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BLOOD NOIR is in the stores today! No more waiting. No more guessing. No more having to rely on Internet rumor. You can read the book for yourself. Some of you will see us tonight at the signing at Barnes and Noble in Crestwood, here in Missouri. Six o’clock sharp. For me, the kick-off signing is really when the book comes out. It’s the moment when I know you’ve got the book in hand, and we are ready to go.
I did the first radio interview last night. The John Carney show on KMOX AM 1120. It was, as always, fun. It’s always nice when the interviewer and I hit it off. Mary said it was one of my best. I, at the time, couldn’t tell. I find that in the middle of the radio or television interviews it’s almost impossible to judge how it’s going. Sometimes even afterwards, you’re left asking others, because the words and images are gone. You never got to see, or hear them, because you were too busy doing them. Though I do begin to count the number of times we get laughter in an interview. I value laughter more and more as time goes on. When I did plays in high school and college I was all about tears and tragedy, but now I’d rather share laughter than cry.
John asked me a question that I knew he’d ask. It will probably be one of the most frequently asked questions on any given interview with a new book out. What is the book about? What is BLOOD NOIR about?
I gave an answer, and it was accurate, and amusing, and . . . too long for the shorter interviews that will be coming. What is the book about? It’s one of my least favorite questions, because I’m bad at whittling down to a few sentences.
My editor, Susan, gave me what she’s been saying, “That Anita does a favor for a friend, and finds that even out of town, she can’t leave everything behind.”
She does a favor for Jason, a big one, but finds that no matter how good the intentions her life just can’t stay safe. It all goes horribly wrong. We end up with a presidential hopeful in jeopardy. Though, that’s mostly off-stage, because it gets us in trouble, because Jason looks enough like the candidates wayward son, that the media won’t believe that Jason isn’t him. They smell scandal, and the media loves a good scandal. We meet Jason’s family. We meet some of his friends from high school and college. Anita and I learned things about Jason that we had never known. Sixteen books into a series, dealing with a character that has been on stage since book five, and we learned new things. I think that’s one of the things that keeps me excited about my own series, because we never rest. We’re always learning more; pushing the boundaries, exploring our world.
Today, you can meet Jason’s mom and dad, and siblings. Today, you can meet his old girlfriends, with Anita on his arm. They’re just bed-buddies, not really boyfriend, girlfriend, so should she be offended at the attention of old girlfriends? Anita, and I, struggled with that concept. When you leave the “normal” relationship rules behind, you end up in uncharted territory. It can be scary and confusing, but worth the effort. Uncharted places are where we, as people, make our discoveries. I made a lot of discoveries while writing this book.
I guess that’s why I write, to discover new things. New things about my world, my characters, and myself. Anita always takes me places I didn’t foresee, and I’m sure, if she could answer me back, she’d say the same to me.