed on this masterpiece, cliches and all. The trash can wasn’t so picky.

Accentuate the Positive

Now, as we say goodbye to the actual 2020, I’m giving the final page a happy ending. “You’ve got to accentuate the positive, eliminate the negative,” Bing would sing. I hope you’ve been cheered by at least a few positives this year. Here are mine.

The year started out great with the January launch of Seven Shadows and two sets of Dana Hargrove Doubles on Kindle Unlimited: Thursday’s List & Homicide Chart and Forsaken Oath & Deep Zero.

My writing brain took a while to refocus, but now I’m well into a draft of the sixth, and final, Dana Hargrove novel. Title to be announced! I’m also working on a new story collection.

In February, before the pandemic hit, we had a fantastic road trip through Southern states. Click on my travelogue for all the highlights: routes, sights, events, food, and more.

Social Distancing = More Socializing

Say what? This year has seen more frequent socializing—but of a different kind—with neighbors, friends, and family.

Used to be that the only breathing creatures out for a walk on our quiet cul-de-sac were the deer and squirrels. That changed with homeschooling and work at home. Now everybody needs to get out for a little fresh air and a walk. We’ve had many socially distanced conversations with our wonderful neighbors, and during the warm months, even had a few happy hour gatherings in the turnaround at the end of our cul-de-sac.

Speaking of walks, we are blessed with many beautiful nature trails in the area, and it’s been nice to see more families out together walking. One day, I was surprised to hear a lone saxophone player in the woods. Click here to go to my Instagram post to hear the beautiful sound.

We’re all Zooming, of course, and this has meant more interaction on screen with my children, siblings, and other family members who do not live nearby (why didn’t we always do this?) My longstanding book group of close friends, the Lit Chicks, have had more meetings online than ever before, and I found a new online book group full of smart, insightful fiction lovers, Books and Bars. Great books and intelligent conversation!

Dance, Dance, Dance

Virtual dance classes at home make it easier to get to class! Kevin installed a beautiful wood floor in our sunroom this spring, giving ample space to take class and teach class.

Wasn’t so easy, figuring out camera angle, sound, and virtual teaching techniques, mirroring and saying “left” when I’m on my right. A fun challenge. The sides of my brain may be permanently switched. To my dedicated group of adult dancers at Scarsdale Ballet Studio: thank you! It’s been wonderful teaching you ballet and jazz and watching you dance on my screen.

Not having to deal with driving or riding the train long distances has made it easier to take classes I would not otherwise get to. Big thanks to all the wonderful ballet and contemporary dance artists whose classes I’ve taken this year: Christian Claessens, Igal Perry, Nina Goldman, Tanner Schwartz, David Fernandez, Tobin Eason, Noriko Hara, Kate Loh, Nancy Bielski, Teresa Perez Ceccon, Diane McCarthy, Laurie DeVito, Jana Hicks, Tyrone Monroe, and Johanna Bergfelt.

And so ends another year, with great things to look forward to in 2021. I’m grateful for my health and the health of my family. Yesterday, December 30, Kevin and I celebrated our 32nd wedding anniversary.

Here’s wishing you a Happy and Healthy New Year full of laughter, dance, fiction, and fun.

Book Review: Janet Roger’s Shamus Dust

Posted on by - Fiction Favorites & Awesome Authors

 

Excuse me while I teleport back to New York of April 2020, into this surreal mix of pandemic grief and lockdown amid a gently emergent spring, pink blossoms and fragrant air. My transport is experiencing delay. I’m still walking the streets of war-ravaged London, Christmas 1947, where the foundations of bombed-out buildings, under a light frosting of snow, suggest the outlines of ancient Roman ruins—the key to a puzzling series of murders.

Give me another sec. Almost here, still a bit there. Let me knock back the last tumbler of gin and crush out my red lipstick-stained cigarette. Unfiltered.

 

Janet Roger is to blame. Her debut novel, Shamus Dust, pulled me in and keeps running like a 40s black-and-white film noir on the brain.

 

I’m no fan of categories and hesitate to apply a label or “genre” to this work of art. Hard-boiled, gritty, and atmospheric, yes, but also poetic and literary. Roger confesses a Raymond Chandler influence, and the similarities are evident, but her prose isn’t as spare and tough when she’s in the mood to embellish. There are moments when this book is purely about the writing. While some reviewers say that it takes them out of the story, this lover of language found it right up her alley. More on that later.

