Friday, December 21, 2007

GCC Tour - The



Yay! I'm touring the paperback edition of one of my favorite writer's books: Melissa Senate's Theodora Twist.



Order the book!

“Senate sets up a tantalizing premise and the plot is equally entertaining.” –Publisher’s Weekly

“Theodora Twist has sugar and spice and everything nice. I loved it!”
–Sarah Mlynowski, bestselling author of Spells and Sleeping Bags

“A fun read!”
–Teen People magazine

You’re sixteen. A high school junior. A major teen celebrity like Blake Lively or Amanda Duff or Vanessa Hudgens moves into your house for a month and shares your bedroom, your friends, your clothes, your school. Your entire life. And it’s all caught on camera, for all of America to see. This is what happens to Emily Fine in Melissa Senate’s debut young adult novel, THEODORA TWIST (Delacorte Press). One day she’s ordinary nobody Emily Fine, practically invisible to everyone (including her own mother) and the next, she’s roommates with teen idol Theodora Twist and co-star of a TV reality show.

Theodora Twist is Hollywood’s hottest young actress—the girl everyone wants to be. Producers court her, tabloids love her, fans mob her, and US Weekly has covered every catfight with her co-stars, her ongoing feud with her mother, her yo-yo dieting, and her threesome with two Hollywood it-boys. Needless to say, Theodora doesn’t have the best reputation around.

So when Theodora’s publicity team decides to clean up her act with a reality show called Theodora Twist—Just a Regular Teen!, they send Theodora back to her hometown to live with Emily’s family for a month. Theodora has to do everything Emily does: attend high school, care about grades, friends, boys, the prom, zits (as though Theodora has ever had one). And a very unlikely friendship is formed.

Read an excerpt at Random House Teens (RandomHouse.com/teens) and visit Melissa’s website at MelissaSenate.com



Here are Melissa's answers to my GCC questions:

HOW WOULD YOU DESCRIBE YOUR TYPICAL “WRITING DAY”?: Now that my son is in kindergarten, I have set hours to work that don’t require paying a fortune. Love that. I reread the last two chapters of my WIP, then go from there, usually getting a scene down and the bare bones of the next two.

DO YOU RECALL THE KERNEL OF INSPIRATION FOR THIS BOOK?: I was mindlessly watching MTV or VH1 and caught a show about Christina Aguilera visiting her hometown, camera crew capturing her every move. The next morning I woke up with the idea for Theodora Twist, about a teen movie queen with a seriously bad reputation who is forced back to her hometown to film a reality TV show about how she’s really just a regular teen. (She’s not!)

PICK A CHARACTER IN THE BOOK AND TELL US WHAT TRAIT YOU SHARE (OR COME CLOSEST TO SHARING) WITH THAT CHARACTER.: No matter what else you can call her, Theodora has a good heart. I’d like to think I do too.

IF YOU WERE STUCK ON A DESERT ISLAND, WOULD YOU RATHER HAVE A MAGICAL TRUNK THAT GAVE YOU LIMITLESS BOOKS TO READ, OR A LIMITLESS SUPPLY OF PAPER ON WHICH TO WRITE?: Limitless books to read. I can make up my own stories in my head, but I can’t make up other people’s.

BEER OR WINE?: Red wine.

CHOCOLATE OR VANILLA?: Chocolate!

WHAT’S YOUR ALL-TIME FAVORITE BOOK? I have so many, but the one I’ve loved the longest is Anne of Green Gables.



About Melissa

Melissa Senate is the author of several novels for adults, including the bestseller See Jane Date, which was made into a TV movie. Before becoming a writer, Melissa was a New York City book editor and worked on many teen novels. She now lives on the southern coast of Maine, where outside her door is foot of fresh snow.

Wednesday, December 5, 2007

Snowflakes, books, and crunching the numbers!

I've been planning ever since Day One of this school year to update this blog regularly. As you can see, I've fallen a bit down on the job. Ahem.

But I did want to post a recent update, and leave the rest to the mercy of New Year's Resolutions.

Catherine read 61 books in November (yay!) which was her stated goal for getting her ReadIt! pizza. So we'll be having a pizza lunch sometime next week. (In truth, she read more. Those are the ones she remembered to tell me about so that I'd mark them on my list.) A mix of chapter books and easier readers.

Yesterday, Isabella and Catherine made snowflakes out of pipe cleaners, string, and supersaturated Borax. They turned out great. My advice would be to use as wide a jar as possible. The crystals form b/w the jar and the flake, and I had to pry it loose! Here's a link to the instructions if you want to try it yourself.

Oh, and our big news! Catherine is done with first grade math! We're moving on to Level 2A in Singapore Math, having completed Level 1A and 1B (along with Alpha in Math-U-See). Catherine's very proud of herself, and I'm proud of her, too. We've spent a lot of time working on the word problems in particular, and she's really developed a sense of how to think in mathematical terms.

As for Isabella, she's doing so great! Her speech is coming along nicely, and she "reads" (i.e., carries a book around) all the time. She's doing great at counting (though she skips "six" all the time ... poor Mr. Six!). Both girls are taking piano, and are doing great!

That's enough for now. Next homeschool post will be more in depth ... and with pictures!

Sunday, December 2, 2007

GCC Tour: CHICKS WITH STICKS (KNITWISE) - Elizabeth Lenhard

Touring today is Elizabeth Lenhard's CHICKS WITH STICKS (KNITWISE), a new novel in her popular trilogy. (And the timing is perfect, since at the park the other day, I met a woman knitting with circular needles, and I was bowled-over impressed!)

At any rate, the Chicks trilogy began in 2005 with Chicks with Sticks (It’s a purl thing) (Dutton). Fifteen-year-old Scottie lives in a cool, Chicago loft, goes to a progressive-to-the-point-of-wacky private school—and she’s miserable. Her former best friend, trust-fund princess Amanda, is just that—her former best friend—and her mom has become an It girl in Chicago’s art world. Meanwhile, Scottie just wants to blend in.





Then she discovers knitting, and it’s as if she’s been thrown a cashmerino lifeline. Soon Scottie and Amanda find themselves hanging at their local yarn store, bound together by a yen for yarn and a hunger for friendship. They make two more knitty friends: Bella, a new age yoga goddess, and Tay, an indie tomboy with “anger issues” in the wake of her parents’ divorce. The friends’ stitches and their relationships become so intertwined that it’s hard to remember which came first: the girls or the purls.

Chicks #2, Chicks with Sticks (Knit two together), could be called the Chicks’ boy book. At sixteen, Scottie is finally smitten and thrilled to have her first boyfriend—or does she? Amanda’s heart is broken when she wakes up one day and finds that she’s a trophy girlfriend. Tay wonders if her b.f.—an adorable basketball player who knits on the side—is a cling-on. And Bella swears off boys altogether. Drama ensues—all, of course, to the tune of the girls’ click-clacking needles.

And now, there’s Chicks with Sticks (KnitWise). For Scottie, Amanda, Bella, and Tay, life in Chicago has been all about seeking shelter. They’ve found it in their firelit stitch ’n bitch at Joe Coffee; in the halls of their quirky private school; in the arms of boyfriends—and always in the comfort of the friendship that bonds them together.

But now the Chicks are staring down the end of high school and it's time to contemplate life beyond the protective web of their knitty ensemble. Will the stresses of college applications and service projects, debutante balls and long-distance loves, mean the end of the Chicks? Or can this unlikely foursome bind-off the happy ending that only true friendship can craft?

The Chicks with Sticks books aren’t just for crafty types (though each book does include several original knitting patterns and projects). They’re for anyone juggling the works-in-progress that are friendship, first love, and surviving high school; for anyone who’s ever found friends in the most unlikely place—or wanted to. Sometimes you just need some string and sticks—with some full-fat hot chocolate on the side—to get you there.

You can order the book HERE


Elizabeth's answers to my GCC questions:



HOW WOULD YOU DESCRIBE YOUR TYPICAL “WRITING DAY”?
I take care of my daughter from wake-up time (6:30ish) until my mother, aka "granny nanny," arrives (11:30ish) and go into the office and shut the door. I then realize I'm exhausted from all the momming, so I ease into things with some e-mailing, blogging, and blog-reading. I rarely get rolling before the clock strikes noon, but then I try to work until around 5, with occasional breaks for cuddling with the baby and chatting with my mom. It's a longer, messier work day than it would be if I went somewhere "off-site" and just FOCUSED for several hours, but apparently, I don't have the discipline for that kind of work day!

DO YOU RECALL THE KERNEL OF INSPIRATION FOR THIS BOOK? I must admit, my editor was the one who came up with the concept of a knitter grrrl novel. But I came up with the setting and characters as an ode to a life I'd just left behind. Only a couple months before I started writing the first Chicks book, "Chicks with Sticks (It's a purl thing)" I'd moved away from Chicago and a really great, tight-knit group of girlfriends. None of the characters are directly based on these friends, but the sweet, silly, familial vibe of our friendship definitely inspired the Chicks.

PICK A CHARACTER IN THE BOOK AND TELL US WHAT TRAIT YOU SHARE (OR COME CLOSEST TO SHARING) WITH THAT CHARACTER. Scottie (the main character in the quartet of Chicks) is closer to my teenage self than my current one. We both have/had a tendency to brood and to go a bit overboard with new obsessions, like knitting or boys.

IF YOU WERE STUCK ON A DESERT ISLAND, WOULD YOU RATHER HAVE A MAGICAL TRUNK THAT GAVE YOU LIMITLESS BOOKS TO READ, OR A LIMITLESS SUPPLY OF PAPER ON WHICH TO WRITE?
Books! Without them, frankly, I'd curl up and die. And, though I guess writers shouldn't admit this, I can't say the same about writing.

