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Author News & Interviews

Author Talk: Jane Stanton Hitchcock, author of Bluff

Apr 3, 2019

Jane Stanton Hitchcock is a New York Times bestselling author, playwright and screenwriter. She is also an avid poker player who competes in the World Poker Tour and the World Series of Poker. The publication of her sixth novel, BLUFF, marks her return to the world of crime fiction following a nine-year hiatus. In this interview, Hitchcock talks about the inspiration for her latest work of fiction, which pays tribute to her passion for poker; why she refers to her protagonist, Maud Warner, as a “#MeToo murderer”; her satirization of so-called “high society”; and the writers who most influenced her at the start of her career as a novelist.

Interview: Dave Barry, author of Lessons From Lucy: The Simple Joys of an Old, Happy Dog

Apr 3, 2019

In Dave Barry’s latest book, LESSONS FROM LUCY: The Simple Joys of an Old, Happy Dog, the Pulitzer Prize-winning columnist and bestselling author shows readers how to age gracefully, taking cues from his beloved and highly intelligent dog, Lucy. Michael Barson, the Director of Publicity at Poisoned Pen Press, recently chatted with Dave about how Lucy came to be a part of the Barry family, why he has her to thank for getting to know many of his neighbors, the most important life lesson he has learned from observing and living with her, and his honest feelings about those who believe that cats make better pets than dogs.

Author Talk: Wendall Thomas, author of Drowned Under: A Cyd Redondo Mystery

Mar 21, 2019

Travel agent Cyd Redondo returns for another crime-solving adventure in her second mystery, DROWNED UNDER. In this interview, author Wendall Thomas talks about the Golden Age movie stars who served as the inspiration for her wisecracking protagonist, how she researched all the fashion data that Cyd incorporates in her hilarious commentaries on her clothes, makeup and accessories, why both books in this series revolve around endangered species, and what has surprised her the most about the community of mystery writers she joined two years ago when her debut novel, LOST LUGGAGE, was published.

Author Talk: Betty Webb, author of Desert Redemption: A Lena Jones Mystery

Mar 14, 2019

Betty Webb wraps up her Lena Jones mystery series with the release of its 10th installment, DESERT REDEMPTION, in which the Scottsdale private eye investigates the death of a woman that may lead her to some long-overdue answers about her troubled past. In this interview, Webb explains why she’s saying goodbye to Lena, who came to her in a dream 20 years ago; gives a shout-out to the crime fiction authors whose work inspired her to give novel-writing a try; previews a new series that she plans to begin following the completion of her current project; and talks about a shocking story she covered as a newspaper reporter that she wished she could’ve incorporated into one of her books but didn’t feel comfortable doing so.

Interview: Annie Ward, author of Beautiful Bad

Mar 7, 2019

BEAUTIFUL BAD is Annie Ward’s page-turning debut psychological thriller about a devoted wife, a loving husband and a chilling murder that no one saw coming. In this interview conducted by Michael Barson, the Director of Publicity at Poisoned Pen Press, Ward talks about her inspiration for writing in this genre; why she chose to set the novel in exotic and unusual locations like Sofia, Bulgaria, and Skopje, Macedonia; her decision to turn the book, which was originally intended to be a memoir, into a fictional thriller; why she made her story’s romantic love interest such an atypical figure; and her excitement over her next novel, which she is having a lot of fun writing, and the film adaptation of BEAUTIFUL BAD that is in the works.