New Year/New Beginnings!

I do not know if I will ever get this blog really going-but I do know some other things that will happen in 2009. I will finish the next Alexandra Walters book, I will finish a new CD and I will start a new mystery series sometime this year! So this will be a year of word and music. Since I may not be here often-be sure to keep an eye on my website www.LorieHam.com where you can not only hear my music, read a short story, sample chapters and more-but you can also enjoy the NoName Cafe Book Review Corner with author interviews and book reviews that will continue to thrive in 2009!
Have a great new year-happy reading and good coffee
Lorie Ham

For book reviews and more

While I haven't blogged in forever, I am still writing and participating in the world of books and coffee. Thanks to the help of my web guy and a wonderful book reviewer that helps me with my website, there's much to read at www.LorieHam.com if you click on the NoName Cafe Book Review Corner. Come check out author interviews where authors not only talk about their books but their favorite coffees and teas, and there are many wonderful mystery book reviews.
Thanks for stopping by
Happy reading and good coffee,
Lorie Ham

I'm Still Here!

Many may think I've dropped off the planet but I'm still here. In April, I got a new job with a local publisher that produces 5 different small town newspapers. Of late, I have been writing for all of them and have been extremely busy so I apologize for the neglect of my blog, my writing, my music, and pretty much everything else. Last week I even covered Warped Tour for the paper-it was a blast!
I hope in the meantime you have all found time to read some wonderful books and enjoy some great coffee. I look forward to finding the time to start doing that myself again. I do have new book reviews and author interviews up on my website which thankfully I have help with to keep it going so even when I'm busy new content continues. So feel free to check it out at www.LorieHam.com and click on the NoName Cafe.
Those who read my books and listen to my music-take heart that here and there where I have time I am working on a new CD and the next book in my gospel music mystery series featuring Alexandra Walters. If you are not familiar with either my music or my books, there's another reason to hop on over to my website as there are sample chapters and samples of my music.
Well I'm off to chase down another newspaper story.
Happy reading and good coffee,
Lorie Ham

To give my regular web guy a little bit of a break-I thought I would start posting some of the mystery book reviews and author interviews that normally go on my book review site-The NoName Cafe Book Review Corner-here on my blog. Why don't we call this Cafe NumberToo-Read and enjoy but be sure to savor some coffee/tea while you do!

Today at the Café Too we have with us mystery author Luisa Buehler whose latest book “The Lighthouse Keeper: A Beckoning Death” was released by Echelon Press LLC in September of 2007. So grab a cup of black coffee in her honor, and enjoy the interview. Afterward we can all run over to Joyful’s Café, her favorite coffee shop in Lisle, IL.

Café:
Tell us a little about your book.

Luisa:
Grace Marsden accepts an invitation to spend time on Christian Island in off season to relax and organize her life. She’s suffered too much tragedy in the past year and her ten year marriage seems uncertain at best. Grace and nine other people become trapped on the island after a freak snowstorm. The locals suspect them when an Elder is murdered. Lost treasure, ancient tragedy, modern deception and the island tale of the ghostly lighthouse keeper confuse her until she doesn’t know who she can trust.

Café:
How long have you been writing?

Luisa:
Bits and pieces since college in the seventies.

Café:
When did your first novel come out? What was it called? Please tell us little about it?

Luisa:
The Rosary Bride: A Cloistered Death came out in 2003. During a library renovation at Grace’s alma mater the skeleton of a female dressed in a tattered gown is discovered behind a wall. Grace is present when the discovery is made and can’t shake the feeling that the lost soul is somehow reaching out to her for justice. Grace believes she may know the identity of ‘The Rosary Bride’ and seeks the help of one of the nuns at the all women’s college. Grace rattles the chains of a decades old crime and gets a response and result she never anticipated.

Café:
Have you always written mysteries? If not what else have you written?

Luisa:
I was influenced by Nancy Drew and Agatha Christie. In junior high I’d collect all bits of items that I’d find on the ground, i.e. laundry tickets, broken pens, broken keychains, envelopes. I’d write a short story(5 paragraphs tops) about the items—almost always a mystery. I did try to write a gothic romance but was told it would never pass for romance since I’d killed too many people.

Café:
Lol sounds like what I’d do to a romance.
What brought you to choose the setting and characters in your latest book? Tell us a little about the setting and main character.

