Friday, January 14, 2011

What is Blaize Clement reading?

The current featured contributor at Writers Read: Blaize Clement, author of Cat Sitter Among the Pigeons and five previous Dixie Hemingway mysteries.

Her entry begins:
Whenever I'm asked what I'm reading, I immediately wish the question had come the week before, when I might have been reading something less revealing of who I am. When asked for this post, I considered lying and saying I was currently reading Michael Gruber's The Good Son, a fantastic book that I read twice and from which I learned more about the situation in Afghanistan than from anything I've read in any news accounts. But I read that several weeks ago. Then I looked through my stack of other recent reads to find one that would make me seem especially smart and cool. But only two books actually sat on my bedside table, and the fact that I was reluctant to name them forced me to ask myself a crucial question: why am I so reluctant to be open about the fact that I'm a spiritual seeker? I'm not sure if I want to keep that side of myself private, or if I fear ridicule from those who think spirituality is synonymous with the Bible-thumping, moralistic, self-righteousness that H.L. Mencken called "jealousy wearing a halo."

The truth is that no matter what else I'm reading, the same two books are always beside my bed. For several weeks now, I've read and re-read Eckhart Tolle's The Power of Now. That book speaks to me in the same way that...[read on]
Among the early praise for Cat Sitter Among the Pigeons:
"Dixie's latest adventure keeps you glued to your seat from the first chapter."
--Kirkus

"This book has everything that makes a successful cozy mystery: an immensely likable protagonist, a wonderful setting (especially when you’re reading it in the middle of winter), well-developed secondary characters, and, of course, there are plenty of cats."
--Ingrid King
Visit Blaize Clement's website and blog.

The Page 99 Test: Even Cat Sitters Get the Blues.

The Page 99 Test: Cat Sitter on a Hot Tin Roof.

The Page 69 Test: Raining Cat Sitters and Dogs.

Writers Read: Blaize Clement.

--Marshal Zeringue