Mary Saums

United States

Profile Information:

Hometown:
Nashville
About Me:
Book Fiend!

The first book in my new series, Thistle & Twigg, is about two little old ladies, one British and one Southern, who save an uncut forest and take on a bunch of well-armed paramilitary bullies. It's something like Miss Marple only with assault rifles. Very cozy. It came out in April 2007 from St. Martin's Minotaur. Mighty Old Bones, second in the series, came out in May 2008.

I post occasionally on the Femmes Fatales blog site at www.femmesfatales.typepad.com along with Donna Andrews, Dana Cameron, Charlaine Harris, Toni Kelner, Kris Neri, Elaine Viets, and Hank Phillipi Ryan.

I'm currently serving on the board of Sisters In Crime, and as vice-president of the Southeast chapter of Mystery Writers of America.
I Am A:
Reader, Writer
Website:
http://www.marysaums.com
Books And Authors I Like:
Ken Bruen, Colin Cotterill, Olen Steinhauer, Eliot Pattison, Dean Koontz, Michael Chabon, Lee Child, Stephen Booth, John Hart, PG Wodehouse, Liz Evans, Louise Penny, Donna Andrews, Dorothy Cannell, Donna Moore, Joan Hess, Reginald Hill, Peter Lovesey, Donald Westlake, Daniel Woodrell ... on and on...
Movies And TV Shows I Like:
Black Books, Dr. Who, Buffy, Firefly, Keeping Mum, anything with Bette Davis, Margaret Rutherford as Miss Marple

Comment Wall:

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  • Joan Conwell

    I just adore your picture and the Balzac quote, so I have to invite you....

    Jun 22, 2007

  • Gammy L. Singer

    Hi, Mary,
    Yes, I remember talking to you. This seems to be a good space to stay in touch. Congratulations on your new mystery title!
    Gammy

    Jul 9, 2007

  • Brenda Chapman

    Hi Mary - Congrats on your new book - great title. and great picture of you up above. Thanks for including me in your group of friends.
    Brenda

    Jul 9, 2007

  • Jane Burfield

    Thanks, mary. I'll post about it when I'm back.
    Jane

    Jul 9, 2007

  • Burl Barer

    Hiya Mary -- Miss Marple with assault rifles sounds refreshing as the land of sky blue waters. Makes me thing of Hazel with a machete -- perfect for severing hearts of romaine.

    Burl

    Jul 9, 2007

  • Burl Barer

    think -- thing.... hate it when typos ruin a punch line.

    Jul 9, 2007

  • Cyndia Depre

    Hi Mary,

    I think there's an official rule that after 50 we're supposed to have a glass of wine for those aches. That's my story, and I'm sticking to it! Congrats on the new series!

    Jul 11, 2007

  • James R. Benn

    Mary - always glad to be invited anywhere there's whiskey, guns and sex. Glad to be your pal.

    Jim

    Jul 19, 2007

  • colin cotterill

    hello mary, i'll get right on it. if you wouldn't mind sending me food and red wine parcels to sustain me ...

    Jul 19, 2007

  • Cindy Daniel

    Hi Mary,

    Haven't talked to you in FOREVER. Hope you're doing well.

    Cindy

    Jul 22, 2007

  • Glen C. Allison

    Hi Mary ... I'll be at KillerNashville Conference in a few weeks. Surely you'll be there to sign a copy of your new book for me!

    Jul 22, 2007

  • Camilla Trinchieri

    Great photo , wonderful book title and fantastic quote. Thanks. Ciao camilla

    Jul 24, 2007

  • Camilla Trinchieri

    Thanks, Mary. I agree. Soho Press is wonderful. Camilla

    Jul 24, 2007

  • Jeannie Holmes

    Hi, Mary

    Miss Marple with assault rifles?! Okay, I'm going to have to check that out.

    Thanks for the friendship. :)

    J. K.

    Jul 24, 2007

  • Jeannie Holmes

    No, I haven't read Matters of the Blood. I'll add it to my list. Thanks!

    Jul 24, 2007

  • joe miller

    Hi Mary,

    I got this site at a writers conference.....have a story in my head...trying to get on paper.

