"The plot of an Alafair Burke thriller doesn't just rip from the headlines. She's one step ahead of them. 212 scares you and keeps you turning the pages into the wee hours."
— Harlan Coben

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Happy Birthday to The Duffer

Monday, July 28, 2008



The Duffer is three years old today.  He is partying like a rock star with his life partner, Sebastian the shih-tzu. 


The Duffer's mommy (moi) is going to Paris tomorrow and won't be blogging until next week.  Ciao.   I mean, au revoir.



posted by Alafair Burke at 12:03 PM 3 comments


Lingo, Acronyms, and Slang...Oh My!

Saturday, July 26, 2008

Most of my time in Portland was spent with my old pals, most of whom either work or previously worked at the D.A.'s Office with me.  As they exchanged stories (always either exciting, hilarious, or both) about their cases, I found myself translating for the husband.  "Did you tack on a K2?"  That's kidnapping in the second degree.  "Lamborn's in an Agg."  Trial for aggravated murder.   "He's the MDT deputy."  Multidisciplinary Team.  It's for child abuse cases.


A few years away from the D.A.'s Office, I still knew the lingo, but had enough distance to recognize the need for translation.  The experience reminded me of some of the reviews of my first book, Judgment Calls, many of which praised the "attention to detail," "insider's view," and "lingo of the trade," while others decried the "legalese," "jargon," and an "alphabet soup of acronyms."  Since then, I have tried to use law enforcement-y words like a spice -- just enough to give the book the flavor of authenticity, but not so much to overwhelm.  

But the trip to Portland reminded me that the flavor of authenticity is not the real thing.  In reality, cops, prosecutors, and defense lawyers speak another language, one that, if transcribed, would require translation on every single page.  (Let's save the separate discussion of 4 letter words for another day ... in another lifetime.)  So what is a writer to do?  Should a book strive to be readable or realistic?  Have I sold out by cutting down on the lingo, or have I grown enough as a writer to portray that world authentically despite cutting through the slang?  As readers, do you enjoy the insider jargon or does it take you away from the story?  I like to think I've struck the right balance in recent books, but, still, I wonder...

posted by Alafair Burke at 1:12 PM 4 comments


Why My Cookbooks are Dusty

Wednesday, July 23, 2008

One of my sisters and I have started writing down what we eat and then emailing it to each other. (Does it work? you ask. Good idea in theory, but I'm a writer so I don't mind having to type a lot of words.) Anyway, a couple weeks ago, in response to my never ending log of restaurant food, carry out, and Lean Cuisines, my sister wrote back, "Don't you ever cook?"

So today, my first full day home from vacation, I vowed to cook. I pulled this recipe for Quail and Artichokes from my Mario Batali cookbook. I even walked across the street to the Union Square Green Market in search of the best ingredients. After a loop through the entire market, I left with nothing but artichokes. Then it was on to Whole Foods where only in NYC do shoppers have to master the delicate dance of shopping carts on escalators. Alas, after a long wait at the butcher counter, I was told there were no quail, just hens. I don't know the difference, so I bought the hens. I'm now staring at two bags of groceries on my counter and a whole mess of work. Total cost: $67 to feed me and the husband.

Just looked at the menu for Mario's Babbo, one of the best restaurants in the city, just a five minute walk from my apartment, and one of our faves. Cost of the quail entree? $27.

This is why I watch Top Chef instead of actually cooking.

posted by Alafair Burke at 2:38 PM 2 comments


Back in NYC

Tuesday, July 22, 2008

We took a Jet Blue redeye from Portland to JFK, 11:59 PM PST to 8 am EST (i.e., hours everyone who's not a mindblow should be sleeping).  Highlight and lowlight: creepy guy we noticed at the check-in, who released boozy snores during the entire flight in the row across from us, was stopped upon landing for a request for ID).  

TIP: When stopped on a flight and asked for ID, don't let your first response be, "But that's not why you're here."  We all had to wait until airline security persuaded dude and his friend to "deplane without incident."

