Don't Start Something You Can't Finish

by Sophie

WEAPONS

So Juliet and I were talking about weapons over the weekend in our downtime (we were in Phoenix for the first annual Poisoned Pen Mystery Readers Conference, which was a blast - more on that in a moment) and we were both whining that all the other Pens know SOOOOOO much more than we do on the subject. Well, I was whining, actually; Juliet received an entire arsenal as a gift when she was a toddler, but I'll let her talk about that.

Weapons figure prominently on the cover of both of my books, which I find sort of amusing, especially since one of them is a gun, and what I knew about guns - until recently - you could fit on a matchbook cover.

I did what every good writer does and researched the heck out of the guns I put in my books - and then I backed it up by consulting experts.

But when Juliet and I were talking, it occurred to me that there is one weapon I know well:

Emotion.

How do we hurt each other most deeply? Consider this list of emotion words, and stack them up against any teetering tower of bullets, throwing stars, nunchucks, cat-o-nine-tails, nailguns and the like:

betray, spurn, vex, villify, condemn, castigate, shame, pillory, confound, defame...

I could do this all day, but regrettably I am on a churning-burning deadline so I must close prematurely. But as a consolation, here are a few photos from the weekend - -

The crew from the Poisoned Pen conference: Juliet; Phoenix SistersInCrime Roni and Shantelle; Barbara Peters, owner of the Poisoned Pen; and authors Lauren Willig and Dana Stabenow (yes, they are in p.j.s...long story)

Juliet and librarian extraordinaire Lesa Holstein of the Glendale Public Library, who graciously hosted a group of us for an event called "Women Who Kill"


Juliet, me, and Stefanie Pintoff, winner of this year's Edgar for Best First Mystery Novel
This is the villa we somehow got accidentally upgraded to, at the Arizona Biltmore. (A front desk clerk may have been involved.) SWANKY! And yes, those are my toes :)