May 15, 7 PM EST
Meet author all-stars TOSCA LEE, LIV CONSTANTINE, DOUG LYLE, & ELLEN CROSBY for an exciting hour. They’ll reveal the latest about their brand-new suspense novels, read excerpts for you, and answer questions. Emcee is our own LISA BLACK.
It’s all FREE, and you and three other guests can also win the drawings for one of the authors hot new novels. Wishing you the best of luck!
THE LONG MARCH HOME by Tosca Lee
THE SENATOR’S WIFE by Liv Constantine
CULTURED by D.P. Lyle
BLOW UP by Ellen Crosby
As an added treat, while you’re watching at home you can sample each author’s favorite snack and drink. Feel adventurous and culinary? Dining and drinking will commence at the start of the show.
If you’re among the first 100 in the Zoom room, you can personally debrief the authors, or you can catch them on Facebook Live and interrogate via comments. Come and enjoy great book talk!
Our own Tosca Lee is a multi-award winning author, co-author, optioned screenwriter, and Mrs. America first runner-up. She lives in Nebraska with her husband and two of their four children still at home and her posts often feature their 160-lb German Shepherd, Timber.
The Long March Home, May 2, 2023
Three small-town boys join the army together, enjoying their station in the Philippines—until the Pearl Harbor is attacked. Within hours, a battle for control of the Pacific Theater culminates with the largest surrender of American troops in history.
What follows will become known as one of the worst atrocities in modern warfare: the Bataan Death March. With no hope of rescue, the three friends vow to make it back home together. But the ordeal is only the beginning of their nearly four-year fight to survive. Inspired by true stories, The Long March Home is a gripping tale of friendship, sacrifice, and the power of unrelenting hope.
Tosca’s favorite snack while doing anything at all is buttered popcorn, and kombucha. But something she discovered while writing the book is a Southern phenomenon—recipe below, with a big thanks to Sherrie Saint and her mother, Sue Evans.
Sue’s Chocolate Gravy
1 c. sugar
2 T flour
1 T cocoa
1 c. milk
1 T butter
1/2 t. vanilla
Stir first three ingredients with wire whisk. Add milk and stir. Cook in microwave. Stir several times. When thick, add butter and vanilla. Serve over biscuits!
Later in the book when Jimmy is in the Philippines, he stops into a bakery and samples several wonderful pastries. Here is a recipe for Pandesal.
The writer ‘Liv Constantine’ is, of course, the combined talents of sisters—and former Rogue Women Writers—Lynne and Valerie. They are internationally bestselling authors with works translated into 28 languages and The Last Mrs. Parrish was a Reese Witherspoon book club pick.
Lynne has a business degree and loves the beach, exploring coral reefs and sunken wrecks all over the world. Lynne also loves to travel as she used to work in the White House, scheduling and planning the president’s trips. She has visited over forty foreign countries and she and her husband are always adding more to the list.
The Senator’s Wife, May 23, 2023
Widowed DC philanthropist Sloane, recently married to widower Senator Whit, is managing the DC social scene that’s required of her while also preparing for a hip replacement due to lupus. They hire a home health aide, Athena, who at first seems to be a godsend. But Sloane’s health and influence start to wane dramatically, and she begins to wonder if Athena might be the reason.
Lynne and Val like to snack on a Greek favorite—Sliced Feta Cheese, Kalamata Olives, and crusty Greek bread dipped in Virgin Olive Oil. Their drink? The Ruth Bader Gin-sberg, a perfect accompaniment to the Washington, DC, setting of The Senator’s Wife, and the favorite drink of one of its characters.
Rosemary’s Go to Drink—The Ruth Bader Gin-sburg
1 ½ oz. Malfy lemon gin
¾ oz. Cointreau
¾ oz. Lime juice
¾ oz. Simple syrup
Mix all ingredients into shaker and add ice. Shake and strain over ice, and garnish with Meyer lemon peel.
Sara Bradley, chef/proprietor of Freight House in Paducah, KY, created this recipe in February 2019 to honor the Supreme Court Justice.
Cultured, May 2, 2023
Ex-pro-ballplayer turned restauranteur Jake Longly is living his best life until his PI father talks Jake and his girlfriend into going undercover to find out what happened to a missing woman. Wealthy young April was last known seen finding herself and maybe some financial management tips at the self-help resort of Jonathan Lindemann. But the more questions Jake asks, the more he wonders: Do any of the clients make financial gains—or ever leave?
Jake’s favorite drink is bourbon and his favorite snack food is fish tacos from his restaurant Captain Rocky’s.
Ellen Crosby is a former freelance journalist who’s lived in Madrid, London, Moscow and Geneva, for a while serving as the ABC Radio News correspondent in Moscow. Before that she was an economist for the United States Senate. She used those experiences in her novels, but after settling back home in Virginia, she also wrote a series revolving around that state’s wine country.
Blow Up, May 2, 2023
In this third book in the Sophie Medina series, the international photojournalist is out for her usual run around Capitol Hill and finds Associate Supreme Court Justice Everett Townsend lying in an alley. A friend of Sophie’s tells her a shocking story about Townsend that could have a devastating impact on the nation’s highest court if word got out. When the friend is then murdered, Sophie is left to search through her photographs for evidence before his assassin comes for her.
Both Ellen’s and Sophie’s favorite drink/snack? Champagne and strawberries.
As an added bonus to this month’s event, we’ll start with a short conversation with our own Rogue Karna Small Bodman about her break from thrillers to write her recently released children’s book based on her experience working for the U.S. President—Wrigley at the White House.
Our MC:
Lisa Black is the New York Times bestselling author of 16 suspense novels, including works that have been translated into six languages, optioned for film, and shortlisted for the inaugural Sue Grafton Memorial Award. She is also a Certified Latent Print Examiner and a Certified Crime Scene Analyst, beginning her forensics career at the Coroner’s office in Cleveland Ohio and then the police department in Cape Coral, Florida. She has spoken to readers and writers at numerous conferences, been a consultant on CourtTV and was a Guest of Honor at 2021 Killer Nashville.
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