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A Bad Hair Day?
It is indeed a shock when your own hairdresser has a bad hair day, especially a a series of them. I was sitting in a salon hot seat recently, having my roots rescued, catching up on the life saga of the hairdresser I’ve had in Fort Myers for at least twenty years. She’s a formidable woman who has survived various health problems and family traumas with pluck and aplomb. Due to the fact that I had been in the San Juan Islands over the summer, I hadn’t seen my friend in awhile, and I was astounded by the fact that her business was thrown for a loop when a woman who worked at her salon had walked out and started a rival salon right across the street. This, of course, created great upheaval among her clients.Wait a minute, I found myself thinking. This is a real-life version of a plot right out of the Bad Hair Day Mysteries by Nancy J. Cohen. In Died Blonde, the book I happen to be reading at the time, hairdresser Marla Shore is helping her detective boyfriend find out who murdered a rival salon owner who was out to ruin Marla’s business by moving into the same shopping center and pulling all sorts of nasty pranks on Marla. When the rival turns up dead, suspicion turns Marla’s way, but she’s sheltered by her lover, Detective Vail, who, fortunately for Marla, has a full head of hair which she styles on a regular basis. I’ve met Nancy Cohen several times and always enjoy her books. I ran into her again at the Murder on the Beach Bookstore booth at the Miami Book Fair, where we were signing books. Nancy signed a copy of Died Blonde for me. Meanwhile, Nancy gave me a ringing endorsement of The Don Juan Con which will go one the cover of a forthcoming edition. Nancy got the whole point of what I meant to do with Don Juan. I aim to raise awareness of a certain type of romantic swindle that amounts to the emotional rape of the victims. Nancy was kind enough to interview me for her blog, and I’ve posted a copy of interview in the review section of this site. Here I am, a fledgling novelist being interviewed by a famous one! Check out Nancy’s blog for yourself: (http://www.mysterygal.bravejournal.com) Meanwhile, Nancy’s latest book, Perish by Pedicure, was reviewed by Jay MacDonald in the Fort Myers News-Press, Tropicalia Magazine, Dec. 17. MacDonald gave Nancy a great review and I enjoy Jay’s work because he also interviews the authors he writes about and delves into their background. MacDonald did the best he could for Nancy, but Jay’s a guy, after all. I met Jay MacDonald last year at The Lee Reading Festival in Fort Myers. Jay’s a tall, handsome fellow and quite the speaker. He even has a reasonable amount of hair. MacDonald just has to be a barbershop type of male who never set foot in a hair salon, however. Why am I saying this? It’s because the root appeal of the Bad Hair Day Mysteries is to the millions of women like me who swap life stories with their hairdressers for years on end. What guy could figure that out, unless he’s a salon-styled male like detective Dalton Vail? For women, the hairdresser and client lead very separate lives, and so their relationship, however enduring, has a secretive, parallel universe quality to it. The lives of the hairdressers I know are full of the same sort of mayhem that turn up in The Bad Hair Day Mysteries, and so of course, we can project a bit of our hairdressers’ lives onto the Marla Shore character. This, I believe, is what makes Nancy J. Cohen’s mysteries so cozy in the best sense of this traditional genre.
Posted by Sara on Fri, 22 Dec 2006 Out of Touch
An old-fashioned snowstorm blew in the Monday after Thanksgiving , creating a fairytale setting, here in the San Juan Islands, a robin's egg sky, brilliant sun orchestrating a dazzling scene everywhere it touched. Every tree limb, bush and railing is covered thickly in a layer of powdery frosting. The house is filled with the smell of woodsmoke and lamp oil and the ticking of the grandfather clock. The power has been out for close to thirty hours now. There's nothing left of the twenty-first century: no internet, no telepone;the cell phone is on its dying gasp and the car is frozen solid. I've tramped up and down the neighborhood where the only news comes by word of mouth. Power has been restored in the hamlet of Eastsound. This is a major bulletin. Do I care? Not really. Tonight I'll have oil lamps to read by and propane to cook with and feather comforters for warmth, and in between there's a spectatular white world, the likes of which has not been seen here for a decade.
