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5.7.08
I was in New York last week, and the streets were abuzz with the great weather. I stayed with my good friend, author Elizabeth Flock, and got to congregate with a larger pack of amazing writers at the Edgar Awards. The Edgars are sort of like the Oscars for mystery writers—replete with the black tie gala, the cool trophies and the acceptance speeches. A former Edgar award winner, Theresa Schwagel, who I’m thrilled is living in Chicago now, gave the award for Best Paperback Original to Megan Abbott for her book, Queenpin. Tana French won Best First Novel for In the Woods. My friend, Ken Bruen, was up for Best Novel, along with John Hart, Michael Chabon, Reed Farrel Coleman and Benjamin Black, all wonderful and funny men. Congrats to John Hart, who won for his novel, Down River. At the cocktail party, I got to hang out with Michael Chabon and was fascinated to learn that as part of the Obama campaign he’s been cold-calling Democratic voters to discuss the issues. This fact alone nearly made me move to New York. Can you imagine a city where a Pulitzer Prize winner (and a really cool dude) like Chabon calls you while you’re unloading the dishwasher??

Yesterday, I went on the Steve Cochran show on WGN Radio. Steve called the scene in the studio an "estrogen den" because two other ladies stopped by--Patti Vasquez (www.pattivasquez.com), a whip-funny and ultra-cool comic I met last summer at Steve’s annual celebrity golf outing, and Chris Blumer, a/k/a the Wine Diva (www.winedivaent.com). I’d like to officially request that Patti and Chris accompany me to every appearance I make. These girls are hysterical, and when you combine them with a pro like Steve Cochran, an hour on the radio flies by like it’s mere minutes. Steve and Patti will be appearing at the Rialto Square Theatre in Joliet on Saturday for a Mother’s Day Show. For more information, visit www.rialtosquare.com. And if you’d like to witness me golfing horribly at Steve’s celebrity outing this summer (a performance sure to be made more ghastly by jet lag since I’ll just be back from teaching in Rome), you can get information here: http://www.arthritis.org/chapters/greater-chicago/.

Meanwhile, if you’re interested in the books I recommended on Steve’s show, they are Black & White by Dani Shapiro, Extraordinary Circumstances by Cynthia Cooper ("Journey of a Corporate Whistleblower") and Charley's Web by Joy Fielding (mystery). I also chatted about the upcoming ThrillerFest this summer in New York. For more information visit www.thrillerfest.org.

4.27.08
This summer I'll be teaching about the International Criminal Court at Loyola's international program in Rome, Italy. The International Criminal Court (ICC) is a new addition to the world of international law, based on a treaty called the Rome Statute, which was drafted in 1998. The ICC came into force in 2002 and at this time, 105 countries have joined the court, including Canada and nearly all of Europe and South America. The U.S., along with Russia, China, Iraq and India have not joined the court. The ICC is a permanent tribunal, sitting in the Hague, and it will prosecute individuals for genocide, war crimes and crimes against humanity in situations where the nation states involved are unable or unwilling to prosecute such crimes.

On Friday, April 25, I had the pleasure of accompanying Loyola Law Professors Alan Raphael (with whom I'll be teaching in Rome this summer) and Jerry Norton to a conference marking the 10th anniversary of the ICC. The conference was sponsored by DePaul's International Human Rights Law Institute and its infamous Cherif Bassiouni, one of the leading U.S. scholars and activists in the areas of international human rights and international criminal law. Bassiouni himself helped draft the Rome Statute, as had a number of other conference participants. The conference heard about the situations currently being addressed by the ICC, including those in Uganda, Darfur, and the Democratic Republic of Congo. John Bellinger, the legal advisor to the Secretary of State, addressed the current administration’s position on the ICC and what he sees as the future relationship between the ICC and the U.S. There were many dissenting remarks to Bellinger's comments, including those made by Luis Moreno-Ocampo, the chief prosecutor of the ICC. I had a chance to meet Moreno-Ocampo, who was as charming, intelligent and engaging as I had heard. For a great read about the situation in Darfur and the efforts made by Moreno-Ocampo and the ICC, cut and paste this article into your browser: http://www.nytimes.com/2006/04/02/magazine/02darfur.html?ex=1144641600&en=585d2ee57ddf337f&ei=5070&emc=eta1. To read more about the ICC, visit their web site at http://www.icc-cpi.int/.

The night before the conference I went to the opening party for Artopolis, Chicago's massive exhibition devoted to art, culture and antiques. Attendance at the weekend event is usually over 50,000 in one weekend. The art on the opening night was amazing--everything from Warhols to new artists—-but the watching the people, a splashy, fascinating crowd from around the world, was even better. To see a video about some of the goings-on at Artropolis, cut and paste this link: http://www.merchandisemart.com/artropolis/video.html.

