Jane Heller

New York Times and USA Today Bestselling Author

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Another Great Blurb for THREE BLONDE MICE!

April 15, 2016

Three Blonde Mice

As the August 2nd pub date approaches for my new novel, it’s very exciting to have early praise from my fellow authors. I don’t consider myself a mystery writer in the true sense of the term, but I do have a whodunit in Three Blonde Mice as well as in some of my other novels. For that reason, it’s a huge honor to hear from bona fide mystery writers like Elaine Viets (see the previous post) and now Melodie Johnson Howe. Melodie’s books are set in Hollywood, a territory she knows well, having been an actress like her feisty heroine, Diana Poole. I especially enjoyed her last mystery, City of Mirrors, in which Diana discovers the dead body of a certain leading lady and finds herself thrust into the murder investigation. Here’s what Melodie had to say about Three Blonde Mice:

I love Jane Heller’s quirky off-kilter novels! In Three Blonde Mice, Heller and her keen-eyed wit cook up a wonderful satire on chic cooking classes, farm-to-table food groupies and chefs with the egos of rock stars. She dissects love – and conjures up a murder plot – with the sharpness of a paring knife. I enjoyed every delicious moment.

Call me thrilled!

Filed Under: Mainly Jane Tagged With: blurbs, City of Mirrors, Melodie Johnson Howe, mysteries, Three Blonde Mice

My Friend Melodie Is Hot – Then and Now

January 31, 2013

It’s always fun when something good happens to people you care about, and my pal Melodie Johnson Howe has not only launched the ebook publications of her award-winning mystery novels and a short story collection, but she’s the subject of a new promotional video too – all ahead of the summer publication of her latest mystery, City of Mirrors. The video went up on YouTube today and it’s totally worth a look. We get to see clips from Melodie’s career as a young Hollywood blonde co-starring with the likes of Clint Eastwood as well as her thoughts about being a mystery writer whose backdrop is Hollywood.

For those who want to write, say they want to write, dream of being able to write, Melodie is your role model. She walked out on show biz, studied the craft of writing and put in the time – all while raising a family. No excuses, people.

 

Filed Under: Mainly Jane, Movies Tagged With: City of Mirrors, Clint Eastwood, Hollywood, Melodie Johnson Howe, mysteries

Birthdays Are To Be Celebrated, Period

October 24, 2012

That’s my pal, Melodie Johnson Howe, mystery writer extraordinaire and the proud celebrant at last night’s birthday dinner for her at Montecito’s Tre Lune. (She’s holding a piece of their yummy tiramisu.) I have friends who say, whenever a birthday approaches, “Oh, I’ve stopped counting,” or “I’m not doing anything for it,” or even “Don’t you dare tell anyone I’m another year older.”

I get that none of us wants to grow old(er). I get that once we reach a certain age, the giddy excitement we experienced as kids at birthday time is no longer giddy. And I get that age can signal an end rather than a beginning.

But hold on a sec. Melodie’s a great example of why all of the above is only part of the story. The other part is that there’s plenty to celebrate no matter how many candles are on the cake. She just published a book of short stories called Shooting Hollywood. She just sold a new novel to a major New York publisher. She just got all these fabulous blurbs for the novel from other critically acclaimed mystery writers. And she just made a deal to publish her earlier novels, The Mother Shadow and Beauty Dies, in their first ebook editions. An end rather than a beginning? I don’t think so.

A former actress in feature films and television, Melodie has a cameo in YOU’D BETTER NOT DIE OR I’LL KILL YOU. She appears in Chapter 7: How to Wait Out Waiting Rooms. During one of Michael’s surgeries in 2010, she sat with me in the waiting room at Cottage Hospital in Santa Barbara and kept me sane. She even managed to make me laugh – something she does often. And when the surgeon came out of the O.R. to discuss how the surgery went, she was right there to ask questions, listen, support me. Why wouldn’t I want to celebrate her birthday? We caregivers should treasure those friends who stick by us in sickness and in health and make sure they have their tiramisu and more.

 

Filed Under: Food, Humor, Mainly Jane, Wellness Tagged With: caregiving, Cottage Hospital, Melodie Johnson Howe, Montecito, Santa Barbara, Tre Lune, You'd Better Not Die or I'll Kill You

My Friend Has A New Book Out

March 4, 2012

It’s always exciting when someone you know and root for has a success to celebrate, and yesterday was no exception. Melodie Johnson Howe, my friend and former Muse Madams workshop cohort, has compiled her critically acclaimed short stories into a new collection called Shooting Hollywood.

She had a signing party and gave a talk not only about writing mysteries (her first novel, The Mother Shadow, won an Edgar Award) but about basing her stories and her main character, Diana Poole, on her own experiences as an actress in Hollywood. Back in the day, Melodie co-starred with Clint Eastwood, James Caan, James Farentino and others, but she always wanted to be a writer and decided to give up acting to pursue her dream. Now she’s turning out terrific short stories and has just finished a new novel.

