Why Can’t There be a Destination?

I’m in the middle of several never-ending projects that I desperately would love to finish ASAP, but the ASAP is nowhere in sight. I’m so busy this newsletter is waaaay behind schedule. My husband is fond of telling me “It’s a journey, not a destination.” To which I say, “Can’t there be at least one or two destinations along the way? I need to pee.

This is essentially what being an author is. Being on a long road trip of plotting and writing a new novel and publishing it while stopping to pee. Yes, other more normal people compare publishing to gardening, but I’ve been driving a lot lately so you get to meet me where I’m at.

One rest stop on this road trip was the bit of gardening we did this weekend. There’s this front garden spot we have that is shady and, when we bought the house, it was overgrown with daylilies the deer ate as soon as they threatened to bloom.

So for the last four or five years I’ve been digging up those godforsaken lilies and replacing them with other plants. Iris, astilbe, hellebore. I discovered some peonies the daylilies were choking to death and rescued them. Now the garden looks the best it ever has.

The next rest stop is going to be Malice Domestic! The conference is in Bethesda, practically my backyard. I’ll be moderating the panel “Killer Reads: Bookshops & Book Clubs.” It will be the first panel I’m charge of rather than getting to spout off the first thing that pops into my head. Which should frighten everyone who knows me.

Books!

Sarah Strohmeyer’s new novel WE LOVE TO ENTERTAIN is delightful. It’s True Crime meets HGTV/reality show competition. The character-driven plot ticks along at a pleasing pace and the ending was unexpected. I’m interviewed her on Monday for The Big Thrill magazine and can’t wait for you to read our conversation.

And did I tell you about HOW I’LL KILL YOU? I interviewed Ren DeStefano last month and it’s a novel that’s stuck with me. I mean, how can you forget serial killer identical triplets who murder the men they love? Throughout HOW I’LL KILL YOU, our hero Sissy is shackled to her sisters Moody and Iris by obligation, guilt (her own and the legal kind of guilt), and love. We watch as Sissy battles between the naïve loyalty she feels she owes her family and her desire to become her own person. In that way, HOW I’LL KILL YOU is almost a coming-of-age novel, but with serial killers.

Mindy Carlson