The Edgars: pre-game warmup

The Edgar Awards are tonight. Yes, I’m excited. And what they say is really true: It’s an honor simply to be nominated.

China Lake is my first novel, so it holds a special place in my affections. Its journey to this point has been winding and fraught with obstacles. Shortly after it was bought by a British publisher, I asked my literary agent Giles Gordon for advice about writing. Were there things no novelist should ever do? With a droll smile, he said, “Never write about religion, and never put a character in a wheelchair.”

Too late. But with those two taboos firmly broken, China Lake went on to a wonderful reception in the UK.

But it took several more years for an American publisher to pick up the book. And for finally helping me breach the walls of U.S. publishing, I must once again thank Stephen King, who so generously encouraged readers to pick up my books. And I have to thank Ben Sevier, my editor at Dutton, who was one of the readers who did exactly that. I have to thank Brian Tart, Dutton’s publisher, for taking me on. And I have to thank Kristen Weber, my paperback editor at NAL, for submitting China Lake for the Edgars. Kristen, publisher Kara Welsh, and NAL Editorial Director Claire Zion are the ones who got the book in front of the judging panel.

To have a novel that was once rejected by every U.S. publisher that read it find such a wonderful home, and then to have it nominated for one of the most prestigious awards in crime fiction, amazes me.

To have Evan Delaney be given such recognition, and to know that her story and the people in her world, especially Jesse Blackburn, are appreciated, is deeply rewarding.

Getting here means everything to me. Anything else will just be icing on the cake.

Secrets, privacy…it’s all dirty, and dirt, to the government

One reason I wrote The Dirty Secrets Club was to explore the power, and the allure, of secrets. And naturally in a thriller the secrets people keep are dangerous. But holding onto secrets, and our privacy, isn’t always bad.

Except that’s not what the British government thinks: Every phone call, email, or website visit “to be monitored.”

The proposals will give police and security services the power to snoop on every single communication made by the public with the data then likely to be stored in an enormous national database.

The precise content of calls and other communications would not be accessible but even text messages and visits to social networking sites such as Facebook and Twitter would be tracked.

Riiiiiight.

Last year Kirkus Reviews interviewed me about the topic. Here’s what I said:

“Most of the secrets in your book tend to be negative and have dire consequences, but there must be some redeeming value to keeping secrets and withholding information.

Absolutely. Keeping secrets can be vital. Withholding information can be critical for security, for people’s safety, for protecting lives and property. Publicizing certain knowledge—nuclear bomb-making techniques or my bank account number—could prove disastrous.

Above that, keeping secrets is at the heart of trust. It’s at the core of the relationship between doctors and patients. It’s the seal of the confessional. It gives people the freedom to speak with unqualified confidence and openness. Moreover, the right to keep secrets is an essential part of human integrity. We all need the ability to keep our desires and even our pasts private. We all need an inviolable zone where nobody can intrude—at least on our thoughts.

We live in an age when privacy is under assault. We’re caught on CCTV when we step out the door. Retailers, or our e-mail providers, sell our personal information in the marketplace. The government asserts ever-expanding powers to know the intimate details of our lives, claiming that if we haven’t done anything wrong, we have nothing to fear. In these circumstances, the ability to keep secrets means we still have the sweet, sharp right to say: It’s none of your damned business.”

And that’s all I have to say to the government right now. I’ll keep the rest of my thoughts to myself. Until doing so becomes illegal.

This week in New York

I’m in New York City to attend the Edgar Awards on Thursday evening. The city’s beautiful. I’ve seen no sign of the supposed panic over Scare Force One. The Husband just returned from running in Central Park, and failed to encounter the Cloverfield monster. And despite the seemingly convincing footage from the opening scenes of Armageddon, the Chrysler Building remains standing.

Updates to follow.

Chihuawhoosh

Blown-away Chihuahua reunited with owners.

WATERFORD TOWNSHIP, Mich. – Tinker Bell has been reunited with her owners after a 70-mph gust of wind picked up the six-pound Chihuahua and tossed her out of sight.

Dorothy and Lavern Utley credit a pet psychic for guiding them on Monday to a wooded area nearly a mile from where 8-month-old Tinker Bell had been last seen. The brown long-haired dog was dirty and hungry but otherwise OK.

The story had me at pet psychic.

IN THE COMMENTS: Dana Jean admits a twisted passion for exclamation marks, and Patti and Jeff invent a way to power the Internet by using anxious Chihuahuas.

Romantic Times Booklovers Convention: Wrap up

A few final comments about the convention, and some answers to your questions.

1. My sister-in-law took the photos at the awards ceremony, and asks for forgiveness. She says it’s a miracle the photos don’t show her thumb in the foreground. Her husband is a former combat photographer who can take crisp, in-focus photos while being shot at. She apologizes that he wasn’t at the ceremony.

2. Yes, the people at the convention were overwhelmingly women. The men claimed they didn’t mind being outnumbered. However, here’s a photo from Saturday’s book fair. The two men in the shot are both thriller writers — Barry Eisler, standing with his back to the camera in the blue shirt, and J.A. Konrath, seated near him, with the beard and ponytail. Note that they’re huddling together for solidarity.

3. Here’s another gent who braved Planet RT: Rich Klinzman, a regular contributor to the blog, who drove to Orlando to get some books signed and to pick up his advance copy of The Memory Collector, which he won as a runner-up in my contest last year.

4. In the comments to my post about winning the RT Reviewers Choice Award, Snart says:

A Romance Writing Award. Whodda thought? Cousin Tater would be so proud of you!

No, Snart — Cousin Tater would set up a booth at the convention to sell vampire-themed lingerie. She would then abandon it to accost the Mr. Romance contestants. At which point the convention would be canceled, because none of the contestants would have survived.