What’s especially fun about Shooting Hollywood is that Melodie introduces each story with a short piece about how she came up with the idea for the story. It’s like having an inside view of a writer’s process and discovering that inspiration comes in mysterious ways.

Speaking of which, I need to get back to work on the novel I recently started. Between converting my early novels into ebooks and copyediting the caregiver manuscript (not to mention waiting for the refrigerator guy to show up and figure out why the freezer keeps leaking), I’ve been mighty distracted lately. Melodie has inspired me to get to work!

 

 

 

Filed Under: Mainly Jane, Movies Tagged With: Melodie Johnson Howe, mysteries, Shooting Hollywood, short stories

The Ideal Gloves For A Cold Writer

November 9, 2011

It was my friend Melodie’s birthday the other day, and we always exchange presents. She’s a mystery writer and, like me, sits at the computer all day. (Check out her web site on the links list over on the right.) The problem is that every time I shop for a gift for her, I always end up buying the same gift for myself.

It’s not birthday envy; I have little interest anymore of being another year older. And it’s not that I have to horn in on her special day. It’s just that when I find something cool at a store, which isn’t all that often, I say, “I want one of those too.” Apparently, I don’t have the self-control to say, “No, Jane. You’re just buying one for Melodie.”

So there I was at a store in Santa Barbara, browsing aimlessly, not knowing what I was looking for, when I finally told the saleswoman that I had this friend who was a writer and I didn’t want to spend a ton of money but I wanted to get her something pretty and well-made and useful.

She guided me over to a shelf full of lovely, handmade wool gloves in various colors and said, “How about a pair of these?”

I picked up the camel, sandy-colored ones and said, “They’re beautiful – so soft – but where are the fingers?”

She explained that fingerless gloves were all the rage for people who wanted to be warm in the cold weather but free to dial their iPhones and BlackBerries, maneuver while holding their car keys, etc. And then she said, “They’re perfect for someone who uses a computer keypad.”

Bingo. I tried on the gloves, wiggled my fingers around and thought I had hit on a miracle. My hands are often cold when I’m working. Yes, I live in California, but I’m way up in the hills where the temperature dips in the winter. How exciting to have gloves that would allow me to type but keep the rest of my hands nice and toasty.

“I’ll take them,” I said. “I mean I’ll take two pairs. Same color.”

Melodie loved hers. And I’m wearing mine right now. So it’s kind of my birthday too, even though it isn’t.

 

 

Filed Under: Fashion, Lifestyle, Mainly Jane Tagged With: fingerless gloves, Melodie Johnson Howe, Montecito, Upstairs at Pierre Lafond

I Want A Writing Dog

January 26, 2011

What’s a writing dog, you ask? A dog that will sit quietly in my office playing with his doggie toy or taking a nap or otherwise occupying himself/herself while I work at the computer. My friend, mystery writer Melodie Johnson Howe, has a dog named Watson and he sits in her office while she works. She says he’s excellent company. I want excellent company too. It gets lonely in here.

I even have my writing dog all picked out. I saw one of these Bichon Frise pups during my walk one afternoon and fell madly in love.

(courtesy: bichonfriseguide.com)

I mean how cute is that?

I came home from my walk and had the following conversation with Michael.

Me: “I’d really like to get a dog – a Bichon Frise, to be exact.”

Michael: “Having a dog is like having a baby. You have to take care of it 24/7, and I’m too old for that.”

Me: “I can train it.”

Michael: “Good luck with that. Besides, I thought you were allergic to dogs.”

Me: “No, cats. Well, and some dogs. This one wouldn’t shed that much or have dander or whatever it is that makes me sneeze.”

Michael: “Don’t you remember when I had Jack? He was always running away and animal control was always slapping me with fines and I couldn’t leave him alone for a second.”

Me: “Jack was a Lab. A crazy Lab. My writing dog wouldn’t be crazy, just lovable.”

Michael: “Tell you what. I’ll buy you a stuffed animal.”

And that was the end of that, because I really had no comeback. I knew he was right. I don’t even have any potted plants in the house. I’m not ready to take on a dog or any other addition to the household, because I have a book deadline and book deadlines are more time consuming than training a dog. I think a stuffed animal is where I’m headed.

(courtesy: thisnext.com)

Filed Under: Confessions of a She-Fan Tagged With: Beanie Babies, Bichon Frise, dogs, Melodie Johnson Howe

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About Jane Heller

Jane Heller is a New York Times and USA Today bestselling author. Her fourteen breezy, witty novels of romantic comedy and suspense are now entertaining millions of readers around the world, along with her two books of nonfiction.

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