Blue Voyage is officially out in the world today!

To celebrate, I’m on the CrimeFiction FM podcast talking with host Steve Campbell about the origins of the books, writing teen travel mysteries, and YA mystery. This is an excellent podcast featuring short (15-20 minutes) chats with mystery and crime writers — mostly for the adult market, but mystery/crime fans of all ages can enjoy these conversations, and they’re a must-listen for anyone writing mystery.

This afternoon I’m super-excited to be having an after-school book release party, 4:00-6:00 pm, at An Unlikely Story in Plainville, MA! This is a new bookstore started up by Wimpy Kid creator Jeff Kinney, and it’s the talk of the town in Plainville and surrounding towns! It’s about 45-60 minutes from Boston, and very close to Rhode Island, so if you’re in those areas come and join us! (And if you miss it, there’s an evening edition launch party at Porter Square Books in Cambridge this Friday evening at 7 pm).

Here’s a sampler of some of the treats I’ll be serving up at this week’s launch parties . . .

And now, as promised, here is today’s photo from my travels in Turkey and a note on a scene it inspired! (I’ll be posting these daily for the next two weeks).

He’s a little hard to see in this picture. but this is a man selling Turkish Delight candy, baklava, and other pastries, on a boat. He would come up to the gulet boats on their “blue cruises” and sell these to passengers. It was some of the best baklava I had in my life! He inspired a major plot point in Blue Voyage later, because I got to thinking: what if he were selling other stuff too? . . . .

Stay tuned for more updates on the Blue Voyage Blog Voyage this week and more behind the scenes photos!