"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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Video of the Day

Tuesday, September 30, 2008

Try this for a quick break.

posted by Alafair Burke at 2:01 PM 2 comments


Draft Christopher Guest to Bouchercon!

Monday, September 29, 2008


I spoke to someone years ago about the fertile ground that Bouchercon, an annual mystery book conference, would provide to the brilliant Christopher Guest.  He has dramatized the best and the worst of dog shows, folk music festivals, and community theater, so I can only imagine what he could do with a conference of writers, agents, publicists, and fans.  


As this year's conference approaches, I've been toying with the idea of creating a movement to support the idea.  Then today, as I was trying not to think about the stock market or politics, I passed Michael McKean on 5th Avenue and he smiled at the Duffer.  I took it as a sign (and then immediately cast him as an eccentric independent bookseller in Guest's future Bouchercon Mockumentary).  

I'll be collecting signatures at this year's Bouchercon in Baltimore.  If you'll be there, find me and sign.  And if you're on Facebook, join the "Draft Christopher Guest" group.  See what happens when I'm at home sick, supposedly resting?

posted by Alafair Burke at 6:37 PM 4 comments


Gotta love Mystery Booklovers

Saturday, September 27, 2008

This morning I talked about writing, prosecuting, and Angel's Tip with a terrific group of readers at Oakmont, PA's Mystery Lovers Bookshop.  I'd describe the conversation for you, but I think Jen from Jen's Book Thoughts does a much better job: read all about the event here.


Other good news: Sean is meeting me in Philly tonight with the Duffer. Bad news: In a bout of honesty, I told the hotel that Duffer is a dog so now I'm staying on the dog floor, where some poor lonely wreck of a squeak toy is warbling and another dog (whom I picture to be behemoth) is barking in response.  Also, my nemesis of a cold continues to kick my butt.  So much for writing.  

posted by Alafair Burke at 3:34 PM 2 comments


Off to Pennsylvania!

Friday, September 26, 2008

I've been quiet the past few days thanks to the nasty little cold that is my sworn enemy. I'm getting on a plane late tonight (during the debate, dammit!) to Pittsburgh. Looking forward to seeing folks Saturday at Mystery Lovers Bookshop in Oakmont, and on Sunday at Time Restaurant in Philly for a Robin's Book Store event. See the remaining tour schedule here.

posted by Alafair Burke at 2:05 PM 0 comments


Video of the Day

Tuesday, September 23, 2008

No, this French bulldog isn't Duffer, but he sure is funny.

posted by Alafair Burke at 3:03 PM 0 comments


My sister the comedian (and all her little helpers)

Monday, September 22, 2008

So....several times on book tour I've been asked the same question during Q&A, verbatim: "So were you really rescued from a plane?" (For those of you who don't know, this is a reference to the backstory of the fictional Alafair Robicheaux in the Dave Robicheaux series authored by a different Burke.) Someone posting as Barnaby Jones even asked the question while I was briefly a guest at the Barnes & Noble Center Stage Book Club.

My sister Pamala (webmaster at my dad's site) just confessed that she has been tracking my movements across the country, enlisting volunteers to pose the question, and then called the stores afterwards to make sure they were in on the joke. And the poster known as Barnaby Jones? That would be the prankster once again.

Can't believe I didn't figure it out sooner! As for her helpers on the road, next year I expect a different question.

posted by Alafair Burke at 6:28 PM 3 comments


I'm "a force to be reckoned with," got it?

Sunday, September 21, 2008

Today David Montgomery reviews Angel's Tip for the Chicago Sun-Times, saying that "Angel's Tip demonstrates that Burke is a force to be reckoned with in the thriller genre."

posted by Alafair Burke at 12:04 PM 1 comments


6 Quirky Things

Friday, September 19, 2008


So, Jen at Jen's Book Thoughts "tagged" me with a game that requires me to post 6 quirky facts about myself, and then to "tag" 6 other bloggers to do the same.  I don't know 6 other bloggers, so if you blog, consider yourself tagged by me.  Here are my 6 quirky things:


1) I don't like to eat salad from the same plate as other food.  It needs to be on a separate plate.
2) I wipe down my kitchen counters every night before I go to sleep.
3) I wipe my dog's paws with a baby wipe after every walk.  (OK, I'm noticing a trend here.  Time to move on to another kind of quirky.)
4) I carbonate my own carbonated water but can only drink flat water before I go to sleep, and it must have ice.
5) I like the smell of skunks.
6) I'm a darn good seamstress.

posted by Alafair Burke at 3:09 PM 2 comments


Blogging From Florida


I'm blogging today from a condo on the water in Panama City, Florida, where tomorrow I'll be the keynote speaker for the Gulf Coast Writer's Conference.  In connection with the conference, I sat down for a Q&A with fellow author Michael Lister.  Read it here.

posted by Alafair Burke at 3:09 PM 1 comments


New Q&A with yours truly

Thursday, September 18, 2008

The good folks at Reuters were kind enough to invite me for a Q&A. Not sure why, but this particular one has already been picked up by yahoo, aol, msnbc, and nydailynews.com. Why? Could it be because I came clean about how I REALLY wound up in NY?

posted by Alafair Burke at 2:51 PM 5 comments


Another review for Angel's Tip

Wednesday, September 17, 2008

The Ft. Worth Star-Telegram says about Angel's Tip, "this fast-paced-but-human thriller proves that writing talent is genetic." Not sure I agree with the genes part (I'm generally a nuture more than nature type), but I'll still take it. Read the rest of the review here.

posted by Alafair Burke at 6:52 AM 1 comments


Hofstra People...

