Many of you have probably noticed that, despite the seriousness and intensity of the cases worked in New York by Ellie Hatcher and JJ Rogan and in Portland by Samantha Kincaid, I often include more humorous law-enforcement-related tidbits along the way.  I like to think these give the reader some comedic relief from what can sometimes be dark subject matter. They also help illustrate the duality of law enforcement, where police and prosecutors learn to laugh, even when surrounded by misery.

When it comes to these (hopefully) hilarious stories, there is no shortage in the real world of inspiration.  My most recent favorite? This Long Island guy who plowed into a cop (on DUI duty, natch), wearing this t-shirt. (It's OK to laugh.  The officer was fine.  Phew!)

In the books, I often recount tales from my own experience at the D.A.'s Office.  The drug dealer who got shorted and went to the police to ask for help getting restitution?  Yep.  That was real.  Trying to shoot an old boyfriend with a bow and arrow?  Yep.  Real.

In 212, Ellie refuses to believe Max when he says a murder defendant wouldn't plead guilty unless the judge got him some fast food.  Totally real!  Not my case, but my friend's, and here's the news coverage to prove it:

"Durham, 33, struck a plea bargain last month in which he was guaranteed a meal of KFC chicken, Popeye's chicken, mashed potato, coleslaw, carrot cake and ice cream - in return for pleading guilty to murder.  As part of the deal, and after receiving a life sentence this week in court in Portland, Oregon, Durham will also get a second feast, this time on an Italian theme, with calzone, lasagne, pizza and ice cream."

Sure, I'll waive my constitutional rights for some of that!

Given that my work stories these days involve the Socratic method and soporific faculty meetings, I'm thankful that my cop and lawyer friends continue to keep me up to date on these unbelievable, yet completely real, shenanigans.  (Hat tip for the fast food story to my pal, Josh Lamborn, former prosecutor and now private lawyer to crime victims.  Any Oregon readers need an attorney?)

Now, how might Ellie come across that funny, drunk T-shirt in the next book?  Back to work!

People have their days.

The emphasis in that sentence is fully intentional, because it would mean something quite different to say, People have their days.  The latter is true, of course.  We all have good days.  Bad days.  Days when we're one tic away from the arrival of the nice men with butterfly nets.

But today, I mean we all have our days.  One of my sisters, for example, is known as the Christmas Queen.  She's the one who has a Santa sleigh on her roof, stockings for her cats, and elegantly wrapped presents spilling from beneath multiple trees, each decorated in a different style.

My literary agent's wife has claimed New Year's as their day.  Black tie required.  The best champagne.  The perfect playlist for an all-night dance party.

Hopefully we all have a friend who has claimed Super Bowl Sunday as his or her day.  You know the type.  Face paint.  Cakes shaped like footballs.  Twenty-layer dips filled with forty kinds of fat.

Well, traditionally, Halloween was my day.  Pumpkin carving.  Ghosts on the porch.  Full-size candy bars for the kiddies.  Home made costumes.  (Yep, I've got mad seamstressing skills, y'all.)

But, somehow, over time, I lost my day.  What was once a perfect marriage now resembles more a long-distance relationship.

In hindsight, the problems date all the way back to 1996, when a certain colleague at the District Attorney's Office beat me to the punch on a Halloween party.  Externally, I was a good sport with a quick RSVP in the affirmative.  I stitched up a kick-arse Snow White costume.  I brought vodka. No harm in humoring the kid, I figured.  The party would be a fail.  Halloween would soon be mine again.

But that's not what happened.  The party wasn't a fail.  Every square inch decorated.  No entry without a costume.  There was even a mad scientist in the basement with an "electric chair" and kamakaze shots in a gas can.  As far as the office was concerned, Halloween officially belonged to someone else, and I became the go-to girl for Oscar Night.

But although Halloween had adopted a mistress, I was still the wife.  Costumes.  Pumpkins.  Candy.  Ghosts on porch.  Check, times four.

Then came the move to New York City.  No more porch for ghosts and pumpkins.  No children to yell, "Trick or treat, smell my feet."  Plenty of costumes but far too many of the slutty pumpkin, skanky skeleton, and naked nurse variety.  Not to mention, the partying starts about three hours after I've gone to sleep!

But, six years ago, just when I thought October 31 had quit me, Duffer came to live with us on Halloween.  They say that kids can't save a marriage, but Duffer has kept Halloween in my life.  Halloween may no longer be my day, but it is Duffer's day.

Over the years, Duffer has been Batman:

A baby:

A ladybug:

A police officer:

This year, I put out a call to the online kitchen cabinet on Facebook and Twitter for costume suggestions.  Reader Jennifer Irvin nailed it.

