Ellen Byerrum

 

Here's the trailer for the movie adaptation of my Crime of Fashion mystery Hostile Makeover, which premiered on Lifetime Movie Network this past Sunday, June 28. Preview courtesy of Lifetime. Lifetime will be rerunning the show, and you can also watch it on the LMN Web site.

What did you think of Hostile Makeover, the movie? How did it compare to Killer Hair for you? What did you think of Lacey's wardrobe? And her mom and her little sister? And did they really have to blow up that beautiful baby blue Datsun 240Z?!? (Don't worry, I think the exploding Z was just Hollywood special effects magic.)

In my books, of course, Lacey's car is a beautiful vintage burgundy Nissan (Datsun) 280ZX, just like the Z I used to own (before it was stolen), and it isn't her car that gets blown up, it's Felicity's minivan! (Lacey is horrified that anyone could have possibly mistaken her for Felicity--or thought she drove a minivan.) And the exploding minivan happens not in Hostile Makeover but in a different Crime of Fashion mystery, Designer Knockoff. But the mixing and (un-)matching from books to movies seems to be part of the Hollywood magic too. Let me know what you think...

The ladies of Killer Hair (the Lifetime movie adaptation of my Crime of Fashion mystery) dish Lacey's love interest, Vic Donovan. What do you think of Vic? Love him, hate him, can't stand him, can't get enough of him? (Or do you like Tony better?) Let me know, ladies (and gentlemen), and we can dish the dudes too. Another clip courtesy of Lifetime Movie Network.

The second LMN film adaptation from my series, Hostile Makeover, will air this Sunday at 8 Eastern time--preceded by a re-broadcast of Killer Hair, starting at 6. It's a Lacey Smithsonian double feature on LMN! Or as my husband Bob is calling it, the Lacey Movie Network...

The stars of the Lifetime adaptations of my Killer Hair and Hostile Makeover discuss their characters' styles--and their own. Courtesy of Lifetime Movie Network. And I know some of you saw the premiere of Killer Hair Sunday night--tell me what you thought about it, what you liked/loved/didn't love, and I'll be sharing some of my reactions too.

 

Another great preview clip from Lifetime Movie Network. Cast members of the film adaptations of my Killer Hair and Hostile Makeover reveal startling true-life Crimes of Fashion from out of their own pasts! (And closets.) Killer Hair will premiere on LMN this Sunday, June 21, at 8 pm Eastern time. I can't wait to see it with a group of supportive friends! And check out the feature story on Killer Hair by reporter Bill Keveney in today's edition of USA Today, section D, page 11. (They didn't use my photo, but I bought extra copies anyway.)

 

Who meets what? I did read a few Nancy Drew mysteries when I was little (my friends' copies), but I never actually saw a single episode of Sex and the City until after I'd written six Crime of Fashion mysteries! This is another entertaining behind-the-scenes clip from Lifetime Movie Network for their film adaptations of my Killer Hair and Hostile Makeover.

Lifetime Movie Network has made available more behind-the-scenes teasers for my Killer Hair and Hostile Makeover. This clip is about the costume design and character styling. Check out Lacey's snazzy Forties vintage suit! Killer Hair will premiere on LMN on June 21.

OMG! This is the trailer for the world premieres of the Lifetime movies of my Crime of Fashion mysteries, Killer Hair and Hostile Makeover. They will air on June 21 and June 28. Am I excited? Does Maggie Lawson look pretty great as Lacey? OMG!

Today I'm guest blogging over at the Stiletto Gang. The subject has to do with kissing and the recent movie shoot. Check it out at http://thestilettogang.blogspot.com/

And for those who are celebrating Easter and Passover, please accept my good wishes for the holidays.

All the world's a stage,
all the men and women merely players:
They have their exits and their entrances;
And one man in his time plays many parts,

---William Shakespeare 

  

 

In spite of bitter cold weather that looked deceptively lovely, intrepid film crew and cast members were in Washington, D.C., this week to film exteriors for the Lifetime Television movies based on two of my Crime of Fashion mysteries, Killer Hair and Hostile Makeover.  Luckily, I took time off from the day job so I could watch and chill with everyone else.

It was a great treat to meet the various players who are helping to make these films happen, on screen and off. Everyone—actors, camera and sound jockeys, hair and makeup artists, and other intrepid film-crew wranglers--worked diligently all day.

Taking center stage were the stars, Maggie Lawson as Lacey Smithsonian and Victor Webster as Vic Donovan. Maggie and Victor look great together and they have that all-important chemistry.  Also looking very spiffy were the locations—the Jefferson Memorial, McPherson Square, Lafayette Park, and the White House. The cherry blossoms were a bit shy, although a few blossoms came out for show.

