Today we’re welcoming Joanna Schaffhausen to the #NoContact Book Tour! I was lucky enough to attend Joanna’s local launch event for All the Best Lies (see the evidence below!) before the world went sideways. She read and cracked jokes, while her wonderful daughter helped distribute the Winston-decorated cupcakes. Oh, how much fun – how normal! – that all was. Sadly, Joanna’s tour for the new Reed and Ellery has been canceled, But while we all stay inside and stay safe, books have become even more important, so please join me today on Joanna’s #NoContact book tour!

Tell us about your book!

All the Best Lies is the latest book in my Ellery Hathaway series. This time, Ellery is tagging along with FBI Agent Reed Markham as he investigates an intensely personal cold case: the brutal stabbing of his mother in Las Vegas more than forty years ago. Reed was a baby at the time, lying in his crib when his mother was murdered. He’s always wondered if he’d glimpsed the killer. When a DNA test reveals the shocking identity of Reed biological father, he heads to Vegas to unearth the truth about his origins. He and Ellery begin tracing his twisted family tree, knowing the path leads back to a vicious killer­–one who’s been hiding in plain sight for forty years and isn’t about to give up now.

What would you have been doing now to promote it? Where would you have been speaking? What bookstores would you have visited?

I’ve been unable to visit so many of my favorite places. I’m especially sad that I was unable to attend the amazing Tucson Festival of Books because it would have been my first time visiting the city and the festival. I had events scheduled at Belmont Books, Odyssey Bookshop, and An Unlikely Story, three fabulous indie bookstores. I was supposed to be at a bunch of terrific libraries as well, including those in Duxbury, Milford and Waltham.

Are you working on anything now? Is your process or routine different?

I am being pressed into service as a fifth-grade teacher for my 10-year-old daughter. The puppy can’t go daycare, so he needs extra attention as well. In my spare minutes, I’m working on the copyedits for Reed and Ellery’s next adventure, Every Waking Hour.

Do you think your writing will be changed by this crisis?

I am sincerely hoping it just returns to normal.

What’s the first thing you’re going to do when we’re free to be social again?

Oh, gosh. Leave my house and not return for like three months, maybe. I can’t wait to see family and friends in person. I can’t wait to travel. I will never take a simple hug for granted again!

I know what you mean. I am going to every book event, every gig, every party … and hugging everyone! As soon as it’s safe. Thanks for coming over, virtually, Joanna!