Connie Shelton 1/12/06

Mary Rosenblum

Hello, all!

Welcome to our Professional Connection Life interview.

Tonight my guest is Connie Shelton.

Connie Shelton is the author of the Charlie Parker mystery series and has been a full time writer since 1990. She founded Intrigue Press in 1994 and was senior editor there until the business sold in 1999. She has been a Long Ridge instructor for 4 years.

Connie, welcome!

It's so nice to have you back here!

Connie Shelton

Hi, Mary, and hi everyone else!

ashton

Hello, Connie! Welcome!

Mary Rosenblum

Your new Charlie Parker book is out now, isn't it?

Connie Shelton

Yes, it came out in early November.

Mary Rosenblum

That's exciting! Are you working on a new one?

Connie Shelton

Of course. Aren't we writers always working on something?

Yes, I'm about halfway through the first draft of the new one, which will be #10 in the series.

Mary Rosenblum

Wow, that's cool!

Connie Shelton

It's fun and writing keeps me young J

Mary Rosenblum

So I'm curious .is the series still strong for you? You're not having

a hard time coming up with new plots?

Connie Shelton

So far, so good. This one brings Charlie back to northern New Mexico.

Mary Rosenblum

Have you moved around a lot in that series?

Connie Shelton

Most of the stories take place somewhere in the southwest, NM or Arizona, mainly .

Although I did get to take her to Hawaii for one book and Scotland for another.

Mary Rosenblum

How cool .great excuse to travel …or vice versa! :-)

Connie Shelton

Absolutely … can always use those tax write-offs.

ashton

When did you know you wanted to be a writer and what was your inspiration to keep going no matter what? Did you ever feel like you weren't going to make the cut?

Connie Shelton

I wanted to be a writer for a long time before I actually got started.

The inspiration to stick with it has largely come from my husband. He's very encouraging in all my endeavors.

Mary Rosenblum

How cool. A supportive spouse is worth his or her weight in rubies, in my book.

Connie Shelton

Yes, very true. I think most successful writers have a supportive spouse

if nothing else to carry the household expenses during those early lean years.

Mary Rosenblum

That is certainly a HUGE benefit. :-)

janecj333

Her? Charlie's a her?

Connie Shelton

Yes, Charlie is Charlotte Louise Parker, named for two elderly aunts.

She was a bit of a ruffian as a kid and was tagged Charlie by her two brothers

Mary Rosenblum

So let's talk about publishing, because I think every single person in this audience really really really wants to be published

and the more you know about how it works, the better. How did YOU sell your first book? Let's start there.

Connie Shelton

I guess I should give a little background first 

I'd actually written two manuscripts, made a few attempts in NY and they didn't sell.

I'd begun to hear of the difficulties of being published from other author friends

and decided to start my own press .

That’s how Intrigue Press was born.

I published Deadly Gamble, the first Charlie mystery in 1995

janecj333

Tell us about Intrigue Press.

Mary Rosenblum

Yes, do. :-) Sounds like a good success story.

Connie Shelton

Intrigue is a small press with specialties in the fields of mystery, suspense and adventure fiction. 

.

Although I sold the press in 1999, they've still got a very strong program as one of the best known presses in the mystery field.

Mary Rosenblum

Oh, yes, they're one of the more respected small presses.

Connie Shelton

I'm proud to have been the founder, but must say that successive owners have taken it farther than I could have done alone.

Mary Rosenblum

How many titles did you publish when you were running it? In a year, say?

Connie Shelton

Of course I started very small, one title the first year and two the second.

.

By the time I sold the press after five years of operation we were averaging about 8 titles a year. I think that's still about average for them.

Mary Rosenblum

They've actually been acquired by Big Earth Publishing .so they may be expanding.

Connie Shelton

Yes, they've merged Intrigue Press with the operations of Bleak House Books, another mystery small press

so I think you're right, there will be more offerings in the future .

I'm going to be attending Bouchercon this fall in Madison, Wisconsin which is Bleak House's HQ .

I'm sure I'll find out more about their plans.

Mary Rosenblum

I noticed that they had seven titles for their spring lineup.

writeaway

Do you still publish with them?

Connie Shelton

Yes. They still do my hard covers. My paperbacks are done by Worldwide Mystery, a subsidiary of harlequin.

Mary Rosenblum

Oh, cool that you go picked up by Harlequin. Did you propose it to them, or did they come to you?

