A Few Thoughts About Cats by Marilyn Levinson

When it comes to cats, I sometimes think there are two kinds of people. The cat haters shudder when you mention the word "cat." "They're sneaky." "They climb everywhere." "They don't listen." "They won't love you like a dog will." The cat lovers smile when you tell them you have cats and are eager to see photos of your fur babies. Often they will pull out their phone to show you pictures of their own. 

I am a cat lover and the carer of two cats. Of course I think the world of dogs and loved my Mini Schnauzer. But I not only adore my kitties, I find them fascinating. My dilute tortie Juliet speaks to me constantly. As soon as I sit down, she's on my lap and eyes me soulfully--her way of telling me to put down my Sudoku puzzle and rub under her chin. Her medium-haired brother Romeo retrieves cards and papers from the dining room table and drops them at my feet with the quietest meow. Both cats are always close by, and when they aren't they come as soon as I call them. 

Yes, they do some of the things the haters accuse them of. While my two felines usually obey me when I tell them to stop doing something, they insist on climbing onto the kitchen table though they don't touch our food. They're good about using the scratching pads scattered around the house, but occasionally need to be reminded not to claw the dining room chairs. They are loving and affectionate.

 Cats were revered in Ancient Egypt, but they haven't always had an easy time of it. In the Middle Ages, cats were reviled as witches' familiars and in league with the devil. Many were massacred. So many, in fact, that it's been said that the Black Death/Bubonic Plague in the fourteenth century killed so many people because cats, that would have killed the rats and the fleas on them that carried the plague, had been exterminated. Nowadays cats are popular pets, probably because of the invention of kitty litter in 1947.

Cats are clever, curious, and comical. They make wonderful companions to their sleuths in cozy mysteries and often add a dimension to the story. In my Haunted Library series, Carrie Singleton finds Smoky Joe, who started out life as a barn kitty, when he wanders onto her lawn. After he jumps into her car, she ends up bringing him to the library where she's head of programs and events.

And when Smoky Joe proves to be sociable with the patrons, he quickly becomes the library cat. He even takes part in the mysteries Carrie resolves—finding diamonds that no one can locate in one book and saving Carrie from a murderer in another. 

These days, it's not only cozies where cats have a role. A kitten makes an appearance in the latest "Reacher" season on Netflix. 

What do you think about cats as a pet or as a character in a mystery? 

An Interview With Marilyn Levinson/Allison Brook

by Grace Topping

 

One of the pleasures of being a member of the mystery writing community is attending writers’ conferences and spending time with the friends you make there. Over the years, I’ve had the good fortune to meet up regularly with Marilyn Levinson, writing also as Allison Brook, at conferences like Sleuthfest and Malice Domestic. Marilyn is also a regular contributor to Writers Who Kill. It was a delight to read the latest book in her Haunted Library series, Death on the Shelf,and to learn more about her and her series.

 

Death on the Shelf

Clover Ridge librarian Carrie Singleton is thrilled to attend her best friend Angela's wedding, but Angela's family can be a bit...much. Angela’s wealthy cousin Donna hosts an extravagant bridal shower at her resplendent home, but the celebrations turn to gossip as the guests notice Donna's surgeon husband, Aiden, spending a bit too much time with Donna’s cousin Roxy. At the wedding reception, the sweet occasion turns darkly bitter when Aiden topples into the chocolate fountain - dead. 

The suspect list is as long as the guest list, and as difficult to sort out as the seating chart. A few of the top contenders on Carrie’s suspect list are the flirtatious Roxy, emotionally unstable since her recent divorce; Angela's grouchy brother, who feels Aiden betrayed him; and Roxy's scorned ex-husband. Even Donna may have had reason to want her husband dead. And Aiden's gossipy office manager has plenty to say about them all. 

Then another member of Angela's family is murdered, making Carrie more determined than ever to find the killer. Can library ghost Evelyn and library cat Smoky Joe help Carrie solve the murders before she becomes the next of Angela’s wedding guests to head to the grave?

 

 

Welcome, Marilyn.

 

Since you first introduced Carrie Singleton in your Haunted Library series with her purple hair and goth appearance, she has evolved considerably. What accounted for this?

 

When Carrie came to stay with her great-aunt and uncle in Clover Ridge, she was unhappy and lacking a sense of belonging anywhere. Her goth appearance reflected her lack of purpose. As soon as she is offered the position of head of programs and events at the Clover Ridge Library, she settles into her job and proves to be a hard worker and a responsible citizen. 

