Dear Friends...

Justice matters to me. It always has. It's what inspired me to become a lawyer, and it beats at the heart of all my books.

Justice matters to my newest character, Cate Fante, too. She's the smart and sexy dirty blonde in Dirty Blonde, who's just become the youngest federal judge in Philly. She's excited and intimidated by her new judgeship, and who wouldn't be — her job description's in the Constitution of the United States. Cate always thought that if she followed the law, then justice would be served. But when she's on the bench, presiding over her first high-profile case, she learns that law and justice aren't always the same thing. And when the case takes a deadly turn, Cate's dirty secret is exposed and she's running for her life.

Characterization matters to me, too, and I always anchor character in family, friends, and setting. This time the setting is Centralia, a coal-mining town in northeastern Pennsylvania, which is the real-life site of a horrendous underground mine fire — that has burned for sixty years and burns even today! I didn't know anything about the fire until fifteen years ago, when I drove through its smoky ruins and found myself engulfed in sulfurous steam. It was an impossibly eerie experience, and I always wanted to write about it. Last year I began to do the research, revisiting the town and reading everything I could about it. The details find their proper place in the book, but on my website, scottoline.com, I provide some background about Centralia and the haunting before-and-after pictures. I will leave to you to figure out the ways in which Cate's hometown and family forge her character, but here's a hint — she grew up in a hotbed of injustice. Literally.

Of course, we can't talk about mining without reference to the recent tragedies in West Virginia. Having studied about miners and having visited mining towns, I was all the more saddened by them, and all the more grateful to the thousands of men and women who undertake truly dangerous jobs such as mining, and to the families who wait for them to come home every day.

And, I know that family, home, and justice matter to you, which is why I think you will love Dirty Blonde. Thank you for choosing my books, for supporting me, and for helping spread the word about my books. Come on out and meet me on my book tour, pick up a signed book, and let's have Tastykakes, totebags, and fun!

Love,