BEER OR WINE? Wine (red)

CHOCOLATE OR VANILLA? chocolate

WHAT’S YOUR ALL-TIME FAVORITE BOOK? All time!?! That's too much pressure. I cannot choose. But ONE of my faves is "Feast of Love" by Charles Baxter.




More about the author…

Elizabeth Lenhard grew up in Atlanta and studied English and creative writing at the University of Michigan. She’s been a features reporter for the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, a contributing dining critic for Chicago magazine, and the author of more than thirty series books for teens and children. Elizabeth lives with her husband and daughter in Atlanta. Now that the Chicks are college-bound, she’s assuaging her empty nest syndrome with lots and lots of knitting. Visit her online at http://elizabethlenhard.com/http://elizabethlenhard.com/ or at her blog at http://elizabethlenhard.typepad.com/

Tuesday, October 30, 2007

Wow. A book club visit ... Wow.

I had absolutely the best time visiting with a local book club that picked Carpe Demon as their monthly book, and then invited me to speak.

Not only were they a really fun group of women, but when I walked in the door, I noticed a bunch of spritzer bottles on the breakfast bar, each tagged "holy water." That was interesting enough, but then I saw the dip (with 5 carrots sticking up, with almonds as "fingernails"!) and the garbage bags taped over the window in the breakfast area! And ... yes, the piece de la resistance ... a dummy wrapped in garbage bags and shoved into the pantry!

Such fun and sooo creative.

Thanks, y'all! I had a great time!

Thursday, October 18, 2007

GCC Tour: THE BOYS NEXT DOOR by Jennifer Echols

I'm thrilled to be touring Jennifer Echols this week, and her book, The Boys Next Door. Check it out!





Order the book!


About the Book:

Lori has spent every summer on the lake, swimming and wakeboarding with the three boys next door, and working at the boys’ family marina. Lori is close to Adam, the “baby” of the family, who's her age. But secretly, she’s always had a thing for the middle brother, Sean. And this summer, Sean actually seems to be—dare she think it—flirting with her. She figures he’s only being nice because they're like family, since he’s not into younger girls. Until he steals Adam's (even younger) girlfriend.

Lori and Adam team up to get Adam’s girlfriend back, and to get Sean for Lori. But then Lori begins to notice ADAM. He’s grown taller. More mature. And Lori thinks Adam is interested in her, too. And that’s when their ploy finally works. Adam gets his girlfriend back, and Lori gets Sean. The right couples are finally in place, and everything should be smooth sailing. So what’s with all the waves?


About the Author:

Jennifer Echols is the author of the National Readers Choice Award-winning Major Crush, about a high school pageant queen turned band geek in a small southern town. Boy in Blue, about a rebellious teen who is sentence to accompany a police officer on his night shift patrol—and falls for him, will be published by MTV Books in February 2009. Growing up on beautiful Lake Martin in Alabama, Jennifer learned to water-ski when she was five (wakeboarding wasn't invented yet). She now lives high and dry with her husband and son in Birmingham. Visit her on the web at www.jennifer-echols.com

Jennifer's Answers to My GCC Questions:

HOW WOULD YOU DESCRIBE YOUR TYPICAL “WRITING DAY”?
I get up at 4:30 a.m. and write until I have 1350 words or whatever my quota is for that day. Then I start my “real” job as a freelance copyeditor.

DO YOU RECALL THE KERNEL OF INSPIRATION FOR THIS BOOK?
I wrote a proposal for a book with a similar plot that was set at a dirt-racing track, and a book with a different plot that was set on the lake where I grew up. My editor asked me to take the first plot and set it at the lake.

PICK A CHARACTER IN THE BOOK AND TELL US WHAT TRAIT YOU SHARE (OR COME CLOSEST TO SHARING) WITH THAT CHARACTER.
The heroine, Lori, is the character I’ve written who’s closest to the real me. I am exactly that dorky. In fact, when my critique partner read the manuscript, she called me and said, “OMG YOU’VE WRITTEN YOURSELF!”

IF YOU WERE STUCK ON A DESERT ISLAND, WOULD YOU RATHER HAVE A MAGICAL TRUNK THAT GAVE YOU LIMITLESS BOOKS TO READ, OR A LIMITLESS SUPPLY OF PAPER ON WHICH TO WRITE?
Since I read A Handful of Dust by Evelyn Waugh, I’ve been haunted by the specter of being trapped in the jungle, reading the collected works of Charles Dickens over and over like that book's protagonist. So I’ll take the paper.

BEER OR WINE? Beer.

CHOCOLATE OR VANILLA? Chocolate!

WHAT’S YOUR ALL-TIME FAVORITE BOOK? Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen.

Friday, October 5, 2007

GCC Tour: BEYOND COOL by Bev Katz Rosenbaum

I'm so behind on blogging (deadlines! ack!) and that's a shame because I want to make sure everyone sees this fabulous book:







Order the book!




Beyond Cool is the sequel (which can also be read as a stand-alone) to Bev Katz Rosenbaum’s phenomenally successful young adult novel, I Was a Teenage Popsicle! (Sarah Mlynowski, author of Bras & Broomsticks, said Popsicle was, “Fresh and fun—an absolute blast!” Melissa Senate, author of Theodora Twist, described Popsicle as, “Cool, clever, and full of charm!” Girlslife.com called it “super cool”. Popsicle was also recommended on Meg Cabot’s blog and included in a book quiz on seventeen.com!)

So, the story…

Floe Ryan was frozen for ten years. Crazy, but true. She was vitrified at sixteen because of a rare disease. Now she’s been thawed back to her normal self, but absolutely everything else has changed. Her little sister’s older than her, her teachers are now holograms (but still annoying), and instead of learning to drive a car, she’s trying to master a hovercar. And just when she starts warming up to this new scene, everything falls apart…

Her boyfriend is giving her the, er, cold shoulder, and worse, Dr. Dixon at the Cryonics Center tells her that people who were frozen are more susceptible to illnesses. The one doctor who can cure this immune system weakness has gone AWOL. Now it’s up to Floe and her brainy friend Sophie to find him. But they’re not the only ones looking for him--and this time, Floe could be iced for good…


Sounds like fun, doesn't it? And I love the mystery/adventure component.

Here's what Bev has to say in response to my GCC questions:

How would you describe your typical writing day?



8:00 At computer.

9:00 Ready to write or revise (depending on what needs to be done) after an hour of checking and replying to e-mails, checking blogs (mine and others) and posting new blog entries and/or comments, and getting totally sidetracked by MSN entertainment (i.e. gossip) news...

12:00 Quick lunch.

12:30 More writing/editing.

2:00 Manuscript critiquing (I run a popular critique service)

4:30 Exercise/Help kids with homework/Chauffeur kids to various activities or friends' houses/Make dinner

6:30 Dinner with family

7:30 More manuscript critiquing, interspersed with more helping and chauffeuring

10:30 Bedtime!

(Note from Julie: Bev is WAY more organized than me writing-wise. Sigh.)



Do you recall the kernel of inspiration for this book?



Well, this is the sequel (which can also be read as a standalone) to I Was a Teenage Popsicle. The idea for that one came when my hubby and I were talking about the whole Ted Williams cryonics brouhaha . I thought, hey, cryonics could be the basis for a really cool--ha-ha--teen book!



Please tell us about your latest novel (title, publisher, release date) and what we can expect from your characters.



Like I Was a Teenage Popsicle, Beyond Cool is a crazy mix of teen lit, romance, sci-fi, action-adventure, and comedy. In this book, cryonically preserved and recently 'thawed' Venice Beach teen Floe Ryan finds out all the human popsicles have immune system deficiencies, and the one doctor who can solve the problem is AWOL. Spunky (and witty!) Floe takes it upon herself to find the doctor and save the frozen zombies--while trying to hang onto her hot new boyfriend and learning how to hoverdrive...



What's up next? Do you have another project in the works? If so, please tell us a bout it.



I'm going all dark and dramatic with a top secret new project geared to older teens, but I'm also working on something fun and light for tweens...



Would you like to close with a writing tip?



You can't go wrong with the old standby: Show, don't tell!




Want to learn a bit about Bev? She's a former fiction and magazine editor who found her calling when she fell in love with the books her kids were reading and the TV shows they were watching. She lives in Toronto with her family. Be sure to check out her awesome website at www.bevkatzrosenbaum.com and her myspace page at www.myspace.com/bevkatzrosenbaum, where she also blogs weekly. (You can also catch her occasional blog posts at www.teenfictioncafe.blogspot.com.)

Tuesday, September 11, 2007

GCC Tour: IT'S NOT ABOUT THE ACCENT by Caridad Ferrer

I'm thrilled to be hosting Caridad Ferrar this week on the GCC tour! Check out her latest book; it sounds awesome!






Order the book!


IT’S NOT ABOUT THE ACCENT traces the bold transformation of Caroline Darcy, a college-bound beige-blonde born and bred in small town Hampshire, Ohio, into “Carolina,” a half-Cuban aspiring actress, with striking Havana Brown hair, a caliente wardrobe, a taste for platanos, and a hunger for adventure. Carolina has no problem dressing, dancing, and talking the part, down to her effortlessly rolled rrrs – even though she’s only one-eighth Cuban. She owes her attraction to her exotic heritage and her yearning for something… different to Elisa Maribel Teresa de La Natividad Sevilla y Tabares – her Nana Ellie, the great-grandmother she loved, dearly and fiercely, and lost when she was thirteen. Carolina vividly remembers Nana Ellie’s romantic stories of her encounters with everything from the Eiffel Tower to Russian nobility. And she regrets missing the chance to unravel the facts from the fantastic tales – and learn more about her Nana’s mysterious, scandalous past.

