Easter Eggs from HIGH & DRY by Sarah Skilton

My second YA book, a desert-set mystery called HIGH & DRY, comes out today, woo-hoo!

What's it about? Framed for a stranger's near-fatal overdose at a party, blackmailed into finding a mysterious flashdrive everyone in school seems anxious to suppress, and pressured by his shady best friend to throw an upcoming game, high school soccer player Charlie Dixon spends a frantic week trying to clear his name, win back the girl of his dreams, and escape a past that may be responsible for all his current problems.

"A dark, well-constructed mystery with a strong voice." - Kirkus Reviews 

To celebrate the book's release, I thought I'd share some behind-the-scenes Easter eggs with my fellow sleuths.

1) Lead character Charlie Dixon is named after Dixon Steele, Humphrey Bogart's character in the film In a Lonely Place.

2) Charlie's scheming ex-girlfriend, Bridget Flannery, is named after Brigid O'Shaughnessy in THE MALTESE FALCON by Dashiell Hammett.

3) Mr. Donovan is the name of a teacher at both Charlie's school in Palm Valley, California, and at Imogen's school in Glenview, Illinois (the setting of my first book, BRUISED). One of the Donovans teaches history, the other, statistics. This was simple human error on my part. OR WAS IT? Perhaps one of the Mr. Donovans is an imposter! Perhaps there are clues placed carefully throughout one or both books... You decide.

4) There are three possible references to Breaking Bad in the book. This is fairly bizarre considering I hadn't seen a single episode of the show when I wrote HIGH & DRY. Since then, I've become a big fan, which is why I noticed that...

 a) In Breaking Bad, Skyler White's maiden name (and Walter White's alias) is Lambert. In HIGH & DRY, Charlie's father teaches new media journalism at a local liberal arts college called Lambert College.

 b) In Breaking Bad, Flynn is the name that Walter, Junior occasionally demands to be called. In HIGH & DRY, a Flynn Scientific baseball cap is evidence in a crime.

 c) Breaking Bad was originally set in Riverside, CA. Palm Valley is based on locations near the same Inland Empire locale.

You can pick up HIGH & DRY at any of these fine retailers:

Barnes & Noble

Indiebound

Powell's

Amazon

Sarah Skilton is the author of BRUISED, which received a starred review from Publishers Weekly, and which the Horn Book called, "nuanced and honest." She lives in southern California with her magician husband and their young son.

Interrogation Room #39: Elisa Ludwig, author of PRETTY SLY

Today marks the release of our very own Elisa Ludwig's PRETTY SLY, the sequel to her heart-pounding debut, PRETTY CROOKED, about teenage thief Willa Fox.

PRETTY SLY, called a "crackling-good adventure" by Kirkus, asks the question, "What would you do if your mom disappeared and forbade you to come after her?"

In between celebrations for her launch, Elisa bravely agreed to an interrogation about her writing process.

1) Something I'm dying to know: How did you research the terrific scene where Tre teaches Willa how to pick-pocket in PRETTY CROOKED?

Heh heh. I used a combination of my own real life experience as a pickpocket victim, some shady websites and some very cool YouTube videos—there's a great BBC series called The Real Hustle, which gave me some interesting ideas for mixing up the thieving scenes. The reality is there's a lot of criminal how-to out there for the reading, but that could be a good thing, if people use it to avoid being victimized.

2) Can readers expect to see some familiar faces in PRETTY SLY (besides Willa and Aidan)? Did you pluck any smaller roles from the first book and give them a larger presence in the second book?

Yes, the principle characters are all there, though the Glitterati only have a bit part, which turns the catty quotient in this sequel way down from the first book! I don't know that anyone has a larger presence but even the main characters in the first book are pretty mysterious and secretive, so the second book deepens our understanding of them—but also raises many new questions ...

3) How much downtime did you have between books? Was it easy or difficult to return to characters from the first book? 

I think I finished PRETTY CROOKED in February and started PRETTY SLY in May or June. Not too much time had elapsed, and I was working on copyedits and things while drafting the sequel so that helped keep everything fresh. I loved coming back to the same characters. It was so much easier to start a book in a place where I already understood my characters and their motivations. Sometimes that process alone will take a few drafts. It allowed me to focus on the increasingly more complicated plot!

4) Was your high school experience anything like the experiences of your characters? Was there a clear-cut line between the haves and have-nots?