The story is told from the point of view of an American private investigator called Newman, or Mr. Newman—a man who possibly lacks a first name. An insightful interpreter of human frailties and dark motives, Newman moves in a world of distinctive characters from every stratum of society. By the end of the book, the upper crust is looking seedier and far less heroic than the inhabitants of London’s underbelly. Roger has created a large cast of characters, gradually dropping tidbits to reveal their back stories and relationships. To mention a few: Councilman, archaeologist, entrepreneur, architect, lawyer, medical examiner, police commissioner, detective inspector, nurse, barber, haberdasher, pimp/blackmailer, various prostitutes, and a homeless shell-shocked WWII vet. Add several murders, a rotating field of suspects, a complex web of clues, and you’ve got one hell of a novel, with an ending you won’t see coming.

Shamus Dust is not a beach read or superficial entertainment to pick up when you’re mildly distracted. You’ll need to take this one slowly to savor the language, its sophistication, wit, irony, unique metaphors, and turns of phrase. You’ll need time to ponder the complexity of the plot. The author honors the reader’s intelligence, never overstates, poses one intriguing puzzle after another. She follows Newman through London without revealing what he’s up to in a scene until, several pages on, the reader is allowed to discover the meaning of the interaction. There are many of these “ah-ha” moments, opportunities to marvel at the cleverly interlacing intricacies.

The writing style. The word choices. Here are just a few.

Physical descriptions that instantly evoke an image:

“The kind of room where you’re meant to sit at night in a cravat and a quilted robe reading Kipling by firelight until the Madeira runs out.”

A woman with a “mouth that made the fall of dark-red hair look incidental.”

“Littomy’s nose was built for a profile on old coins.”

A man’s “hair shone in flat stripes across the dome of his head, where you could count them if conversation ran thin.”

At a party attended by the one percent, a young scion is “wearing black-tie as if he’d been weaned in it.”

Chandleresque:

A volatile thug looks like “he could hurt a man and enjoy the work.”

Witty dialogue:

The butler to a sloshed hostess asks Newman what he would like to drink. He replies, “Not a thing. Mrs. Willard will be taking cocktails for both of us.”

And how are these lines for poetry?:

“Night was crawling in a deep, wet hole.”

“She put a hand flat against my chest and her gaze dipped back in an ocean, then surfaced again, dripping its dark purple lights.”

“He looked wild-eyed around a room so hushed you could hear him blink away the tears.”

The book opens with one of my favorite, longer passages. Newman says he has never had trouble falling asleep and “sleeping like the dead” until now:

 “Lately, I’d lost the gift. As simple as that. Had reacquainted with nights when sleep stands in shrouds and shifts its weight in corner shadows, unreachable. You hear the rustle of its skirts, wait long hours on the small, brittle rumors of first light, and know that when finally they arrive they will be the sounds that fluting angels make. It was five-thirty, the ragged end of a white night, desolate as a platform before dawn when the milk train clatters through and a guard tolls the names of places you never were or ever hope to be. I was waiting on the fluting angels when the telephone rang.”

Wow. Any insomniac (namely, me) can relate.

Now, don’t you want to read something like this? I may teleport back there now.

Are you on Kindle Unlimited?

Posted on by - The Dana Hargrove Novels

Dear KU Subscribers,

I’m posting this quick note to let you know that the first four Dana Hargrove novels are available on Kindle Unlimited.

Thursday’s List and Homicide Chart:

If you’re not on KU, you can purchase these “Dana Hargrove Doubles” in e-book for much less than buying them separately. Here’s Forsaken Oath and Deep Zero:

It’s been such a pleasure to distribute the Dana Hargrove novels in the most affordable format, introducing them to a new wave of fiction lovers. Since their release in mid-January, readers have been devouring the pages and leaving such wonderful reviews and feedback. And the Dana Hargrove Doubles are a good way to get the full experience of Dana’s world, from the time of her rookie days in Thursday’s List through her days as an elected D.A. in Deep Zero, before you pick up and read her latest story, Seven Shadows.

Thank you, Readers!

 

 

Crime Cafe Podcast and a Giveaway!

Posted on by - Legal fiction

Seven Shadows

In celebration of my upcoming new release, Seven Shadows, I’m giving away seven copies of my first Dana Hargrove novel, Thursday’s List. To enter, click here for details!

