Reader Events Rock!
May 6, 2011 by Linda O. Johnston in category Events, Pets, Romance & Lots of Suspense by Linda O. Johnston, Reading tagged as Linda O. Johnston, Malice Domestic, Pet Rescue Mystery
by Linda O Johnston
I just returned home from a trip east to attend three wonderful events for readers and writers.
The first was Malice Domestic, for fans and writers of traditional, cozy mysteries. I did my first Malice Go Round, which is speed-dating for fans. Lots of authors in groups of two visit about 20 tables packed with fans and told them all about their respective series in two minutes or less each. Exhausting! But definitely fun.
I attended panels and meetings and dinners at Malice, and was also on a panel called Tales with Tails with other authors whose stories involve animals. It was all delightful!
Then it was time to head for Oakmont, Pennsylvania, outside Pittsburgh, for the Festival of Mystery presented annually by the Mystery Lovers Bookshop.
Before the actual Festival was the librarians’ tea. It was really enjoyable meeting librarians and book club members there–with lots of goodies to eat, too. My mouth was usually too busy chatting to eat much, though.
And the Festival? What an amazing event! About 50 authors were delightfully swarmed by lots of fans in book-buying mode. We got to introduce ourselves and chat with readers and sign a bunch of books, and all this in a town that’s out of the mainstream–which means that many people had to come a distance to attend.
Didn’t hurt that I still have family in Pittsburgh. I got to see my father and aunt while I was there.
So now I’m looking forward even more to RWA National. How about you?
Have you read the new Lauren Vancouver, Pet Rescuer series? The first book BEAGLEMANIA was released in March 2011. It’s a spin-off from the Kendra series, and Lauren was introduced in HOWL DEADLY.
Linda O. Johnston
http://www.lindaojohnston.com/
http://www.killerhobbies.blogspot.com/
The Writing Life…
April 6, 2011 by Linda O. Johnston in category Pets, Romance & Lots of Suspense by Linda O. Johnston tagged as Berkley Prime Crime, Linda O. Johnston, Pet Rescue Mystery… is busy!
And it’s not just book deadlines that are driving me nuts these days. I’ve taken on blog guest appearances in addition to my weekly post on Killer Hobbies and my monthly post here at A Slice of Orange.
Plus, I’ve thrown myself into pet rescue after all the research I’ve done and continue to do for my new Pet Rescue Mystery series, which started in March with BEAGLEMANIA. I volunteer weekly as a dog adoption counselor at a local private shelter, plus I’ve become the L.A. Pet Rescue Examiner. I have to admit that I haven’t been posting articles for the Examiner as often as I’d like, but I hope to remedy that–and in the meantime I’m collecting some good stuff to talk about there.

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| BEAGLEMANIA, March 2011 Berkley Prime Crime |

Linda O! Johnston
Visit Linda at LindaOJohnston.com
or http://killerhobbies.blogspot.com/
Missing OCC
March 6, 2011 by Linda O. Johnston in category Pets, Romance & Lots of Suspense by Linda O. Johnston tagged as Berkley Prime Crime, Linda O. Johnston, Pet Rescuer Mysteriesby Linda O Johnston
I miss OCC.
I haven’t been able to attend a meeting for a while, and still won’t get there till May at the earliest. Sigh.
Why?
Well, in January I had another commitment, and in February I couldn’t get there because I was in the middle of frantically trying to meet a deadline. Plus, I was–and am still–dealing with a lot of time-consuming promotion for my new Pet Rescue Mystery series that debuted on March 1 with BEAGLEMANIA.
I won’t be there this month, either, because of a signing I’ve got lined up. In fact, I have a lot of signings scheduled. I had two last week, one at the grand reopening of the Flintridge Bookstore, and a launch party for BEAGLEMANIA at Mystery Ink in Huntington Beach. My signing on March 12, the date of the next OCC meeting, is at Mysteries to Die For in Thousand Oaks. Coming up are signings on March 19 at Vroman’s in Pasadena, and at Bookstar in Studio City on March 26. (My name is already in lights there! Bookstar is a former theater and keeps its marquee going to publicize events.)

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| BEAGLEMANIA, March 2011 Berkley Prime Crime |


Visit Linda at LindaOJohnston.com or http://killerhobbies.blogspot.com/
1 0 Read moreWaiting, Planning, and Obsessing
February 6, 2011 by Linda O. Johnston in category Pets, Romance & Lots of Suspense by Linda O. Johnston tagged as Berkley Prime Crime, Harlequin Nocturne, Linda O. Johnston, Pet Rescue Mystery, Pet-Sitter Mysteries
by Linda O. Johnston
It’s February. I’m obsessed.
With what? Planning for the March release of BEAGLEMANIA, the first in my new Pet Rescue Mystery series, a spinoff from my Kendra Ballantyne, Pet-Sitter Mysteries. It’s all about Lauren Vancouver, who was introduced in HOWL DEADLY and also appeared in FELINE FATALE, both Kendra mysteries. She runs a no-kill animal shelter in the San Fernando Valley. Saving animals is her obsession. Poor thing will soon start tripping over dead bodies, too.
I believe that all of us write, in some ways, about our obsessions. Romance is certainly something we all obsess over at times. Mysteries and suspense? Less so, maybe, but those of us who write cozy mysteries often feature protagonists who engage in hobbies or other ventures that we love–while they’re solving murders, too.
I love it each time one of my books is released. This one, though, is in some ways more exciting. Why? Maybe it’s because, like Lauren, I’ve become a bit obsessed with pet rescue issues. I volunteer as a dog adoption counselor at Pet Orphans of Southern California. And I just became the LA Pet Rescue Examiner. Be sure to come and check out my Examiner.com articles!
Some of my excitement is because this will be the launch of a brand new series that addresses difficult issues in a way that, I hope, is both amusing and educational. For example, BEAGLEMANIA starts at a puppy mill rescue. The stories are cozy mysteries, so of course there are murders that get wrapped up at the end. In the Pet Rescue Mysteries, “no-kill†refers to pets, not people!
So far, no shapeshifters have appeared in my Pet Rescue Mystery manuscripts. I’m saving them for my upcoming Harlequin Nocturnes, which I’m also looking forward to. But you can see that all my obsessions seem to involve animals.
What are your obsessions, and do you write about them?
Be sure to watch for the new Lauren Vancouver, Pet Rescuer series! The first book BEAGLE MANIA will be out in March 2011. It’s a spin-off from the Kendra series, and Lauren was introduced in HOWL DEADLY.
Linda O. Johnston
http://www.lindaojohnston.com/
http://www.killerhobbies.blogspot.com/