My high school experience was only similar in that I went to a private school and, as a middle class student, was very aware of class distinctions and how students communicated their status through clothing, cars, etc. While the mean girl behavior in my high school was much more subtle, there was certainly a sense that some (but not all) of the most privileged kids "ruled the school" socially. But I was definitely more of a fringe-y character than Willa. Like the Say Anything dudes say, "by choice, man." Or so I told myself!

5) What challenges did you face in writing SLY that were different from writing CROOKED? Was anything easier the second time around?

I think the challenge with SLY was to make Willa's experience more difficult and keep turning those screws. This book has much higher stakes: she's in greater danger and she's also facing some really difficult emotional truths. The tone here shifts as a result, and keeping that in balance with Willa's bubbly personality and the lighter feel of the first book was at times tricky. On the other hand, I felt really lucky that SLY sends things in such a different direction that it truly felt like a whole new adventure to write. As I said, the characters were much easier the second time around, and I think I had a much better handle on the structure of the story from the very beginning. Also, it certainly didn't hurt that I was working with the same brilliant editors, so I always had their voice in my head when I was drafting, keeping me on course.

6) When you wrote PRETTY CROOKED, did you always know it would have a sequel, or did you envision it as a stand-alone? If you did map out the sequel early on, how much did the finished product of PRETTY SLY compare to your original plan?

I always knew it would be a trilogy. Parts of PRETTY SLY were imagined originally as part of PRETTY CROOKED (through the first leg of their road trip, basically), but as time went on it became clear that Willa's time at Valley Prep really deserved its own book. That being said, all of the key clues except maybe a couple we added in copy edits were already in the first book when it came time to write the second. The third book was much more vaguely conceived going into it, and it probably changed the most dramatically in revisions—down to the actual answer to the mystery!

7) Besides Willa's vicariously satisfying Robin Hood-esque scheme of "spreading the wealth around" at her school, there is a second, overarching mystery about Willa's mother. When you have two (or three!) separate mysteries going on, how do you keep track of each person's head space at different points of their respective time lines? 

Oh, man. That's only the tip of the iceberg with this series! It can be tough, that's for sure. I wish I was one of those people who used Post-Its or a big magic marker or something, but truthfully, I just used a lot of Kanye West all-caps-esque notes to myself in the text as I wrote. Stuff like "REMEMBER: SHE ONLY KNOWS X,Y and Z, HERE!!!" and "HOW THE HECK IS SHE GOING TO COME TO THIS CONCLUSION?!!"

9) PRETTY CROOKED resolves certain plot elements perfectly, while still serving as a cliffhanger. Did you get any angry letters about the ending? Was it difficult to write a conclusion that leads directly into a new adventure?

Yes! Maybe not super-angry, but a lot of teasing and frustrating ones. My editors and I went back and forth about where to leave things, and ultimately decided on the cliffhanger, which has its old-fashioned charms. I wouldn't say it was difficult to write that ending but I maybe felt a bit guilty to do that to readers. I hope PRETTY SLY will satisfy them!

10) I love Aidan and Willa's banter, as well as Willa's friendship-chemistry with Cherise and Tre. Do you have particular techniques you draw on to keep your dialogue so sharp? 

Thank you so much! I like to read dialogue out loud (if no one else is in the house!) to get a feel for how someone might really say something. And it's definitely something I fine-tune in revision, stripping it back more and more, because most people speak much more efficiently than I actually write.

11) When is book #3 coming out?

March 2015!

Check out the trailer for PRETTY SLY, below, and then enter to win a free copy of BOTH BOOKS!




a Rafflecopter giveaway

Breaking Bad, Doctor Who, and the Mystery of Originality

Like many people, I came to Breaking Bad late, and then overcompensated by binge-watching the entire series over several weeks, culminating in a self-imposed Twitter and Facebook ban while I frantically sought to catch up to the finale without getting spoiled. (By the way, the complete series comes out on DVD and blu-ray today.)

I’m not going to analyze the ending of the show, though I highly recommend the following reads for that: Grantland, the Onion AV Club, the New Yorker, and the Cockamamie Theories blog.

What intrigued me from a writer’s standpoint was the The Washington Post’s description of the show as “completely original.” Critic Hank Steuver writes, “In a hyper-media era in which so much is derivative of something else, we sometimes lose sight of the value of the completely original epic. Breaking Bad may have drawn from the greatest tools of dramatic tragedy, but it was not based on or adapted from anything that came before…”

This article sent me into a tailspin. Was it really true? Was it even possible? Had showrunner/creator Vince Gilligan come up with something 100% original?

