Great Guest Blog Month, Week Five

And by five, I also mean last, because it won’t be long before August turns to September. So it seems fitting to switch up the theme here and invite two guests who are very much a part of the publishing industry – specifically, as related to crime & mystery fiction.

Wednesday’s guest, Thalia Proctor, has worn many hats in the mystery community: fan, bookseller, literary scout, and currently, editorial assistant at Orion, London’s best known publishing house for the genre. There are many things I could add but really, Ian Rankin said it best in his tribute to her for Bouchercon 2008, where she’ll be the Fan Guest of Honor: “_It’s great that Thalia has received due superfan

recognition. We British crime writers know her for her tireless work

behind the counter at several London mystery stores; her passion for

crime fiction; her laughter at conventions (in the bar, natch); her

honesty as a reviewer (when she used to compile bookshop catalogues, if

she hadn’t read a particular book or didn’t know an author’s work,

she’d own up to same… unlike many of us!)..She’s

fun to be around and will doubtless grace the Bouchercon with her usual

bonhomie and decorum, as only an English rose truly can._ Truer words were never spoken.

Thursday’s host is Kathy Daneman, publicity director for Soho Press, which has long had an excellent track record in publishing quality crime fiction, especially in exotic locales. She moved to New York last year from Boston, where she worked as a publicist for several years at Beacon Press, and has been known to help cook up some mischief every now and then, which every good publicist should do from time to time.

And after that, happy Labor Day Weekend! I’ll be sequestered in an undisclosed location and likely won’t return till Tuesday.