The story opens at the beginning of Caroline’s Latina rebirth and undergrad career at the University of Southern Ohio for the summer session. To her thrill and amazement, her Cuban act works like a charm on the opposite sex. Faster than her first beer buzz, Caroline finds herself becoming more popular and getting increasingly intimate with Erik, a smooth-talking frat guy with gorgeous baby blues. The only male on campus who doesn’t fall for Carolina’s Latina allure is Peter, the full-blooded son of Cuban immigrants, who hails from Miami. Despite the danger of being exposed as a fraud, Caroline is drawn to this quiet, serious student – on a strictly friendship basis. But when Carolina gets in over her head and on the edge of a dangerous situation, Peter is the one who comes to her rescue. What’s more, he accepts her for who she is – and leads her on a real adventure to discover the truth about Nana Ellie and the very wealthy family she left behind in Cuba. What Caroline discovers about her ancestors – including one unknown living relative – is more exciting than she ever could have imagined.


Part mystery, part romance, and all captivating, IT’S NOT ABOUT THE ACCENT affirms Caridad Ferrer as a gifted teller of stories that resonate with young women, both Latina and Anglo.



About Caridad

CARIDAD FERRER is a first generation, bilingual Cuban-American, born in Manhattan and raised in Miami. Her debut novel, AdiĆ³s to My Old Life (MTV Books), was named Latinidad’s Top Teen Read for 2006 as well as winning the Romance Writers of America's 2007 RITA® for Best Contemporary Single Title Romance. Writing as Barbara Ferrer she has also contributed to the anthology, Fifteen Candles: 15 Tales of Taffeta, Hairspray, Drunk Uncles, and Other QuinceaƱera Stories (Harper Collins/Rayo). Find her on the web at CaridadFerrer.com and BarbaraFerrer.com.

Caridad's Answers to My GCC Questions:

HOW WOULD YOU DESCRIBE YOUR TYPICAL “WRITING DAY”?

Well, especially now that my kids are back in school, it’s a case of wait for the coffee to kick in— while I’m doing so, check email and a few websites, then after doing a quick review of the latest new material, settle down and keep going. I’m a very linear writer, so I find that reading a little bit of what I last wrote helps get me in the groove, as it were. If I’m particularly stuck, I’ll either do some editing or research for later chapters. But I always try to do something that keeps me in the writing headspace. If it’s really bad, then I’ll just go cruise by Bluefly.com or Anthropolgie.com.

DO YOU RECALL THE KERNEL OF INSPIRATION FOR THIS BOOK?

It was very simple, actually, when I was trying to think of what I wanted to do for a second YA— I had long been fascinated by how many girls, especially Latinas, seem to want to anglicize themselves by changing their hair color or their eye color. I thought it would be fun to turn it on its ear and have a very white bread, at least on the surface, character, try to transform herself into a more “exotic” girl. As I worked through the plot, other elements fell into place and I found myself with a much bigger story, but as far as the kernel goes, that’s where it started.

PICK A CHARACTER IN THE BOOK AND TELL US WHAT TRAIT YOU SHARE (OR COME CLOSEST TO SHARING) WITH THAT CHARACTER.

Caroline turns out to be a bit of history geek and enjoys research, which is a trait I share with her— I absolutely adore history and when people have asked why I don’t write historical fiction, my response is always, “I’d get too sucked into the research and would never write an original word ever again!” When it comes to that kind of research, I’m like a little kid in a toy store, going, “Oooh, SHINY!”

IF YOU WERE STUCK ON A DESERT ISLAND, WOULD YOU RATHER HAVE A MAGICAL TRUNK THAT GAVE YOU LIMITLESS BOOKS TO READ, OR A LIMITLESS SUPPLY OF PAPER ON WHICH TO WRITE?

Paper. Without a doubt.

BEER OR WINE?

Wine

CHOCOLATE OR VANILLA?

Chocolate. Dark, dark chocolate.

WHAT’S YOUR ALL-TIME FAVORITE BOOK?

Oh man... are you SERIOUS?? I don’t know— it’s probably a tossup between Anton Myrer’s THE LAST CONVERTIBLE and Anne Rivers Siddons’ HEARTBREAK HOTEL.


There you go! Don't miss this book!!!!!!

Friday, August 10, 2007

Vote, vote, vote ... for, well, me!

Okay, so I desperately need a new book jacket photo, not to mention new pics to go with my new website (coming soon!).

Here's the four pics I selected from a recent shoot.

Please, please, please, drop me a comment and let me know if one stands out to you as "book jacket" ... and also if there's one (or more, or all) that you think I should burn and never show in public again.

I figure those that don't make the book jacket will get a spot on my website. (oh, and if you click on the photo, it will make it bigger)

So here goes ....


Option Number One:



































Option Number Two:
































Option Number Three:
































Option Number Four:

Tuesday, August 7, 2007

GCC Tour: You Had Me at Halo, by Amanda Ashby



Order the book!



This is one of those 'wish I'd thought of it' premises. It sounds like a riot, and I can't wait to get my copy!






Holly Evans has just seen her own body laid to rest. If it had been up to her, she wouldn’t have chosen that particular polyester dress for the event. Still, she could live with that (so to speak), if it guaranteed a quick jump to Level 3 of the afterlife, which she hopes will feature both reruns of Friends and reunions with long-lost loved ones.

But Holly has some mortal baggage to unload first, starting with the matter of how she died. Yes, she drowned in her bathtub under suspicious circumstances, but she did not kill herself. Holly had too much to live for, from her recent promotion to taking the next big step in her relationship. Okay, her life had a few loose ends, but whose doesn’t?

Holly's heavenly shrink isn’t buying it. He says she has to return to earth to straighten things out. The thing is, she’ll need to borrow someone’s body to do it—and the body in question belongs to none other than computer geek Vince Murphy. Oh, and although Vince was supposed to have vacated the premises, he apparently never got the memo.

Now, Holly has forty-eight hours to resolve her issues while sharing arms, legs, and...other things...with a guy she barely noticed while she was alive. But the real surprise is what life has to offer when you have only two days to live it...


“It’s The Lovely Bones meets Bridget Jones in this fluffy take on what happens after death. It's a fun, witty traipse through the afterlife.” Publisher’s Weekly

“This book has a delightfully quirky concept that develops into a fun and interesting story. Peopled with a fascinating variety of characters, it also has an intriguing mystery and a charmingly different type of interaction between the hero and heroine. Expect a delightful tale with a wonderfully distinctive ending.” 4 ½ stars Romantic Times Bookclub Magazine.

“Drop-dead funny. Readers will fall inlove with Holly Evans – a girl who won’t let a little thing like death keep her from getting everything she wants out of life.” Brenda Scott Royce, Author of Monkey Love

“Who knew the afterlife could be so funny? Dead – it’s the new alive!” Allison Rushby, Author of Friday Night Cocktails

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Amanda Ashby was born in Australia and studied English and Journalism at Queensland University. Since graduation she has worked in sales, marketing and travel before discovering that she was no good at any of them and so decided to turn her attention to writing instead. She is married with two young children and has recently returned from the UK to live in New Zealand.

www.amandaashby.com
http://amandaashby.blogspot.com

Here are Amanda's answers to my GCC questions!

HOW WOULD YOU DESCRIBE YOUR TYPICAL “WRITING DAY”?

A typical writing day normally involves me checking my
emails while my kids are throwing their breakfast all
around the room, then when I hustle them off to school
and nursery I scrape all the food off the walls, check
my emails again, wonder why everyone in the world has
something to write apart from me, check my watch,
check my emails, realize that I have to pick my son up
in fifteen minutes and then I write like the clappers
so that my husband doesn’t think I’m a lazy cow when
he arrives home later that day.

DO YOU RECALL THE KERNEL OF INSPIRATION FOR THIS
BOOK?

When I was at my dad’s funeral I kept imagining that
he was still there, commentating on the events – and
it was fair to say that all was not to his liking
(especially my rubbish attempts at cleaning the
house). Also, the idea of creating an afterlife that
would’ve given my dad the giggles, was a big motivator
as well.


PICK A CHARACTER IN THE BOOK AND TELL US WHAT TRAIT
YOU SHARE (OR COME CLOSEST TO SHARING) WITH THAT
CHARACTER.
My character Holly and I both have a great fondness
for M&Ms. Actually, apart from that we’re almost the
opposite because Holly says all the things out loud
that I would only ever say in my head. Probably why
writing her was so much fun!!


IF YOU WERE STUCK ON A DESERT ISLAND, WOULD YOU
RATHER HAVE A MAGICAL TRUNK THAT GAVE YOU LIMITLESS
BOOKS TO READ, OR A LIMITLESS SUPPLY OF PAPER ON WHICH
TO WRITE?

Eek, tough one, but I’d have to go for books because I
was a reader long before I was a writer.



BEER OR WINE?
beer

CHOCOLATE OR VANILLA?
I have to choose??? I have a deep love for both.

WHAT’S YOUR ALL-TIME FAVORITE BOOK?
Again on the choosing. It’s probably a three way tie
between The Earthsea Trilogy by Ursula LeGuin,
Magician by Raymond E Feist and Arabella by Georgette
Heyer.


.... now go read the book!

Shining Stars: Teacher Arrested

Shining Stars: Teacher Arrested

Had to post a link. Couldn't resist. Truly.

Thursday, July 26, 2007

I Will Read 10 Pages -- Interview with Moi

I Will Read 10 Pages


This is a great blog/site, and Jennifer has just posted an interview with me. Be sure and check it out, especially if you're an aspiring author; she's got great questions about "the biz"...

