Thanks to Rebecca Oliver of the Endeavor Agency, I’ve had the great fortune of selling the publishing rights to “The Lace Reader” to twenty-five publishers around the globe. Most of these foreign editions will be published in 2009.  Lately, a few international covers have started showing up in my InBox so I thought I’d share them with you (see the bottom of this post).

What intrigues me is the diversity of imagery and that a few countries have changed the title of the book to better suit their native language.

To see the complete image of any cover, just click on it. After it loads, you can click once more for an even larger version.

Please feel free to leave a comment. I’d love to know your favorites.

Not sure what you did this weekend but I learned 10 new ways to poison someone. I was at the 7th New England Crime Bake (website), a conference for readers and writers of the mystery genre.  The lecture was given by Lucy Zahray (a.k.a. the Poison Lady). We learned about a variety of poisons: some undetectable, some fast acting, others you can make at home, and what was popular during the Victorian age. Though her subject matter was grim, her presentation was a lot of fun. I’m not sure I’ll ever use these ideas in my writing, but you never know.

Note: the title of this post refers to the punchline of an old joke about a woman whose four husbands all died suddenly. Her first three husbands died from eating poison mushrooms, the fourth from an accidental gunshot. Why an accidental gunshot for number four? Well…

I’ll be speaking at the 7th New England Crime Bake conference on Sunday at 10 AM. I’m on a Suspense panel with Gary Braver, Chris Knopf, Randall Peffer, and Joe Meyers. The event is being held at the Hilton Hotel in Dedham, MA. If you’d like to attend or just get more information about the event, click here.

Veterans Day 2008

My father, Jack Barry, enlisted in the U.S. Army at the age of 18 and served in Patton’s army during World War II. He told some very entertaining stories about the day to day escapades of military life which sounded like a cross between the old Sgt. Bilko series of the 1950’s and an episode of MASH. But like most veterans of his era, there were some things in his experience that he was extremely reluctant to discuss. When pressed, he would simply quote General Sherman’s address to the 1879 graduating class of Michigan Military Academy: “War is hell!”

In the service, my father met my uncle, Morkie, who became his best friend for life. On their first day back in Massachusetts, Morkie introduced my father to his sister, June, whom Dad married a few years later. Two years after that, I was born, then my brother, Mark. My father once told me that, when the war ended, what he wanted most in the world was to come home to the small town where his family had lived for generations, to work and raise his own family there. If the war had done one thing for him, he said, it was to make him understand what it was he really wanted.

So today is Nov. 11, Veteran’s Day. It was on this day (11/11) in 1918 at 11 AM that World War I (“The War to end all wars”) ended. In honor of my father and all veterans who have served our country, I wish them the peace in body, mind, and spirit that they have sacrificially earned and so richly deserve.

Brunonia

P.S. For the historical context of the phrase “War is hell!”, go here.

I’m speaking at the Wordstock Festival at the Portland Convention Center on Sunday at 4 PM in Exhibit Hall E.

If you love books, writing, and authors, this is one of the best events in the country. The program is rich and diverse with sessions held on both Saturday and Sunday. For a complete schedule, click here.

Last night, we conducted a call-in / webcast book club for The Lace Reader with readers from all over the country sending in questions and listening in. 

If you missed it, don’t worry. We recorded the hour long event and you can listen to it by clicking here.

Enjoy!

My husband and I walk to the polls this morning to cast our votes. It is a beautiful day in Salem, Indian summer, maybe, though I’m not sure whether or not we’ve yet had a killing frost since I’ve been away on book tour for so many weeks. The Halloween crowds have all left and gone back to their normal and, hopefully, less scary lives. We can once again hear the crunch of fallen leaves underfoot as we stroll the wavy brick sidewalks past the centuries old Federal style mansions. There is something so old fashioned, so connected to history about walking to the polls to vote. At the same time, in this age of energy consumption reevaluation, there is something new and green about it as well. No fossil fuel is consumed, just some of the calories we had for breakfast. Change is in the air.

I’ve had so many requests for book club meetings in so many different places that we’re going to try a call-in format this Wednesday evening to see if this might be a better way to talk to book clubs. The details on how to attend are listed below.

