Interview with Karen E. Olson, Author of THE MISSING INK

Once again I'm so thrilled to have Karen E. Olson making a guest appearance here in Malaysia. Karen is the author of the new Tattoo Shop Mysteries, and her latest book THE MISSING INK will be released tomorrow! She is also the author of the Annie Seymour Mystery Series.

I have read THE MISSING INK and boy, I loved it! I am glad I have the opportunity to interview Karen so that she could tell us more about her newest protagonist, Brett Kavanaugh, a tattooist and shop owner.

Please join me in welcoming Karen!

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For the benefit of readers who have not read any of your previous novels, how would you describe THE MISSING INK?
THE MISSING INK isn’t like my other novels, except that it’s a mystery. My previous Annie Seymour series is set in New Haven, Connecticut, home of Yale University. Annie is a newspaper reporter with a salty tongue and self-deprecating sense of humor. THE MISSING INK is set in Las Vegas, with all its glitz and glamour, and features Brett Kavanaugh, a tattoo shop owner who is very comfortable in her own skin. It’s a lot lighter and fun.

Which part of researching THE MISSING INK was the most interesting to you? How did this idea of a tattooist as a protagonist come about?
I read a fascinating book called WOMEN OF SUBVERSION: A HISTORY OF WOMEN AND TATTOO by Margot Mifflin that really inspired me when developing Brett’s character. The book explains how women in the late 1800s would get full body tattoos and become the tattoo ladies at the circus to make money. It traces the history of women and tattoo through to the present day. As for other research, I also visited a local tattoo shop with a friend who has many tattoos, and I spent a lot of time looking at YouTube videos and watching those tattoo shows on TV.

I can’t take credit for the idea of a tattooist protagonist. My editor asked me to write a new series, and she said they were looking for a tattoo shop mystery. Not knowing anything about tattoo, I hesitated, but then decided, why not? I’m so glad I did, because it was a blast to write.

How long did it take to develop the intriguing character Brett Kavanaugh?
I always start by writing a chapter, to find the character’s voice. I think it took a couple of tries before I finally heard Brett. I had a very short deadline, and I couldn’t take too long to develop her!

The four books in the Annie Seymour Mysteries Series

I loved all the books in the Annie Seymour Mysteries series. Annie kicks butt. How is Brett different from Annie?
The biggest problem I faced was not having her sound like Annie. I didn’t want readers to pick up the book and say, “Oh, she’s just rewriting Annie!” and then put it down. Brett had to have her own voice. The biggest difference is that she doesn’t curse. At all. Her tone is lighter, although she still has an edge to her. She’s much more together than Annie, especially in that she owns her own business and isn’t afraid of losing her job. She’s got a healthy curiosity, which she needs to solve the mystery. Brett also isn’t the loner that Annie is, she’s got a circle of good friends and colleagues. Honestly? I really like writing a character who’s not grumpy all the time!

Can you share what readers can expect from the upcoming installments in this series?
Right now, I’m contracted for one more book in the series. It will be called PRETTY IN INK and will come out in March 2010. In that book, an incident at a drag queen show escalates into a hunt for Brett’s newest employee.

What are you currently reading? Anything in particular that you've enjoyed lately? What other genres and authors do you enjoy reading?
I have just finished the second in Louise Penny’s wonderful Inspector Gamache mysteries, which are set in Quebec, Canada. I am also making my way through Stewart O’Nan’s backlist, having discovered his amazing LAST NIGHT AT THE LOBSTER last year. And my friend Louise Ure’s new LIARS ANONYMOUS kept me at the edge of my seat. When I’m not reading fiction, I gravitate toward biographies of Henry VIII, his wives, and children. It’s been a lifelong obsession. Annie Seymour was named after two of his wives.

I'm sure you get asked this a million times: What is the hardest part of writing a novel? Why?
The ending. Wrapping it all up has to be done so delicately and I can’t allow it to be bogged down in too much explanation. Much easier said than done!

What are your 10 favourite books (fiction and non-fiction), and why?

