Do Everything You Can For Everyone You Can

As most of you know, I just returned from a long roadtrip. I’m still trying to catch up on my sleep, in fact.

The best part about a road trip is meeting new people and reconnecting with “old fans.” If you’ve ever met me, you know that I’ll do just about anything for my fans.

I changed the spelling of a character’s name to coincide with the name of a young woman, a fan, who was clearly having problems in her life, perhaps even developmental delays.

I pose for photos, which is fun. However, on days when I’ve been traveling non-stop and I don’t look great, I must admit I cringe a bit when folks snap the shutter. But that’s my vanity, which isn’t important here.

I sign anything and everything. If someone is at all interested in my signature, I’m willing to share it.

I send supplies to charity auctions at my fans’ requests. (I might have to start limiting this because the postage is expensive, but for the time being, I do what I can. Occasionally, I’ll take a miss because I’m too busy to check out the charity, but whenever possible, I’ll participate.)

I answer questions, although I won’t give away what happens next in my series. (Okay, I lie. I have assured a couple of fans that Gracie will be the longest living Great Dane on record.)

I consider their ideas, and boy, do they have a lot of good ones! My friends at the Barnes & Noble Booksellers Book Club in Fenton, MO, suggested I add a new character. They want to see someone who is “scrubby Dutch” in my books. “Dutch” in this case is a mispronunciation of “Deutsch,” a mistake that’s been perpetuated in the St. Louis area. “Scrubby Dutch” references German immigrants who were incredibly house proud and tidy. I had hesitated to use the term, because I feared it was a pejorative. However, my readers assured me they’re proud of this, and they urged me to include it. I will!

I give out bookmarks. If you have a book club, and you send me an address, I’ll get you as many bookmarks as you have members.

And I’ll try to visit you or your group. (That's a photo of me with Melissa. She's been a pal for quite a while. I was thrilled to come to an event her mother put together with help from Megan at the Mooresville Public Library in Mooresville, Indiana.) I’ll even scrapbook with you.

Recently, I read a comment by Bill Hodges that sums up my philosophy:

Years ago I hit on the idea that there was something I could do for everyone I met, and it was my responsibility to find out what that was and do it. To that end I taught my children a simple rule: “Do everything you can, for everyone you can, and do it before you need them.” Over the years I have tried hard to help my friends and colleagues in any way possible and I have found their generosity flowing back to me has been humbling.

Isn’t that a lovely sentiment?

You can add Bill to your “friends” at Facebook by looking him up under the name: William N. Hodges.

Why I Go To Conferences and Other Events

While I was at Malice, a friend who is a New York Times bestselling author told me that her agent said, "At this point in your career, you no longer need to do personal appearances."

Wow.

I don't know what to think about that. I mean, I understand. At a certain point, your name is well-known and the bookstores are delighted to stock your books. So, I guess you don't have to do so much to promote yourself.

But...I get a lot out of conferences. Oh, sure, I'm still tired and I'm terribly behind. But, I had learned about a new sort of book on tape at the Howard County Library, I met some authors who I hope will become friends, I re-kindled my friendship with other authors, a group of us discussed promotional methods that work, I had the chance to brainstorm a plot with Casey Daniels as we drove to Festival of Mystery, I chatted with another NYT bestseller about when to switch agents and why you should ignore some advice from your author friends, I visited a college bookstore that will now carry my books, I moved a lot of books (the bookstores at Malice sold out of my books and Mystery Lovers sold a lot of copies as well), and I spent time with my fans. Whew.

So faced with the pile up on my desk, I wondered: Did I spend my time wisely?

Then I sent an email to Charlaine Harris asking for a favor. She emailed me that she'd get back to me after she returned home from her tour.

Her tour?

Gee. If Charlaine Harris thinks it's still important to "circulate," shouldn't I be out there pressing the flesh, too? I mean, you can't get any more popular than Charlaine!


Here I am with my Midnight Ink brothers and sisters at Malice before the big dinner.



That's me begging forgiveness from Meredith Cole. I left her out of the list of people who were at the Mysterious Women panel at Howard County Library. And she was sitting right next to me. How ditzy is that? Meredith wrote Posed for Murder, which is about a photographer in New York who becomes embroiled in real life murders when her fantasy pictures are recreated by a killer.



Deb Sharp is one of my favorite people. She writes the "Mama" series. The upcoming one is Mama Gets Hitched. Deb explains, "Mama likes getting married so much that she's doing it again for the fifth time!" As a former journalist, she's committed to doing her research. For one book, she rode a horse across central Florida.



Jan, one of my Pittsburgh fans, made the Stovetop Cookies from my website. Need I confess I gobbled them down on the ride back to D.C.?



I love photos of doors. This one of a church in Pittsburgh was particularly appealing.

With Deep Appreciation

Once in a while, someone does something so kind and so unexpected that I just want to dissolve in a puddle of tears. That happened to me last Thursday at the Howard County Library.

I was invited to by Jacquelynn Morris to be a part of their "Mysterious Women" Panel discussion. My friend Elaine Viets had suggested me. Being on a panel with Elaine was a career highpoint. She's been a wonderfully supportive friend and mentor. Back when I lived in St. Louis, I idolized her. It wasn't until she moved to Florida that we met. I reached out to her in an email, asking for advice about becoming a mystery author. In that way, I consider her one of my "fairy godmothers."

So you can see why being on a panel with her was a thrill. That's a photo above of us taking a tour. It's a fabulous library, a real resource for the community. The place was buzzing, and I itched to sit down and pore over some of the resources.

The other authors were Kris Neri, Beth Groundwater, L. C. Hayden, and Debbi Mack.

Right before the panel started, I spotted Kristopher, a young man I met some years back at Malice. That's a photo of us together below. He came over, we exchanged hugs, and then...he gave me a gift.








"You're always giving us stuff, so I thought I'd do the same for you," he said.

And my eyes filled with tears.

I don't expect anything from any of my fans. The fact that you all honor me by reading my work is more than enough. So I was completely caught off-guard.

Have I told you lately how much I appreciate all of you?

If not...consider yourself told!

Here's a look at the project he did: