Tucson Festival of Books -- March 2011

I love this festival.  This year was its third and it just keeps getting better but still keeps its fun unpretentious soul.  One of my best friends and her family live in Tucson, so I've gotten to know and love the city over the years. What a pleasure to see good friends. 

My husband and I drove from the L.A. area. It's a seven to eight hour drive, mostly through desert.  I love desert landscapes.  Maybe it's because I was born and raised in Southern California, but the desert resonates with me.

So, some photos of a great event.  The first three photos were taken by Leslie Pape. I snapped the last four.

The "Blood and Guts--Violence in Crime Fiction" panel with L to R: Zoe Sharp, Cara Black, me, and Rebecca Cantrell







 
 
 
 
"The Seamy Side of Paradise: California Crime" with L to R: Thomas Perry, me, and T. Jefferson Parker.

"Against the Odds: Women in Jeopardy" with L to R: Juliet Blackwell, Wendy Corsi Staub, me, and Libby Fischer Hellman.

At the festival, an unintentionally funny display about the perils of drinking and driving.

Morning hike in Ventana Canyon. Cottontails, pheasants, bird songs, fresh air, and solitude.

On the drive home.  Outside Quartzsite, AZ. 

Heading home, westbound on I-10.  "Prisoner of the white lines on the freeway..."

Tucson Festival of Books March 12 -13

This weekend, I'll be at the Tucson Festival of Books on the campus of the University of Arizona.  This is such a great festival.  So much fun. Come on out.  It's springtime in the desert.  It's going to be sunny with temperatures in the 80s.  Did someone say "sleeveless"?

Here's where I'll be during the festival.

Saturday, March 12, 2011  

10:30 – 11:30 p.m.
Signing – Desert Sleuths Sisters in Crime - Booth 109 in West Mall

12:00 – 1:00 p.m.
Signing - Clues Unlimited – Booth in Central Mall

2:30 p.m. Panel followed by book signing until 4:00 p.m.
Blood and Guts: Violence in Crime Fiction
With Rebecca Cantrell and Cara Black. Moderator – Zoe Sharp
Venue: Integrated Learning Center, Room 140

Sunday, March 13, 2011

10:00 a.m. Panel
Against the Odds: Women in Jeopardy - MODERATING
Libby Hellmann, Wendi Corsi Staub, and Juliet Blackwell
Venue: Student Union - Tucson Room

1:00 p.m. Panel followed by book signing until 2:30 p.m.
The Seamy Side of Paradise: California Crime
With Thomas Perry and T. Jefferson Parker.
Moderator - Patrick Milliken from the Poisoned Pen
Venue: Integrated Learning Center - Room 120

Hello Again, Flintridge Bookstore and Coffehouse

My last post was a eulogy for L.A.'s great Mystery Bookstore, closing after twenty-six years. 

Now, a month later, I'm heralding the opening of a fabulous independent bookstore--the Flintridge Bookstore and Coffeehouse!  It's an audacious enterprise to open the doors of an inde store in this chilly climate for book-and-mortar bookstores.  Kudos to owners Peter and Lenora Wannier their vision, faith, and courage.  And it's wonderful to again participate in store events set up the the terrific Sandy Willardson.

Come out on Thursday, March 3, 2011 to support this great store!  The Flintridge Bookstore and the L.A. Chapter of Sisters in Crime are sponsoring a mystery night with thirteen great local mystery writers (including me).  The fun begins at 7:30.  Stop by and say hi.

To The Mystery Bookstore, With Love

Just found out that The Mystery Bookstore in L.A.'s Westwood neighborhood is closing. How do I begin to express how sad I am and what a sad thing this is for Los Angeles?

Perhaps, best to begin at the beginning. I had long been a patron of the store's original West Hollywood location on Beverly Boulevard when it was called Mysterious Books, run by Sheldon McArthur.  He and assistant manager Richard Brewer knew everything and everyone in the mystery genre, in both the creative and business sides. 



After I'd sold my first book, Cold Call, in 1992 (published in 1993 under the name "Dianne Pugh"), I attended one of Mysterious Books' birthday parties which were always packed with authors and fans. I was exicited to attend as a "real" author.

The book Connelly signed for me that day.

After chatting with Shelly, he pointed out a bespectacled man standing alone.  "That's Michael Connelly," he said. "His first book is out. It's fantastic. You should buy it because Connelly is going to be big." I thought that was a bold statement, but I went over and introduced myself and asked Michael to sign a book for me. We chatted. I asked if he was contracted for another book and he said he was writing a second book "on spec."  I remember feeling a little smug because I had just inked a two book contract... 

With Bobby McCue and Linda Brown.