Connie Shelton

Actually, my editor at Intrigue made the connection.

And I've since become friends with the people at Worldwide and done a special project or two for them directly.

Mary Rosenblum

Great!

ashton

What are the building blocks, the steps one must take in order to start your own press?

Mary Rosenblum

Good question. :-) What ducks did you need to line up in a row to get started?

Connie Shelton

This gets long and complicated, but the best advice I can give is to study up and read a lot about the process.

Some good titles are the Self Publishing Manual by Dan Poynter and The Complete Guide to Self Publishing by Tom & Marilyn Ross .

Connie Shelton

Of course I can also recommend my own book, Publish Your Own Novel, which deals with publishing fiction, specifically.

Mary Rosenblum

Which can be purchased from your website?

Connie Shelton

Probably the best place to find it is Amazon.com. I don't do a lot of direct sales from my own site.

Mary Rosenblum

Amazon.com

janecj333

What are the advantages in starting a press to publish your own work vs. going with a self- publisher who essentially delivers you a box of books?

Connie Shelton

The main thing I always stress to people wanting to publish their own work

is to appear as professional as possible. Often this means not admitting you are self publishing.

Unfortunately there's still a stigma there and it's difficult to get SP books reviewed 

Reviews and publicity and bookstore buzz are crucial to getting the book noticed and sold on a nationwide basis.

A publisher who essentially delivers you a box of books usually does nothing to publicize the book and often reviewers shun titles from those places.

Mary Rosenblum

And I have to say, that in the world of professional publishing .writers/editors/agents/publishers

the editor/publisher of a well received small press has a lot more respect than one person who has self published.

But it has to be a LOT of work!

Connie Shelton

Yes, that's true. (both of your statements) .

In order to get reviews, you must appear to be a legitimate press, not just an author hawking his/her own books.

And it is a lot of work. It took me about eight months to get the press up and running,

publicity campaigns in place, before we published the first title .

The good side of it was that we were ready, and we got reviewed in some prestigious places like

Library Journal and Booklist. Those are crucial to snagging library sales, which are crucial to the new author with a hardcover title no one's ever heard of.

Mary Rosenblum

Absolutely! And these are reviews you cannot buy, folks. Reviewers for these top journals decide whom to review and whom not to review.

trainer

How did you go about getting them to do your first review?

Connie Shelton

I studied from people who'd done it before (the abovementioned books) 

You have to get review copies out 2-4 months before your official pub date.

Contact them with a professional sounding letter and a review copy of the book .

This is something else the print-on-demand folks don't tell you. The day your book shows up in boxes at your door

is not the time to go looking for reviews. You're already a few months too late at that point.

writeaway

With being SP, you had to do all your publicity and sales. How hard was that?

Mary Rosenblum

Well, you weren't really self published

but it would be similar even if you weren't starting a publishing house.

Connie Shelton

Well, I really believed in my products (myself and my book)

and so it wasn't difficult to be enthusiastic.  

And once I began publishing other authors as well (I had a total of 8 authors), it became easier

not to look like such a tiny operation.

Much of our publicity materials, catalogs , etc. did multiple duty publicizing the whole line of titles.

Mary Rosenblum

Connie, lots of small presses start up and vanish in a year or so. Yours succeeded and became a very respected

small press publisher. To what do you attribute your success?

Connie Shelton

Having a business plan, running it as a business. I knew from the beginning that I wasn't just one person

out to publish one book. I also strove to make our books look like anything out of Random House or any other big NY house.

I cringe when I see people use homemade cover art and publish a cheap looking book. You really only hurt yourself by trying to save a little money.

writeaway

What kind of equipment is needed to set up a small press with a pro appearance?

Connie Shelton

Not much. A computer, good laser printer, and decent page layout software. 

We used Ventura Publisher for our software, but Pagemaker has kind of emerged as the standard.

The actual printing, binding and all that is done by a book manufacturer.

I actually published 34 titles in my 12 x 14 office at home, warehousing the books in my garage and a rented self-storage unit.

Mary Rosenblum

So essentially, you set up the pages with the software and the book manufacturer printed the pages, bound them, trimmed them, and boxed them for you?

Connie Shelton

Exactly.

Mary Rosenblum

What about your covers? How did you handle those?

Connie Shelton

I initially didn't know where to start on that, but my book manufacturer recommended a couple of artists.

I asked to see samples of their work and chose one. She and I worked together on many books thereafter

and had a great working relationship. 