1. THE GREAT GATSBY (it’s the perfect novel)
2. WUTHERING HEIGHTS (who can resist Catherine and Heathcliff? Twilight’s got nothing on this)
3. CRIME AND PUNISHMENT (perfect crime novel)
4. LITTLE WOMEN (love the sisters)
5. MOBY DICK (had a great high school teacher who taught me to love this)
6. TURTLE MOON (Alice Hoffman’s best novel ever, wonderful combination of mystery, romance, and paranormal)
7. BEHEADED, DIVORCED, SURVIVED (great bio of Henry VIII’s wives)
8. PRESUMED INNOCENT (perfect unreliable narrator)
9. LAST NIGHT AT THE LOBSTER (beautifully written, great story)
   
10. GONE WITH THE WIND (I can read this over and over)

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Thank you, Karen, for doing this interview! Please catch my book review tomorrow, which is the date of release of Karen's latest THE MISSING INK.

Alice sporting a tattoo on her left arm!

Tattoo courtesy of Chris Tock of Perpetual Tockism and
photo by Andrew

About THE MISSING INK: Brett Kavanaugh is a tattoo artist and owner of The Painted Lady, catering to high-profile clients in Las Vegas. But in her free time, she does a little investigating too - because murder really gets under her skin. . . .

When a girl makes an appointment to get devotion ink with the name of her fiancé embedded in a heart, Brett takes the job, but the girl never shows. The next thing Brett knows, the police are looking for her mysterious client and the name she wanted on the tattoo isn't the name of her fiancé.

An alliance with an unlikely partner leads Brett to a dead body, a suave Englishman, and an Elvis karaoke bar. And who is the tattooed stranger stalking her? Brett draws lines between the clues, unwittingly putting herself in danger. But she intends to see justice done, since death, like a tattoo, is permanent. . . . Read the first chapter of The Missing Ink

About Karen E. Olson: Born in New Haven, Connecticut, I grew up in the city's suburbs. Early on, I developed a love of books and great pizza. I wrote my first "book" when I was 9.

I went to Roanoke College in southwestern Virginia to study literature. In addition to reading a lot of dead white male British writers, I worked on the school newspaper. Woodward and Bernstein had inspired me, and I still wanted to write fiction, but thought I could supplement that with a newspaper job. [Read more...]

You can order THE MISSING INK at Amazon.com, Borders, or Barnes & Noble.

Related Posts:

• Teaser Tuesdays
  
• 2008 Blog Tour: Special Appearance
• 2008 Blog Tour: Book Review and Interview

Tea time with family at Garden, 1 Utama

I watched ICE AGE: DAWN OF THE DINOSAURS and had a great laugh with my family together with all the other moviegoers in the cinema. We watched it at the GSC cinema in 1 Utama. It was hilarious and heartwarming with a good storyline to boot.

After the movie, we got hungry and decided to go to Garden Lifestyle Store and Cafe for our makan-makan. I've been there a few weeks ago with my mom and sisters Rose and Catherine, and liked the place. We decided to go again, but this time the dining experience was less satisfying. The food was not as good as before.

I like the wedding-like padded hardcover menu. The contents were even better featuring cute cat illustrations and various types of flowers, besides the food and drinks options.

My two beautiful sisters, Catherine (left) and Rose

Lovely ambience

Michael's mocha

Fries as a side dish

The Garden Sandwich that I enjoyed the last time I was here (because there was lots of butter on the toasted bread), but this time it was not so good

John's pasta and it tasted quite good

The somewhat weird chicken wings

What we liked about the cafe:

• Great ambience and loved the garden concept
• The staff was courteous despite the stress evident on their faces
  
• The supervisor or manager was efficient in handling our dissatisfaction. He courteously asked if we could fill out the comment form, and boy, my brother John did give his best write-up. He viewed our complaint seriously and took immediate action. Earlier we gently rejected his offer of complimentary coffee (because that's not why we offered our feedback), but later he came by and gave us dainty cakes and asked us to accept the cafe's apology. We appreciated his gesture.
  

What we disliked about the cafe:

• Food and some drinks came slow
• Food quality not consistent and not as good as the previous visit
• My coffee came last and almost toward the end of my sandwich even though the server asked if I would like my coffee to come in the beginning or at the end of the meal, and I told her the former
  

Our conclusion: Maybe the cafe couldn't handle large crowds especially during weekends. The staff became rather kelam-kabut and you could see the stress on their faces in handling orders and requests by customers.