Maggie was outfitted in snappy vintage fashions and Victor towered over her, making them a striking couple. They're both gorgeous. (I've been asked not to post any pics of the shoot yet, so for the time being I can't show you how gorgeous they are.) During a scene shot in front of the White House, I overheard one dazzled Washington wonk on a cell phone telling someone, “There are some really good-looking people here!” Dude, Hollywood came to town!

Our Lacey and Vic endured a lot of kissing scenes, much to the delight of passersby and a group of middle school students from Nebraska, who applauded gleefully after one kiss. Of course I took the opportunity to tell them they should read the books first. Tough work. . . . Yeah, we know. I’m not sure that buttoned-up, gray-clad Washington, the seat of the nation’s power, can handle all that public affection. But why not, love is grand.

Guiding the action was the charming director Jerry Ciccoritti, who let me walk across his set. (I hope that scene doesn’t get cut.) And it was also great to catch up with producers Rona Edwards and Monika Skerbelis, whom I first met a couple of years ago when I pitched my books at a Sisters in Crime conference. It was another pleasure to meet Kathy Freundel. Not only is Kathy a talented Maryland photographer, she was Maggie Lawson’s photo double.

After being outside in 30-degree wind chill all day, it took a while to thaw out. But I’m still mulling over all the people and equipment and light and cooperation from the city that is required to achieve a vision on film. 

We all play our parts.

Hollywood on the Potomac? In my last post, I listed some of the key actors in the Lifetime Television cable movies based on my Killer Hair and Hostile Makeover. Now I can reveal two other lead actors: Mark Consuelos is playing Lacey's handsome rival reporter on The Eye Street Observer, Tony Trujillo, and playing the part of Rose Smithsonian, Lacey’s mother, is the terrific Mary McDonnell. My website at www.ellenbyerrum.com has an updated movie page with some very handsome cast photographs.

Lifetime has been filming in Vancouver, Canada, but a film crew will be in D.C. in March to shoot exteriors. Will I be there? With bells on? You can bet on it!

In other news, I’ll be signing books at Borders Express in Springfield Mall in Springfield, Virginia, on March 14, from 12 noon to 3 p.m. The mall is having a fun fashion event that weekend, so the Crime of Fashion mysteries will fit right in.  Do stop by if you’re in the area.

Later in March, I’ll be returning to the Virginia Festival of the Book to participate in Crime Wave, on Saturday, March 21. The event is held in beautiful Charlottesville and is free for many of the events. It’s a great time and one of our favorite booksellers, Lelia from Creatures ‘n Crooks Bookshoppe will be on hand to sell books that day. For a good time, I recommend this festival.

My thanks to the many friends and fans who have offered me suggestions for actors to play the parts of Lacey Smithsonian and the rest of her crew in the Crime of Fashion Mysteries that are being filmed by Lifetime Television. It’s been fascinating and fun to contemplate all the endless possibilities, but now I have great news: Those endless possibilities have been narrowed down! Most of the major roles for Killer Hair have now been cast. While I have nothing at all to do with selecting the actors, the cast members look very impressive.

Maggie Lawson of television’s  “Psych” will play my heroine Lacey Smithsonian.
Victor Webster who appeared on “Charmed” will play Lacey's love interest Vic Donovan.
James McDaniel who appeared for many years on “NYPD Blues” will play Lacey's editor Douglas MacArthur Jones.
Finola Hughes of “General Hospital” will play hair salon diva Josephine Radford.
Sarah Edmondson will play Lacey's friend Brooke Barton.

Other cast members as of this date: Sadie LeBlanc as Stella Lake, Jocelyn Loewen as Felicity Pickles, Mario Cantone as Leonardo, Lynda Boyd as Marcia Robinson, Jason Schombing as Detective Harding, Peter Kelamis as Agent Thorne, Christopher Shyer as Boyd Radford, Carmen Moore as Sherri Gold, Sarah Smyth as Tammi White. I'll update with additional cast members as more info becomes available.

For a peek at the lead actors go to my web site, where we’ve put together a movies page at http://www.ellenbyerrum.com/eb_website_january_21_2009_002.htm

Lifetime will begin shooting Killer Hair in Canada this month and Hostile Makeover in February. I have to say that as more details become known, it’s actually beginning to seem real to me.

Upcoming Bookstore Events

In other news, I’ll be attending a couple of events in support of some great independent bookstores in Virginia.