Tuesday, July 24, 2007

My ending for Harry ....

Here's the link to my ending of Harry Potter, published in the Austin paper the day the book came out (I wrote it about five days prior). Just had to share!! (You have to register, but it's free). I'm not the first one, so scroll down. I think I'm third.



http://www.statesman.com/life/content/life/stories/books/07/21/0721potterend.html

Oh, and on MSNBC, JKR said she's probably going to write an encyclopedia type book telling what happened with the 2ndary characters and giving some backstory on some other majors. Cool!

Monday, July 23, 2007

Harry Potter!


I did it. I went to the store at midnight, got a wrist band (I ended up in Slytherin!!! Ack!!) and bought the book. Stayed up until 3 and got about halfway, then waited all of Saturday (can you believe the kids wanted attention?????) so that I could finish the rest that night.

Loved it ... and that is all I will say :) Well, that and it's bittersweet that it's over. No HP8 to look forward to.

The Austin American Statesman on Saturday ran some possible HP endings, including mine. After 72 hours, I can post my version, so look for it this week!

Author Buzz Winners!

Congrats to the five winners of the Author Buzz contest! These folks will be getting Carpe Demon and California Demon (and I apologize to the winners, who haven't yet been emailed; my outgoing mail server is acting screwy, and I'll try again tomorrow):

Deborah Fochler

Deanna Stillings

Bob Seifert

Linda Scott

Jeanne Engel

Congratulations! If I have your address, the copy will be going in the mail tomorrow!

Tuesday, July 10, 2007

Come check out this great interview of me at The New Jaynie R

The New Jaynie R

Fun interview and cool prizes. Check it out!

Monday, July 9, 2007

AUTHOR BUZZ!

Here's a contest correction! The contest is STILL going! The drawing is July 20, not June 20. So go ahead and enter!

Wednesday, July 4, 2007

A bit o' news, DAF hits stores, and GCC Tour: TANYA LEE STONE and A BAD BOY CAN BE GOOD FOR A GIRL

I have sent off the book!!!! Whoo hoo! Hooray! Release the balloons (what???? that's not the reason for all those fireworks outside my window????)

Anyhoo, hopefully I'll get back on the blog-train before the next (soon!) deadline approacheth, but it won't be tomorrow. We hit the road for a pre-RWA vacation. Me, the dh, and the 2 precious munchkins in a rented minivan. We're heading up to Oklahoma to see Alice, with whom Catherine bonded in China (those of you who followed the China blog may recall the "sticks in your head even though you don't want it to" Mr. Mutt song that the girls sang). Four days visiting, then down to Dallas for RWA ... and intermittent internet connectivity. Yikes! How will I survive w/o google and my WTM message board?

I will, however, have great things to read along the journey. **I** won't be reading DEMONS ARE FOREVER (since I, you know, wrote it, I already know what happens), but YOU can because -- hooray! -- it's in stores now!




Order the book!

But since I won't be reading my own book, I might just have to pick up Tanya LEE Stone's paperback release of A BAD BOY CAN BE GOOD FOR A GIRL. Check out the awesome buzz:

"brave and beautiful...honest and nonjudgmental" - Megan McCafferty, New York Times best-selling author

"Sure to be the new Forever." - Award-Winning Author Cynthia Leitich Smith

"...the kind of tell-it-like-it-is wisdom that comes from your best girlfriends."
- Libba Bray, New York Times best-selling author

“Vagina Monologues…for the teen crowd.” Donna Freitas, Beliefnet.com

"every high-school age girl in the world needs to read this book...a story of self-discovery, broken hearts, and renewed spirits...a wake-up call." - Teens Read Too!

"spot-on...evidence that feminism is alive and worth fighting for." - Avenging Sybil

"This is not a book that will sit quietly on any shelf; it will be passed from girl to girl to girl." - School Library Journal

"This amazing first novel is one of the most honest treatments of teenage sexuality to be found in YA fiction.” - Kliatt

"This should be on every girl's ninth grade reading list for life." - BookSnog



Order the book!

Tanya Lee Stone is the author of more than 80 books for young readers. A Bad Boy Can Be Good for a Girl is her first Young Adult novel. She has a degree in English from Oberlin College and a Master in Education degree from Southern CT State University. In addition to her books, publication credits include VOYA and the New York Times.

She loves chocolate-covered pretzels and Wild Berry Skittles. She hates the word tasty.

And more about the book ...

Don't let the title scare you.

A BAD BOY CAN BE GOOD FOR A GIRL is a cautionary tale. Teens are dealing with sex, whether we’re ready or not. This novel is about three very different girls who date the same player guy. About how the choices they make shape who they want to be. About empowerment.

Meet Josie, Nicolette, and Aviva. Three very different girls who all meet the same bad boy with an irresistible knack for getting into their blood and under their skin.

Three girls. One guy. Who will come out on top?

In A BAD BOY CAN BE GOOD FOR A GIRL, Tanya Lee Stone takes a hard look at love and sex and asks the questions: “When can a bad boy be good for a girl?”

Tanya says, “I get lots of email from teens thanking me for ‘being honest,’ saying my book helped them, or they ‘gave it to a friend who needs it.’ What’s better than that?”

Since the book came out, Tanya has been outspoken about censorship and the need for tackling tough topics in teen books. Check out her VOYA article: “From Forever to Today: The Importance of Sex in Young Adult Literature” and a recent interview with AS IF! (Authors Support Intellectual Freedom) in which she discusses sex, censorship, and Judy Blume.

The new paperback includes a bonus Reading Guide. Book Club Folks: If you have chat software and want Tanya to do a virtual book club visit, let her know.

For a free bookmark and signed bookplate, email her at tanyastone@tanyastone.com

Read an excerpt: http://www.tanyastone.com/badboy.pdf


In addition to her website (www.tanyastone.com) Tanya’s online blogging at Live Journal (http://tanyaleestone.livejournal.com/ ) and MySpace (www.myspace.com/tanyaleestoneauthor)


And here are her answers to my GCC questions!



HOW WOULD YOU DESCRIBE YOUR TYPICAL “WRITING DAY”?

I have kids, so I often wake up before the rest of the house does and sneak in some quiet time. Then the ruckus begins! Once they’re off for the day, I work until about 2 pm. Then the hat changes from writer to Mom.
DO YOU RECALL THE KERNEL OF INSPIRATION FOR THIS BOOK?
Oh yes, the inspiration was the moment the title struck me. I was sitting in a lecture and the speaker was talking about upcoming anthology themes. One was bad boys; one was good girls. I scrawled the title in my notebook and was possessed for the next nine months.

PICK A CHARACTER IN THE BOOK AND TELL US WHAT TRAIT YOU SHARE (OR COME CLOSEST TO SHARING) WITH THAT CHARACTER.
I have three main characters; all girls. I share a bit with each of them, which was fairly intentional. My goal was to have three very different girls be faced with the same awful guy and explore how any of us are vulnerable to that type at one moment or another. By putting a piece of me in each, I was more able to do that. Josie and I share a strong sense of self. Nicolette and I share a skewed sense of power—meaning, there are times when you think you are immune to being hurt because you are so strong—and you are wrong. Aviva and I share the artsy thing. What’s interesting is that girls often write to me and say the same thing as I’m saying now—there are pieces of them in each girl, even though they may relate the strongest to one in particular.

IF YOU WERE STUCK ON A DESERT ISLAND, WOULD YOU RATHER HAVE A MAGICAL TRUNK THAT GAVE YOU LIMITLESS BOOKS TO READ, OR A LIMITLESS SUPPLY OF PAPER ON WHICH TO WRITE?
Limitless books to read. I think the pressure of having limitless paper would be too much to handle!

BEER OR WINE? Beer.

CHOCOLATE OR VANILLA? Chocolate.

WHAT’S YOUR ALL-TIME FAVORITE BOOK?
I’m afraid I answer this differently each time I’m asked! There are just too many favorites. Let’s go with F. Scott Fitzgerald’s The Basil and Josephine Stories.

Tuesday, July 3, 2007

GCC Tour: FRENEMIES by Megan Crane

I'm so excited to get to host Megan and Frenemies because I had the chance to peek at this book months ago, and thought it was just fabulous!


Order the book!

Check it out ...

FREN-E-MY\noun: The friend who gives you the sweetest smile to your face, while holding the sharpest knife to your back.


We’ve all heard the saying, “keep your friends close and your enemies closer,” but what if they’re one and the same? It’s the cardinal, number-one girlfriend rule: don’t date your friend’s ex. In FRENEMIES by Megan Crane, it is Gus Curtis’ supposed friend and old college roommate Helen who breaks that rule and goes one step further: she doesn’t just date an ex-boyfriend; she steals him from right under Gus’s nose!

Just a few months shy of her 30th birthday, Gus discovers Nate, her "Mr. Right," hooking up behind her back with her so-called "friend" Helen. Soon it seems despite working to hard to appear all grown up, Gus is still living the life of a teenager.

Gus is left with more questions than answers: Can she win Nate back before she turns 30 (And if so, does she really want him?) Is Helen really as devious and manipulative as she seems, or, worse, is Gus more like her frenemy Helen than she’d care to admit? And is she ever going to grow up? With the clock ticking down to her birthday, Gus discovers that sometimes the best thing about best-laid plans is trashing them altogether.

In FRENEMIES, Gus experiences first hand what happens when you reach that inevitable point in life when you must surrender yourself to adulthood and the big 3-0.


About Megan ...

Megan Crane is a New Jersey native who graduated from Vassar and got her MA and PhD in literature from the University of York in England. She is the author of Everyone Else’s Girl and English as a Second Language. She currently lives in Los Angeles.

