Twelve Days of Bookmas: Zoë Sharp

Zoë Sharp was born in Nottinghamshire, but spent most of her childhood living on a catamaran on the northwest coast of England. Zoë wrote her first novel when she was fifteen, but success came in 2001 with the publication of the first Charlie Fox book, Killer Instinct. Nine successful installments in the series later, she's been nominated for Barry Awards (and also the Edgars, Anthonys, and Daggers for her writing) and in 2010 the Charlie Fox series was optioned by Twentieth Century Fox TV.

Charlie Fox has been described as a female version of Lee Child's Jack Reacher, a former special forces trainee turned bodyguard. The latest Charlie Fox novel, Fifth Victim, will be released in the U.S. in 2012, and finds the life of Charlie's lover, Sean, hanging in the balance, while Charlie takes on a case protecting the wayward daughter of a rich businesswoman. When the man who put Sean in his coma is turned loose, Charlies is faced with the choice between her loyalties to her client and avenging Sean.

Zoë's Bookmas offering is one shared by a lot of folks around this sometimes overly-stressful season, especially as we miss loved ones who are no longer with us, and brings to mind the lyrics of "Auld Lang Syne":

Christmas is short days and long nights, Turkish Delight, wind, rain, sleet, and snow, long games of Scrabble, mince pies, snow sculpting, hunting through a box of liquorish Allsorts until only the coconut ones are left, walks in the cold, Die Hard, frost on cobwebs, icy steps, digging the car out, slow-cooked roast and cold cuts, old movies and new books.

A time of melancholy, reflection, regret.

A time to remember where we were last year, and where we thought we’d be this.

A time to remember those who were here last year, and won’t be here this, or next.

A time to think of the Macmillan Cancer nurses, who looked after my Aunt Mary right to the end. Mary, who always wanted to write but never had the courage to show her words to anyone.

For me, Christmas is a time to think of what might have been.

Zoë's charity, Macmillan Cancer Support, provides practical, medical and financial support for cancer patients like Zoë's Aunt Mary and also pushes for better cancer care. They accept donations from UK residents via this link, and if you're outside the UK, the charity has other ways you can help.

Twelve Days of Bookmas: Timothy Hallinan

Timothy Hallinan was a singer/songwriter in a rock band while in college, with many of his songs recorded by well-known artists including the platinum-selling group Bread. He began writing books while enjoying a successful career in the television industry and is the author of several widely praised books in three different series. Along with his wife, Munyin Choy, he divides his time equally between Los Angeles and Southeast Asia. Recently, he contributed to two short-story collections that raised money for Japanese disaster relief and Bangkok street children.

His most recent series of novels are set in Bangkok and feature Poke Rafferty, an American expatriate writer living in Thailand with his lover Rose, the former "queen" of the Patpong bars, and an adopted daughter, Miaow. The latest installment, The Queen of Patpong—involving a nightmare figure from Rose's past who threatens the Rafferty clan's peace, love, home and even their lives—was nominated for both the Edgar and the Macavity awards.

Tim's holiday offering for Bookmas is a touching tale of love and devotion tinged with humor, and he also selects a deserving charity:

My father was a poor Irish kid from Chicago and my mother was a rich society girl from Los Angeles. When my father proposed, my mother's parents were horrified, so the two of them eloped to Santa Barbara, where my father presented her with a ring that had a diamond so small it was practically invisible. It would have been an exaggeration to call it a chip.

But he did very well financially over the years, and when I was thirteen, he gave my mother a Christmas present in a very small box which, when opened, contained a perfect two-carat diamond. My mother almost fainted, but when I looked at my father, what I saw in his face was a fifteen-year-old boy who's just fallen in love for the first time.

Decades passed. My father died, and my mother was diagnosed with lung cancer. She began to give things away.  I was living at the time with my longtime girlfriend, Munyin Choy, and for some reason she had not gone down to San Diego with me to see my Mom. On the last evening of my stay, which was only a few days before Christmas, Mom took off the ring and said, "I want you to have this."

I said, "What in the world will I do with it?"

She said, "If you have the sense God gave a goose, you'll get down on one knee and offer it to Munyin."

I did, and she accepted it (and me), and we were married a few months before my mother passed away.  It was incomparably the greatest Christmas present of my life.

I'd like to suggest that anyone wanting to do good for some of the world's most deserving kids go to the Mercy Center's website and click the "Donate" button. Father Joe Maier feeds, houses, and educates Bangkok's street children, and some of their schools were destroyed in the recent floods. Father Joe puts to good use every single penny he receives.

All the best, and happy holidays.

Tim Hallinan

Twelve Days of Bookmas: Paul Doiron

Paul Doiron is the editor in chief of Down East: The Magazine of Maine, Down East Books, and DownEast.com. A native of Maine, he attended Yale University, where he graduated with a degree in English, and he holds an MFA in creative writing from Emerson College. He's also a Registered Maine Guide specializing in fly fishing and outdoor recreation and lives on a trout stream in the coastal part of the state.

Paul is author of the Mike Bowditch series of crime novels, including The Poacher's Son, which won the the Barry Award and the Strand Critics Award for Best First Novel and has been nominated for an Edgar Award, an Anthony Award, A Macavity Award, and a Thriller Award for Best First Novel. His second book in the Mike Bowditch series, Trespasser, was an American Booksellers Association Indie Bestseller and has been called a "masterpiece of high-octane narrative" by Booklist. The third Mike Bowditch installment, Bad Little Falls, will be published in August 2012 by Minotaur.

