gods in Alabama

For every doom and gloom story about publishing, there's another to put a smile on your face. Writing a novel is about dreams aspired and sometimes, it's about dreams obtained. Joshilyn Jackson's first novel, gods in Alabama, is a triumph, both commercially and literarily (did you know that was a word? I thought I made it up).

From Booklist: "Arlene Fleet likes to make deals with God and play road-trip games. In this absorbing first novel, deals and games guide all the characters' actions, but the reader won't know the real deal or the name of the game until the last page. Upon leaving her podunk hometown in Alabama, Arlene makes a deal with the Lord involving no lying, no fornicating, and no return trip as long as he keeps the body of high-school quarterback Jim Beverly hidden. When the Almighty drops his end of the bargain, Arlene heads back to Possett, determined to lie about her sexual relationship with her African American fiance, Burr, to her steel-magnolia aunt, Florence. With the threat of her past crime coming to light, Arlene understands she must now protect the family that years ago took in Arlene and her recently widowed, mentally disturbed mother. Cleverly disguised as a leisurely paced southern novel, this debut rockets to the end, even as the plot turns back on itself, surprising characters and readers alike. Book clubs will enjoy this saucy tale, as will fans of southern fiction with a twist."

I read the excerpt from the book and was immediately captivated. There's a lure to Southern fiction, I don't know if it's my Texas roots, or if it's the slow warmth in the Southern culture, but I don't care. An author who can capture the flavor of the South is a treat to be enjoyed on a Saturday afternoon, sitting on the porch reading while the hawks circle overhead.

I've got this one on my nightstand (right beneath the other two), but I hope everyone gets a chance to check it out.

The End of the World As We Know It

Recently I've been mulling over my rune stones, pondering the prospects of publishing and reading all the prophecies saying the End of The Book is Nigh. Yes, according to Nostradamus, when Scott Savol wins American Idol and the top ten NYT spots belong to the Holy Triumvirate of Grisham, Roberts, and Brown (doesn't that sound like a law firm?), all publishers lovingly enclosed within the golden leaves of Manhattan will fold up and close, conceding that it is impossible to make money in publishing.

And yet, in the far distance, there is a voice, an even gloomier voice. No wonder publishing is doomed, DOOMED I say. It's not just books, hell, it's all of us! . Yes, according to St. Malachy, an Irish archbishop recognized by members of the Church for his ability to read the future, Pope Benedict is Pope numero second-to-the-last, which I suppose is something like having a May Harlequin Temptation and the world knows the line is closing in July?

Cancel your insurance now. Tomorrow is only a figment.

And on to more lighter subjects, stay tuned for our next post when we visit with Joshilyn Jackson, the compelling new author of Gods in Alabama!

What's better with chick-lit than a glass of merlot?

There's an article in the New York Times about how Beringer Blass Wine Estates launchd a new promotion using Jennifer Weiner, author of "God in Bed," (uh, sorry, typo, my keys are sticking), that's "Good in Bed." Anywho, the corks have "white lie" messages on them, "I'll be home by 7," and "It's my natural color."

The wine is a new low-alcohol, low-calorie chardonnay called White Lie Early Season. Now, this is all fascinating to me -- the "idea of books" can sell product. I'm not sure books or authors (excepting possibly JK Rowling hawking a breakfast cereal) have enough cachet, no disrespect to Ms. Weiner.

I myself can see a whole line of products being marketed. For instance:

Jane Austen-- It is a truth universally acknowledged that a woman in possession of her period, must be in want of a Playtex Tampon.
Charles Dickens-- It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, but I always had the right time with my Swatch Farfallino Giallo watch.
Herman Melville -- Call me Ishmael with new Verizon's Go-Anywhere Talk Plan.

Brilliant.

The state of romance covers today

And because Mr. Brawnyman might not be enough...check out Monica Jackson's turgid study on romance novels today.

Because Paper Towels Always Get Me Hot

There's an advertising campaign from Brawny Paper Towels that is cracking me up. Click on the Innocent Escapes link and go from there.