Visit her on the web at http://megancrane.livejournal.com/
or http://www.megancrane.com


And now for Megan's answers to my GCC questions ...

HOW WOULD YOU DESCRIBE YOUR TYPICAL “WRITING DAY”? My typical
writing day involves installing myself in my chair around 8, sucking
down coffee, opening my Word document, and then proceeding to spend
3-5 hours rotting my brain on the Internet at such places as Go Fug
Yourself. I console myself with the knowledge that as a chick lit
writer, I need to be up on pop culture. (Yeah, sure.) At this
point, I am usually in a panic, which means I try to crank out
pages. I usually have set page limits when I'm writing, or otherwise
I would still be lounging in my pajamas on the couch, waiting for The
Muse. On days when I am more stressed (read: closer to a deadline) I
surf the net less and write more pages. It all works out in the end!

DO YOU RECALL THE KERNEL OF INSPIRATION FOR THIS BOOK? It was a
combination of the movie Mean Girls, some personal friend implosions,
and my belief that it was time to write about severe drama queeniness.

PICK A CHARACTER IN THE BOOK AND TELL US WHAT TRAIT YOU SHARE (OR
COME CLOSEST TO SHARING) WITH THAT CHARACTER. Like my main
character, Gus, I have had long periods in my life where I over-
dramatized every last thing like it was going out of style. These
days, I contain that impulse to the medical realm. So instead of
saying, "my neck aches," I am much more likely to say, "honey, I
think I have bacterial meningitis." As you do.

IF YOU WERE STUCK ON A DESERT ISLAND, WOULD YOU RATHER HAVE A
MAGICAL TRUNK THAT GAVE YOU LIMITLESS BOOKS TO READ, OR A LIMITLESS
SUPPLY OF PAPER ON WHICH TO WRITE? This is an evil question. I'll
choose the books, since those books would inevitably contain blank
pages, and that way, I could do both.

BEER OR WINE? Neither. I'm a fan of the ridiculous cocktail with
foliage attached. If it's served in a pineapple, all the better.

CHOCOLATE OR VANILLA? Chocolate. I don't actually understand the
point of vanilla....

WHAT’S YOUR ALL-TIME FAVORITE BOOK? I don't have one! I have
shelves and shelves of books I love, that I refuse to give away...

Thursday, June 28, 2007

Wednesday, June 27, 2007

Coming in 2009!

Check out the blurb about my new sale that appeared today in Publisher's Marketplace:

Fiction:
Sci-Fi/Fantasy -- USA Today bestselling author Julie Kenner's new paranormal series featuring an Assassin of Evil who believes she's fighting for the side of good, but discovers she's been duped by the underworld, tricked into killing those who would stand in the way of her demonic handlers.

The books will be published by Ace back-to-back in 2009. Not sure of the months, but they'll be 3 in a row. I'm psyched!

Now back to my regularly scheduled deadline ...

Tuesday, June 26, 2007

GUEST BLOG: Carly Phillips & Cross My Heart




Order the book!


I've been dying under deadline, so I'm thrilled to have my friend Carly do a guest blog for me today! Be sure to check out her hot new release! (Doesn't she say nice things about me? LOL! I'll keep my mouth shut and not tell her I **am** losing my mind!)

I met Julie Kenner when we both started writing for Harlequin Temptation. She and I both share an editor, Brenda Chin, at Harlequin, and we had girls, and we hit it off right away. We’ve done a series together and we’ve stayed in touch. I really admire Julie as a writer, a mother, a home schooler, and a lawyer (also like me!). I always thought it was perfect that Julie wrote paranormal books too because in my mind she IS paranormal. She creates hours in a day. I need more hours. I’m frazzled and I don’t even home school my kids.

Check out my office during a deadline. A deadline that I’m still on. While a book it coming out. While one daughter graduates elementary school and the other gets chauffeured back and forth to final exams in high school. I’m losing my mind.



Julie is not. (At least I don’t think so!) How does she manage? I need lessons. For me, I think the answer is NOT planning. When I plan, Murphy’s Law inevitably kicks in and something goes wrong. If I have an entire day free on my calendar and I think I’m going to write, one of my kids wakes up sick. If bring my laptop to use while one of my girls is in an appointment, they call me in with them. I’ve been just doing the best I can, barely treading water for a long time now. And I thought Julie’s blog was a good place to talk about this because she also has mom readers from her home school and adoption loop (right, JBK?)

So who here has suggestions on time management? Help me please!

A side note - Julie was gracious enough to let me blog for her today, when my book CROSS MY HEART is being released in paperback. (Woo Hoo!) For a sneak peek at CROSS MY HEART, visit www.carlyphillips.com and check out the video trailer and remember to click on the Free Reader Giveaway at the top of the page – and see what I have in store for readers who purchase CROSS MY HEART!


Thanks for having me, Julie! It’s been a blast. HAPPY TUESDAY!
*****
Thank you, Carly!

And here are some photos. Aren't her dogs adorable? And I'm soooo glad I'm not the only one with a messy office!



Wednesday, June 20, 2007

Hamlet by Cats ...

Who can resist Hamlet performed by cats? Check this out ... from YouTube:

Thursday, June 14, 2007

GCC Tour: Between, Georgia by Joshilyn Jackson




Order the book!


Congrats to Joshilyn -- the current GCC tourer!
Jackson won GEORGIA AUTHOR OF THE YEAR for this book. How cool is that?

More, Jackson read the audio version herself and won a Publisher’s Weekly Listen Up award, a starred review in PW, and made AudioFile’s best of 2006 list!

But, wait ... there's more!

Between, Georgia was a #1 BookSense pick, making Jackson the first author in BookSense history to achieve #1 status is back-to-back years.

Here's some quotes:

"One of this decade's most commendable novels. Every now and then a remarkable writer, following in the footsteps of great authors, comes along to reenergize American fiction. So it is with Joshilyn Jackson. ...overflows with gut-wrenching sadness and laugh-out-loud humor. Jackson's novel brilliantly explores abstractions - redemption, love and grace - through the most compelling characterizations to be found in contemporary fiction. Between, Georgia is an exemplary novel by a singular writer who is in full command of the art of story telling. Don't miss it!"
- Bookpage

"Between, Georgia is a small miracle, and Nonny Frett is the most engaging woman who ever lived in the pages of a book. Joshilyn Jackson is an enormously talented writer."
- Anne Rivers Siddons, New York Times bestselling author of Sweetwater Creek


Want to hear more? Here's a summary of the book:


There's always been bad blood between the Fretts and the Crabtrees. After all, the Fretts practically own the tiny town of Between, Georgia, while the Crabtrees only rent space in its jail cells.

Stacia Frett is a deaf artist with a genetic condition that is causing her to slowly go blind. She's lost the love of her life, and when her vision goes, she'll lose her career as well. She's asking God why He keeps her breathing in and out, until the night fifteen year old Hazel Crabtree shows up on her doorstep brandishing a stomach swollen with a pregnancy she'd hidden for nine months. Stacia thinks Hazel's unwanted baby might be God's answer, and so the Fretts decide to steal it...

Thirty years later, Nonny Frett is a successful interpreter living in Athens, Georgia. She understands the meanings of "rock" and "hard place" better than any woman ever born. She's got two mothers, "one deaf-blind and the other four baby steps from flat crazy." She's got two men; Her husband is easing out the back door and her best friend is laying siege to her heart in her front yard. She has a job that holds her in the city, and she's addicted to a little girl who's stuck deep in the country. And she has two families; The Fretts, who stole her and raised her right, and the Crabtrees, who lost her and can't forget that they've been done wrong.

In Between, Georgia, population 90, the feud that began before Nonny was born is escalating, and a random act of violence will set the torch to a thirty-year old stash of highly flammable secrets. This might be just what the town needs, if only Nonny wasn't sitting in the middle of it...

Here are Joshilyn's answers to my GCC questions:

HOW WOULD YOU DESCRIBE YOUR TYPICAL “WRITING DAY”?



I don’t have one. I have two kids instead. I don’t have time for the luxury of ritual. Oh how I wish I did! It would be romantic and fun to say, “I can only write a pink room…” or “I can’t work if there’s a black cat within a mile of me…” But the truth is much more pragmatic and dull: If I get an hour or more with no kids in the house, I work. My husband takes them out of town for long weekends when I need to draft. If I get desperate I leave and check into a hotel.



DO YOU RECALL THE KERNEL OF INSPIRATION FOR THIS BOOK?



About 15 years ago, I was attending UGA in Athens, and I had friends in Atlanta, so I drove back and forth quite a bit. On the old route 78, I used to see this sign---I don’t know if it’s still there. It said something like, “Exit here to see Between, Georgia, Population 97.”



One day, I saw someone had snuck over and crossed out the “97” and written in “96.” That tickled me to death. I started wondering who would do such a thing. I was young, so of course my first thought was that it was some kid near my age who was born and bred in that tiniest of towns. He had always sworn he would get out and have a bigger life. As he headed off to college or New York or someplace that felt “big” to him, he stopped to lower the number as a triumphant farewell.



I thought about that kid for a few years, but he never gelled for me. I’m more interested in someone who can live a huge life in a town of 90 people than someone who tries to find significance externally. I never forgot Between, though. I started imagining the town layout, created families who lived there, and gave it its own specific and odd economy. Sadly, I never had a story that fit there. All I had was a strong sense of place.