For his holiday offering, Paul passed along a great, and unusual read:

My Christmas recommendation is on the dark side, which I suppose is fitting given my occupation. It's "The Ledge": a horrifying short story written in 1959 by Lawrence Sargent Hall, based on actual events. A Maine fisherman takes his son and another boy duck hunting at sea on a bitter Christmas morning. They pull their skiff onto an offshore ledge that is normally underwater at high tide. After they have finished shooting for the morning, they discover that their skiff has floated away…and the tide is rising. I won't reveal what happens, but there's a reason John Updike included "The Ledge" in the collection he edited, The Best American Short Stories of the Century. Like Shirley Jackson's "The Lottery," it's one of those stories you read once and never forget. (Here's a link to Hall reading the story.)

In the spirit of the story, I'd ask that readers consider supporting the important conservation work of the Maine Coast Heritage Trust.

Best wishes,

Paul

Twelve Days of Bookmas: Martin Edwards

 

Martin Edwards was born at Knutsford, Cheshire and is an Oxford-educated attorney. He's also a member of the Murder Squad collective of crime writers and chairman of the nominations sub-committee for the CWA Diamond Dagger Award. He's served as archivist of both the Crime Writers Association and the prestigious Detection Club.

Martin is the author of a series featuring Liverpool lawyer Harry Devlin—with titles of books taken from hit songs in the 1960s—as well as the Lake District Series with DCI Hannah Scarlett and Oxford historian Daniel Kind. His latest Lake District novel is The Hanging Wood, in which Hannah Scarlett takes on a cold case when a young woman seeking Scarlett's help is found dead.

Martin sent along this holiday offering, which has a very special significance for him tied to today's day, December 28th:

My burning ambition was always to have a crime novel published, and shortly before Christmas 1990, I received the marvellous news that my first Harry Devlin novel, ALL THE LONELY PEOPLE, had been accepted. A fantastic present, but in fact it was topped by events on the 28 December that year, when my first child was born. My aim from childhood had been to be a writer rather than a father, but I realised that day what matters even more than writing. And today, Jonathan celebrates his 21st, while in less than three months' time, ALL THE LONELY PEOPLE enjoys a fresh life as a Crime Classic in the series published by Arcturus. Suffice to say, I have been very fortunate.

My favourite charity is St Luke's (Cheshire) Hospice. The people there do marvellous work. My father spent the last weeks of his life in the hospice, and although for us it was a terrible time, the atmosphere in St Luke's did a very great deal to ease the pain.

Twelve Days of Bookmas: Laurie R. King

 

Laurie R. King has lived most of her life in the San Francisco Bay area, with a background that includes degrees in theology and also managing a coffee store. Since the publication of her first book in 1993, she's averaged a book a year and won the Edgar, Creasey, Wolfe, Lambda, Agatha and Macavity Awards for best novel. She's also penned several short stories and edited (with Leslie Klinger) this year's anthology titled A Study in Sherlock.

In addition to standalones, Laurie has two different series, one with Kate Martinelli of the San Francisco Police Department and the other with Mary Russell who becomes an apprentice, then partner and husband of Sherlock Holmes in early 20th century England. Laurie's latest release is the eleventh Mary Russell novel, titled Pirate King, which takes readers into the frenetic world of silent films.

Laurie's holiday offering is a fun anecdote from her many travels:

One of the more interesting Christmases I've had was in India, when I walked into my Delhi hotel to find that Santa had arrived. Being a native to the northern hemisphere, I'd never thought of this equinoctial holiday in the tropics, but here it was, taking over the pseudo-Moghul lobby: fake snow, decorated plastic tree, gaudy wrapping, and a stuffed peacock in the place of a reindeer.

The charity I linked with this year for Pirate King is the 826 project, that helps kids learn to write. Why do I like them? Just look at their San Francisco store. You an visit the organization's main site via this link.

Cheers!

Laurie

Twelve Days of Bookmas: Rick Mofina

 

Rick Mofina was born and raised in Toronto where he started writing fiction in grade school. He held jobs ranging from working at a horseracing track to delivering cars to Florida before heading to college to study Journalism, English Literature and American Detective Fiction. As a reporter for over three decades, he's covered the crime beat and interviewed murderers on death row in Montana, Texas, California and Las Vegas and gone on patrol with the Royal Canadian Mounted Police near the Arctic.

His first published novel, If Angels Fall, introduced San Francisco Star crime reporter, Tom Reed, and Homicide Inspector Walt Sydowski. It was a Best First Novel finalist for an Arthur Ellis Award from the Crime Writers of Canada. Other series include a trilogy featuring Seattle rookie crime reporter Jason Wade and a new series centered on crime reporter Jack Gannon, with the latest installment, The Burning Edge, coming to stores near you on December 27th.

Rick's holiday recommendation for Bookmas has a touch of noir:

If you want a chill, look for Black Christmas, the original 1974 horror film. The story concerns college students stalked by a psycho killer at Christmas. A cut above the usual stuff – very chilling. But to end on an upbeat note, I invite everyone to check out this homemade, yes homemade video (with Sean Quigley playing "Little Drummer Boy"). If you have 4 minutes give it a listen, it's quite beautiful.
 
As for my favorite charity, I invite everyone to contribute to their local Salvation Army and Red Cross. During my time as a reporter, I saw both in action and I invite you to support them.