 

Evelyn, the library ghost, provides Carrie with information about people in the community, but she is unable to identify villains or directly help Carrie solve a crime. With Evelyn being in the great beyond, why can’t she do more?

 

Evelyn holds back information when it reflects badly on her two nieces and nephew. She has no more knowledge regarding a murderer's identity than Carrie does. However, Evelyn is in her mid-sixties and occasionally offers thirty-year-old Carrie advice about life in general.

 

Death on the Shelf features a bridal shower, a wedding, and a murder at the wedding. People love weddings. Did you have to walk a fine line with having the crime happen at the wedding and with who died?

 

I felt a bit bad about having a wedding guest die during Angela and Steve's wedding. But the murder takes place near the end of the reception and is comical in a noirish way. Of course the murder brings a good deal of anguish to Angela and her family because the victim is a relative and the murderer might also be a relative.

 

Having a cat at the library seems to be popular with most of the library patrons and with readers. Have you known of a library cat? Are you a cat owner?

 

Alas, my Sammy died a year and a half ago. I love cats and thought that Smoky Joe, being the sociable feline that he is, would make a wonderful library cat. In Read and Gone he even helps solve a mystery.

 

In each of your books, we have followed Carrie’s relationship with her parents. In Death on the Shelf, Carrie has developed a closer relationship with her father. What accounted for that? Do you think Carry will ever be able to fully bridge her relationship with her mother?

 

Carrie always adored her father, but being a thief, Jim Singleton spent a good deal of Carrie's childhood away from the family. He makes a startling reentry into her life in Read and Gone, the second book in the series. At first Carrie is very wary of rekindling their relationship for fear of getting hurt again. But Jim is determined to atone for his past behavior. He gives up his life of crime, and he works at establishing a solid relationship with Carrie. Ironically, Jim gets a job at   the investigative agency of which Carrie's fiancé is part-owner. 

 

Carrie's mother Linda is another story. She's self-centered, rather pretentious, and not very maternal. In Checked Out For Murder, Linda and her husband Tom come to Clover Ridge because Tom is in a movie being filmed there. Carrie ends up having her mother as a house guest for a short time. While the two women don't suddenly become bosom buddies, Carrie realizes that her mother does love her. She begins to accept that Linda will never be the warm, selfless mother she wishes she were. 

 

With five books in this series, how are you able to keep the series fresh?

 

While the series continues the ever-evolving development of Carrie and her relationships with friends, colleagues and relatives, I consider each book a new adventure that deals with a different theme, a new set of problems, and a murder or two. And of course each book introduces new characters. I've been told by many readers that each book stands on its own. Someone could enjoy reading Death on the Shelf, for example, without having read the previous four books.

 

I really enjoyed your Twin Lakes and Golden Age of Mystery Book Club mystery series. Do you ever see yourself adding to those series? Any thought about a possible new series?

 

I would love to continue my Twin Lakes and Golden Age of Mystery Book Club series, but I can only write one book at a time, and right now I'm focusing on the Haunted Library series.  I do have an idea for another series, and I would like to try my hand at writing mystery short stories.

 

With your experience writing for children and your expertise in Spanish, have you ever considered writing children’s books in Spanish?

 

Not really.

 

What is the one thing that has contributed the most to your career as a writer?

 

Perseverance. I kept on writing despite receiving rejections. Becoming a marketable writer is a process that comes from years of writing.

 

What has been the best thing for you about being a writer?

 

I love communicating with readers via Facebook and other social media. Knowing that readers are enjoying my books and are eager to read more of them inspires me to write.

 

What’s next for Carrie and Dylan?

 

I'm about to start writing book number seven. Carrie and Dylan are engaged and looking forward to their future together. Dylan travels to the Chicago area to retrieve a painting he has inherited, which turns out to be more problematic than he expects with murder and art fraud on the horizon. 

 

Thank you, Marilyn.

Buy link: https://bit.ly/36OkDrG

website: http://www.marilynlevinson.com

 

Some Thoughts for the New Year by Marilyn Levinson

Happy 2022, Everyone! I'm not one for making New Year's resolutions. It's not that I consider my lifestyle to be perfect but I eat properly, exercise regularly, and get my manuscripts to my editor on time. I could resolve to write first thing every morning before checking my email and Facebook sites instead of getting in a few hours before dinner, but my pattern is set and it works well enough. I stay in touch with friends and family. I get enough sleep and I keep up with doctors' appointments and necessary shots. What I needed, I soon realized, was to simplify my life—cut down on activities and delete what wasn't working in my life.

