Just Your Friendly Neighborhood Burglar

Most of the time a book starts with just an image in mind. Maybe it lends itself to a scene. Maybe you aren't even sure what your image means. For me, TOUGHER THAN DIAMONDS began with a burglar.

Now it's no secret among people who know me that Lawrence Block is one of my favorite authors. He is superb at the craft of writing and free with sharing his insights with aspiring writers. I knew him through his fiction column in Writers Digest before I'd ever read the first book about Bernie or Scudder or Keller. But once I started, I ran through each series with a voracious appetitie.

So maybe that's why I had this scene in my head of a woman dressed in black from head to toe sneaking through the backyard to pick the lock on the kitchen door of a large home in an exclusive neighborhood. It's even a diamond that she's after. But that's where the similarity with Block's Bernie ends.

While Bernie picks up loose jewels for a living - and possibly an obsession - my Rebecca's motive is revenge. Never the best reason to do something, really, but who wants to stand between a girl and her diamond?

Does she get the diamond? Does she get caught? And what does Jake have to do with it?

Find out tomorrow on RELEASE DAY for TOUGHER THAN DIAMONDS at CerridwenPress.com.

Have a great day!
(and watch your diamonds!)

Delia