Buying a Booktour to Heaven

I'm in the midst of book-promotion, and so everywhere I look people are weighing in on the pros and cons of the author doing things themselves in order to help sell the book (i.e. in the biz we call that, "self-promotion" -- author's are such an erudite lot). So, as I sit in my lonely dungeon, trying to pound out words for a book that's due next month, I can hear the lonely wail of an electric guitar. A keyboardist joins in slowly, the beat picks up, and I discover the absolute best way to procrastinate. I think I'll write a song!

With Apologies to Led Zeppelin

There's an author who's sure all that glitters is gold
And she's buying a booktour to heaven
And when she gets there she knows if the stores are closed
With a word she can get on The Today Show
Woe oh oh oh oh oh
And she's buying a booktour to heaven

There's a review in the Times but she wants to be sure
And you know sometimes 'crap' has two meanings
In the office of the book, there's an editor who sings
Sometimes all of our thoughts are misgiven
Woe oh oh oh oh oh
And she's buying a booktour to heaven

There's a feeling I get when I look to the past
And my spirit is crying for leaving
In my thoughts I have seen rings of smoke through the trees
But it's only the remaindered burning…
Woe oh oh oh oh oh
And she's buying a booktour to heaven

And it's whispered that soon, if we all self-promote
Then Kelly Ripa will lead us to reason
And a new day will dawn for those who write long
And the bank accounts will echo with laughter
And it makes me wonder

If there's a downturn in your numbers
Don't be alarmed now
It's just a spring clean for Penguin Putnam
Yes there are two paths you can go by
but in the long run
There's still time to change the house you're at
Your head is humming and it won't go because you don't know
The taxman's calling you to join him
Dear author can't you hear the wind blow and did you know
Your booktour lies on the whispering wind

And as we write on down the road
Our shadows taller than our souls
There walks a publisher we all know
Who shines coop dollars and wants to show
How sell-through still turns to gold

And if you listen very hard
The words will come to you at last
When all are one and one is all
To be an author and not to write
Woe oh oh oh oh oh
And she's buying a booktour to heaven

There's an author who's sure all that glitters is gold
And she's buying a booktour to heaven
And when she gets there she knows if the stores are closed
With a word she can get on the Today Show
And she's buying a booktour to heaven, uh uh uh.

Doomer and gloomer

Bad news from Pearson (aka Berkley/Penguin Putnam to those of us who don't have the corporate cheat-sheet).

According to the article, Penguin Putnam ain't doing so hot, but what's interesting in the article are these little stats:

Mass market paperback sales in the US have fallen 11.5 percent so far this year, on top of a 8.9 percent drop in 2004.

Penguin gets 1/3 of it's revenue from paperbacks, industry average is 1/4. Not to be catty, but didn't we all know that at some point, every American would own Nora's entire backlist and sales would drop off?

And this little bit:

Early sales of Penguin's first premium paperback, Minette Walters's ``Disordered Minds,'' published in December, are encouraging, Makinson said in February. The book stands about a half-inch taller than the mass-market versions and has a red circle on the cover stating: ``Specially designed for comfortable reading.'' The book has 29 lines of text per page, compared with 38 lines in the shorter editions.

And the last one, which I'd heard rumor of, but have never seen hard numbers:

Some Penguin stars, including Clancy, Cornwell and Sue Grafton, have registered a sales decline of as much as 35 percent for their most recent books, according to BookScan figures cited by trade magazine Publishers Weekly in February.

For example, Grafton's ``R Is for Ricochet'' had sold slightly more than 240,000 copies when the report was published, compared with more than 350,000 for ``Q Is for Quarry,'' the magazine said.

It's obvious the market is in a shift, but what's rather intriguing to me is to see the different approaches that publishers are using to shift attention to their books. This isn't just publishing. All the media companies are facing the same challenges to lure eyeballs their way.

If it's too hot in the kitchen, let your husband do all the work

In today's Vatican-Watch, the world has a new Pope, and he's a German! It seems very odd to me, since I associate Germany with all sorts of things not legal (blame my Saturday Night Live roots for that, not untoward German prejudices), however, I can get used to Pope Benedict 16. Did you know there were fifteen earlier Benedicts? Actually, I don't know for sure, I'm just making all this stuff up. You thought they elected a Pope today? Ha. Bet you believed all that "man on the moon" stuff, too. Damn commie leftists….

