A Little Tooting of Horns

Patty here…

In 2004 or maybe it was 2005, shortly after my first novel was released, my publicist called to ask if I would speak at a writers’ conference at a convent near Los Angeles. She had inadvertently double-booked another of her clients for two events on the same day.

Are you kidding me? A convent? Of course, I said yes. The event turned out to be hilarious, due in part to another guest speaker, the very entertaining Lee Goldberg.

As it turned out, my publicist’s other client was Jacqueline Winspear. I later met Jackie in person at an AAUW author event where we were on the program with fellow authors Barbara Seranella and Stephen J. Cannell. After the event was over, Jackie came up to the table where I was signing books and in that charming British accent of hers, thanked me for “saving her bacon” by stepping in for her that day at the convent. I was touched by her courtesy, but I should have been thanking her. Thinking about that gig still makes me chuckle.

When I began to entertain the idea of starting a group blog, I went to the Oracle (Paul Levine) to ask if he thought it was a good idea. He said, “How bad could it be?" and agreed to come along for the ride. Soon after, he recruited Ridley Pearson and the talented and irrepressible James O. Born.

It was Elizabeth George, who had read and blurbed Maisie Dobbs, who suggested I ask Jackie to join Naked Authors. When I emailed her with the proposal she said, “Sure...What’s a blog?”

As many of you know, Jackie has written a new novel, The Care and Management of Lies, set for release on July 1st. It is not a mystery. It is not a Maisie Dobbs book, though it is about WWI.

She'll be leaving soon on a book tour, and knowing how shy she is about tooting her own horn, I’m going to toot it for her. The link below lists her appearances. If you are in the neighborhood, please stop by and say hello. For those of you who get our posts via email, forward the information to your friends. You can also share this or any of our posts on Facebook or Twitter by clicking on the “MORE” drop-down menu at the upper left edge of the blog. Please join me in giving Jackie a rousing send off.

Here’s a list of her appearances: http://jacquelinewinspear.com/appearances.php 

And while I'm tooting horns and you're clicking on links, please click on over to Jim Born's new novel BORDER WAR and Paul Levine's latest Jake Lassiter novel STATE VS. LASSITER.

HAPPY MONDAY!