Elizabeth Sims

1 - What's your latest?

Elizabeth Sims: ON LOCATION: A Rita Farmer Mystery, hardcover from St. Martin's Minotaur, released August 3, 2010. It's the third in the Rita Farmer series, (THE EXTRA, 2009; THE ACTRESS, 2008).

2 - Assuming I haven't read it, why should I?

Elizabeth Sims: You definitely should NOT read it if you hate 'crime fiction as smart as it is compelling,' which is what Booklist called it. If you're tired of 'maximum impact' (Publishers Weekly) and never again want to read a 'fabulous novel' (Harriet Klausner), PLEASE don't pick up this book. You'll just have a terrible time. On the other hand, if you've ever had an argument with a sibling and wondered how far brotherly or sisterly love--or hate-- can go, you should read ON LOCATION. If you want to lose yourself in a story that rips you from your worries and hurls you into an exhilarating maelstrom of wilderness suspense, personal courage, and calculated risk involving renegade loggers, millionaire heirs to a lumber fortune, and a little boy with a talent for drawing the truth---well then, give ON LOCATION a try.

3 - What can you tell us about your main character that you hadn't realized until you answered the question?

Elizabeth Sims: I believe she has an appendectomy scar I hadn't noticed before.

4 - What's your favorite scene and why?

Elizabeth Sims: This is hard. The story takes place mostly in the storm-lashed Pacific Northwest, where Rita's sister Gina has gone missing while scouting movie locations. It's tough to decide between two scenes: one is Rita's love interest George Rowe impersonating a yacht salesman to get a high-class dame to spill some tasty beans. The other is a fight to the death between sasquatch-like wilderness thugs and Team Rita. I can't spoil it, but I can tell you the scene involves Rita playing a role with the help of raccoon skins, a hatchet, and a 70-foot log bridge over a foaming river chasm.

5 - What's next?

Elizabeth Sims: Am working on the fourth in the series, titled BEST BOY, where Rita's son Petey gets even more involved in this business of distinguishing liars from murderers from good guys. Also, as a Contributing Editor at WRITER'S DIGEST magazine, I'm continuing to write features on how to write great fiction. Am also working on a book about that. www.elizabethsims.com.