Our book club author for September was Jerrilyn Farmer and with a book entitled The Flaming Luau of Death how could tropical not be the them for dinner?! Jerrilyn writes the Madeline Bean culinary mysteries, but her talents do not stop at writing. She actually started out, and continues to be, an accomplished comedy (some of Dana Carvey’s “Church Lady” sketches) and game show (Jeopardy! and Supermarket Sweep) writer. After college, Jerrilyn moved from Chicago to LA and got involved in comedy writing and game show writing. She wrote for several Saturday Night Live comedians and took writing courses through UCLA and was inspired to write a book. Problem? Living in the LA area and working in the television industry, naturally her first impulse was to show her book to some of the people she knew from the TV industry. Unfortunately, they kept looking at the book from the perspective of turning it into a movie. Jerrilyn then sent out copies of her book to several agents, as most aspiring authors do, and was successful in finding an agent. When it comes to promotion for her Madeline Bean books, Jerrilyn does not go the same route as other authors of…

A great party, like a great mystery, needs to provide a few surprises and even a twist. I have given a good deal of thought to both parties and mysteries because I write about Hollywood event planner/caterer Madeline Bean, and it is her job (when not dodging murderers) to make sure every party guest has a good time. Pulling off a remarkable party isn’t a snap, but it helps to start off with the fun concept. Think vices! Do your friends enjoy imbibing? Try a wine tasting evening. Are they into gluttony? Make sure you feature gourmet goodies. Would they like to gamble? Have an Academy Awards party and keep a tote board to track each guests predictions in each category–perhaps surprising the group with a cool prize for the highest totals. Or try a casino theme. Now if your girlfriends are like mine, they don’t mind flirting, so by all mean pick a theme where everyone dresses up so the women can let their necklines plunge. In my books, the larger-than-life Hollywood types require the Godzilla of all party concepts–from a wedding held at the Natural History Museum’s Hall of Predators (KILLER WEDDING) to a Black-and-White themed charity ball…