Thursday’s List is where it all started for Dana. The novel takes place in 1988, when Dana was a mere fledgling, 26 years old, with a promising legal career ahead of her. Each standalone novel in the series skips several years, finding Dana at distinct stages of her personal life and career. Seven Shadows takes place in 2015. Dana is 53, a respected trial judge and now, more than ever, controversial cases throw the judge into dilemmas of conscience, and people from her past reappear, threatening Dana and her family.

After writing five novels featuring this dynamic woman, I am fully immersed in her life and have grown close to her family members, friends, and colleagues. My alternate reality!

Readers of mystery, suspense, thriller, and crime fiction will love author Debbi Mack‘s podcast, Crime Cafe. She has interviewed dozens of authors, and chances are, your favorites are among them. You can find links on her website. I enjoyed talking with Debbi recently about the Dana Hargrove novels and my experience in the law. Debbi and I have much in common, as fellow attorneys who write legal thrillers. Click here to listen to the podcast!

Hipster Death Rattle: Book Review and Conversation with Richie Narvaez

Posted on by - Book review, Fiction Favorites & Awesome Authors, Mystery fiction

For this installment of Fiction Favorites and Awesome Authors, I’m delighted to welcome author Richie Narvaez to VBlog for a conversation about his recently released debut novel.

Hipster Death Rattle

The title alone piques your interest, doesn’t it? And how about that cover art by JT Lindroos? Very eye catching. But more important: This is a debut novel not to miss.

If you like crime fiction and want something different and unique, this is for you, especially if you live, or have ever lived, in New York City. To avoid spoilers, I won’t give away any more of the plot than what’s in the publisher’s blurb:

Murder is trending. Hipsters are getting slashed to pieces in the hippest neighborhood in New York City: Williamsburg, Brooklyn. While Detectives Petrosino and Hadid hound local gangbangers, slacker reporter Tony Moran and his ex-girlfriend Magaly Fernandez get caught up in a missing person’s case—one that might just get them hacked to death.

Filled with a cast of colorful characters and told with sardonic wit, this fast-moving, intricately plotted novel plays out against a backdrop of rapid gentrification, skyrocketing rents, and class tension. New Yorkers and anyone fascinated with the city will love the story’s details, written like only a true native could. Entertaining to the last, this rollicking debut is sure to make Richie Narvaez a rising star on the mystery scene.

At the Mysterious Bookshop

I was fortunate to attend the launch party for Hipster at the Mysterious Bookshop in Manhattan, where the author treated us to a reading of the first few pages. His lively and vivid writing was made even more so by his spot-on delivery and timing. Let’s hope that an audio book narrated by Narvaez himself is in the future.

The novel features a large cast of characters, people from all walks of life and many ethnicities. From a lesser author this might pose a problem, but Narvaez has a knack for making his characters memorable. They come alive on the page through quirky physical traits, dialogue and actions, details about where they live, what they eat, what stores they patronize, and the pets they own. In one scene, for example, a seven-month pregnant thirtysomething yuppie named Erin and her husband Steven (for whom she has endless cutesy nicknames such as “Stevely,” “McSteven,” and “Steve-o-rini”), dine at a new Burundian restaurant in Williamsburg and, slightly nauseated from the Burundian bananas and beans, return to their condo in an upscale, glittering glass tower with river view, where Erin smartly thanks her Mexican doorman with a “Gracias,” confident in the perfection of her Spanish accent because she actually once had a Mexican friend in Texas who complimented her on it. I was laughing.

As you may guess from the book blurb, there are, indeed, machete slashings in Hipster, but if excessive gore gives you nightmares (as it does for me), rest assured that the bloody details are kept to a relaxing minimum, leaving the reader to use his or her imagination, as desired. In the context of the murder mystery and police investigation, social commentary about gentrification and ethnic tensions is expertly woven into the plot in a non-preachy, entertaining way. The author gives us, for example, the dying thoughts of some of the victims, which invariably include emotion-laden regrets about the imagined fate of their apartments after they die. It’s hilarious, but at the same time, a statement about the universal preoccupation of New Yorkers with housing and real estate.

And now, I’m pleased to say that the author has graciously agreed to answer some of my burning questions.

Welcome to VBlog, Richie. I thoroughly enjoyed Hipster Death Rattle. Social commentary figures prominently in your novel, enhancing, never detracting from, the story line and characters. What led you to incorporate this theme into a murder mystery as opposed to, say, a literary or mainstream novel, and what do you see as the advantages of this format?