Would I return to the Garden? Yes, I would and to make sure I appreciate the experience better, I'd do so during weekdays, non-peak hours.

A Bookish Flowchart

I came up with a bookish flowchart some time ago just for the fun of it. The process begins from finding the book, to buying, and all the way to cataloguing and blogging about it.

I usually found great books either from fellow bookbloggers' blogsites or from other sources of media. I would then either shop online or at my favourite bookstores. What I don't buy now, I put them into my Amazon.com wishlist (fiction and non-fiction). You would also see the list of all my favourite bookstores in the flowchart.

My Bookish Flowchart

You can see or download the larger version of this flowchart here.

Bookish memes such as the Mailbox Monday encourages me to "blog about new purchase" and Teaser Tuesdays adds on to my eventual reviews of those books.

Blogging about books and reading is so much fun! I would love to hear about your bookish habits too! Do share.

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Coming up next on Monday, July 6: Special appearance by Karen E. Olson author of THE MISSING INK!

Wordless Wednesday: BORDERS "Shop & Win Contest" - I won!

Teaser Tuesdays: Fireproof (And, Book Review)

Here's page 145 of Fireproof by Eric Wilson:

She looked down, swung hair from her face, then met his gaze. "Let me be real clear with you about something..."

He waited.

She advanced two steps. "I do not love you."

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THE BOOK REVIEW

Fireproof
Novelization by Eric Wilson

Screenplay by Alex and Stephen Kendrick

Publisher: Thomas Nelson
Published: September 2008
ISBN-13: 9781595547163
320 pages

Synopsis from the back-cover: Growing up, his wife Catherine always dreamed of marrying a loving, brave firefighter...just like her father. Now, after seven years of marriage, she wonders when she stopped being "good enough." Countless arguments and anger have them wanting to move on to something with more sparks.

As they prepare for divorce, Caleb's father challenges him to commit to a 40-day experiment: "The Love Dare." Wondering if it's even worth the effort, Caleb agrees, for his father's sake more than for his marriage.

Surprised by what he discovers about the meaning of love, Caleb realizes that his wife and marriage are worth fighting for. His job is to rescue others. Now Captain Holt is ready to face his toughest job ever...rescuing his wife's heart.

First sentence: Dense smoke stretched between aisles of canned goods and wrapped its fingers around Captain Campbell's upright body.

Fireproof is an amazing faith-based story with inspiring characters and a challenging message. The marriage relationship is being taken lightly these days and when the going gets tough, divorce becomes the easy way out. This book is an eye (and heart) opener—Caleb Holt's resolve to save his marriage even though it is extremely hard for him and fight for the woman (Catherine Campbell) he loves—will dare us to rethink our own relationships.

The plot contains many suspenseful moments when Caleb risks his life in the line of duty, when a third party attempts to steal his wife’s heart at her place of work, and how temptations are very real in Caleb’s life (he is addicted to Internet pornography when his relationship with his wife has been going downhill for many years).

It is interesting to note that time and again, it is the lack of communication that causes relationships to fail. One party expects something from the other party, but without communicating it clearly to each other. In this story, both Caleb and Catherine are equally responsible for their marital problems.

Caleb’s father does a great job as his mentor and this goes to show that there are people out there who are able to help us if we only open our hearts to them. His father gives him a hand-written book called The Love Dare and challenged his son to follow through for 40 days. It is very difficult for Caleb because he is not seeing any results and Catherine seems untouched. In fact, she is unable to trust him and sends out opposite signals that she no longer cared.

Caleb also has a wonderful friend at work. Michael Simmons, his friend and lieutenant, constantly checks on him and he is one person Caleb could spill to. Michael brings about an interesting perspective about the fragility of marriage, which is depicted through the salt and pepper shakers example. The two shakers are glued together and if you try to pull them apart, you will break either one or both of them apart. It is thought-provoking what Simmons had said in response to Caleb's remark about marriages aren't fireproof: "Fireproof doesn't mean that a fire will never come, but that when it comes you'll be able to withstand it."

Movie stills are included in the book and it is nice to be able to see the visuals. Eric Wilson did a great job with the novelization, which is based on the screenplay by Alex and Stephen Kendrick (the team behind Facing the Giants and Flywheel). It is a story that made me cry and reflect.

