Author tour hits town--

Weeks ago I had written that a co-worker would share newsletters from bestseller writer Janet Evanovich and tact them up on the bulletin board in the staff lounge. As I read (and re-read) the newest one hanging in the lounge, I was genuinely surprised to see that she was coming to my home area in Charlotte for a book tour stop. WOW.

Her new book is Sizzlin' Sixteen and features the newest adventures of bounty hunter Stephanie Plum with her family and associates (and romantic interests).

I actually worked the night when Evanovich was scheduled to arrive here so I took a chance to run by the bookstore after work. And it worked out for me.

I ran in the big chain bookstore and found, ladies, ladies, ladies waiting with books for autographs the opportunity to take pictures of (and with) Evanovich. It was a festive affair with colorful balloons, a live musical performances and lapel pins for those to wear who prefer Plum's suitor Morelli or Ranger. While standing by I noticed one fellow was doing better than the other in the votes...

I only had my cell phone's camera to use but here's a shot of the author in "meet and greet (the public) mode."

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Years ago, I purchased a paperback copy of Evanovich's first Plum novel One for the Money as a fun summer vacation read (my only Evanovich purchase). And I enjoyed and appreciated it for what it offered.

Yesterday, I felt pressed for time and didn't stand in line to see Evanovich but I'm curious of those of you reading--would you wait in line to see Ms. Evanovich???

WRITERS messages for interested fans--

Over the past years, one co-worker would post her mail correspondence from writer Janet Evanovich in the staff break room bulletin board. It was a newsletter called "Plum News" (of course, named after the writer's series protagonist Stephanie Plum) and checking the author's website, I see it is up to volume 13 now.

The newsletter is a fun product with personal family fun info (pet news, anyone?) aside from promos about the newest Evanovich book to hit the book shelves. Now, Evanovich does produce books with a cheetah's running pace so a newsletter is a good idea, however, others need to reach interested readers too and I've been the recipient in some instances. You may definitely put me in that camp but move me over to the email category as those are my only messages after shooting off an email to an author.

My most recent messages have been a series of emails--blog updates, actually--from writer Kwei Quartley ("Update from KweiQuartley.com") in Ghana doing research for an upcoming novel Children of the Street. It is a new book to feature his series protagonist Darko Dawson, who does reside in Ghana. The other writers I've received upcoming book updates include Julia Spencer-Flemming (e-newsletter "News from the Kill") and Sara Paretsky.

This is a fun practice and I'd suggest anyone really interested in a certain author or their work to sign up for email alerts if available.

Popular Female Crime Investigators Hit the Big Screen--

It has seemed a big mystery to me why Hollywood does not have more women in leads of detective stories when the fiction world has its share (although it still has a way to go no doubt). And there certainly has to be a number of actresses who would love to bring these characters to the screen.

I suspect that too many think that women do not fill the bill as a tough authority type and when it comes to physical confrontations. Also there may be a desire to spice up a movie story with a car chase or foot chase and with a female detective that is less likely. And perhaps the female detective story loses something in the transition to the big screen. Just a few thoughts here.

So I was pleased to read about two new upcoming film projects featuring two of Hollywood's talented, familiar faces.

A real surprise to me was the recent announcement of actress Katherine Heigl of TV's "Grey's Anatomy" fame set to portray New Jersey bounty hunter Stephanie Plum of the Janet Evanovich number series (One for the Money, Two for the Dough, etc.). I would not imagine a normally very blond-haired Heigl playing that role but recent photos show otherwise (see here from Google).

Also actress Angelina Jolie as is pursuing the opportunity to portray medical examiner Kay Scarpetta from the Patricia Cornwell novels.

So with the rich number of novels featuring these two characters alone (Evanovich is up to book number 15 in the number series with Plum for instance) the public has reasonable hopes for good films. I certainly do anyway.