With that in mind, I withdrew my membership from a group of mystery writers I'd joined at its inception a few years ago. I liked the idea of being part of a group whose purpose was to support one another and promote each others' books in various ways. I grew to like the members very much but after a while began to wonder if the group was working for me. Very few members were writing cozies like me and most were indie-published, which I'm not. I had certain obligations to the group, which I fulfilled, but rarely volunteered to fill positions, which made me feel bad for not giving it my all. And I wasn't giving it my all, I realized, because I wasn't fully invested in the group's activities. And so I left.

I'm at an age where I have to choose my activities because whatever I do takes a bit more time and a bit more effort. I soon realized that I was putting pressure on myself in ways that had nothing to do with other people. Oddly enough, this had to do with my evening, which is my so-called "free time" because I don't do any work related to writing. But being goal-oriented I feel obliged to remain busy. Accomplish. Some of the activities that have to be done and accomplished involve going through two newspapers online, working a crossword puzzle, watching a few streaming shows, then read or listen to a book—and do some knitting if my hands don't hurt. Needless to say, these "accomplishments" keep me occupied till after midnight. Of course I enjoy doing them, but why the pressure? Why the urgency to see all, read all, do all? Who cares how many of the series, movies and books my friends recommend I get to enjoy as well? The point is, I have to learn not to care.

It's time I learned to relax. Not feel obliged to load up my schedule so that every minute is spent in a worthwhile endeavor. I'm well past the age of retirement and entitled to simply sit and daydream occasionally without mentally working on my plot. I need time and space to just . . . be.

An Interview with Marilyn Levinson (Allison Brook) by E. B. Davis

Librarian Carrie Singleton is building a haven, but one of her neighbors is misbehavin'. Can resident spirit Evelyn help Carrie catch the culprit who made her a ghost?

In winter, the Haunted Library is a refuge for homeless townspeople. When a group purchases a vacant house to establish a daytime haven for the homeless, Carrie offers the library as a meeting place for the Haven House committee, but quickly learns that it may be used for illegal activities.

As the new Sunshine Delegate, Carrie heads to the hospital to visit her cantankerous colleague, Dorothy, who had fallen outside the local supermarket. She tells Carrie that her husband tried to kill her--and that he murdered her Aunt Evelyn, the library's resident ghost, six years earlier.

And then Dorothy is murdered--run off the road as soon as she returns to work. Evelyn implores Carrie to find her niece's killer, but that's no easy task: Dorothy had made a hobby of blackmailing her neighbors and colleagues. Carrie, Evelyn, and Smoky Joe the cat are on the case, but are the library cards stacked against them?

Amazon.com

Most of you know that WWK’s Marilyn Levinson writes under the name Allison Brook. Buried in the Stacks is the third in her Haunted Library mystery series, which was released by Crooked Lane Books yesterday.

I interviewed Marilyn about the first book in this series, Death Overdue, in 2017. I’m happy she joined WWK this year and wanted to interview her about Buried in the Stacks. Feel free to say hello and ask questions of Marilyn about her series using the comments link below.

Welcome, Marilyn!                                                E. B. Davis

Hello, Elaine! I'm happy to be part of Writers Who Kill and to be interviewed by you once again.

The homeless have taken to spending time in the library, especially since the onset of winter. Does this happen at all libraries?

Yes, very often when the weather turns cold. Many homeless seek out comfortable places like the library where they can spend their days until it's time to return to their shelter for dinner and to sleep.

Sally, Carrie’s boss, appoints her the new Sunshine Delegate, which entails sending cards or flowers to ill library staff or those who have a death in the family. When odious Dorothy ends up in the hospital after a fall on black ice, why does Carrie decide to visit her?

Sally suggests that Carrie visit Dorothy in the hospital. Carrie knows that this is more than a request. She also does it for Evelyn Havers' sake. Evelyn, the library ghost, is very fond of her niece Dorothy, despite her unpleasant disposition.  

Doris and Henry Maris are middle-class but are now homeless. How does this happen?

Henry is becoming senile and made several bad decisions that ruined their business. The Marises eventually lose their store and their home. They go to live with their son, but he, too, loses his home when he and his wife separate.

Dylan, Carrie’s boyfriend changes his business plans, which upsets Carrie. Why?

Dylan's original plan was to set up his investigator's office in Clover Ridge. When his boss Mac invites Dylan to become a partner, they both decide that New Haven would be a better locale for the new office as it's closer to Manhattan. Carrie is upset because this means that Dylan will be working half an hour away instead of in Clover Ridge.