Doctor Who celebrated its 50th anniversary on 11/23

Likewise, an article by Jill Lepore in the November 11th issue of the New Yorker stated, “Doctor Who is the most original science-fiction television series ever made.”

But surely the show’s creator, Sydney Newman, was inspired by art, history, or media that came before, just like the rest of us. Right?

As a writer, I tend to over-concern myself with the question of originality. I worry I’ll never come up with anything that hasn’t already been done.

And then I remember that isn’t the point.

Austin Kleon’s blog-post-turned book, “Steal Like an Artist” theorizes that there’s nothing new under the sun. As writers and creators, we constantly refer to that which came before, and there’s nothing wrong with that; Kleon believes, “You are, in fact, a mashup of what you choose to let into your life.”

I was curious what strange and wondrous works of art had influenced Vince Gilligan when he created Breaking Bad (about a high school chemistry teacher who becomes a meth kingpin), so I dug around online. Here’s what I discovered:

1) The logline Mr. Gilligan used to pitch the project was “Turning Mr. Chips into Scarface.”
2) The concept of using an RV to cook meth sprung from a news story and a joke with a fellow writer
3) Walt’s wife, Skyler, was described to actress Anna Gunn early on as “Carmela Soprano, but in on the crime.”
4) The finale episode, titled “Felina,” was influenced by and even partially based on the song El Paso.
5) Walt and Jesse’s last moments were inspired by a scene in “The Searchers.”

Knowing that such a wide and varied list of influences (Westerns! The Sopranos!  Music!  Film!) were thrown into the mix makes me love Breaking Bad even more.

As for Doctor Who, a British institution that concerns the fantastical adventures of a do-good time-traveler, the New Yorker article confirms that a bizarre mixture of influences went into the program’s creation. They include:

1) HG Wells
2) The Day the Earth Stood Still
3) “Sherlock Holmes with a Female Watson” (Which explains why The Doctor is joined by a young lady companion; it should be noted that this is also the premise of the CBS show Elementary, though you'd never the confuse the two shows!)
4) World War II and specifically Nazis (Which become Daleks, the Doctor’s long-running enemies.)

The above examples help prove that by enhancing, altering, combining, and changing the things we love, we turn them into new and precious compounds, as conceived through our personal lenses and experiences.

Writers, take heart: No one else sees the world quite like you do, and no matter what “mashup” you bring to the table, it will be unique.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Sarah Skilton’s upcoming Young Adult mystery, HIGH AND DRY (April 15, 2014) -- about a high school soccer player scrambling to clear his name after being framed and blackmailed -- was partially inspired by the films In a Lonely Place and Brick, the TV series Veronica Mars, the book The Long Goodbye, two Broadway musicals, and more…

The Mystery of the Disappearing Coffee Filter

Despite what my microwave thinks, it's not an easy choice
to wake up and write at five a.m.

Especially when I can't find my coffee filter.

In fact, a missing coffee filter = death to a writer.

I know who the culprit is, but I don't know where he's hidden it.

Let me think back to the usual locations...

Sometimes it hides in plain sight, transformed into a party hat.

Other times it's deviously hidden behind the piano.

Occasionally my nemesis recruits a partner, Handy Manny, to hide it.

Phew, the day is saved.

Meet the criminal mastermind!!

He's no doubt planning to strike again tomorrow morning.

Sarah Skilton lives in California with her magician husband and their young son. Her debut young adult novel, BRUISED, about a 16-year-old black belt in Tae Kwon Do who freezes up at an armed robbery, received a starred review from Publishers Weekly and is available now!

Interrogation Room #31: Chelsea Pitcher, Author of THE S-WORD

Our latest suspect -- er, author -- to face the interrogation room lights is Chelsea Pitcher, whose fabulous Young Adult debut, THE S-WORD, was called "a noirish mystery with swagger" and "a playful spin on the detective genre" by Publishers Weekly!

Our sources at Goodreads reveal that Chelsea Pitcher is a native of Portland, OR where she received her BA in English Literature. Fascinated by all things literary, she began gobbling up stories as soon as she could read, and especially enjoys delving into the darker places to see if she can draw out some light.

What's THE S-WORD about?