Vacation apparently made my IQ drop 25 points because we cabbed it to midtown for dinner with friends only to be told the reservation was for Thursday.  We stayed anyway, at Jean-Georges' Vong , even though we'll "have to" go back in two days.  Very tasty.  Tomorrow reality comes back.  Humidity.  Bills.  Dog walking.  Me at the computer.

posted by Alafair Burke at 8:04 PM 1 comments


More Good News for Angel's Tip

Monday, July 21, 2008


On the heels of a starred review from Kirkus, Angel's Tip was just given a starred review in this week's Publishers Weekly.  "Gripping" with "a sense of dread..., Burke leaves her principle characters little time to sleep; readers will relate."  I'll take it!

posted by Alafair Burke at 7:52 AM 2 comments


1 More Day in P-town

Sunday, July 20, 2008


It has been a busy four days in Portland with 2 rounds of golf, tax-free shopping at the Nordstrom Anniversary Sale, a BBQ with all my old friends from the DA's Office, and a hike around Mount St. Helen's (see my friend's version of a joke, thanks to Photoshop).


As coincidence (or karma or Carl Jung) would have it, this review of Dad's Swan Peak appeared prominently in today's Oregonian.  

posted by Alafair Burke at 8:18 PM 2 comments


Literary Inside Jokes

Friday, July 18, 2008

At Off the Page, Oline Cogdill blogs on literary cross-references, such as Lee Child's reference to Samantha Kincaid in Bad Luck and Trouble. (Yes, when Reacher meets a Portland prosecutor called Samantha in a cop bar and spends two nights with her... that's my girl.)

I love spotting these allusions to other books. They are hat tips from one writer to another, and a secret reward for frequent readers who are paying attention.

posted by Alafair Burke at 7:50 AM 2 comments


Wheels Down in B.C. - Part Deux

Wednesday, July 16, 2008



We are back in the Vancouver airport again, this time waiting for our flight to Portland.  Three and a half days in Canada brought two rounds of golf (highlight: I holed a 50 yard approach shot!), a day trip into Vancouver (including a stop to the aquarium, where the BFF otters hold hands), a bike ride around Victoria, and whale watching in Haro Strait.  


Numbnut here forgot the cord that connects the iphone to the macbook air, so no pics yet, but I'll update later.

UPDATE:  I'm attaching pictures of me at some golf course in Victoria and the rooster who roamed the porch at the farm where we had a sandwich before I left for the airport.

posted by Alafair Burke at 6:13 PM 0 comments


Wheels Down in B.C.

Sunday, July 13, 2008

We've landed in Vancouver and are waiting for the jump flight to Victoria.  Air Canada rocks.  The employees were all really, really nice, like... Canadian nice.  And they have movies and TV on demand built in to the seats.  


I watched 21.  It was pretty good but I wanted it to be more sophisticated.  As a fan of Jim Swain's books, I found myself saying, "But, wait, security would catch them through x y and z..."  The film did make me want to learn more about the real-life MIT Blackjack Team on which the film was based.   Has anyone read Ben Mezrich's Bringing Down the House?  Would I like it?

posted by Alafair Burke at 12:07 PM 2 comments


Just when I was getting the hang of things

Saturday, July 12, 2008

Tomorrow the spouse and I head to Victoria, BC, with a brief stop in Vancouver, and then to Portland to kick it old school with the pre-NYC buddies. Should I gather any stories to share, I'll pop in, but if you don't hear from me, know that I'm relaxing (and writing) and will come back with a vengeance.

posted by Alafair Burke at 5:03 PM 0 comments


More from Thrillerfest

This afternoon, I was "Panel Master" at Thrillerfest for a panel on From Your Profession to Creative Passion, where I chatted with Laura Caldwell (lawyer), Jonathon Santlofer (artist), Adam Gittlin (commercial real estate), Julie Compton (lawyer), and Douglas Preston (formerly of the American Museum of Natural History) about the transition from and/or between our original professions and the writing gig.