January 24  With some great Virginia writers, I’ll be attending Mystery Lovers Saturday, in Middleburg. Sponsored by Books & Crannies, Middleburg's own bookstore, the event will be held from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. at various locations around Middleburg. I'll be part of a panel discussion with other mystery writers in the morning and signing books in the afternoon.

January 30  I'll be on live TV to help promote the “Books & Bling” event that takes place the next day at Creatures ‘n’ Crooks Bookshoppe, a bookstore that specializes in mystery and science fiction. I'm appearing on Virginia This Morning, on WTVR-CBS Channel 6 in Richmond VA, sometime between 9 and 10 a.m. What should I wear?

January 31  “Books & Bling,” from 1-4 p.m., is an event to support Creatures 'n' Crooks Bookshoppe, 3156 West Cary St., Richmond, VA. Stop by to meet and mingle with your favorite mystery authors, including Ellen Byerrum, Katherine Neville, Donna Andrews, Ellen Crosby, Maria Lima, Andy Straka, Joseph Guion, John Gilstrap, Austin S. Camacho, Maggie Stiefvater, Kristy Tallman, Dennis Danvers, Elizabeth Blue, Tee Morris, J. B. Stanley, and others. Join us to nibble sugary treats, win incredible door prizes, and buy books in support of Richmond's most charming bookstore.

From Creatures ’n’ Crooks Web site, here are a few more details about the January 31 event:
Over 100 authors from across the country have contributed to the incredible reader reward prizes to be given away throughout the month of January. That’s right! Whenever you shop at Creatures ‘n Crooks, you have a chance to win a fabulous prize! Prizes will be given out each week and you’ll never know which reader will receive a reward! (This includes phone customers). Reward prizes include signed books from authors in the field of mystery, fantasy, horror, nonfiction, and children’s fiction.

Contributions include a vampire basket from Charlaine Harris, a character donation from Margaret Maron, gold and sapphire earrings from Denise Swanson, a Carolyn Hart basket, a culinary basket with goodies from Joanne Fluke, a historical mystery book prize including a vintage Tiffany necklace, a fantastic fantasy book crate with signed books by George R.R. Martin and much, much more.

Today is the great playwright Moliere's birthday. He would be 386 years old. Known as the father of modern comedy in some circles, Moliere was born January 15, 1622, and died February 17, 1673. My favorite comic playwright, Moliere always gave the women characters in his plays great parts and great lines. At a time when doomsayers are predicting the end of the book as we know it, I find it comforting to reflect that they have been predicting the death of theatre for decades.  And yet the theatre is still here. We still crave storytelling whether it's in a book or at the theatre, or yes, via more modern applications, movies and television and the Web. In the midst of uncertain times, with doomsayers all around, I recommend celebrating theatre and the art of storytelling today.

At the moment, our televisions are awash in those dire public service commercials warning us in their oh-so-perky-yet-serious way that as of Feb. 17, our regular old analog antenna TVs will be dead. Kaput, moribund, gone. Oooh, I’m so scared! And if you don’t get the magical digital box to add to your TV, well, you are so out of luck and your old caveman-era rabbit-ears TV will be a thing of the past, no better than a doorstop, a hunk of hazardous glass and toxic waste. On that fateful day, your television will bring you only the fuzzy gray screen of death, they intone with great sorrow.  Really? Cross-your-heart-and-hope-to-die really? Dude, it's government-mandated, you say. Well maybe the government can make TV more digital, but can it make it better?

Why does this remind me of the year 2000 and the horrible, frightening Y2K bug? You remember, the world was supposed to come to a screeching stop? Computers, traffic lights, and the Internet would all explode! We’d be left in the dark, cursing our single candles!

If only! Just a beautiful dream. Just another case of the Technology Gone Crazy Boogey-Woogey Boogeyman Blues to sing around the campfire and titillate our nightmares. Nothing happened. John Galt did not pull the plug, Atlas did not Shrug. And those who spent millions to upgrade their technology to avoid the big non-event—Did they feel a little bit silly? How about the hucksters who put that one across? Smugola, if you ask me. But no, this time, they assure us, the worst is really going to happen. They're not kidding. It's gonna happen. It's not like Y2K, honest. You analog Luddites will be sorry!

So the question is: After we find out whether the flickering blue television lights really go out all over the world, or at least in the U.S., what will we discover is really in that digital box that we are all instructed to buy? A little spy tool for the government? While we watch our TVs, who is watching us?

Something to think about while we anticipate the government discount coupon to come in the mail, the coupon that the government says it has no more money to provide. I can hardly wait. But you know, I feel like playing chicken with this one.
We'll find out Feb. 17.