Ah, well, I did originally try to write Hipster as a mainstream book, but it was too close to me and I stumbled. I couldn’t get past my own bitterness about gentrification in Williamsburg, and all the characters were just talking points, not people. I needed a plot to anchor my pain and my ideas.

And that’s the thing about genre writing isn’t it, the thing that drives literary or mainstream snobs mad: it’s got plot! I could’ve done this as a horror or sci fi novel, but crime fiction is the most grounded of the so-called genres, and I wanted this story to have literal resonance, not metaphorical. And crime fiction is a very flexible format—flexible as a dancer! You ignite the story with the mystery, and the process of its being solved allows the protagonists and the reader to encounter people and points of view.

Of course some readers would prefer to have their corpses served without a side of social commentary, so I may lose those readers. But many of the greats—Christie, Chandler, Highsmith, Paretsky—have social commentary in their works. Crime fiction is actually a perfect vehicle for social commentary.

I knew there was a reason I keep dancing—to make my crime fiction better! As for the flexibility of the genre…maybe this book was therapy or vicarious payback for you? (“Lolz,” as your character Gabrielle likes to say.) “No one there is who loves a hipster,” whispers the murderer as he comes upon his next victim. How much of this is personal for you, based on your experience, witnessing the gradual transformation of the neighborhood of your youth?

It’s all very personal. I was born in Greenpoint Hospital and raised in Williamsburg, Brooklyn. I went away for college, but then returned to witness the rise of gentrification. Slowly, gradually, I saw people displaced, many of my friends and relatives, and I saw the disrespect and erasure of the culture of the people who had lived there for so long.

To be clear, gentrification is not a natural process. Yes, neighborhoods change hands all the time, but gentrification is different, it’s insidiously manufactured, a combination of real estate developer and governmental cunning, urban renewal for profit, not for people.

I’m not sure how much payback there is in writing the book. The Powers that Be would likely not take notice, and they will likely never be punished for their greed. But, therapy, yes, a little. Although the pain does not go away completely. It just feels better for a little while.

Carpe diem, Richie. My Latin is a little rusty, but…

Hah! Habeas corpus and obiter dictum!

Touché! Yes, we lawyers tend to sprinkle in the Latin and forget that it isn’t English. But I did learn some new non-legal Latin from your book. I like the way you worked it into the dialogue between Chino and his former college professor and bad guy, Litvinchouk. We understand most of it in context, and it adds a lot of humor to their relationship. How did this idea come about?

The Latin thing came ab initio from the fact that the person I partially based the character of Chino on actually did minor in Latin in college. So at first it was just a neat character detail, and it allowed me to spend hours learning some very basic Latin myself. But then I realized it added some irony. People hate hipsters for being snobby. Yet, here is a main character who holds on to and cusses in a dead tongue, a language darling to the elite and the intellectual. Also, Chino is a Latino who can speak Latin but not Spanish, underlining his separation from his own culture, Othering him to underscore his status as another kind of hipster himself.

What are your tips for writers who want to incorporate irony and humor into their writing? Or does this just come naturally to you and woe to us?

I have to say the humor seems to come fairly naturally for me. A genetic quirk. Or the legacy of a sensitive childhood. Although, I have to say, in the first draft of Hipster there was no humor. I was trying to be a serious crime writer and write seriously about a serious subject. But I realized I wasn’t very satisfied with that, and it kind of bored me. So I went back and added in the funny.

Now, it’s difficult to tell someone how to be funny and ironic. Not taking yourself too seriously is key. And I will say the chief tool to use is surprise. Humor and irony come out of the unexpected. So, as you’re writing along, stop and think about what everyone expects will happen or be said next, and then do the opposite or at least sideways, something silly and/or something that resonates with the theme of what you’re trying to say. In any case, don’t give the readers what they expect.

Good advice for writers, but I won’t allow you to thwart something I’m expecting from you: more great writing. What’s next? What’s on your computer screen these days?

Littering my desktop are several short stories in various stages as well as a novel, but that seems to be a permanent state of affairs for me. At the moment I’ve got a YA novel making the publisher rounds. And there’s a second book of short stories, to follow Roachkiller and Other Stories, I hope to have out next year.

Best of luck on all these endeavors, Richie. I look forward to reading your next book.