And moving right from commie leftists, to steamy cookbooks, today in Girl's Cyber Circuit, I'm hosting Ann Marie Michaels, author of a humor/dating cookbook called, get this, "Cooking to Hook Up: The Bachelor's Date-Night Cookbook". According to Ann Marie, the book is all about teaching guys to cook for us girls -- depending on the type of girl. It's a great gift for single guys, as well as husbands, boyfriends, brothers, etc. There's a whole slew of info on the book's website, including a fun quiz to determine what sort of girl you are. According to the quiz, I'm a hybrid of girl next door and progressive girl. The book has been doing great, and Ann Marie is going to be on the Sex Files on the Discovery Channel in June!

I had some questions for Ann Marie, and so let's just get cooking (harhar):

Kathleen: Most importantly, does the book work? In other words, if I buy a copy for my husband, will he suddenly start cooking dinner?

Ann Marie: We can't make any guarantees. You can lead a horse to water as they say.

Kathleen: I found it fascinating that you wrote this book with your ex-husband. Did you find it easy working with him? Are you planning another book together?

Ann Marie: It was easy working together -- as long as we didn't break the 5 hour rule (we can only tolerate each other for 5 hours or less at a stretch). If the book gets optioned and made into a TV show, I can see writing another one (possibly one for the ladies -- The Bachelorette's Date-Night Cookbook). My ex is a professor now at UT Austin (ironically -- he's not from Texas like I am) and he's pretty happy doing that, so not sure if he'd be interested in collaborating again.

Kathleen: Cooking seems a bit off the beaten path for you and Drew, so why a cookbook? Were you sitting around eating one night, and he was talking about how different foods can facilitate a man's chances of getting lucky?

Ann Marie: We were newlyweds. He decided to cook me dinner one night -- orange roughy. He said you would have thought he had bought me a Mercedes: "If only I had known this when I was single!" I explained to him that not all women are alike -- and we got into this long discussion about the different types of women (granola girls, indie girls, etc.).
That's when the book was conceived.

Kathleen: I see you're working on a novel. Are you finding differences between non-fiction and fiction?

Ann Marie: For me, it's all about research. The more I research, the more I get excited about what I am writing. For the cookbook, I researched everything from duck confit to Cockney rhyming slang. For my novel, research is more about carrying a journal with me everywhere I go, and writing down the funny things my friends say.

Crime Does Pay, Part MMCXXII

According to Publishers Weekly, Hollywood is undergoing an "all-out feeding frenzy" for the story of the two NYPD undercover detectives who moonlighted as hitmen for the Mafia. There's Universal Pictures with Mafia Cop, aka Kindegarten Cop Goes to Brooklyn. Warner Bros is opting for the story of the detective who cracked the case, and in a surprise move to absolutely no one, Judith Regan is chomping at chum as well, with her biopic entitled, "I was the Mafia Cops Love Princess."

And Oprah, media diva extraordinaire, not content with world television/movie/magazine domination, is now launching her own book venture. The tome will be a collection of magazine pieces from O magazine, entitled "Live Your Best Life" and will come bagged with a new Pontiac G6. Under the scheme, each purchaser of the book would take ownership of the vehicle, but unfortunately, would owe the IRS approximately $7350 in taxes.

Who was that masked man? Could it be?? Mike Bloomberg???

I don't know how much of America that lives outside New York was aware of the plan to make the Plaza hotel condos. Vernable children's book heroine Eloise was the first to be evicted. However, in walks our caped crusader, Mayor Mike Bloomberg, to broker a deal to keep some pieces of the historical hotel alive. The Palm Court, Oak Room, Oak Bar, and Grand Ballroom will all be saved -- along with about 80,000 union jobs -- don't you love politics?

Seal Team 0x10

STRATCOM has revealed the murky existance of a team of crack US military operatives that are -- hackers! I can envision a sexy team of hunky geeks armed (with keyboards) and dangerous. I once read an article about the difficulties in making computer hacking sexy and exciting, and the same goes for novels, but it's fun to imagine a world where the nervs strong-arm the SEALS and win....