Posted by Sara on Fri, 01 Dec 2006 Notes from the North Caribe
The anhinga in the front yard is flapping his soggy wings, wagging his head in time to The Cinderella Suite playing on PBS radio. Who says the wildlife doesn’t appreciate the higher culture here in the North Caribe?
Can’t find the North Caribe on the map? That’s because The North Caribe is how a climatologist, or an orchid fancier, or a Friend of the Fakahatchee Strand thinks of what the rest of us consider to be Southwest Florida, here on the Florida Gulf.
Tropically speaking, we’re in the North Caribbean eco system. So says that oracle of the natural world, Tropicalia, the Sunday Magazine of the Fort Myers News-Press (www.news-press.com) in its cover story of Sunday, Nov. 5., devoted to the rare orchids of the Fakahachee Strand and the intrepid trackers who tramp the Strand in search of some of the world’s most elusive plants. If you ever read and loved The Orchid Thief, as I did, this is what we’re talking about.
It’s the idea of being not just Southwest Floridians but North Carribeans that enlarges the perspective. We are what our climate makes of us. The exotic hothouse of the North Caribe has given bountifully, not only the hundreds of rare plants including 45 species of exotic orchids, but also the agricultural breadbasket on the flanks of the Lake Okeechobee, what I called Serenoa country, the land of the creeping palm, the Serenoa repens. It’s a tropical wild west, a place I limned as best I could in my novel,
The Serenoa Scandal, which I’ll be discussing as a guest of The Friends of the Lakes Library, this coming Friday, November 10. To brown bag it with a hungry author, call 533-4000 for details, 15290 Bass Road at Gladiolus Drive. 11: 45 a.m. to 2 p.m.
Posted by Sara on Wed, 08 Nov 2006 Indian Summer in the San Juan Islands
The tap of ran dripping off the roof makes a fine concert; the steady drip of a heavy drop accompanied by contrapuntal pulsing. I’m wide awake, listening to rhythm in the raw. The single chime of the grandfather clock sounds the nell of the amber days of Indian summer. If days were wine, these are vintage. A dazzling afternoon’s cool light gives way to nights white as cloud. Flesh turns to bone under a hidden moon and the black trunks of trees speak volumes.
Posted by Sara on Thu, 19 Oct 2006 The Sockeye are Running
And you should, too. Take a run over to the Saturday Farmer's Market, Eastsound Green, Orcas Island,WA: Grab a sockeye that's fresh enough to wriggle as the fishermen hand over your fish in a long plastic bag. Try this San Juan Island Salmon Recipe: Rub the cavity with rock salt & fresh garlic. Do not filet. Stuff the fish with wild blackberries or other acidic fruit. Wrap in foil and grill or bake for 20 minutes on a side or until the fat bubbles out of the skin. You'll be howling at the moon as we say in the islands!
Posted by Sara on Sat, 26 Aug 2006 Did you Ever Feel Like Jumping off a Bridge?
You can jump off a bridge in Twin Falls, Idaho without upsetting the fire department and the cops, if you’re hitched into the right sort of parachute and jumping from the 486-foot high Perrine Bridge, that is. This enormous span over the Snake River Canyon is one of the sites I plan to see when I’m visiting the Twin Falls area the second week in August.
Perrine Bridge, as it turns out, is a Mecca of the extreme sport of BASE jumping, an acronym for Building, Antenna, Span, or Earth. Or is it SPACED Jumpers? I don’t know, but I hope to meet some BASE jumpers and hear all about their exploits.
I’ll be signing books at the Magic Valley’s Barnes & Noble Booksellers on Pole Line Road Sunday August 6 from 1-4 p.m.
