Bouchercon Hiatus #5: It's All About Me and the Devil.

During this Bouchercon Week we get to post one of our favorite posts from the past. It just so happens that this week is the release date for my new book, Devil of Delphi, and so in order to take advantage of that once a year promotional opportunity and yet comply with our Hiatus practice, I’m reprinting a piece that I wrote a few weeks back for my publisher, Poisoned Pen Press.

Yep, this is my annual, blatant self-promotion post. Some of you might take that as a warning to stop reading now, but if you do there is the distinct possibility you’ll suffer weeks of sleepless nights tossing and turning in wonder at what you might have missed.  So, rather than making me feel terribly guilty, please spend a few moments reading what I promise will help put you soundly to sleep.

My new book, DEVIL OF DELPH, comes out October 6^th just in time for Bouchercon—where I hope I’ll see many of you. DOD received a starred review from Booklist stating in part that, “Siger brings Chief Inspector Andreas Kaldis some very big challenges in his seventh mystery…There are multiple sources of appeal here: the fast-paced plot, the landscape, and, as always, the appealing camaraderie shared by Kaldis and his crew, as well as the bantering relationship between the inspector and his well-connected wife, Lila. The final plot twist proves well worth the wait, but it won't take readers long to get there as they will be turning pages at a ferocious clip.”

Okay, I’ve mentioned the star, so where do I go from there?  I guess I could mention my interview that just appeared in the Huffington Post, but that may be overkill. I absolutely love Devil of Delphi but hate this sort of thing. There is so much BSP out there, yet what choice do we have?  Promotion comes with the territory of book publishing.  Personally, I far prefer the face-to-face book events, and this year I’ve scheduled about a dozen so far, some are joint efforts with other authors (see list below), a practice I think makes the personal appearance circuit all that much more fun. And as I’ve said many times, fun is what this book writing business should be all about.

Quentin Bates

Sister Annamaria

Craig Sisterson, Neil White, Steve Cavanagh

Still, this is a promotional piece, so I guess I should tell a bit about Devil of Delphi, other than what you’ll find described on its cover (or my website). Were it up to me, I’d describe it simply as, “Think Breaking Bad Greek-style”—in keeping with Kirkus Reviews’ observation that my “sublimely malevolent villains make the book a page turner,” and Poisoned Pen Press’s own Barbara Leavy’s take on it: “The world described is a stark one of organized international mobsters joining hands, spreading their destruction from country to country, encircling the globe in order to satisfy their own lust for wealth and power.  Like a plague, their crimes threaten everyone. In this book, contaminated and counterfeit wine and spirits are springing up throughout the world, blindness and death of young people (and older ones) the frequent consequence.”

Should that sound a bit too harsh for your taste, I have another way of looking at it for you to consider—Think of Devil of Delphi as representative of the battles that plague Greece today: self-determination versus foreign control, unbiased justice versus political expediency, respect for the land versus unthinking exploitation, and loyalty to one another versus profit-driven self-interest.

Or perhaps you’ll find an all-together different frame of reference.  After all, once an author puts a book out there it resides in the minds of those who read it, interpreted as they see it. I’d love your insights on #7, even more so if you delivered them to me in person at one of the following upcoming book events:

On the Road 

Friday, October 9, 2015 @ 4:00 PM

Bouchercon 2015—MODERATOR

Interviewing International Guests of Honor Zoë Sharp and Allan Guthrie

Marriott City Center—State A&B

500 Fayetteville Street

Raleigh, NC 27601

Saturday, October 10, 2015 @ 1:00 PM

Bouchercon 2015—PANELIST

Murder Goes International

Marriott City Center—State A&B

500 Fayetteville Street

Raleigh, NC 27601

Thursday, October 15, 2015 @ 7-9 PM:

MYSTERIOUS BOOKSHOP

58 Warren Street

New York, NY 10007

Saturday, October 24, 2015 @ 2:00PM

BOOK CARNIVAL

(with Tim Hallinan and Martin Limon)                     

348 S. Tustin Street                           

Orange, CA 92866

Saturday, October 24, 2015 @ 6-7:00PM

SCIBA

Beverly Garland Hotel

4222 Vineland Ave.                           

North Hollywood, CA 91602

Monday October 26, 2015 @ 7:30 PM:

MYSTERIOUS GALAXY BOOKS 

(with Tim Hallinan and Martin Limon)                     

7051 Clairmont Mesa Blvd. Suite 302

San Diego, CA 92111

Monday, November 2, 2015 @ 7:00PM

(with Tim Hallinan)

ANNIE BLOOM’S BOOKS

7834 SW Capitol Highway (Multnomah Village)

Portland, OR 97219

Tuesday, November 3, 2015 @ 3PM:

(with Tim Hallinan)

SEATTLE MYSTERY BOOKSHOP                                   

117 Cherry Street

Seattle, WA 98104

Thursday, November 12, 2015 @ 7:00 PM:

TATTERED COVER

2526 East Colfax Avenue

Denver, CO 80206

Sunday, November 15, 2015 @ 3:00PM:

CLUES UNLIMITED

(with Donis Casey)

3154 East Fort Lowell Road

Tucson, AZ 85716

Wednesday, November 18, 2015 @ 7:00PM

(with David Wagner)

POISONED PEN BOOKSTORE

4014 N. Goldwater Blvd., Suite 101

Scottsdale, AZ 85251

Saturday, November 21, 2015@ 4:30 PM

MURDER BY THE BOOK

2342 Bissonnet Street

Houston, TX 77005

Thursday, December 3, 2015 @ 6-8:00 PM:

HILTON/ASMUST CONTEMPORARY GALLERY

716 N. Wells

Chicago, IL 60654

Friday, December 4, 2015 @ 7-9:00 PM:

CENTURIES & SLEUTHS BOOKSTORE

7419 Madison Street

Forest Park, IL 60130

Saturday, December 5, 2015 @ 1-3:00 PM

ONCE UPON A CRIME

604 W. 26^th Street

Minneapolis, MN 55405 (E. of Lyndale)

That’s all the BSP for 2015.  See you in 2016 with Kaldis #8!

—Jeff