Tag Archive for: Missing

Missing

/in /by

During 2007, 814,967 missing person records were entered into the National Crime Information Center’s Database.

In 2009, a mysterious gathering of authors present MISSING.

Proceeds from all sales of this book to benefit the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children. (Missing, Echelon Press LLC, 2009)

A little over a year ago Karen Syed of Echelon Press LLC asked if the collective Evelyn David would consider writing a short story for an anthology – the proceeds to benefit the search for missing children. Of course we agreed. This month Missing debuted at the Love Is Murder conference in Chicago.

17 mystery writers contributed to the book, edited by Amy Alessio, and published by Echelon Press LLC.

The role call of short stories and their authors include:

Missing Andy by Amy Alessio
Gemini by Barbara Annino
Dream Works by Regan Black
Harry’s Fall from Grace by Luisa Buehler
Coffee by Rebecca Cantrell
Cleaning up at the Franks by Gayle Carline
Mis-adventures of Guy by Norm Cowie
Riley Come Home by Evelyn David
Signature Required by Susan Gibberman
A Call from Rockford by Robert Goldsborough
An Art Fair in Chicago by Margot Justes
Floaters by J.A. Konrath and Henry Perez
The Cotton Candy Man by Susan Muira
The Right Choice by Tom Schreck
Dog Gone Dog by Michele Scott
Knight Child by J.R. Turner
Caroline Rhodes and the Case of the Fugitive Farmer by Mary Welk

From Riley Come Home by Evelyn David –

“You’re too big to get on my lap!”

Mac Sullivan, retired D.C. police detective and newly-minted private eye, pushed the 125-pound female away from him. “It’s just thunder.”

Big brown eyes gave him an accusing stare. He was getting used to disappointing the women in his life, but he wouldn’t put up with any whining from his partner.

“It’s just thunder! Go take a nap. Rachel is going to be here any minute and I’ve still got to finish up the paperwork on the Steele case.”

Thunder boomed again, causing Whiskey, his Irish wolfhound, to make another try for his lap, this time settling for a spot on his feet under his desk.

“Oh, for …Will you get out from under there?”

He tried to move his feet without much success. “I told you Rachel was going to be here any minute. We’re going out to dinner and I don’t want you getting drool all over my slacks.”

“Excuse me. Have we come at a bad time?” A woman and man stood in his office doorway. The woman did the speaking. “We’re sorry to interrupt ….” She looked pointedly at his desk, “But it’s a matter of life and death.”

Please consider purchasing this book for your personal library. In addition to supporting an excellent charity, it’s an opportunity to get to know unfamiliar writers and find new favorites.

If you’d like an autographed copy from Evelyn David, contact us by email.

Title: Missing
Author: Anthology
ISBN: 978-1-59080-611-1
Genre: Mystery
Pages: 344
Price: $16.99 US, $22.99 CA
Distribution:
Echelon Press Direct 410-878-7113
Ingram Book Company
Partners Book Dist. 800-336-3137
Follett Corp. 800-435-6170
Amazon
Fictionwise
Kindle

Evelyn David
http://www.evelyndavid.com

Love is Murder – Friday Events

/in /by

My first day at the Love is Murder conference is winding down. Murder Takes the Cake and Missing showed up in the conference bookstore about noon. Believe me I was lurking in the hallway, waiting to catch a glimpse as soon as the bookseller put them on the table.

As I was counting the toes and fingers of my newborns (Just kidding but not much. Writing a book is like giving birth), Karen Syed of Echelon Press (my publisher) walked up and asked how I liked the cover. I told her the truth, I love the cover. Echelon does great covers. Whiskey is front and center again.

I had brought posters of all three books (Murder Off the Books, Murder Takes the Cake, and Missing). I put those out on a table with bookmarks. There were multiple panels on Friday afternoon, but I only had time to attend one, what with all the hallway lurking and carting promo materials from my room to the conference area. (Note to self – wear the running shoes tomorrow no matter what they look like with your suit.)

