Elizabeth Zelvin Female New York, NY United States: Share on Facebook MySpace Tweet

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Ellery Queen's Mystery Magazine at the KGB Bar

Started Jun 5, 2009

Calling all authors who loved their 2008 covers
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Started this discussion. Last reply by steve reeder Apr 5, 2009.

How do you launch a book at Bouchercon?
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Started this discussion. Last reply by EDWARD C MORGAN Mar 3, 2009.

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"Death Will Trim Your Tree" nominated for an Agatha award for Best Short Story

Profile Information

Hometown:: New York, NY

About Me:: My traditional mystery series includes DEATH WILL GET YOU SOBER (2008) and DEATH WILL HELP YOU LEAVE HIM (2009), both from Minotaur, featuring recovering alcoholic Bruce Kohler and his friends, computer genius Jimmy and world-class codependent Barbara. Bruce also stars in three published short stories, two nominated for Agatha awards for Best Short Story (2007 and 2009). Learn more at www.elizabethzelvin.com. I'm a psychotherapist and former director of alcohol treatment programs, currently practicing online at www.LZcybershrink.com. Publications include two books of poetry and a book on gender and addictions. I blog on Poe's Deadly Daughters. What else? I'm a sometime acoustic singer/songwriter, photographer, champion knitter of socks, and the slowest runner in New York.

I Am A:: Writer

Website:: http://www.elizabethzelvin.com

Books And Authors I Like:: Present company excepted, okay? Mystery: Laurie King, Margaret Maron, Donna Leon, Reginald Hill, Marcia Muller, Dana Stabenow, Janet Neel, Cynthia Harrod-Eagles, Nevada Barr, P.F. Chisholm Other genre fic: Lois McMaster Bujold, Dorothy Dunnett, Diana Gabaldon, Sharon Shinn, Sara Donati, Elizabeth Moon Former faves of this old English major: John Barth, THE SOTWEED FACTOR...and this old ex-anarchist: Ursula LeGuin, THE DISPOSSESSED Any literary fic at all? Uh, PRIDE AND PREJUDICE. And Elinor Lipman's ISABEL'S BED.

Movies And TV Shows I Like:: Movies: Enchanted April, My Cousin Vinnie, Priscilla Queen of the Desert, Shakespeare in Love, The Wedding Banquet, Eat Drink Man Woman, Strictly Ballroom, Monsoon Wedding, The Country Bears TV: West Wing, Judging Amy, 24, Monk, Roseanne, Wings.

Great news! An Agatha nomination for "Death Will Trim Your Tree." This is my second nomination for Best Short Story (the first was in 2007). The Agathas are chosen by attendees of the Malice Domestic traditional mystery convention in Arlington, VA.

Death Will Help You Leave Him came out in 2009.
Second in the series about recovering alcoholic Bruce Kohler and his friends, Jimmy the computer genius and Barbara the world-class codependent. This time, Bruce juggles sleuthing, staying sober, a crush on the prime suspect in a murder, and the addictive lure of his ex-wife, who's on her own collision course.

Praise for Death Will Help You Leave Him:
"A wonderful book--authentic, compassionate, and tough." - Barbara D'Amato

"Zelvin's story is good and her dialogue sparkles, but what's best is how she's created haracters who are both over the top and completely believable. Just like real people!" - SJ Rozan

"With humor and heart, Zelvin writes about the challenges of sobriety and the beat of New York City with impressive accuracy. A terrific read." - Alafair Burke

"Here to stay... the sober version of Nick and Nora. A wondrous read." - Ken Bruen

"A heartbreaker of a novel. Through seamless prose and her series protagonist. Bruce Kohler, Zelvin exposes the internal and external demons of recovering addicts and recovering lovers. Much more than a mere whodunit...the "why's" will haunt you long after the book is read." - Naomi Hirahara

"Even more addictive than Death Will Get You Sober." - Reed Farrel Coleman

"Smooth prose and outstanding storytelling ability... a remarkable and strongly recommended first novel." - Library Journal

"Dry humor and original characters....A welcome addition to the mystery field." - Lesa Holstine

"Without being maudlin, cliched or clinical, Zelvin delivers a poignant story....Zelvin's acute sense of people and ow sturdy friendships can be destroyed by dependency elevate Death Will Get You Sober." - Oline Cogdill, Sun-Sentinel

"Her dialog sparkles." - Mystery Scene

"Zelvin...does a hell of a job with the story. Great characters and a wonderful voice. Zelvin is an author to keep your eye on." - Crimespree Magazine

"[An] entertaining debut novel by a psychotherapist...a good surprise ending." - Booklist

Learn more at www.elizabethzelvin.com

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Elizabeth Zelvin's Blog

Agatha nomination for "Death Will Trim Your Tree"--and the full list of nominees

I'm thrilled to announce that my short story "Death Will Trim Your Tree" is one of this year's Agatha award nominees. You can read it at http://www.elizabethzelvin.com/PDF/Zelvin, Death Will TrimYour Tree PDF.pdf .

