The Books

This month, Orion Books of Great Britain is releasing my latest novel, Polar City Nightmare. This was a collaboration with my friend, Katharine Kerr and is set in the world she created for her terrific science fiction mystery, Polar City Blues.

Polar City Nightmare cover You know the old saying, be careful what you ask for? This book is a good example of that. Some years back, I read Polar City Blues and loved it. So I did what any friend would do: I started bugging her for a sequel. But she didn't want to write one, being busy with her Deverry series and several other projects.
Then, a few years ago, she came to me and said, "Guess what? There's going to be a sequel after all. And you're going to write it!"
Not what I expected. But I got what I asked for. And I'm very glad I did.
Excerpt from Polar City Nightmare.

I've had seven solo books published previously, six under my own name. (The seventh was done under a "house" pseudonym for a YA series.) As it happens, all six of these were published by Harper Paperbacks and they're all mysteries in the traditional sense as well as the more figurative one. Below are some notes on each, along with links to excerpts from each one.
About those excerpts: some are longer than others. I've tried to give a feel for each book without giving away anything important. And there are minor differences between these posted excerpts and the published books. The excerpts are from my original files.

Babysitter's Nightmare cover My first published novel, Babysitter's Nightmare, has something in common with a well-known pink bunny. It just keeps going, and is now on its eighth printing. One day I saw a young woman dealing with an obstreperous five-year-old and thought, "what a nightmare that kid is for a babysitter." That was all it took for me to think of some real nightmares a babysitter might face. From such seeds do books grow. It was published in the spring of 1992.
Excerpt from Babysitter's Nightmare.

Teen Idol cover Teen Idol was not my title. In England it was published as Accidents Will Happen. That's not a great title, but it's a bit better. The book is set on a working Arizona ranch that's been leased to a film company for location work. Research was simplified by the fact that I have some ranching friends who've done just that: leased their ranch for the film Fire Birds. Fortunately for my friends, there were no murders committed during production of that film!
Excerpt from Teen Idol.

Sweet Dreams cover With Sweet Dreams I tackled more mature themes. That sounds odd, when you consider the body count in my earlier books; what could be more serious than murder? But in most murder mysteries, the murders themselves are almost incidental to the story, at least emotionally. While I avoided this in my earlier work, in this book I dug more deeply into my protagonist's heart. Dealing with grief, questions about self-identity and sanity... despite the YA category, it's not just a book for kids.
Excerpt from Sweet Dreams.

Running Scared took me into the world of Federal witness relocation. It's a fascinating program, run by the U.S. Marshal Service, and apparently works very well for some people. But of course I wouldn't have had a story if my witness had been successfully protected. So I managed to find some flaws within the system. Or did I manufacture them? You decide. For this book I returned to the central Illinois setting I used for Sweet Dreams.
Excerpt from Running Scared.

Sweetheart is close to home. I live in southern Arizona, and the book is set in Tucson, on the campus of the University of Arizona. I can walk across campus and identify my scenes, or drive towards the Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum and spot key locations. Making up locations and worlds can be fun for a writer. But sometimes it's just as much fun to work with the "real" world. By the way, once again I had nothing to do with the title. Unfortunately, many people confuse this with Sweet Dreams.
Excerpt from Sweetheart.

When is a sequel not a sequel? When it's Babysitter's Nightmare II my non-sequel sequel. The first Nightmare finished up that story, as well as that set of characters and that location. But my editors liked the book (as did my readers!) and they wanted more. So I took the central idea, a babysitter who's in some serious trouble. The young woman in this book is a different babysitter in a different town, and she faces a completely different set of problems. But it still adds up to a Nightmare.
Excerpt from Babysitter's Nightmare II.

last updated 07/10/00

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	This month, Orion Books of Great Britain is releasing my latest novel, Polar City Nightmare. This was a collaboration with my friend, Katharine Kerr and is set in the world she created for her terrific science fiction mystery, Polar City Blues.
	You know the old saying, be careful what you ask for? This book is a good example of that. Some years back, I read Polar City Blues and loved it. So I did what any friend would do: I started bugging her for a sequel. But she didn't want to write one, being busy with her Deverry series and several other projects. Then, a few years ago, she came to me and said, "Guess what? There's going to be a sequel after all. And you're going to write it!" Not what I expected. But I got what I asked for. And I'm very glad I did. Excerpt from Polar City Nightmare.
	I've had seven solo books published previously, six under my own name. (The seventh was done under a "house" pseudonym for a YA series.) As it happens, all six of these were published by Harper Paperbacks and they're all mysteries in the traditional sense as well as the more figurative one. Below are some notes on each, along with links to excerpts from each one. About those excerpts: some are longer than others. I've tried to give a feel for each book without giving away anything important. And there are minor differences between these posted excerpts and the published books. The excerpts are from my original files.
	My first published novel, Babysitter's Nightmare, has something in common with a well-known pink bunny. It just keeps going, and is now on its eighth printing. One day I saw a young woman dealing with an obstreperous five-year-old and thought, "what a nightmare that kid is for a babysitter." That was all it took for me to think of some real nightmares a babysitter might face. From such seeds do books grow. It was published in the spring of 1992. Excerpt from Babysitter's Nightmare.

	Teen Idol was not my title. In England it was published as Accidents Will Happen. That's not a great title, but it's a bit better. The book is set on a working Arizona ranch that's been leased to a film company for location work. Research was simplified by the fact that I have some ranching friends who've done just that: leased their ranch for the film Fire Birds. Fortunately for my friends, there were no murders committed during production of that film! Excerpt from Teen Idol.

	With Sweet Dreams I tackled more mature themes. That sounds odd, when you consider the body count in my earlier books; what could be more serious than murder? But in most murder mysteries, the murders themselves are almost incidental to the story, at least emotionally. While I avoided this in my earlier work, in this book I dug more deeply into my protagonist's heart. Dealing with grief, questions about self-identity and sanity... despite the YA category, it's not just a book for kids. Excerpt from Sweet Dreams.

	Running Scared took me into the world of Federal witness relocation. It's a fascinating program, run by the U.S. Marshal Service, and apparently works very well for some people. But of course I wouldn't have had a story if my witness had been successfully protected. So I managed to find some flaws within the system. Or did I manufacture them? You decide. For this book I returned to the central Illinois setting I used for Sweet Dreams. Excerpt from Running Scared.

	Sweetheart is close to home. I live in southern Arizona, and the book is set in Tucson, on the campus of the University of Arizona. I can walk across campus and identify my scenes, or drive towards the Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum and spot key locations. Making up locations and worlds can be fun for a writer. But sometimes it's just as much fun to work with the "real" world. By the way, once again I had nothing to do with the title. Unfortunately, many people confuse this with Sweet Dreams. Excerpt from Sweetheart.

	When is a sequel not a sequel? When it's Babysitter's Nightmare II my non-sequel sequel. The first Nightmare finished up that story, as well as that set of characters and that location. But my editors liked the book (as did my readers!) and they wanted more. So I took the central idea, a babysitter who's in some serious trouble. The young woman in this book is a different babysitter in a different town, and she faces a completely different set of problems. But it still adds up to a Nightmare. Excerpt from Babysitter's Nightmare II.