Quicksand Book Launch Day!

Today is the book release day for Quicksand, the third Jaya Jones Treasure Hunt Mystery!

A thousand-year-old secret room.
A sultan’s stolen treasure.
A missing French priest.
And an invitation to Paris to rekindle an old flame…

Historian Jaya Jones finds herself on the wrong side of the law during an art heist at the Louvre. To redeem herself, she follows clues from an illuminated manuscript that lead from the cobblestone streets of Paris to the quicksand-surrounded fortress of Mont Saint-Michel. With the help of enigmatic Lane Peters and a 90-year-old stage magician, Jaya delves into France’s colonial past in India to clear her name and catch a killer.

 

Huge thanks to A Great Good Place for Books for hosting my book launch party on Sunday! It was a France-themed party, in the spirit of the setting of the book. In addition to beer brewed by monks and French wine, we had a photo booth of French props.

Photos from the party are posted here. 

Amazon (paperback) | Kindle | B&N | Kobo | Google Play | iTunes

The Accidental Alchemist Book Launch Party Photos

I brought my stuffed animal gargoyle to join in the fun. He doesn't look exactly like Dorian, the gargoyle in The Accidental Alchemist, but hey, he's still a gargoyle. 

Here he is inside a magician's top hat (relevant to the book). We used the hat to draw names of attendees to win Accidental Alchemist mugs and Book Passage gift certificates.

The gargoyle made the rounds. 

And yes, there was gargoyle-themed beer (in honor of Dorian), as well as French wine (in honor of alchemist Zoe Faust).

Several pals from my writers group joined in the fun.

Future writer?

Bookstore manager Cheryl McKeon was instrumental in making the event a success.

I talked about the story behind the book, did a short reading, and answered audience questions...

...before we got back to socializing and polishing off the gargoyle beer.

I've seen many favorite authors in the Book Passage newsletter over the years, so it was great fun to be included in their latest newsletter to advertise the event.

Thanks to everyone who joined me in person and in spirit!

Book Launch Day for The Accidental Alchemist!

The Accidental Alchemist

 hits bookstore shelves today! It's the first book in my new mystery series set in Portland, Oregon, featuring a centuries-old female alchemist and her French chef sidekick

—

who happens to be a gargoyle who was accidentally brought to life by a stage magician. 

Stay tuned for lots of fun tidbits about the book, along with some fun contests I've been cooking up. In the meantime, here are some details about the book and the book launch party happening next week: 

On the book jacket:

Unpacking her belongings in her new hometown of Portland, Oregon, herbalist and reformed alchemist Zoe Faust can’t help but notice she’s picked up a stowaway. Dorian Robert-Houdin is a living, breathing three-and-a-half-foot gargoyle—not to mention a master of French cuisine—and he needs Zoe’s expertise to decipher a centuries-old text. Zoe, who’s trying to put her old life behind her, isn’t so sure she wants to reopen her alchemical past… until the dead man on her porch leaves her no choice.

There's plenty of culinary alchemy, and recipes are included. 

Read a sample.

BUY THE BOOK at a bookstore or through an online retailer:

Amazon 

| 

Barnes & Noble 

| 

Indiebound 

| 

Kobo

 | 

Midnight Ink

Buy directly from one of my favorite independent bookstores:

Murder By The Book 

| 

A Great Good Place for Books

 |

 Book Passage

 | 

Seattle Mystery Bookshop

 | 

Borderlands (for a personalized copy, upon request)

Buy the AUDIOBOOK

Listen to an audiobook sample.

This is my first audiobook! (I'll talk more about that experience in another blog post.)

Book Launch Party for

The Accidental Alchemist

Thursday, January 15

6pm

Book Passage

at the Ferry Building in San Francisco

Advance Praise for The Accidental Alchemist

“Pandian launches a supernatural cozy series that hits high marks for a modern twist on an ancient practice. Amusing supporting characters and historical details solidify this engaging mystery.”

—Library Journal

“Pandian sets this series apart from other paranormal mysteries with Zoe’s cute nonhuman sidekick and some mouthwatering vegan recipes.”

—Publishers Weekly

“This new series is off to an excellent start with an intriguing, eccentric amateur detective… This reviewer is eagerly anticipating more from this series, and a return of a cast more fun than an episode of Portlandia.”

—RT Book Reviews

“Zoe and Dorian are my new favorite amateur-sleuth duo!”

—Victoria Laurie, 

New York Times

 bestselling author

“The Accidental Alchemist is a recipe for a great read. Gigi Pandian’s pen never disappoints.”