Kathleen (the geek)

Rouging Romance

And you thought only US Romance Writers whined about their image? Well, hello, UK! The Guardian writes about the Romance Novelists Association (UK's equivalent to RWA).

An Autistic Savant, A Man From Jersey, and a Ho Walk Into A Bar….

I had the marvelous pleasure of finishing three very different books this week. I'm liking this whole 'reading at night for fun' concept. This week, I finished, The Curious Incident of the Dog in Nighttime by Mark Haddon, Gone For Good, by Harlan Coben, and an ARC for The Washingtonienne by Jessica Cutler.

Going in chronological order, I finished the Dog in Nighttime first. I got this on CD several months ago when B&N had it on sale. I haven't done many audio books, but what I have done, I've enjoyed, although it takes me a LONG time to finish them because my listening has to be done hit or miss (I don't hang out with a CD player all day). BUT, on with the book. This book got rave reviews, and I thought the premise was intriguing. Here's the description from Amazon:

"Christopher John Francis Boone knows all the countries of the world and their capitals and every prime number up to 7,057. He relates well to animals but has no understanding of human emotions. He cannot stand to be touched. Although gifted with a superbly logical brain, Christopher is autistic. Everyday interactions and admonishments have little meaning for him. Routine, order and predictability shelter him from the messy, wider world. Then, at fifteen, Christopher’s carefully constructed world falls apart when he finds his neighbor’s dog, Wellington, impaled on a garden fork, and he is initially blamed for the killing.

Christopher decides that he will track down the real killer and turns to his favorite fictional character, the impeccably logical Sherlock Holmes, for inspiration. But the investigation leads him down some unexpected paths and ultimately brings him face to face with the dissolution of his parents’ marriage. As he tries to deal with the crisis within his own family, we are drawn into the workings of Christopher’s mind.

And herein lies the key to the brilliance of Mark Haddon’s choice of narrator: The most wrenching of emotional moments are chronicled by a boy who cannot fathom emotion. The effect is dazzling, making for a novel that is deeply funny, poignant, and fascinating in its portrayal of a person whose curse and blessing is a mind that perceives the world literally."

First of all, let me say that the reviews were well-deserved. The character is done brilliantly and from what I can gather from those who have experience with autism, accurately as well. Christopher has no emotions, and as such, all the pain that is inflicted on Christopher is reflected onto the reader instead. Masterful use of character suffering. The one place where I felt like this backfired was the ending. Because the character couldn't experience emotion, there was no satisfaction in the ending. I missed that moment when the character "gets it," because this character can never truly "get it." But that's a minor piffle. I love crawling into interesting minds, and this book definitely does that. Highly recommended.

The next one was Gone for Good by Harlan Coben. I had never read Harlan Coben before, but this one made me realize the errors of my ways. From Amazon:

"As a boy, Will Klein had a hero: his older brother, Ken. Then, on a warm suburban night in the Kleins’ affluent New Jersey neighborhood, a young woman--a girl Will had once loved--was found brutally murdered in her family’s basement. The prime suspect: Ken Klein. With the evidence against him overwhelming, Ken simply vanished. And when his shattered family never heard from Ken again, they were sure he was gone for good.

Now eleven years have passed. Will has found proof that Ken is alive. And this is just the first in a series of stunning revelations as Will is forced to confront startling truths about his brother, and even himself. As a violent mystery unwinds around him, Will knows he must press his search all the way to the end. Because the most powerful surprises are yet to come."

This was a fast, fun read. The author does come up with some surprising twists and turns in the plot, leading you down one alleyway, and then SCREECH, wheels spinning you move on to the next supposition about what happened to whom and why. Again, I had issues with the ending. I thought the author made one turn too many and because he had led me down one path the entire book, I didn't buy it. I loved the author's narrative voice. I like narrator's who talk to the reader directly and the main character does. By the time the book is over, you feel like you have a new friend. This was a cleverly plotted book and because I have so much trouble with plotting, I writhe with jealousy when I see it done masterfully, as Coben did. I'll be looking for more of his books now. Highly recommended.

