My Kind of Town!

Looking for something to do this weekend? Something educational? Interesting? A little off the wall?

If you’re in northeast Ohio, I’ve got the perfect solution! It’s the Killer Cleveland tour at Cleveland’s historic Woodland Cemetery, this Sunday, October 2.

Join us for a look at the lives and tragic deaths of nine murder victims. We’ll visit their graves, talk about the who-dun-it of each case, and even tell a few ghost stories.

There are two tours scheduled, one at 1 pm and the second at 3, and I’ll be hosting and taking groups of visitors around from gravesite to gravesite. At some of them, I’ll be telling the sad stories. At others, costumed re-enactors will help visitors learn about the victims and the perpetrators.

The tour is sponsored by the Woodland Cemetery Foundation and they’ll have raffle prizes (including a basket of all the Pepper Martin mysteries), refreshments and some surprises along the way.

For more information, check out:

http://wcfcle.org/


On a side note, I’m celebrating week three of "Button Holed" being #5 on the Barnes & Noble mystery bestseller list. Thank you, readers, for making the numbers so good!

Another One Bites the Dust

It seems these days, Wednesdays are sneaking up on me.

That might be because life is so busy. Just this week, I participated in a cemetery re-enacting event, had coffee with a dear writing friend and helped her brainstorm a new project, had two visits from Sears (a fridge, and we’re on #3, don’t even get me started with that!), had lunch with a former editor, attended a friend’s neighborhood association spaghetti dinner fundraiser.

In between all that, of course, I’ve been writing. Or at least trying. I also read over the galleys for "Wild, Wild Death," Pepper Martin mystery #8 which will be released on January 3.

The galley stage is a funny thing. By this time, an author’s already sent in a manuscript, an editor’s read it and offered comments/criticisms/revision ideas. A copy editor has seen it, too. The CE is the person who is charged with looking for inconsistencies (like does the hero have the same color eyes on page 276 as he does on page 3–yeah, yeah, laugh, but it happens. It’s hard to keep this stuff straight!). Once the copy editor has seen the manuscript, the author gets it back one more time.

This is the moment to make any substantial changes and to look over the things the CE has suggested. I’ve been lucky lately, I’ve had a terrific copy editor whose caught some small but important details that needed tweaking.

Then an author sends the manuscript back.

And all gets quiet.

At least until about four months before the book is set to publish.

That’s when the galleys arrive. At this stage, the book has been typeset and the author is seeing what essentially looks like a book that’s been flattened and copied. This is the time for looking for typos, and for only those changes that are absolutely, positively so important, they must be handled. Why? Because every publishing contract I’ve ever signed specifies that at this stage, if an author changes more than 10% of the total words, the author pays to have the book re-typeset. This makes sense, of course, since given the chance, most authors I know would tinker forever.

For me, the galley stage is also the last time I’ll read my book. I have never, ever read one of my books after it’s published. I’m too afraid I won’t like it. Or I’ll find typos. Or I’ll decide the whole thing is just incredibly silly and I never should have bothered.

Clever person that I am, I do all that in the galley stage. The good news is that I enjoyed "Wild, Wild Death." I haven’t seen it in quite a few months, and I’d forgotten most of what happens. A lot of it surprised me. A lot of it had me wondering how poor Pepper would ever get out of whatever trouble she was in. But she did. I did.

The book is done, and I won’t read it again. But I know it’s ready for the world to see!

Mark Your Calendars!

I’ve got a couple things for northeast Ohioans (or anyone who would like to visit the beautiful North Coast) to keep in mind:

This Sunday, September 18, is the Meet the Neighbors event at Cleveland’s historic Monroe Street Cemetery. This year’s neighbors are all people who were somehow involved in the Civil War. Walk the grounds of this beautiful cemetery and meet a neighborhood boy who joined the Confederate army, a local abolitionist, two cousins who were killed in battle, an army surgeon, and more. The neighbors will be portrayed by re-enactors who will tell their stories and help us learn some history along the way.

It’s always a great event, and this year’s is extra-special. My writing students at the Brecksville Center for the Arts wrote four of the scripts! I wrote the fifth script and along with them, I’ll be a special guest.

Tour start at 2 and the weatherman says Mother Nature is going to cooperate. For more information:

http://www.mscf1841.org/events.html


Mark your calendar, too, for the launch party for my newest mystery, "Button Holed." It will be on Thursday, October 6, from 5-8 at:

Something Different Gallery
1899 West 25th St.
Cleveland

If you can’t be there and would like a signed copy of "Button Holed" or any of the Pepper Martin books, give them a call: 216-696-5226

On Sale Today!

It's Tuesday, September 6, and "Button Holed" is officially on sale.

Here's what one reviewer has to say:

Button Holed is absorbing, clever, crisp and finally not another contrived mystery with crafts tossed in as a diversion.

Brava Logan for creating a protagonist who is authentic, bright, enthralling, fun, innovative, and strong – it has been a long time coming for an amateur sleuth to pull off so many empowering attributes and you did it in style! Stand back and watch the copycats swoop down on Logan’s imaginative series, but always remember she is the groundbreaking pioneer in this genre.