Luisa:
Grace Marsden is a thirty-something amateur sleuth who is obsessive compulsive (think Monk in a skirt). She becomes embroiled in ‘cold case’ mysteries when the old bones seem to reach out to her for advocacy. In the latest book, Grace has had enough of murder and mayhem and is seeking two weeks of solitude away from her family, husband and home. This books introduces entirely new characters and setting in the hope of avoiding the ‘Cabot Cove Syndrome’ of a local body every two hundred feet. It was refreshing to work with new characters and although Grace doesn’t avoid a cold case she does have a new cast with which to work.

Café:
What is the main reason that you write?

Luisa:
I’ve always been a ‘what if’ person, a bit of a dreamer. I love telling the stories that fill my head.

Café:
Do you write to entertain or is there something more you want the readers to take away from your work?

Luisa:
Grace Marsden Mysteries are entertainment. I do follow my own rules of morality and friendship and honor but the books aren’t written to impart anything beyond an enjoyable few hours.

Café:
Do you have a schedule for your writing or just write whenever you can?

Luisa:
Since I have a full time job, I write in the mornings from about 5a.m. until 7a.m. until I have to get ready for work. I write 7 days a week but on the weekends I sleep in until 6a.m.

Café:
Now you are a real morning person-I can’t even think that early let alone write.
Do you outline? If not, do you have some other interesting way that you keep track of what’s going on, or what needs to happen in your book when you are writing it?

Luisa:
I have a loose outline, mainly big points of where I want the story to go. As I write sometimes it goes there and sometimes I find new paths that my characters like better. I have points I need to reach. I always know who the bad guy is and usually how it ends. It’s the journey that changes. In most cases, I do go back and re-weave some plot points and add dialog to better accommodate where I’ve ended.

Café:
If you had your ideal, what time of day would you prefer to write?

Luisa:
I’d still prefer morning only I’d write for a longer period of time.

Café:
Day job?

Luisa:
I own an employment agency, The Hire Solution, which specializes in office support personnel.

Café:
I bet that gives you plenty of ideas for stories.
Did you find it difficult to get published in the beginning?

Luisa:
It took 5 years to find my publisher. I have 106 rejections letters (which isn’t that bad).

Café:
Do you have a great rejection/critique or acceptance story you’d like to share?

Luisa:
A New York agent sent me a handwritten note to the effect that “The world does not need another thirty something amateur sleuth from the Midwest. Stop sending this out.” I was thrilled since she must have read some of it to know that much about it. My husband thought I was nuts to be excited about such an acerbic rejection.

Café:
I guess she was wrong.
What kind of promotion do you find most affective?

Luisa:
Any event, library talk, book club, women’s club speaker, bookstore signing, where I can meet readers and put my book in their hands.

Café:
Most interesting book signing story-in a bookstore or other venue?

Luisa:
One of the most productive signings took place at the 19^th Century Club in Oak Park, IL. I was the guest speaker at this women’s club. I was early and ended up talking to the only man in the place who was in the office working on computer. We struck up a conversation and realized we were both involved in Boy Scouts. I asked him his most interesting story and what he told me turned into the premise for my fourth book The Scout Master: A Prepared Death.

Café:
Future writing goals?

Luisa:
I’m working on a children’s picture book and I have an idea for a second series set at a temp agency.

Cafe:
Aha, I knew there were story ideas in your job.
Heroes?

Luisa:
Everyday people who step up and do extraordinary things.

Café:
Person you would most like to meet dead or alive?

Luisa:
My paternal grandfather Luigi Scala. I was named after him but he died before I was born.

Café:
What do you read?

Luisa:
Mysteries, writing manuals and non-fiction history.

Café:
What are your hobbies?

Luisa:
I enjoy the two ‘G’s’ of the outdoors—gardening and golfing. I do neither one well as my weeds and triple digit score will confirm.

Café:
At least they get you outside into some fresh air after all that time at one desk or another.
Favorite TV or movies?

Luisa:
WTTW public television replays of Mystery and Doctor Who. I don’t see many movies, most recently went to the 12:01 showing of Harry Potter.

Café:
I love Doctor Who.
Any pets?

Luisa:
Our orange short hair Martin Marmalade.

Café:
Family?

Luisa:
Patient husband Gerry and impatient teenager, Christopher ‘Kit’ who is off to college this year.

Café:
What part of the country/world do you live in?