Facing a brave new year, with all its treacherous unknowns hiding around the corners, I never make resolutions. Resolutions always mock you when you fail, and that makes you feel bad. On the other hand, I have just finished writing my goals for 2009, because for me the simple act of writing down a goal with paper and pen is the start of making it happen. And when something happens, that makes you feel good.

Personal goals are not to be confused with those nefarious performance review "goals" that some companies force their employees to write and swear they will achieve, though they are plainly impossible. Those goals are just a way to get you to dig your own grave, professionally speaking. I explored this subject in a play of mine, entitled Interviewing Techniques for the Self-Conscious. So I'll return to my point.

For a number of years before my first book sold, on New Year’s Day I would write down my goals. Maybe six or eight goals, big goals and little goals. First I went over my goals from the previous year, scrawling notes all over the page to to illustrate any conceivable positive progress. No matter how small, it was still progress. Sometimes I got together with a friend and we would collaborate on writing our goals together, each thinking the other had written some weird and impossible goals that would never see the light of day. And yet, sometimes they did.

Obviously I never accomplished every one of my goals in any one year, and some thankfully dropped off the list forever. After all,  it’s my list. It’s interesting now to look back at those old scrawled-over sheets and see how the most peculiar goals led me slowly, year by year, to concrete writing accomplishments, to produced plays and published novels.

But somewhere along the way, I stopped writing down my goals. I was too busy actually accomplishing those goals. Now, however, I realize it’s a good thing to reach further than the present, and to remember that one goal leads to another, and another. So I’m writing them down again.

What are my goals?  Please! Let me maintain a little mystery for now! Except for this one: To blog more often. But I'm curious, do you have goals for 2009?

Happy New Year to all.

 

The waiting is the hardest part, so says songwriter Tom Petty. And nearly everyone who waits for their own big event. In my case, waiting for a Lifetime TV movie deal to happen—and to be greenlighted—seemed like a long time, but I am assured that it was pretty quick, as these things can sometimes take years. In these posts, I've been discussing how the deal happened.

I’ll pick up the thread of the last entry. After I attended the Sisters in Crime conference on Selling Your Book to Hollywood in November 2006, I was pretty happy. I had a feeling that something was going to happen. I mailed off the other books in the series to Rona and Monika, the producers I had pitched my books to.

I didn’t hear anything until the spring 2007, by which time I was beginning to think the voice of instinct had been ever so slightly off. As in Wrong! But when I finally heard something, it was good news. They were still very interested. Rona wanted an option. She seemed to have the energy and enthusiasm to see the project through the wacky wilderness of Hollywood. We worked out an option for the first four books for one year. I won’t reveal the terms of the option, but believe me, it was nothing like you read about in those how-I-shot-to-fame-and-fortune-in-the-blink-of-an-eye stories. We all know about the dazzling deal Janet Evanovich got for her Stephanie Plum books. My option deal had no resemblance to her option deal.

The wait for something to happen began. Then the Writers Guild went on strike, and rightly so, after their contract negotiations fell through. As you can imagine, that put activity on the option, and nearly everything else in Hollywood, on hold. By early 2008, recognizing the impact of the strike, Rona and I renewed the option for another year.

Then in May, when I was on a break from covering a meeting, I got a call from Rona. Lifetime Television was interested in developing two of the books, the first and third in the series, as television movies. Killer Hair, the first book in the series,  introduces fashion reporter sleuth Lacey Smithsonian, who gets entangled in the murder investigation of a hairstylist in D.C., and finds time for romance with old flame Vic Donovan. In Hostile Makeover, the third book in the series, Lacey is involved with the murder of a supermodel, an extreme makeover, and an untimely visit from her mother (and her former cheerleader sister). Her romance with heartthrob Vic heats up--and hits a few bumps.

Over the following months I heard bits and pieces of news from Hollywood, encouraging and otherwise. I appreciated that Rona kept me in the loop on developments. She helped keep the deal moving forward, until the project moved, through all the usual obstacles, from a "blinking greenlight" to being really greenlighted.

During this process, I learned that not only is the waiting hard, but so is the keeping quiet. With the blinking greenlight, I could only tell close friends--and then beg them not to tell anyone. With the steady greenlight, I could finally tell my publisher, and the rest of the world. Now, production of both movies is slated for January. I’m waiting for word on casting and air dates. I’ll reveal more fun film facts as I learn them.

As they say, stay tuned for further developments. 

