You don't think he wears a bra- bwhahahaha. Probably thinks it's a holster. Which it is. Kinda. :-)

Oh, I shall definitely have to check out your books. Message me with details, if you like! I love reading books set in places where I've been. I thought Bisbee was lovely.

Jane - I used to live in Bisbee, and have set one horror novel there (fitting) and also the beginning of one of my thrillers there. And my husband used to work for the Desert Museum! Small world.

My relatives live in Wigan, where my mother was born. A far cry, I'm guessing, from Portsmouth.

Yes, we spent a few days in Tucson, and ventured down to Tombstone (my mum is a huge Western fan) and also Bisbee. We particularly loved the desert museum.

I live in Portsmouth on the south coast of England.

Jane - Brad Pitt, or the open pit mine - although we've got plenty. I hope you got down here to Southern Arizona, which is truly beautiful (she said as she sat outside on the terrace typing on her laptop.) I checked out the Kay-El Bar Ranch in Wickenburg - and wish I could go!

All my relatives live in England, New Zealand and Australia. Whereabouts do you live?

Hi Jake... I was attracted by your photo, and then read on and loved your list of films as well. I took my aged mother on a road trip around Arizona last October - we had such a good time. A bit like Thelma and Louise but without the rape and murder. Or Brad Pitt.

Jake -

No she doesn't know about the contest, as far as I know. I've been really pleased with the entrants so far. One school librarian hopes to win, thinking her high school students will like it. It's a blind draw though. (My husband picks the winners.) And, I had some entrants who have never entered before because I mentioned it on FictionL. That's not the place to mention contests, normally, but the subject fit into a current topic of underappreciated mysteries.

Unfortunately, I don't have any friends in Tucson. Everyone I know in AZ is in the Glendale/Phoenix area. But, good luck on the 20th!

Thanks, Lesa - I apprecite so much your telling me that. Sometimes it seems as if our books go out into a vacuum, and we don't get a lot of feedback. And good feedback is especially appreciated!

Liz is fantatic, isn't she? I dedicated DARK SIDE to her, and for a very good reason. She was instrumental in getting me to the place where I could write that series. Does she know about your contest? She and I and the other two Southwest Crime Insters will be speaking at SSA's Sunday event on May 20th, so maybe you could spread the word to your Tucson friends.

Jake - You were mentioned on FictionL (a list for public librarians) today as an underappreciated mystery writer. Great list to be on.

And, you mentioned Liz Gunn. She's another underappreciated one. So underappeciated that I'm offering five copies of her Six-pound Walleye on a contest on my book blog this week.

The Well Red Coyote is a great place! I'm sure my mystery writer friends and I will make a trek up there at some point again. (Southwest Crime Ink - Liz Gunn, Mike Hayes, and Susan Cummins Miller.)

If nothing else, I hope to meet you when you're up here for something for The Poisoned Pen. Or, I might be able to get up to The Well-Red Coyote in Sedona. I haven't been there yet. You're right. We'll get together sometime.

Lesa - I wish we'd met! I will always hold what you said about Darkness close to my heart. It made me happy to think that my book might help in some way to educate people about sexual predators.

One of these days... we're only a couple of hours away.

Hi Jake! I saw you at ThrillerFest, but was too intimidated to introduce myself. I loved both of your books, and I've recommended them to library patrons who want good mysteries set in Arizona. Laura is an intiguing character. And, your love of Arizona comes through in your books. Thank you.

Thanks, Bobbi! I love old motels, diners, coffee shops, filling stations etc., preferably bleached by the sun and falling apart. If I wasn't so lazy, I'd drive Route 66 as far as it goes.

I love that black/white photo, J!

bobbi c.

Just answered my own question. The Australian author is P.D. Martin, and the book, BODY COUNT, came out with Mira in January. My New Zealand aunt flipped over her book, which is good enough for me. (She flipped over mine, too, but that was a requirement.)

Hi Rhonda. I have relatives who live in Oz - in Perth. Quite a distance away. Most of my family lives in NZ. Just found out about another member of our family living in Queensland.

I've heard really great things about an Australian author who writes thrillers. Her book was going to be published here in America after it was published by an English pub, but I can't remember her name. Have you read any new thriller or police procedural writer from Australia who has made a big splash? I'd like to find her book.

Jake

Hello J.Carson Black thanks for the invite your book sound interesting I will have to get the library to buy it.

Angie - I've always wanted to set a scene in Jerome. Preferably, a climax scene, with somebody falling off the mountain.