Dear Friends,
Happy fall! You have no idea how long I’ve been waiting to say that (ever since summer started, basically). Autumn is my favorite season for a host of reasons, but chiefly because it allows me to break out the boots. (Yes, it’s a fashion choice but also practical—New York City really is overrun with rats these days.) Fall brings with it cooler weather, Halloween candy, visits from out-of-town friends, and Thanksgiving reunions. I can’t wait!
This fall brings something else I’m thrilled about: I’m back at Brooklyn’s Center for Fiction. My next course begins on Wednesday, October 25th, and it’s called “Femme Fatale: Villain or Antihero?” The reading list includes books by some of my favorite authors, including Megan Abbott, Laura, Lippman, and Walter Mosley. The 90-minute sessions are broadcast via Zoom (so you can join in from anywhere) and you can register now.
Also returning this fall: Authors for Voices of Color, an auction that benefits We Need Diverse Books. This is its fourth year, and it just keeps getting bigger. (No lie: read about it in People magazine!) The auction went live on Tuesday, and I strongly suggest checking out the many great offerings, which include signed books, Zoom chats, and manuscript critiques. Spoiler alert: my offering this year is an Ask-Me-Anything Zoom chat, and you can bid on that here.
This week marks a special anniversary for me: it’s the thirteenth anniversary of the publication of my debut novel, The Damage Done. It’s a book that defied all the odds: when my agent was shopping it around, several editors fell in love with it, but wanted me to change the ending (no spoilers here, but many of you have read the book and you know just how dark it is). That idea was a nonstarter for me, and ultimately, there was only one editor who loved the book exactly as it was, and that was Paul Stevens at Tor/Forge, a Macmillan imprint. I will be forever grateful to him for giving my book a home. The first print run was small, and because Tor/Forge published mainly fantasy and sci fi, a lot of mystery-themed bookstores didn’t even carry the book. In spite of all that, The Damage Done went on to win the Anthony Award for Best First Novel. I still don’t understand how an underdog of a book managed to hit so hard, but I did learn that there’s no marketing as important as getting your book into the hands of passionate readers who are trusted by other book lovers.
What better way to mark this anniversary than with a book sale? Since The Damage Done marked amateur sleuth Lily Moore’s first appearance in print, all three books in the series are on sale for the next month, in all digital forms, for $1.99 each. Why not scoop up The Next One to Fall and Evil in All Its Disguises to celebrate?
Fall is always a busy time but I’m making it a little more hectic by relaunching the Gluten-Free Guidebook. Before I was a crime novelist, I was a travel journalist, writing guidebooks for Frommer’s, honeymoon columns for Martha Stewart Weddings, and freelancing for a host of publications. The Gluten-Free Guidebook was my blog baby, launched in 2008, but I mothballed it during the pandemic for obvious reasons. I’m relaunching it next week on Substack (if you’re interested, click here). The dining information is geared toward people who have celiac disease—like I do—but it’s really for anyone who loves great food and the spirit of adventure.
Thanks for reading!
Hilary
PS Fans of the Grifter’s Song series are in for a bittersweet fall. The series’ creator, Frank Zafiro, is publishing the final installment—Into the Dying Sun—on October 1st. To cap off the series, he interviewed virtually all of the authors in a series of podcasts on Wrong Place, Write Crime. Our interview about the series novella I wrote, Dangerous to Know, will be up in a few days and you’ll find it here.
PPS I posted this on social media on Monday, and it resonated with a lot of people, so I’m sharing it here, too. (If you’re curious about the origin, I explain on Instagram.)