Clea Simon

Female

United States

Profile Information:

Hometown:: Cambridge, MA
About Me:: I'm the author of four Theda Krakow mysteries ("Mew is for Murder," "Cattery Row," "Cries and Whiskers," and the upcoming "Probable Claws") and the brand new Dulcie Schwartz series, which will debut in summer '09 with "Shades of Grey." For the Theda mysteries, with Poisoned Pen, think not-too-cozy cat cozies, traditional mysteries that deal with real animal issues (hoarding, feral rescue) with a rock 'n' roll heroine. Dulcie, who is being published by Severn House, has a touch of paranormal. She can't help it. A literature grad student, studying Gothic novels, she stumbles on a murder and gets some help from the ghost of her late, great cat. What's a girl to do?

As if two series weren't enough, I'm a journalist, arts critic, online writing instructor, cat lover, epicurean human.
I Am A:: Reader, Writer, Critic
Website:: http://www.cleasimon.com
Books And Authors I Like:: Colin Cotterill, Elizabeth Peters, Ariana Franklin, Hilary Mantel, James Lee Burke, Valerie Martin, Michael Chabon, Poppy Z. Brite (particularly the restaurant series starting with "Liquor"), Barbara Hambly (I hope she gets a new publisher soon...) John Burdett, Robert Wilson, Donna Leon, Denise Mina, Jeff Lindsay, Qiu Xiaolong, Michael Stanley ... you get the idea.
Movies And TV Shows I Like:: "The Wire" on HBO, "Topsy Turvy" as my favorite movie about the creative process. "Sexy Beast," the first two "Godfathers," "L.A. Confidential." And, of course, "Impromptu," because I see myself as Judy Davis' George Sands (and, more important, my husband does, too. But he has healthy lungs.)

Comment Wall:

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Clea Simon

Just one! (I'm serial monogamous, I want all my cat's attention). You have five? And, yes, a patient husband, advice from a professional photog, a borrowed digital, tons of makeup and... here I am!

Aug 29, 2007
LC Fraser

Makeup is a wonderful thing!

Yup - five cats. Five kids too so it is a cat per kid. Some of the cats think they are dogs (well one does and follows my oldest around the house) and others think that the younger kids are their very own babies.

Aug 29, 2007
Clea Simon

Do any of your kids think they're cats? My buddy Anne's son likes to lick his "paws" and run them over his head.

Aug 29, 2007
LC Fraser

That is so cute! None of mine thought they were cats but my middle one, a girl, spent years trying to be a horse. We had horse jumps in the front yard half the summer. She did not play riding the horse, she was the horse. Until she tried to carry a kid too heavy for her she would do the jumps with a smaller kid on her shoulders.

Aug 29, 2007
Clea Simon

I used to do that! I remember running around the yard with my friend Jeannie, who would also be a horse. I believe I wanted to be an Appaloosa (the freckles maybe?).

Aug 29, 2007
Mary Saums

Hey, Clea! It's fun here, isn't it? Today I'm teaching my cats (two) to use a kitty door. My husband put one in the door to the basement. They'll go through if I hold the flap open. They're still contemplating and studying it, though, to make sure it's safe to do themselves. :)

I think we have the same writing genes. We're both SPLASHERS. I forget exactly what those stand for, something like Sometimes Prefer Light And Sometimes Harder Edged Reading.

'Topsy-Turvy' - what is it about?

Aug 29, 2007
LC Fraser

Does that make me a splasher too? I love Elizabeth Peters but just could not get past the first part of Denise Mina. Yet the Scandanavian authors so far are great (even if I can't spell the names)

Aug 29, 2007
Clea Simon

I adore Denise Mina, but maybe we just have different tastes in the harder edged stuff? De gustibus and all that!

By the way - and I'll cross post on Mary's board - "Topsy Turvy" is a fabulous Mike Leigh movie about the making of "The Mikado." Basically, Gilbert and Sullivan are at a creative dead end. Both have personal issues weighing on their work and while they're still wildly popular, they're sort of repeating themselves... until inspiration strikes! It's got a great cast (I adore Jim Broadbent), and it is definitely worth checking out, if only for the slow change on Gilbert's (Broadbent) face as inspiration strikes.

Speaking of movies AND harder edged -- any fans of "Sexy Beast" out there? Great heist movie/romance (for us slightly older married types).

Aug 29, 2007
JackBludis

You write about Cats and you're a *Wire Fan*?

Aug 29, 2007
Clea Simon

Yup, and I adore Denise Mina and Robert Wilson's very dark humored West Africa series, too. Wanna make something of it? (In all fairness, I adore cats, but my fictional cats act like real cats - they don't talk and they don't solve crimes. Plus, I use my mysteries to showcase some real animal issues,such as hoarding.)

Aug 29, 2007
Clea Simon

As those of you who know me already know, I feel rather defiant about my tastes -- I refuse to accept that cozies can't be well written, that "real" writers can't use animals (CS Lewis anyone?), that any one genre is better than any other, simply because it may be tougher or bloodier, or more male oriented.