About ten years later, maybe I had grown up a little, and I realized a kid had not changed that sign. It was an old southern lady, tough as nails, someone with her thumb ground down on that town. Earlier that day, the preacher had laid her greatest rival in the ground. She stood at the church in her best black dress and pressed a hanky to her mouth, but her eyes were alive with triumph and she had on a thick coat of monkey butt red victory lipstick. Later that same night, she’d crept out of her house, driven to the highway, and changed the sign in a gesture of small-minded and terrible victory.



That scene never happens in the novel, but the idea of a character who would do such a thing, of a rivalry between Southern Matriarchs that strong and virulent, began a story in my head. The sign changer became Bernese Frett, and I pulled her rival from the grave and let her grow into a crafty, drunken criminal named Ona Crabtree. Nonny Frett, the narrator, is by birth one of those trashy Crabtrees, but she is stolen and raised by the unbendingly respectable Frett clan.



I started to get a strong feel for Nonny, bravery, her desire to be loved, her good, good heart, and the way she hesitates, hopeful and cautious. I felt she was a character who lived “in between” on any number of levels, so the town itself, that strong sense of place I’d been growing for almost fifteen years, became a character as I started playing around with ideas about identity and nature v/s nurture, and what makes someone a mother.



PICK A CHARACTER IN THE BOOK AND TELL US WHAT TRAIT YOU SHARE (OR COME CLOSEST TO SHARING) WITH THAT CHARACTER.



My main character, Nonny Jane Frett, is a bit of a waffler. She’s Between on a lot of levels, and over the course of the book I think she grows into her own big voice…I am not sure I have yet. I am STILL a bit of a waffler. Her waffling irritated me no end, and I was so glad when she started standing up and making decisions and saying DAMMIT and fighting for what matters to her. I keep waiting for me to do that…

IF YOU WERE STUCK ON A DESERT ISLAND, WOULD YOU RATHER HAVE A MAGICAL TRUNK THAT GAVE YOU LIMITLESS BOOKS TO READ, OR A LIMITLESS SUPPLY OF PAPER ON WHICH TO WRITE?



I’m a pragmatist. I’d rather have fresh water and limitless supply of Lean Cuisines with a solar powered microwave…Hrm. I think the books. I have to read!



I could write in my head and memorize it --- I came out of theatre and I often think of writing in terms of performance. I’d perform each chapter as a monolog and when the boat came for me I’d write it down.




BEER OR WINE? Wine. Or a dirty martini. OH! Or wait, a Blueberry Smash made with Jack and POM wonderful. Or.okay, why not! Beer. You got Rolling rock? Or no, I’ll have what your having. Make mine a double. ƟSee! I waffle!

CHOCOLATE OR VANILLA? Chocolate. The darker the better!

WHAT’S YOUR ALL-TIME FAVORITE BOOK?



Oh Hrm. Can I have a tie? From childhood, it is TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD. I still reread that probably more than any other book. But the book that spoke to me loudest since I (allegedly) became an adult is THE SOLACE OF LEAVING EARLY. I love everything Kimmel has ever written, but her first novel, about finding all kinds of love in the ruins of broken families, remains my favorite. It’s hard to find a book this elegant, precise, and intelligent that has such a warm heart.


Visit http://www.joshilynjackson.com for more!

Monday, June 4, 2007

GCC Tour: THE SECRET SISTERS by Joni Rodgers



Order the book!


Currently touring with the GCC is Joni Rodgers and the mass market release of THE SECRET SISTERS. I've got this one in my TBR pile. Can't wait!

Exploring the timeless themes of family, self, misfortune, and hope that have made the novels of Anna Quindlen and Sue Miller bestsellers, Joni Rodgers's moving and powerful tale tells the story of three women bound together by loss and set free by love.

Pia feels the walls of her life closing in around her, until she discovers a strangely sensual world that leads her to a new existence. Lily, Pia's brash, tough-talking sister, makes a tragic mistake that leaves her incarcerated, body and soul, but in the prison library discovers a key that will unlock her mind and open her heart. Beth, married to Pia and Lily's brother, has never been able to admit her own failure as a mother. Finally forced to confront a tragedy of her own making, she discovers that the truth can set her free.

Praise for The Secret Sisters

"Believable...brilliant...beautifully written..." Armchair Reviews

"Honesty, humor, and fearlessness...(Rodgers) illuminates the internal landscapes all women navigate." Houston Chronicle

"A page turner, full of surprises, insight, and spine-tingling erotica..." Helena Independent Record

"A rough gem of a narrative...Pia's tale has it all: death, danger, sexual discovery, and resurrection." Missoula Independent

"An emotional maelstrom worth getting wrapped up in." Easton Express-Times

"A modern tragedy...Rodgers wisely resists the temptation to whip up tidy endings, and her smart choices give The Secret Sisters the necessary measure of grit." Texas Monthly

Here are Joni's answers to my GCC questions:

HOW WOULD YOU DESCRIBE YOUR TYPICAL “WRITING DAY”?

What? There’s such a thing as a typical writing day? Why was I not informed of this?!


DO YOU RECALL THE KERNEL OF INSPIRATION FOR THIS BOOK?

THE SECRET SISTERS began with an erotic short story I tucked in my husband’s suitcase as a sexy little surprise when he went away on a fishing trip to Cabo San Lucas. The story about the shopkeeper/con artist Dalphine was never intended for publication, but the characters stayed with me. I kept dreaming about Pia sitting in a chair in a waiting room. I kept wondering how this smart and competent woman had become so vulnerable. Then the world changed on 9/11. Over the next year or so, I saw our country embrace fear as a lifestyle, and it was eerily reminiscent of my own fragile and fearful state in the aftermath of cancer. THE SECRET SISTERS is my response to that. It’s a parable about how vulnerable we become when we embrace fear as a lifestyle. It’s also an examination of the way that tragedy can – and should! – change us. Survivorship is about accountability, courage, and hope. As we emerge from life’s refining fires, we have to learn from our mistakes, celebrate our strengths, and seize hold of every new day with joy. I finally understood what Pia was waiting to tell me: That redemption is tragedy cross-pollinated with grace.



PICK A CHARACTER IN THE BOOK AND TELL US WHAT TRAIT YOU SHARE (OR COME CLOSEST TO SHARING) WITH THAT CHARACTER.

When family tragedy leaves her shaken to her core, Pia is seized by a panic disorder that has the walls of her world closing in around her. As I researched agoraphobia, some of the symptoms began to feel uncomfortably familiar. Writing is of necessity a lonesome task, and since my kids went off to college and I’ve become more focused on my craft and career, I’ve become more and more of a hermit. This realization prompted me to pay attention to some friendships I’d let slide and to seek out some new writer friends to network and socialize with. I joined The Midwives, a critique group of accomplished women authors. Best thing that’s happened to me in years, both professionally and personally.


IF YOU WERE STUCK ON A DESERT ISLAND, WOULD YOU RATHER HAVE A MAGICAL TRUNK THAT GAVE YOU LIMITLESS BOOKS TO READ, OR A LIMITLESS SUPPLY OF PAPER ON WHICH TO WRITE?

If you stop reading, your writing is going to shrivel up and die, so I’ll take the books and write on the endpapers.


BEER OR WINE?

My husband’s homemade pinot grigio is pomegranate-nuanced orgasm in a bottle.



CHOCOLATE OR VANILLA?

I used to be a major choco-holic, but ever since chemotherapy, the smell and taste of it make me nauseous. How sad is that?!



WHAT’S YOUR ALL-TIME FAVORITE BOOK?

SIDHARTHA by Hermann Hesse. Whenever the vagaries of the publishing biz start to overwhelm, I try hard to remember the mantra of the emerging Buddha: “I can fast, I can pray, and I can wait.”



About the Author

Joni Rodgers, a Houston author who ghostwrites celebrity memoirs between novels, has a unique take on the popular idea that everyone has a book in them. “Everyone has a story in them,” says Rodgers. “But everyone has a pancreas, too. Only in rare cases should it be taken out and displayed on a shelf.”

The ghost gigs pay well and make for “some interesting elevator rides”, but Rodgers is selective about new projects. “It takes a compelling client to drag me away from fiction, my first love.” Rodgers’ latest novel The Secret Sisters (Harper Collins 2006) comes out in trade paperback this week with an added “PS Section” in which Rodgers discusses the story behind the book. The added material is bound to generate some juicy book club discussions. “I can’t wait for the sparks to start flying,” says Rodgers, who intended the story of a woman’s struggle with agoraphobia to be “a parable about how easily exploited we are when we embrace fear as a lifestyle.”

Joni is a long-time wife, ridiculously proud mother, and doting dog owner. She divides her time between Houston and New York City.


Visit Joni Rodgers on the web at www.jonirodgers.com

Joni Rodgers blogs about the writing life on “Boxing the Octopus”: http://boxingoctopus.blogspot.com

Monday, May 28, 2007

It's 2:15. Do you know where your page count is?

Bear with me once again, as I've disappeared into that oh-so-common author place known as "deadline hell."

To everyone here and over at my MySpace account, thanks for all the messages, comments, blog posts and emails to my gmail account. I'm reading all and responding ... but I'm about a MONTH behind on comments now. Yikes!

I feel like such a slacker. But I do appreciate everyone's notes and comments! Don't stop. I'll catch up eventually. And when I do (and this project hits the shelves) hopefully everyone will say it was well worth the deadline dementia!!!

Saturday, May 26, 2007

GCC Tour: COUPON GIRL by Becky Motew



ORDER THE BOOK!


Check this one out! It sounds like fun!


"Hi, you've reached the voice mail of Jeanie Callahan. I'm auditioning right now for the lead role in The Sound of Music and hopefully not throwing up or fainting. If you're a business owner and would like to do a coupon to attract more customers, leave me a message." BEEP

"Hey, Jeanie. I can't give 25 percent off a donut. Do you think I’m crazy?" BEEP.