Dear Readers,

You can get Hipster Death Rattle from Down and Out Books (see also links to booksellers on the Down and Out Books site), and at the Mysterious Bookshop.

After reading Hipster, if you’re looking for more good summer reading, I’ve built up quite an archive of book reviews and author Q & As. Click the VBlog tab, and then, on the sidebar, “Fiction Favorites and Awesome Authors” or “Legal Eagles” (my series on attorneys writing fiction). You will find articles on books by all of these amazing authors and more: Kevin Egan, Nancy Bilyeau, Manuel Ramos, Allison Leotta, Adam Mitzner, Kate Robinson, David Hicks, Helen Simonson, Eowyn Ivey, William Burton McCormick, and Allen Eskens.

Happy reading!

The Blue: Book Review and Conversation with Nancy Bilyeau

Posted on by - Fiction Favorites & Awesome Authors

For this installment of Fiction Favorites and Awesome Authors, I welcome author Nancy Bilyeau to VBlog.

Nancy’s recent release, The Blue, is a novel of suspense set in the rivalrous art and porcelain worlds of 18th century Europe. The protagonist, Genevieve Planché, is an English-born descendant of Huguenot refugees, a young artist who resorts to extreme measures in her quest to follow her dream. Her journey follows an unpredictable path of intrigue, danger, crime, and romance. The characters we meet along the way have their own personal agendas, whether political, commercial, scientific, artistic, or romantic.

“We see blue everywhere in the natural world, in the sky and the sea and the lakes…but what do we really see? It’s ephemeral. A reflection of something else.” So explains the chemist who feverishly works to capture the most desirable shade of blue and successfully apply it to the decoration of porcelain. In the midst of the Seven Years’ War, England and France are in a race to develop this elusive formula for their lucrative porcelain industries.

The Blue is meticulously researched, bursting with colorful details that draw you into the story, from the wild boar hairs in Genevieve’s paint brushes to the dangers of mining cobalt ore deep in the mountains of Saxony. In the month since its release, much has been written about The Blue (see blog tour links, below). It was the Goodreads’ Recommended Choice for Historical Novel in December 2018 and a BookBub Editors’ Choice for New Releases.

No spoilers here! I will simply say that if you enjoy historical fiction, crime and suspense, romance, plot twists, interesting characters, or just a great story, The Blue is for you! And now, to give us some fascinating details behind the scenes, Nancy has graciously agreed to answer some of my burning questions.

Welcome to VBlog Nancy! I understand that you drew on your own Huguenot background in writing The Blue and named a character, Pierre Billiou, after an ancestor. Tell us a bit about your ancestry and the part it played in your inspiration for this work.

I named a character, Pierre Billiou, after my own ancestor, though it is not his life I am describing. I wanted to pay homage to my Huguenot background by using his name. The Pierre in my novel fled France for England as a young child after Louis XIV took action against the Protestants in his kingdom in 1685—it’s called the Revocation of the Edict of Nantes. Basically, the King was canceling the measures of tolerance for Protestants. He wanted France to be One King, One Faith. Pierre and his family settled in Spitalfields, in London. My book takes place in England and France, so I needed to make these changes.

Now the real Pierre Billiou, not the one in my book but the one I am descended from, left Europe even earlier. France was not too welcoming to Protestants even before Louis XIV took such an action, and there were a great many Huguenot immigrants coming to America. They gathered in New York, South Carolina, and Virginia.  Pierre immigrated to New Amsterdam (now New York City) in 1661. One of his children was born on the boat crossing the Atlantic—I am actually descended from that son. I have two kids, and I can’t imagine giving birth on a boat crossing the Atlantic in the 1660s! I’m very curious about what life was like in all ways for him. What I know is that he built a stone house on Staten Island—it’s still standing today and is on the National Register—and he was involved in colonial government. But when the English sailed into the harbor, they took over. Changed the name of the city and demoted the Dutch and the Huguenots who were running things.

I was able to research Huguenot lives, beliefs, and values—which I was already interested in—while working on this novel, which gave it an extra level for me.

Some writers begin with the creation of character, letting the characters guide them to the story, other writers begin with the creation of plot. How would you describe your writing process for this novel?

