|
 |
Crime fiction author Libby Fischer Hellmann claims she's "writing her
way around the genre." With ten novels and twenty short stories
published, she has written thrillers, suspense mysteries, historicals,
PI novels, amateur sleuth, police procedurals, and even a cozy mystery.
At the core of all her stories, however, is a crime or the possibility
of one.
She is a transplant from Washington, D.C., where, she says, "When you're
sitting around the dinner table gossiping about the neighbors, you're
talking politics." Armed with a Masters Degree in Film Production from
New York University, and a BA in history from the University of
Pennsylvania, she started her career in broadcast news. She began as an
assistant film editor at NBC News in New York, but moved back to DC
where she worked with Robin McNeil and Jim Lehrer at N-PACT, the public
affairs production arm of PBS. When Watergate broke, she was re-trained
as an assistant director and helped produce PBS's night-time broadcasts
of the hearings.
In 1978, Hellmann moved to Chicago to work at Burson-Marsteller, the
large public relations firm, staying until 1985 when she founded Fischer
Hellmann Communications. Currently, when not writing, she conducts
speaker training programs in platform speaking, presentation skills,
media training, and crisis communications. Additionally, Libby also
writes and produces videos.
Her first novel, AN EYE FOR MURDER, which features Ellie
Foreman, a video producer and single mother, was released in 2002.
Publishers Weekly called it a "masterful blend of
politics, history, and suspense," and it was nominated for several
awards. That was followed by three more entries in the Ellie Foreman
series, which Libby describes as a cross between "Desperate Housewives"
and "24."
A few years later, Libby introduced her second series featuring
hard-boiled Chicago PI Georgia Davis, which Chicago Tribune
describes as, "a new no-nonsense detective …. tough and
smart enough to give even the legendary V.I. Warshawski a run for her
money." There are three books in that series so far: EASY
INNOCENCE (2008) and DOUBLEBACK (2009), which was
selected as a Great Lakes Booksellers' Association "2009 Great Read,"
and TOXICITY (2011), a police procedural ebook thriller
that became the prequel to the Georgia Davis series.
Her 8th novel, SET THE NIGHT ON FIRE,
(December, 2010) was a standalone thriller that goes back, in part, to
the late Sixties in Chicago. Publishers Weekly describes
it as "top-rate" and says, "A jazzy fusion of past and present,
Hellman's insightful, politically charged whodunit explores a
fascinating period in American history." It was short-listed for
ForeWord Magazine's Book of 2010 in the suspense/thriller category.
Her most recent novel, A BITTER VEIL, qA released in
April, 2012. A stand-alone literary thriller and love story, it's set
in revolutionary Iran during the late '70s. PW said: "meticulously
researched and fast paced, this political thriller will please
established fans and newcomers alike."
Libby has also edited a highly acclaimed crime fiction anthology,
CHICAGO BLUES (October, 2007). In May, 2010, she
published a collection of her own short stories called NICE GIRL
DOES NOIR. In 2005-2006 she was the National President of
Sisters in Crime, a 3,400 plus member organization committed to
strengthening the voice of female mystery writers.
Libby blogs at "SAY THE WORD And You'll Be Free,"
libbyhellmann.com/wp,
and also at "The Outfit Collective" at www.theoutfitcollective.com.
|
     
|
|
