Saturday, March 30, 2013

Easter Thoughts.

I was at Macy's today and I saw a lot of little girls getting new Easter dresses. This struck me as a little ironic as a lot of those girls will not be going to church on Easter Sunday to show off those new dresses. I'm afraid it's become a secular feast, wth the Easter bunny and eggs being the main part of it. Of course the feast started as a pagan one, as did most Christian feasts.
It is the feast of Ishtar, Assyrian goddess of fertility. And yes, the eggs and bunnies come from her. As Christianity spread across the world Christians were quite smart about taking existing feasts and giving them new meaning. That way people didn't have to give up any of their feast days. You can still celebrate Ishtar, folks, only we'll call it Easter now and the eggs symbolize resurrection.

My mother always bought a new hat to wear to church on Easter Sunday. The hat competition was a big part of Church of England services with the biggest and best hats sitting in the front pews.

And I suspect the buying of new clothes goes back to the days when people didn't have a large wardrobe. The new dress to be worn in the summer was a BIG THING. Perhaps it was the only summer dress for that year. My great aunt told me that they had one "good" dress and one "everyday" dress for winter and summer when she was a child. She would wear white washable aprons over it , but the dress itself would seldom get washed. Yuck.

So I suppose i can understand using Easter a the kick off for the summer wardrobe but it has always struck me as not very practical and half the world still has snow on Easter Sunday, and in England it always seemed to be wet and cold. We'd sit in our silky pastels and shiver.
Tonight I'll be singing at the vigil service and wearing warm clothes.

And I just read that 78 percent of people bite off the chocolate bunny's ears first. Do you?
Happy Easter however you choose to celebrate it!

Monday, March 25, 2013

The Author Who Came in From the Cold

Sorry that I haven't been blogging here as much as I used to. Frankly my Facebook page has taken over my day to day musings. Do come on over to Facebook and LIKE RhysBowenAuthor if you want to stay current.

I spent most of last week in Colorado where I realize why I live in California and Arizona. It snowed. And it snowed. And it was 24 degrees with a wind chill making it 6! Thank heavens I took my fake fur coat (that everyone thinks is real).

First I attended Twist Phelan's wedding to the adorable Jack Chapple. What a fun wedding with the holy book being The Velveteen Rabbit and Twists vows written in Doctor Seuss. Then on to Left Coast Crime convention in Colorado Springs. Fabulous mountain resort and I looked forward to some hikes... until it started to snow. And snow. And we heard about the interstates around us being closed.

So I worried a little about getting home but luckily the sun shone on Sunday morning and we made a dash for it between storms and managed to get on an earlier flight. Pfew. But the convention was great fun. I was part of a concealed weapons fashion show (wearing genuine 1930s outfit) and I moderated the celebrity Truth or Dare panel which everyone loved. My panelists were such good sports. I had them do things like be blindfolded and then identify a famous mystery author entirely by feel!

We had a terrific banquet with actor Lou Diamond Phillips who stars in Craig Johnson's Longmire series. Lou was so funny, so over-the-top energetic that everyone loved him.
And then we had the scary drive back to Denver, noticing the accidents along the way and praying we'd get out before it snowed again.

We did AND I got home to find that my Amazon Rank was #27. Not #27 in mystery but overall. Up there with James Patterson and Stephanie Meyer etc. All because of wonderful Audible! They have put my Royal Spyness series on sale until tonight and thus bumped me to the top of the tree. Jump in and get them while they are hot!

Friday, March 15, 2013

Catching up, Vintage clothing and more

I realize I've been silent on Rhys's Pieces, but my time has been fully occupied with hosting Jungle Red Writers last week, doing all the promo for the new Molly book, THE FAMILY WAY, and with trying to finish the first draft of the next Molly book before we close up the condo and leave Arizona for California on Monday morning.

I've also had some fun excursions this week: I went to visit a friend who collects vintage clothing. I'm going to be in a fashion show, dressed as my character Lady Georgie, so my friend Dinah let me try on wonderful real 1930s dresses. I turned down the really dainty and fragile ones, scared of what might happen if I sat down wrongly. But I did accept a fabulous apricot color evening cape in soft velvet, and a pair of real 1930s shoes. I'll wear these with navy silk palazzo pants and my blond flapper wig. (I'll post pix after the show.)

But here are some pictures I took at Dinah's house.

I also took my grandkids to a ghost town, did a tour of an old mine and let them pan for gold. What a fun day.

So now it's packing up and making sure the fridge is clean and empty and everything I need for six months is taken with me. And all I really want to do is finish the darned book.
Then off to Colorado on Wednesday for Left Coast Crime in Colorado Springs, then home to the Bay Area for several book signings with Cara Black.
Orinda Books March 28
Books Inc Laurel Village, April 17
Bay Books, April 22

Hope to see you at one of them.
AND this weekend, St Patricks Day, March 17, I'll be signing at The Poisoned Pen, Scottsdale AZ at 2 p.m. Fun St Paddy's day party.

Monday, March 4, 2013

Big Week for Rhys

Tomorrow marks the publication of THE FAMILY WAY--my 15th Molly book.
And all this week I'm hosting Jungle Red Writers-www.jungleredwriters.com so please come on over and join in the discussion.

I'm particularly pleased with the title THE FAMILY WAY as it resonates on so many levels. What is family? What happens when the family structure is not there? As well as focusing on pregnancy and birth. The plot deals with kidnapped babies, a missing girl, a very creepy convent...it's one of the more suspenseful Molly books.

And on Jungle Reds we're discussing the importance of titles, title mistakes and a fun look at title suggestions for my next Molly book that takes place in Paris.

Tuesday we'll be celebrating my pub date with some of the things I can't put in my books.

Wednesday I'll be having a fun interview with Cara Black

Thursday Mary Jane Maffini does a guest post on writing a book with her daughter.

Friday Brad Parks does a naughty post on sex in mysteries

Saturday we're talking about colors

and Sunday I'm sharing my favorite new knitting pattern.

So a busy week. Spread the word about the new Molly book and drink a glass of virtual champagne with me.