4.21.08
Some of my author friends and I are finalizing plans for a book signing on Thursday, July 10, in Manhattan to coincide with ThrillerFest, a very cool event open to readers who want to meet thriller authors, like James Patterson, David Baldacci, Sandra Brown (and me). The book signing is going to be MC'd by the wonderful Lee Child. Here are the authors I'll have the pleasure to read with: Michelle Gagnon, Tim Maleeny, Alexandra Sokoloff, Mario Acevedo, JT Ellison, Laura Benedict and Shane Gericke.

Speaking of ThrillerFest, I'm going on Steve Cochran's show on WGN Radio to talk about it on Thursday, May 6, at 4:38 p.m. (Apparently, they're very precise in the radio world). You can listen at www.wgnradio.com.

4.8.08
I've been back from Denver and the Left Coast Crime convention for a month, and I can't believe I haven't written about it. Too much damned fun. Have you ever seen the movie Best in Show? It's kind of like that. But with laptops. And people who like to kill their characters. And people who like to read about it. Some of the characters I had the pleasure of hanging out with--Theresa Schwegel, Lori Armstrong, Tasha Alexander, Marcus Sakey, Michael Dymmoch, Twist Phelan, Libby Fischer Hellman, Joan Johnston, Rick Mofina, Con Lehane, Judy Bobalik, J.T. Ellison, Les Klinger, Michelle Gagnon, Doug Lyle, and Tim Maleeny.

One of the last stops on my book tour was a signing at Bloomingdale's in Chicago. This happened to be on the same day of the St. Patty's Day parade. After that, I made a silent vow to always have book signings when drunk people roam the streets, and the stores, wearing green and shamrocks. Entirely entertaining.

My last stop was at the Plainfield Library, a delightful place with a delightful group of women. Thanks much, ladies.

Next up for me--the Edgar Awards Banquet New York with my friend, Ken Bruen; Book Expo in L.A. in May; teaching in Rome in June; and back to New York in July for the fantastic and fun Thriller Fest, where thriller fans get to mix and mingle with some amazing authors, like Sandra Brown, David Baldacci, James Patterson and a ton more. They're also putting on a Craft Fest for new thriller writers. You can read more about it at www.thrillerfest.org.

2.27.08
Musicians tour together, why not authors? I hit the road recently with Marcus Sakey and found out that book signings are a hell of a lot of fun with a friend, especially someone like Marcus who takes a healthy dose of mocking and dishes it right back. Thanks to the great people at M is for Mystery in San Mateo and The Mystery Bookstore in L.A., not to mention all the authors who stopped by to heckle us along the way--Michelle Gagnon, Rip Gerber, Les Klinger, Keith Raffel, Rob Gregory Browne and Brett Battles.

And you have to love a bookstore owner who will help mix drinks and set up for the party, too. Thanks to Suzy Takas, owner of the awesome Book Cellar in Lincoln Square, for pitching in at Dustin O'Regan's soiree for The Good Liar (and to all the sassy Lake Forest ladies who turned out in Bond gear to celebrate).

1.24.08
Wow, what a blast at the Landmark last night for the book launch party! Thanks to everybody who packed the place and the the stellar crew at Landmark for making it sparkle and look so easy.

1.16.08
A few years ago, I had the great fortune to be the defense lawyer for Jovan Mosley, a Chicago man who was forced into a murder confession when he was 19 and then spent 6 years without a trial in a holding cell in the Cook County jail, essentially lost by the system. ABC reporter John Garcia recently did a great interview with us and aired the story last week. You can watch the video by cutting and pasting this link: http://abclocal.go.com/wls/media?id=5886494.

I also went on WGN Radio last week with Steve Cochran, one of my most favorite people. You can listen to majority of the interview on Cochran's podcast: http://caster.wgnradio.com/podcasts/scpod-121-080116.mp3.

I'm looking forward to the Chicago book launch party next week, on Wednesday January 23 at the Landmark Grill, which I'm sharing with my good friend, author, Marcus Sakey. The booze is on us, and the books will be sold, so come out and visit! It's from 7 - 9 p.m.

1.9.08
I never thought anyone would bring up my brief but brilliant career as a french horn player, but journalist Teresa Budasi managed to work it into a great piece in Sunday's Chicago Sun-Times. To read the whole article, cut and paste this link: http://www.suntimes.com/entertainment/books/727832,SHO-Books-budasi06.article.

12.30.07
Thanks to the hundreds of you who have emailed me about my new book, THE GOOD LIAR! One of the best things about being an author is knowing that someone is reading your book. Maybe it's entertaining them, maybe it’s making them think, maybe they're using it as a coaster for a New Year's Eve highball. It's all good.

Another great thing about being an author is coming across someone (a someone not related to you) who is reading your book. For me, alas, this remains just a dream. People often tell me they saw someone on a plane, a beach, a bus reading one of my books, and I always desperately wish I could have been there to see it, too. One of my girlfriends, author Sarah Mlynowski, once thought she had attained this Holy Grail of author experiences when she saw a woman reading her book in a Caribbean airport. The woman then finished the book and, apparently viewing books the same as magazines, tossed the novel in the trash. Since Sarah has published about thirty million books in thirty thousand countries, she recovered well enough, and her experience hasn’t deterred me in the slightest. So I’m now asking you. If you’re nice enough to be reading a Laura Caldwell book somewhere, make an author’s dream come true—have a friend take a picture, will you? Email it to info@lauracaldwell.com with your name and your location and I’ll try to put them on the web site.