Feminist? Yup.

Aug 29, 2007
Clea Simon

...my husband just came in and asked what I was typing. His response: "No harm ever came to a cat on 'The Wire.'" Then he followed it up with something I don't think Ning will let me publish about Derek Jeter. He's a native New Englander and Red Sox fan.

Aug 29, 2007
JackBludis

Real cats are OK ... I used to be a dog person, but cats are a lot easier to handle, and they get a bum rap from people who don't know them. I currently have no pets ... my African Gray Parrot flew away when I walked into the back yard with him on my shoulder.

Aug 29, 2007
Mary Saums

Amen, Sistergirl, preach on! :) When people start making apologetic noises about cozies and that everyone should say 'traditional mysteries' now, it really gripes me. So I say Cozy. Everybody else will just have to come around to my way of thinking rather than vice versa. :)

Thanks for the movie titles. They both sound great to me.

You know your cats. Yes, they want me to be their doorman. :)

Aug 29, 2007
Clea Simon

Thanks, Mary, and sorry if I jumped down your throat, Jack (and I'm sorry about your bird). A few years ago, I wrote a nonfiction book called "The Feline Mystique: On the Mysterious Connection Between Women and Cats." If I were to revise it today, I'd probably call it "Cat is a Feminist Issue." And, yeah, I feel that way about "cozy," too.

Meanwhile, the Sox have just given up the first in the series and there's yet another "Law and Order" repeat on (a Jerry Orbach one!), so I think I'm going to run (bum-bum!)

Aug 29, 2007
J.D. Rhoades

More summer? Obviously, you don't live where it's been 100+ degrees the past three weeks. Bring on the fall!

As for the other stuff... "cozy" always sounded like it started as a derogatory term, but it wouldn't be the first time a group has taken what started as a derogatory term and used it defiantly. But as a definition, it really doesn't contain a whole lot of useful meaning. I like the term "traditional mystery" because it says more. And yes, many of them are quite well written.

But talking cats are right out.

Aug 29, 2007
Simon Wood

Thanks Clea. I was not consulted over the bear. :-)

Simon

Aug 30, 2007
Jeannie Holmes

Hi, Clea

Birmingham's about a 3-4 hour drive from Mobile. I'm not sure if I'll go to Murder in the Magic City yet. I missed the last one, but I'm hoping to make it there next year.

Thanks for the friendship. Maybe I'll see you in Feb. :)

J. K.

Aug 30, 2007
Clea Simon

Hope so! I'm not going to make it to Bouchercon next month (too expensive to fly to Alaska), and because CRIES AND WHISKERS pubs in December, I thought it would be a great opportunity to try some other conferences.

Aug 30, 2007
Cyndi Martin

Thanks for adding me! Who's your favorite L&O detective?

Aug 30, 2007
Clea Simon

Jerry Orbach. I'm a traditionalist!

Aug 30, 2007
Cyndi Martin

Jerry Orbach, too. I miss him! It's hard to pick from the others. I like them all. My daughter is Olivia's biggest fan. She loves SVU. In fact, it was watching SVU that brought on The Talk for us. She asked what "rape" meant and it snowballed from there. I was soooo dreading that!

Aug 30, 2007
Clea Simon

Better she should learn from her mother though!

Aug 30, 2007
LC Fraser

Wow you guys have been chatty while I was sleeping.

Thanks Clea, for pointing out that cozies can be literature too. I have read some that are wonderful (and of course some that are not so great, but ditto with most other areas of the mystery genre).

My husband would likely agree with you about cats and women. He thinks both are totally not to be understood in this, or any other, lifetime. He still likes them though so maybe he just likes being confused?

Aug 30, 2007
Vicki Delany

Hi. I'm still out in Nelson, just back from a visit to Vancouver Island - loved it! SHenzi is at my daughter Julia's now, where she seems to be doing fine. Next month I'm off to Alaska, really looking foward to that.

Aug 30, 2007
Kim Howell

Thanks Clea, for accepting my offer. Your books look like they'll be really good reads, and I'm trying to broaden my reading experiences lately. :-)

Aug 31, 2007
Shane Gericke

Hi, Clea. Nice to make your acquaintance. You mentioned you're a former newsie, like me. Enjoying the "former" part, or itching to get back?

Sep 5, 2007
Maryann Mercer

Thanks for the invitation. I'm looking forward to checking out your work :o)

Sep 7, 2007
Elizabeth Zelvin

Thanks, Clea. I just found out Death Will Get You Sober is available for preorder on Amazon already, and I'm wildly excited. :) Liz

Sep 7, 2007
Karen from AustCrime

I do indeed like Denise Mina Clea (as well as Danuta Reah) - I did think that the Garnetthill Trilogy was magnificent. We're looking down the barrel of our 7th year of drought and a stinky hot summer into the bargain. I'm seriously planning on moving to the Antarctic at this rate :)

Sep 7, 2007
Clea Simon

Danuta Reah... have to check those out!

