Hallie Ephron

1 - What's your latest?

Hallie Ephron: NEVER TELL A LIE - the paperback edition is just out from HARPER. It tells the story of how expectant mother Ivy Rose's life is upended when an old acquaintance (also very pregnant) turns up at her garage sale, enters the Roses' house on the arm of Ivy's husband, and disappears.

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

Hallie Ephron: Because it'll give you the most visceral impression of what it's like to be 9 months pregnant...how can you resist? Also it'll keep you up nights.

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

Hallie Ephron: The book really is about the thing that so many women care most about-protecting the people we love.

4 - What's your favorite scene and why?

Hallie Ephron: A favorite scene is when Ivy looks out onto the street from her kitchen window. Earlier, she and her husband David put an ancient wicker trunk out for garbage pickup. She can see that the lid of the trunk is open and someone is out there, picking through its contents. The person drops the lid and, in the flash of passing headlights, Ivy sees that it's a woman that, for a moment at least, looks exactly like Ivy. Why do I like it? Because it's unsettling without a hint of violence.

5 - What's next?

Hallie Ephron: I'm working on the final draft of a novel about a recluse, a woman who spends most of her hours in virtual on-line worlds. Her sister disappears, and the only way Diana can get up the courage to go out into the world is to dress up like her avatar. Working title: COME AND FIND ME.

JT Ellison

1 - What's your latest?

JT Ellison:  THE COLD ROOM, February 23, 2010!

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

JT Ellison: It’s an examination of the social mores that exist between….. naw, I’m just kidding. It’s a thriller. It’s thrilling. It’s the fourth book in the Taylor Jackson series, and explores some rather unsavory characters.

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

JT Ellison: That I should know my character inside and out, yet she has a way of surprising me. Turns out her secret wish is to be short. Just for a day. Just to see what it would be like to be little and demure.

4 - What's your favorite scene and why?

JT Ellison: THE COLD ROOM was the most difficult book I’ve ever written, full of research into the dark nooks and crannies of necrophilia. My favorite scene would have to be the opening. When I wrote it, it creeped me out so much that I couldn’t come back to the manuscript for four days.

5 - What's next?

JT Ellison: THE IMMORTALS, in October 2010. This book takes Taylor into a whole new world – the secret underground movement of Nashville’s Goths and Wiccans, and delves a little further into John Baldwin’s background. A lot of fun!

Dana Cameron

1 - What's your latest?


Dana Cameron: My latest is a short story, "Femme Sole," which came out in BOSTON NOIR (ed. Dennis Lehane) in October.

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

Dana Cameron: It's "colonial noir," set in 1740s Boston. It makes me crazy when people romanticize and idealize the past, so I wanted to show the grittier side of 18th-century Massachusetts.

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

Dana Cameron: One thing that has surprised me is the response to Anna Hoyt, the main character. The story's been very well received, and Anna's clearly struck a nerve. I never thought of her as angry, just as someone doing her best to survive in an untenable situation.

4 - What's your favorite scene and why?

Dana Cameron: There are a couple, and I can't tell you, because they'd give too much away! But there is one scene at the end, where Anna has to make one final decision to survive or die on her own terms, and I was pleased with that moment.

5 - What's next?

Dana Cameron: Another historical short story--totally different! "Swing Shift" is set in 1940s Boston, and features my "Fangborn" characters (introduced in"The Night Things Changed," in Harris and Kelner's WOLFSBANE ANDMISTLETOE). I had fun adding werewolves and vampires to the mix of espionage, the Boston jazz scene, and nascent computer technology. That will appear in the MWA anthology CRIMES BY MOONLIGHT this April.

Charles Ardai

1 - What's your latest?


Charles Ardai: My most recent novel is HUNT THROUGH THE CRADLE OF FEAR (published as "by Gabriel Hunt, as told to Charles Ardai").

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

Charles Ardai: It's a better Indiana Jones movie than the last one that appeared in theaters.

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

Charles Ardai: That my credited co-author, Gabriel Hunt, is in fact a fictional character. No wonder he never showed up for meetings!

4 - What's your favorite scene and why?

Charles Ardai: Oh, there are so many scenes I love in this book...like "Raiders of the Lost Ark," the whole point is to have an adventure story made up of just the "good parts." But maybe the scene I like best is the one where Gabriel is racing away from the Pyramids in Egypt on the back of a camel while pursued from behind by men in trucks and suddenly his escape route is blocked when a helicopter rises up in his path. But the he discovers--- Ah, but I can't tell you what he discovers. You just have to read it and find out.

5 - What's next?

Charles Ardai: Next for me is a change of pace: I'm working on the new TV series "Haven" for SyFy in a writing and producing capacity. Lots of fun. But there will be another novel sometime, I promise...

Mary-Ann Tirone Smith

1 - What's your latest?


Mary-Ann Tirone Smith: My latest is a collaboration with my son, Jere Smith: DIRTY WATER: A RED SOX MYSTERY.

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

Mary-Ann Tirone Smith: You should read it because A. It's good; B. It's the 2007 team meaning it has a delirious ending. (Incredibly, my son and I started writing that book at the beginning of the 2007 season and we made a good choice.); and C. It's the first novel with a running BLOG!

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

Mary-Ann Tirone Smith: That would be Rocky Patel, Boston Homicide Detective 1st Grade, originally from the Gujerat. The thing he likes most about older women is their age.

4 - What's your favorite scene and why?

Mary-Ann Tirone Smith: My favorite scene is the climax--the wild and violent shoot-em-up that every police procedural needs to have. It's my favorite because I was insecure about pulling it off and people keep telling me they loved it even though A-Rod doesn't get shot.

5 - What's next?

Mary-Ann Tirone Smith: As an American writer who has written ten books, it was time to take a shot at a Civil War novel. That's what I'm doing.