Best of the season,
Rick Mofina

Twelve Days of Bookmas: Craig McDonald

 

Craig McDonald's writing career had already included awards for his journalism before he turned his talents to writing fiction. His debut novel, Head Games, featuring widowed crime writer Hector Lassiter—who also happens to be best friend to Ernest Hemingway—was nominated for the Edgar, Anthony, Gumshoe and Crimespree Magazine awards. Craig has also penned several nonfiction books of interviews with major crime writers and contributed to the New York Times nonfiction bestseller, Secrets of the Code.

Craig followed up his fiction debut with three (soon to be four) installments in the Lassiter series, but his latest release out this month is a standalone thriller, El Gavilan. The novel centers on the rape and murder of a Mexican-American woman that triggers a brutal chain of events and pits Police Chief Tell Lyon, a former California Border Patrol commander, against conservative hard-line Sheriff Able Hawk.

Craig's Bookmas offering is titled "Holmes for the Holidays":

We have a crime fiction Christmas tradition that started about three years ago after introducing our girls to the brilliant Granada Sherlock Holmes adaptations starring the late, great Jeremy Brett — the actor the McDonald clan regards as The One True Holmes.

Some time in the run up to each Christmas, between all those re-viewings of Rankin-Bass, stop-motion chestnuts (Rudolph, The Year Without A Santa Claus and the like), we make a little room for a very particular Sherlock Holmes episode.

"The Blue Carbuncle," is one of two episodes with Brett that function as Christmas episodes (the other, "The Cardboard Box," comes at the tail end of the series; "Carbuncle" comes during the first season, when Brett is in finest form as The Great Detective).

"Carbuncle" is saturated in Dickensian and O. Henry Christmas touches: the Christmas goose actually moves to the center of the plot . . . A kindly old book collector parts with cherished volumes to buy gifts . . . The interactions of the principle recurring characters are among the most poignant.

Jeremy Brett's Holmes made quite an impact on our daughters, particularly our eldest, who has become quite the Sherlock fan and who is given to tenting her fingers in distinctly Brettish fashion from time-to-time.

We often drop back in to re-watch a Holmes episode here and there throughout the year, but Yule-time viewings of "The Blue Carbuncle" are a Christmas staple.

Favorite Charity:

The Ohio SPCA
P.O. Box 546
Grove City, OH 43123
(740) 420-2984

According to the Ohio SPCA: "Our emergency medical funds have been depleted. Your donation is needed now more than ever." Click here to donate.

© 2011 Craig McDonald, author of El Gavilan

Twelve Days of Bookmas: DC Brod

 

Illinois author Deborah Cobban "D.C." Brod has written fiction most of her life but didn't think she had a novel in her until she graduated from Nothern Illinois University with an MA in journalism. It was then that she decided if she could spend 120 pages discussing postal oppression of the radical press, she could write a novel. The result was 1989's Murder In Store, featuring private detective Quint McCauley, and four more McCauley books afterward.

D.C.'s latest focus is her "Getting Even" series, which debuted with Getting Sassy in 2010 and introduced down on her luck freelance journalist Robyn Guthrie. The second installment in this humorous series is being released this month, titled Getting Lucky, and finds Robyn back on her feet with a new assignment that leads to discoveries about toxic dumping and mob financing.

D.C.'s holiday offering for Bookmas is titled "The Art of Giving and Receiving Coal":

My brother and I have always been close, and one of the pillars of our relationship is good-natured teasing. So when I was Christmas shopping one year and came upon a piece of coal packaged in an attractive holiday box, I knew I had to get it. I wrapped it in red paper with a green ribbon and set it under the tree for him. (I did get him something else that year, although I don't remember what it was.) He opened it, we all had a good laugh, and I thought that was the end of it. Until the following year, when I opened one of those large but light-weight boxes and found, amidst wads of tissue paper, the chunk of coal. It had lost its holiday packaging, but it I recognized it.

That was 25 years ago and many things have changed. Our parents have passed away. We've both married. My brother has three kids all college-aged or beyond. But that piece of coal has been a constant — passing back and forth between us. It has been buried in a canister of loose-leaf tea, sprinkled with cocoa and disguised as a truffle, and sewn into a stuffed carrot (don't ask). Every year it becomes more of a challenge to concoct a clever delivery system. Admittedly, some are more inspired than others. But we've never missed a year.

We figure if we keep this up long enough, one of us is going to wind up with a diamond.

Favorite Charity is:  World Wildlife Fund. You can donate, adopt, or book trips through them to support saving life on earth.

Twelve Days of Bookmas: Jamie Freveletti

Jamie Freveletti is a trial attorney, holds a black belt in aikido and is an avid runner. Since turning her attention to writing, she has excelled there, too. Her debut novel Running from the Devil, featuring biochemist Emma Caldridge, received the Best First Novel award from the International Thriller Writers and the Barrys and was also nominated for Macavity and Crimespreee awards.

The third installment in Jamie's series with Emma Caldridge, The Ninth Day, was released in September, 2011 and finds Caldridge prisoner of a drug lord in Mexico after stumbling upon human traffickers, where she soon learns first-hand about a flesh-eating toxin infecting marijuana leaves and humans.

Jamie's holiday offering is also one of my favorites:

My most treasured Christmas tradition isn't a memory but happens every year! It's watching my childhood favorite, The Grinch Who Stole Christmas with my children. We have the tape and watch it each year, followed by White Christmas. Recently I was in the car with my teenage daughter and the Grinch song came on. We started singing along with the fabulous voice of Thurl Ravenscroft, "You're a mean one, Mister Grinch…"
 
One of my favorite charities at Christmas time is The Greater Chicago Food Depository (a nonprofit food distribution and training center distributing food through a network of 650 pantries, soup kitchens and shelters).