    Jul 24, 2007

  • joe miller

    Hi Mary,
    I'm working on my first real novel and like the site and the interaction with many different writers...

    I always wonder....

    Is it the light at the end of the tunnel?

    or

    Is it the train...:)

    Jul 28, 2007

  • Pamela Samuels-Young

    Thanks! Isn't this internet amazing. What did writer do pre-internet?

    Jul 28, 2007

  • Simon Wood

    Mary,

    Thanks for saying nice things about me--in public. :-)

    Simon

    Aug 2, 2007

  • Simon Wood

    You're a sweetheart...no wonder I've always had a thing for southern ladies. :-)

    Aug 5, 2007

  • Karen J. Laubenstein

    Glad I found you - Thistle & Twig is now on my list for MUST DO reading!

    Aug 6, 2007

  • J.D. Rhoades

    Miss Marple only with assault rifles? I am THERE!

    Aug 6, 2007

  • Louisa Christy

    I shall look for you and your husband. You will enjoy the area. Was just down in Nashville a couple of weeks ago with my daughter. We had a wonderful time. And I love to hear about women who shoot all sorts of rifles. lol.
    Thistle and Twig a must read!

    Aug 6, 2007

  • R. Barri Flowers

    Hello, Mary:

    I agree that Baby Jane was one scary movie and Davis and Crawford played their roles to perfection. I am a big fan of Bette Davis, in particular. Aside from her movies as a young woman, she was great in her later years in the witchcraft miniseries, The Dark Secret of Harvest Home.

    Aug 7, 2007

  • Karen J. Laubenstein

    Hi Mary, what a lot of wonderful books you've written! I downloaded all the book covers for the B'con publication and kept smiling as I went - knowing I've got some great reading ahead of me! Good for you! You're living the life and doesn't sound like 40-60 hours a week are spent living it in someone else's office like I do!

    Aug 7, 2007

  • Merrill Young

    Hey sweets!
    I was too late for the disscussion on 4MA, but I just got the Blonde, by Duane S., from the library and devoured it in one sitting last night(urp! Excuse me)
    What a ride! Read it yet?

    Aug 9, 2007

  • Merrill Young

    Waving back!
    My library doesn't believe that Duane wrote anything else. Grrrrr.
    Yes, I rtead Virgin of the Small Plains earlier this year.
    I've long been a Pickard fan- singe the Jenny Cain days back in the 80's. I read her series and Janes Haddam's Demarkian series at the same time.Wonderful writers, both.

    Aug 9, 2007

  • Merrill Young

    Mary,
    Jane Haddam was at the front of the line with Sue Grafton on the 'themed' mystery series concept.
    Janes all revolve around holidays. She is a very smart lady, as a stroll through her website will affirm. And funny-in a sharp, and sometimes bitter way.

    Aug 9, 2007

  • Glen C. Allison

    So wonderful to see you at KillerNashville, Mary! The conference was great and meeting you made it even more satisfying. My manuscript has been requested by an agent as a result of being there. Keep your fingers crossed. (And, am loving Thistle & Twigg. I'll never look at little old ladies the same way again.)

    Aug 20, 2007

  • terry bowman

    RYC: Thanks for stopping by. Bad Lieutenant is a great Harvey Keitel cop movie about a flawed cop. He would make a great character for a novel.

    Aug 20, 2007

  • joe miller

    Mary,

    Will you still be at the SIBA in Atlanta?

    I plan on stopping by and would love to get a copy of Thistle & Twigg.

    Joe

    Aug 22, 2007

  • Merrill Young

    Mary!
    I just checked the program for Bouchercon, and saw that you on on the Geezer Noir panel with Ken Bruen.
    How I wish I could attend to cheer you on!
    Have a lovely time!

    Aug 23, 2007

  • Clea Simon

    Hi Mary,
    We share several favorites, so I'm going to look for "Thistle & Twigg." Your brief description is delicious. - Clea

    Aug 29, 2007

  • Clea Simon

    Hi Mary,
    Have the cats learned to use the door? Or have they simply trained you to be their door person?

