Here's my interview with Fun Sherpa: Interrogating the Interesting, just posted today:

Stop by and join the fun...

http://blog.funsherpa.com/author/admin/

I'm very excited about the next stop on my blog tour - Tim Hallinan's "Blog Cabin!"

Tim is an exceptional writer of mysteries and thrillers set in exotic locales. He was recently nominated for two major awards, the Edgar and the Macavity. I'm honored to be his guest.

http://www.timothyhallinan.com/blog/

Come on over to the Blog Cabin anytime on Wednesday and Thursday, April 18 and 19th to read about my extraordinary experience "Bringing Moscow to Allahabad."

You will also find a link there to FREE copies of THE LAST MATRYOSHKA on Amazon.

Blog Tour

The next stop on the blog tour arranged by Istoria Books for The Last
Matryoshka is SIA MCKYE OVER COFFEE - on Friday, March 23rd

http://siamckye.blogspot.com/

My topic is "Back in the USSR" - the merits of packing one's suitcase when researching international settings.

Please stop by on Friday and enjoy the great fiddle music that plays as you read.

GET YOUR FREE COPY of  THE LAST MATRYOSHKA

On March 14 and 15, The Last Matryoshka will be available on Amazon FOR FREE, courtesy of Istoria Books.
http://tiny.cc/dje5aw

If you do not own a Kindle you can download the free reader from: http://www.amazon.com/gp/feature.html/ref=sv_kstore_1?ie=UTF8&docId=1000493771

I am also guest blogging at Thoughts in Progress - http://masoncanyon.blogspot.com/
Please stop by and join the discussion about Writing the Female PI.

See you there,
Joyce

The Last Matryoshka Comes to a "Theatre" New You

Am thrilled with the atmospheric book trailer that Istoria Books produced for the upcoming e-release of The Last Matryoshka. This also raises a question  -- how do readers react to these videos - are they seen as mere marketing tools or is there real entertainment value perceived?

Comment and reviews welcome :)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u5PWZ00Jh74&feature=youtube_gdata

Travels with an Identity Thief – Part Three – Seeing Through Marilyn’s Eyes

As a writer assuming the identity of a visual artist, I am faced with a special set of challenges. Marilyn thinks in pictures, whilst I process life through words. To be true to my ‘character’s character,’ I must learn to experience the world as she does, to open myself to her emotions as triggered by the colors and textures around us, to let my eyes experience the world before my intellect.

On the other hand, to be true to myself as a wordsmith, I am committed to finding the language that will convey Marilyn’s experiences as vividly as possible. No wonder I am totally exhausted at the end of each day!

It was not until I reached Aurangabad, two weeks after my arrival in India, that my shift into the visual mode gained noticeable momentum.  Who can visit the rock-cut caves of Ajanta—discovered in 1819 by a band of British officers hunting a tiger—without being transfixed by images masterfully created by the great sculptors and painters of 2^nd Century India?

Marilyn had pored through books of photographs and listened with fascination to her husband Shankar telling Jataka tales of Buddha’s reincarnations and the Bodhisattvas. No way had this prepared her for a face-to-face encounter with the ancient world.

Later that same day I visited a market in Aurangabad, along with hundreds of shoppers caught up in the Diwali festivities. From the grey stones and ancient murals of the caves out into a modern riot of color… what a transition! I could hardly snap pictures fast enough. This one will definitely inspire Marilyn to paint as she never has before.

Travels with an Identity Thief - Part Two

So here I am in Varanasi, searching out experiences that will reveal Marilyn’s character and provide settings for scenes in the new book. I have assumed her identity yet in many ways she is a total mystery. She is an artist who lives through her eyes, while I’m a writer who lives through words. And how can I think straight, with my senses transfixed by the chaotic sights and sounds around me?


The annual Hindu festival of Durga Puja is in full swing. The streets of Veranasi are packed with worshipers of the goddess, who have come to offer food and flowers at her feet and visit the pandals (temporary temples) where they celebrate the goddess who saved the entire cosmos from destruction! Trucks packed with young men commandeer the narrow alleyways, blasting earsplitting chants and music in honor of the holiday. The best I can do is to keep my eyes open and “give” Marilyn my camera, setting her loose to follow her instincts...

It’s dawn, and Marilyn and I watch a golden streak of sunlight paint the dark waters of the river as we listen to the happy chatter of bathers near the ghat steps. Maa Ganga envelops us inher peaceful embrace. India may be crowded, noisy and hectic, but carved into the chaos, like a Buddhist cave hollowed out in a rock, moments of boundless serenity await.   I know Marilyn will stay in Veranasi for at least a year –far longer than the three days I will be here – and that I too will be back.