After LCC, held in Santa Fe this year, I had a much needed visit with my sister in Tucson. This is an emotional time of year for us. Today, April 2nd, is my mom's birthday. I was with her to celebrate her 75th, three years ago. She died three days later. Pictures from LCC and Tucson are on my Facebook page.
But the LoML made this message for me, and when we pulled into our garage I knew I was in a good place. I particularly love the image of him cutting the letters out and putting them on the door.
But I digress.
In Santa Fe, strange things can happen. My hotel was haunted (and a Roman Catholic archbishop knew it). Let me tell you a bit about Sister George. She was rather fond of cigars when she was alive. I didn't know about any of this until I was on the shuttle for Albuquerque, but my roommate and I had spent some time trying to figure out where the smell of tobacco was coming from in our room.
But even more strange . . . a few of us got together and decided it would be fun to do a blog with several contributors. Of course, we did this pretty much in a bar over drinks.
And even more strange . . . we've followed through. I'll be announcing a new blog loud and clear, but you guys get a heads-up. It should be awesome. We have a name . . . Crime Fiction Collective.
LJ Sellers, who was my roommate at LCC and made the decision to become self-employed as an independent author even though she'd been traditionally published, is our headliner. (Other than me, of course. LOL). Judy Borger writes mysteries geared toward providing an escape for manic moms; Andrew Kaufman swears his current book is not horror, but since it began hitting the high notes among the horror fans he decided to go with it; Marlyn Beebe is a librarian and our resident reviewer; and Jodie Renner is LJ's editor and will fill that slot. In addition, we'll have guest bloggers with related topics. ie: technology; screenwriting; audio book production; cover design; formatting; etc.
We've targeted April 18th as Opening Day, and plan on having two weeks of giveaways to celebrate.
This could be a real hoot, and hopefully our fragile new friendships will be able to weather whatever comes down the pike.
CR: Top Suspense by Top Suspense Group, a truly wonderful collection of short stories. If you get this book, I'm sure you'll be introduced to at least one new author you'll enjoy.
It's all better with friends.
Sounds like fun, Peg! Looking forward to it. I've often thought about setting up a collaborative blog but don't have any idea about what focus I'd take. They're fun, though, and i follow several of them through RSS feeds.
ReplyDeleteWe're all just a bit different from one another. And because we're all different, the individual direction, or focus, kind of fell in to place.
ReplyDeleteI hope you check it out, maybe gain some information and meet a few new friends.
We'd be honored to have you give us some feedback.
Great post, Peg. I'm really excited about our new venture!
ReplyDeleteBTW, I didn't know your hotel room was haunted.
Neither did I! I'm totally glad I didn't find out until afterward though. It lends validity to the tobacco smell (we weren't predisposed) and as bad as I slept a couple of nights, it was way better than 'keeping watch' all night.
ReplyDeleteAnd, I'm with you Marlyn. Pretty excited about the possibilities our little venture might open up.
Have I told you what an honor and a privelege it was to meet you? I'm so glad I decided to attend.
I've enjoyed reading your blog, and I can't wait to see the new one. I'll check back to next week to see if there is any news.
ReplyDeleteExcited!
Jerri, I'm humbled. Thank you.
ReplyDeleteSuspense Novelist isn't gonna go away, but I'm excited about the new one. You're gonna love it. Seriously. And we'll be having some fun give-aways as we rev up to the opening day of the 18th.