    "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

  • Clea Simon

    Watch out how often you hold the cat door open -- true confession: my cat now has me trained not only to get out of bed about 10 minutes after we turn the light out (she howls), but to sit by her as she eats and stroke her. When I stop stroking her, she stops eating and stares at me. When I pet her, she purrs, kneads the floor and eats. I have to do this for several minutes before I can go to bed and not be woken by howls.

    Basically, I have learned the hard way that that things we humans think they are doing to quiet the cat, the cat knows we are doing because they have successfully trained us.

    Aug 29, 2007

  • Cyndi Martin

    I love your profile picture! You just look like a character!

    Aug 30, 2007

  • Cyndi Martin

    I'm going to Amazon now to look for Thistle & Twigg. It sounds great!

    Aug 30, 2007

  • Glen C. Allison

    Ok, Mary, not usually a cozy fan but I am LOVING T&T. When Phoebe visits and Jane opens the lovely antique chest to reveal....weaponry! Oh man. Go girls. (Okay, back to my reading). And to Cyndi below: Yes, do not delay. Order today. :)

    Sep 3, 2007

  • Louisa Christy

    Mary,
    I just saw the program and it lists your panel and the pictures and bios are fantastic. Boucherocn wil be great!

    Sep 7, 2007

  • joe miller

    Hi Mary,
    It's been a while ....work...work...work
    Hope everything is well.

    Joe

    Sep 19, 2007

  • Glen C. Allison

    Congrats on finishing your final-we-hope rewrite of the second book. Still waiting on word from the agent on my manuscript. I called last week and was told they would get back to me. In the meantime, many more queries have been mailed out. I'm not working on the second Jake Straight book yet, BUT I am outlining another book, an epic adventure. I'll keep you updated on things. Thanks for keeping up with me, Mary.

    Oct 21, 2007

  • Glen C. Allison

    Had another agent request the manuscript for Hunka Burnin' Death! Woohoo! I'll keep you updated. Hope to get up to Nashville again soon.Big holiday plans for you? Speaking at any other conferences any time soon?

    Nov 9, 2007

  • John Morgan Wilson

    Mary...I just realized you were one of my new friends, and wanted to say hello, unless I already did and forgot, which is part for the course for me. Getting addled in my old age. Anyway, nice to meet you and congratulations on the new book.

    Nov 14, 2007

  • Glen C. Allison

    Smokahontas! I'm thinking that I never told you how much I enjoyed TNT. Can't wait for book number two (so just send me the galleys; I promise I won't tell anyone I read it first). Go, Jane and Phoebe! (Now that I think of it, I should be angling to write a review or two on TNT...hmmmm)

    Nov 30, 2007

  • Jennie Bentley/Bente Gallagher

    Hiya, Mary! I'm actually at the SinC meetings every so often, just under a different name. Jennie Bentley is a pseudonym. The publisher required that I use one, and that's the one I chose. Anyway, I was there for Chris Grabenstein's talk in November, and hung out for dinner afterwards. Guess we've just never been properly introduced. I'm hoping to get there for the party, and maybe we can hook up then.

    On another note, did you happen to catch HOGFATHER on TV last weekend? Wow!

    Dec 30, 2007

  • Beth Groundwater

    Mary,
    Thanks for the friend invite!
    - Beth

    Feb 5, 2008

  • The Rural Writer

    Just had to tell you I fully enjoyed a) your profile pic-fantastic! b) lates book trailer- Im hooked!

    Feb 20, 2008

  • Beth Groundwater

    Thanks for the congrats on the Agatha Award nomination, Mary! I'm looking forward to seeing you at Malice again, too.

    Feb 28, 2008

  • Joan Hiller

    Mary!
    I hope you are almost finished with a new book. I think I gave you plenty of time. My sis' name is Emily Anne and she is doing well. Are you going to go to Baltimore? We both are going. I so enjoyed talking to you, you are a doll.

    Mar 1, 2008

  • Allan E. Ansorge

    Thanks for signing BONES at Killer. Read it on the plane stayed up to finish it. I may have to adopt you so I am sure to get a copy of the next book ASAP. Jane wants to know what color you would like your room.

    Aug 19, 2008