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Is Love Really Murder?
It was cold last weekend in Chicago, so I can’t really complain about not having stepped outside of the always charming Wyndham O’Hare for three days in a row. Of all the myriad mystery conferences out there, Love is Murder is my sentimental favorite; it was the first event I attended after my debut novel sold. Plus, I’ve always loved Chicago, even when I don’t make it further than O’Hare and even when it’s obscenely cold. Cold is manageable; heat unforgivable. You can strip naked, sit on your porch and drink iced tea, but guess what? You’re still hot.
But I digress…Love is Murder. Right. Got to see lots of my favorite people. And I successfully avoided sketchy banquet food: opted for burgers in the bar instead. Good decision. Now that I think about it, the quesadillas were pretty darn good too. Perhaps I’ve underrated the food at the Wyndham.
The only downside of the weekend was that I missed seeing today’s Virtual Cocktail Party guest live and in person. Robert Gregory Browne was at Left Coast Crime in Seattle instead. Thank goodness we have him now! Rob is a great guy and a talented writer whose first book, Kiss Her Goodbye came out this week. He’s also a member of the uber-cool crew over at Killer Year. So. Without further ado, I give you Rob…
Robert Gregory Browne’s Goodnight Kiss
Ingredients:
* 4 oz Champagne
* 1 splash Campari
* 1 cube Sugar
* 1 drop Angostura bitters
Mixing instructions:
Put one drop of Angostura Bitter on sugar cube and drop in flute. Add
champagne and splash of Campari.
BRETT: I understand Spiderman holds a very special place in your heart…is there something we should know about? (I know you’ll say no, so elaborate anyway!)
ROB: Spider-Man and I had a short but loving relationship that was irreparably damaged by a bunch of producers who thought it was actually a good idea to take him out of New York and put him in an alternate universe with animals flying around on scooters.
I think the show, Spider-Man Unlimited, is considered by fans to be the worst Spider-Man cartoon ever. My contributions to the show were brilliant, of course.
J.T.: Why Chicago?
ROB: The tunnels. There are underground freight tunnels in Chicago that fascinate me and figure prominently in the book. For awhile I went with a generic city, but my agent and I decided that I should return to the Chicago setting because of its beauty and vibrancy.
CARRIE: What’s the best thing about living in LA?
ROB: I actually live north of LA in Ventura County, but it’s close enough to visit. And I’d say the best thing has to be the sushi. I’m a sushi fiend. And the movies. I’m also a movie fiend. Movies and sushi together? Heaven.
TASHA: You have $100. What do you buy in a used book store and what do you buy new?
ROB: A copy of your new book, a copy of Brett Battles’ new book and a ton of old mystery paperbacks from the sixties like the Milo March mysteries by M.E. Chaber. In fact, I just bought about ten of his books on E-Bay. Love them.
J.T.: Kittens or puppies?
ROB: Boy. I’d have to go with kittens, first, because I absolutely love cats. But I love dogs, also. Have two of them at home.
TASHA: How deeply do you regret going to Left Coast Crime instead of Love is Murder?
ROB: More than you will ever know. How deeply do you regret not going to LCC?
J.T.: Will you shoot video at ThrillerFest ever again?
ROB: Well, I AM on ITW’s multimedia committee, but I almost killed myself last time around and STILL haven’t had time to sift through all of the footage I shot, so I’m not sure it would do any good to shoot more video. I guess the answer is probably, uh, no.
J.T.: When’s the last time you took a bath with scented candles?
ROB: You’re not going to believe this, but Scented Candles is actually the name of a young hippie girl I met in the mid-seventies. She looked a lot like you, as a matter of fact, except taller, with long, curly brown hair, a puka shell necklace, rubber slippers — but not nearly as pretty. Okay, maybe she didn’t look like you at all.
Anyway, it was mostly showers. In fact, I don’t remember any baths.
Profuse thanks to Rob for joining us today. If you haven’t done so already, get yourself to a bookstore and buy several copies of Kiss Her Goodbye. You won’t regret it. But first, answer his questions in the comments:
1. All-Time Greatest Band: Beatles or U2?
2. How many writers does it take to screw in a light bulb?
3. The tour guide at the Seattle Underground tour announced to the crowd
that she prefers to be on top (I’m not kidding). What do the rest of you
prefer?
4. If you could keep only ONE Stephen King book, which one would it be
and why?
5. If Tasha Alexander, Brett Battles and Rob Gregory Browne came to your
house to entertain, what style of interpretive dance would you prefer they
do?
That’s pretty much it from here. Drop by next week when our guest will be another Killer Year member, Sean Chercover. In the meantime, have a great weekend. I can’t say I miss the icy wind that blasted me when I finally left the Wyndham, but, oh, that food. Delicious…
xo
Tasha
P.S. Did you think I forgot about scoring Sincerity? You were right. Well, not exactly. I didn’t forget, I was just running a little behind getting ready to go to Chicago. Forgive me. Here are the results: Jamie wins (I believe that’s a repeat for him, isn’t it?), but it was close….Brett deceived the most of us, and I think Diana deserves a special citation for Best Truth. Her grandmother was, in fact, kidnapped by gypsies. Nobody guessed that correctly….