There are a couple of small press organizations you should join if you plan to go this route.

Publishers Marketing Association (PMA) and Small Publishers Assn. of North America (SPAN).

Both put out terrific newsletters and you'll find ads and contacts for both manufacturers and artists 

Both also sponsor annual conferences, which I'd highly recommend as the way to get your feet wet in this business.

You'll meet lots of people with the experience to help you get going and to do it right.

iron_will

Is Outskirts Press, Inc. good to deal with

Mary Rosenblum

Have you ever heard of them, Connie?

Connie Shelton

I'm not familiar with them. Sorry.

Mary Rosenblum

I sneaked off to Predators and Editors and checked them out there .they are not listed, which is good. :-)

Connie Shelton

Yes, that alone probably says something.

Mary Rosenblum

Predators and Editors is a list of 'problem publishers, agents, etc'.

Always check them out.

predators and editors

janecj333

Well, I guess the big question is, have you recouped much of your original investment? Was it worth it, financially?

Mary Rosenblum

And this is something I'd like you to go into a bit if you will, Connie

because this sounds like every writers' dream start your own publishing house

but it does not come cheap, I'm sure.

Connie Shelton

We at least broke even on every title, but I will caution you that you'll need reserve cash to keep going 

You mentioned presses that come and go quickly

and this may be a reason why. They publish one title and put the profits into publicity, then have no reserves to publish that second book.

It's an ongoing cash flow management thing. Overall, when it was said and done, and I sold the company, I had no regrets 

But I didn't get exactly rich at it either   Now, if one of my authors had been Dan Brown J

Mary Rosenblum

Actually, in the world of publishing, breaking even or better on every title is a VERY good track record. You get applause from me.

Connie Shelton

One of the reasons for that .

I think, was because I chose authors with excellent material, and/or authors who already had a track record.

We were lucky enough to pick up several authors with large fan bases and great reviews, who for some dumb reason had not been renewed by  

the big NY houses. just because NY can't make a profit selling 3,000 to 5,000 copies of a book, doesn't mean the average small press

can't do very well with those numbers. We're not paying Manhattan rent, after all.

jyinxy

As a publlisher, what was it about a writer' s piece that made you decide "Yes, I want that one!"?

Connie Shelton

Can I give you some scary numbers?

Mary Rosenblum

Please do!

Connie Shelton

We used to receive about 20-30 submission a week.

Out of that, about 10% were publishable as is, about 70% were publishable with editing, and the other 20% were "no way."

This is just something you get a feel for as you read a lot of submissions. You begin to compare them with the published books you read

especially those on the best seller lists, and you know what will make it and what won't. 

Well, you can figure out that out of the 1,000 or so submissions we received every year, we were going to publish maybe 10 titles.

And you can guess which group those 10 came from.

The big NY houses see it the same way. Of course the numbers are bigger, but the percentages are probably about the same.

It's the one thing I nag, nag, nag at writers about. Be sure your book is the very BEST it can be before submitting it to a publisher

or before considering investing your own money to publish it yourself. 

You can get an opinion on that by having a published author, an agent, or some other writing professional, i.e. a teacher, tell you

whether it's really ready.

Mary Rosenblum

Thank you Connie, she says in heartfelt tones! :-) I get a lot of novice writers who think that

if the idea is cool, the editor will fix everything else.

Connie Shelton

So we get into the question of how much editing to editors really do.

And unfortunately, these days, the answer is "very little."

Editors in the larger houses really don't edit so much as they acquire.

You may be lucky enough to get some feedback on whether a certain plot idea works  

and a copy editor will run it through the spell checker to catch the most egregious errors

but for the most part, what you send them is going to be accepted or rejected exactly as you've written it .

If it does get accepted, you can be pretty sure that it will end up in print largely as it was written, glaring goofs and all.

By glaring goofs, I don't mean spelling and punctuation so much

as I mean getting the facts right. I use a lot of helicopter action in my stories because Charlie and her husband are both pilots 

If I describe an aircraft wrong or make it do some impossible thing, some reader out there is going to catch it 

And I have no assurance that my editor will have even noticed. Chances are, she wouldn't.

Mary Rosenblum

I have to give editors a BIT of credit, Connie.

While this is generally true, you do have really good editors out there, but they tend

to be the senior editors and not the ones who mostly work with new writers, alas.