Twelve Days of Bookmas: G.M. Malliet

 

Author G.M. Malliet did post-graduate work at Oxford University after earning a graduate degree from the University of Cambridge, the setting for her St. Just mysteries. Death of a Cozy Writer, the first installment in that series, won the Agatha Award for Best Novel.

The debut book in her new mystery series starring Max Tudor (a former MI5 agent, now vicar of a small English village), is Wicked Autumn, selected as a Library Journal Pick for Best Mystery in 2011. Bestselling author Louise Penny added, "G.M. Malliet creates a fabulous setting in Nether Monkslip and a great series hero in Father Max Tudor. Rarely have I read descriptions that have left me gasping, in both their hilarity and their painful truth. A wonderful read."

G.M.'s holiday offering for the Twelve Days of Bookmas is a favorite recipe, and she also picks a deserving charity:

This is the one food I remember as being an essential part of every holiday meal, whether Thanksgiving or Christmas. It's holiday red (all that tomato juice) and green (olives and parsley). It's also potentially fatal (all that salt) so I recommend using low-sodium tomato juice.

The family calls this Molded Crab Salad but let's call it Crab in Aspic because that sounds so much better. I don't know where the recipe came from; it's just been around for decades. I suspect it came from the Jello people.

2 pkg. lemon Jello (3 oz.)

1 cup crab meat

4 cups tomato juice

2 tbsp. vinegar

1 tsp. horseradish

1 tsp. Worcestershire sauce

1/2 tsp. onion salt

1/2 tsp. garlic salt

1/2 tsp. celery salt

1 small jar stuffed olives, sliced

Parsley–use as garnish

Heat all four cups of tomato juice to hot but not boiling. Add lemon Jello and stir until dissolved. Add vinegar, horseradish, Worcestershire sauce; onion, garlic and celery salts. Stir until blended. Put crab meat and sliced olives into a large decorative mold and pour the aspic on top of it. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate until set. You can also use several smaller, individual molds.

BV has asked me to name my favorite charity. It is unquestionably Doctors without Borders/Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF). These are the people who dedicate themselves to relieving suffering in some of the worst trouble spots of the world. They do this selflessly, with remarkable bravery, and—so far as I have ever been able to tell—with complete impartiality as to the race or religion of those whose lives they save. They care only about treating the ill and injured, remaining detached from the political situation that may have sparked the suffering they struggle to alleviate. In 1999, MSF received the Nobel Peace Prize.

Twelve Days of Bookmas: Jeri Westerson

 

Jeri Westerson worked as actress, graphic artist, theology teacher, tasting host, tour guide for a winery and newspaper reporter before turning her hand to writing. She is the author of a "Medieval Noir" series featuring hard-boiled detective Crispin Guest, a disgraced knight turned PI who solves crimes on the mean streets of fourteenth century London. 

The Boston Globe called her detective, "A medieval Sam Spade, a tough guy who operates according to his own moral compass and observes with detached humor…this book is pure fun." Booklist said, "…this authentically detailed medieval mystery has an intriguingly dark edge." Jeri's latest in the series, Troubled Bones, was published this October.

Jeri gives us this holiday memory for Day Three of Bookmas and also picks one of her favorite charities: 

 

It was a tradition growing up around this time of year. Though the menorah was glowing brightly in our window, as American Jews, we couldn't avoid the trappings, songs, TV shows, department store décor of Christmas. And hey! I love Christmas carols, both medieval or the more modern variety. Christmas décor and Charles Dickens. And I loved watching the various movies made of Dickens' A Christmas Carol. My sister and I would watch each one together, glorying on English accents and snowy Victorian streets from our sunny southern California living room.

In fact, we watched so much, it became a point of honor—or honour—to be able to recite some rather familiar lines when they came up: "Every fool who goes around with Merry Christmas on his lips should be boiled in his own pudding and buried with a stake of holly through his heart!" Ah, that's the old Christmas spirit! But there were different versions. There was the oldest one they showed from 1938, with Reginald Owen as Scrooge and Gene Lockhart as Bob Cratchit. It’s not my favorite Scrooge but it is my favorite Cratchit. Gene Lockhart has such a kind face and he is so perfect in that role. My favorite Scrooge is Alastair Sim from 1951. You really believed he changed from crotchety to nice. Of course, there was also the Mr. Magoo version, too, with its great songs and cast of voice actors.

It just wasn't Christmas without at least seeing A Christmas Carol three or four times. And I think back to those days with my sister when we’d sit in the living room in our jammies, watching the old black and white TV, and reciting the lines together. I bet the Spirit of Christmas Future never envisioned that!

And in the spirit of the season, I'd like to put forth a favorite charity of mine. The Trevor Project, a national organization providing crisis intervention and suicide prevention services to lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and questioning youth. Too many kids feel alone, not just this time of year but all year long when even their families turn against them. I can't think of a better charity than one that serves the least of us. As Dickens' said, "Mankind is my business."