You might recall this year's Duffer Awards.  We joked that Duffer had gone full-on Hollywood as he handed out statues in his own image, popping painkillers like candy for a "back problem."

It only seems fitting, then, that this year's costume reflects Duffer's newfound celebrity.

The Hef-Duff:

Happy Halloween from me and the Duffer.  Wear a costume.  Eat candy.  Be nice to the kiddies and teach them how to engage in mischief.

And, oh yeah, if you haven't already done so, read LONG GONE and 212 (out in paperback).  They just might keep you up at night.

Best,

Alafair

P.S.  If you missed the 2011 Duffer Awards, see the full list here.

These guys have excellent taste, but dogs sure do read slowly.

I just finished a book.

I've been in a position to use that glorious sentence eight times.  The first seven times, I spoke the sentence immediately after typing the final period on the final page.  I even typed THE END to mark the moment.

Did that mean I was completely done with my work on the book?  Of course not.  My agent and editor needed to read it.  I would listen to their good feedback.  I would make changes, some of them big.  The book would be better for it.  And then we'd do another pass.  And then copyediting.  But that's all editing.  The book was "finished," as I use that word.

Book eight?  I typed an ending a month ago, but, for the first time, I didn't type THE END.  I didn't say, "I just finished a book." Instead, I paused a moment to celebrate having a beginning, middle, and an end.  I may even have had a drink or two.

One of each, please!

Then I opened a new, blank document on my computer and started again from the beginning.

Yep, I rewrote my book.

Now, a month later, I'm willing to say I finished.  I even typed THE END.  The celebratory drinks made those first ones look like amateur hour.

Having to reach an ending twice before typing THE END got me to thinking about what made this time different.

1.  Why wasn't the first ending the finish line?

At a spotlight interview during last year's Bouchercon, Gregg Hurwitz asked Michael Connelly if he had any publishing regrets.  After initially saying no, Michael backed up and said he wished he had submitted his first novel earlier.  It was done, but he kept tinkering and refining on his own for nearly three years.

Little did he know as an unpublished writer that the book would get even better with an editor.  By Michael's calculation, if he'd sent the book out earlier, he would have benefitted from an editor's feedback sooner, and he could have started his second book instead of working on his own for all that time.  The world might have an additional Connelly novel or two as a result.

His observation made me think about my own process.  I don't generally tinker and refine on my own.  I type THE END and send it away.  But I've been able to do that because I force myself to get it right -- or at least my own best version of right -- the very first time.  I nitpick at myself constantly during the first (and only) draft.

For this book, I decided to let all that go.  I made myself write, even when I knew a certain scene or a certain plot twist wasn't exactly right.  It's not a process I would have been comfortable with seven books ago, but I've learned by now that that finishing sooner is better than finishing later.  I've seen for myself -- seven previous times -- how much better a book can be once you finish that first pass of editing.  Plus I heard Michael Connelly say it, so it must be true!

But changing my objective from finishing my very best draft to simply finishing a draft necessarily changed how I felt about "finishing."  All I could say was that I had a beginning, middle, and an end.  I couldn't really say I had finished the book.  I couldn't type THE END.

2.  Why I Called it a Re-Write

In my previous seven edits, I made some pretty big changes.  But I made those changes directly to the document.  I cut and pasted if I switched the order of two scenes.  I added chapters.  I deleted entire pages. Overall, however, the narrative arc of the plot and characters remained intact.

This time, I decided that an "edit" -- even a big edit -- would not suffice.  I wanted to start with a blank document.  I wanted to revisit every decision I had made the first time around.  I would reimagine the book with more information than I had all those months ago.  I'd pull over scenes, character, words, sentences, paragraphs, and entire chapters only as helpful.  I'd skip the rest.  I'd write new scenes and characters as I went.

Two characters completely left the page.  One arrived a hundred and fifty pages earlier.  An affair that happened suddenly didn't.

When I reached the ending of this new book, I knew it was better.  I knew I was proud of it.  And I knew I was actually done.

I'm not certain I'd recommend this process to anyone else.  The messiness of it has me wishing once again that I could outline a book chapter by chapter, scene for scene, prior to writing.  But at least I'm able to say that I have finished my eighth book and am very happy with it.

THE END

Last weekend, Today Show book critic John Searles called LONG GONE "the one book you cannot put down this summer."

Now Harlan Coben has included LONG GONE in his top summer book recommendations for the show: "a page turner from a major talent!" We already loved Harlan Coben in this house, so now we may have to name July 7 after him or something.

See the full list, courtesy of Harlan and the wonderful Jennifer Weiner, here.

Today Show book critic John Searles selected LONG GONE as one of the best books of the summer. He says it's the "one book you can't put down this summer." You can see the entire segment here (our shout-out is around 2:15).

