I’d like to thank everyone who commented in my last post about the cover for THE TAKEN. I’m so thrilled you guys like it – and you’ve had the same reaction to it as I did. The artist really took the information we gave him and ran with it. Such synergy – it’s definitely my favorite cover yet.

Please forgive me for not replying to you individually as I usually do. I was kept from doing so for two reasons. First, I cut down my internet time, especially in regards to social networking, to one day a week. The goal is to free up some more mental space for writing more deeply, reading more often, and not getting distracted by cyber rabbit trails. I still thought I’d get a chance to respond, but I’ve also been preparing for a vacation which is going to leave me computer-less for the rest of the month. That means I’ve been trying to get as far as I can in my work-in-progress before leaving. I’ll return with roughly half of the book left to write, and am relatively satisfied with that.

I’ve been trying to recall the last time I traveled without a computer, and without the intention to do a bit of work at least everyday, and I’m coming up blank. It certainly hasn’t been in the time that I’ve been published, so that alone makes it long overdue. Additionally, I’m celebrating three events next week – the least of which is Thanksgiving … and yet I’m extremely thankful for them all.

I’m also thankful that I’m going to be here:

And not here:

I’m sorry. Did that come off as a taunt? I didn’t mean it that way.

Well, maybe a little.

So I’m over and out for the rest of the month. I meant to do a post about the fabulous Readers&Ritas event last week in Dallas, but that will have to wait. And if any of my readers from Readers&Ritas is reading this: I haven’t forgotten you or your gifts and I’ll get to them to you asap (Xmas presents!).

I just have to run away from home first.

I just blew out my sidebar posting this, but I. Don’t. Care.

I am thrilled to introduce you to the new loves of my life, Katherine “Kit” Craig and Griffin Shaw, the dual protagonists of my brand new series, Celestial Blues.

This cover is probably one of my favorite things in life right now, not only because it’s downright gorgeous, but it captures the tone of my story and characters more completely than any I’ve ever had. The synergy is amazing – I look at this and I *know* Kit and Grif.

Now for the caveats – while the art is right, this isn’t the final cover. We’re missing quotes and cover copy, and while there’s some interesting catalog copy floating around the interwebs, that was premature and for in-house purposes only. So you’ll have to wait until early next year to get the real deal … but don’t blink because that’s only weeks away.

In any event, this is the couple who has been occupying my mental real estate for the past year-plus. They’re going to continue to do so for foreseeable future too, because, you see, Kit and Grif and I are all equally obsessed with the same unrelenting question:

Who killed Griffin Shaw?

Interested in seeing a man try to solve his own murder? Hope so. Because I can’t wait to share the obsession with you.

It’s all about the readers this weekend, and I can’t wait. I’ve just met another small deadline, and with that off my plate I’m free to concentrate on an event I’ve been looking forward to all year: Readers & Ritas.  Each November over 200 readers gather in Allen, Texas to talk books, visit with other readers, and have an intimate, up-close weekend with their favorite authors. The full list of attending authors is here and I’m fortunate enough to be one of them this year. The activities are low key and geared to readers, and it’s also an extremely intimate venue, with everyone mingling together, and so I’m looking forward to that.

Tomorrow (Friday) is a pizza party, with games to help everyone get acquainted.

Saturday is the big day: a continental breakfast, lunch, margarita happy hour, book signing and a masquerade party. There are also reader panels and an Author Lounge, where I’ll be hanging out and answering questions about the Zodiac series … and probably a good deal about the new Celestial Blues trilogy as well. All-in-all It’s a great opportunity to visit with readers in a relaxed setting.

I’ve prepped some goodies for the seven readers who are seated at my table – we has the option of doing that or creating a basket for one, but I really wanted to thank each of the readers who chose to sit with me, so I really hope they like their gifts.

Anyway, if you’re attending Readers&Ritas, please stop by my table, or stop me in the hall, the author lounge, or the book-signing and say hello. I’m bringing my camera, and I’ll be tweeting from the event. There will also be a red carpet livestream of the event at 6 PM CST. So readers across the country (and world) can attend virtually in that way. I happen to be MC-ing the livestream, interviewing authors and readers during the broadcast. So if you see an author you love and want to get a book signed and personalized by them, you can contact us via the livestream and the book will be shipped to you Monday. How cool is that?