Twelve Days of Bookmas: Reed Farrel Coleman

 

Called a hard-boiled poet by NPR's Maureen Corrigan and noir poet laureate in the Huffington Post, Reed Farrel Coleman teaches writing classes in mystery fiction and the novel at Hofstra University, and has served as executive vice-president of Mystery Writers of America. He's published novels in three series and one stand-alone (with award-winning Irish author Ken Bruen). Reed is a three-time winner of the Shamus Award for Best Detective Novel of the Year. He's also received the Macavity, Barry, and Anthony Awards, and has been twice nominated for the Edgar Award.

Reed's latest novel, Hurt Machine, is the seventh installment in his popular Moe Praeger series featuring the ex-NYPD cop turned reluctant PI (and sometime wineseller). Praeger, who's just learned he has stomach cancer, also has to deal with a request from ex-wife and former PI partner Carmella Melendez to solve the murder of Carmella's estranged sister. Hurt Machine is being offered as a free ebook on Amazon and Barnes & Noble, from December 20-24th.

Reed's holiday offering is titled "A Jew's First Christmas":

I’ve never been a big believer in the well-intentioned but misguided attempts to equate Christmas and Chanukah. Christmas is a major Christian holiday whereas Chanukah isn’t a very important holiday at all. Let’s face it, the birth of the son of God vs. some oil that lasted eight days instead of one or two is a big mismatch. Passover and Easter are a much better pairing. That’s not to say I wasn’t envious of my Catholic friends—not many Protestants back in my old Brooklyn neighborhood—at Christmas. Sure, I wanted all those presents too, and a tree, but those weren’t the things I was most jealous of. Even back then, it was the spirit of the season I craved. Somehow, the spirit I saw on display in movies, on TV, in commercials, and print ads always eluded me.

Then, when I was eighteen and a freshman at Brooklyn College, I began dating a woman named Margaret whom I’d met at a summer job. She came from a big Catholic family and though I can’t imagine I was the dream match for their daughter, her parents and family made me a part of their Christmas preparations. I had no idea how early you had to start shopping and getting ready for the holiday. For the first time I saw it really wasn’t about the gifts, but about getting the right gifts to show you cared. Gifts were more than the things themselves. They were meant to be symbolic. I really got into it. I went to midnight mass with Margaret and got a better understanding of the beauty of the rituals of the Catholic faith. I did the whole unwrapping gifts thing on Christmas morning. But the thing I will never ever forget is that Margaret’s parents gave me a jade chai—a combination of two Hebrew letters that symbolize life and good fortune. Apparently, that Christmas had been as important to them as it had been to me.

I have since lost that chai, but never the gift of receiving it.

Favorite Charity: The March of Dimes (originally founded to fight polio and now fighting to prevent birth defects and infant mortality).

Twelve Days of Bookmas: Craig Johnson

 

Starting today through the end of the year, I'll be featuring the Twelve (Plus Two) Days of Bookmas. Authors will be stopping by with a holiday bon-bon plus a link to their favorite charity. I'm grateful to each of these folks for participating during what is already a very hectic season. I'll hope you'll support them and their books and remember that donations to charities make great gifts.

Craig Johnson grew up in a rural West Virginia area which he says was perfect for nurturing a storyteller because it "gives you two options, finding a way to entertain yourself or having adults find something to occupy your time, like bailing hay. You'd be surprised how far your imagination will go to keep you away from honest labor." He currently lives in Ucross, Wyoming, population 25, on a ranch adjacent to both the Crow and Cheyenne reservations, a region that plays a starring role in his writing.

Craig has received high praise for his Sheriff Walt Longmire novels, with The Dark Horse receiving a "superfecta" of starred reviews from Kirkus, Booklist, Publishers Weekly, and Library Journal, and was also named one of Publisher's Weekly's best books of 2009. That success spilled over into television with the new A&E program Longmire, which is based on Craig's popular protagonist. The latest installment in the novel series is this year's Hell Is Empty, which sees Wyoming's favorite sheriff braving a frozen "Inferno" (with nods to Dante and Indian mysticism) as he races to capture an escaped murderer.

Craig's holiday offering finds the author very much hat in hand (click on the photo to see it larger)…

"My wife, Judy, really likes my old work hats; I guess it's a genuine piece of cowboy Americana. I had this Stetson that I'd worn while building our log home, and decided I'd give it to her for Christmas. I got it cleaned and re-lined and it was about then that I saw a photo of an old Charlie Russell hat that he'd drawn on for a friend. Here I had this beautiful old hat and bought a special felt-tip for the job…Now, there’s that point in your life when you realize you're about to do something stupid, and that there are numerous ways you can mess something like this up…I called up my good friend and renowned western artist Joel Ostlind and asked him if he'd be kind enough to draw on Judy's Christmas hat.

      “Is there something specific you’d like?”

      I’ve dealt with enough artists to know you don’t dictate to them, you just turn them loose. “Nope, whatever.”

      Joel did a beautiful rendering of two of the characters from my Walt Longmire books with Cady on one side, Henry Standing Bear on the other and a panorama of the Bighorn Mountains in the back. It’s now one of Judy’s most prized possessions, and I’m so glad I didn’t mess it up."

Craig's favorite charity is the U.S. Marine Corp's Toys for Tots, which not only provides toys for Christmas to underprivileged children, it also sponsors a Toys for Tots Native American Program and a Literacy Program helping to deliver more than one million books to children across the country.

Mystery Melange

 

Time to gear up for the 2012 reading challenges. One of the first comes from Jen's Book Thoughts, her second annual Criminal Plots Reading Challenge. Categories include a novel with a weapon in the title and a book by an author from the state/provinence/etc. where you live.