Here’s to a great and safe New Year!

12.18.07
The reviews are starting to come in for THE GOOD LIAR.

From Publisher's Weekly:
"Caldwell's taut, enjoyable thriller hits the ground running, crafting a married-to-the-mob scenario that's believable and chilling, then taking the show around the world... Caldwell's plot moves smoothly, juggling a number of perspectives without losing steam."

From Booklist:
"Caldwell, best known for chick lit, including The Night I Got Lucky, now ventures into thriller territory. When Liza Kingsley set up her best friend, Kate Livingston, with Michael Waller, she never imagined they'd fall in love and marry within a matter of months. Liza and Michael share a secret: they're both members of the Trust, a covert operation founded by Liza's father to protect U.S. interests. Kate happily settles into her new marriage, but she can't help but notice strange things about her husband's life. Why is she forbidden to enter the private meeting rooms at his restaurant? Why is their house bugged? Liza is chasing down a mystery of her own: Who killed her former lover, a Russian journalist who was investigating the Russian mob? Filled with romance and intrigue,this thriller will both please Caldwell's fans and attract new readers."

From Armchair Interviews:
"Laura Caldwell has climbed the literary ladder right to the top of romantic suspense/thriller writers. She is a master at characterization and the multilevel plot is filled with near unbearable tension as the danger mounts. Nothing is as it seems in this exciting novel that kept me reading most of the night. Armchair Interviews says: You will love the climax of the story that is satisfying and totally unexpected."

From The Chicago Contingent:
"Laura Caldwell got her start in Chick-Lit, inched toward Romantic Suspense, and although The Good Liar oes revolve around a relationship, she has definitely crossed into the realm of espionage and international thriller. After a recent divorce, Kate Livingston didn't think she'd fall in love again so quickly. But when her friend Liza sets her up with a colleague, just to take her mind off her ex, they hit it off immediately and end up getting married. At first, the rush and spontaneity is romantic, but soon Kate realizes her husband isn't exactly who he seems, and neither is her friend. Another solid read, Caldwell kept me glued to my seat and flying through the pages, not letting up until the very end."

12.14.07
If you haven't checked out RL Restaurant in Chicago, the only Ralph Lauren restaurant in the world, it's time to go. Not only is the place stunning and the food exquisite, but Charlie Gitto, the manager, and his staff are fantastic. Thanks to them for throwing me such a great media luncheon to kick off the soon-to-be-released THE GOOD LIAR. Thanks also to Jennifer Weigel (author and host of the NBC show Taste), Sherren Leigh (president and CEO of Leigh Communications, Inc., which publishes Today's Chicago Woman Magazine) and Pat Colander (Editor of Shore Magazine) for breaking bread with me. And speaking of great restaurants, Landmark Grill & Lounge is throwing a launch party for THE GOOD LIAR, as well as for Marcus Sakey and his new book, AT THE CITY'S EDGE. It's on Wednesday, January 23, starting at 7 p.m. and it's open to the public. Come out, have a glass of wine with us and buy some good books.

10.22.07
Thanks to everyone at the Joliet Library for throwing a great Author Fair this weekend. My favorite moments: Jen Lancaster signing her own name wrong... like five times; My picnic lunch with Marcus Sakey and Sean Chercover; Stacey Ballis turning down an offer to self-publish her books; The patron who picked up my novel, THE NIGHT I GOT LUCKY, and demanded to know exactly how the character "got lucky".

10.19.07
I'll be attending the Joliet Book Fair tomorrow, October 20, at the Joliet Library (Black Road Branch) from 11-3 with 48 other authors (yes, that's right, FORTY-EIGHT). We'll all be hanging out, signing books and answering questions. Stop by.

9.17.07
I've just finished my 8th book, RED HOT LIES. It'll the first in my "Red Hot" thriller series, featuring Izzy McNeil, a sassy redheaded lawyer from Chicago whose fiancé disappears on the same day her big client is killed. The Red Hot books will launch in the summer of 2009.

08.14.07
My seventh book, The Good Liar, will be out in January 2008. It’s an international thriller about a woman whose new husband isn’t who he seems. She starts to figure out that the best friend who set them up isn’t who she seems either. Both are involved in a private counter-terrorism organization that has gone completely awry. To read the opening pages of The Good Liar, click here.

08.12.07
In news that will probably surprise all of my classmates as much as it did me, I’ve learned that I’ve won the 2007 St. Robert Bellarmine Alumni Award for Loyola University Chicago law school.

08.10.07
If you haven’t yet checked out the anthology that I was fortunate enough to write for—Everything I Needed to Know About Being a Girl, I Learned from Judy Blume—it’s a great one. It’s a bunch of wonderful writers discussing the influence of reading Judy Blume novels. We’ve been featured in People Magazine, Entertainment Weekly, OK! Magazine, and US Weekly.