First it was SLUT scribbled all over Lizzie Hart’s locker.

But one week after Lizzie kills herself, SUICIDE SLUT replaces it—in Lizzie's looping scrawl.

Lizzie’s reputation is destroyed when she's caught in bed with her best friend’s boyfriend on prom night. With the whole school turned against her, and Angie not speaking to her, Lizzie takes her own life. But someone isn’t letting her go quietly. As graffiti and photocopies of Lizzie’s diary plaster the school, Angie begins a relentless investigation into who, exactly, made Lizzie feel she didn’t deserve to keep living. And while she claims she simply wants to punish Lizzie’s tormentors, Angie's own anguish over abandoning her best friend will drive her deep into the dark, twisted side of Verity High—and she might not be able to pull herself back out.

Let's see what Chelsea has to say when faced with our tough questions:

I remember your Publishers Marketplace announcement because it immediately intrigued me. It said that THE S-WORD was pitched as Veronica Mars meets THE SCARLET LETTER. Your main character, Angie, does share a trait or two with Veronica, namely her desire to uncover the truth no matter who might get hurt. Were you a big Veronica Mars fan? If so, in what ways did the show inspire you to write THE S-WORD? Did any other TV shows or films make an impression on you as a writer?

The funny thing is, I was introduced to Veronica Mars by my mother, who said, “Your father says she reminds him of you.” So Angie shares traits with Veronica, who shares traits with me. I’m not 100% sure which parts of her personality were inspired by Veronica, and which ones just came out of my natural proclivity for snarkiness. Other shows that have influenced me would be Roseanne, Titus and Pushing Daisies: shows that used humor to examine important social issues.  

Angie is not necessarily an unreliable narrator but she is a narrator who may perhaps be withholding information. Was this a deliberate parallel, that the reader can't get too close to her just like she guards herself from getting too close to the other characters? 

Definitely. At the time when we meet her, Angie is so closed off, due to the loss of her best friend and the betrayal of her boyfriend. Everyone she’s ever trusted has left her in some way, and she doesn’t have the ability to trust anymore. So she keeps everyone at a distance, her classmates, the reader…until she doesn’t anymore.  

As Angie digs deeper into the mystery, she learns that people are more well-rounded than she initially gave them credit for. Did you determine each character's motivations, fears, and vulnerabilities before you started to write, or did their hidden facets reveal themselves to you as you went along? 

It really depends on the character. Certain people, like Angie, Drake and Shelby, I had a pretty good understanding of from the start. Others, like Jesse, Marvin, and Kennedy, had a host of surprises up their sleeves. Even Lizzie, whose secrets fueled the entire story, was very protective of her secrets throughout my first drafts. It was only through writing, and rewriting, her diary entries that I came to understand what actually happened, and why.  

Jesse is one of the most memorable and unique love interests I've met. How did you come up with him?

Thank you! Jesse started out as an homage to characters like Angel from RENT and Ricky Vasquez from My So-Called Life: sweet, charismatic boys who refuse to be defined by rigid ideas of sex and gender. Truth be told, I never imagined that he would become such a main character. But Jesse’s light provided such a good balance to Angie’s darkness…it makes sense now, why they were drawn to each other.  

What was high school like for you? Was it a treacherous place like Verity High? Did you draw on any real-life incidents from your teen years when concocting the mystery?

High school was...uncomfortable for me, but not because people were vicious. At worst, I felt invisible. More than anything, when writing THE S-WORD, I looked to stories about today’s teens. There is so much slut-shaming and gay-bashing going on in schools right now, I honestly had too many examples to fit into one novel. But I tried my best to illustrate a composite of the different types of bullying teens are experiencing, and the connections between them.

I'm always fascinated by the nuts and bolts of mystery writing. How did you determine the order in which Angie uncovers her clues? Was there a lot of outlining and revising involved, or did things unfold the way you first imagined?

When I started writing the story, I only had a basic idea of who the suspects were. I didn’t necessarily know who was guilty. So, much like Angie, I let the diary entries guide me: when Lizzie mentioned someone, I knew that was the next person Angie would be interrogating. It really did feel like I was uncovering the mystery with her. That said, I did run into a couple of snags once the novel was drafted, and I had to rearrange some clues to make sure they coincided with certain meetings and interrogations. There are a lot of hints throughout the story about what’s going on and who’s responsible, but they’re (hopefully) subtle enough that people won’t necessarily catch each one on first read. That’s something I love about mystery novels—the fact that things don’t fully make sense until the end of the book, and then everything just clicks. And then, if you’re like me, you want to go back through and pick up every clue the author left.  