Also from Jen comes word of some pre-order book contests from authors Hilary Davidson, Bill Cameron and Mike Lister. Check them out and be sure and read the link to Hilary's post about why pre-ordering an author's books is important and helpful.

Craig Sisterson reported on his Crime Watch log that the programme for the 2012 Waikato Times Hamilton Garden Arts Festival has just been announced, and "the organisers have picked up on the quality and growth of New Zealand crime writing, and have included what should be a terrific crime writing event."

The second issue of Pulp Modern is out, with timely (and twisted) cover art by Jeremy Selzer and stories from Patti abbott, John kenyon and many more.

Janet Rudolph and her Mystery Fanfare blog has lists of all the Crime for the Holiday books for you, with mysteries themed around Christmas starting with author last names A-D. Mystery Readers Journal, which Janet edits, is celebrating its 28th year of publication with a bonus issue for your 2012 subscription, titled "Shrinks and Other Mental Healthcare Professionals."

The interview roundup this week features author John Connolly talking with Tom Atwell for the Portland Press-Herald about his latest thriller, The Burning Soul. He also reveals that his next Charlie Parker, Wrath of Angels, will be coming out next year, and he's working on a collection of essays written by mystery authors about mystery fiction.

John Norris, the force behind the Pretty Sinister Books blog, has a mystery contest for you, titled "So You Think You Know Your Vintage Mysteries?" The quiz is in five sections: pseudonyms, settings, Watsons, detectives, and commonalities between two or more fictional characters. He's handing out prizes based on number of correct answers with first place to the one who gets them all or the most right, second for the second highest, etc. The contest closes December 23.

Ten Gifts for Writers (the Regular Edition)

Last week, I wrote a blog about 10 Gifts for Writers (the Not so Serious Edition), and today I continue with gifts that aren't as quirky and may actually be helpful.

But before I do, I'd like to mention that starting on this blog December 19th and running through January 1st, I'll be featuring 12 Days (Plus Two) of Bookmas. Each day, an author will be stopping by to offer up a little holiday bon-bon, from a recipe to a personal remembrance, to a favorite story or TV show, and they'll also name their favorite charity. Authors lined up include Laurie R. King, Paul Doiron, Craig Johnson, G.M. Maillet, Martin Edwards, Jeri Westerson, Zoe Sharp, Julia Spencer-Fleming and more. So stay tuned.

Now, for the list:

A digital voice recorder. I can tell you from personal experience that working out on a treadmill or elliptical when you get a story idea and attempting to write it down is an exercise in futility (especially when you come home and can't read your scribbling). With a recorder, a writer can immediately preserve their ideas whenever and wherever they occur. These range from cellphone-sized (cheaper) to this nifty little digital recorder pen (expensive).

A lap desk. These are very handy to have for reading a printed manuscript or as a base for a tablet or laptop computer. And LapGear will make a donation for every lap desk they sell to the Kids in Need Foundation that provides gear for underprivileged students.

Novel (and story) writing software. These vary in features provided, but they start as low as free (such as yWriter) to $30 with StoryWeaver, and on up. StoryMind has a great deal right now, offering to throw in a free Writer's Survival Kit with any website purchase. The kit includes an extensive collection of writing software, classes and tools essential to every writer's craft.

Tickets to a writer's conference or retreat. This blog keeps a list of upcoming mystery conferences, but websites like Shaw Guides have databases of other events where writers can get away for awhile and take classes or just have undisturbed writing time.

A gift certificate for professional editing services. Granted, this can get a little pricey, but you can at least help defray the costs. This is particularly helpful for self-published authors and those going the small press or indie route, who will need to purchase a la carte editing. This rate chart from the Editorial Freelancers Association may be helpful.

Coffee! Many an author takes their laptop to the local coffee shop that has a spare table and plug-in to work on their manuscript away from home distractions, if not store-related ones. A gift certificate from the store will also help a writer stay caffeinated and alert through all those mind-numbing edits.

Literacy. Make a donation in the writer's name to a local or national literacy organization (the America's Literacy Directory is a good place to start). After all, writing can be cathartic and enjoyable on its own, but to be a read author, you need a steady supply of readers. The gift of literacy helps everyone.

Gloves? Yes, gloves. Typing away at the keyboard all day can leave your digits a bit frosty. Light-weight fingerless gloves to the rescue, helping to keep fingers flying fast and furious. You can opt for more conservative styles or for hard-boiled types, this might be more appropriate.

Creativity-booster. If your writer likes to listen to music for inspiration while writing, create a mixtape of their favorite tunes and burn it to a CD or DVD. Or give them a gift certificate for Spotify, and they can put together their own song list.

And, last, but certainly not least, a gift certificate to their favorite local indie bookstore is a wonderful idea.

Media Murder for Monday

 

MOVIES

The musical-chairs directorship game has hit the film adaptation of The Man From U.N.C.L.E. After Steven Soderburg departed the project, Guy Ritchie stepped in (along with his partner Lionel Wigram), and it appears the movie is back on again. For now.

Lionsgate is planning a remake of the 2000 film American Psycho, based on the novel by Bret Easton Ellis. The project will update the setting to contemporary New York where unhinged yuppie Patrick Bateman (originally played by Christian Bale) will wreak his havoc.

Mandalay PIctures and horror director Alexandre Aja (of the recent Piranha film) is taking on an adaptation of Joe Hill's supernatural mystery novel Horns. The plot centers on a 26-year-old man who wakes up with a massive hangover to discover horns sprouting from his head, and becomes convinced it's tied to the unsolved murder of his girlfriend.

