May 16, 7 PM EST

Grab your passport for suspense! Join legendary authors Sara Paretsky, Amanda Quick (aka Jayne Ann Krentz), James Rollins, and Chris Holm for an exciting hour of insider stories and book talk.

CLICK HERE TO REGISTER

Bring your burning questions and get an early peek at the opening pages of these authors’ phenomenal novels. Your TBR pile will thank you. The evening will be emceed by our very own Tracy Clark, so come have some fun!

And you could be the lucky winner of one of these new books:

Overboard, Sara Paretsky
When She Dreams, Amanda Quick
Kingdom of Bones, James Rollins
Child Zero, Chris Holm

As always, our guests are providing their (or their characters’) favorite recipes for drinks and snacks, if you’re feeling culinary and adventurous. Drinking will commence at the start of the show, so prepare one of our authors’ recipes and sip the evening away!

The first 100 in the Zoom room can personally debrief them. You can also catch us on Facebook Live, and interrogate via comments. It will be a night to remember.

By registering, you’ll automatically be signed up for our newsletter, which is chock-full of exclusive book giveaways, prizes, and book-related content!

Once registered you will be sent a link to use to log in. Having trouble connecting to Zoom? You can also catch the event by joining us live on the Rogue Women Writers Facebook page or our YouTube channel where you’ll also be able to participate in the comments. The Rogues will be monitoring the chat throughout the evening, so come prepared with your questions!

Sara Paretsky is the author of thirty-two books, including twenty-three V.I. Warshawski novels. She was named 2011 Grand Master by the Mystery Writers of America and is the winner of many awards, including the Cartier Diamond Dagger Award for lifetime achievement from the British Crime Writers’ Association and the CWA Gold Dagger. She’s also the winner of the 2019 G.P. Putnam and Sons Sue Grafton Memorial Award, which Tracy Clark knows must have been such a wonderful honor.

Overboard, May 10, 2022

On her way home from an all-night surveillance job, V.I. Warshawski is led by her dogs on a mad chase that ends when they discover a badly injured teen hiding in the rocks along Lake Michigan. The girl only regains consciousness long enough to utter one enigmatic word. V.I. helps bring her to a hospital, but not long after, she vanishes before anyone can discover her identity. As V.I. attempts to find her, the detective uncovers an ugly consortium of Chicago powerbrokers and mobsters who are prepared to kill the girl. And now V.I.’s own life is in jeopardy as well.

Sara’s favorite snack is:
Toasts with goat cheese and pears

1. Preheat oven to 275 degrees F
2. Slice one good quality baguette into 1/8-1/4” thick rounds (5 per person)
3. Pour 2 Tbsp olive oil onto baking sheet
4. Lightly coat both sides of the rounds in olive oil (add more oil if needed)
5. Bake until golden brown
6. When toasts are cool to the touch, put a layer of goat cheese (preferably either Cacioricotta or Casu Axedu) on toasts
7. Serve plain or with thin sliced ripe pear or fig.

Serve with a Sardinian Vermentino, or Torginano from V.I.’s mother’s part of Italy (the Umbrian hills), or Brunello (Sara’s current favorite Italian red). V.I. drinks Black Label whisky, but would prefer wine with these snacks.

With more than 50 New York Times bestsellers and over 40 million books sold, Amanda Quick—aka Jayne Ann Krentz—is one of the most successful commercial fiction authors writing today. She is lauded for her pulse-pounding romantic thrillers, unique spins on futuristic suspense, and witty historical romantic mysteries, writing as Jayne Ann Krentz, Jayne Castle and Amanda Quick, respectively. Jayne lives in Seattle.

When She Dreams, May 3, 2022

Maggie Lodge, assistant to the reclusive advice columnist known only as Dear Aunt Cornelia to her readers, hires down-but-not-quite-out private eye Sam Sage to help track down the person who is blackmailing her employer. Yet Maggie and Sam are keeping secrets from each other.

