DARK VOYAGE

I got all excited when I first spotted the November 2013 issue of Ellery Queen. I saw my name on the cover next to Charlaine Harris’, and my brain did a little loop-de-loop. Then I opened the magazine and discovered the stunning pen-and-ink drawing the magazine commissioned to go with my story, “Darkness in the City of Light.” The artist’s name is Allen Davis, and he managed to capture the essence of Annie and Blythe, while rendering the artwork above Notre Dame’s “Judgement Day” portal to perfection. It amazed me the first time I saw it, and it still does.

I’m so excited to be in the November issue of Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine, which is on newsstands now! My novella, “Darkness in the City of Light,” is about a sado-masochistic friendship, a sordid love triangle, and the limits to which you can push a person. But it’s also something of a love letter to the most romantic city in the world, even though it shows off the dark side of Paris as well as its glowing lights.

Here’s how the story opens:

I should have hung up on Blythe when she told me she’d booked tickets for us to go Paris. Through four years of college she had been my roommate and nemesis, alternately swearing we were closer than sisters, then refusing to speak to me for days. By graduation, I was relieved to break free of her dizzying Manhattan orbit and retreat to Maine. But by the time Blythe called in August, the cozy familiarity of my parents’ bed-and-breakfast had morphed once again into disdain. I’d been turned down for every job and internship I’d applied for and was wondering if I’d ever get work that didn’t involve scrubbing toilets.

My mother made a prayerful gesture when I told her about the trip. I always wanted to go to Paris, Annie, she said. You are so fortunate to have a friend like Blythe. I’d never shared Blythe’s less shining moments with her, so my mother believed Blythe was a young, hip fairy godmother. I was instantly relieved of scullery-maid duties, feeling only a twinge of regret for abandoning my parents during their busiest season. My mother helped me pack and paint my nails as my father hovered in the background. They’d met Blythe twice, and while my mother was dazzled by her blonde beauty and glamour, my father maintained a silence on the subject that spoke volumes.

My mother drove me to Portland, where I caught a bus to New York. By the time I arrived at Blythe’s apartment on the Upper East Side, I felt like throwing up. Would she change her mind about our trip at the last minute? One time, she’d broken up with her boyfriend, Richard, and announced we were going to Hawaii; by the time I got back from a bikini-buying binge, she’d already reconciled with him. Anything was possible with Blythe.

When she opened the door, she grabbed me in a huge hug. “I’ve missed you so much. We have so much to catch up on.”

But as I caught my breath and looked around her apartment, I knew something was wrong. There were piles of shopping bags and magazines lying amid overflowing ashtrays and empty vodka bottles. Worse, there were ornately framed photographs everywhere with a man’s head neatly clipped out of each one. I hadn’t seen Blythe’s new apartment, but the pictures were the same ones she’d displayed in the apartment we’d shared. I knew who she’d decapitated.

One more thing: if you’re in New York for the Brooklyn Book Festival on Sunday, September 22nd, I’ll be signing copies of Ellery Queen’s November issue at the magazine’s booth from 3pm to 4pm. Please come by to say hello!

There’s nothing like publication day, whether it’s for a short story or a book. After literally years of nudging by some very kind friends and readers (you know who you are), I’m thrilled to announce that my short story collection — THE BLACK WIDOW CLUB: Nine Tales of Obsession and Murder — is available now as an eBook for $2.99.

I’ve resisted putting together a collection because it used to be so easy to find many of my early stories online. That’s not the case anymore, since many of the old archives have come down, so I’m thrilled to make these stories available again.

If you’ve read any of my short fiction, you’ll be prepared for the darkness within. If all you know of my work is from the Lily Moore series… well, all I’m going to say is that you shouldn’t read THE BLACK WIDOW CLUB before bed. The stories in this volume were first published by Thuglit, Beat to a Pulp, Needle, the Feral Pages, and the Drowning Machine. You get the idea about the company my stories keep.

Because I’m a big fan of brick-and-mortar bookstores, THE BLACK WIDOW CLUB is available from Kobo, which has partnered with many terrific independent shops in the U.S. (including BookPeople, the Tattered Cover, Murder by the Book, and Mysterious Galaxy). Kobo is also a longtime partner of the Indigo chain in Canada. THE BLACK WIDOW CLUB is also available from Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and the iBookstore. The ISBN is 978-0989726337. There isn’t a print edition yet, but I’m hoping to make one available soon. 