I didn’t come up with my main character, Genevieve Planché, and then create a story for her. I came up with the idea of a spy story set in the porcelain world of the 18th century and then I figured out some specifics that led me to the characters. First, where is the story going to take place? I decided to make it about the rivalry between France and England that was so intense during the entire century (and longer!), extending into the porcelain business, so the story would begin in England. What kind of spy did I want to write about? Once I read that Huguenots and their creativity and artistry were essential in several English porcelain factories, Genevieve took shape in my mind. As for Sir Gabriel Courtenay, the “master spy,” he is based on research I did about espionage of the time—can’t say more because of spoilers. But espionage during this time is fascinating—and largely undiscovered country to readers today. I find with historical fiction you can’t come up with fully developed characters until you know your period well, otherwise they might not be grounded in reality. For me to say, I’ll write a brilliant police detective in the 1750s, pretty quickly I would run into the fact that the Bow Street Runners, the forerunners of the British police force, were in very early stages then. You have to avoid a modern mindset in character creation.

The Blue has wonderful passages about the creation and importance of art, and you’ve dedicated the novel to your father, “who loved art so very much.” Tell us about the place of art in your life.

My father from a young age loved art and wanted to paint. He came from the opposite of an artistic family. My grandfather moved his family from Tennessee to Detroit, Michigan, in desperation for work during the Depression. He got a job at Henry Ford that he was proud of. He thought the fact that my father wanted to be an artist meant he wasn’t manly and he was abusive about it. My father enlisted in the US Navy in World War II in its final months as soon as he turned 18. When he returned to Detroit, he went to art school on the GI Bill. He worked as a commercial artist in Illinois and Michigan to support his family, but he had an art studio in our basement and I have many memories of his painting watercolor landscapes down there. He sold his watercolors at art fairs, principally the Ann Arbor Art Fair, and a few Midwest galleries. I used to help out during the Ann Arbor Art Fair; he had a booth on Main Street. Those were long days! But it was a happy exhaustion. So for me, art was the heart and soul of my father, and I was part of that through watching him and helping him a bit. I understood that it was a calling for him that he almost couldn’t control. He always wanted to create. I absorbed the struggle to succeed as an artist and the intense competition and classism. A Michigan factory worker’s son is not going to have an easy path into the art world.

I am not an artist myself, but I am an avid museum goer; I love to look at great art.

In reading the novel, I felt Genevieve’s pain and frustration at the roadblocks to her aspirations as an artist. In your research of 18th century female artists, did the story of any single artist serve as inspiration for your character Genevieve?

I probably drew on some of my own frustration over roadblocks in success as a writer as well as watching my father struggle. He wanted to be acknowledged as a fine artist but he wasn’t treated as one or reviewed as one in his lifetime. His work did sell fairly well, and is still selling on eBay. I read an interesting analysis of his technique online that went with one of these paintings that I think would have made him happy.

I researched a few women artists who had to overcome the disapproval of their being artists in the 18th century because of their gender.  I found the life of  Élisabeth Vigée-Lebrun enlightening in several ways. She was successful in the late 18th century and is famous for her portraits of Marie Antoinette. When she was in her teen years, she was painting professionally in France and her studio was actually seized for her practicing without a license! After that she married a painter and he helped her; that was a way for women to surmount the obstacles. She made use of family connections too. Once Marie Antoinette decided to give her commissions, she was obviously set. But what is interesting is that I went to an exhibit of Élisabeth Vigée-Lebrun at the Metropolitan Museum of Art and while admiring her body of work I thought some of the faces lacked expressiveness. Here’s the problem: In the 18th century, to be a great artist you needed talent and drive but you also had to have intense training. In my novel, Genevieve realizes she needs to work as an apprentice; she is clear-eyed about the technique she must master to reach a desired level. Her inability to find someone to teach her is what sets her on a certain risky path.

Masterfully woven into your story of riveting suspense are several thematic elements relevant to mid-18th century Europe, including political intrigue, industry and the economy, the roles of gender and social class, and the interplay of art and science. Did you set out to incorporate all these elements into your story?

I didn’t explicitly do that, no. But by being drawn to spying and politics and art and science when they were at this exciting juncture in the 18th century, these other issues naturally come out of that. And I am always drawn to social class in my novels, I think. After four books, I clearly can’t stay away!

I’m very heartened by the readers who like the fact that my novel delves into these areas. I’ve been criticized for it in the past. One industry professional said, “You’d have a much easier time if you’d write romances about dukes and pirates.”

Well, Nancy, I’d say that The Blue has far more to give than a romance about dukes and pirates! I so enjoyed it and look forward to reading whatever you have in store for us next.