The upcoming biopic Alfred Hitchcock and the Making of Psycho, based on the book by Stephen Rebello, has already cast Anthony Hopkins as the famous director, and now it appears Helen Mirren is in talks to take on the role of Hitchcock's wife, Alma Reville.

Marisa Tomei and Joshua Jackson (Fringe) are joining Alexander Siddig in the thriller Inescapable, based on the story of a Syrian expatriate whose journalist daughter goes missing in Damascus.

In more casting news, Benjamin Bratt has signed on to play Dwayne Johnson's nemesis in Snitch, a drug thriller shooting in Louisiana.

TV

The Producers Guild of America, Writers Guild of America and American Film Institute released their award nominees this week. WGA noms include Showtime's new drama Homeland, with three nods for best drama series, best new series and best episodic drama. Other big honorees incude AMC's The Killing and HBO's Boardwalk Empire. PGA nominees include Boardwalk Empire and Showtime's Dexter. The AFI honored shows including Breaking Bad, Boardwalk Empire, The Good Wife, Homeland and Justified.

Lifetime has ordered a two-hour original movie/backdoor pilot based on Linda Castillo's novel Sworn to Silence set in the Amish farming community of Painter’s Mill, Ohio. It will star Neve Campbell as a young girl who survived a series of brutal murders in the community 15 years ago and returns as the town's Chief of Police.

Dana "Queen Latifah" Owens, through her Flavor Untt Entertainment production company, sold CBS a female-lead police procedural centering on "a street savvy Philadelphia woman who realizes her calling as a homicide detective after a defining moment." Charles Murray (V, Castle, Criminal Minds) will serve as writer/producer.

In what may be destined for the Guinness Book of World Records, Ed Asner will have a recurring guest role on Hawaii Five-0—the same role he played in the original series 36 years ago in 1975.

USA Network is moving the debut of Common Law to summer 2012. The show stars Michael Ealy and Warren Kole as a pair of detectives forced to attend couples counseling.

ABC ordered an extra episode of Castle starring Nathan Fillion, bringing the total this season to 23 episodes.

Not so great news for AMC's freshman cop/family drama Against the Wall. Although it drew favorable reviews, the audience numbers just weren't there, and it's been canceled. AMC did purchase the off-network rights to CSI: Miami, which helps increase the chances the show will continue on CBS beyond the current 10th season.

Titus Wellive will be joining Daniel Roebuck as a former Lost cast member making a guest appearance on NBC's Grimm. He'll be playing a creature with the ability to morph into a "steinadler" (golden eagle), which one assumes is a far different role from the one he'll play in an upcoming episode of CSI.

A&E bought a half-hour police drama from Homicide executive producer Tom Fontana, set primarily in an interrogation room. Titled The Box, the show will feature a small cast of detectives as they question a key suspect or witness, with the details of the crime revealed through the interrogation.

PODCASTS/RADIO

Patricia Cornwell appeared on NPR's On Point program to discuss her latest novel, Red Mist.

Laura Lippman joined Late Late Show host Craig Ferguson, talking about her latest book, The Most Dangerous Thing.

Mystery Melange

 

The Nero Award is presented by The Wolfe Pack organization each year to an author for the best American mystery novel written in the tradition of Rex Stout's Nero Wolfe stories. The 2011 winner, announced this past weekend, is Louise Penny for Bury Your Dead. Also announced at the annual banquet was The Black Orchid Novella Award, presented jointly by The Wolfe Pack and Alfred Hitchcock Mystery Magazine to celebrate the format popularized by Rex Stout. This year's award went to James Lincoln Warren for "Inner Fire."

Last year, we lost author and TV producer/screenwriter Stephen J. Cannell, who died at the age of 69 of complications from melanoma. But his final book, Vigilante, is being published by St. Martin's Press this week and is the 19th installment in Cannell's series featuring LAPD detective Shane Scully.

Suspense Magazine's December issue is out, featuring their Best of 2011 list, interviews with John Lescroart and Sue Grafton, book reviews, short stories and novel excerpts.

How many short stories can you read in a year? Brian Lindenmuth, the non-fiction editor of Spinetingler magazine and one of the fiction editors of Snubnose Press, has issued a challenge to you and other readers. If you think you can read one short story a day during 2012, head on over to Brian's blog Short Story365 and sign up. There will be prizes, too, for those who read 50 stories up to 365. He also needs volunteers and author book donations, so check out the site and give it a shot. (Hat tip to Sandra Seamans.)

Speaking of Spinetingler, the magazine announced that the editor for the new weekly online flash fiction feature is R. Thomas Brown. He may announce themes or issue challenges from time to time but for now he just wants "compelling stories that capture the reader with intriguing characters and quality writing."

Ten Gifts for Writers (the Not-So-Serious Edition)

 

Some of us can actually remember the days of typewriters. If you have an author on your gift list who is of a certain vintage, why not give her a 14K-gold typewriter charm! It's only $275, and it will help her remember to be thankful for her laptop.

No self-respecting mystery writer should be without a muse. With this Sherlock Holmes action figure keeping an eye on you next to your computer, you'll either be more inspired to write or find yourself starting to speak with a British accent and drinking a lot more tea.

With this coffee mug, which proudly proclaims "I'm a Famous Writer," your giftee can fool all of his friends at work. And spend the rest of the time making up excuses as to why, if he's famous, he has to keep working at his day job.