Fast forward fourteen years to 2006.  With five books in my Iris Thorne series by Dianne Pugh behind me, I took a hiatus from writing for a few years and pretty much retreated from the writing world, which is a story for another day. Mysterious Books was now The Mystery Bookstore and had moved to its Westwood Village location. I'd landed a book contract for my new Detective Nan Vining series under my newly minted married name "Emley." I headed off to Westwood (my former home as a UCLA student) to sign The First Cut. I was thrilled when "Dark Bobby" McCue ("dark" because of his tastes in crime fiction) had selected it as his pick for the month. I met Linda that day, too. We had a great event and a great chat during and I signed the "jailhouse register." On the front table were a few of my Dianne Pugh books. They'd been her fan as well and had wondered where she had gone.



Me mugging with a Nancy Drew standee (taken by Bobby)

So many fun Mystery Bookstore book launches (mine and friends), parties, and stories. So many great book recommendations by Bobby and Linda, who, of course, knew everything and everyone in the genre. 

We had some silly fun at my last signing there for Love Kills in March 2010. In the window was a cardboard standee to commemorate Nancy Drew's 80th birthday. Of course, I had to have a photo with it. Might they have a prop I could hold? A fake gun, perhaps?  Linda and Bobby scurried around and came up with a magnifying glass. We took some photos, all of us giggling like kids, and they put one of the photos in their newsletter.

When Kirk Pasich and Pamela Woods bought the store, I thought, "Whew, the store dodged a bullet."  I admired their dedication to mystery books and authors, and I admired their bravery, taking on an independent bookstore in this day and age. I applaud you, Kirk and Pam, for taking a stand, even though the bullet was out there, waiting. And Bobby, Linda, Stephen, Clair, Emily, Graham, Ingrid, and Allie, and all the staff I've gotten to know through the years (forgive me if I've missed anyone), thanks for the memories. Los Angeles is lessened by the store's passing.

ALA Mystery Day January 8 and a Wooden Pal

The sugar, butter, flour, measuring cups, and measuring spoons have all been put away for now. We're writing, dieting, going to the gym, and being completely serious. Well, within reason.

What's up the road... A head?

Here's my first event in 2011 and it's a pip. On Saturday, January 8, I'll be speaking at Mystery Day at the American Library Association's Midwinter Meeting.

There will be a great line-up of crimewriters all day. After my panels, I'll be signing and giving away copies of my books. Yes! Books. Gratis. Until they run out.

Here are my two panels:

11-11:45 California Girls

Naomi Hirahara, Jeri Westerson, Dianne Emley, Sue Ann Jaffarian, moderator Hank Phillippi Ryan

and:

3-3:45pm Laugh or I’ll Kill You

Vicki Doudera, Jeri Westerson, Dianne Emley, Rosemary Harris, moderator Sue Ann Jaffarian

I'm looking forward to both panels, but I'm really intrigued about being on a humor panel. I've spoken on many types of panels, but never one about humorous mysteries.  All my books are laced with dark humor and I think I have a pretty wicked sense of humor, so this discussion will be an interesting first for the new year.

On Friday, January 7, at 5:00 stop by Mysterious Galaxy bookstore for a meet and greet with many of the crimewriters who will be speaking at ALA's Mystery Day. I'll be there, too. 

About the photo with my watchful buddy... Anyone who knows me knows I can't resist mugging whenever there's a prop around.

Hope to see some of you this weekend.

Pretzel S'mores

My S'mores -- Messy, Not Elegant, but Crowd Pleasers

You may be asking yourself, "Isn't she going to blog about the craft and business of writing?"  Yes. Later. I write in the mornings and, from Thanksgiving to New Year's Day, I spend a lot of time happily baking and cooking which to me is the Anti-Writing. I guess it's not really the opposite of writing but it's more of a complement to it. Still creative, but in a different way. There was a brief period in my young adult years when I considered going to culinary school.  I've been cooking and baking since I was a little kid--the same time I started writing. I share a passion for each.

So, on to Pretzel S'mores. An easy and messy recipe with a completely addictive result. I love the combination of salty and sweet.

I've obtained some of my favorite recipes from the backs of boxes and bags of sugar, flour, chocolate chips, etc. and from product ads. I saw this recipe for Pretzel S'mores in a Rold Gold Pretzel ad. I looked on the Net for the recipe and couldn't find it. It wasn't even on the Rold Gold site.  What's up, Frito-Lay marketing geniuses?  I'll help you out.  Here it is, as printed with my notes:

ROLD GOLD Pretzel S'mores

Break apart a 16 oz. semisweet chocolate bar. (I used a bag of semi-sweet chocolate chips.) Set some aside for grating over finished s'mores. (Unnecessary. See my later comment.) 

Place chocolate in a microwave-safe bowl and heat until melted and smooth, stirring every 30 seconds.