I took the last couple of weeks to write about new releases I think my readers would like, but I thought I’d take today to share with you my greatest literary loves. It inspired me just to write the post, these men and women are so good, and I hope it’ll inspire you to share the writers and books you’ve loved over the years with me. Here they are in no particular order, the men and women who’ve influenced me more than any other authors, dead or living.

Diana Gabaldon – The OUTLANDER series.

It’s the 20^th anniversary of the first book in this sprawling historical saga, and I envy you if you’ve not read it yet. I saw that it’s being sold for as low as $8.99 and I couldn’t believe it. A book you’ll remember forever for less than coffee and a snack? Seriously?

This author taught me more about writing than anyone, and was a source of encouragement to me before I was published. She, too, is amazingly generous, impossibly skillful, and Many Other Superlatives. Read her. Weep.

Dennis Lehane – author of so many things I love that I can’t keep count. I started out with his Kenzie/Gennaro P.I. series, with A DRINK BEFORE THE WAR and went on to read all his single titles (MYSTIC RIVER anyone?) and finally his epic historical A GIVEN DAY, which shows this writer can do anything. The man is word-drunk. He loves the craft and language and it shows on every page. His short stories are perfection, and short stories are hard. I reread all of his books too – it helps remind me why I write.

Janet Fitch. This woman is so word precise that it can take her half a decade to write a novel. WHITE OLEANDER was her breakout novel but I have a great love for PAINT IT BLACK, and whenever I’m struggling with wooden prose and feel it needs to be elevated, I pull out one of her books, open it to anywhere, and the world is suddenly righted.

Of course, then I’m presented with the task of having to pull myself out of her world, but that’s my struggle, not hers. She is perfection.

Nora Roberts/J.D. Robb. Man, if you don’t know about this woman’s blatent storytelling skills and passion and drive, you are missing out. I tend to like my heroines and worlds a bit dark (No kidding, right?) so I have a raging love affair with her Robb/In Death series (and Roarke, OMG, can you say Roarke?!) starting with NAKED IN DEATH. Yet it was her Roberts trilogies that made me want to write a series – I loved following the interconnected characters. Additionally, her yearly standalones are as high concept, fast-paced and satisfying as anything I’ve ever read. I admire Roberts as a person/woman/writer, but I love her books. I think you will too.

Laura Lippman writes with such heart that I think if I knew her in real life I would follow her everywhere. And though she writes about dark and disturbing subjects in her stand-alone suspenses, she does it with such grace and connection. I write for that connection, too – author to reader and back again (it’s not at all one way, you know) – so I respond to other authors who do the same. Her Tess Monaghan P.I. series starts with BALTIMORE BLUES (She’s very much a Baltimore writer in the same sense that Lehane is a Boston writer. Their cities are characters in their books, and their passion for those cities is evident.) but I adore sinking into her stand-alones. I’D KNOW YOU ANYWHERE may be my favorite. Again, she has such tremendous heart.

I’m working my way through Megan Abbott’s works, but her voice sinks into my head and grows claws. It’s dark and gritty and won’t let go. I can recommend QUEENPIN without qualification, it’s just dense with sensory stimulation and invisible craftsmanship. I saw it because I was looking, and damn. She’s good.

Finally, a writer many don’t know about, which is shameful because her first novel was an Edgar award winner: OFFICER DOWN. Theresa Schwegel writes police procedurals with dark, flawed and fierce female protagonists (sound familiar?) this, too, is a writer who gets it. She crafts books that stay with you, and if you read one, you’ll read them all. She’s outstanding.

There are so many more, but these are the writers who inspire me to write and dream and grow and be – because, ultimately, all good writing is about connection. We’re all in this together, whether we live in Sandman Slim’s apocalyptic LA, Schwegel’s gritty Chicago, or with Gabaldon’s 18^th century Highlanders.

Let me know how you like any of these authors if you try them (and I do hope you do – I love to share my great loves) and let me know what authors speak passionately to you as well. I’m always looking for a new, glorious connection.

P.S. If anyone is reading this post, or previous ones, on Goodreads, please forgive my lack of reply. I’ve set up the account, but haven’t figured out how to use it yet. But I’ll get to it asap – I appreciate you reading!