Out of five book editors, I've had two who REALLY edited, didn't just copy edit.

They DO exist.

Connie Shelton

Yes, alas. I do know of writers who love their editors and thank them profusely in the front of the book .

As you say, mostly senior editors who work with established writers. The new writer often has to make it without lots of help.

trainer

With that said would you recommend having a professional critique service (as Harlequin offers) look over your MS before submitting it?

Connie Shelton

I think when you're starting out this can be helpful. It depends on the cost and reputation of the critiquer.

Before simply choosing a company from a classified ad in WD or somewhere

I'd ask for recommendations. If you know a published author, they may be able to recommend someone they know, or they may offer to  

help out of the goodness of their hearts. Several friends of mine have done this.

Mary Rosenblum

What about readers, Connie? What do you think of writers groups

say with other aspiring writers. Can that help someone polish that novel?

Connie Shelton

I think you can get valuable feedback and moral support from a writers group 

I belong to a very supportive one myself. The main thing is to consider the source.  

It's best if there are published writers in the group, so it's not just the blind leading the blind.

If there are members who've already had the publishing experience, worked with a great editor, agent, or teacher

they can probably offer valid feedback, constructive things to do rather than just one person's opinion.

janecj333

Because it's in the best interest of the publisher to sell mass numbers of your book, eliminating glaring technical faults (helicopters flying upside-down and the like) would seem a good investment, and a reason for big publishers to have fact-checking experts on hand to say yeah or nay.

Connie Shelton

You would think so

but I've spotted errors in books from even the best known., like Dean Koontz (whose writing I love BTW) .

I think it's just too overwhelming for a publishing house to try to fact-check every book from every author.

Their legal department will review stuff that's likely to get them sued, but it's really up to the author to check facts.

jyinxy

What about copyright? Is that something a writer should do (if so how do you do it) or is that something a publisher takes care of?

Connie Shelton

The publisher takes care of that. You don't want to copyright a manuscript because the odds are strong that some changes, even minor ones,

will be made before the book goes to press. They'll file the copyright for you once the book is in print.

Mary Rosenblum

There is an excellent internet page on copyright .more than you want to know, probably.

copyright page

janp

But don't they have to fact check in works of non-fiction?

Connie Shelton

I'm not sure how that works, but my guess is that the author is still ultimately liable. Usually your contract has a clause to that effect,

that the publisher is not held liable for the content of the book.

geezer

If you shouldn't get a manuscript copyrighted, how do you protect your work when you are sending it to critiquers and publishers?

Mary Rosenblum

You want to explain copyright, Connie? :-)

Connie Shelton

Legally, your copyright exists the moment the idea comes out of your head and is put down in any tangible form

on paper, recorded, whatever . The filing simply records the copyright with the US Copyright office. 

If your work were to appear, verbatim, under someone else's name, you would need to establish the date you created the work

and go after them for infringement. This is very, very rare  but simply keeping a copy of your manuscript on disk 

the dated file would provide proof 

In my experience, I've found that you could give 10 people the exact same plot idea and you'd end up with 10 difference books.

It would be very rare for someone to actually take your work and use it. Publishers have their hands full legitimately publishing  

what they receive. They're not going to risk being sued by trying to take an author's work.

Mary Rosenblum

No kidding!

geezer

But, how about protecting the idea?

Connie Shelton

You can't copyright an idea. Sorry, it's only the actual words of the story that can be protected.

Mary Rosenblum

And, as Connie said,

if you give the same idea to ten writers, you'll get ten different books.

Connie Shelton

Little disclaimer here--I'm not an attorney and this is not to be taken as legal counsel.

Visit the website Mary gave and you'll get the full scoop.

Mary Rosenblum

It's very complete, covers internet material, fonts, all kinds of things. :-)

janecj333

What’s the difference between Dan Brown's work and the work of one of your writers with excellent material? is it all hype?

Connie Shelton

Wow--great question, and not easily answered .

Yes, there's a lot that be accomplished with a huge publicity budget. Brown's last book had something like (I heard)

25,000 review copies sent out. Most of us cannot afford to do that 

so, yes, advance publicity and hype can do a lot. However, hype alone can't make a bestseller. Each year

Publisher's Weekly runs a review of hits and misses. Some of the misses are books that got huge press, but just weren't all that great.

Celebrity bios fall into that category a lot :-)  .And there are always some surprise hits.