Cover cookie sheet with parchment or wax paper and lay out 20 ROLD GOLD Classic Style Tiny Twists Pretzels.  (There was plenty of chocolate for more than 20 pretzels. Fill the pan.)

The Gorgeous Photo from the Ad. Mine Did Not Look Like This.

Place melted chocolate in a piping bag (what I did) or create your own by placing chocolate in a small plastic bag and snipping off one corner (Might try this next time because cleaning the chocolate from the piping bag was a mess).

Fill pretzel opening with melted chocolate and allow to cool. (I didn't completely fill holes.)

Once cool, place 2 teaspoons of marshmallow creme on each chocolate-filled pretzel and top with a pretzel, pressing gently.  (I was barely able to fit a generous teaspoon of the creme on top. It squishes out.)

Grate extra chocolate over finished Pretzel S'mores and enjoy. (Grating chocolate on top is an extra unnecessary step IMHO and rather like gilding a lily, but whatever.)

I recommend putting them together right before serving. They start to melt almost immediately, the tops sliding to one side. I put them in the fridge which helps. Don't know what freezing would do to them.  They were fine after being refrigerated overnight. Before serving, I set each one on a small piece of wax paper because they stick to the serving plate.  We had a couple of friends over and they were a big hit, especially with the guys. I put the leftovers back into the fridge and they didn't hold up after a second day.

I would make this recipe again.

Bon appetit!

Perfected: Lemon Custard Cookies

I'm going to just say it: I make the best lemon custard cookies.  Over the many years that I've been baking them, I've honed a recipe that is simple on the surface yet the devil is in the details. 

My Thanksgiving batch with a Shawnee vase from my collection.

I've become a lemon custard cookie snob.  I can eyeball a batch made by others from ten paces and determine with pretty good accuracy whether they're good or not. Pale yellow custard?  Not tart enough.  Runny custard?  Underdone. Fluffy custard or gummy custard?  I have no idea what causes that but it's just wrong.  Crumbly, thick crust?  Underdone or not packed well into the pan or... gasp... I don't even want to know if you didn't use real butter.

The perfect lemon custard cookie has a tart, smooth lemon pie layer that's gelled but not gummy atop a buttery, crisp yet tender shortbread crust. When you bite into it, your lips slightly pucker like at the beginning of a kiss. The shortbread crumbles and melts and you feel a memory of tartness at the back of your throat. There is always a moment of silence. 

Notes before proceeding: Do not be afraid of the lemon!  On the other hand, don't tip over into sour.  You need to find the delicate balance between lemon and sugar.  And only use fresh lemon juice.  Banish that bottled Real Lemon!  It tastes metallic. Go no further if you're even thinking about using it. 

Leery of tasting the raw custard for tartness?  I suppose you could go on faith, but I've been eating raw batter since I was a kid.

Ready?  Here we go.

DIANNE EMLEY'S LEMON CUSTARD COOKIES

Pre-heat oven to 350

For crust:

1/2 cup sifted powdered sugar
1 1/2 cups flour
1 1/2 cubes unsalted cold butter

Put powdered sugar and flour into a medium bowl.  Cut butter into the bowl.  Blend together with a pastry blender, fork, or fingers (my favorite) until evenly crumbly. Pat firmly and evenly into a 9" x 12" pan.  Bake 10 to 15 minutes until slightly brown on bottom and sides and top has brown patches and looks solid--not doughy.  Watch as it can burn quickly.  Be careful not to under cook the crust as it won't bake much more when it's filled and will be too crumbly if it's underdone. Take out pan and set on a rack.

For filling:

Freshly squeeze lemons until you get about 7 to 8 tablespoons of juice (about 3 or 4 medium lemons).
Strain the juice through a sieve to remove seeds and pulp.
3 eggs, beaten
1 1/2 cups sugar
3 tablespoons flour

Note on the sugar: you may be tempted to cut the quantity. It is a lot of sugar, but when you cut it (once I cut it to 1 cup), the custard won't have the right consistency.

In a medium bowl, mix together by hand the eggs, sugar, and flour.  Add about 6 tablespoons of lemon juice then taste for tartness. The tartness of lemons can vary. Add more lemon until you achieve the tartness you like, but be bold! Batter should be a little more tart than you want in the finished cookie because a bit of tartness is lost in cooking.

Pour filling on hot crust.  Bake 20 minutes longer or until custard is firm in the middle. Should have little bubbles here and there on the surface.

Sprinkle on powdered sugar while still hot.

Cool and cut into squares.

Serving tip: If you're bringing the cookies to share, cut and plate them ahead of time. They are sticky and hard to get out of the pan without breaking. If you bring the full pan, your masterpiece will be delicious but ugly from people jabbing and breaking the cookies.

Bon appetit!