OverKill and Tucson Festival of Books

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First a word from our sponsors. This is both a blog posting as well as a new book newsletter. If you happen to be on both lists, please accept my apologies for the duplication.

OverKill, Ali Reynolds # 18, goes on sale officially on April 1. Those of you who read the blog have already learned that little pieces of my own life tend to sneak into my books, so here goes. My mother, Evelyn, was totally incapable of minding her own business. When that happened, we said she was Evieing it. And when Ali Reynolds’s mother, Edie, did the same thing, her husband always said she was Edieing it. Not surprisingly, her daughter, Ali tends to do the same thing.

In OverKill, she takes Edieing it to an entirely new level. Ali is supposedly minding her own business at High Noon Enterprises, a cybersecurity company she owns with her husband B. Simpson, but then she receives a totally unexpected collect call from an inmate in the King County Jail in Seattle. The caller is none other than Clarice Brewster, B.’s former wife. She’s in lock-up awaiting charges on the murder of her husband, Chuck Brewster, who happens to be B.’s ex-partner and former friend. An affair between Clarice and Chuck marked an abrupt end of both the partnership and B.’s first marriage. Unsurprisingly, B.’s wants nothing to do with Clarice’s current predicament. Ali, on the other hand, is unable to help herself, and thereby hangs the tail.

You might be asking yourself, “If the book isn’t coming out until April one, why is she writing this in February?” In a word, the answer to that question is TFOB, aka, the Tucson Festival of Books. That’s coming up a little more than two weeks from now, on March 15 and 16. If you’re interested in attending that from out of town, you might want to make arrangements in advance. The publisher is making OverKill available for that and it will be on sale at the festival. In conjunction with my being in Arizona, there will also be another pre-pub Overkill event at the Poisoned Pen in Scottsdale at 6 PM on the evening of March 13. At this point, I don’t have any firm events listed for after publication. Once those come in, we’ll add them to the schedule. You can pre-order signed and personalized copies of OverKill from Brick&Mortar Books in Redmond, Poisoned Pen in Scottsdale, and Mostly Books in Tucson.

So now, after this preview of coming attractions, how about a trip down memory lane? Most of the time while I was growing up, the Busks on Yuma Trail were a three-newspaper family—the Arizona Republic and the Bisbee Daily Review in the mornings and the Douglas Daily Dispatch in the afternoons.

Once I was able to read the papers, I quickly became a fan of the advice columns. Dear Abby showed up in the Arizona Republic and the Bisbee Daily Review. Ann Landers was in the Dispatch. I loved them both. It wasn’t until decades later that I learned the writers of the two competing columns were actually sisters, twins in fact, who suffered from a seemingly incurable case of sibling rivalry. As far as I know, the two of them never got around to burying the hatchet, so maybe they were far better at dishing out advice than they were at taking it. But that’s another story.

As the decades sped past, however, I noticed something interesting. The photos that ran beside the columns never changed. They were always the very same headshots, day after day, week after week, and year after year. Over time I puzzled about that. Not any more. Now I understand completely.

So here’s a word of warning to readers who may be coming to TFOB and meeting me for the first time. I won’t look anything like the headshot on the covers of my books. Those photos were taken 25 years ago when I was 55. I’ m eighty now. There’s a big difference between 55 and 80. At some point in life, no amount or makeup of photo-shopping does the trick. You are what you are. It is what it is.

With that in mind, I’d like to close with some words of wisdom from a guy named A. H. Euwer.

As a beauty I’m not a great star.
There are others more handsome by far.
But my face, I don’t mind it
For I am behind it.
It’s the people in front that I jar.

29 thoughts on “OverKill and Tucson Festival of Books”

  1. I enjoy reading the Ali Reynolds series. I lived in Marana, AZ 52 years ago. So reading the books about the town’s in Arizona brings back many memories. Thank you for keeping me interested in stories of your characters adventures.
    I also enjoy the Joanna Brady & JP Beaumont books.
    Your blog is very interesting & funny at times. Thank you.

  2. The TFOB this year is March 15 and 16, not 14 and 15. The Authors’ Dinner is the evening of March 14. See you there!

    By the way, I was your sponsor and escort last year.