"Miss Callahan? This is Sergeant Smith at the Worcester Fire Department. We got your grandfather down from the roof again, maam, and he’s okay like usual. But maam, you need to call us. " BEEP.


"My name Mike. You call." BEEP


Jeanie Callahan sells coupons. Dry cleaners, mechanics, pizza guys—all of them are friends and clients, deadbeats and tormentors. This summer Jeanie has joined the local community theatre, hoping to snag a collection of customers to win her company’s sales contest.

But weighed down in a nun costume and fighting with middle-aged women about whose crucifix should be bigger, she wonders if it was a good idea. Frankly, there’s not a business owner to be seen. The handsome director is in sight, though, and Jeanie thinks she may have found true love. Or maybe it’s a course in Sex Fetishes 101. Opening night looms and some unusual sales propel Jeanie to the brink of victory.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:
Becky Motew sold coupons on the road in Worcester for more than ten years and those experiences are reflected in COUPON GIRL, her debut novel. Becky’s second love is the stage and she has been active in numerous community theatre groups in Massachusetts. She has played Ado Annie in Oklahoma!, Rosalie in Carnival, and Miss Hannigan in Annie, where she scared her own daughter.

Here are Becky's answers to my GCC questions:


HOW WOULD YOU DESCRIBE YOUR TYPICAL “WRITING DAY”?

I like to eat some ham and grapes, do a little web browsing, and then start in. If I’m lucky, things start to take shape. I try to finish the scene or the part of a scene from the day before and go forward into new territory before I stop. The worst thing is to stop at the very end of a scene without starting another. That’s a sure invitation to disaster the next day. If I’m really stumped, I go back to a previous scene and work on it until an idea presents itself. Eventually, it’s lunch time. I sometimes come back in the evening and work as well.
DO YOU RECALL THE KERNEL OF INSPIRATION FOR THIS BOOK?
I always knew I would write CG. The kernel of inspiration was having that job. Sales people are buffeted by everyone—the boss thinks he knows the best way for you to do something, the customers don’t want it that way, and THEY tell you how you should do it. Then your colleagues have their own ideas. You have to find your own way and that’s the story I tried to tell with Jeanie.

PICK A CHARACTER IN THE BOOK AND TELL US WHAT TRAIT YOU SHARE (OR COME CLOSEST TO SHARING) WITH THAT CHARACTER.
It would be foolish for me to deny my connection with Jeanie. She is me in many ways, though I got lead parts in shows and was never in the chorus. Wow, that sounds snobby. I don’t mean it to be. But that is a key difference between us—Jeanie is not interested in performing and I was.

IF YOU WERE STUCK ON A DESERT ISLAND, WOULD YOU RATHER HAVE A MAGICAL TRUNK THAT GAVE YOU LIMITLESS BOOKS TO READ, OR A LIMITLESS SUPPLY OF PAPER ON WHICH TO WRITE?
Wow, good question. Probably books to read, because I don’t really trust the cruise line to rescue me and maybe I could find a way to read a book, then write over it.

BEER OR WINE? Wine, dahling.

CHOCOLATE OR VANILLA? Chocolate in Perpetuity

WHAT’S YOUR ALL-TIME FAVORITE BOOK?
Catch-22

How to visit Becky or learn more:

Her web site: www.beckymotew.com
Her blog: www.beckymotew.blogspot.com

Saturday, May 19, 2007

GCC Tour: Grafitti Girl by Kelly Parra



ORDER THE BOOK!

This week, I'm hosting Kelly Parra and her new release, GRAFITTI GIRL, an awesome young adult novel. Check it out:

Graffiti art. It's bold. It's thrilling. And it can get a girl into serious trouble...

Raised by her single mom (who's always dating the wrong kind of man) in a struggling California neighborhood, Angel Rodriguez is a headstrong, independent young woman who channels her hopes and dreams for the future into her painting. But when her entry for a community mural doesn't rate, she's heartbroken. Even with the winning artist Nathan Ramos--a senior track start and Angel's secret crush--taking a sudden interest in Angel and her art, she's angry and hurt. She's determined to find her own place in the art world, her own way.

That's when Miguel Badalin--from the notorious graffiti crew Reyes del Norte--opens her eyes to an underground world of graf tags and turf wars. She's blown away by this bad boy's fantastic work and finds herself drawn to his dangerous charm. Soon she's running with Miguel's crew, pushing her skills to the limit and beginning to emerge as the artist she always dreamed she could be. But Nathan and Miguel are bitter enemies with a shared past, and choosing between them and their wildly different approaches to life and art means that Angel must decide what matters most before the artist inside her can truly break free.

Praise for Graffiti Girl


"With characters as bold and exciting as the art they love, and an honesty that keeps them raw and real, Graffiti Girl shows us that they only thing better than discovering your talent is finding yourself along the way." ~ Jenny O'Connell, author of Plan B and The Book of Luke

"Graffiti Girl is a fast-paced story that boldly looks dreams and temptations in the eye. 16 year-old Angel Rodriguez steals your heart as she tries to find her place in the world--artistically, socially, and even inside her own family. Don't miss this one!" ~ Tina Ferraro, author of Top Ten Uses for an Unworn Prom Dress

"This book blew me away. Kelly Parra writes with the keen eye of an artist. Graffiti Girl is warm, gutsy, and true-to-life--an unflinching, honest portrayal of young adults. A seamless and impressive debut." ~ Anne Frasier, USA Today bestselling author of Pale Immortal

About the Author

Kelly Parra writes young adult fiction for MTV Books. When not at work on her current novel, she spends her free time roaming book stores, surfing the blogosphere, and watching reality TV. Graffiti Girl is her debut novel. For an excerpt visit, www.kellyparra.com or check out the YA Fresh blog at http://yafresh.blogspot.com


And here are Kelly's answers to my GCC questions! (Check out her answer to the favorite book question ... I'm right there with Kelly!


HOW WOULD YOU DESCRIBE YOUR TYPICAL “WRITING DAY”?

KP: My typical day is to get up and ready my kids for school and get them out the door. Then when I return home, I refuel, check email and my numerous blogs, and that takes at least an hour. I can then settle into where I left off with my current book. I usually read the prior chapter to get back into the tone and scene, and that goes on with breaks until it's time to pick up the kids. Pretty typical day unless, you know, the procrastinator bug bites me in the butt. :)

DO YOU RECALL THE KERNEL OF INSPIRATION FOR THIS BOOK?

KP: Basically my love for art in high school and my friends who were into Graffiti art inspired me to write Graffiti Girl. When I was sixteen, I tried my hand at graffiti designs in what is called a "piecebook" but could never really do justice to the bold style. I pretty much flunked as a graffiti artist in training.

PICK A CHARACTER IN THE BOOK AND TELL US WHAT TRAIT YOU SHARE (OR COME CLOSEST TO SHARING) WITH THAT CHARACTER.

KP: My character Angel has a whimsical artistic style in the book and while I was in high school I felt the same way about my own art. My creativity was not realistic enough to satisfy me for some reason. So it was just as easy to give all my feelings to Angel to work through in Graffiti Girl. I'm such a stinker. :)

IF YOU WERE STUCK ON A DESERT ISLAND, WOULD YOU RATHER HAVE A MAGICAL TRUNK THAT GAVE YOU LIMITLESS BOOKS TO READ, OR A LIMITLESS SUPPLY OF PAPER ON WHICH TO WRITE?

KP: This is not a fair question! Reading and writing are pretty much equal with me. If I really have to choose, I'd have to go with limitless books to read forever.

BEER OR WINE?

KP: Sorry, neither! I'm all about taste and they just don't taste good to me.

CHOCOLATE OR VANILLA?

KP: Chocolate. Yay!

WHAT’S YOUR ALL-TIME FAVORITE BOOK?

KP: I do not have an all time favorite single book, but an all time favorite series of books. The Death Series by J.D. Robb.

Thursday, May 10, 2007

GCC Tour: INSIDER DATING by JENNIFER O'CONNELL

I'm thrilled to be hosting Jennifer and her new book, INSIDER DATING, this week as part of the GCC Tour!




ORDER THE BOOK!

Here's a bit about the book:

Abby Dunn, barely past thirty and still reeling from her divorce, has taken herself off the dating market. Instead, she’s using her experience to turn the tables on the opposite sex by building a database to rank underperforming men and set women straight when investing their greatest asset: themselves.

Now, what started as a pet project is becoming a full-time enterprise. But while Abby’s busy hedging bets, someone is skewing her data and threatening to ruin her business. Abby is about to find out that sometimes even the savviest market wizards can be headed for a crash.

While it may be perfectly legal, nothing good can come from insider dating.



ABOUT JENNIFER:

Jennifer O’Connell received her BA from Smith College and her MBA from the University of Chicago. She lives outside Boston and when she’s not writing, she spends her days as a market strategy consultant. She is the bestselling author of Bachelorette #1, Dress Rehearsal, and Off The Record.

PRAISE FOR JENNIFER'S OTHER TITLES:


“Insight and humor…entertaining.”
—The Denver Post

“A poolside page-turner.”
—Cosmopolitan

“Hot.”
Us Weekly

JENNIFER'S ANSWERS TO MY GCC QUESTIONS:



HOW WOULD YOU DESCRIBE YOUR TYPICAL "WRITING DAY"?
The only thing that’s typical when I’m writing is that I hit the “word count” function in MS Word about a million times. I’m very goal oriented – it’s all about the word count.