Dorothy is convinced mild-mannered Fred, her husband, is not only responsible for her injury, but also for her Aunty Evelyn’s death. Why would she think that?

Someone knocks Dorothy down. Fred is the first person she sees after being out cold for a minute or two. Seeing Fred triggers the memory of her Aunt Evelyn's death years ago when Evelyn died as the result of a fall on ice. That same night, Dorothy suddenly remembers, Fred came home late. In her confused state, she thinks Fred knocked her down as well as Evelyn, who died as a result of her fall.

Ernie Pfeiffer is a crook who swindled Evelyn and her husband. Why would Fred want to invest with him?

Ernie swears that this investment is on the up-and-up. Fred is naïve and believes him. Fred wants to believe it's true because of the promise of big returns on his investment

Is Carrie obsessed with eating avocados?

Like her author, Carrie eats avocados often. She likes the way they taste and knows that they are healthy.

Although Evelyn is a ghost, Carrie learns she hasn’t acted in life or death angelically. What brought Carrie to that conclusion?

One life lesson that Carrie learns in Buried In The Stacks is that everyone has his or her dark side and is capable of spiteful, dishonorable behavior. Before Sally became the library's director, Evelyn helped her predecessor with financial records, etc. Sally refused Evelyn's help in a tactless manner and the two women clashed. Carrie realizes that Evelyn encouraged her to take the head of programs and events position, not because she thought she'd be great at the job, but in hope that she'd be a thorn in Sally's paw. Also, Evelyn put salt in the grumpy computer librarian's coffee when he was less than civil to her.

Most importantly, Evelyn holds back important information regarding investigations if there's a chance that it will make her nieces and nephew look bad.

Carrie suffers from illogical thinking. “…if I couldn’t convince her to tell me the truth, I should have told John what she’d said in the hospital. Then it would have been John’s fault that she was killed and not mine.” (Kindle Loc. 1130) Why does Carrie think John or she were responsible for Dorothy’s death?

Carrie is suffering survivor's guilt and feeling somewhat responsible for not preventing Dorothy's death. If only she'd told John that Dorothy suspected that her husband had tried to murder her! Then she'd no longer be responsible because the problem would be in the hands of the police. And then if Dorothy died, according to her illogical thinking, John would have been responsible for Dorothy's death.

Evelyn fears she exacerbated the rivalry Dorothy had with her younger sister and brother by bequeathing her estate to Dorothy. Why did Evelyn make Dorothy her sole heir?

Dorothy's brother and sister kept on hitting Evelyn up for small loans that they had no intention of repaying. Evelyn got tired of this and decided to leave all of her money (not very much, after losing most of it to one of Ernie Pfeiffer's schemes) to Dorothy, who was her favorite. 

Why does Carrie have great empathy for Evelyn even if she doesn’t always reveal everything she knows to Carrie?

Carrie is very fond of Evelyn. She knows that she holds back information when it might implicate one of her nieces or nephew.

Carrie thinks, “…how sad it was that we weren’t able to choose the people we love.” (Kindle Loc. 1617) Is that true? Don’t we have a choice?

Ah, books can and have been written about this subject. I think it's true that we can't choose the people we love. Sometimes our choices are disasters. Evelyn loves Dorothy and makes excuses for the bad things she does. As for the question—do we have a choice? It's not possible to "choose" a feeling. Only our ability to act on it.

Gillian has lousy taste in men. Will she ever wise up?

Let's hope. She falls for men who are good-looking and forgets to look for indications that will reveal character. Carrie meets a nice young man in the fourth book of the series. In book five, she considers introducing him to Gillian.

When Gillian tells Carrie Haven House will be used after hours for illegal activities, Carrie gets depressed turning it into self-doubt. After her upbringing, is she still idealistic?

Carrie is still idealistic. She joins the group that is bringing Haven Home to the homeless population and is disgusted when she learns it's a front for a group of people intent on making money. She's also an activist and helps devise a solution for the future of Haven House.

Are all families dysfunctional?

More books could be written about this. <g>  I wouldn't go so far as to say all families are dysfunctional, but it's my experience that people have many sides to them. People have quirks, bad habits and worse that impact their loved ones.

Who is Ken Talbot and how does Carrie know him?

Carrie meets Ken Talbot, a lawyer, in Death Overdue, the first book in the Haunted Library mystery series when Ken accompanies members of the Foster family to the library to hear retired Detective Al Buckley talk about his newly discovered evidence concerning the murder of Laura Foster fifteen years earlier. Ken and Carrie forge a friendship and she occasionally calls on

him for help regarding legal matters.