 

Lifetime Television is developing two of my books for television movies. It didn’t happen overnight, and in these blog posts I’m looking at how it happened.

There are always stories about writers who one day find that Hollywood has come calling with its silky siren song. Hollywood throws a pile of money at them for their first literary efforts, and in the blink of an eye, they are living in splendor, the toast of the town, happy all the time, or at least they enjoy tossing snappy banter back and forth for the amusement of all. Like something out of a Preston Sturges comedy. I love that story! But it’s not my story. . . And no, I still can’t quit the day job.

About two and a half years ago, I heard that Sisters in Crime (SinC) was sponsoring a conference on Selling Your Book to Hollywood slated for November 2006. I didn’t have to think about it, I immediately signed up. Actually, the whispery little voice we call Instinct roared in my ear relentlessly, like a Nike ad:  “Do it. Do it now. Don’t worry about the money, the time, the energy it takes, or the odds of success. Something is going to happen. Just do it.”

I always thought that Lacey was perfect for the silver screen, as I’ve noted in my previous post, but what I heard from one of my trusted advisors was this: “My advice is to wait until you have a big bestseller. And then Hollywood will come to you.” But big bestsellers are hard to produce on demand, especially for paperback originals. The voice of instinct was howling in my ear and it was much louder.

No worries, no regrets. But bedbugs?

I believe that while we regret some of the things we do, we always regret what we fail to do. So I signed up. I didn’t even worry about how I’d function at work after catching the red-eye flight back to D.C. I didn’t worry about anything, until about a week before the conference. I read some online reviews of my motel, and reportedly it was crawling with bedbugs. I found out later that lots of writers cancelled their reservations there for that very reason.

But I called my sister Barbara, who had been a health inspector in California (of restaurants and swimming pools). She said that in a city like L.A. that hosts a lot of foreign travel, bedbugs happen. She also told me that in the wake of all the bad publicity the motel had probably made a serious clean-up effort and it would be fine. Barbara was right. When I arrived, my room was freshly painted, there were all new linens and the carpets had been freshly shampooed. Bedbugs be gone!

The 1940s-50s era motel was L-shaped, with all the rooms facing a small pool with the requisite Hollywood palm trees. As a special bonus, the concierge was more than willing to part with information, no bribes required. As I signed in, he was unexpectedly telling me all about the other mystery writers from the conference who were staying there, including one very high-profile writer. Not only that, she was in the room next to mine, and he noted chummily that she had recently left the motel with another writer. Nice to know, in case I was planning on burgling their rooms. He did everything but give me the pass key! 

Happily, everyone connected with the conference was just as helpful as my concierge. They were friendly and informative. I ran into a lot of friends at the conference, including some pals from the D.C. area.

From Friday morning through Sunday evening, SinC really pulled out all the stops, under the able direction of then-president Rochelle Krich, Lisa Seidman and Mae Woods. During a packed weekend, attendees enjoyed a tour of Sony Studios and panel discussions with television writers, development executives, and producers. We also attended a special pitch session by Rona Edwards and Monika Skerbelis, authors of the book I Liked It, Didn’t Love It: Screenplay Development From the Inside Out.

On Sunday, each writer had the opportunity to pitch a selected book during a five-minute session with selected producers. Each had been matched up with a producer based on the writer’s work and the producer’s interests. The pitch workshop was on Friday, the five-minute pitch on Sunday, so there was plenty of time to perfect your spiel. I took about twenty minutes to write my points out, read it, and nearly memorized it. I have to point out that in Hollywood getting a whole five minutes to make your pitch is considered the height of luxury.

One mystery writer told me she was so rattled by the pressure to make the perfect pitch, she stayed in her room all day on Saturday to perfect it. No kidding. I would have lost my mind doing that, but then everyone is different. On Saturday morning I took the SinC bus tour of the City of Angels. In the afternoon, my friend Bernie Mower, formerly a D.C. playwright and currently a happy resident of the Golden State, drove me around L.A. in his spiffy forest green Miata. It was really lovely, and so much better than worrying.

The Pitch

I don’t know exactly how many writers pitched their books that afternoon, but there were 80-plus attending the conference. The rooms at the Writers Guild West were nearly packed. We waited in the Green Room, stepped up to the plate and made our best pitches, and afterward indulged in refreshments and chatter.