The pair discover someone is impersonating Aunt Cornelia at a conference on psychic dreaming, when a woman dies at the conference. This opens the door to a dangerous web of blackmail and murder, leaving Maggie and Sam in the path of a ruthless killer who will stop at nothing to exact vengeance.

Jayne’s favorite drink is red wine. Her snack of choice:
Orville Redenbacher’s classic Butter microwave popcorn

Recipe:
Put bag of popcorn in microwave.
Nuke it.
Eat it.

James Rollins is the #1 New York Times bestseller of international thrillers that have been translated into 40 languages. His Sigma series has been lauded as one of the “top crowd pleasers” (New York Times) for its exploration into unseen worlds, scientific breakthroughs, and historical secrets. He also introduced his first book in a new epic fantasy series back in January, The Starless Crown. He currently lives in the Sierra Nevada mountains with his golden retriever, Echo, and a new rescue dog, Charlie—of unknown genealogy.

Kingdom Of Bones, April 19, 2022

It begins in Africa . . .

A United Nations relief team in a small village in the Congo makes an alarming discovery. Men, women, and children have been reduced to a dull, catatonic state. The environment surrounding them—plants and animals—has grown more cunning and predatory, evolving at an exponential pace.

Commander Gray Pierce and Sigma Force are brilliant and seasoned scientific warriors, yet even they do not understand what is behind this frightening development—or know how to stop it. As they race to find answers, the members of Sigma quickly realize they have become the prey.

When James is working, his favorite drink is Rockstar energy drink. When not working? Anything with whiskey in it (preferably Maker’s Mark, but he’s not picky).

But for a snack, his current obsession (made twice a week if not more) is a clean version of granola—though “clean” is a relative term. It’s perfect for snacking while writing.

Chocolate Almost Granola (makes 4 servings)
1 cup of rolled oats (not the quick version)
1/4 cup of maple syrup (James uses 1/4 cup of sugar-free pancake syrup to lighten the sugar load)
1/2 cup of chopped chocolate candy bars: Nestle Crunch, Krackle, etc. (James uses Lily brand sugar-free chocolate chips)
A few pinches of sea salt

Directions:
Line a sheet pan with parchment and preheat oven to 350
Stir in oats, syrup, and salt until well coated
Spread the mix over the sheet
Bake for 10-15 minutes (James leans toward the 15 minute mark to make is a bit crispier)
Remove from oven and sprinkle the chocolate pieces over the hot mix.
Leave to cool as chocolate melts
Once cool, break up clusters and store away.

Chris Holm is the author of the cross-genre Collector trilogy, the Michael Hendricks thrillers, and the scientific thriller Child Zero. He’s also a former molecular biologist with a US patent to his name. Chris’ work has been selected for The Best American Mystery Stories, named a New York Times Editors’ Choice, and won a number of awards, including the 2016 Anthony Award for Best Novel. He lives in Portland, Maine.

Child Zero, May 12, 2022

Detective Jacob Gibson, who lost his wife in the 8/17 bioterror attack, is home caring for his sick daughter when his partner summons him to a sprawling shantytown in Central Park, the apparent site of a mass murder. Jake is startled to discover that, despite a life of abject squalor, the victims died in perfect health—and his only hope of finding answers is a twelve-year-old boy on the run from some very dangerous men.

Jacob Gibson lives in a post-antibiotic near future where meat and dairy are luxury items, so what would he miss most? A bacon cheeseburger, with a chocolate malt on the side. Does that qualify as a snack? Sure, if you factor in how quickly he’d demolish it.

Our MC:

Tracy Clark, a native Chicagoan, is the author of the Cass Raines Chicago Mystery series, featuring ex-cop turned PI Cassandra Raines. A multi-nominated Anthony, Lefty and Shamus Award finalist, she is also the 2020 winner of the G.P. Putnam’s Sons Sue Grafton Memorial Award. Tracy is a member of Crime Writers of Color and serves on the boards of Mystery Writers of America Midwest, Sisters in Crime Chicagoland and Bouchercon national. Her latest book, Runner, released in June 2021.