Order LONG GONE here.  And it's not to read my posts for the Long Gone Book Club, so be sure to fill out this thingamajig to join!

I'm a big believer that an author's choice of location determines far more than a character's mailing address. I talk location in this new Q&A at Scene of the Crime. Read it here.

Also, I'll be the featured guest blogger at Powell's Books this week, with a new post every day. I'll be talking about sexting, why a law professor would write genre fiction, and other fun stuff.  Stop by for a new post everyday, starting on Monday.

I want to invite early supporters of LONG GONE to join a private book club. It's private in every sense of the word. It requires a key, available only to early supporters of Long Gone.

It is also private because it provides a behind the scenes look at the writing of Long Gone: thoughts about characters, information about the real locations depicted in the book, and other content that I hope will enhance the reading experience.

In the past, I haven't been able to talk about books online with readers because of the dreaded SPOILERS! At the private book club, we'll discuss LONG GONE over 10 days, starting on June 21. Every post will begin with a page and chapter number, so anyone who falls behind can skip that post and come back later. Faster readers can wait for the rest of us to catch up, then jump into the conversation. I am really looking forward to talking to readers about LONG GONE in real time as they read. Then on July 5, at 9 PM EST, we'll wrap up our club with a live webchat, open only to book club members with a password.

How do you get a key to the club? Just buy a copy of LONG GONE. It can be an e-copy or a paper book. Either forward your proof of purchase (or pre-order) to offer@alafairburke.com, OR fill out this handy, dandy early purchaser form, whichever is easier. Then I'll send you the club location and password. How simple is that?

Learn more about LONG GONE, read an excerpt, and watch the video trailer here. You can find many of your favorite booksellers here and here. For signed copies, contact stores listed here.

See you soon at "the club!"

LONG GONE hits stores in six days, which means I have less than a week to cross my little (okay, sort of stubby) fingers that you'll claim your early-purchase bonus.

Last year, I sent keychains. This year, I started with a few clues: 1) It consists of thirteen parts that can be assembled in less than three seconds, 2) You put its parts together with your fingers, but you will not want to hold it, 3) What force and strength cannot get through, this, with little effort, can do, and 4) It is not a car or an iPad. It is something little old me can actually give everyone who
buys a book.

Got it?

Did you figure it out?

...

Try one more time?

...

It's a thirteen-letter online password! And in this case, it's a password to a private book club. It's private in every sense of the word. It requires a key, available only to early supporters of Long Gone.

It is also private because it provides a behind the scenes look at the writing of Long Gone: thoughts about characters, information about the real locations depicted in the book, and other content that I hope will enhance the reading experience.

Readers told me they want something personal and connected to the books. I couldn't think of anything more personal and Long-Gone related than exclusive content from the gal who wrote the novel. Although the password to this club was intended to be a pre-order "gift" to readers and a small token of my gratitude, it has turned out to be a gift to me as well.

In the past, I haven't been able to talk about books online with readers because of the dreaded SPOILERS!  At the private book club, we'll discuss LONG GONE over 10 days, starting on June 21. Every post will begin with a page and chapter number, so anyone who falls behind can skip that post and come back later. Faster readers can wait for the rest of us to catch up, then jump into the conversation. I am really looking forward to talking to readers about LONG GONE in real time as they read. Then on July 5, at 9 PM EST, we'll wrap up our club with a live webchat, open only to book club members with a password.

How do you get a key to the club? Just pre-order a copy of LONG GONE by June 19. It can be an e-copy or a paper book. Either forward your proof of purchase to offer@alafairburke.com, OR fill out this handy, dandy pre-order offer form, whichever is easier. Then I'll send you the club location and password. How simple is that?

Learn more about LONG GONE, read an excerpt, and watch the video trailer here. You can find many of your favorite booksellers here and here. For signed copies, contact stores listed here.

I'm very happy with this year's little "gift," and I hope you will enjoy it as well.

It has been a couple of weeks since I first announced the "surprise" we have in store for readers who pre-order LONG GONE by June 19, and I've received a few emails with pretty good guesses.  I know you guys are master sleuths.  Any guesses as to what the pre-order surprise might be?

CLUES

1. It consists of thirteen parts that can be assembled in less than three seconds.

2. You put its parts together with your fingers, but you will not want to hold it.

3. What force and strength cannot get through, this, with little effort, can do.

4. It is not a car or an iPad. It is something little old me can actually give everyone who buys a book. It's also my way to thank you once again for supporting me. Without you guys, I'd be a sad, strange woman with voices in her head.

You can find many of your favorite booksellers here and here. For signed copies, contact stores listed here. This offer is good for both paper and e-book formats. Either forward your proof of purchase to offer@alafairburke.com, OR fill out a pre-order offer form, whichever is easier.

Any guesses?

Pre-Order for Mystery Gift