I remember worrying about how my hair looked before my pitch session with Rona and Monika, whether I’d worn the right thing, whether I looked my very best. But I did what I often do when in doubt about my look: I pretend to be French. Anything a Frenchwoman wears always looks fabulous. If I am French, then I must look fabulous too, cheri! At any rate, with only five minutes, you don’t have time to worry about looking your worst. I was prepared with my press kit and a copy of my fourth book, Raiders of the Lost Corset. As soon as I started describing my protagonist Lacey Smithsonian and her “extrafashionary perception,” something clicked. I think all three of us felt the connection with the material. Rona and Monika liked the Crime of Fashion series, they liked Lacey, and they asked for copies of the first four books to take home and read.

Stay tuned for the next step in the process: The Option…

Killer Hair and Hostile Makeover have just been greenlighted for development as Lifetime television movies!

One of the questions I frequently hear (and love to hear) from readers is: “Have you ever thought about having your books made into movies, or for television? Because I think they would be great!”

Why, believe it or not, yes! I have thought about that. Frequently! So we’re on the same page there. To be clear, on page one of my Lacey Smithsonian Crime of Fashion mysteries. I’d hardly be a writer worthy of her imagination if I hadn’t thought about seeing Lacey and Vic up on the silver screen, or for that matter the small screen, the large screen, the flat screen, the iPod screen, any screen at all. If only these things were up to the writer! But I digress. I finally have some good news on this beat. The green light has stopped blinking, as they say in Hollywood, and two of my mysteries will soon make it to the small screen. Here are the details.

Lifetime Television is developing Killer Hair and Hostile Makeover as movies for the Lifetime Movie Network. The talented producers who are making this happen are Rona Edwards, Monika Skerbelis, and Anne Carlucci. Principal photography is slated to start in January in Canada, and the movies will be shot back to back for broadcast sometime in 2009. My producer Rona has informed me that screenwriters and a director have now been hired, but the movies have not yet been cast. Further developments will be posted here as they happen.

Obviously, this deal did not come together overnight. It started percolating on high just this past May. Stay tuned to this blog, and in future entries I’ll reveal a little about how this movie deal came to be and what happens next.

To be continued. . .

There is something inherently wrong with the term "Food Court," don’t you think? It implies you’re on trial for some misadventure involving cuisine. Some foul food fight with the warden, some dining etiquette infraction.

Why not call it a dining emporium, or café, or my favorite, a cafeteria, which implies there will be pudding. Sadly, the Food Court is a fact of Washington lunch life, with its offer of cheap food and a variety of choices. Nevertheless, if given a choice, I’d much rather dine at a restaurant or hash hut at street level with a view of the outside world.

But there are times when the Food Court is unavoidable. Take this past week. There was a press conference at the Reagan Building. A most impressive edifice, on the outside. On the inside, it’s gray, my least favorite "color," and for some reason there are neon tubes in the atrium, which rather resembles a modern interpretation of a train station, without the charm of an actual train. The Reagan Building also has a Food Court, with the usual suspects on trial. As an added bonus, you risk your hearing in the deafening roar of screeching voices, ear-shattering acoustics, and clattering dishes.

Anyway, three stories had to be written that afternoon, so a quick dash to the Food Court was unavoidable if I didn’t want to starve and risk light-headedness. It was a big mistake. The result was indigestion and hearing impairment.

If you must go to a Food Court and visit a building that resembles a train station, let me recommend Washington's Union Station, a beautiful Beaux Arts building that edifies the spirit, rather than depresses it, and it has actual trains. It also has a Food Court that offers hearing impairment, especially when there are student groups visiting Our Nation’s Capital. But there are some very cool nooks where you can hide from the screamers and shouters in the ninth grade. And you can go upstairs and shop, or pretend that you’re taking the next train out of town. It’s a Win-Win, as we say in so many D.C. meetings and hearings.

Oddly enough, the Labor Department also has a pretty good cafeteria on the top floor of the building. You can buy some healthy choices, like roasted chicken and salads. You can also stroll outside, avoiding the toxic smokers, and get a lovely view of the Capitol. Of course, just try getting into the Labor Department with its front-door security without a press pass.

The local museums also offer some good choices for lunch. In particular, the National Museum of the American Indian has some delicious offerings, like the chilled avocado soup. The tamales look particularly tempting. It is Food Court Deluxe, with foods from different regions of the country and views of a waterfall. Unfortunately, it’s rather pricey. Maybe someday, I’ll return and try something else. And maybe I'll report on other Nation's Capitol Food Courts to avoid.

There is nothing like two weeks of vacation to show you how intensely sleep-deprived you are, as I recently learned.