Please call-in if you can. If this works, we’ll do more of these on a regular basis. Thanks.

Brunonia

EVENT:  “The Lace Reader” Call-In Book Club Wednesday 11/05/08

DATE & TIME: Wednesday, November 5th at 8:00pm Eastern

FORMAT: Simulcast! (Attend via Phone or Webcast — it’s your choice)

EVENT HOMEPAGE LINK: http://instantTeleseminar.com/?eventid=4864134

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QUESTIONS & ANSWERS

HOW DO I PARTICIPATE IN “The Lace Reader”  BOOK CLUB MEETING?

It’s easy. Just visit the EVENT HOMEPAGE LINK shown above and you’ll find all the information you need to attend. We recommend that you print out that page for future reference so that you’ll have all the information handy for the actual event.

CAN I SUBMIT QUESTIONS?

Absolutely. The EVENT HOMEPAGE LINK has an area that let’s you send Brunonia your questions. You can submit your questions at any time, you can even do it during the meeting itself. However, your chances of getting your questions answered are better if you submit them sooner rather than later. And it’s perfectly fine to submit more than one question but please enter them one at a a time by pressing the SUBMIT after each question you enter. Be sure provide your name, location, and book club name (if you have one) so that Brunonia can identify you in case she needs to discuss your question directly with you.

HOW LONG WILL THE MEETING LAST?

The meeting is scheduled to last one hour.

THIS ISN’T THE NORMAL MEETING TIME FOR MY BOOK CLUB, CAN WE STILL ATTEND EVEN IF WE ARE NOT ALL IN THE SAME PLACE?

Sure. The great thing about this call-in book club format is that the  members of your book club can be in separate places and each one of them can still listen either via phone or by webcast. Of course, if you are together in one location, all you need is a single speakerphone that is loud enough for everyone to hear or a computer with good speakers if you elect to use the the webcast option.

WHAT’S A WEBCAST AND HOW DO I USE IT?

A webcast is a way to listen to the book club meeting using your computer instead of a phone. When you go the EVENT HOMEPAGE LINK, you’ll see both a phone number (for those that want to use a telephone) as well as a “Listen Live Via Web” PLAY button (the PLAY button is only active during the actual time of the meeting). The advantage of the webcast option is that you don’t have to pay for a phone call (you do have to have a fast Internet connection like DSL or Cable Modem). There are two ways to use the “Listen Live Via Web” option: FLASH player and POP-UP player. If you are not sure, try the FLASH player option first. If that doesn’t work simply switch to the POP-UP player.

MY BOOK CLUB WILL BE AT MY HOUSE THAT NIGHT. HOW DO WE LISTEN BY PHONE?

Just go to the EVENT HOMEPAGE LINK. There you’ll find the phone number to call and and the CONFERENCE ID#. Then just before the event starts (say a minute or two before), dial the phone number and enter the CONFERENCE ID# when you are asked for it. Be sure to press the # key on your phone after you enter the ID#. You will then be connected to the book club event. If you call in early, just stay on the line until the events starts.

I’M JUST AN INDIVIDUAL READER, NOT A BOOK CLUB. CAN I STILL PARTICIPATE?

Of course. Just call in by phone or use the webcast option. You can go the EVENT HOMEPAGE LINK  and submit any questions you might have.

CAN PEOPLE HEAR WHAT WE SAY DURING THE EVENT?

To protect your privacy and to keep the noise level down, book club call-in participants are normally muted out so you can say whatever you want and no one will hear you. However, Brunonia does have the ability to  un-mute everyone on the phones and depending on the number of people on the call and other factors, she may in fact do that (don’t worry, she’ll announce it just before she flips the switch). In this case, she will call on a particular person or book club to speak to as this is the only way to keep some sense of order. If everyone starts talking at the same time, no one will be heard and she’ll have to mute everyone again. If you’ve elected to use the webcast option, there’s no way for you to speak and be heard by others even if Brunonia un-mutes everyone. The webcast method is “listen only” option.

IS THERE A WAY TO LISTEN TO WHAT WAS SAID AFTER THE EVENT?

Yes. Within 30 minutes after the call has ended, a complete recording will be posted at the EVENT HOMEPAGE LINK. Simply go to that webpage and click on the PLAY button.