DO YOU RECALL THE KERNEL OF INSPIRATION FOR THIS BOOK?
One summer afternoon I was out on our deck, flipping through People magazine. One of those blow-ins for the Publishers Clearinghouse Sweepstakes fell onto my lap and I thought, “Wouldn’t it be cool if there was a clearinghouse for men.” The idea for INSIDER DATING came immediately, that a woman could create a sort of clearinghouse that allowed women to share information in a members-only club.

PICK A CHARACTER IN THE BOOK AND TELL US WHAT TRAIT YOU SHARE (OR COME CLOSEST TO SHARING) WITH THAT CHARACTER.
Out of all of my books, Abby, the main character in INSIDER DATING, most closely resembles me. We’d both like to believe we can control what happens, that as long as we’re prepared for the worst, we’ll never be caught off guard.

IF YOU WERE STUCK ON A DESERT ISLAND, WOULD YOU RATHER HAVE A MAGICAL TRUNK THAT GAVE YOU LIMITLESS BOOKS TO READ, OR A LIMITLESS SUPPLY OF PAPER ON WHICH TO WRITE?
I’d read. I always read when I’m writing, I find it inspiring to read what other writers are writing, see how they’re thinking. I read with a pen and paper in hand, because books always spark ideas. I’m actually a frustrated editor masquerading as a writer. I love to read.

BEER OR WINE?
Beer

CHOCOLATE OR VANILLA?
Chocolate

WHAT'S YOUR ALL-TIME FAVORITE BOOK?
So hard. Probably a book I read in high school, it’s YA – IT’S OKAY IF YOU DON’T LOVE ME by Norma Klein. The best ever.


Thanks, Jennifer! The book sounds great!

Sunday, May 6, 2007

Another awesome review!




After reading The Givenchy Code and The Manolo Matrix, I was anxious to read The Prada Paradox. Julie Kenner surpassed my expectations on every level with this story. First, it continues her trend of fantastic, winning characters, suspense, and complex puzzles. The pacing is excellent and the plot never falters. Instead, readers are kept on the edge with one puzzle and conflict after another. The answers to the puzzles seem to remain just out of my reach, but always make sense once solved. Devi and Blake are a dynamic couple readers will relish getting to know. Her sense of humor and his unyielding commitment make their scenes rich in emotion. The secondary characters are just as engaging and made sure I was never quite sure which direction the story would go. Readers of this series might find some story elements in common with the rest of the series, but make no mistake, The Prada Paradox is an original story that will lure and maintain readers’ interest from start to finish. This is a wonderful conclusion that lives up to the standard established throughout this series.


Fallen Angel Reviews


Click here to order the book!

Wednesday, May 2, 2007

Guest Blog: A PIECE OF NORMAL by Sandi Kahn Shelton

Today, I have the pleasure to host Sandi Shelton, who is blog-touring her current release, A PIECE OF NORMAL. This looks like a great read, and Sandi is an absolute hoot! So be sure to check out the book!



Click here to order!

Here's the blurb about the book:

Dear Lily . . .

At age thirty-four, Lily Brown has her life just the way she likes it. And what’s not to like? She’s got a great job as an advice columnist for the local newspaper, an adorable four-year-old son, and an ex-husband, Teddy, who still thinks she’s wonderful. She even lives in the same beach house where she grew up, with a great view of Long Island Sound and plenty of beach roses to smell.

So what if she won’t let herself date anyone until she finds a new girlfriend for Teddy, who happens to still be hung up on her? So what if she hasn’t changed a thing in her parents’ house, even twelve years after their tragic deaths? So what if it’s been ten years since she’s heard from her younger sister, Dana, who stormed out of the house in a rage when she was a teenager? Lily is fine.

But it’s funny how life has a way of upsetting even the most perfectly laid-out plans, and when one night Lily finds herself painting ghastly orange highlights into her lovely auburn hair, even she suspects that she’s been in something of a rut. And then, when her long-lost little sister shows up, bringing with her the fun and drama and hell-raising spontaneity Lily has missed, her life suddenly takes a turn for the unexpected.

To Lily’s chagrin, Dana’s energy seems to enthrall everyone, especially Teddy. As the tension between the sisters escalates, Dana reveals decades-old family secrets that she’s been burdened with all these years, and Dear Lily must heed her own advice about accepting life’s messiness and chaos.

With her trademark blend of sparkling wit and characters you can’t forget, Sandi Kahn Shelton tells a compelling and universal story of two sisters who learn what they need to let go of, and what they have to hold on to as tightly as they can.



Check out my quickie interview with Sandi:

Even your bio is funny. If we met at a cocktail party, would I walk away thinking you’re quiet or a hoot? And, just to keep you on your toes, one word answers are not allowed. Please elaborate.

That’s a great question, Julie. And thank you for the compliment (as well as letting me come onto your blog for a visit). I come from a Southern family where humor seems to pervade everything. If you can’t tell a story that makes everybody fall down laughing, you just get pushed over to the side. Go make Auntie Pem another drink and content yourself with being part of the audience. That’s the way it is. Compared to my mother and grandmothers and aunties, I’m known as the shy, quiet, reserved one. Now that I live up in the North, I often notice that my dark Southern humor isn’t always taken the way I mean it; I get frequent shocked looks when I do my over-exaggerations. (I didn’t even know they WERE over-exaggerations until I moved up here.) So basically, I think I’m probably funnier in my writing than at cocktail parties. But give me a couple of glasses of merlot, and you never know…


Isn’t being a mom great? (That one’s a freebie. I still get two more questions, but feel free to answer this one, too.)


Oh, my goodness! It’s the best thing ever. I have three kids, and I cannot imagine what my life would have been like without them. They’re all out of the house now…but we still all talk every day, which I know makes me sound like some kind of clingy mom. (I’m really not, I swear.) One day recently I was working on my novel, and suddenly one them IM’ed me and a little screen showed up in the upper left portion of my novel page. So I typed with that kid about his car needing to be fixed…and then *bling,* up came another screen in the bottom of the page. My daughter wanting to know my recipe for chicken curry. And then *bling*--over on the bottom right was my other daughter just wanting to say hi. I sat there, shocked­all three screens were covering up my novel! It seemed symbolic of just what my priorities are, LOL.


Your bio talks about the 17 year gestation of your first novel, and the 10 months to write A Piece of Normal. Was the shift from leisurely (haha) writing to a strict deadline difficult? How did you cope ­ other than eating all the banana popsicles, I mean?

That’s a good question! Well, when I first found out that I had ten months to write Novel #2, I almost had to take to my bed with the vapors. I said to my agent, “What were you thinking? Tell me now: was there anything I ever did or said to make you think I could write a book in ten months?” She laughed and said she knew I could do it. And sure enough, I did. And, although I hate to admit this, there was a way in which it was actually easier. For one thing, when you have a strict deadline like that, IT GETS YOU GOING. You don’t wake up in the morning, yawn and stretch and think, “Hmm, do I feel inspired to write my book today…or would I rather, um, go anywhere else and do any other possible thing?” You know what you have to do.

On the advice of a friend of mine who has written one mystery a year for the past 11 years, I made up my mind to do three pages every single day. No matter what else was happening in life, I knew I had to do those three pages, inspired or not. And that worked to keep me in the book. It kept the material fresh in my mind and kept new juicy stuff for the book flying over to me, even when I wasn’t writing. It was an amazing thing, actually. Not having to sit down and re-read the whole book each time I sat down to write was a big bonus, too; the stuff was still so familiar to me, I could re-read it as little as possible and therefore not get tired of it. You know how when you’re working and working on a book, and you’re reading it too much, you can actually get bored with it and then you have utterly no distance on the writing at all? I found that if I just re-read and edited what I’d written the day before, I could keep going without wanting to press the DELETE button and get rid of the whole thing and go off to join the circus.

So for my third novel (which I am working on now) I also have a (rapidly approaching) deadline of ten months. I love the clarity of focus that comes when you know you have one true priority…and it’s not cleaning the bathtub!


What was the kernel of inspiration for A Piece of Normal?


I always love to write about family relationships, because I think they’re the most fascinating, complicated things going. I’m always struck with how other people’s families always look so together on the outside, and yet when you get to really know them, you see that everybody’s got quirky relatives to deal with, and weird past histories, and buried secrets. (Well, almost everybody. I do know a few people who seem to come from genetically secret-less people. But I’m still digging around, so I’ll get back to you.) I’m particularly interested in the ways that being in a family often requires us to understand and forgive acts that may at first seem like real catastrophic (even if unintentional) betrayals, but which in many ways, serve to enrich and open us.

I think it is these powerful relationships that shape us most dramatically and hold the key to how we see ourselves. (Isn’t there a saying that goes: “Families­-can’t live with ’em. Can’t kill ’em”? Until I take up writing murder mysteries, I guess I’m stuck writing about how families manage to forgive each other and go on.)

My first novel-­What Comes After Crazy-­was about a complicated mother-daughter relationship­-briefly, the mom was a flaky, itinerant fortune-teller and the daughter grew up with almost no skills in making a normal life for herself and her kids. (It should be noted that I thought it was a very serious novel, but when it came out, critics called it “hilarious.” That was a bit of a surprise.)

In A Piece of Normal, (which I had wanted to call “Ordinary Forgiveness”) it is two sisters­-Lily and Dana Brown­-who couldn’t be more opposite. Through their betrayals and long-buried sibling rivalries, they come to realize that they each have something the other one needs. And when the betrayal comes­-well, oops, I should stop here. You see, I always have a tendency to tell too much. I’d write the whole plot here if I’m not careful, and all you asked for was the “germ of the idea.”

Thanks so much, Sandi!

Sounds great, doesn't it? Rush out and get your copy! And you can visit Sandi on the web at http://www.sandishelton.com/