After attending Bouchercon in Baltimore, where we met old friends and new, we traveled to Vermont where I found myself sleeping nine hours a night, plus naps. It was a little bit of heaven, to say the least. The lack of stress can do strange things. In the interest of filling up the empty well, Bob and I enjoyed the foliage, walking through the leaves, roasting marshmallows, and reading books. Yes, how typical. Among the books I read were ones by Elizabeth Peters, Dorothy L. Sayers, Evelyn E. Smith, and in a nod to “literary” fiction, a novel by Muriel Spark. Perhaps best of all, we enjoyed two weeks with limited cell phone availability and Internet use, and no television! We got our news the old fashioned way--from the papers.

It was a great break to be away from Washington, D.C., where the political opinions are so loud and so unavoidable. Even though I am a reporter, I am fatigued from it. Yet not everybody is tired of politics. I work with people who are serious CNN junkies and claim they turn on multiple televisions as soon as they get home so they don’t miss anything! They cannot live without their political chatter. Whether or not I believe they are that far gone is another discussion. Perhaps they exaggerate. I certainly hope so.

At any rate, the election is tomorrow and that is when I intend to vote. I enjoy going to my neighborhood polling place and casting my vote and seeing the same faces from election to election. I don’t care how long it takes. After all, your employer must allow you the time to vote. Then, happily, the long, drawn-out road to this election—historic as it is—will be at an end. Except of course for the analyses, and commentary, and Saturday Night Live, and on and on and on...

I think I’ll unplug the television. After all, I have another mystery to read.

Last week brought sour news for book lovers in the D.C. and northern VA area as Olsson’s Books and Records closed its five stores. It is especially sad when a great independent bookstore with a loyal staff closes. This summer, the company tried to reorganize under Chapter 11, but decided it could not manage an economic turnaround. Well, life isn’t fair and this is a prime example.

Olsson’s will always hold a special place in my heart because the DuPont Circle store was one of the first bookstores to host a signing for me. More recently, I signed books at their Crystal City store, where the store’s closing will leave that unfortunately beige area even more creatively desolate. I have heard many people mourn that particular store’s loss: “Now, there’s no bookstore here!” I walked past the CC store the other day, thinking it couldn’t possibly really be closed. I could still see a copy of my latest book, Armed and Glamorous, on a front kiosk.

But just when you think all is lost and the Philistines have stormed the city, there is a glimpse of hope, although perhaps not for our dearly departed Olsson’s. Last November saw the closing of a beloved children’s book store in Alexandria, called A Likely Story. Like Olsson’s, it was a longstanding establishment in Old Town. Unlike Olsson’s, a new independent children’s bookstore has gone into the same space, called Hooray for Books, with lots of great plans and programs. It’s a brave act to begin a new endeavor in these wacky economic times. So definitely, hooray!

In other news, I was interviewed this week on “Communicating Today,” on the Fairfax County cable public access station, Channel 10, hosted by the very genial John Monsul. The show, which is taped, will air tonight at 8:30 p.m., and on Friday, Oct. 10 at 6:30 a.m., and Sunday afternoon at 3:30 p.m.

This Saturday, July 12, marks my first bookstore signing for Armed and Glamorous, and it will be a special treat because Bob and I will travel to beautiful Oxford, Maryland, to Mystery Loves Company. Housed in a restored bank building, this bookstore is lovingly tended and owned by Kathy and Tom Harig, who always make you feel at home. If you're in the area on the Eastern Shore, please stop on by. I'll be on hand from 1 to 3 p.m.

If you're in the mood to read my thoughts on how other writing disciplines have helped me in producing mystery novels, check out the July edition of Breakthrough Promotions Mystery Morgue for my article, How I Write: In Praise of Other Writing Disciplines. This month's issue also features an article on humor in mysteries, with insights from Elaine Viets, Chris Grabenstein, Jeff Cohen, and Donna Andrews.

Find Mystery Morgue at http://www.breakthroughpromotions.com/mysterymorgue

It's always exciting when a long-awaited book  is finally published and between covers. In my case, that book is between the covers of a paperback, which is no less exciting and more affordable, than hardback. Today, that day has come. Armed and Glamorous, the 6th in my crime of fashion series is officially in the bookstores. Time for a brief celebration and then back to work on my next book. Cheers.

This past weekend brought sad news of a death in the family. My cousin Theresa left a husband, two children, sisters and brothers and the rest of the family to mourn her. And to lament that she was taken too soon.