And lastly, the Washingtonienne. From Amazon:

"The blog that scandalized Washington, D.C., is now a sharp steamy, utterly unrepentant novel set against the backdrop of the nations’ capital….

"Just between us girls, Washington is an easy place to get laid. It’s a simple matter of economics: supply and demand. Washington lacks those industries that attract the Beautiful People, such as entertainment and fashion. Instead it has the government, also know as ‘Hollywood for the Ugly.’ Without the model-actress population to compete with, my stock shot up when I moved to DC."

When Jacqueline Turner’s fiancée gives her two days to move out of his apartment, she has no choice but to leave New York City and crash with her best friend in Washington, DC. (She can’t be expected to keep herself in cute clothes while paying New York City rent, after all.) She needs a new, exciting life—not to mention real employment. Where better to get a fresh start than the nation’s capital?
Alas, DC turns out to be a lot more buttoned-up and toned down than she’d hoped. It’s a town where a girl has to make her own excitement—and Jacqueline Turner is just the woman for the job.

From the married presidential appointee who gives her cash after each tryst, to the lascivious Georgetown lawyer who parades her around like something out of Pretty Woman, Jackie’s roster of paramours grows so complicated her friends ask her to start a blog so they can keep up. But in a small town like Washington, the line between private and public blurs very easily. Just as one of her beaux takes a lead in the race for her heart, Jackie realizes this blog idea may be more than she bargained for….

Deliciously gossipy and impossible to put down, The Washingtonienne is every bit as outrageously scandalous as the real-life exploits that inspired it. "

When I read Chapter one in this one, I was thrilled. I loved the character and I immediately assumed I would love the rest of the book. WRONG. Chapter 2 through 23 made me go "ewww," several times, and I considered washing my sheets.

This could have been such a good book. The author is a good writer. However, Jacqueline and Christopher Boone shared much in common. Mainly, the absolute lack of emotion for twenty-one chapters. That worked with an autistic savant. It doesn't work with a ho. And unfortunately, without that emotion (and I'm not even talking regret here; I'm talking joy, sorrow, pain, nervousness, pleasure, heck -- ANYTHING) it falls flat. The sex should have been steamier. Instead, we might as well be boiling broccoli... Oh, the primary positions are covered, but if you want to get off, good luck!

The book moves briskly, the words are strung together well, and starting in chapter 24, when the conflict FINALLY arrives, it does pick up. I hope Jessica Cutler stays in writing. I think she has a lot of potential as an author, and I'm not sure if her real life is currently as jizzed as the story, but I bet not. No, I bet Jessica Cutler is doing just fine.

That's my reading report for today! If anyone has read anything fun, let me know! I've got Alison Kent's Larger than Life in my pile and also Mr. Impossible by Loretta Chase (LOVED Lord of Scoundrels).

On Bullshit

The five people you meet in the unemployment line. Most of you know Mitch Albom as the author of the Five People You Meet in Heaven and Tuesdays with Morrie, however, before he hit the lists, he was (and still is, uh, was) a sports reporter for the Detroit Free Press. Apparently, Mr. Albom got SO carried away with writing fiction… well, you can guess the rest, it seems he wrote a few things that just aren't quite, absolutely positively true. We all are watching voyeuristically as the paper spanks him. Which brings us to our next topic on journalistic ethics and honesty….

Sy, Sy, Sy . First of all, I love Seymour M. Hersh. He's a great speaker, an inspired investigative journalist, and sometimes…too smart for his own good. This New York magazine profile on him talks about his tendency to overexaggerate when either a) speaking in public or b) trying to get confirmation from a source. Very clever tactics, I must say, but when you um, "lie" it will come back to bite you in the butt.

And lastly, I'm a writer for Romancing the Blog, (as I'm sure many of you know) and have found out that Alison Kent has been romancing the blog incognito, sharing an alter ego with the founder of the blog, "Kate." She outted herself; I'm not so crass. Apparently, this was because of some to-do that completely passed me by (God, MUST IT ALWAYS BE A CRISIS? You'd think we were a group of women or something…) People have been calling, reporters phoning in (don't need any corrections here, I'm pulling an Albom/Hersh/Kent), asking what I'm going to do.