Carrie has complicated relationships with her parents. Although her father was a thief, she has a better relationship with him than with her mother. Why?

Carrie always adored her father and was very hurt when Jim spent periods of time away from the family, even when he wasn't behind bars. Jim shows up suddenly in Read and Gone, asking Carrie to help him out with a "little problem" that she rightfully refuses to touch. But when he's accused of murder, she staunchly defends him though she refuses to call him "dad." Jim loves Carrie and proves it time after time until she sees that it's true. He even gives up his life of crime.

Carrie's mother is not very maternal. She resents having been thrust into the position of a single parent. She's self-absorbed, and critical rather than supportive of Carrie. When Carrie was at her lowest point and asked to stay with her mother and her husband, she was refused.

What’s next for Carrie?

In Checked Out For Murder, Carrie's mother arrives in Clover Ridge with her husband and a movie crew to film a romantic comedy. Meanwhile, Carrie makes a new friend who, so Evelyn tells her, used to live in Clover Ridge until her father was murdered twenty years ago. More murders, more complications, more fun!

An Interview With Marilyn Levinson, Writing as Allison Brook

by Grace Topping

One of the greatest pleasures of being a part of the mystery writing community is the friendships you form with other writers, and getting to know them by their various names. The next best thing is celebrating with them each new book they launch. Marilyn Levinson was one of the first people I met when I started attending writers’ conference. Since then, I’ve followed her career and enjoyed all her books. When I saw that Marilyn has a new series, the Haunted Library Mysteries, written under the pen name of Allison Brook, I was anxious to hear what she had to say about Read and Gone, her latest book, and about her new identity.  

Read and Gone by Allison Brook

Twenty million dollars’ worth of missing gems bring Carrie Singleton’s long-lost and larcenous dad back into her life and it’s up to Carrie to clear his name.

A devoted dad is as precious as diamonds, but Carrie Singleton wouldn’t know since her dad Jim’s been on the lam most of her life. In an unusual family reunion, she finds Jim breaking into her cottage in the middle of the night. The fun really starts when he begs her to help him recover his half of a twenty-million-dollar gem heist he pulled off with the local jeweler, Benton Parr. When she refuses, Jim takes off again. 

Carrie finds her father again behind bars for the recent murder of Benton Parr. Who made the connection? Unbeknownst to her, Carrie’s boyfriend Dylan, an insurance investigator, has been searching for the gems. Determined to find the jewels herself, she starts examining every facet of Parr’s life. She turns up a treasure trove of suspects, one of whom bashes her on the head as she’s searching the victim’s country cabin. 

www.amazon.com

Welcome, Marilyn/Allison, to Writers Who Kill.

Read and Gone deals with murder, the greed of several individuals searching for stolen jewels, and complex family relationships. What do you say to individuals who think cozy mysteries only feature lightweight stories?

Marilyn Levinson/Allison Brook

Like any genre, cozies—and there are many, many of them—range from breezy, light-hearted stories to ones that include serious issues. I can only write the type of book that I love to read. My characters are three-dimensional, with strengths, secrets, and problems. I find that whatever "cause" appears in my mystery is an intrinsic part of the storyline. I love writing about my characters' relationships with one another and how they often change over the course of the novel.

Carrie’s criminal father deserted the family years ago, and as a result, she has mixed emotions when he turns up in her life again. How does she deal with her deep resentment against her father and help him when he is injured, without being drawn into the world of jewelry heists? 

Because her father is a career criminal, Carrie is law-biding and honest. She refuses to help Jim (she thinks of him as Jim) retrieve his half of the heist. But when he's accused of murdering his double-dealing partner, she knows he's not a murderer and sets out to prove his innocence. For the first time in ages, Carrie and her father spend time together. Jim tells her how sorry he is for not having been there for her when she and her brother were growing up. He shows her in many ways—like buying a Christmas tree and decorations for her cottage—that he wants them to have a closer relationship. In the end, they both make changes—Jim in his lifestyle; Carrie in her attitude toward him. 

It was amazing how many of Carrie’s acquaintances were lured by a cache of jewels. What is it that would make law-abiding citizens go after stolen goods?

The people who go after the jewels all want them for various reasons. In most cases, to change their present lives to something they imagine would be better. The jewels were stolen so these so-called law-biding citizens, see them as belonging to no one, when in fact they do belong to someone.