In classic noir stories, a large portion of the plot consists of arranging meetings with suspects or reluctant witnesses, by leaving messages with third parties (like hotel concierges or underlings) or being forced to use pay phones. In a modern setting, with every technology available, was it tough to put up communication barriers? Was it something you consciously thought about?

Definitely! I didn’t want the investigation to run too smoothly, but I also didn’t want to pretend these technologies don’t exist. Lucky for me, I realized pretty early on that, unless you have access to PI websites, or your best friend is a hacker (a la Veronica Mars), it can still be pretty difficult to track down accurate information. And sometimes, even if you do manage to track down a person’s cell number and email address, the best way to tell if they’re lying is to interrogate them in person. Of course, this begs the question: what if this person is an enemy, and won’t tell you the truth in a million years? Well, then you have to hatch an elaborate scheme involving an enigmatic informant, a crowded party, and a closet just big enough to conceal a spy. Just make sure you put your cell phone on silent, because otherwise, all this access to technology might blow up in your face.  

THE S-WORD is fairly dark, though not without beautiful moments of hope and love. Was it difficult getting into the proper headspace when writing the darker portions? Did you ever have to alter behavior or dialogue in order to match the mood, or to keep it "YA-friendly" (if there even is such a thing)?

I wrote THE S-WORD right after a very weird, surreal, dangerous situation with what turned out to be a predatory person. So I was actually in a much darker headspace than I usually am, which caused me to write a grittier story. Luckily for me, I got partnered up with an agent and editing team who shared my vision, and who didn’t ask me to lighten anything up. I think we all agreed that showing the world as it is for teens is the most YA-friendly thing we could do.  

What are some of your favorite noir books or films?

Honestly, my influences have come fromVeronica Mars and Pushing Daisies, Gillian Flynn’s SHARP OBJECTS and even James Howe’s BUNNICULA series, which is a total nod to the amateur detective genre. Add to that a healthy knowledge of all things Christopher Pike and it’s easy to see why I ended up writing mystery with a lot of twists, even if I didn’t necessarily set out to write noir. It’s one of those things that found me.  
shows and books that were themselves influenced by film noir: things like

What's next for you? Another mystery? Have you ever considered writing "adult books"?

THE S-WORD is actually the first contemporary I’ve written, so I have a lot of paranormal book either written or in progress. And while they aren’t all mysteries, they always have secrets to unravel, and twists I hope will come as a surprise. I love to shock and delight my readers with unexpected twists. I really can’t help it. If you come away from one of my books unsurprised, I haven’t done my job. As for "adult novels," I think anything’s possible. I have found that my “voice” is getting a bit older as I do, but it’s still hovering in that upper-teen range a lot of the time. So we’ll see what I do...  

How did you celebrate the release of THE S-WORD?

My release day was great, but somewhat low-key. I spent the afternoon on Twitter celebrating with my writer friends. Then in the evening I went out for dinner and margaritas with my mom and boyfriend. Release day is awesome, but pretty overwhelming, so for me, having a small celebration was just about perfect!

Thanks for the scoop, Chelsea, but don't leave town. We may need to haul you in again...

THE S-WORD is available now from Gallery Books/Simon & Schuster. You can also follow Chelsea on Twitter, "like" her on Facebook, and add her book on Goodreads.

This interview was conducted by Sarah Skilton.

"Now For a Little Personal Detective Work"

Harry Stephen Keeler's 1934 Dutton Clue Mystery, THE RIDDLE OF THE TRAVELING SKULL, "begins when a poem and a mysterious handbag lead a man to the grave of Legga, the Human Spider — and things just get stranger from there."

Based on that description, I would understand if you left the blog right now to grab a copy. Keeler's one of those "so bad he's good" authors. Here's a snippet from NPR: "Among the classic Keeler plots: A man is found strangled to death in the middle of a lawn, yet there are no footprints other than his own. Police suspect the 'Flying Strangler-Baby,' a killer midget who disguises himself as a baby and stalks victims by helicopter."

If you're still here -- bonus points if you happen to be a teacher or librarian looking for fun activities for students -- I'd like to show you a wonderful quirk of Dutton Clue Mysteries circa 1930.