—Juliet Blackwell,

 New York Times

 bestselling author

“A magical, whimsical cozy that will delight readers who enjoy Juliet Blackwell and Heather Weber mysteries!”

—Avery Aames, aka Daryl Wood Gerber

“The pace never lets down, the people are multilayered, and the plot is complicated enough so that it all blends into what promises to be the beginning of a fun new series… This a fabulous beginning to a series I’m looking forward to following!”

—Seattle Mystery Bookshop staff pick 

Pirate Vishnu Book Launch Party Photos

Last night, fabulous independent bookstore A Great Good Place For Books hosted the book launch party for Pirate Vishnu. Thank you to the dozens of you who braved the rain to come to the party! Everyone who knows me knows I prefer the rain to sunny weather, so it was the perfect dark and stormy night to launch for my newest mystery.

To keep the formal part of the program entertaining, Juliet Blackwell interviewed me. 

I love throwing a good party, so in keeping with the spirit of the book (set in Barbary Coast San Francisco and India), drinks included San Francisco craft beer and beer from India. 

The giveaway for the evening was a pirate treasure including a pirate Scooby Doo. 

Several Pens Fatales were in attendance. 

One of my earliest critique readers made it as well! 

As did far-flung friends. 

 

I signed stock with the few books that remained at the end of the night -- and found myself realizing how strange it is that I now use industry terms like "signing stock" without thinking about it. 

The party was two days before the official book release day for Pirate Vishnu, so there's more celebrating to come this week! 

Book Launch Parties in Southern California

If you're in the Los Angeles or Orange County areas, I hope you'll join me at one of the book launch parties for Other People's Baggage, the new book coming out December 3rd that features three interconnected mystery novellas—one of which is the new Jaya Jones Treasure Hunt Mystery novella, Fool's Gold.

Traveler’s Bookcase
Thursday, November 29
6 – 8 PM
8375 W. 3rd Street
Los Angeles, CA

Mystery Ink Bookstore
Saturday, December 1
3 – 5 PM
8907 Warner Avenue
Huntington Beach, CA

I'll be there with co-authors Diane Vallere and Kendel Lynn. There will be giveaways, airline-themed drinks and snacks, and lots of fun to be had! And here's a teaser about Other People's Baggage: Baggage claim can be terminal. These are the stories of what happened after three women with a knack for solving mysteries each grabbed the wrong bag...

More details about the novellas and the parties can be found on my website.

Hope to see you there!

Book Launch Party Photos

It was a packed house at A Great Good Place for Books in Oakland on Saturday night for the Artifact book launch party. Special thanks to everyone who joined me in person as well as to all of you who let me know you were there in spirit!

The party was a joint celebration for the release of my debut mystery novel and for completing a full year of cancer treatments. I'm happy to report that both activities were a success. Artifact is making more of a splash than I imagined, and my doctors can't find any evidence of cancer left in my body! Here are some photos from the celebration:

The fabulous bookstore staff.

Views of both sides of the store as I began my reading. 

Business manager (er, husband), with Sophie Littlefield and Juliet Blackwell. 

With Terry Shames and Sophie Littlefield. 

With my youngest fan. 

(And yes, in case you were wondering, the book is kid-friendly; the little one here is younger than my target audience, but the book is a traditional mystery that would be considered PG-rated.)

The bookstore's children's book room doubles as a signing room. 

After getting my book signed, many attendees bought books for their kids! 

In the signing room with Andrew MacRae and Pat Morin. 

We served a selection of Scotch whisky from the region of the Highlands of Scotland where the novel takes place, and had ARTIFACT coasters as a take-away.

The party was so much fun that it inspired me to get back to work on the next book in the series!

Book Launch Party for Artifact

I'd love for you to join me at the book launch party for Artifact!

The event is being held at the wonderful independent bookstore A Great Good Place for Books, located in the Montclair neighborhood of Oakland.

Saturday, September 8, 2012
7 p.m.
A Great Good Place for Books 
Oakland, CA

What can you expect? The party takes place the week after Artifact hits the shelves, so you'll be able to buy a copy of the book, and I'll be signing copies. I'll also read a little bit from the novel and share some fun facts about how the book came to be—but mostly it'll be a fun party at a fabulous bookstore. In keeping with the spirit of Artifact, there will be Scotch whisky from the region of the highlands of Scotland where the book takes place, and other treats.

This book launch party is a joint celebration, celebrating not only the release of my debut mystery, but also the successful completion of a year of cancer treatments! So yes, there's a lot to celebrate.


—Gigi