Sep 7, 2007
Karen from AustCrime

You know those days when you could just kick yourself. And kick and kick and kick yourself.

The other person I should have mentioned is Louise Welsh! Very ambiguous "heros" - magnificent books - if you're looking for something different from Scotland ;)

Sep 9, 2007
Douglas Quinn

Anyone who is a fan of James Lee Burke needs to be a friend of mine. Enjoyed your blog entries. Hope you'll find the time to check out my Crimespace page and website.

Smiles,
Douglas Quinn
www.douglasquinn.com

Sep 16, 2007
Douglas Quinn

When you get a chance, check out my Crimespace Blog re the info and pics from my recent book signing event.

Smiles,
Douglas Quinn
www.douglasquinn.com

Sep 19, 2007
Clea Simon

Thanks, Mack! I appreciate your support! - Clea

Oct 2, 2007
Linda L. Richards

Thanks for the welcome, Clea. So far it's... interesting to be here. :)

Oct 2, 2007
Clea Simon

Yeah, one could spend hours here... and get no writing done.

Oct 2, 2007
Karen J. Laubenstein

Hi Clea -- enjoying your blogs (lots of good stuff there), the kitties (we have two here in Anchorage), Bostonian blurbs (used to work in the JFK Building downtown and house at Boston Univ.), and books (awesome, looking forward to CRIES AND WHISKERS. -Karen

Oct 12, 2007
Clea Simon

Thank you, Karen! I owe the latest entry - the "mean kitty song" to the folks at First Offenders (I link to them above). But I couldn't resist re-posting above. - Clea

Oct 13, 2007
Karen J. Laubenstein

Hi Clea -- was nice to find your note when I meandered back onto Crimespace! It's been awhile since I've enjoyed Haymarket and the North End or going to CITI. I actually grew up in Maine and family still lives there... and yes, definitely a long way from Alaska. I'm trying not to hang out here as much, so to get more work done on the book. Did write a story for the HOW'D THEY DO THAT anthology today in about an hour and sent it on out. That mean kitty song is a classic! Our cats are snuggled up together on my bed at the moment, snoozing to the world. We had spitting snow on Friday and overcast, feels very winterish. Stocked up on the winter gloves and my husband did his usual thing in complaining whatever I picked out doesn't fit and taking them all back to exchange them. It's a good way to get him shopping. He won't go otherwise (grin). Sometimes I purposely buy stuff I know he'll hate, so to get him there picking out his own stuff. It works! Well, better get back to the grind (or better, escape)... thanks for responding and won't keep you longer so that book gets going also.
-Karen

Oct 15, 2007
Karen J. Laubenstein

p.s. posted the kitty photos so you have a visual.

Oct 15, 2007
Jennie Bentley/Bente Gallagher

You are so very welcome. Thanks for being my friend!

Nov 21, 2007
Lawrence Kelter

Small world? You have no idea--I lived in EM for 13 years. My house was on Dieman (Pronounced Demon) Lane, right off Prospect.
Larry

Dec 4, 2007
Darren Laws

Thank you for the welcome. Kind regards, Darren

Jan 9, 2008
Douglas Quinn

Douglas Quinn
Author, Editor, Book Reviewer
rivercitypress@hotmail.com
www.douglasquinn.com

12 January 2008

Dear Family/Fans/Friends/Readers

Please join me in the first week of my Virtual Book Tour. Beginning tomorrow, Sunday, January 13th, writer Brenda Kay Wynn will publish an interview with Douglas Quinn on her webblog site at (click on the following or cut and paste into your browser) www.chronclesofelydir.spaces.live.com.

You are invited to go to Brenda’s site, read the interview and comment and/or ask questions. I am looking forward to responding to your comments and queries.

The interview will be posted throughout the four week tour. Weeks two, three and four will have different articles hosted by and posted at other webblog sites. Would love to interact with you along the way.

In addition, each time during the four week tour you leave a comment and/or ask a question your name will be placed into a drawing for a Free Signed Copy of Blue Heron Marsh.. Hope to see you all there.

Smiles,
Douglas Quinn

P.S. Please feel free to forward this invitation to your own email address list. The more people who participate, the happier I will be.

Jan 13, 2008
Clea Simon

Thanks, Linton!

Mar 12, 2008
Clea Simon

Was - Boston Phoenix primarily. Mysteries and cats... ask Poe (or Collette)!

Mar 12, 2008
HELI COP

Hello,

It's great having you as a friend, and nice to hear from you, enjoy your day.

Apr 22, 2008
T. L. Cooper

Clea,
Great to see you here! Look forward to getting to know you as well!
TL

Apr 23, 2008
L.J. Sellers

Congratulations on your Best Mystery of 2007 nomination from Deadly Ink!

May 14, 2008