Can't wait for Left Coast Crime 2026: San Francisco Schemin'. Be sure and sign up and reserve your room at the hotel. This is going to be an epic convention. Convention rate includes convention with panels and special events, banquet, two full breakfasts, and opening reception--but so much more. It's all about friends and writers. And, San Francisco--everybody's favorite city!
Gold
Marina McCarron
Aria
Silver
J. A. Crawford
CamCat Books
Bronze
D. B. Woodling
CamCat Books
Gold
Amanda McKinney
Self-Published
Silver
Michael Maloof
Golden Oak Writer's Guild LLC
Bronze
G.W. Allison
Self-Published
Bronze
Jonathan Payne
CamCat Books
Gold
Fred M. Kray
Live Oak Press
Silver
Sean Nam
Rushcutters Bay Books
Bronze
Jillian Lauren
Sourcebooks
Gold
Chadi Nabhan MD MBA FACP
Johns Hopkins University Press
Silver
Ruth Kreindler and Chris Angermann
Self-Published
Bronze
John Bessler
Cambridge University Press
RBG’s Most Enduring Legacy
As soon as I commenced writing Justice is Served, I realized that this memoir was not simply about me. Yes, the underlying tale was that of my being tasked with hosting this momentous meal and my planning and preparation of (and angsting and obsessing over) the coming event, as well as my personal journey separate from the dinner itself—how the experience affected me, and ultimately completely changed my life.
But it quickly became apparent that this book was also about the celebrated and iconic Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, whose own story needed to be woven throughout as part of the structure of the memoir. And so I came up with what I term the “interlude” sections that occur in each chapter: snapshots of the justice’s life and life’s work, each of which relate back to what was going on at the moment in my own life.
A key element of RBG’s story, of course, is the legacy she left behind. For the legal battles she won in the area of women’s rights—both as a legal advocate and as a jurist—are among the most important in the history of American law.
Now, more than ever, with people so intensely polarized regarding political and cultural issues, I believe that this is the most important lesson we can glean from RBG and her life’s work: the importance of embracing collegiality and common ground in our dealings with others.
RBG often spoke of her mother, Celia, and how she gave the young Ruth Bader this sage advice: To always conduct herself civilly and not let emotions like anger or envy get in her way. To hold fast to her convictions and self-respect, but be a good teacher and never snap back in anger, because emotions like anger and resentment only waste time and sap energy.
Not only is this a healthy and harmonious way of approaching life, but it’s also—given all those legal victories RBG secured over the years—a strategy that clearly works. We could well do with a lot more of that collegiality today.
Book Blurb:
Justice is Served is Karst’s light-hearted, earnest account of the journey this unexpected challenge launched her on—starting with a trip to Paris for culinary inspiration, and ending with the dinner itself. Along the way, she imparts details of Ginsburg’s transformation from a young Jewish girl from Flatbush, Brooklyn, to one of the most celebrated Supreme Court justices in our nation’s history, and shares recipes for the mouthwatering dishes she came up with as she prepared for the big night. A heartfelt story of simultaneously searching for delicious recipes and purpose in life, Justice is Served is an inspiring reminder that it’s never too late to discover—and follow—your deepest passion.
In addition to Justice is Served, Leslie Karst is also the author of the Lefty Award-nominated Sally Solari Mysteries, a “snarky cozy” culinary series set in Santa Cruz, California. Leslie and her wife and their Jack Russell mix split their time between Santa Cruz, California and Hilo, Hawai‘i. Visit her at LeslieKarstAuthor.com
Authors are often asked whether we’re plotters or pantsers—do we plan out our story lines in advance and outline them in detail, or merely start writing and just see what happens?
I’ve been a devout plotter for most my fiction-writing career. And for my legal writing career as well, when I worked as a research and appellate attorney. Though truly, I can’t fathom how anyone could draft a legal brief without doing at least a little outlining. (Oh wait, come to think of it, I do believe some of those sloppy motions I received from opposing counsel over the years might well have been written without a whole lot of advance planning....)
When I set out to draft my first Sally Solari mystery, even the thought of sitting down with only a vague idea and then simply writing a mystery novel scared the heck out of me. You have to plant clues, after all, and red herrings, and suspects. How could you do that just willy-nilly? (Asks this list-making, check-everything-three-times, Virgo.)
But what’s interesting is that when it comes to cooking, I’ve always been the exact opposite. Sure, I love to read cookbooks. And my favorite day of the week for the newspaper is when the food section comes out, so I can peruse the recipes, maybe learn a new technique for rolling out pasta, and drool over all the seasonal ingredients highlighted that time of year.
But I don’t tend to use recipes when I prepare food. In this area of my life I am a full-on pantser, tasting my sauce, adding a dash of this or that, then tasting it again. I don’t worry about messing it up, because I have a solid understanding of the chemistry of cooking, so I know instinctively what will work and what won’t. (This is the reason I’m not a keen baker—for it’s pretty darn hard to use a seat-of-the-pants method when you’re making a cake or a baguette. Bakers don’t even call them “recipes”; they refer to their preparation methods as “formulae.”)
But here’s the thing: over the years, I’ve gradually become more and more of a pantser with each of the books in my series. I had the opportunity to sit on a panel a couple years ago which included the talented Laurie R. King, and when we were asked about this plotter/pantser thing, Laurie talked about how she’d been a complete plotter for her first four books, but then switched to the seat-of-your-pants method. “By then I’d figured out how to do it, how to write a mystery novel,” she explained, “so I figured, why not try it the other way? And it worked.” She’s been a devout seat-of-the-pantser ever since.
I thought a lot about what Laurie said that night, and when I embarked on this fifth novel in my series, The Fragrance of Death, for the first time in my life, I decided to throw caution to the wind and went at it without a fully fleshed-out plot. (Mind you, I did have an idea of how the book would start and finish and whodunit, but that long middle was merely the germ of an idea.)
And you know what? It was fun. But a little scary, too—especially when I’d finish a scene and then have no idea where I was going next. I found myself going on long bike rides and talking aloud to myself, asking, “What would Sally so in this situation? What if X happened to her, and then she reacted by doing Y?” The walkers along West Cliff Drive where I like to ride likely wondered why the heck this strange gal was pedaling along talking to herself about murder and mayhem.
But hey—as with Laurie, it worked, and I’m exceedingly pleased with how this new book turned out. So perhaps I’ve made a permanent switch—maybe all those years pantsing it in the kitchen without a recipe has paid off in my writing career!
***
The daughter of a law professor and a potter, Leslie Karst learned early, during family dinner conversations, the value of both careful analysis and the arts—ideal ingredients for a mystery story. Putting this early education to good use, she now writes the Lefty Award-nominated Sally Solari Mysteries, a culinary series set in Santa Cruz, California. The next book in the series, The Fragrance of Death, releases August 2, 2022.