Luisa:
I live in Lisle, IL, town of about twenty thousand located approximately 25 miles west of Chicago.

Café:
Any advice for aspiring or beginning writers?

Luisa:
As simplistic as it sounds my advice is to not give up. Whether you are attempting your first paragraphs or your fortieth query letter, the only way to make it is to keep going. Attend as many conferences as you can afford (money and time), find a writers’ group to join, connect via blogs or lists to other writers and keep your spirit and focus in high gear. Write something everyday, be it two sentences or two pages, to keep your story in your mind percolating as you go through your day. With my three manuscripts, which never sold, I would take one day off work and write for ten hours. After two or three weeks I’d take another vacation day and spend almost two hours re-reading and re establishing my story in my head. I write everyday now even if it’s only a few paragraphs. I find it much easier to tackle the daunting project of a 300 page book a few pages at a time. If I sat down to write a 300 page book I’d freeze up and lose focus. If I sit down to write a few paragraphs about Grace and Harry and their adventures, I have a 300 page book in about 6 months.

Café:
Good advice.
Website?

Luisa:
www.luisabuehler.com

Café:
Where can people purchase your books?

Luisa:
Most bookstores carry my series or they can order them. Amazon has them as well.

Thanks so much for joining us here at the Café Too today. Happy reading and good coffee. For more mystery and coffee connections visit the original NoName Cafe Book Review Corner at www.LorieHam.com

Now it's time for mystery readers to share their favorites!

Now it's time for mystery readers to share their favorite coffee/tea and favorite mystery novel. I know it's hard to pick one book but give it a try.
I look forward to the answers.
Lorie

Favorite coffee/tea of your favorite mystery authors!

What kind of coffee and tea are your favorite mystery authors drinking, and where do some of them prefer to drink it?

Krista Davis
http://divamysteries.com
Equal Exchange Organic English Breakfast Tea.

Marilyn Meredith's
http://fictionforyou.com
Chai Tea I make myself and favorite place to drink it is at home.

Carola Dunn
www.geocities.com/CarolaDunn/
Tetley's English Blend and at bedtime Stash Lemon and Ginger.
Lovejoy's in San Francisco

Bill Cameron
bc@billcameronmysteries.com
Shade-grown Guatemalan, or maybe a blend of Sumatran and Central African beans
Starbucks at the corner of SE Division and 20th in Portland

Neil Plakcy
www.mahubooks.com
Teavana called "Coconut Aloha."

Patricia Stoltey
www.patriciastoltey.com
Douwe Egberts Dark Roast
La Dolce Vita Gelato Caffe in Fort Collins, Colorado

Kelli Stanley
Five Star July, 2008
www.kellistanley.com
Latte from Peet's Coffee, old fashioned drip Maxwell House or Chase and Sanborn
Peet's on West Portal in San Francisco; Tully's in San Francisco; Shotz Coffee and Drive-Through in Fortuna, CA

Lonnie Cruse
http://www.lonniecruse.com
Pumpkin Pie decaf from Kirchoff's Bakery in Paducah.

Vicki Lane
www.vickilanemysteries.com
The Brain Freeze -- at Malaprop's Cafe (part of a Terrific bookstore --
also called Malaprop's and located in Asheville, NC

Betty Webb
www.bettywebb-mystery.com
Full bore whole bean stuff from Trader Joe's and grind it up myself.

Jan Brogan
www.janbrogan.com
A skim milk cappuccino, one sugar
Blue Moon in Medfield, MA.

Vinny O'Neil
www.vincenthoneil.com
Gingerbread latte at the Seattle's Best cafe in the Borders Bookstore in Cranston, Rhode Island.

Rhys Bowen
www.rhysbowen.com
In summer- one of the Frappuchinos at Starbucks.
In winter-Einstein's Bagels in Phoenix AZ

Meredith Cole
www.culturecurrent.com/cole
Cappuccino at Atlas Cafe (Havemeyer and Grand Street) in
Williamsburg, Brooklyn.

Sandra Balzo
www.sandrabalzo.com
La Minita.
That Coffee Place in Brookfield, Wisconsin.

Karna Small Bodman
www.karnabodman.com
Starbucks/Verona

Shane Gericke
www.shanegericke.com
Lion Kona Coffee (from Hawaii)
Caribou Coffee

Gail Lukasik
www.gaillukasik.com
Green & white tea.
Gourmet dark expresso
Chocolate Chicken in Egg Harbor, WI (Door County).