Finally, a huge, heartfelt thank you to all of the people who’ve supported my work since I started publishing short stories in 2007. That goes triple for Todd Robinson and Allison Glasgow — the forces of nature behind Thuglit — who published my first three stories. That’s just one of the reasons I dedicated THE BLACK WIDOW CLUB to them. The other editors who published the stories in this volume — David Cranmer, Steve Weddle, Lyman Feero, and Corey Wilde — are all rock stars, and I know I’m lucky to work with them. My mom, Sheila Davidson, also deserves a round of applause, because she’s been my first editor on all of these stories. I owe thanks to all of the friends who’ve offered me eBook advice, including Chuck Wendig, Ed Kurtz, and, most of all, Chris F. Holm, who has patiently put up with my eBook queries for quite some time now. I’m also grateful to Katrina Niidas Holm for taking a photo I snapped in Turkey in 2008 and transforming it into a cover-worthy image. Who’d ever think that a person with an imagination as dark as mine would be surrounded by amazing people?

Last week, I posted the cover of my upcoming short story collection, THE BLACK WIDOW CLUB. This week, I’m reposting it, because I made one change to the book (and to its cover): there are now nine stories, instead of eight. The eBook will be released on Tuesday, July 23, 2013. Here’s the jacket copy (can I still call it that when the book doesn’t have a jacket?):

Obsession. Betrayal. Rage. Paranoia. Lust. Jealousy. Murder. Hilary Davidson’s short stories invariably lead to very dark places.

In “Stepmonster,” a jilted wife learns that the younger woman who stole her husband may be on the prowl again. In “Son of So Many Tears,” the mother of a criminal discovers the carnage left behind by her son. In “Anniversary,” a man prepares a very special meal for the girl of his dreams. In “Beast,” a wedding-obsessed woman refuses to accept a bad breakup. In “Undying Love,” a dead man with a fading memory tries to piece together the mystery of his own murder. In “Insatiable,” a wealthy old man watches his beautiful wife seduce a new lover. In “Fetish,” a father’s terror about the sick, twisted world his daughter inhabits leads him to take some terrible measures to save her. In “The Other Man,” a bar owner realizes his adulterous days may be numbered when a cuckolded husband starts stalking him. And in the title story, “The Black Widow Club,” a young mother discovers that murder may be a family tradition.

Read The Black Widow Club: Nine Tales of Obsession and Murder at your own risk.

Coming soon to an eBook retailer near you — and that includes all of my favorite independent booksellers who sell eBooks!

In case you haven’t guessed already, Le mal que tu m’as fait is The Damage Done in French. (A literal translation would be, ‘The evil you have done to me.’) This is a special advance edition of the novel — with a handwritten dedication by me — exclusively available for the France Loisirs book club right now. (France Loisirs is the largest book club in Europe). Later on, the book will go into wide release in France, published by Editions Télémaque.

I love the cover — it’s like seeing another Fringe alt-universe version. Back when I was suggesting possible cover images for The Damage Done to the design team at Tor/Forge, I included a body in a bathtub. I’m pretty sure I was inspired by a Sophie Hannah book, The Wrong Mother. I didn’t have any input into this cover, so I’m thrilled that someone French team had the same idea.

If you’d like to read an excerpt of Le mal que tu m’as fait, it’s available on the France Loisirs website. “C’est en voyant le ruban jaune de scène de crime sur la porte que je compris que ma sÅ“ur était morte…”

I always love the Mystery Writers of America’s Edgar Week, because it brings so many wonderful writers to New York. Here’s why this year’s festivities were even more fun than usual…

So thrilled that Hank Phillippi Ryan won the Mary Higgins Clark Award for THE OTHER WOMAN! That’s her Tor/Forge editor, Kristin Sevick Brown on the left and her agent, Lisa Gallagher, on the right. 

Hanging out with Reed Farrel Coleman at the Agents & Editors party.

With the beautiful and talented Kim Fay, author of THE MAP OF LOST MEMORIES, which was a finalist for the Edgar Award for Best First Novel.

Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine’s editor in chief, Janet Hutchings, at the Dell Magazines party.