Monday, September 15, 2008

I hope members of the Hofstra community (students, alums, faculty, staff) will stop by Book Revue in Huntington tonight for my discussion of Angel's Tip at 7 pm.

posted by Alafair Burke at 12:21 PM 0 comments


Page 69

Today I am featured in Marshal Zeringue's Page 69 test at the Campaign for the American Reader. If you aren't aware of his college of Page 69 tests, you should be. Taking up someone else's one-time suggestion that a potential reader should pick up a book and use page 69 as the test to determine whether he or she is interested in reading a book, Marshal has asked scores upon scores of writers to discuss their own page 69s. See what I had to say about Page 69 of Angel's Tip here.

posted by Alafair Burke at 10:30 AM 5 comments


Professor Burke heads to Beantown

Thursday, September 11, 2008

I rarely mention my professorial life here, but as soon as my criminal law class ends tonight, I'm flying to Beantown for an academic conference at Boston University Law School, where I'll be presenting this paper about a prosecutor's obligation to disclose evidence to the defense. I may not blog over the weekend, so here are some oddball websites you can play with in my absence: Jellotime, squirrels in outfits, Christian Bale as Kermit the Frog, Talking Pets, and the always classes Subservient Chicken. What whackadoo stuff have you found on the net? (And, please, don't make me regret asking this question. Nothing X-rated!!!)

posted by Alafair Burke at 5:12 AM 1 comments


New TV

Wednesday, September 10, 2008


I know that as either a law professor or an author, let alone both, I should say things like, "Television? Who watches television? I wouldn't even OWN a television were it not for PBS." Well, I don't care what I'm supposed to say. I'll shout it from the rooftops: I love TV. Of my faves, only the Shield has launched for the fall, and this disappointing season of Weeds is about to end, so that's a wash as far as time is concerned. I think I have room in my TV viewing schedule for another show or two. I watched the much-hyped Fringe premiere last night. Promising premise. Not sure I'm loving that lead actress though. Halfway through, I asked the husband if she was trying to fake a pseudo-foreign accent or something. Now I see she's Australian, so I guess the problem is with faking an American accent.

What new or returning shows are you waiting for?

posted by Alafair Burke at 9:09 AM 5 comments


Video of Alafair Burke and Lee Child

Tuesday, September 9, 2008

You may recall that #1 NYT bestselling author Lee Child agreed to kick off the Angel's Tip book tour by interviewing me in Tribeca. Barnes & Noble recorded the event. If you missed it, here it is:

posted by Alafair Burke at 7:54 AM 0 comments


An update from Arizona.

Sunday, September 7, 2008

Yesterday I drove to Tucson, the first time I've driven 85 mph in a long, long while.  At Clues Unlimited, I met owner Chris Acevedo's new (to me) greyhound and learned that she's added three more pet pigs to her original, Sophie.  


Today, I saw lots of familiar faces at Barbara Peters' Poisoned Pen,  including blogger-extraordinaire Lesa Holstein.  Highlight, though, may have to be the appearance of a darling little girl named Alafair (photo hopefully to come later).  We now have an actual person to add to the menagerie of Alafairs.

posted by Alafair Burke at 3:29 PM 1 comments


On the Road Again...

Friday, September 5, 2008


Just can't wait to get on the road again... Am packing my bag for Arizona this weekend. Saturday I'll be at Tucson's Clues Unlimited at 2:30. Sunday it's Scottsdale's Poisoned Pen at 1:00. See the full tour schedule here. In between I'll find play time for my little nephew, James. Will miss Duffer.

posted by Alafair Burke at 4:21 AM 2 comments


Real places in Angel's Tip

New York Magazine has a piece discussing the use of real restaurants and bars in Angel's Tip.

posted by Alafair Burke at 4:20 AM 0 comments


Portland and Me

Wednesday, September 3, 2008

Back in the day when I was a prosecutor, I feared that my name might someday be in the pages of the Willamette Week for all the wrong reasons. The weekly paper is sort of the Village Voice of Portland, the kind of mag that prints the political and courthouse gossip before the Oregonian gets a whiff of it. Now it's all good with a review of Angel's Tip this week. Showing some love to the hometown girl.

I will confess, though, that the following sentence made me sad: "my guess is we're now lost to Burke forever." Well, Richard Meeker, I'm telling you it ain't so. I went to Portland twice this summer and am planning to sublet a place there next summer. (Note, I say summer. The semester schedule and all. It's got nothing to do with the rain. Really. I mean it.) Portland is still near and dear to my heart and I have every intention of going back there, both physically and in my writing. Check it.

posted by Alafair Burke at 10:49 AM 2 comments


UK versions of books

Tuesday, September 2, 2008

So I got an email today from an editor with my UK publisher, which will publish Angel's Tip in November under the title City of Fear. All of my prior books were published in the UK in the identical form as the US editions. This time, however, the UK editor has suggested deleting cultural and commercial references that might not be recognized on the other side of the pond: e.g., deleting an Archie Bunker reference and changing Tasti-delite, a ubiquitous NYC not-quite-ice-cream-like "food," to a Starbucks.

I honestly don't know whether UK versions of US-based books are typically changed to delete cultural references. Are they? Should they be? If I read a book based in the south and a character chows down on some ridiculous fried something or another at a food shack called Lucy's, I don't need to know about Lucy's to get the general picture. On the other hand, if readers in the UK don't want to feel left out of the story, I can certainly understand. What do you think?

posted by Alafair Burke at 2:13 PM 4 comments


Barnes and Noble Center Stage Book Club

Monday, September 1, 2008

Starting today until September 5, my father and I will be the featured guests at Barnes and Noble Center Stage. This is an online forum that allows readers to ask questions of featured authors and discuss their books. I hope to see many of you there. You can start posting questions once you've created an account.

posted by Alafair Burke at 6:52 AM 0 comments

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