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Reviewers Say...
This just in from Publishers Weekly about The Wurst Is Yet To Come:
Booklist on the previous B&B release, All the Pretty Hearses:
The Write Companion
on The Wurst is Yet to Come:
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Publishers Weekly on The Alpine Winter:
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Mary's books
B&B short stories in anthologies:
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HOW ‘BOUT THAT TITLE?
She liked it—and proceeded to badger the art department into creating a cover that would evoke the era of the original’s setting. I think it’s brilliant. No, The Cousins do not venture to the rich red earth of Georgia. In the book, they get no further in the real world than Georgetown, a neighborhood in the south end of Seattle. (Note: The Thurlow District is not based on that part of the city.)
So cut The Cousins a little slack when they gripe. I won’t get into all the new construction around here. And now you know the real reason why I never call Seattle by its real name in the B&B books. Even when I started writing them in 1989, I didn’t want anybody to know where we were. But that wasn’t a secret I could keep all to myself.
YOU ASKED FOR IT
A number of readers have asked for a list of the historical romances I wrote before I started doing the mysteries. Most are out of print, but can still be found through used book stores and independent sellers online. Please do not gag at the titles:
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There are no copyrights on titles. For years, I’ve threatened to call a book Gone With the Wind just to see what kind of reaction I’d get. I thought the title alone might sell some extra copies. (Hey—it’s a tough world out there in publishing these days…) But I chickened out. I did know that the story would have something to do with horse racing and gambling, so decided to go for the riff on the title instead. Of course before I started writing the manuscript, I had to tell my editor what it would be called.
Speaking of Seattle, you will discover that Judith and Renie complain about the city’s growth. This is reality and does have its downside. Geography is a big problem: Look at a map of Seattle and you can see why. It’s long and narrow, surrounded by water on both sides. Two floating bridges cross Lake Washington to the east. If you go due west, you have to take a ferry from downtown. A ship canal cuts across the city and that means bridges, most of which go up and down to create lengthy traffic back-ups. I live just a few blocks up from the canal (we always say “up” or “down” around here—all those hills, you know) and just about every other time I have to cross one of those bridges, I get stuck waiting for the blasted thing to come down.