I learned a lot about how other writers find the time to write despite other obligations. I try to write every day, even if it's a paragraph, and then never let myself skip two days in a row. At least that way the material never gets ice cold, and I can leap back in once I'm at the keyboard. It was also interesting for me to hear about the leaps of faith that Jonathon and Douglas took when they left day jobs. Thank goodness my profession complements my creative passion.

I resisted the urge to load up on new books, but I did get a copy of Preston's new non-fiction book, The Monster of Florence (with Mario Spezi), which is supposed to rock. Alas, I didn't get any pictures (bad blogger!).

posted by Alafair Burke at 4:48 PM 0 comments


Prepare Yourself For Some Name-Dropping


Last night I was one of 16 authors featured at Harper Collins' Thrillerfest party at the Mysterious Bookshop, along with Jonathan Santlofer, Sarah Langan, Tasha Alexander, Tim Hallinan, Andrew Gross, James Rollins, Kathryn Fox, Andrea Kane, Jordan Dane, Steve Martini, Mario Acevedo William Dietrich, Jonathan Hayes, Vicki Pettersson, and Sean Chercover.  It was quite the party.  Among the highlights: I learned that Jonathan Hayes is a lovely man who shares my adoration for Gotham Bar & Grill (and has an awesome book jacket) and that Vicki Pettersson is extremely nice.


After the party, the husband and I had a tasty dinner with Thriller-nominated author Brent Ghelfi and his terrific wife, Lisa (see photo).

Up today: My panel at 4:00, From Your Profession to Your Creative Passion with Jonathan Santlofer, Laura Caldwell, Julie Compton, Adam Gittlin, and Douglas Preston.  Hopefully I can get some pictures that don't suck.

posted by Alafair Burke at 5:09 AM 3 comments


Lawyers v. Cops

Friday, July 11, 2008


I was lucky enough to get my hands on an advanced copy of Michael Connelly's Brass Verdict (highly recommended, as usual).  After writing two series (one about a cop, another about a prosecutor), I couldn't help but to compare Brass Verdict (told largely from the perspective of a defense attorney named Mickey Haller) to Connelly's much-beloved Harry Bosch series.  I loved the book, but it had more details about Haller's work habits than a Bosch book would explore with Harry, and the action didn't seem as fast as Connelly's usual fare.  (Before anyone accuses me of dissing my crime fiction God, did you notice I said I loved the book??  Different doesn't mean worse!)


This got me thinking about legal procedurals versus police procedurals generally.  It's hard to be objective about my own books, but I think the pacing of Dead Connection and Angel's Tip is faster, and the storytelling more immediate, than in my Samantha Kincaid series.  And I've speculated that the difference is in the jobs of the protagonists: Ellie takes you directly into the action, whereas Samantha the prosecutor was often a bystander.  Strengths and weakness to both, so the question isn't which is better.  The question is whether this difference is inherent once a choice is made about the main character's profession.  What do you think?

posted by Alafair Burke at 7:35 AM 1 comments


I found Jess (no, that's not missing a letter U)

Thursday, July 10, 2008

You can tell I was catching up with my tivo last night. In another TV related post, it dawned on me while watching Weeds that Andy is the perfect Jess Hatcher, Ellie's partially-employed wannabe rockstar of a brother. Justin Kirk may not want to play another lovable brotherly sidekick, but he just may have crept into my visual cortex (is that right?) as the new mental jpg of Jess.