The panel I sat in on today was Power Marketing. Morgan Mandel moderated it. She did a wonderful job covering a large number of topics. Rosemary Harris, Joanna Campbell Slan, and Jennie Spallone were featured. Lots of info on blogging, making posters, and promo items was relayed.

There was a big signing event for Missing just before the dinner sponsored by Echelon authors. At least 10 or 11 of the 17 authors who contributed to the anthology were at one long table to sign copies for people who had purchased the book today. Proceeds from Missing are being donated to the National Center for Missing and Abused Children.

After dinner Centuries and Sleuths bookseller Auggie Aleksey read an essay on Sherlock Holmes.

One of my favorite authors – Jeffery Deaver was in the audience. He, along with Steve Berry and Sharan Newman, are the conference’s featured authors. Recently I read his latest, The Bodies Left Behind. Great book!

Tomorrow, I want to attend a panel at 9:00 am – The Doctor Is In – an emergency room doctor is going to offer some help with medical problems that come up in mysteries. The program mentioned “slides.” Can’t wait!

There’s a screenwriting panel at 10:00 am. I’d like to make that one too.

At 2:30 pm I’m on a panel concerning Collaborative Writing. I plan to explain how “Evelyn David” writes and why we’re able to make it work!

I’ve had a full day. Would love to end it with a viewing of the latest Battlestar Galactica but alas (writers can say “alas”) the hotel doesn’t get the Sci-Fi channel. Someone please email me at evelyndavid@evenlyndavid.com and tell me what happens in tonight’s episode!

I’ll be coming home with a few advace copies of Murder Takes the Cake. If you want one, contact us at the email address above. First come, first served. The scheduled publish date is May 2009.

Evelyn
http://www.evelyndavid.com

The Road to Love Is Murder – Part II

/in /by

A week from now I’ll be on the road to Chicago to the Love is Murder conference. It will probably be the second day of my drive – since I just can’t seem to make myself drive more than 6 or 7 hours in one stretch. Also weather will play into my travel plans. Snow and ice will move the start of my journey up a day.

For the past week I’ve been sorting through my promo items and figuring out clothes for the trip. I always pack too much and then I have to cart it all into the hotel with me. I found the Rosemont Hotel (where the conference was held the last few years) very warm even if the outside temps were subzero. My wool suit jackets were uncomfortable, but this year the conference has moved to a different hotel. Maybe I can wear the wool. Decisions … Decisions.

This week’s blogs on the Stiletto Gang have been about procrastination in one form or another. I’m good at procrastination too. I’ve got a half-dozen things I need to get done before I leave and instead I’m watching NetFlix movies. (The last season of Foyle’s War is now available).

Back to procrastination – when I really don’t want to do something I make a list about all the things I need to do. Somehow making the list makes me feel less guilty for not actually doing anything. I’m a good list maker. The first thing on my current list is to make a list for things I need to pack for Love is Murder.

I’m lucky enough to be on a Saturday panel about team writing. So on my to-do list I need to add “be sure and pack materials for the panel”: a copy of each of my books for display, as well as bookmarks and any give-away items I’m going to pass out to the panel audience. Usually three panels are running at any one time at Love is Murder, so you never know how large a crowd you’ll have – depends on the competition. For instance if John Grisham was appearing on a panel next door at the same time – even I would have a hard time listening to me!

I love mystery panels. Before (during and after) I was an author I was a reader. A big reader. I still get a thrill listening to some of my favorite authors speak – put Charlaine Harris and Nancy Pickard on the same panel and I’ll be in the front row every time. They’re fabulous writers, but also lots of fun to listen to. I met a new author, Rosemary Harris, last year at the conference. She’s a lovely person and I’m looking forward to seeing her again. She’s sponsoring a hospitality room this year to promote her new book, The Big Dirt Nap. Sounds like a gritty mystery, doesn’t it? I’m joking. Last year Rosemary gave me a pack of Daisy seeds as a promotion for her debut book, Pushing Up Daisies. Do you think this year she’ll … Just kidding, Rosemary. Anyway, I’ll be picking up a copy of her new book while I’m there.