Word of mouth among readers seems to play a big part, and that's something you can begin to generate

by having a huge mailing list and contacting them frequently.

cherley

What is a review copy and what does it cost?

Connie Shelton

If you're with a traditional publisher, they'll have these printed in advance of the pub date and they'll get them out to reviewers.

If you go the self-pub or small press route, you may find yourself paying for your own review copies.  .

The best way to learn more about the whole process is by reading those self-publishing books I recommended early in the chat.

Mary Rosenblum

How did you handle review copies at Intrigue? Did you do a small separate print run?

Connie Shelton

Yes, we usually printed 8-10 copies for the big reviewers.

Publisher's Weekly, Booklist, Library Journal, Kirkus, etc.

Often these were essentially photocopies of the typeset pages, bound, with the cover art in color. 

The fact that they weren't standard book trim size didn't seem to make that much difference.

It was more important that the review copies be there early (I mentioned having them there 2-4 months ahead of pub date.) .

Then we would get the finished books in about 1 month before the official pub date

and send them out to the mystery genre magazines like Mystery Scene, Mystery Review, etc. 

These small magazines don't need as much lead time and they'll review a book even after its pub date.

I have a review of my November book coming out in the next issue of Mystery Scene, some 3-4 months after the pub date.

Mary Rosenblum

And those review copies, by the way, become BIG collector items.

Connie Shelton

Yes, they can!

Mary Rosenblum

I got a great comment on that 'how do I protect my idea' conversation:

writeaway

12 of us were given the task of writing a story about the same picture, not 1 came up with a similar idea.

Connie Shelton

Creative minds work in mysterious ways, don’t they?

lapart

What's the biggest challenge to overcome when publishing your book?

Mary Rosenblum

What do you think, Connie?

Connie Shelton

Publishing your own? as opposed to submitting to a publisher?

Mary Rosenblum

I think he means getting his book published by someone else.

Yell, if I’m wrong, Lapart.

lapart

Submitting to a publisher.

Connie Shelton

First, be sure the book is as good as it can be. As we've mentioned, running it past some other published writers for feedback .

The biggest challenge is hooking the editor .

It can either be with a great idea, great writing (hopefully, both!)

Editors constantly have to be on the lookout for good books. They don't have a job otherwise.

The challenge for them is to find good writing. And the challenge for the writer is to meet that need 

Having contacts in the business doesn't hurt a bit. Want me to go a bit more into that?

Mary Rosenblum

Yes, please!

Connie Shelton

I always advise new writers to first get to know the business. Writing is an art, yes, but from the editor's viewpoint it's a business.

Toward that end, try to attend at least one big writers conference before you ever submit your first manuscript.

Look online--Shaw Guides is a great site--and search for conferences near you or in a place you'd like to visit.

You want a conference that features editors and agents as speakers.

Often you'll find the opportunity for a private meeting with the editor/agent of your choice.

Do this. Attend the sessions and listen to what they say. Collect business cards. 

If you have a book manuscript finished or nearly finished, don't try to take it with you in hopes that someone will read it then.

But do have a short pitch ready. One or two sentences. Keep it to under a minute, fifteen seconds is better.  .

You want something like, "my book is a mystery featuring a female protagonist named Charlie Parker who lives in Albuquerque .

She's different than other female sleuths because she's also a helicopter pilot." That's it, the whole pitch.

Gather business cards from the important folks at the conference and keep them in a safe place at home.

I still have cards I picked up at Southwest Writers Conference in 1990. And some of those people are the big names

in the business today. When your book is REALLY ready to submit, write to that editor or agent with the intro.

"I met you at such and such conference. I know you were busy and won't remember me specifically, but I've finished the

book we discussed. May I send it for your consideration?"

I've gotten many positive responses from just such letters, just because I met the agent or editor once.

Mary Rosenblum

That's excellent advice!

And a way around the 'agent only' barrier, too.

Connie Shelton

Yes, because the editor then considers it "requested material."

Mary Rosenblum

Yep.

janecj333

Ok, you have pre-press copies out for big reviewers, you have magazines getting hold of the first copies to review, you've run a few ads and sent promos to a thousand mailing list names .but what about the bookstores? When do they place orders to stock your book?

Mary Rosenblum

And this is a good question .how did you handle bookstore distribution?

Connie Shelton

Usually booksellers will have heard about the book through industry channels.

Your distributor (you, if you are self pubbed, your publisher if you go traditional) .