Posted by Sara on Sun, 09 Jul 2006 Fresh Produce and Fresh Prose
The Farmer’s Market on the green at Eastsound Village is the Saturday meeting place du jour in the San Juan Islands. You’ll find fresh oysters, clams, lamb, grain fed beef, berries, salad greens, home made bread, hand-made clothing and jewelry. The crowd-watching is the best there is and you are just as likely to meet a movie producer as you are a farmer or musician, or a novelist, for that matter. I’ll be there offering pristine copies of The Serenoa Scandal or The Don Juan Con, which ends on Orcas Island. Stop by to say hello or pick up an autographed copy.
Posted by Sara on Fri, 07 Jul 2006 April, 2006
Dark Horse Author Makes the Fast Track with this profile in Grandeur - the tony magazine of the Fort Myers, Florida News-Press. Click here to read the story.
Posted by Sara on Sat, 01 Apr 2006 February, 2006
This Valentines Day, I'm offering a Blue Valentine Award in the form of an autographed copy of my novel, The Don Juan Con, to the first hundred victims of sweetheart scams who agree to submit their story to a database. Romantic con schemes thrive on secrecy. Con artists are successful because most victims are too humiliated to prosecute. When they do, the justice system has little to offer them in the way of support. Consequently, sweetheart swindlers will take the assets of one victim and use them to romance the next lady down the line. I can't do a book signing without hearing another tale. My record so far is five accounts in one night and it has occurred to me that if these stories circulate widely, we might put a few more con artists out of business. If you have been a sweetheart swindler victim, here's your chance to help someone else.
Posted by Sara on Wed, 01 Feb 2006 November, 2005
I treasure a great evening recently at the wonderful salon hosted by Stephen and Susan Robins of Pelindaba Lavender, Friday Harbor, San Juan Island. Mystery lovers came out in force to hear my take on the literary role of the mystery. We talked about some of the notable authors who made this lively genre' what it is.
When you visit the San Juan Islands, as you must, plan to take
in one of Pelindaba's very special book events. Pelindaba has it all,
great noshes, great company. Check out the Pelindaba website for
the schedule, visit the gorgeous store, and tour the Robins' beautiful lavender farm.
Posted by Sara on Tue, 01 Nov 2005 October, 2005
An article about The Serenoa Scandal was recently featured in the Charlotte Sun newspaper in Port Charlotte, Florida. You can click here to see the article.
Posted by Sara on Sat, 15 Oct 2005 September / October, 2005
I'm off to the Maui Writer's Conference Sept. 1 to 6, and will spend three weeks in Honolulu vetting my third novel. My Hapahaole detective, John Spyer, who first appears in The Serenoa Scandal, will solve a sizzler of a mystery.I'm thrilled that The Old Lahaina Book Emporium, 834 Front Steet, has invited me to play kaamaina author for the Art Night street fair, Friday, Sept. 2. Lahaina is where detective John Spyer's lovely Mama Hana has a decrepit but charming apartment over her waterfront shop. I'll be there with bells on from 7 p.m. 'til whenever and can hardly wait to inhale that balmy Maui air. Then I'm headed to Honolulu, where Spyer will set to work on the next case, all very hush hush, of course. Need an excuse to do Honolulu in September? I'm happy to oblige: Meet me at the Kahala Mall Barnes & Noble Thursday Sept. 22, at 7 p.m. I've made it a point to finish the lovely Indian summer in the Pacific Northwest. Mid October I'll be heading off to some of my favorite haunts. Spokane: Indian summer in Indian Canyon? Check out the gorgeous hiking trails along the Spokane River or do lunch over the Spokane Falls. Or drop by where I'll be signing at the Barnes & Noble on North Division for a Friday nite bash on the 21st, from 5 to 9 p.m. On Saturday, Oct 22, I'll be driving south through the spectacular wheat & wine country of Eastern Washington, heading for the awesome hub-of-it-all, the Tri Cities. Everybody seems to meet at the Columbia Center Barnes & Noble on Saturday afternoons. I'll be there from 2 p.m. onward and upward. Drop by and we'll have a chat about the latest in reads.
