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This has nothing to do with Venice, but please read on anyway.

Some of you may know that I am also a mystery writer. Recently, I learned that a fellow mystery writer, Elaine Viets, suffered a stroke last month--just as her new book was being released.

Here's more information:

Mystery authors step in on book tour for colleague felled by illness

The community of crime fiction publishing was rocked in April when Elaine Viets, author of the Dead-End Job Mystery series, suffered a serious stroke shortly before publication of her sixth Dead-End Job Mystery, Murder with Reservations (0451221117). But when it came time to show support, mystery authors nationwide rose to the challenge.

With Viets, now recovering rapidly in a Florida hospital, unable to travel, word spread quickly throughout the community that others might fill in for her at pre-booked stops on her Murder With Reservations book tour. So now, coming to a bookstore near you, is the Elaine Viets tour—without Elaine Viets.

At bookstores from Dayton, OH to San Francisco, CA (with stops in San Mateo, CA Dallas, TX and Charles, MO among many others) mystery authors will fill in for Viets and discuss her work as she recovers. Viets is signing bookplates available from BreakThrough Promotions (with SASE) to anyone wanting a signed copy of Murder With Reservations.

At Main Street Books in Charles, MO, for example, Joanna Campbell Slan, Vicki Erwin and other authors will read from Viets's books on May 26. Viets will be attending the annual mystery writing conference in Dallas on June 15 and 16—in the form of a lifesize poster as colleagues tell their favorite Elaine Viets stories. A get-well card for Viets will be available for signing at Books N Company in Dayton, OH on May 14. Twist Phelan will stand in for Viets at Poisoned Pen in Scottsdale, AZ on May 9. Authors like Jan Burke and others will attend events elsewhere as part of the "tour." Tour details are updated daily here.

The Dead-End Job series takes Helen Hawthorne on a wild series of jobs meant to make ends meet. In Murder With Reservations, she's a hotel maid—a job Viets says deserves a lot more respect than it gets.

So, help out a writer who can't promote her book--go buy it! And guess what? You'll enjoy reading it!


Bookplate Offer

As part of her "therapy," Elaine will be signing bookplates for all of her fans and friends. We cannot guarantee the exact time frame, since she is recuperating.

To get your bookplate, send a self-addressed, stamped envelope to:
Elaine Viets Bookplate
BreakThrough Promotions
903 Clover Hill Lane
Cedar Hill, TX 75104

Offer good for a limited time only, while supplies last!