Tuesday, December 7, 2010

Buttons & Bones

Announcement: You can now buy “Buttons and Bones” at your local bookstore. Please.

This book started with the title. I have a standing offer of a free, suitably autographed book to the friend or fan gives me a title I can use. The rules are simple: Four or fewer words, a needlework term, an element of threat. Someone gave me the title Buttons and Bones and I carried it around in my head for quite a long time. Then a friend at water aerobics told me about this cabin up in Cass County (northern Minnesota) she had bought and how, when taking up a very old carpet, she found a previously unknown trapdoor in the middle of the floor. It led to a root cellar that had not been described on any of the legal documents involved in the sale. “What did you find down there?” I asked. “Oh, just some trash,” she replied. And I thought, No, there were buttons and bones down there. Rita kindly gave me permission to visit the cabin, even stay up there a couple of times while I explored the area: Longville, Remer, the county seat in Walker. And the story began to take shape.

I think it’s a good book, one of the better in the series. It’s not a “thrill-a-minute” book, but a solid puzzle that has its roots in the events in the United States during World War II. How many of you know that during the war, the United States brought over thousands of German prisoners of war and kept them in camps all over the country until the war ended? I’m a big-time history buff and somehow I missed the reports of that important part of the war. Anyway, on finding out about it, I made it part of the book. I talked with people who remember seeing the soldiers, and visited the scene of one of the camps – there were three in Cass County.

I’m doing a signing tonight at Once Upon A Crime mystery bookstore in Minneapolis. We’re making a pub party of it – December 7 is the official publication date of Buttons and Bones. But my publisher allowed a special advance sale of the books in Excelsior (where my sleuth lives), and they sold out all they had in the advance shipment. It was a great day! I hope we do as well tonight.

On December 10 I’m going to a black tie affair that is a fund raiser for a charity that offers low-cost and even free pet neutering in the area. Part of the affair is an auction, and I’ve donated a chance to be a character in a Betsy Devonshire novel. I’ve done this before; in fact, one of the “characters” in Thai Die won her place as a result of a charity auction, and her husband has asked me to do it again. More, they’ve invited me to come to the event. This should be fun and exciting. Maybe I’ll get a good photo of the goings on. Maybe I’ll be able to post it next week.

8 comments:

Christine Thresh said...

I pre-ordered Buttons & Bones through Amazon. I think it may arrive tomorrow. I am so excited.
I would love to be a character in one of your stories.

Anonymous said...

When will you be posting a photo of the project from BUTTONS & BONES?

Linda O. Johnston said...

Interesting, that you got your title before you knew what the book would be about, Monica. I love the idea of a black-tie event to support pet neutering and the way you're contributing to it!

Monica Ferris said...

Anonymous, I have asked my web mistress to post a picture of the Buttons and Bones project on my web site, Monica-Ferris.com. Look for it soon. Thanks for asking! It's a pretty pattern, but doesn't look like much when you don't see a model, too.

Anonymous said...

I grew up in Chambersburg, PA and know there was a camp located near there that housed German and Italian POW's.

Betty Hechtman said...

Congratulations on your release. I love the title. Great that you sold so many books at your launch party.

Someone at the Loopy Yarn store in Chicago really likes your books. Last June during the Printers Row Fair, they had a table set up in front of their store. Along with the yarn, was a whole array of your hardcovers.

Shel said...

Bought it yesterday! Looking forward to reading it :)

Anonymous said...

I apologize for not buying the book but I am a library devotee so I have one of their copies of "Buttons & Bones" which will be going on a trip with me.