Partway through each book in the series, a tear-away coupon invited the reader to "enter the story" and predict the ending by mailing their deductions and the reasoning behind them to the publisher. When three such correctly solved cards were received, the reader won a free Dutton Clue Mystery.

A friend sent me a postcard of the tear-away from THE RIDDLE OF THE TRAVELING SKULL, below (image reissued in 2005 by the Collins Library, an imprint of McSweeney's Books).

Next time your book club, summer reading challenge club, or literature class chooses a mystery, why not insert a similar card for extra credit or prizes? Readers will get the fun of analyzing clues, discussing possible answers, and laying out the method behind their theories.

You can follow this format:

Sarah Skilton lives in California with her magician husband and their young son. Her debut young adult novel, BRUISED, about a 16-year-old black belt in Tae Kwon Do who freezes up at an armed robbery, received a starred review from Publishers Weekly and is available now!

Tracking Down Sarah Skilton!

Yesterday one of our own sleuths, Sarah Skilton, launched her debut novel, BRUISED!

BRUISED is an action-packed YA novel that explores the consequences and psychological effects of a crime. Here's the lowdown:

When Imogen, a sixteen-year-old black belt in Tae Kwon Do, freezes during a holdup at a local diner, the gunman is shot and killed by the police, and she blames herself for his death. Before the shooting, she believed that her black belt made her stronger than everyone else—more responsible, more capable. But now that her sense of self has been challenged, she must rebuild her life, a process that includes redefining her relationship with her family and navigating first love with the boy who was at the diner with her during the shoot-out. With action, romance, and a complex heroine, Bruised introduces a vibrant new voice to the young adult world—full of dark humor and hard truths.

Sarah's a busy debut author this week, but we've managed to track her down here and there. Follow her footsteps and learn more about BRUISED! 

Sarah's blog
Fellow Sleuth Mary McCoy's interview with Sarah at One Four KidLit 
A glowing review at The Nocturnal Library 
Even more praise at Bookshelvers Anonymous
An interview with Sarah at BookYurt

And here's a link to BRUISED on Amazon.

Congrats Sarah! We're proud of you!!

Fresh Blood: Sarah Skilton Discusses Why Mystery Elements are Vital in Non-Mystery Books

Okay, you twisted my arm. Confession: my upcoming debut novel, BRUISED (Abrams/Amulet Books) is not a mystery.*

However, it does contain mystery elements. I've come to believe every kind of book, no matter the style or genre, can benefit from the use of mystery techniques. That's because writing a page turner requires posing questions readers must want to get answers to.

Carrie Arcos' extraordinary Young Adult novel, OUT OF REACH (Simon Pulse, 2012), is about a teenage girl, Rachel, searching for her missing brother, a meth addict who has disappeared. The story isn't labeled a mystery, but readers are immediately wondering three things: Why did the brother run away? Where did he go? And most importantly, Will Rachel find him?

With only one clue to go on -- an anonymous email -- Rachel and her brother's friend, Tyler, set off on their search. The book is considered contemporary YA, and it contains excellent characters and backstory, but the mystery elements are what drive the plot.

Likewise, in Sarvenaz Tash's terrific middle grade adventure book THE MAPMAKER AND THE GHOST (Bloomsbury, 2012; out in paperback March 26), 11-year-old Goldenrod Moram has decided to draw a map of her town. While in the woods, she overhears a group of kids who are up to no good, and she needs to figure out what they're scheming or her younger brother could pay the price. Readers, too, will be curious about the gang (whose entertaining nicknames include Brains, Snot Shot, and Lint).

In my own BRUISED, a 16-year-old girl skilled in martial arts freezes up at an armed robbery and blames herself for not preventing a shooting. The incident is so upsetting that she buries part of it away so it can't hurt her. The main focus of the novel is her relationships -- with her parents, friends, martial arts instructor, and the boy who also witnessed the crime -- but readers will hopefully be compelled to discover what Imogen's missing memories are.

Using mystery elements in non-mystery books provides a feeling of suspense as well as a reason for a reader to commit to the story.

*How did my riff-raff self get invited to join Sleuths, Spies, and Alibis? The easy answer is that my second book, HIGH AND DRY, is an actual mystery.

Sarah Skilton lives in California with her magician husband and their young son. BRUISED received a starred review from Publishers Weekly and comes out March 5th, 2013, but you can enter to win Sarah's very last ARC (advance readers copy) at GoodReads right now!

