Selma Eichler http://www.selmaeichlerbooks.com Books: Murder Can Crash Your Party, May 2008 Murder Can Depress Your Dachshund, February 2007 Murder Can Run Your Stockings, February 2006 Murder Can Mess up Your Mascara, February 2005 Murder Can Botch Up Your Birthday, March 2004 Murder Can Singe Your Old Flame, May 2003 Murder Can Ruin Your Looks, April 2003 Murder Can Rain on Your Shower, March 2003 Murder Can Cool Off Your Affair, March 2002 And the Dying is Easy, June 2001 Murder Can Upset Your Mother, March 2001 Murder Can Spoil Your Appetite, February 2000 Murder Can Spook Your Cat, January 1998 Murder Can Wreck Your Reunion, January 1997 Murder Can Stunt Your Growth, January 1996 Murder Can Kill Your Social Life, February 1995

Selma Eichler

I grew up in New Jersey and attended Upsala College in East Orange, graduating with a BA in English. It was a degree that prepared me for . . . not much of anything. A few years later I moved to New York, and after a variety of pretty uninteresting jobs, I finally wound up as a copywriter with an advertising agency. This is where—if you're even a little cynical—you might say I got my training for writing fiction.

I went on to work for agencies of every conceivable size before eventually getting the dreaded pink slip. But that was okay. By this time I had acquired some valuable contacts, and I was able to do quite well as a freelance writer. Actually, it was one of my freelance jobs that led me to create my first mystery.

Now, I've always been a dedicated mystery fan. (I've read every Agatha Christie ever published at least twice.) But I had no desire to try my hand at writing one of those things myself. What I did do, though, was to prepare a seven-page synopsis that I planned to submit as a suggested plot line for an episode of Murder She Wrote. This initiative having been inspired by a friend, who assured me she had connections at CBS-TV and that she'd see that my synopsis got to the right people.

Well, a couple of days later I mentioned my intention to an account executive at one of the freelance agencies I worked for. She asked why I didn't just develop the story myself. I told her in no uncertain terms that I really didn't have the time to write an entire book. I can quote her response verbatim: "You're just plain lazy!"

Understandably, this made me mad—because she was right. So for spite, that night I sat down at the word processor (I didn't even have a computer yet) and began the mystery that would eventually be titled Murder Can Kill Your Social Life. . . .

This was fourteen books ago.