Albert Bell
http://www.albertbell.com
French Vanilla Capuccino at my local gas station.

Baron R. Birtcher
www.BaronRBirtcher.com
Tropical Noir (100% Kona coffee, estate-grown by yours truly, and available for purchase through my website)
Lava Java, on the bay in Kailua-Kona, Hawaii.

Ken Isaacson
www.KenIsaacson.com
Starbucks Mocha Latte
"Pies By Design"

Elaine Viets
www.elaineviets.com
Favorite tea is Dragon Well, loose, not bagged.
Kerry Cottage Saint Louis, MO.

Julie Hyzy
www.juliehyzy.com
Favorite coffee - whatever dark blend is brewing (with just bit of cream)
Favorite tea - Cinnamon Sunset
Barnes & Noble café

John Foxjohn
www.johnfoxjohnhome.com
Regular coffee
IHOP

Ashna Graves
www.ashnagraves.com/
Homeroasted http://www.orlegacycoffee.com/index.html

Hailey Lind
www.haileylind.com
Peet's French Roast
Peet's recently honored me with "Peetnik" status and sent me a gift card and bag for writing about Peet's in my books!

Beverle Myers
http://www.beverlegravesmyers.com
Latte with double expresso at Heine Brothers at Eastern Parkway and Bardstown Road in Louisville, Kentucky.

Vicki Delany
www.vickidelany.com
Princess of Darkness brand
Oso Negro in Nelson, B.C.

Elena Santangelo
www.elenasantangelo.com
Black Indian tea: Assam blends or Darjeeling

Sheila Connolly
www.sarahatwellwriter.com
Peet's in Berkley.

Sharon Rowse
www.sharonrowse.com
Decaf French Roast
Calhoun's ( www.calhouns.bc.ca ),
in Vancouver, BC.

Rob Walker
www.RobertWWalkerbooks.com
Joe's Cafe at BAM, books-a-millon and Taylor Books and Coffee Shop, both in
Charleston, WV, if not at the Capitol Market at Frog Creek Books
and Capitol Brew, also in Charleston.

Pat Browning
http://www.authorsden.com/patbrowning
http://pbrowning.blogspot.com/
Twinings Prince of Wales
Irwin Street Inn, Hanford, California

Jack Getze
Mild-roasted Columbian offered at the
St. Petersburg, FL shop of Bad Ass Coffee of Hawaii
http://www.badasscoffee.com/

Mary Reed
http://home.epix.net/~maywrite/
Black Coffee
Black Silk Coffee and Earl Grey Tea

Chris Grabenstein
www.ChrisGrabenstein.com
Dunkin' Donuts French Vanilla.
Addicted to coffee

Margot Justes
www.mjustes.com
Starbucks is the coffee shop of choice
Starbucks coffee and Twinings Tea

Aileen G. Baron
www.aileengbaron.com
Twining's Earl Grey, French Roast (decaf) and Bedouin coffee

Luisa Buehler
www.luisabuehler.com
Mocha Madness
Favorite coffee shop Joyful's Cafe

Chester Campbell
http://www.chesterdcampbell.com
Cappuccino French Vanilla

Alexandra Sokoloff
http://alexandrasokoloff.com
Anything but Starbucks
Twinings' Blackcurrant
The Tea Shop at the Huntington Gardens, Pasadena, CA

Lorie Ham
www.LorieHam.com
Starbucks Caramel Machiato
A little coffee shop in Scotland

Where do you read?

I'm sure everyone has different reading habits and I would be curious to find out where everyone's favorite place is to read. And for that matter, what odd places you have found yourself reading. Personally my absolute favorite place to read is Starbucks. Starbucks for me is about more than just a cup of coffee--it's an escape. When I go there I feel like I'm not in my hometown anymore but that I could be anywhere in the world. The smell and taste of coffee, the good music in the background and a good book are the perfect combination. With those things I will always be happy.
My second choice is sitting in a comfy chair in my living room after everyone else has gone to bed. That is the only time my house is ever quiet and when I can lose myself in the latest mystery, fantasy or vampire book I may be reading. Sometimes when I read there I will have one of my pet rats join me--the perfect reading companion. There's no animal more affectionate and loyal than a rat. Many of you may think that's insane but in the year of the rat I challenge you to find out what awesome pets they truly are.
So tell me-where do you read?