I’m with Nancy and writer friends at Mystery Writers of America, NY chapter, holiday party

Dear Readers,

Historical Fiction Virtual Blog Tours is hosting a Giveaway of The Blue. Click here to enter by January 18. Visit the blogs on the tour schedule, listed below.

Nancy is also the author of three, very well-received novels in a Tudor mystery series, The Crown, The Chalice, and The Tapestry. Discover all her books on Goodreads and Amazon.

Blog Tour Schedule

Wednesday, January 9
Review at A Bookish Affair

Thursday, January 10
Review at 100 Pages a Day

Friday, January 11
Review at Passages to the Past

Saturday, January 12
Interview at Passages to the Past

Sunday, January 13
Interview at V.S. Kemanis

Monday, January 14
Review at Let Them Read Books

Tuesday, January 15
Review at Historical Fiction with Spirit

Wednesday, January 16
Excerpt at Umut Reviews

Thursday, January 17
Review at Reading the Past

Friday, January 18
Review at Tar Heel Reader

7 Stories in 7 Sentences: Crime Fiction Review

Posted on by - Book review

Time is tight. Consider reserving a bit of it to feed your imagination and creativity. A story a day! Have a complete experience in half an hour, give or take. Be entertained, enlightened, intellectually stimulated. Drawn into another world.

You’ll find eighteen outstanding stories in the July/August 2018 issue of Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine. (And what a great cover image by Brian Stauffer!) These talented authors, within the space of a few pages, will immerse you in the lives of their characters with their mind-bending dilemmas, relatable motives and desires. I’ve chosen seven of the stories here and offer one sentence on each. Shorts on shorts—no spoilers!

Mahadevi, by Jane Haddam

Hinduism and philosophical reflections on the nature of good and evil, the spiritual and material, distinguish this compulsively readable tale of sibling rivalry and familial discord.

Edgewise, by Louisa Luna

In this atmospheric story, the author’s laconic style and insight into human behavior subtly draws you into the essence of two lives, white and black, capturing their respective experiences of revenge, race relations, and policing.

English 398: Fiction Workshop, by Art Taylor

This multiple award-winning author successfully experiments with a non-linear structure, interwoven points of view, and a bit of valuable pedagogy in this humorous crime tale, a unique twist on a familiar aspect of college campus life.

The Mercy of Thaddeus Burke, by David Dean

Master storyteller David Dean makes you feel for his Irish mobster characters in their conflict over a generational changing of the guard, leaving you to ponder questions of competing loyalties.

The Professor, by Janice Law

There’s nothing obvious about this cleverly plotted, tightly written tale of deception and just deserts.

Hotel Story, by Sigrid Nunez

A reflective piece of flash fiction, the story taps a personal mystery each of us has experienced at one time in life.

Last Call, by Gemma Clarke

In “The Department of First Stories” of the magazine, this fiction debut impresses with its imaginative criminal design of stealth.

So, dive in and have fun! In addition to these stories, the issue includes stories by John H. Dirckx, Timothy O’Leary, Peter Turnbull, Marvin Kaye, Jane Jakeman, William Dylan Powell, Peter Lovesey, Thomas K. Carpenter, Amy Myers, François Bloemhof, and Alaric Hunt.

For more stories, check out my collection Love and Crime. Two of the eleven stories were first published in Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine.

Legal Eagles, Attorneys Writing Fiction (4): Kevin Egan

Posted on by - Book review, Legal Eagles

Midnight by Kevin Egan

I’m pleased to welcome author Kevin Egan to VBlog for this installment of Legal Eagles. I first met Kevin a few years ago at a meeting of the Mystery Writers of America, New York chapter. We soon discovered a few things we have in common. Not only are we attorneys who write crime fiction, we also have years of experience working for New York courts and judges. We know what it’s like to juggle a demanding legal career with a passion for fiction writing, squeezing the current work-in-progress into the cracks at either end of the workday and on weekends.

In our careers, we’ve both held positions as judicial law clerks. Don’t be fooled by the word “clerk.” This position is held by an attorney who works closely with a judge in a confidential capacity. While the degree of authority delegated to the law clerk varies from judge to judge, many law clerks exert considerable influence over the court’s decisions.

When Kevin explained the premise for his novel Midnight, I had to read it! The unique plot is built around the relationship between a law clerk and his judge in a setting I know very well, the courthouses in lower Manhattan. Unlike many crime novels, Midnight opens not with a murder but with the judge’s death from natural causes, which serves as the catalyst for a series of progressively serious crimes.

