Today, I headed out to the South Pasadena Public Library for the monthly meeting of Sisters-in-Crime, where I read from MR. MONK GOES TO HAWAII and was "in conversation" with author Denise Hamilton. We talked a lot about our different approaches to writing, plotting and constructing scenes. We also discussed how to write dialogue that reveals character, the merits of "standalones" vs "series," and how we go about rewriting work. I enjoyed myself, met a lot of friendly people, and only saw three women in the audience fighting sleep, so I consider it a success.
I saw Lee at the Sisters in Crime meeting – as usual, he was terrific. I don’t get to the meetings too often, but it has been my good fortune to show up only when Lee is speaking – this time & over a year ago, too. He is a riveting – and *funny* – speaker.