That’s the other wonderful thing about attending conferences – besides meeting authors, you can find their latest books. Love is Murder has a book room and booksellers set up their wares on tables. Since I’m driving, I don’t have to worry about weighing down my suitcases with too many books and getting penalized by the airlines. Last year I came home with all of Charlaine Harris’s vampire series and her psychic series. I also purchased books by Luisa Buehler, Craig Johnson, and Margaret Maron.

Did I mention that Evelyn David will have two new books at Love Is Murder this year? We have a short story, Riley Come Home, in the Echelon anthology, Missing. We also are giving conference attendees an opportunity to purchase an advance copy of Murder Takes the Cake, the sequel to Murder Off the Books. Murder Takes the Cake’s official publication date is May 2009, but Echelon did a special printing just for Love Is Murder.

If you’re at the conference, hunt me down and I’ll sign a copy for you. I’ve also got some plastic “wedding ducks” to give away to buyers of the first twenty copies of Murder Takes the Cake. Hey, wedding ducks, that’s not something you see everyday!

Note to self: Add gaggle of ducks to list of things to pack.

More next week from the road!

Evelyn David

Lost and Found

/in /by

The collective Evelyn David had great fun writing Riley Come Home, a new Sullivan Investigations short story. It will appear in Missing, a new anthology, set to debut in October. The collection will benefit the Center for Missing and Exploited Children. Creating a believable mystery fraught with red herrings and clever twists, with characters that have depth and substance, all under 5,000 words, was the toughest writing assignment we’ve had since we started collaborating five years ago.


Riley Come Home plunges Mac, Rachel, and Whiskey into the high-stakes dog show circuit, searching for a missing Irish wolfhound whose pedigree is longer than Crystal Gayle’s hair. I wish I’d had this sleuthing trio when Snickers, our first dog, went missing.

It began on a rainy Saturday afternoon. My husband was not only out of town on business, but out of the country, so the Sherlock Holmes/Miss Marple role would have to be played by moi. I’d promised the kids that we could make chocolate chip cookies and had left a bag of the chocolate morsels on the counter (Mistake #1). I left the kitchen for what I swear was a total of two minutes, and returned to find the bag on the floor half empty and Snickers with a chocolate mustache.

I know that chocolate can be lethal to dogs, so I put in an emergency call to the vet who informed me that I had to make Snickers vomit in order to get the chocolate out of her system. Oy! Cursing under my breath – as well as loud enough for my husband to hear me five thousand miles away – I gave her an emetic and proceeded to spend the next hour cleaning up after the little darling.

The vet also told me that I should then give her rice and boiled chicken for the next few days. Oh goody. Another palate to placate since the only meal the four kids could agree on was a strawberry fruit roll-up.

So I prepared the delicacy for Snickers, then put her outside in the fenced backyard so she could do her “business.” Mistake #2.

It’s easy to get distracted in a house full of kids, so I confess it was probably a half hour or more (okay, more, she wasn’t exactly on my hit parade list that afternoon) before I went to let the dog back in the house and discovered…yes Mistake #3, the gate to the backyard was open and Snickers was nowhere to be found

Hysteria descended en masse as the children wailed about their missing dog, although were generally useless in actually searching for the hound.

The phone rang. It was the cops. Yes, they had found Snickers. Yes, they knew exactly where she was…the dog pound. And did I know that her license had expired, that there was a fine for letting a dog run around off the leash, not to mention a fine for the expired license?

I could find Snickers at the local pound…but couldn’t bail her out until the next day because the village office was closed so I couldn’t pay the fine and get the license renewed until then.

I took the boiled chicken and rice to the “inmate” since I certainly didn’t want her to have to deal with institutional food. Just to add insult to injury, I lost one of my favorite Tupperware bowls at the dog pound.

I wish I could say that Snickers learned her lesson(s) and that she returned a chastened dog who never again ate food off the counter or dashed out the door to freedom. I could write that because I’m a fiction writer…but as a woman of truth, the only one who learned a lesson that weekend was my husband….business travel can indeed be rewarding.

Evelyn David