I’ll be in Tarpon Springs for their first book fair. For more details on the traffic jam you may want to avoid, check out my Instagram post with all the details.
Also, I have recently put The Queenpin Chronicles into KindleUnlimited. If you have a subscription, you can get in on the whole thing right now for free! Because who doesn’t want a free option for escaping the DOOMSCROLL!?!
Finally, I am still hoping to get Havana Girls to you in mid-June (even though it says July on Amazon). Fingers crossed, just because we could all use 2 months with nothing disastrous happening.
Why Havana?
I am SO GLAD you asked. These books are all about the places where—thanks to lack of government oversight—crime flourishes. During World War II that was pretty much all of the United States, including in Florida. Post World War II, naturally that was Vegas. When I started looking into what was going on in Havana, it made the rest of it look like child's play. Specifically on the topic I take on this book, sex trafficking.
That was the reality.
The fiction is my imagined network of women saving women. Because I needed that story and I hope you do too. So far, it's getting great response from early readers.
It’s still the same gals. Well, plus a newish character. You’ve met her before, she’s Imogene Fuchs’s daughter. TBH, she was a throwaway character in the first book. I wanted my circa 1944 ‘lady reporter’ to be a no-nonsense type, and what better way than for her to eschew the frivolous (and then new) Slinky in favor of a Raggedy Ann doll, which taught skills for Pete’s sake! The name that came to me then, Sally, was Meant to be another example of that no nonsense persona. Until I started writing Havana Girls, I didn't notice how similar that name was to Salvatore Giancarlo, who is often referred to as Sal.
In this book, the character renamed herself. Sam. I know! It's still not as far off from Sal as I’d like either, but she literally renamed herself. I tried to steer her toward something else but she wouldn’t have it. She wanted to use it as an opportunity to talk about sexism right off the bat in the book. But rest easy, it’s me. It’s not pedantic, promise! She’s studying to be a forensic psychologist and deals with it plenty.
The story is told from Thelma and Sam's point of view as their timelines merge in 1978 Miami. This has been a lot of fun to write, and influenced by so many things.
Agnes Underwood (seen here with the bat that she kept at her desk):
And this book:
Which supplies the case details for this ‘unsolved’ murder that I STILL find shocking.
In Havana Girls, Thelma Miles has grown up and FINALLY figured out how to beat the mafia at their own game. It’s a series finisher you won’t want to miss.
BOOK RECO!
I have just finished Tana French’s Into the Woods. The story of a cop who returns to his hometown to solve a murder at the very spot where he witnessed a murder, which of course he’s NOt supposed to do so there’s lots of fun and tension and guessing. Be forewarned—it’s long! A police procedural–not my standard jam—I stayed for the superb writing.
TV RECO:
The Studio. It’s like Robert Altman’s film, The Player, also chock-a-block with delightful cameos but more empathy. So it comes across as less droll and more, oh no! Served with visual feasts, incredible writing, and even better timing.
OMG, wait! I have 2!
The new thing with Jon Hamm. Your Friends and Neighbors I think? I should check, but I want to get this out to you. Ok, I checked. That’s right. Anyway…The show is a searing indictment of contemporary society, but similarly served with eye candy, great writing and amazing character performances.
Your turn!
Are you an audiobook person? What makes a good audiobook to you? And, notaskingforafriend, what's an audiobook you recently loved?
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