There’s no reason to choose a photo of the Colosseum from my honeymoon for the header image of this post, I just really like it.
Well! I’m freshly back from Left Coast Crime 2026, my first-ever writer convention. I was very lucky to be seated on a panel about Historical Female Sleuths with the incomparable Rob Osler, Cara Black, John Copenhaver, and moderated by Karen Odden. It was a real all-star panel to be a part of, and I am still nervous I said something stupid, no matter how many times people assure me I didn’t.
Truthfully, being on a panel isn’t a whole lot different than being on a podcast, though I wasn’t hosting and didn’t have control over the conversation. I was lucky that Karen sent a whole bunch of questions beforehand, and we all talked so much about what it’s like to write historical female sleuths that we didn’t have any time for questions after-the-fact. Then… people came to the book store and actually bought my books!! I’ve only ever had a singular book signing in my life– and only one person showed up to it. So, you can imagine my surprise when people came to the book room at LCC and wanted to talk to dumb little me about writing and books and what Viv was like and why. I’m not used to it, you guys. I’ve felt like such an absolute failure since Gets Her Man came out that I left the conference almost feeling… like I accomplished something, all those years ago. Maybe.
While Viv isn’t coming back, I did get to thinking about what I would do if Viv got a few more books.
Viviana Valentine Takes A Shot was where the books were heading next: Viv visits Tally in Los Angeles, where a chorus girl on one of Tally’s sets is found dead. Tally is basically the grande dame of LA’s queer actor scene, and we were going to get a wonderful, supportive look at underground queer life in LA during the early 1950s. We were going to get to hang out with a young Tab Hunter, Monty Clift, and others.
Viviana Valentine Rolls the Dice: Viv and Tommy were going to head into Atlantic City, maybe to get married. On their first night in town, they head to a cabaret, where the lights go out during the singing act, and a shot is fired. The singer is dead, but he wasn’t shot. Together, they figure out who was the intended victim of the fired gun, and how the lounge lizard died. I already know the singer’s cause of death and I was so looking forward to putting that into the book! But I’ll keep it in my back pocket just in case I want to use it in the future.
Viviana Valentine Stakes it Out: Viv and Betty, and Betty’s new baby, take a girl’s trip to visit Betty’s family in Albany, with a quick stop to Saratoga Springs when Betty’s sister offers to watch the newborn to give her a break. While at the opening day of the races, Betty and Viv are caught up in the investigation into the death of the owner of a premiere stud.
I don’t think there is anything that is legally keeping me from writing these books, so let me know in the comments if I should just write ’em and then self-publish!
But in the meantime, I’m cracking on with the book I’d like to take out querying before the end of the year. It’s tentatively titled Whispers in the Canyon, which is a bit cheesy, but sometimes cheesy is good.
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