Five on Friday - Sophie Littlefield

Yes! It's back! Thank you to all the folks who asked if there was more Five on Friday. We're back this week and hopefully now each Friday for awhile. I'm delighted that you enjoy the feature enough to ask about it.

Before we get started on the fun stuff, I hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving! Here are a few links to occupy your non-shopping time on Black Friday:

I'm super late on getting this posted over here, but here are our November Nerdy picks from Pop Culture Nerd.

Be sure to stop by The Drowning Machine blog to take a look at Naomi's new blog banner. It's rather stunning!

Over at the Criminal Element website, they have a Cornucopia of Books giveaway going on...a 8-book bundle you can win. So, check that out!

O.k. that's all the housekeeping for this week. Now for Sophie Littlefield! I've been a fan of her Stella Hardesty crime series for years now. This week, Sophie had a new release that is quite different from Stella. On Tuesday, Blood Bond came out from Pocket Books as an ebook. Right now it's only in ebook format, but I believe at some point down the road there will be a print version. I'm in the midst of reading it right now and it features Joe Bashir, a Pakistani-American police detective in California. (You can see my short interview with Sophie from Bouchercon here where she talks a bit about Joe Bashir and the series.)

I will talk more about Blood Bond soon, but what I will tell you now is that Sophie is the chameleon of writing. Do not expect Blood Bond to be a male version of the Stella Hardesty books. They're completely different and if you didn't have the author's name on the two series, you probably wouldn't guess they're written by the same person. That shows a lot of versatility in a writer.

And in addition to her adult crime novels, Sophie has also written young adult novels. There just isn't much this woman can't do, is there? Well, allow me to stop talking for her and give her the blog. Here she is...Sophie Littlefield!

 Beware hunters: this one will shoot back!

1. My favorite place to read is: When I was eight or so, we lived in Providence, RI one summer so my dad could do research there. It was one of those professor-house-trade arrangements (I feel sorry for whoever got stuck with our un-air-conditioned split-level in central Missouri) and we were in a vast, shabby old house that came with slightly moldering copies of every MAD magazine in print. And: a papasan chair THAT SPUN. I would give anything to be able to read upside down in the that chair, lazily spinning myself by pushing off the wall with my foot, for hours on end. The weird thing is, I don’t remember fighting with my brother over that chair at all, which seems impossible - he is possibly the only kid I ever knew who read more than me. I need to ask him if he remembers the chair.

2. The last movie I saw was: Seven Psychopaths. Well, there was a ton of carnage and there was Colin Farrell. That’ll do here, am I right?

3. The most famous person I ever met was: This isn’t really an answer, but since we’re in a share-y mood today, I’ll admit that I hate meeting famous people. I find the experience - and, frankly, them - off-putting and creepy. I am suspicious of anyone who can withstand public attention. Also, what to talk about? I was recently seated next to a famous person at an event. I knew a lot about him because I’d read the article in the magazine. I know what his house looks like. I know what he drives. I know his weird dietary restrictions. And I found myself feeling resentful that he hadn’t bothered to learn any of those things about me. That disparity doomed us from the start. I mean, that and my ennnnnnndless awkwardness in public.

4. The worst vacation I ever took was to: Ugh. I’m thinking about it now and I can’t even bear to recount the details, that’s how painful it was. Prince Andrew was busy marrying the Duchess of York that week, so each unbearable day would end with TV coverage of all the pre-wedding details in our squalid little hotel room. Oh, all right, it was in Canada. But that wasn’t what made it painful. And that’s all I have to say about that.

5. The #1 item on my bucket list right now is: I’m embarrassed to admit this, Jen, but I may be the only person I know who has no bucket list. Unless you count “keep kicking ass” as a bucket list item, but the way I understand it, it’s supposed to be things you haven’t yet done.

The thing is, I’ve decided to trust the universe to put adventures in my path. So far, that has worked out pretty well. The secret is to 1) want things badly enough to work for them and 2) believe everything is possible. (Now I’m being trite as well as uncooperative, but it’s true: as long as you seize on what you want like a puppy on a spider, you can, apparently, have whatever you want.)

And Sophie is definitely determined to get what she wants in the publishing world. She's trying new things, writing new characters, and kicking ass! If you don't already, you can follow Sophie on Twitter, hang out with her on Facebook, learn more about her at her website, and of course read her books!

And now I shall leave you to enjoy the rest of your holiday weekend, which I hope includes lots of good reading! I'll see you back on Monday with more book fun.