Category Archives: Writing

This a very interesting place, the Washington Talking Book & Braille Library (WTBBL), in Seattle, and I had the pleasure of a conversation there with Ms. Addi Brooks. Here it is.

My interview with Jeff Glor of AuthorTalk appears on CBS.com today!

Check it out.

FYI, Jean Zimmerman, reporting from New Amsterdam, an interview for TheDay.com.

17th Century Manhattan

Some book bloggers have had nice things to say about The Orphanmaster, which pleases me. Here are a few snippets, just to brag. I especially like “delightfully horrific.”

“The best thing about The Orphanmaster is its historical detail. Zimmerman does an excellent job of setting the scene and integrating issues and concerns the colonists had during that time. The legend of the witika was delightfully horrific.” (http://readersrefuge.blogspot.com/2012/06/book-review-orphanmaster-by-jean.html)

 “The first thing I have to mention is Zimmerman’s writing. She has a way with words. The novel is complex and beautiful. I learned new terms and got to appreciate just how crazy Dutch looks. Reading The Orphanmaster is simply a pleasure.” (http://readeroffictions.blogspot.com/2012/05/new-amsterdam-travis-giveaway.html)

 “Zimmerman’s historical detail is rich and intriguing, and makes the hunt for a serial killer, a common thriller plot these days, seem new and, well, thrilling.” (http://www.criminalelement.com/blogs/2012/06/fresh-meat-the-orphanmaster-by-jean-zimmerman-victoria-janssen-historical-children-organized-crime)

“Every once in a while, an outstanding historical thriller comes along that transports you back in time and makes the story’s era come vibrantly alive, while still capturing your imagination with a complex, deftly-designed plot. Jean Zimmerman’s first novel, The Orphanmaster is such a book.” (Suspense Magazine, June Issue)

There is no experience quite like tearing open a mail package and finding the first printed copy of your new hardcover book. Yes, The Orphanmaster arrived at the cabin this morning, looking much like the beautiful galley but oh so different at the same time. There’s the heft, for one thing. The raised white type. (A scary black shadow encroaches from the left, taking a little bite out of the O.) The clarity of the cover image. And just the fact that this is my book, after hard and long work finally in print and ready to descend upon the world. A book gestates privately — no one can really understand the world you’ve created (even if you blather on about it continually) — but suddenly that world is available to everyone. Welcome.

Nora Rawlinson and I had a very nice conversation about The Orphanmaster, which is being aired on line in advance of a live chat that will be open to interested librarians (and anyone else, I guess) on Wednesday, April 11 between 4-5 pm. Check it out.

http://penguindebutauthors.earlyword.com/episode-1/

Love, Fiercely got a nice review from the New York Journal of Books. Here’s the pull-quote:

“Ms. Zimmerman infuses life into these characters through her detailed research. Each blossoms into a three-dimensional human being via the author’s physical descriptions as well as conveyed through their thoughts and dreams as extracted from their personal diaries and personal and public letters. . . . her detail is painted with such a colorful, delicate brush, showing us the specifics of the era in which Edith and Newton lived and its impact upon them both individually and as a couple, . . . the story always return[ing] to the fascinating Edith and Newton and their enviable gilded age romance.”