When I read this book, I am reminded of what is truly important in my life and what it takes to protect it. Caleb has learned that "you never leave your partner, especially in a fire." "Fireproof" has multiple meanings in this book. I have placed an order for a copy of The Love Dare and is now hunting for the movie (watch trailer). I highly recommend this.

Marriage is not just about meeting the right person, but it is also about being the right person.

Related Post: Mailbox Monday

Books I Read in 2009: June

1. Dying Breath by Wendy Corsi Staub
2. Vision in White by Nora Roberts
3. The Sleeping Doll by Jeffery Deaver
4. The Imperfect Enjoyment by Dewan Gibson
5. Silver Falls by Anne Stuart
6. The Missing Ink by Karen E. Olson
7. Tales from Earthsea by Ursula K. Le Guin
8. Fireproof by Eric Wilson

Total books for June 2009: 8
Total books for 2009: 63

I think June is the worst reading month for me--only 8 books read. I hope July would be better, though. Happy reading everybody!

Mailbox Monday: What books came into your house last week?

Mailbox Monday is hosted by Marcia at The Printed Page.

I didn't receive any books through the mail last week, but I did purchase a book from the church mini bookstore. The book, Fireproof: Never Leave Your Partner, is a novelization by Eric Wilson and is based on the screenplay by Alex Kendrick and Stephen Kendrick.

The movie Fireproof was first brought into my attention by Mr Alfred Lye who was the conference chairperson at the ABF PA conference on day two in Singapore last month. He highly recommended it and when I got back to Kuala Lumpur, I searched for it. What I found instead was the book and bought it immediately when I saw it at my church. I'm almost done reading it and there are so many things about the ups and downs of marriage that touched me. It is an inspiring and thought-provoking book, and one that bring tears to my eyes. I highly recommend it to everybody even if you're single.

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Growing up, his wife Catherine always dreamed of marrying a loving, brave firefighter...just like her father. Now, after seven years of marriage, she wonders when she stopped being "good enough." Countless arguments and anger have them wanting to move on to something with more sparks.

As they prepare for divorce, Caleb's father challenges him to commit to a 40-day experiment: "The Love Dare." Wondering if it's even worth the effort, Caleb agrees, for his father's sake more than for his marriage.

Surprised by what he discovers about the meaning of love, Caleb realizes that his wife and marriage are worth fighting for. His job is to rescue others. Now Captain Holt is ready to face his toughest job ever...rescuing his wife's heart.

Do read more about the book on Amazon.com and more about the author here.

Food Galore (at Restoran Siu Siu and Mom's homecooked goodies)

It's been a while since I last post food pics so this time around, I give you a two-in-one account. Check this out!

Part A: Dinner at Restoran Siu Siu on Thursday, June 25

First thing first, a happy belated birthday to Maine who celebrated her birthday last Wednesday! We went for a dinner together with other colleagues on Thursday. We had loads of fun and laughter.

Photo Credit: GettyImages

This is Siu Siu Restaurant
(Address: Robson Heights. 15-11 Lorong Syed Putra Kiri, 50450 Kuala Lumpur; Telephone: +6016 370 8555, +6016 309 8038; Closed on Mondays)

Here are some of the dishes we ordered

More photos at Facebook! It's a public album, so please click here to visit!

Part B: Mom's Homecooked Goodies

Today's highlight is Hiro's arrival at our family place. Hiro is our new Shih Tzu puppy and he's really sweet and cute (more Hiro pics). Mom also cooked up a feast and I took the opportunity to brag about it here by launching into a mini photo op. LOL!

I hope you've enjoyed both feasts. Have a great week ahead!

Hiro, my new Shih Tzu

I'm finally having a pet! Our little Shih Tzu boy is named Hiro (after Hiro Nakamura on Heroes).

Meet Hiro!

While my hubby still maintains his "no pet" policy, my mom has agreed to house the puppy at our family place so I could visit the little dude every other day when I pop by. Bless my mom and siblings! Hiro now has "gramma" (my mom), "uncles" (my two younger brothers) and "aunties" (my two younger sisters) to play with him!

Hiro is quiet and sweet, and he loves the orange giraffe soft toy Michael (my youngest brother) gave him. He also loves snuggling!