Sara - pmlaw2, welcome to our chat with Lillian Stewart Carl, author of TIME ENOUGH TO DIE. We are on protocol, so type a ? to be put in queue and I'll call on you to post your question. Thank you.
RobinDOwens - ?
Sara - true!! the musical chairs (nice way of putting it) were interesting
Sara - Sara has the next question (O, Cissy, RobinDOwens in line)
LillianSC - I mean, if you start out the book with all the couples set, things (to me) aren't as interesting.
Sara - okay, I wanted to know about Gareth -- he was such a strong character from the start. Did you get to tour Scotland Yards for research? What inspired him?
Sara - and he wasn't, uh, loveable
LillianSC - I walked by Scotland Yard once! But he's just one of my standard repressed males
LillianSC - Loosening these guys up is always a lot of fun.
Sara - repressed? standard. Yeah, right, Lillian!!
Sara - you did a great job loosening him.
LillianSC - Hey, all my characters have frustrations, just to make them more believable. And thanks!
Sara - well, I got a tour there, Lillian -- visitor style with my son
Sara - when he was there, back 10 years or so. I enjoyed that one (used the loo too)
Sara - it was clean
Sara - these things are important you know, clean loos
Sara - decent toilet paper
Sara - strong coffee
Sara - a good umbrella
LillianSC - Scotland Yard? Cool! I asked questions of a police spokeswoman for another book.
Cissy - glad to know you have your priorities in order, Sara
Sara - okay, I'll stop with my London memories
LillianSC - I don't think we got around to loos, though, although one does play a part in the story. But that's another book.
Sara - yes, my priorities were straight, Cissy!!
Sara - no loo discussion, Lillian? now, you can always tell something about a place by their toilet!
Sara - O has the next question (Cissy, RobinDOwens in line)
Cissy - that's what I said!
Sara - the German ones are generally scary
Margret - cissy, can i ask you a question
Sara - well, I've been known to find the coffee shops and nearest facility
O - What kinds of books do you write?
LillianSC - I've been in ones in Scottish castles that must've been a hundred years old. But they weren't haunted, not like the one in Harry Potter.
Sara - great books, O, Lillian writes great books!
Cissy - well, right now we're chatting with Lillian, Margret - can it wait until after chat?
LillianSC - I write mystery, romance, and fantasy, usually all at the same time.
Sara - oh, Lillian, tell us about your books!
Margret - no problem-
Sara - with ghosts, O --
LillianSC - Time Enough to Die is a bit heavier on the mystery. Shadows in Scarlet was heavier on the romance. The next one out will be heavier on the fantasy.
Sara - and always a bit of history thrown in. I like that too
Sara - learned about the Celts and Romans in this one
Sara - previous one was another look at the Revolutionary War
LillianSC - History lite, that's me
LillianSC - I sometimes use the same research in short stories. Waste not, want not.
Sara - Lillian, you are heavier on the history than some historicals I have read.
Sara - that is a COMPLIMENT btw
Margret -
pmlaw2 has timed out.
LillianSC - Thank you! I figure we didn't get here without being there first.
RobinDOwens - What sort of research did you do for the archaeology and Celtic-Roman gold?
Sara - Cissy has the next question (RobinDOwens, Margret in line)
RobinDOwens - Sorry. Cat on the keyboard and off it went
Sara - oops
RobinDOwens -
Sara - Lillian, want to get Robin's first, then let Cissy go
LillianSC - Sure.
Cissy - it's okay, go ahead and answer Robin
LillianSC - I subscribe to Archaeology Magazine, which has wonderful iterms.
RobinDOwens - Yum.
LillianSC - Plus I read a book titled "Death of a Druid Prince", about a real bog body, that inspired the story.
RobinDOwens - Sounds like a source of good ideas.
LillianSC - And I'm always reading British history, from all eras.
O -
LillianSC - I was on one archaeological dig, in Israel, many years ago.
RobinDOwens - Thanks.
O - Did you find anything Lillian
Sara - I think I saw a review on the Bog Body book
Sara - a few years ago?
LillianSC - We were mostly heaving around large stones, supposedly from a gate built by King Solomon.
LillianSC - The Druid Prince book is several years old, yes. I saw the actual body in the British Museum in '95.
O - Wow
LillianSC - Well, not Solomon personally, you understand.
Sara - Cissy has the next question (Margret, O in line)
RobinDOwens - Hmmmm. I'll note that down.
Sara - uh, he didn't Lillian? I knew he was a busy man, surely he could build gates
Cissy - Lillian, do you have a favorite scene from TIME ENOUGH TO DIE?
LillianSC - I like the scene where Gareth, the detective, suddenly realizes he's attracted to one of the female characters. Sneaks up on him.