In the beginning, when you're totally unknown, it's tough.

You have to do something to make them recognize your name. I've done postcard mailings (you can often get your publisher

to have postcards printed of your book cover with some informational blurbs on back) .

I've done personal mailings. If you don't have one already, start a mailing list on your computer with names and addresses of  

bookstores, libraries, reviewers . Essentially everyone you can find in the book business.

Bookstores place their orders, usually when they hear of a new title and they'd like to have it on the shelves by its publication date.

This is the reason for all the advance publicity before pub date 

there are several good books out on how to publicize your own book

Connie Shelton

1001 Ways to market your Books by John Kremer; Jump Start Your Book Sales by Marilyn Ross; and Self Promotion for  The Creative Person by Lee Silber.

ashton

Would it be dubbed "rude" to ask the local bookstores if they'll permit a book signing?

Connie Shelton

Not at all. It's the best way to make contact 

If it's a big store, a chain like Barnes & Noble, they'll probably have a community service person. Ask for him/her. 

If it's an independent store (we love to support those!), talk to the owner or other author liaison. 

We've had this thread going on the Mystery Writers of America chat site recently --

authors asking about book signing experiences. Consensus is that if you're polite and show up when you say you will

the store will be happy to have you. Apparently they get the occasional rude author, and the polite ones are much appreciated.

Mary Rosenblum

I’ve also found that the small independents often do a MUCH better job of  

publicizing your signing than do the chains.

One local store here does wine and cheese parties!

Connie Shelton

Absolutely! My worst signings have usually happened at chains. 

The independents in our area do a great job--wine and cheese, chocolate and champagne.

Multiple author events are a great way for a new writer to get some attention. If you can suggest such an event ..

at your local store, all authors involved will usually draw better crowds.

Far better than being parked in a remote corner at a table where people can't see you much less find your books!

Mary Rosenblum

Absolutely!

janecj333

What is a bad signing like? No one shows up?

Connie Shelton

It can happen. L But there are ways to make lemonade out of that situation, too.

If you're stuck in a store for two hours and no one comes, use the time to make friends with the store's staff.

Often times, more books are sold in the days following the actual signing. I've had events where the weather was horrible

(no one wants to get out) or the weather was wonderful (everyone goes to do outdoor things

or whatever. If you've taken the time to sign some books for stock and have been charming and nice to the bookseller,

you'll still sell some books.

forest elf

Don't independent stores like to support "local" writers?

Connie Shelton

Yes, they're wonderful at that. But they support many out of towners too. There are many indy mystery bookstores and I've  

signed in them all over the country. With few exceptions, those events are always memorable and fun.

info

If you do a book signing, is all the hotel expenses your own or do these bookstores kick in some kind of monetary thing for your time?

Connie Shelton

Usually, you bear the expenses, sad to say. If you're with a big publisher, they often pay for a tour and cover everything .

But that's often after you've become established.  

For a new writer, it's easiest and most cost effective to schedule your own signings and choose places near home

or where you might be traveling anyway. If you're going back home for the holidays, allow some time for the local store there.

Mary Rosenblum

We’re really out of time, but I

Mar

have one more question for you to wrap up with. :-) Want to try the 25 word version here?

lapart

What does it take to starting your own publishing company?

Mary Rosenblum

{Insanity? Obsession???}

Connie Shelton

Time, dedication, some money  yes, obsession and insanity are good qualities too!!!

Mary Rosenblum

Connie, thank you!

Connie Shelton

Thanks so much--the time just flew!!

Mary Rosenblum

You were great, and the realities of the publishing world are SO worth learning .

before you publish!

ashton

Wonderful advice tonight. Thank you for enlightening us, Connie!

trainer

Thank you both

Mary Rosenblum

I really appreciate it, and you are SUCH a great guest.

Connie Shelton

Well, it's an education we all get, one way or the other. It was my pleasure to me here.

Mary Rosenblum

We'll let you escape, but I hope you come back again.

Connie Shelton

I'd love it!

Mary Rosenblum

Remind our latecomers one more time of your new Charlie Parker novel?

Mary Rosenblum

You all can find it on Amazon.com

lapart

thank you for very good advice

Connie Shelton

Balloons Can Be Murder, the ninth in the series

writeaway

Connie, you are a most fascinating and informative guest,. Thank you for coming. And as always Mary, thank you!

Connie Shelton

Good night all

Mary Rosenblum

And thank you all for coming!