Lovely Susan Elia MacNeal (a finalist for the Edgar for Best First Novel for MR. CHURCHILL’S SECRETARY) and her husband, Noel, at the Edgar Awards.

With Maryelizabeth Hart, co-owner of the Mysterious Galaxy bookstores and the winner of a Raven Award! We joked that we coordinated our colors…

Oh, Edgar, why must you be so delicious?

With my Sister in Crime Laura K. Curtis (one of the forces of nature behind Criminal Element).

With Kevin Egan (author of MIDNIGHT, coming this summer from Tor/Forge), Terrie Moran and Laura K. Curtis.

Lovely ladies Dana Cameron, Terrie Moran with… (blanking one this sweet woman’s name… help!). UPDATE: It’s Toni L.P. Kelner. Thanks, Marlyn Beebe!

Kim Fay with her husband, Jim, and Susan MacNeal with her husband, Neal, in the Hyatt’s bar after the awards.

You already know how passionate I am about independent bookstores, so you can guess how thrilled I was when CNN asked me to write about my top 10. The article, “Brick and Mortar: Best Indie Bookstores” is up today. I wrote it while I was mid-tour for EVIL IN ALL ITS DISGUISES, so it doesn’t include a few places I visited late, such as Minneapolis’s marvelous Once Upon a Crime. Still, the stores on the list are incredible, and I hope the story will help spread the word about them.

One of the highlights of 2012 for me was touring British Columbia for a week in June with crime writers Robin Spano, Ian Hamilton, and Deryn Collier. We had just a blast visiting local libraries that we said we’d do it all over again, next time in southwestern Ontario. Sadly, Deryn can’t make it this year, but Robin, Ian and I are counting ourselves lucky to be teaming up with author Robert Rotenberg this time around. Here’s our (crazy) schedule:

May 9, 2013, Woodstock, ON, 2pm: The Crime Tour visit the Woodstock Art Gallery (449 Dundas St., Woodstock, ON, N4S 1C2; 519-539-6761) for an event sponsored by the Woodstock Public Library. This event is free and open to the public. Books will be for sale on site by the Merrifield Book Shop (519-539-4220).

May 9, 2013, Orangeville, ON, 7pm: The Crime Tour speak at Centre Fellowship (375 Hansen Blvd., Orangeville, ON, L9W 0C2; 519-942-9421). Tickets are $10 with proceeds going to the University Women Scholarship Fund. Books will be for sale on site by BookLore (519-942-3830).

May 10, 2013, Cambridge, ON, 9:30am: The Crime Tour hit the Clemens Mill Library (50 Saginaw Parkway, Cambridge, ON, N1T 1W2; 519-740-6294). This event is free and open to the public. Books will be for sale on site by Book Express (519-621-9500).

May 10, 2013, Guelph, ON, 1pm: The Crime Tour visit the Guelph Public Library (100 Norfolk Street, Guelph, ON, N1H 4J6; 519-824-6220). This event is free and open to the public. Books will be for sale on site by The Bookshelf (519-821-3311).

May 10, 2013, Brantford, ON, 4:30pm: The Crime Tour visit the Brantford Public Library (173 Colborne Street, Brantford, ON, N3T 2G8; 519-756-2220). This event is free and open to the public. Books will be for sale on site by Green Heron Books (519-442-1822).

May 11, 2013, Thornbury, ON, 1pm: The Crime Tour visit the L.E. Shore Memorial Library (173 Bruce Street South, Thornbury, ON, N0H 2P0; 519-599-3681). This event is free and open to the public. Books will be for sale on site by Jessica’s Book Nook (519-599-7361).

May 12, 2013, Orillia, ON, 1pm: The Crime Tour host “Murder and Mayhem on Mother’s Day at Manticore” at Orillia’s Manticore Books (103 Mississauga Street, Orillia, ON, L3V 1V6; 705-326-7776). This event is free and open to the public.

If we’re in your area, please come out to see us!

Guess who’s got a shiny new Facebook page? It doesn’t seem right to launch it without a book giveaway, so I’m hosting one today: just “like” the page and comment on the giveaway post, telling me which of my books you’d like to win. I’ll pick the winner before midnight tonight. I think this could be the start of a great tradition. More giveaways planned for the next few weeks!