Cissy - with all those wives and concubines? I doubt he had time to build gates
Sara - that was a surprise to Gareth, he didn't even like her before -- she sorta scared him I will say NO more
Cissy - how does it hit him, Lillian?
LillianSC - She's startled too, and not sure what to do.
Sara - well, he could have taken them out on a picnic and said, hey, let's do the Amish thing and build us a gate today!
O - Does he see the light?
LillianSC - They're talking about the murder case. She's tired and trying to rub her own feet. He just impatiently starts doing it himself, then realized he's touching her, and that he likes it.
Cissy - King Solomon as Amish... trying to wrap my brain around that one
Cissy - oooh... that sounds like a fun scene, Lillian!
Sara - I mean, good old Solomon had the numbers on his side!
LillianSC - He's afraid he's letting his guard down too much, which he is.
LillianSC - Y'all are tempting me to write something about Solomon!
Cissy - lol, Lillian!
O - I wish i had someboyd to rub my feet
Sara - hey, I don't charge for muse duties
LillianSC - I could name a character Solomon....
LillianSC - I didn't realize at the time just how much sexual charge I could get out of this woman's feet. Oy!
AshleyMarie - I never thought of Solomen that way.
O -
RobinDOwens - You could or HE could.
Sara - so, Lillian, your characters surprised you?
Sara - wasn't she a bit older than him, or did I get that wrong?
RobinDOwens - Cissy, one of the banners isn't rotating....SORRY, Lillian
LillianSC - I knew they were supposed to get together. It was the way it happened that surprised me.
Sara - your books just suck me in and I read fast to find out what is going to happen next. Then I have to go back and re -read for little nuances
LillianSC - Yes, she's about 10-12 years older than he is.
Sara - Margret has the next question (O in line)
RobinDOwens - That's the best sort of book.
Cissy - they're rotating for me, Robin - maybe you need to refresh?
Margret - lillian, where do you live and what authors do you like?
RobinDOwens - That's the best sort of book.
RobinDOwens - That's the best sort of book.
RobinDOwens - - from 12.252.138.112 on 10/23 at 9:27pm EST
O - She lives in Texas all authors live there
LillianSC - I live in the Dallas area. I mostly read non-fiction, but recently I read Charlaine Harris's Dead Until Dark and really liked it. And Dean James's Posted to Death.
Cissy - not all of them, O - but lots
Sara - worse, O, she lives NEAR me
Margret - - from 12.250.127.94 on 10/23 at 9:28pm EST
RobinDOwens - Hey!
Sara - I need to get Dean's book
LillianSC - I like Carole Nelson Douglas's books, too.
LillianSC - Dean showed me the cover to the next one. Wonderful!
Mary f - LMAO Sara!
O - oh now what is Cissy really like
LillianSC - Okay, gotta ask, what is LMAO?
RobinDOwens - Laughing my a** off
Cissy - me, O? What you see is what you get
Sara - oh, Lillian, it is sorta rude -- Laughing My Ass Off
LillianSC - Aha, a step up from LOL, then.
Sara - and not quite to the hysterical stafe of ROTFL
Cissy - or even ROTFLMAO
NancyB has timed out.
LillianSC - Speaking of fiction, I just discovered a new writer of archaeological mysteries, Dana Cameron.
RobinDOwens - Rolling on the Floor
Sara - Margret has the next question (O in line)
Sara - did we lose Margret?
O - Is she from Texas too Lillian
Cissy - I think we did, Sara
LillianSC - I'm not sure, but I don't think so.
Sara - O has the next question
Sara - who is this person, Lillian? Dana?
LillianSC - Dana's new book is similar to my Dust to Dust. What's not to like?
Sara - oh, and we are doing a mystery tea in January. Want to come?
Sara - I'll send you details
LillianSC - Dana Cameron, a new writer of archaeology mysteries
Cissy - you guys have the best teas No fair
Sara - Carole is supposed to come
O - What do you want to write that you han't wrriten yet=time travel,
LillianSC - Moi, tea? Love the stuff!
Sara - oh, the new scones. MY GOD!!! words do NOT describe
RobinDOwens - Wow. The 'puter is playing tricks with my little office fountain.....
LillianSC - I'd like to write a best-seller
Cissy -
Sara - and these dainty little pecan tarts
Cissy - LOL, Lillian - great answer!
RobinDOwens - Sounds wonderful, tea and scones. What do you talk about at the mystery tea?
Sara - the cook is an ex-pat Brit
Sara - she is good!!
LillianSC - Seriously, I'd like to do something with a little more fantasy in it, perhaps brief elements of time travel.