  3. Again, you’ve given me a laugh–thank you! But how true it is! I sometimes see someone I haven’t seen for a few years–or even just a few months–and I think, “Oh, my goodness, how she (or he) has aged!” But when I look in the mirror and see all the wrinkles and the thinning, GRAYING hair, I realize that he or she is probably thinking the same thing about ME! But, as you say, you are what you are. You keep writing books people love. I keep teaching music lessons people keep showing up for.

  4. What a joy it is to read your Friday Blog. From trips down memory lane to insightful ditties. You are the best. Wish I could come meet you at the festival. I will have to be content with you visiting my brain via your books.
    How true it is about aging and the toll it takes on the outward appearance of us. If I didn’t have a mirror I’d still think I was the young man my brain thinks I am.

  7. You kill me, I love that you are comfortable with your aging, as we all must do. I hope you enjoy your time in Tucson!

  8. One more Brady book “Blessing of the Lost Girls” until I start the Ali series. I already have the first two on hand. By the time I am ready for #18, it will be out in paperback, thank goodness. I’m still waiting for DOI [pre-ordered] in paperback and it is a hard wait. However, there will be no waiting for “The Girl From Devil’s Lake”. That is also pre-ordered from Brick&Mortar.

    Don’t worry about not looking like your headshot. When I met you last year with my copy of “Until Proven Guilty” [because it was my first J. A. Jance book] in hand, I knew immediately who you were.

    Blessing to you and Bill.

  11. This post really made me laugh.

    On Saturday, I attended the funeral of a highschool classmate. I met two classmates there. We did not recognize each other – had to be introduced! Fifty years does a lot of damage! Time may heal, but it doesn’t necessarily make whole!

    I don’t always remember to check my email nowadays, but I’m glad I did today. Loved the poem and I’m looking forward to reading the book!

    Aleta

  12. I’m almost seventy, and my husband still tells me I’m beautiful – bless his heart. But lately, my favorite verse from an oldie but goodie is, “You don’t live in a beautiful place, and you don’t dress in the best of taste, and nature didn’t give you such a beautiful face, but baby, you got what it takes for me.” I think we can both say, we still ‘got what it takes!’

  14. For those of us who only see souls, you will always be the most beautiful. Age is just a number! XOXO
    Jackie O.

  16. Exciting news! Can hardly wait. We think that you are perfect just as you are! Love your blogs and books!

  18. I got as far as the release date of the new Ali and popped over to my library site to put it on hold. I am number 152. I wonder if that’s how many newsletter readers you have in the catchment area for the library?

    Sorry not to be a book buying customer, but that’s my reality. I still talk your books up to reader friends and acquaintances.

    Ceci

  19. I have been reading and rereading your books since the first Beaumont book. I have all your books and my 77th birthday was yesterday. So we are all growing older together and we are better than ever!
    You are a vibrant and imaginative person, and I love all your characters.

  21. Had a good laugh over that poem. You are beautiful on the inside and that is all that counts. Hope you are making the Seattle/Redmond area one of your stops.

  22. Thank you, Judith, for another fine blog. I thought it was a lot of fun and also true to life. I’ll be 86 in just a few weeks so it’s time to renew my driver’s license. That requires a new photo. Ugh. Looking at my picture from when I was 81, I thought not bad for that age (dream on). That made me wonder what I’d look like if I’m still around in five more years and am still driving. Ugh.

    Waiting patiently for April and the next release. This series was what introduced me to your books and got me hooked. Your work is my reward.

  23. I just looked at the Tucson Festival of Books website and the dates for the festival are March 15 and 16.

  25. You will be happy to know that Ann and Abby DID make up. It was after Ann’s husband divorced her for another woman. This woman who gave advice all those years could not stop grieving the loss of her husband that she never stopped loving. So she reached across the continent to Abby who flew to Chicago and stayed with her sister, sleeping with her, arms around each other, the same way they slept as children. The sibling rival thing was that Abby went syndicated and Ann felt like she was stabbed in the back. You can understand that syndication thing. It’s over my head.

  26. I always look forward to my emails on Friday because of you. I enjoyed the poem. I think you are a beautiful person no matter how much older you may look than your book jacket. Waiting impatiently for the new Ali book. We are on the list at our library.

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