Newsletter Launch

Kendra has been after me for a while to kick off a newsletter, so here's the first!  If you're receiving this, you're on our mailing list.  You may have gotten here because you've corresponded by e-mail, or enter my contest, or otherwise expressed an interest in the Kendra Ballantyne, Pet-Sitter mystery series.  I hope to send out newsletters at least quarterly, and more often if there's news about Kendra or me.  If you want to opt out, please click here--but I hope you'll hang around.  I intend to make this newsletter interesting, and maybe even fun!

Next Kendra

I've received confirmation from Berkley Prime Crime that Kendra's fourth adventure, THE FRIGHT OF THE IGUANA, will be an October 2007 release.  As you can guess, an iguana or two play important roles.  Ever seen an iguana in person?  To me, they look very ancient and dinosaur-like, and wise...or at least inscrutable.  Unsurprisingly, Kendra somewhat shares my perception.

Meow News

If you haven't seen it yet, the cover for MEOW IS FOR MURDER, the fourth Kendra mystery, is on my website, and it's also up on Amazon and the Barnes and Noble website.

As always, the artist hired by Berkley has done a great job!  Her name, by the way, is Monika Roe.  I've thanked her by e-mail, as I've done with all the wonderful covers she has created.  Because so many details of the books are shown on the covers, I asked whether she gets to read the manuscript...and she does!

On the MEOW cover, you'll se that the cats resemble small leopards.  That's because they're Bengal cats.  In the story, they belong to Amanda, the ex-wife of Kendra's lover, P.I. Jeff Hubbard.  Sense a little pre-existing conflict here?  You're right!  You'll have to wait until February to read about what brings Kendra and Amanda together.  And of course it turns into murder!

My Multiple Careers

Like Kendra, I'm a lawyer.  I recently took on a temporary law project that will keep me occupied part-time for several months.  It has felt odd in some ways to go back to a full day of work away from my home office--which is how I've both written and, for the most part, practiced law for a while.  Not that I've been pet-sitting, but now my life is imitating Kendra's!

Appearances

I'll be signing the first three Kendra mysteries, in conjunction with the Sisters in Crime Goes to the Movies event, on Saturday, November 4, 2006, 3:00 p.m. at Borders Books & Music, 400 S. Baldwin Avenue, Arcadia, CA.

I'll be discussing my mysteries on a panel with other women mystery writers at a joint event between the American Association of University Women and the Thousand Oaks Library, on Saturday, November 19, 2006, 2:00 - 4:00 p.m. at the Thousand Oaks Library, 1401 East Janss Road, Thousand Oaks, CA.

And more to come...

All the best from Linda, Kendra, and our Lexies!

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