5. Also in the comments, Monita writes:

Ferd and Mr. Peebles are sure this is a sign that Romance with Jo must be coming in Memory Collector!

Ferd and Mr. Peebles have all kinds of dreams, Monita. You’ll have to read the new novel to find out how Jo reacts.

6. Sharon K writes:

So pleased for you, Meg (even if I’m not exactly sure what a “Procedural” novel is….?).

In crime writing, “procedural” is short for “police procedural” and traditionally focuses on the official law enforcement investigation of a crime. Procedurals generally feature cops as protagonists, and are often set in a precinct house or, more recently, a forensics lab. Think of the novels of Ed McBain and Jeffery Deaver, and the CSI shows. Jo Beckett isn’t a cop, but she consults for law enforcement, so that’s where Romantic Times found space for her in their awards.

And excellent punctuation, Sharon.

7. Sharon also gets the last word, because her comment on “romantic” fiction is spot on:

But as we all know — romance is really just shorthand for the great, big emotions in life which slam you in the heart, and you’re clearly managing to hit the spot in a crime novel!

Thanks.

My home state gets flaming

Oklahoma governor intervenes in Flaming Lips flap.

OKLAHOMA CITY – Oklahoma lawmakers who voted against making a Flaming Lips tune the official state rock song represent a minority of “small-minded religious wackos,” the band’s lead singer says.

Most state House members voted for a resolution recognizing 2002′s “Do You Realize??,” but conservatives who said they were offended by the band’s clothing and language mustered enough votes to keep it from being adopted.

Opponents would probably object to songs by any rock stars other than Mr. Rogers. And I mean Fred Rogers, not Richard Rodgers.

Gov. Brad Henry resolved the issue by announcing he would sign an executive order proclaiming “Do You Realize??” the official rock song of Oklahoma. The song earned more than half of the 21,000 votes cast in an online contest.

The Grammy-winning group, formed in Norman in 1983, is known for its psychedelic rock and lyrics.

“Despite the criticism, Coyne said he always expected state residents to stand up for their native sons. ‘People would have a reason to really fight for us and say, “No, this isn’t what Oklahoma is all about,”‘ Coyne said. ‘And I think the governor is very cool, how he’s come to our rescue.’”

They ought to write a musical about it.

Road trip: New York

I’m saying goodbye to Orlando and heading for New York City. Talk to you in a while.

It’s a win!

Woo!

The Dirty Secrets Club has won Best Procedural Novel of 2008 in the Romantic Times Reviewers Choice awards.

I’ll load more photos and write more about the award later, but for now: Woo!

RT Booklovers Convention

I’m in Orlando, where the Romantic Times Booklovers Convention is in full swing. And by full swing, I mean the hotel convention center is heaving with authors, booksellers, and wildly enthusiastic readers. And with a cadre of men competing for the title of Mr. Romance 2009. We’re talking male cover models — the guys with bronzed pecs and flowing hair who pose for the drawings on the jackets of books.

This is a new experience for me. Put it this way: at crime writing conferences, when the day’s panels and writing seminars and author interviews are done, people head to the bar, where they spend hours talking politics and one-upping each other with their knowledge of crime-writing trivia. At the RT Booklovers Convention, when the seminars and panels on publishing are done, people put on fabulous costumes and attend late night balls for faeries and vampires. And at crime writing conferences, people definitely don’t play Spartan Musical Chairs… where, when the music stops, contestants grab a spot on the lap of the nearest Mr. Romance contestant.

Or so I am told. I have severe jet lag, and have witnessed no late night literary revelry myself. Honest to God — I had dinner last night with my mother-in-law and fell asleep face down in my own drool around nine p.m.

But now I’m wide awake, and it’s time to get ready for the RT Reviewers’ Choice Awards. I’ll report back with more photos in a while.

Road trip: Orlando

I’m heading to Florida this morning for the Romantic Times Booklovers Convention. Hope to see some of you there.

Back later.

Photo tag: me, right now

Amanda Blog and Kiss tagged me and invited me to play a photo game:

Apparently the rules are that you must take a photo of yourself at that very moment, without checking your hair, putting on makeup, or changing a thing.

Naturally, I agreed to participate. Here’s a photo of me, taken right this minute.

Of course, as an homage both to Amanda and to the scene at Moe’s Tavern that inspired her blog’s name, it’s a Simpsonized photo.

Simpsonize yourself.

The bacon strikes back

Wild sow attacks woman.

ST. PETERSBURG, FL — Cassandra Frank was at St. Petersburg, Florida home Monday morning when her boyfriend told her he thought he saw a pig on the lawn. When Frank went outside she was stunned. An enormous sow was staring her down.

“This one was pretty large,” Frank said. “I guess it wanted to be in charge of somebody.”

“The 200-pound pig charged her. Frank ran across the yard, but the sow caught up with her.” Frank was injured, but not seriously.

Frank said her friends gave her a some grief today for running from the pig and seeing authorities and reporters at her home.

“What was going through my mind was get the hell away from it,” she said. “I’ve never seen a pig that big.”

“She expects to have a phobia of pigs from now on. ‘I don’t want to be anywhere around pork,’ she said.”

“Cops: Exotic dancer blitzed by rival with stiletto”

Stripper rage.

AKRON, Ohio – Ohio police say a 52-year-old woman was attacked on her first day as an exotic dancer by a jealous co-worker wielding a stiletto heel.

Akron police Lt. Rick Edwards says the woman was assailed Friday night by a co-worker who didn’t think the club needed more dancers.

I can think of nothing to add to that.

The Memory Collector at the London Book Fair

Here’s a photo of me, looking slightly crazed with excitement, and my editor Patrick Janson-Smith, looking pleased following the official launch of Blue Door at the London Book Fair yesterday.

And that’s my book up there in lights.