There Goes the Neighborhood

I'm jazzed that Mystery Scene magazine ran my essay about why I created a fictional town as the setting for my Mace Bauer Mystery series. Just got the issue (Holiday Issue, # 107), and it looks terrific.

Here's a snippet:

As soon as I saw the hand-lettered sign propped outside a remote country store, I knew it was a bad omen for Okeechobee, and for my new book, Mama Does Time, set in down-home Florida.

I circled back in my pickup truck. Nope, I hadn't read it wrong:

Boiled P'nuts/Cappuccino.

Cappuccino?

In a spot where cowboy is used as a verb, where barbecue is a religion, and where the local high school mascot is a 1,500-pound Brahma bull named Bubba?

There goes the neighborhood . . .

And here's a picture of me, writing along the Kissimmee River near Okeechobee, which is the real-life counterpart to my made-up town of Himmarshee.

Libby Lou Tackles Mama

Check out the platinum-haired vision, page right, outshining my husband Kerry and me. That's Libby Lou Lumpkins, up to visit from Himmarshee, Fla. She's the shampoo gal at Hair Today, Dyed Tomorrow beauty salon, and a fine emissary for the Chamber of Commerce. Libby is also a close pal of Rosalee Deveraux, "Mama'' in my books, and not shy at all about revealing the real story behind Rosalee's little brush with the law in Mama Does Time.

I am blessed with truly creative friends. In Orlando recently to sell a few books, when our incredible hosts, Dan Beckmann and Sue Stauffer, graciously threw a dinner party. "A Night with The Author,'' they billed it ("There'll be food, too, right?'' I'm sure their friends asked them).

Anyway, the party proceeded beyond my greatest expectations: Mama-themed, Southern comfort food (which also happens to be the food Mama's creator loves, too. Imagine that!), good wine (even though Mama drinks the sweet pink stuff, Sue and Dan wisely followed their own palates on this one), and great, great company. And then, along with the peach cobbler, the coup de theatre: Libby Lou rang the doorbell.

She was truly amazing: word games based on the book, clever asides, character knowledge that nearly stumped the author (who had consumed a couple of glasses of wine by this point, but still). What a thrill to hear my words come out of Libby Lou's mouth, and to hear them get belly laughs from the dinner guests. Of course, credit for that goes largely to the incredible Libby Lou, who would not break character to reveal her real name.

All I know is she goes to Sue's church in Orlando, and she has a talent as big as her hair. Libby Lou, honey, this one's for you!

Woo-hoo, I survived TODAY!

Didn't hurl in Al Roker's lap, didn't fall off the chair on the Today Show set. May have sold a few books. All in all, a pretty good day.

Check out my national TV debut: Author Goes Glam
And the nice excerpt the show put up: ''Mama Does Time''

Very exciting, and the folks at NBC were incredibly gracious to me. But, man, am I ever glad it's over!

And, oh yeah, I heard a little something about some other news on Tuesday ... something about an election? I'll have to look it up.

Lights, Camera . . . Panic!

Just got the news I'm going to be doing some TV interviews to talk about Mama Does Time Including one on a certain well-known morning show based in New York CIT-TAY, with which I happen to have a marital 'in.'

Okay, it's the NBC TODAY Show. I'll be on the couch Tuesday, Nov 4, between 9:30 and 10 am, barring any Election Day meltdowns.

So now the worrying begins.

I not only have to sound good, I have to look good (or, at least presentable). Meaning my customary writing clothes -- giant sweat pants and bunny slippers -- won't do. Even my dress-up Florida clothes -- lots of swirly, flowery patterns, and shoes showing toes -- aren't right. I mean, I don't know much about styles, considering I haven't changed my haircut since 1979. But I do know that people Up North dress in dark colors this time of year, and nobody wears pink plush bedroom slippers with animal heads, at least not in public.

I need a fashion makeover. Maybe I should write Ask Mama for help. That Rosalee Deveraux would straighten me out! After all, she has counseled there's no such thing as TOO much when it comes to animal prints . . . and that's certainly good fashion advice.

She's also an expert at make-up, and I could use a few tips. If I want to look any younger than Neanderthal Gal under those TV lights, I'll have to slather on the pancake with a trowel.

Then again, I could just stop worrying about how I look, and let my work speak for itself . . .

Yeah, right.

A Great Face for Radio

Well, it's finally here. My official book tour for Mama Does Time. I'm in Tampa, Fla., prepping for my debut signing, Thur., 10-16, 7 p.m. at the wonderful Inkwood Books. I'm staying over with a good friend, who is supplying me with ample cups of herbal tea to calm my first-time-author anxieties.

I did my first "media'' . . . an interview on Tampa's WUSF-FM with Bobbie O'Brien, public radio reporter par excellence. Radio's super, because you can just relax and talk. There's no stress over hair, clothes, crater-sized wrinkles ... At nearly 55, I've got a GREAT face for radio!

Tomorrow's the big day: a morning interview on WFLA-TV (Gulp! Hope the turquoise-colored jacket, the same color as Mama's convertible, looks OK. (Second thoughts: Will I look like I'm wearing a Realtor's blazer?)

Silly concerns, I know. And not very literary. But there it is. Wonder if Denis Johnson worried how his hair looked when he accepted last year's National Book Award?