Sara - we talk about mysteries, and try to have mystery authors come and talk about their books
Sara - oh, and we have tea
RobinDOwens - Hmmmmm. Excellent.
Sara - and goodies
LillianSC - Oh dear, it's just so hard to get me to talk about my books!
RobinDOwens - The time travel bits, I mean
RobinDOwens - ?
Sara - well, you can talk about Harris and Dean
LillianSC - Time travel in a mystery context, with the main character comparing what she thinks happened withwhat really did.
O - Who do you like to read Lilian when you have the chance
Sara - Robin has the next question
Sara - you sorta do that with your ghosts, Lillian
LillianSC - Heck no, Charlaine and Dean can fend for themselves! (I'm joking, they're great people.)
O -
Sara - I always like that there is a mystery to solve in the present as well as the past -- which needs to be resolved
LillianSC - I read my magazine subscriptions -- Archaeology, Smithsonian, Scots Magazine -- and history and travel books, and just for a special treat I have a collection of Rumpole stories.
LillianSC - The past is a mystery, Sara. Like, where did I leave my car keys yesterday?
O - What is Rumpole?
Sara - RobinDOwens has the next question (O in line)
Sara - or, worse, where did I park?
LillianSC - A series of classic English mystery short stories, starting an irascible old lawyer. It was a great PBS series awhile back.
RobinDOwens - LOL. I take it you only write books that call to you.
RobinDOwens - That was my ?
RobinDOwens - I think Rumpole of the Bailey was the name of the tv series.
LillianSC - I've been waiting for the market to catch up to me for years. I think maybe it finally has, with the paranormals so popular.
Sara - oh, sorry, Robin
LillianSC - Rumpole of the Bailey. I love them.
Sara - yes, and Lillian, I expect yours WILL take off. They are great reads
Sara - engrossing
RobinDOwens - No, LOL, I meant I stated my ? as a statement...
Sara - that was Leo someone as the actor, wasn't it?
LillianSC - From your lips to God's ear, Sara!
LillianSC - Leo McKern. He died recently, I'm sad to say.
Sara - we've been doing the old Christie movies. My dh finally got off the WWII track
RobinDOwens - Cross-genre seems to be doing better.
Sara - Death on the Nile, the Orient Express and that one on the island
Cissy - you're kidding, Sara
Sara - the Poirot ones
Cissy - finally off WWII? That's amazing
Sara - I know, I almost fell off my chair. It was a miracle
RobinDOwens - Then there were none (mousetrap)
Sara - I don't expect it will last, *sigh*
Sara - O has the last question
LillianSC - I hope cross-genre is doing better. I write straight short stories, but I can't keep my novels in one genre.
O - Are you doing a booksigning tour and coming to Rhode Island
LillianSC - Rhode Island? No, I'm afraid not. I'll be in Minneapolis next week for the World Fantasy Convention, which will be the third conference in six weeks.
Sara - yeah, Lillian, you've been globe trotting
Sara - or conference hopping!
LillianSC - Then I get to stay home and move to a new house next spring, with my 200 tons of books.
Sara - how was Austin?
RobinDOwens - WOW. I just finished a local sf convention. Are you at RT?
LillianSC - Bouchercon, the mystery convention, was in Austin this year. It was a lot of fun.
LillianSC - I've never gone to RT, no. So far I work the mystery and f/sf circuit.
RobinDOwens - Hey, Celeste.
Celeste - Hi and Lillian, I am so very sorry I missed your chat
Sara - I must do the ClueFest -- hopefully it won't be the same time as RWA some year!
LillianSC - Hi Celeste!
LillianSC - Cluefest is nice and laid-back.
RobinDOwens - Bouchercon I've heard of, but not Cluefest
LillianSC - No problem, Celeste, you hear from me all the time anyway!
Sara - Lillian, once more we used up an entire hour with good conversation
LillianSC - Cluefest is a small local Dallas convention.
Sara - not hard to believe, is it? we love to chatter! and with a great inspiration, it isn't hard
RobinDOwens - Excellent information.
LillianSC - Thank you Sara and Cissy. I hope to be able to announce another book sale very soon now.
Sara - before we end the offical part, can you re-inspire readers about TIME ENOUGH TO DIE?
RobinDOwens -
RobinDOwens - Which publisher?
LillianSC - Time Enough to Die has archaeology, ghosts, sexual tension, a dark and mysterious stranger -- what's not to like?
RobinDOwens - What's not to like?
LillianSC - Wildside Press
Sara - and a murder or two to solve!
Sara - exactly, Lillian!!
LillianSC - It was great, folks. Y'all have a good evening!
RobinDOwens - Yes, you too!