Tanzey Talk
December 2003
If you want to contact me directly through this column's site, please be sure to click on my personal link - Contact Tanzey - and not the store's link. For those of you who don't know, I do not work from the store. In fact, I live in Kansas and the store is located in Illinois. Thanks for your interest!
Attention all you mystery fans/mystery authors/aspiring mystery writers: the "Little Apple," Manhattan, Kansas, will be hosting a prestigious event October 1 -- 3, 2004, called The Great Manhattan Mystery Conclave. Mystery writers Jeanne Dams, Carolyn Hart, Margaret Maron and Nancy Pickard top the Great Manhattan Mystery Conclave program scheduled for the first weekend of October 2004 in Manhattan, Kansas. In addition, the Deadly Divas, Letha Albright, S. W. Hubbard, Susan McBride and Denise Swanson, will participate in the two-day gathering celebrating mystery, small towns and libraries. The Manhattan Library Association is sponsoring this event to honor the Manhattan Public Library’s 2004 centennial and the 2005 sesquicentennial of the founding of Manhattan, Kansas. Plans are to fit as many authors into the program as possible (but the Conclave reserves the right to make panel selections). Fans will be welcome to the many workshops and the rooms for book sales and signings. The Conclave will also sponsor a contest. Participants will have three months following the gathering to write a 5,000-word "small town" mystery set in Manhattan, Kansas. The winning stories will be published in an anthology that will be released in conjunction with city of Manhattan’s 150th Founding Celebration. Join writers and readers for the fun of this special event. For registration and contest information go to www.manhattanmysteries.com or write to The Great Manhattan Mystery Conclave, P.O. Box 782, Manhattan, Kansas 66505-0782. For additional information, contact Marolyn Caldwell at marolync@flinthills.com. Early registration deadline is March 31, 2004, so better check this out right away.
 The official word from the Romantic Times convention e-newsletter is this: "New York will be the destination for the next convention, the weekend of March 25-27, 2004. Emphasis will be placed on The Business and Art of Popular Fiction. Seminars of agents, editors, publishers and reviewers will bring published authors and soon-to-be’s to the Heart of Publishing. Our hotel will be in the center of the action." Since so many other publishing events occur in the fall, RT feels it’s a smart move to reposition their convention in the spring. Kathryn Falk, Lady of Barrow, goes on to say, "The 2004 Convention will be a ‘transition’ event. We will not have time (only 5 months to go) to organize our beautiful costume balls and cover model pageants - but we will for 2005! We will be organizing special tours of bookstores, publishers’ offices, along with museums, theatre tickets and sightseeing will be on the agenda. Events for readers at the convention include Publishers’ Hospitality Suites, Welcome Party, Awards Luncheon, and of course, a Book Fair on Saturday and a Disco Party at night. We’ve arranged parties and seminars to end about 7 pm, so people can go to restaurants or the theatre afterwards. And, there are some after-the-theatre parties as well! As usual, you will have to rest up before arriving." So mark your calendars - it’s not far off!
 Suzanne Brockmann was at the RT convention, along with Reserve Navy SEAL Chris Berman. Not only was she signing tons of books for her fans, but she was also handing out a wonderful bookmark. One side promotes Suz’s upcoming hardcover release in April - Flashpoint - while the other side advertises the 2004 Men of the Navy SEALS calendar. Oh, my, if the calendar is anything like the phenomenal photos on the bookmark, you’ll want your very own copy. I know I did! To order your calendar, go to www.navysealscalendar.com. You can also check out some of the behind-the-scenes shots taken during the photo shoot for the project. Enjoy!
Kathryn Shay has informed me that her two firefighter books for Berkley have turned into a trilogy. The first novel, After the Fire, was out in November (and reviewed in last month’s Gazette). The others are On the Line (July 2004) and Nothing More to Lose (January 2005). The last story, which she’s working on now, is a wrenching story about a firefighter who was hurt in 9/11 and is in a wheelchair the entire book. She’s also delighted to share some other great news. An online novella she wrote for The Lipstick Chronicles anthology, which Berkley subsequently bought and put out in trade paperback in November, is being excerpted in the December issue of Cosmopolitan magazine. Kathy, who’s a high school teacher, also relates that this is her last year of teaching. To learn more, check out her web site www.kathrynshay.com.
Kat Martin has finished her next novel, Desert Heat. She says that this is Patience’s story, the second in the Sinclair Sisters trilogy, which a number of readers have asked about. Set for release next April, it features a gorgeous cowboy named Dallas Kingman. In the meantime, she’s working on a historical trilogy that begins with The Bride’s Necklace. And for those who might be interested, hubby Larry Martin has a new Western release - Stranahan.
Denise Hampton (aka Denise Domning) has informed me that she thinks her latest release, Almost Perfect, may turn out to be her last romance. She has a new agent who’s suggesting she write medieval mysteries, so she’s thinking she might give that a try. I, for one, will certainly miss her wonderfully researched historical romances!
Now to tempt you with a few more author tidbits. I’m delighted to inform you that fan-favorite Loretta Chase, who’s been absent from our bookstores for several years, will be back in March with Miss Wonderful, a Regency romance. Julia London will return to her historical roots in February with Highlander Unbound, the first book in the Lockhart Family trilogy. In April, comes the second book in Julia’s contemporary Lear Family trilogy, Beauty Queen. Also in April will be the release of Elizabeth Grayson’s Moon in the Water about love aboard a riverboat. And Robin D. Owens continues her Heart series in April with Heart Duel. February is the month that Charming Grace, by Deborah Smith and set in her real hometown of Dahlonega, Georgia, makes its hardcover debut.
Stay tuned . . . and Happy Holidays!
Tanzey Cutter
Editor of the Old Book Barn Gazette
Author Carole Bellacera: Tanzey, I don’t believe we’ve ever met, but I want to tell you how much I enjoy your column [at Writerspace].
·Win Lindsay, Iowa: Of course, I want to renew my subscription to the Gazette! I look forward to reading it every month. The reviews are interesting and help me decide what I want to read. And I enjoy Tanzey’s column - the whole thing actually. Keep the presses rolling!
·Pat Atkinson, Australia: Sue - nowadays [in Australia] we can get all the books I buy from you. Very different to when I first started getting them from Cheryl, when we only got books that came through British publishers. The reason I still buy from you is because I believe in loyalty, and you have never let me down in all the years I’ve purchased from you. You go way beyond anything you need to, in doing many kindnesses for me. I appreciate all this. I hope we continue this way for many years to come. Now, have you had any feedback from your customers regarding the anthology Lover Beware? The four authors are Christine Feehan, Katherine Sutcliffe, Fiona Brand and Eileen Wilks. I always buy anthologies with authors I like, assuming I’m going to get good stories, just shorter ones. Not so with this one. Three wrote in their usual, brilliant way and I thoroughly enjoyed them. But the piece by Sutcliffe, called Hot August Moon, is a teaser for her full-length book of the same title. Being a murder story, I expect to know the killer by the time I reach the end. This one just stops, then states that to get the "whole" story, I must buy her book of the same name. I REALLY resent that. So much so, in fact, I would not buy the book or any others by her. It may be her publisher’s fault, but I shall be very wary of anthologies in the future. I do not want to pay out good money and be shortchanged.
·Author Pat White: Tanzey, thank you so much for your wonderful recommendation of my book in your [October] newsletter. I’m so pleased you liked Got a Hold on You and are suggesting readers pick up copies. As we all know, word of mouth is key in this business. It was nice meeting you in person at the recent RT convention. What a great time I had! Thanks again for your support. You’re the best!
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