Can you introduce yourself to my readers a little?
I’m the USA Today bestselling author of 60 NY-published novels. I write three series: the Delilah Street urban fantasies (Dancing with Werewolves); The Midnight Louie, PI, cat mystery series (Cat in an Alphabet Soup) and the Irene Adler Sherlockian suspense series (Good Night, Mr. Holmes, a New York Times Notable Book of the Year). All my novels combine romance, mystery, and world-building. RT has given me four Lifetime Achievement awards and I’m a Rita finalist in four different categories. I love books, water, everything vintage, and Zumba. My husband is an artist and my left-brained first reader, and we are kept as domestic pets by five rescue cats.
I can be found at: Website | Blog | Facebook | Twitter | GoodReads | Amazon
Can you introduce us to the world(s) that you have created?
My Delilah Street urban fantasy series was inspired by my Midnight Louie, PI, mystery series, which is set in a slightly surreal Las Vegas where an alley cat who thinks he’s Sam Spade helps two men and two women crime-solvers. Readers are dying to know if Team Matt (the ex- priest radio shrink) or Team Max (the magician/counterterrorist) will win Louie’s roommate, amateur detective Temple Barr. Louie writes his own chapters on how he helps his humans.
Delilah Street, Paranormal Investigator, lives and works in an alternate and darker Vegas run by supernaturals like the werewolf mob. She and her sexy ex-FBI partner, Ric Montoya, battle demon drug lords and illegally imported zombies. Famous film figures are celebrity zombies at the major hotels, so Delilah is assisted by the likes of Nick and Nora Charles, Sam Spade, Sherlock Holmes, and Perry Mason. Delilah has a “silver familiar” that shape-changes from jewelry to weapons and can’t be removed from her body by any means. And a cool wolf-wolfhound cross
dog, Quicksilver.
I’m most proud to be the first author to write a series about a woman from the Sherlock Holmes stories . . . Irene Adler, the only woman to outwit him. And she is formidable!
Will this be your first RT or are you a veteran? Any advice for those who are going for the first time?
I’ve been going to RT since 1984, when I won my first award, for Probe, a science fiction thriller. RT is a huge book-and-reader-centered party. Dive in, and don’t be shy! Dress up in costumes or dress down, but enjoy it your way. Be sure to study the program book and mark what you want to see when.
Are you speaking on any panels during RT? Are there any you are looking forward to or are planning on attending?
1:30-2:30 p.m. Wednesday, May 14, Iberville room, fourth floor.
Cover Your Assets! Create Knockout, Hot-Selling Covers for All Genres. I’m excited about giving a slide presentation for present and future self-pubbed authors on getting/making really good covers for our indie books
2:45- 3:45 p.m. Friday, May 16 2nd floor, Gallery 4
Dangerous Dames: Creating Crime-fighting Heroines and the Men Who Love Them. Or Vice Versa. I’m moderating a panel of kickass bestselling women mystery/thriller authors: Allison Brennan, Alafair Burke, Toni McGee Causey, Joanne Fluke, CJ Lyons, and S. J. Rozan
Is there anything in particular you’re looking forward to or experiencing while in New Orleans?
I’m planning on colorful strolls and sumptuous food, and RT’s great events that are fine-tuned to celebrate this amazing city. And I’ll be
at the big Saturday signing.
If someone were wanting to meet up with you at RT, who should they look for?
Someone short wearing colorful or glittery clothes. I work at home in sweat pants, so it’s always Mardi Gras for me on the convention circuit.
The 2014 RT Booklovers Convention will be held in New Orleans on May 13th – 18th at the Marriott hotel on Canal Street in the historic French Quarter. For the full list of attending authors, who will be signing at the Giant Book Fair on May 17th, here they are: All Authors, Young Adult Authors, and New Adult Authors.