My memories of Theresa are now rendered bittersweet in a heartbeat. Petite and pretty, Theresa was always her own person, smart and witty with a dry sense of humor. I often heard tales of her accomplishments. She studied acting, she spoke fluent French. Mostly I remember simple moments from childhood visits to Sioux Falls, South Dakota, to visit my grandparents and aunts and uncles and cousins. My brother and me and our cousins, Michael, Bill, Mary and Theresa, the gang of us walking through the neighborhood, through the vacant lots, and across the railroad trestle to the Drake Springs swimming pool. The hot summer nights sitting on Grandma's porch with the same gang of cousins, as well as my sisters and my other cousins, Peggy, Tommy and Susie. Water balloon fights with the boys. Whispering tales about the crazy old woman who lived down their street.

My husband and I got together with Theresa and her children a couple of years ago in Boulder. She and her family lived there, and I was visiting for a book signing. It had been years and years since I'd seen her last. But as it often is with cousins, stepping into the conversation was the most natural thing in the world. Of course we would get together again, we thought, and someday there would be more lunches and conversation. Of course that didn't happen.

Despite our Irish Catholic grandmother's belief that death is quite possibly the best moment of our lives, because it brings us to God, Theresa's parting leaves me heavy with grief.  Death is still the dark and mysterious stranger we fear. Yet when I think about Theresa's soul, free from pain and free from this troubled earth, I imagine her as lighter than air, soaring higher and higher, and flying home. Godspeed, sweet cousin.

According to a recent issue of Glamour Magazine, at least I think it was Glamour, the Number One Fashion Crime in America is... Visible Panty Line (VPL). Really? Visible Panty Line is the most heinous fashion crime going? Are they kidding with that? I can think of much worse fashion crimes than VPL. At least where there is VPL, there is underwear! Visible Proof at Least of some sense of the wearer's undergarmentary propriety, and no chance of the wearer being caught like a panty-less starlet emerging from her limousine sans-culottes, so to speak, and sans good taste. I would call Visible My Panties Fell Off In The Limo (VMPFOITL) a far more serious Fashion Crime than VPL. Of course, VPL does look bad when the PL is Visibly way too tight. A woman's underwear should ideally not squeeze her into a muffin top and muffin bottom and way too much muffin all over. But really, Glamour, most women must be wearing the right size panties most of the time, or else I'm just not seeing this awful VPL crime wave.

But then there was the Fashion Crime of the Day. I just didn't know what to think (or where to put my eyes) when a rather abundantly endowed woman strutted past me on the Washington Metro today. She was wearing a pair of skintight black pants slit all the way up the side, right to her waist, with about a two-inch gap to reveal her skin all the way up each leg. The two-inch gap was kept from spreading any further by a regular series of shiny silver staples, or perhaps they were safety pins. The purpose of all this slitting and stapling and showing off, I presume, was to reveal the wearer's very abundant skin in a provocative way. But in fact her amazing slit pants revealed her skin only up to the thigh, at which point they also revealed a pair of very visible black "granny" underpants, which proceeded to cover her ample form chastely the rest of the way up. Talk about serious VPL!

How to decode this schizophrenic fashion statement? I'm torn. The visible granny panties seem to say, "I'm so modest!" But the skintight black pants with their stapled slits say, "Hey sailor! Wanna party?" All I can say is, "No, no, no!" And I wonder what Glamour would say about this Crime of Fashion...

Spring has hit the D.C. area, with a blizzard of blossoms, tidal waves of tourists and powerful pockets of pollen. My husband Bob and I managed to make it to the Tidal Basin in time to see the famous cherry blossoms just one night ahead of the Cherry Blossom Festival and the accompanying crowds. The blossoms are beautiful but fleeting, so some photos were de rigeur.

          

Spring is also a wonderful time to see the countryside, and I'm looking forward to a short and scenic road trip this weekend.

This Saturday, April 5, I'll be joining fellow mystery writers Ellen Crosby, Donna Andrews, and Mary Ellen Hughes in Frederick, Maryland, at Frederick Cellars winery, 221 N. East Street, (301) 668-0311, for a celebration of “Much Ado About Books” in the charming historic district of Frederick. We'll be signing from 5-8 p.m. Our friends at Mystery Loves Company Books of Baltimore will be on hand to sell books. If you're in Frederick, please stop by and say hi, we're a very friendly bunch.

I'm also delighted to announce that illustrator Craig White has designed yet another beautiful and distinctive cover for my mystery series. Armed and Glamorous will hit bookstores July 1. It's the most gorgeous cover yet.


                                                     



There is a larger version posted on my Web site. Kudos to this talented artist. While you can't judge a book by its cover, many people will pick up a book based on the artwork. Lots of readers have told me how much they love the covers. And I've heard some less-than-happy stories about covers from other writers. I know how fortunate I am.