In a way, I owe it all to CrimeSpace. I'd never written a short story (well, not since college 100 years ago) when Daniel Hatadi announced a short story contest here with… Continue

Posted on February 20, 2010 at 4:58am — 1 Comment

A welcome review nine months after publication

I'm beginning to tool up for publication and promotion of my new mystery, DEATH WILL HELP YOU LEAVE HIM. My debut mystery, DEATH WILL GET YOU SOBER, is gone from most bookstore shelves, though it's in the computers and booksellers can easily get it for a customer who wants it. And of course it's still in libraries and on Amazon and B&N. But I was surprised and thrilled to get a Google Alert that told me the book had just been reviewed on something called The AA Blog.

I know… Continue

Posted on January 27, 2009 at 4:00am — 2 Comments

HAPPY HOLIDAYS TO ALL MY CRIMESPACE FRIENDS!

I'm still getting email replies to the Happy Valentine's greetings I sent out one at a time to all my CrimeSpace friends, so I've decided not to do individual messages this holiday season (though you got one if you're also my friend on MySpace). But I wish you all an abundant and joyful Christmas, Chanukah, Kwanzaa, and/or Solstice. I'm celebrating my deal with St. Martin's for DEATH WILL HELP YOU LEAVE HIM, the follow-up to DEATH WILL LEAVE YOU SOBER. So I'm ending a year of tough up-and-downs… Continue

Posted on December 14, 2008 at 1:05am — 1 Comment

A poison ivy cure that works!

Poison ivy won't kill--unless, maybe, ingested internally?--but it's a great way to torture a victim, although Mother Nature is the only perp in real life. I came down with a virulent case after 2 1/2 weeks of book tour in which I spent a lot of time in bookstores and libraries and none in woods or even gardens. So it's a mystery to me how I got it, but I was looking at two weeks of agony ahead till I got on the Internet and found out about Zanfel, an over-the-counter product you can get at… Continue

Posted on May 21, 2008 at 12:21am

Off to Malice

See you there, traditional mystery lovers! Hugs on request to any CrimeSpacer who attends my Saturday 10:30 am workshop or the signing right after it. :)

Posted on April 24, 2008 at 11:29pm

Comment Wall (165 comments)

You need to be a member of CrimeSpace to add comments!

At 4:23pm on January 8, 2012, Cyndi Martin said…: Did I ever tell you when I finally got to read Death Will Get You Sober? I really enjoyed it. GREAT job!!!

At 5:36am on October 26, 2009, Byron Leon McAllister said…: Ya know, it took me until almost Thanksgiving to read your Valentine's Day greeting, for which thanks. Not that I'm a slow reader, it's just that when I first signed onto this web-whatever-it's-called, nothing really worked, so I never formed the habit of visiting it. Seems like nowadays it's sort of a jumpin' sort of a sort of place, so maybe that habit will form after all.

At 8:36pm on October 18, 2009, Brian Kavanagh said…: Elizabeth, every success for Death Will Help You Leave Him.
Cheers,
Brian

At 5:04am on December 22, 2008, Sheri Fresonke Harper said…: I hope you have a merry Christmas and happy holiday season :) Sheri

At 1:20am on July 8, 2008, Cynde L. Hammond said…: I hope you had a wonderful Fourth of July weekend! (Sorry this is late--we had a death in the family.)
All my best to you,
Cynde

At 2:50pm on June 24, 2008, Cynde L. Hammond said…: Dear Elizabeth,
Thanks so much for adding me! I'm looking forward to getting to know you throughout the coming months and I can't wait until I get a chance to read your book--it sounds great!

*Hugs*
~Cynde

At 3:58am on June 17, 2008, Michelle Gagnon said…: You too, Liz! I'm sure we'll ave a lot of fun.

At 9:56am on June 16, 2008, Simon Wood said…: See you in a week or so. :_)

At 5:38pm on June 8, 2008, Cynde L. Hammond said…: Are you still having problems with your friend requests and new messages? If so, write back to me, ok?
~Cynde

At 1:11pm on April 14, 2008, Janet Ortegon said…: Hello Elizabeth -- I'm new here, but I'm really eager to delve in as much as possible. I can't wait to read Death Will Get You Sober. The title has totally hooked me.
Janet O.