If you live in L.A., consider attending Teen Author Night at LAPL.

Fresh Blood!

Happy New Year! We're back from our holiday break . . . and we're bigger! (And not in the ate-too-many-holiday-desserts way). (Though some of us might have done that too). (Oops).

Well. We are thrilled to announce some big changes here on the Sleuths Spies & Alibis blog!

1. We're expanding our subject matter to include THRILLERS. 

You'll still find plenty of mystery talk here -- blog posts about the craft of mystery writing, recent and forthcoming books we're excited about, and interviews with new and established authors. But there are so many books where the mystery and thriller genres converge, we decided not to limit ourselves. If a book's mysterious, thrilling, or dealing with crime, we'll consider it on our beat. Besides, there are just so many great thrillers out there now for younger readers, and many more coming in 2013 and 2104. We can't wait to share our reading lists -- and find out what you're reading too! (You can click here for a previous discussion of mysteries vs. thrillers on this blog).

2. Fresh Blood: FIVE new authors joined our blogging team!

These fantastic YA and MG authors have recently published their first books or are soon-to-debut.

This brings our total to 13 authors on this blog, which seems particularly auspicious for 2013!

Starting tomorrow, we'll be blogging every Tuesday and Thursday, as before, with Interrogation Room interviews and guest posts added at whim. We'll let our new recruits introduce themselves more fully in their first posts, but for now, here are some mug shots and rap sheets! (Oh wait, these are the good guys -- here are their dazzling author photos and bios!)

ASHLEY ELSTON lives in Northwest Louisiana with her husband and three sons. She spent ten years working as a wedding photographer but quit to focus on her writing. She has been in cake withdrawal ever since. Her YA debut, THE RULES FOR DISAPPEARING, will be published by Disney/Hyperion in May 2013, and the sequel in Spring 2014.

ELLE COSIMANO is the daughter of a prison warden and an elementary school teacher who rides a Harley. As a teen, she spent summers working on a fishing boat, baiting hooks and lugging buckets of bait. She majored in Psychology at St. Mary's College of Maryland, and set aside a successful real-estate career to pursue writing. She live with her husband and two young sons, and divides her time between her home near Washington, DC and a jungle tree house in the Mayan Riveria. Her YA novel NEARLY GONE will be published by Kathy Dawson Books/Penguin in Winter 2014, with a sequel (NEARLY LOST) coming in 2015; she is also working on two other YA thrillers.

DERON HICKS is a lifelong resident of the state of Georgia who currently resides in Warm Springs, Georgia with his wife and children. Deron is a proud graduate of the University of Georgia, where he obtained a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in painting. Having obtained a degree in painting, Deron took the next logical step in life -- he went to law school (more specifically, Mercer Law School, which he loved). Deron currently serves as the Inspector General for the State of Georgia. His first MG novel, THE SECRETS OF SHAKESPEARE'S GRAVE (Book 1 in the Letterford Mysteries series) was published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt in 2012.

MARY McCOY is a librarian at the Los Angeles Public Library, and has been a contributor to On Bunker Hill and the 1947project, where she wrote stories about Los Angeles's notorious past. Mary grew up in western Pennsylvania and holds degrees from Rhodes College and the University of Wisconsin; she currently lives in Los Angeles with her husband. Her debut novel, DEAD TO ME, will be published by Disney/Hyperion in 2014. It's a YA mystery set in Golden Age Hollywood about a teenage girl who uncovers some sinister business while trying to get to the bottom of her aspiring film star sister's disappearance.

SARAH SKILTON After growing up in the suburbs of Chicago and graduating with a TV/Radio degree from Ithaca College in upstate New York, Sarah moved to sunny Los Angeles, where her blood promptly thinned out, preventing her from returning to either location. Kicking around Hollywood for ten years, Sarah worked as a movie-of-the-week production assistant, a TV extra, a freelance writer, a film reviewer, and a blogger at a Japanese marketing group. She currently reads TV and film scripts for a company that streamlines the casting process for agents and actors. She and her husband, a magician, live in Santa Clara, CA, with their young son. Sarah is a black belt in Tae Kwon Do, a fact that came in handy while writing her martial arts-themed debut YA novel, BRUISED (Amulet Books, March 5, 2013). Her second book, HIGH AND DRY (Amulet, 2014) is a YA mystery about corruption in high school.



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