I will do what I always do. I will ponder. In the immortal words of Winnie The Pooh, "think, think, think."

Quote of the day:
"You can go a long way with a smile. You can go a lot farther with a smile and a gun." -- Al Capone.

Chick-lit to the rescue!

A comic from Patricia Storms, make sure you click all the way through. It's long and hilarious. Makes me want to jump into my bondage gear....

Monday Rants

The Stamp Act of 2005
The US Post Office is asking for a rate increase to raise the price of stamps in the US from .37 to .39. Am I the only person who wonders why stamps can't be an even amount? Before .37, we had .34. And now .39? How much does the Post Office earn every year just from people who round up? I don't know, but I bet it's a pretty penny.

Word for the Day:
malapropos adjective:
Unseasonable; unsuitable; inappropriate.

The Wedding Protest
According to this morning's Post, Camilla had a case of pre-wedding jitters and almost had to postpone due to illness. I'm glad she decided to show, because even as it was, there were people with Diana pictures and candles at Kensington Palace to protest the "royal" wedding.

From an article in the UK Telegraph:

Mary Radcliffe, 80, from Swindon, Wilts, pinned a handwritten poem to the gates, which read: "The Lionheart of England roars as people voice their grave concerns! Diana's spirit haunts and glows: cherished and loved across the world."

Mrs Radcliffe said that she travelled to Kensington Palace to pay her respects to Princess Diana, who, she felt, was being "airbrushed from history".

"I feel that this wedding is blemishing the memory of Diana - she deserved better than that," she said. "It is totally unacceptable and undermines the future of the monarchy."

To all the protesters, I have three words: Get a Life. She's DEAD already. Okay, that's more than three words.

Now is the time where I normally wrap up the news events into some short, pithy piece on the romance industry, but not today! I have to go down into the dungeon.

Must... write... pages....

Sometimes Rice is More than Condoleezza

According to this CNN report,

Charles and Camilla will say the prayer book confession which reads: "We acknowledge and bewail our manifold sins and wickedness, Which we, from time to time, most grievously have committed, by thought, word and deed, Against thy Divine Majesty, Provoking most justly thy wrath and indignation against us."

After the ceremony, the couple will be locked into the stockade where the populace will pelt them with bangers and mash. The opening pitch is to be thrown by none other than the Queen herself.

And now for something completely different, I went to see Spam, Spam, Spam, Spam, spam-A-Lot!!! last night. Lots of fun and much silliness. Tim Curry was King Arthur and was pompous, British and hysterical. I had brought my rice and water pistol, but security was tight, and both were confiscated. Alas.

Schaden-Foer

Today's Post has an article on the current trend of Foer-bashing. For those who don't follow, "lit-tra-chure" (and as you can tell, I don't; I only use it for comedic entertainment), Jonathan Safran Foer is the author of the 2002 "snob sensation" (their word's, not mine), "Everything is Illuminated." His current work is "Extremely Loud & Incredible Close." The Times did a major hatchet-job on the book, although I believe most reviews have been fairly complimentary. However, this leads me to speculate on what causes some authors to be targets of bashing campaigns vs. authors who escape bash-free…. Actually, I have no idea. I suppose bashing could be considered a measure of your success -- the more successful you are, the more thrashings you get from others. Sigh. I never get bashed. Leave me alone for my Charlie Brown moment.

Moment passed.

I finished Memory Day by Vince Flynn last night. It's the story of a terrorist plot to detonate a nuclear bomb within the US on Memorial Day. The plotting was tight, the characters were fairly well drawn, although most of his characters were fairly black and white, which really irks me, because nobody is ALL good or all bad. The book did raise some interesting questions on the use of torture. In what circumstances? What's acceptable, etc. Very thought-provoking. If you like political thrillers, it's worth a read.