Has your writer-friend ever had an inspiration at dinner and had to dash off to write it down in her notebook before she forgot? Not any more, with these handy memo pad dinner plates.

Unless your gift recipient has a lot of whips around to flagellate himself in order to avoid distractions, he might appreciate this handy wall clock to keep him cranking out words. Unfortunately, it isn't able to pull the plug on his router, modem or DSL line.

If the writer on your list is the shy type who can never think up an appropriate comeback, Shakespeare Insult Gum may be just the trick. It comes packaged as a case of seven small books, and inside each are two gum balls and one random insult.

From personal experience, I can verify that sitting in front of your computer all day in the cold winter months leads to seriously frozen feet. What better way to keep your writer's toes warm and make a writerly fashion statement at the same time than a pair of pencil socks.

Does your giftee suffer from frequent writer's block? No more! With Writer in a Can 12-oz aerosol spray, he can create writing on contact. Note that this can contains no liquid, but is always under pressure.
 

Mystery writers need to eat an antioxidant diet that inspires creativity, and they also want look cool, so why not combine the two with Chocolate Ammo and Chocolate Guns. Choose from chocolate-peanut butter 12-gauge shotgun shells, solid chocolate grenades and more. A great way to liven up that dull cocktail party, too!

Of course, avoid taking your chocolate ammo on a commercial flight. And even though a Western-themed purse with a fake gun on the front is another cool idea, you might want to remind your writer to check it in her luggage.

Media Murder for Monday

 

MOVIES

The murder mystery London Fields by Martin Amis is heading for the big screen under the direction of Shekhar Kapur (Elizabeth). The movie adaptation of the book, about a woman who apparently foresees her death and sets out to arrange it, has been in limbo for a decade.

Tom Hanks is circling around a movie adaptation of In the Garden of Beasts: Love, Terror and an American Family in Hitler’s Berlin by Erik Larson. Universal Studios has acquired the movie rights and Hanks may produce and star in the true story of William Dodd, the U.S. ambassador to Berlin in 1933, and his daughter Martha, who had romantic affairs with a Gestapo official and a Soviet spy.

Director Steven Soderbergh may have dropped his plans to helm The Man From U.N.C.L.E., but he's going to take on a different project instead, written by Scott Z. Burns (The Informant!, Contagion). Titled The Bitter Pill, it's described as "a thriller set in the world of psychopharmacology."

Michael Chiklis is using his production company Extravaganza Films to team up with former Shield co-star Forest Whitaker in Pawn, an independent crime film based on a script by Jay Anthony White. Also starring in the film about a hostage drama gone awry will be Common (Hell On Wheels) and Ray Liotta.

If you happen to be in San Francisco on December 14, check out the historic Castro Theatre for the second annual Noir City Xmas. The Film Noir Foundation is offering a pair of rare noir-stained yuletide classics, Lady on a Train and Christmas Holiday, to darken your spirits this holiday season. As a bonus, the full schedule for the tenth annual Noir City film festival (January 20–29) will be unveiled.

Sony Pictures has released three new TV spots for David Fincher's film version of The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo that premieres December 21. As Collider reports, there's also an eight-minute trailer, and you can already download the film score.

TV

Liev Schreiber is taking on his first series regular role for Showtime's drama pilot Ray Donovan, created and executive produced by Southland creator Ann Biderman. Schreiber will play the title character, a Hollywood "fixer" who, according to Cinema Blend, "gets called in to solve embarrassing problems, like dead hookers or action heroes getting busted while coked out of their mind and attempting to couple with inanimate objects."

ReelzChannel picked up the drama series True Justice, which stars Steven Seagal as Elijah Kane, the head of a team of undercover Seattle cops.

TNT is extending its brand-new Mystery Movie Night franchise into spring of 2012 by giving the greenlight to an original movie version of Hornet's Nest. Adapted from Patricia Cornwell's novel, it will star Sherry Stringfield and Virginia Madsen.

The Sherlock Holmes News blog reminds us that the BBC-TV and Robert Downey, Jr. movie versions of the Holmes stories aren't the only projects based on Arthur Conan Doyle's famous creation. The Russian company Central Partnership is producing a new 16-episode Sherlock Holmes series due for release in 2012-2013. 

CSI: Miami is bringing in some sex symbols from the 70s. Raquel Welch and Bo Derek are scheduled for guest appearances on the TV series next year.

The new series The Firm, based on John Grisham's novel, premieres January 8th with a two-hour special. NBC released three teaser trailers for the show, which is more of a sequel than an adaptation and picks up years after central character Mitch McDeere broke free from a mob-owned law firm.

PODCASTS/RADIO

Michael Connelly appeared on CBS' The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson to talk about his latest novel, The Drop.

Suspense Radio's December lineup includes MJ Rose and Lisa Black on December 10th at 10 a.m. pacific time, and Christopher Sandford and Lis Wiehl, December 17th.

Take Your Child to a Bookstore, Now!

Today is the second annual Take Your Child to a Bookstore Day. As organizer Jenny Milchman told Shelf Awareness during the inaugural celebration, "We all know how much children love books. We've all heard them beg for a story, and seen their faces light up as they listen to one. But we think less about how a child would love the place so many books come from. A bookstore can lead a child to a book, with guidance and interest from booksellers, in a way that no website or digital device can. It's a place to read, dream, and play. A world of stimulation, and a refuge in a stimulating world. In order for bookstores to thrive and flourish in the future, children have to experience the unique pleasures they offer today."