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Laurie Fagen loves to talk about writing, and can provide an entertaining and informative session for any organization. She can also talk about making the transition from journalist to novelist among other topics. Email her at Laurie@ReadLaurieFagen.com for her availability.
Welcome
Happy New Year, everyone!
I don’t know about you, but I am so done with 2019. Between breaking my wrist in eight places and getting a titanium plate with 10 screws in January; my 92-year-old father having a stroke and dying in March; producing and performing in an original musical stage production I wrote which launched two days after my dad’s death also in March; blowing the L5 disc in my lower back and having a numb foot for about two months; mounting another original musical stage production I wrote, directed and performed in — but had to recast a couple of times — for the holidays in December; and getting pneumonia and bronchitis, it was a wild year.
Lowell V. Fagen, 1927-2019
Boa Babes
Holiday Music thru the Decades
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There were some positives, too: my annual trips to work a model and talent convention I’ve been staff for about 25 years, which takes me to LA in January and NYC in July; trips to Sedona, Prescott, San Diego, and Hawaii (twice!) and a nice Christmas at my house with family.
But it’s on to 2020, and getting my “BIC” – butt in the chair – to get back to writing. I’m about a third of the way through “Bleeder,” book #3 in my “Behind the Mic Mysteries,” and as I mentioned earlier, I’ve started a new book called “Raw Image,” in a new series named “Behind the Lens Mysteries.”
I’ll be at “Left Coast Crime” (LCC) conference in San Diego, CA in March 11-15, and will sponsor a banquet table with other Arizona writers Karen Randau and Sandy Wright. We’ve got some fun things planned, so if you go, sign up for our table. I will also be on a panel discussing audiobook production, so that should be interesting.
A few days after I return from LCC, I’ll be having hip replacement for my left hip, which has osteoarthritis. I had my right hip done with anterior surgery five years ago and had an easy recovery, driving in eight days, no pain meds and only two sessions of physical therapy which was mostly to teach my left leg how to walk properly again! Going with the same surgeon, Dr. David Ott with Ortho Arizona, and hoping for the same fast recovery – as I’m planning to do another writing conference in Tullamore, Ireland along with stops in Scotland and Norway this summer.
Here’s hoping 2020 is a good one for all of you, whether you are a writer, a reader or friend! Post a quick note below and give me one thing you’re hoping to accomplish in the new year!
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Bleeder, the third book in the “Behind the Mic Mysteries,” is the continuing saga of intrepid radio reporter, Lisa Powers, who covers the trial of the cop shooter from the Dead Air book. The story will be a fictionalized version of an actual case I covered during my television crime reporting days and will be “moved on a change of venue” to Prescott. I will include details about the lovely mountain town that was my second home for five years. Lisa will also cover a domestic violence case, and the podcast is tentatively entitled “Art of the Steal,” about a crime in an art gallery.
I have have two audio books for “Fade Out” and “Dead Air,” both available on Audible and Amazon. My son, audio production engineer Devon J. Hancock, handled all the editing and mastering duties, as well as adding sound effects and original music (www.DevonJHancock.com)
If you like crime fiction mysteries, check out the novella “Deadly Misfire,” by Short on Time Books (www.ShortOnTimeBooks.com), which is available on Amazon. It’s the story of a mysterious man who stalks reporter Lisa Powers at a radio convention, and every day ramps up threats against her. She and her co-worker/boyfriend Dean Jeffries fear for her life as tensions build on the final night with an awards presentation for which Lisa is in the running with another reporter from New York, who coincidentally looks similar to Lisa. Info: https://tinyurl.com/BuyDeadlyMisfire.
“Dead Air,“ book #2 in the “Behind the Mic Mysteries,” is now available in both e-book and print on Amazon at https://tinyurl.com/BuyDeadAir. In addition, the audio book for Fade Out is is also online at Amazon and Audible.
Dead Air cover by Tad Smith of The Design Idea
The cold case Lisa works on is a 15-year-old sexual assault of a 4-year-old girl, who is now 19. The young victim has not had any closure all this time, and Lisa is determined to help her find the rapist.
Lisa’s “podcast,” which she writes for fun at night after covering gritty crime stories during the day, is a “film noir” style story of a 1940s private eye and a dame. Only L. N. Pane, P.I. is the dame and the gentleman seeks help finding out why someone is out to kill him.
There are other stories Lisa covers in “Dead Air,” and as well as a new potential love interest for our heroine.
I had a great time narrating my audio books, and my talented son, Devon Hancock, who is seriously into audio production, did all the editing, mastering, uploading, etc. The “podcast” portion of the book has the bonus of professional actors, original music and sound effects. It will not be your “normal” audio book! Devon also created original music for me, came up with good additional sound effects and I’m so proud of the great work he did.
You can hear a recent interview on Golden State Media Concepts, about my books, my background and many other subjects, includin
g my latest novella called “Deadly Misfire,” one of seven stories in a multi-author series called “Tawnee Mountain Mysteries.” Check out the podcast and blog cast at https://t.co/9WfsjTFBYw
For more details about my other novels, check out the “Novels” page above.
Equalizer cover by Tad Smith of The Design Idea
Fade Out cover by Tad Smith of The Design Idea
There’s additional information about my writing on my Amazon Author Page at amazon.com/author/lauriefagen. I would greatly appreciate a short review there, as my publisher says “it’s all about the algorithms” on Amazon.
Make sure to sign up for my monthly newsletter so you stay informed about my speaking engagements, contests, and other details. Visit the “contact page” to sign up.
“Fade Out” and “Dead Air” are available at Chandler public libraries; Sibley’s West Gifts, Chandler; Dog-Eared Pages, Phoenix; Peregrine Book Company, Prescott Center for the Arts Gallery and Prescott Library, Prescott
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