Seguing from torture to pleasure, an article I read recently said that if you're feeling stressed out, you should make a list of things that give you pleasure and you should make time to do those things once a day. For me, reading is a pleasure, although I tell myself I never have time. However, I've been reading an hour a night and I really enjoy it. I would suggest that all of you who are feeling pulled in a million directions make your own list and make sure you make time to enjoy something.

Today's romancingtheblog column is about the current reign of the series in romance. Not talking harlequin here, talking Julia Quinn's Bridgerton's, Kenyon's DarkHunter, Karen Marie Moning's Highlanders, and the last goes on, and on, and on, and on. I love series I do, I've done some, I still do some, and I quit some. Current series I love:
1. Suzanne Brockmann Troubleshooters series.
2. James Patterson, Alex Cross
3. Janet Evanovich, Stephanie Plum
4. Nora's current garden trilogy

And that's pretty much it. It's a short list, because I could never have enough time to read all the series that I would like to. I quit Laurell K. Hamilton because I lost interest. She got to be all sex, sex, sex, oh, a monster, sex, sex, sex, and I liked the first few books that were monster, monster, monster, oh, sex, sex, monster, monster. Let me say, if I want sex, I'll pick romance, not horror, you know? However, she hits the NYT list with marvelous frequency, so obviously hot monster sex is very in.

So, questions for today:
1. What's your favorite series? Series that you don't do anymore?
2. Which seven Jeopardy categories best describe you?
3. What things would you like to do every day for fun?

Tracking the Bestsellers

And yes, they have to count Pope John Paul II, 35000: Bush 3500 . Next up, JPII vs. Paris Hilton.

After many weeks of merely languishing in the hundreds on Amazon's bestseller list, the Pope has rocketed to #2 and #3 spot, only bested by the megalomaniacal duo of Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince. The Da Vinci Code, perhaps in a pro-Catholic backlash, has been pushed all the way down to #10, beneath "Blink," "The Kite Runner," and "The Way to Christ: Spritiual Exercises" by yes, none other, than John Paul II.

Angels & Demons is currently at #26, but I'm predicting when the conclave starts and the media needs talking points on the process of picking the next Pope, Dan Brown will be the go-to guy, garnering appearances on Today, ABC News, and Oprah. A&D will rocket to #2, bested only by Harry, because as we know, nobody bests Harry, not even God.

April Showers

This just in, the non-wedding of the century has been moved to Saturday. Charles will attend the Pope's funeral on Friday, sans Camilla. He calls the move, " a mark of high respect", I call the move "a mark of high intellect."

In Monday news, I've written today's column at Romancing the Blog.

The Death of a Hero

All this weekend I've watched the coverage of the Pope's passing and felt both a sense of loss and a sense of relief. This was a man who suffered greatly and I knew his death would give him a respite from the heavy burden of his illness, and yet, I also mourned for our loss. The number of truly great people who are defined only by their goodness in this world is infinitesimal. And Saturday they lost one of their number.

I don't agree with all the teachings of the church, I don't even agree with all the precepts of the Pope, but I had a great admiration for a man who was willing to stand up for his beliefs, for what he believed was right, without judging others. Somehow he was able to embrace everyone with his warmth and his caring. That quality is so rare. We are casting judgments right and left, running down others, not really meaning to, but placing such importance on our own opinions, that everyone else is relegated to second place. In society's quest for the domination of the individual, we have lost sight of everyone else. It was a sad day yesterday. The Pope will be missed.

And in the continuing saga of Charles and Camilla, you just have to worry about the future of this marriage. Their nuptials are set for Friday, which could be the same day as the Pope's funeral. The Royal Family has said that they will not change the date, even if that happens to be the day of the pontiff's funeral. You wonder just how many more obstacles can be thrown between them. It makes Romeo and Juliet look like a walk in the park. We'll see….

And lastly, I found a copy of my book in Barnes & Noble on Friday. It was momentous occasion, as I was on the New Fiction table, and I've never had table-space before! I'd appreciate it if anyone with Diva sightings could report back in.

So, questions for the day:

1. Do you think Charles and Camilla should change the date?
2. What's the weather like where you are (it's raining here)?
3. Who's your real-life hero?