Read and Gone is more suspenseful than your previous book in the Haunted Library series. With lots of cozy writers moving into suspense and thrillers, have you given any thought about going that route?

I did write two romantic suspense novels. So far, one of them, Dangerous Relations, has been published. Romantic suspense novels include mystery and romance elements as well as a sense of suspense. I find that each of my books takes on its own form of development. There is a sense of suspense in Read and Gone as many characters go in search of the gems. Who will find it? Who else will be murdered? 

Carrie works in a library haunted by a former library aide, Evelyn, whom only Carrie and a young child can see. Why doesn’t Evelyn help identify the murderer and make Carrie’s life easier?

Evelyn isn't always as helpful as Carrie might wish. For one thing, Evelyn's niece Dorothy, the reference librarian, isn't a very nice person. While Evelyn dotes on Dorothy, she's also ashamed of some of the things Dorothy does and says. Therefore, she won't always tell Carrie everything she knows for fear of "looking bad." She also has her own agenda and is ashamed of a few things she herself has done. 

Smoky Joe is the library’s resident cat. Carrie discovers that there are lots of benefits having a cat at the library during the day. Please tell us about them?

Smoky Joe plays a big part in solving the mystery in READ AND GONE. He has the run of the library, which gives Carrie the opportunity to do the same, while pretending she's looking for Smoky Joe. 

You wrote the Haunted Library Series using the pen name Allison Brook. Why the pen name? 

That was done at my [new] publisher's request. I'd published children's books, a romantic suspense, and other mysteries as Marilyn Levinson. Most people know that Allison Brook is me, Marilyn.

One thing I admire particularly about your writing is your broad vocabulary. Do you ever have to stand up to an editor about your choice of words?

Well, thank you! I don't remember ever having a problem defending my choice of words. To me, the word has to sound right. I'm very aware of the cadence of a sentence. I've had an editor question the word "shiva" because she was concerned that the general public might not know it's part of the Jewish tradition of mourning after a death in the family, but I felt I'd made its meaning very clear via the context of the text.

As a former Spanish teacher you started out writing novels for young readers. What prompted the move to mysteries?

I wrote novels for kids when my boys were growing up. I decided to change genres because I wasn't selling many titles. I love mysteries and so I decided to write one. The first was Giving Up the Ghost, a favorite of mine. As you can see, I often include ghosts in my novels. And the occasional witch. My juvenile novel, Rufus and Magic Run Amok, is about a boy who discovers he's a witch. Rufus doesn't want to tell his mother, aunt and grandmother, who are witches, because they'll make him take classes on how to control his magic. (I wrote this before Harry Potter.)

Writing is such an isolated activity, yet you’ve written that one of the rewards of writing is sharing the camaraderie and support of your fellow scribes. How do you form these relationships?

I find the mystery writing community to be very supportive. I've made wonderful friendships through listservs like the Guppies. Some of these people I will never meet in person. Some—like you and me—get together at conferences and catch up at dinner or over a drink in the bar. Grace, I can't even remember how or when we met. Do you remember?

I understand that you are going to be attending Bouchercon, one of the world’s largest mystery fan conferences. What do you enjoy most about attending a conference like this and other conferences? Would you recommend them for writers just starting out? 

I go to very few conferences. I love Malice and go there most years. This past year was very special because my novel, Death Overdue, was a nominee for Best Contemporary Novel. What an honor!! This year I'm venturing to go to Bouchercon, which I understand is HUGE, in every sense of the word. I originally signed up because a writing friend advised me to go. I did, but then she had to back out. But I will have friends there. I'm thrilled that my publisher and marketing associate will be taking me out to lunch. AND I have a panel Sunday morning. 

Conferences are great for meeting people in the flesh—your writing associates, friends, and fans. While conferences might prove daunting to writers not yet published, they are a wonderful way to meet people sharing your interest. I’d advise first attending a small conference, if possible, in your state. Be sure to let the writers on your listserv know you’ll be attending a conference because people will often arrange beforehand to meet for lunch or dinner. This is how I met some of my good friends.

What are you working on now? Also, what’s next for Carrie and her friends?

I'm almost finished with Book Number Three of the Haunted Library series. In this mystery, a member of the library staff is murdered. Carrie's best friend Angela is preparing for her wedding, and Carrie's boyfriend Dylan will soon be working closer to home.

Thank you, Marilyn. Have a great time at Bouchercon.

To learn more about Marilyn Levinson/Allison Brook and her books, visit www.marilynlevinson.com