Jenn McKinlay's News #29
September 6, 2018
BOOK NEWS: HITTING THE BOOKS is on sale 9-11-18!!! It's the proposal that's been nine books in the making, but will she say "yes" or "no"? In more thrilling news, HITTING THE BOOKS was named one of the TOP TEN books published in September by Library Reads! Yay!
EVENTS: My friend Paige Shelton and I will be taking over the Poisoned Pen Bookstore for book talk and a signing on September 13th at 7:00 PM. Come join us and celebrate the release of HITTING THE BOOKS!
Also, I am very honored to have been chosen to be one of the TEDx presenters to speak on the topic of "Voices" in Phoenix. The event will be held at South Mountain Community College on October 13th. More details can be found on my website.
CONTESTS: As always check out my social media for weekly giveaways! You can find links on my website.
WHAT'S ON MY MIND: When I first started writing the Library Lover’s mysteries, I was sure that the series would only be a trilogy. There aren’t enough words to express how delighted I am to have been so very wrong - this is not alway the case with my wrongness. HITTING THE BOOKS is the ninth book in the library lover’s mysteries, and I am thrilled that there will another one coming out next year.
The interesting thing about having a series continue for many books is that the story arcs and character arcs have the opportunity to grow in ways that even the author can’t anticipate. Here in book nine our amateur sleuth, library director Lindsey Norris, has recently moved in with her on again off again boyfriend, Capt. Mike Sullivan, or Sully as he is called. While they are quite happy together there are definitely those pesky cohabiting issues that a couple sharing living space has to resolve.
Where did I learn about such conflict? Well, after almost twenty years together, with many of those same issues, Hub and I have hammered most of them out and have decided that we are one degree away from a perfect marriage. Meaning, I like the thermostat at 78 and he prefers it at 77 (this is in the 115 degree summer in AZ) or in the winter I prefer it at 68 while he likes it at 67. See? One degree from perfection. We covertly change the thermostat on each other all the time and since we can’t set it at 77.5 or 67.5, I fear we will never bridge this gap. It’s okay, at this point it has become a running joke in our house. Thankfully, our hooligans seem oblivious to the power of the thermostat or we would just devolve into mercury mayhem.
For Sully and Lindsey, it turns out that Sully is a morning person and has a habit of whistling when he wakes up. Lindsey, however, suffers from a chronic case of OMC – one more chapter – syndrome and frequently stays up reading much later than she should. Needless to say, Sully’s whistling is as annoying to her as having her reading light on at two in the morning is to him. But how do you tell the person you love that their whistling drives you batty? Or that finding them asleep under an open book with their light still on is perturbing? It takes a special sort of relationship finesse or you have to just pack up and move out!
Is their relationship doomed or can they navigate these cap on seat down issues? Seriously, I’ve known people who have broken up over dishes the sink. Will Lindsey and Sully finally call it on their relationship? Are these petty problems deal breakers? You’ll just have to read HITTING THE BOOKS to find out!
HITTING THE BOOKS: It's murder by the book in the latest hit Library Lover's mystery from the New York Timesbestselling author of Death in the Stacks. When a stack of library materials is found at the scene of a hit and run, library director Lindsey Norris finds herself dragged into the investigation as the police try to link the driver of the stolen car to the person who borrowed the books. Before Lindsey can delve into the library's records, the victim of the hit and run, Theresa Houston, suffers another "accident" and the investigation shifts from driver negligence to attempted homicide. A clue surfaces in the confiscated library materials that could crack open the case and it is up to Lindsey to piece it all together. But things are not as they seem in the sleepy town of Briar Creek and when the driver of the stolen car turns up dead, Lindsey, her staff and her library friends have to hit the books before the murderer gets the last word...
Happy Reading!
XOXO
Jenn