You won’t anticipate the many twists and turns in the domino spiral, set in motion by the slowly unfolding secrets of the characters and their conflicting motivations. Tom, the judge’s law clerk, is in debt to a loan shark and feels no serious ethical qualms in rewriting the judge’s opinions to buy his way out of trouble. Carol, the judge’s secretary, carries the financial and emotional weight of caring for her son and her mother while harboring secrets of past sexual affairs. A couple of court officers are anxiously awaiting the judge’s decision in a lawsuit that could abolish their overtime pay. Add to these characters the loan shark’s collection thug, a corrupt union boss, and a brutal mobster, and the resulting web of criminal intrigue spins out of control.

Fans of noir and legal thriller will thoroughly enjoy this compulsively readable tale of desperation and consequence. Legal details are deftly woven into the plot in a way that is easily understood without sacrificing accuracy. Midnight was a Kirkus Best Book of 2013 and is the first of three novels to feature the character Foxx, one of the court officers in the tale. You bet, I’ve put the next two novels on my “to-read” list! They are The Missing Piece (2015), and A Shattered Circle (2017), which received the coveted starred review from Publishers Weekly.

Welcome to VBlog, Kevin! I really enjoyed Midnight. How did you come up with your idea for this novel?

A law clerk and confidential secretary—the standard judicial staff in New York state courts—are personal appointments, which gives the judge free rein to hire and fire without an agency like the EEOC stepping in. However, if a judge dies or retires mid-term, an actual law—Judiciary Law § 36—determines the employment fate of the judge’s staff. It may be an oversimplification, but in dramatic terms, if the judge dies or retires, the staff keep their jobs until the end of that calendar year. So Midnight starts with a premise—what is the worst day of the year for a judge to die? Answer: New Year’s Eve. Tom and Carol’s plan to save their jobs for another year is simple enough: remove the judge’s body from chambers, place him in his bed in his apartment, then begin to “worry” about his failure to return to work until mid-day on January 2. But the plan turns out to be anything but simple.

Do you tend to write an outline first or just take the idea and run with it?

I have published 8 novels, and 7 of them have been written in the “take the idea and run with it” method. The lone exception is Midnight. Midnight first appeared as a short story in the January 2010 issue of Alfred Hitchcock Mystery Magazine. By that point, I was already working on expanding the premise into a novel. It was the only time I created a full outline, which I then followed with only minor deviations. The structure was rigid. It was to cover a period of four days, from December 31 to January 3. Each day presented a problem that Tom and Carol seemingly overcame by nightfall, only to have a more serious problem arise the next day.

Tell us a bit about works by K.J. Egan and Conor Daly. What went into your decision to use pseudonyms? Do you have any advice for writers on this subject?

My first book was a science fiction novel called The Perseus Breed. I started writing a sequel, but then switched to writing what would become a three-book golf mystery series. My agent insisted that I needed a pen name for the mysteries because, in her words, bookstores don’t want the same author on different shelves. And so Conor Daly was born. Having a pen name seemed problematic at the time, though I can’t recall any specifics other than a reader who persisted in writing letters to me as Conan Doyle.

Twelve years intervened between the last Conor Daly book and Where It Lies. By then, I decided to nudge my pen name closer to my real name. There also was a strategy. Since Where It Lies featured a first-person female narrator, I wanted a gender-neutral name on the cover. Using my initials filled that bill.

As for advice, I’ve come to believe that a pen name is a necessary evil. Publishers are much less patient with poor sales, and sales figures now hang onto an author like Jacob Marley’s chains. A pen name can offer a fresh start.

What’s next for you? Is another novel in the works?

I also write short stories. “The Movie Lover,” appearing in the July/August issue of AHMM will be my 26th published short story. I started this year on a short story tear, writing three in the month of January. As for novels, remember that science fiction novel I put down to become Conor Daly? I’ve returned to it.

Thank you for joining me on VBlog, Kevin!

Dear Reader, do you love legal thrillers? Pick up one of Kevin Egan’s books! Also, check out the other entries in the Legal Eagles series on VBlog to learn more about these attorneys who write crime fiction: Manuel Ramos, Allison Leotta, Allen Eskens, Adam Mitzner, Jerri Blair, Brian Clary, and of course, Yours Truly.