My first EVER review!!!

And it's in Margaret Cannon's column in Canada's national newspaper!http://www.theglobeandmail.com/books/new-in-crime-fiction/article1379112/


Also a review on the "Book Bird Dog" blog: saying:

"Good mystery plots, clever title. The mystery splits into two separate stories later in the book, and it's done well."http://bookbirddog.blogspot.com/2009/11/book-review-blood-and-groom-by-jill.html

Trailer Part One

It was a lot of fun making the book trailer... That's probably because we drank all the mistakes! Here's the first cocktail:

http://ow.ly/FGOm

The Subway Book Signing Tour

I am so happy to know that "Blood and Groom" is out (a bit early!) and it's already in stores! It wasn't supposed to be at the distributor's until November 16th, and then give it a week or so to be delivered, received, shelved, etc.

So, because the arrival date was supposed to be late November, I haven't got much promo stuff planned yet (stores are too busy in Nov-Dec with Christmas stuff). That's okay, there is lots I can do now and even more I can do in the New Year.

In the meanwhile, I have been hitting local stores and local libraries and talking to individual staff about "Blood and Groom." The response has been positive. A number of libraries want to arrange a reading or author meet & greet. Of course, I'm happy to plan those.

As for local bookstores, I have gone around to all those that I can reach by subway and have signed whatever copies of my book they have in stock. In return, they have all given me a front facing and put a sticker on the cover "signed by author." So, that's all been kind of cool.

Next focus is on the launch party, which is on December 8th. I am very excited about it and I dearly hope some media types show up!

A round of drinks for the characters...

I've invented a bunch of wacky cocktails for some of the characters in
Blood and Groom.

Clockwise, beginning with the silver martini glass:

1. Chocorettotini for Sasha
2. Carousel for Rachel
3. Bitter Venom for Christine (penis straw optional)
4. Bloody Groom for Gordon
5. Teddy Bear (Teddy Bare) for Ted
6. Snake in the Grass for Darren
7. White Wedding for Rebecca

Recipes to follow...

CHEERS!

Nonfiction and Academic Writing

Okay, so you know I write fiction and that "Blood and Groom: A Sasha Jackson Mystery" will be in stores in a week or two; however, I have spent a helluva lot of time over the last two years writing nonfiction, academic stuff.

I have just finished my MA degree, with a concentration in Cultural Studies, which in my case meant minority literature, which includes Feminism and Women's Writing. To that end, I married my love of crime fiction with my studies and did a few papers on women in detective series.

My favourite paper is called "From Spenser to Yeats: Feminism's Answer to the Hardboiled Sleuth is on the Wagon and Rides a Harley." In this, I argue that the Jane Yeats character by Liz Brady is every bit as much of an ass kicker as Robert B. Parker's Spenser.

Another paper is called "Hardboiled and Hairspray: Feminism and Stephanie Plum." Anyone who has read this series by Janet Evanovich would probably scratch their head at the thesis, but upon close examination, Stephanie - clumsiness, shoe shopping, and mascara notwithstanding - is a modern version of the noir PI walking down the dark and seedy streets.

Finally, I did a paper called "Supermoms, Supersleuths" in which I look at the discrepancy between fact and fiction in terms of the incidence of single mothers and detecting/law enforcement jobs.

So, there, that's another side of me and my writing. And, I really think the academic stuff benefitted me greatly as I was writing "Blood and Groom" - certainly it gave me a solid foundation in the genre.

Author's Copy!

Wheeee!

I just got my author's copy of "Blood and Groom"!

My first book!

Wow!

It finally feels real!

Now I can't wait to see it in stores... soon!

Social media and your characters and your plot...

A question for all you writers out there:

Given the way that social media (Blogger, Facebook, You Tube, MSN Messenger, and so on) have infiltrated day to day life, I am wondering about their presence in fiction.

Do your characters use MSN messenger? Does your character have a profile on Facebook? Does your heroine send text messages to her friends? Is there an embarrassing wedding video of your protagonist on You Tube? Does anyone in your books send out "Tweets"?

Just curious... Jill and yes, I am now on "Twitter"... @JillEdmondson
Blood and Groom will be available in two weeks!!!

www.jilledmondson.com