On another note, can we all agree that the kiss between him and Nancy had better have been a one-time ruse? Any attempt at sexual tension between those two will (1) ruin the show, and (2) make me go, "eeewwww...."

posted by Alafair Burke at 10:42 AM 2 comments


Cookie Monster


In a sign that I am still a seven-year old inside, I found this week's interview of Cookie Monster by Stephen Colbert to be hilarious. "Me have crazy time in the 70s and 80s. Me like the Robert Downey Jr. of cookies!"

posted by Alafair Burke at 10:30 AM 2 comments


New Q&A with... Moi

Wednesday, July 9, 2008

I don't point y'all to every Q&A I do around this time of year, but this was a particularly fun one. Only Jen at Jen's Book Thoughts has ever asked me to write a six-word memoir. I hope you enjoy reading my responses as much as I enjoyed giving them.

posted by Alafair Burke at 1:49 PM 6 comments


Good News for the Book Blog World

One of my favorite book reviewers, Oline Cogdill, is leaving her staff position with the Sun-Sentinel, giving her more time to freelance her mystery book reviews and to write for the Sun-Sentinel's Off the Page blog. (You may not know that you've read Oline's reviews, but you have if you've perused my website; she is the originator of the "two powerhouse series" quotation that I haul out at every conceivable opportunity.)

As much as I love Oline's reviews (and for admittedly selfish reasons), I really love her blogging, not just about all things book-related but even a confession that she likes Burn Notice in part because Jefferey Donovan is "cute as ever." As I'm just learning how to blog, Off the Page has been something of a role model. Enjoy. (Hat tip to Confessions of an Idiosyncratic Mind for the news, although CIM cites The Book Publicity Blog. I know how to cite sources in law review articles, but I'm still learning how to footnote in a blog. Is there a bluebook for this stuff? Alert: that was a law geek joke.)

posted by Alafair Burke at 1:32 PM 0 comments


I'm "Wily"!

Tuesday, July 8, 2008

Thanks to the generosity of some of my favorite writers, I'm happy to share some advance praise for Angel's Tip with you (plus the first official review!):


"Burke scores on all counts in this thriller about a serial killer with a hair fetish.  ....Burke makes good on a solid buildup by pulling off a big surprise.  Burke's brisk and ultimately suspenseful narrative offers wily and intricate plotting and sharply etched major and minor characters." - Kirkus (Starred Review)

"Angel's Tip is a riveting read that snaps with the beat of New York.  Be prepared for a knuckle-biting journey that'll keep you turning pages until the very end." - Faye Kellerman

"Alafair Burke has created a winning heroine in Ellie Hatcher, someone to root for not only in this book, but I hope in many more tales as yet untold." - Tami Hoag

"Alafair Burke is one of those rare writers whose books are both scary and cerebral.  Complex plotting, multi-layered characters, a creepy serial killer -- in Angel's Tip, Burke has once again proven herself a terrific storyteller." - Sandra Brown




posted by Alafair Burke at 10:48 AM 4 comments


Some Thoughts on Book Jackets

Monday, July 7, 2008

Some thoughts about book jackets...

As a writer, I concern myself first and foremost with the pages that go
inside of the book: the beginning, the middle, and the end. I hate
coming up with titles. Sometimes they've come naturally to me ("Missing
Justice"); sometimes I really work at them, going so far as to poll my
friends ("Judgment Calls"). Apparently I'm better at writing the
insides of the book than the title on the outside. Entertainment
Weekly, despite including "Dead Connection" as a "Must List" pick,
admonished readers not to "let the dopey title turn you off of this
otherwise satisfying mystery."

Because I recognize my relative strengths and weaknesses, I'm glad that
the title is the only part of the outside of the book about which I have
any say. What distinguishes a great book jacket from a lousy one?
Beats me.

Case in point: my new book Angel's Tip (forthcoming August 19) was
originally going to look like this:






Pretty hot, right? But apparently it just didn't convey the right
message. Now the jacket looks like this:




Really hot, right? It's better, at least I think so (do you?). But
why? What makes this book look like the kind of book that a certain
demographic (to wit: people who would enjoy my books) might pick up
from the front table? The subtlety? The city skyline? I'd love to
hear your thoughts.

posted by Alafair Burke at 10:56 AM 2 comments

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