Posted by Sara on Sat, 01 Oct 2005 September, 2005
PBS Magazine Features THE SERENOA SCANDALA fictional tour of Telegraph Swamp and Babcock Ranch I'm pleased to announce that Southwest Florida's PBS Magazine, Expressions, features my mystery novel, The Serenoa Scandal in its September issue. Serenoa (SER-a-NO-a), is from the botanical name of the saw palmetto, Florida's creeping palm. In The Serenoa Scandal, I aimed to capture the lore and the lure of Florida's central ranch country, at least between the covers of a novel. As sure as a multi-lane interstate highway is creeping toward the country town of LaBelle, the Florida ranch country is dwindling before an implacable tide of suburban development. The Serenoa Scandal has garnered interest because The Babcock Ranch was a principal model of the story. For the past fifteen months, The Babcock Ranch has made headlines as a coalition of citizens and government agencies struggled to purchase the 140 square mile Charlotte County ranch for public use. These efforts were stymied by complex tax, legal, and political issues. The ranch was sold to a real estate developer last month. The new owner has left the door open to government purchases of key portions of the ranch. A major feature is the 10,000 acre Telegraph Swamp. This is not only pristine--and historic--wilderness but also a major Southwest Florida watershed. It's my hope that this splendid property be preserved. I borrowed the Telegraph Swamp as a setting for some of the most romantic scenes in The Serenoa Scandal, hoping to pique reader interest in a part of Florida that in some ways is still a tropical wild west, in many places as exotic as some African veld. The Menecal family of my novel is modeled on ranchers--the Babcocks and others--who were early day conservationists and creative stewards of their land. Meanwhile, for the purposes of fiction, the colorful cowboys and the Seminoles and the lovely Latinas add spice to exotic Serenoa country and the various critters play themselves. Expressions Magazine, for instance, has excerpted a part of chapter four: Lew Leaming has just murdered prominent rancher and politician David Menecal. Leaming is chased through the swamp by bloodhounds. He's trapped on the edge of a stream full of gators. Mimicking the gators' calls as a diversion, he escapes. A local boy, Leaming knows gators can be lured by sounds made by a skilled caller. I learned to call gators myself as a newspaper reporter visiting with the wranglers on The Babcock Ranch. The Serenoa Scandal is my second novel, by the way. My first, 'The Don Juan Con' has been optioned by Paramount Studios by producer Robert Evans whose legendary movies include 'Love Story', 'The Godfather', and 'Chinatown'. *Look for the September issue of Expressions on the WGCU radio 90.1 (www.wgcu.org). *Hear Florida readers discuss the novel and some of the issues that went into the background at: http://www.wgcu.org/listen/news_features.asp?start=61 ArcheBooks News Release Paramount Studios
Posted by Sara on Thu, 01 Sep 2005 May, 2005
Sara Writes: I'm delighted that The Serenoa Scandal was recently featured on PBS radio, WGU 90.1. News Director Amy Tardif attended a Fort Myers book club discussion of this novel, set in part on The Babcock Ranch in central Florida. She narrates this event as readers put me in their crosshairs. I love these discussions, by the way. They help me keep in focus.Meanwhile, it's a rare privilege when an author has a chance to help preserve the setting she has written about, but that is what has happened with Serenoa. In this novel, the lifestyle and the setting are central to the story. I wanted to preserve this slice of a tropical wild west, which I feared was rapidly disappearing before an implacable tide of development. At the moment, the State of Florida hopes to purchase all or part of the ranch to preserve it for public use. I'm delighted and hope that this novel will help raise awareness of a beautiful part of Florida. To hear the PBS show, click on the link below and scroll down the title page. The original run date of this radio feature was 5/03/05. http://www.wgcu.org/listen/news_features.asp
Posted by Sara on Sun, 01 May 2005 February, 2005
The Don Juan Con is soon to be a major motion picture from Paramount Studios. Paramount has bought The Don Juan Con. "We are producing it and it should be big", said Producer Robert Evans. "No price too high does an original bear. That's why we are making the flick." Evans has made such famous films as Chinatown, The Godfather, and Rosemary's Baby.
Posted by Sara on Tue, 01 Feb 2005 |