A book about books

Finally, an idea whose time has come. People sharing stories about books that changed their lives. To be published in 2006. I'll be interested to see how this turns out. Kudos to whoever had the idea.

America's Bookbuying Habits

Zogby International released a poll showing which bookstores were favored by American consumers, which got me pondering my own bookbuying habits.

Here's my breakdown:

General Fiction I almost always buy from Barnes & Noble. I love browsing the shelves and finding something that I might have missed or want to read. First up is the New Fiction and Bestsellers table, simply because I'm a consumer who has been suckered into the myth that if it's a bestseller, it must be good.

Research books -- I'm addicted to buying research books, which I suppose is better than being addicted to crack. I usually go to Amazon because the selection is better than books and mortar and also, in research, the "Consumers who bought this also bought" feature is great. I can check out the lists, and I usually end up buying 3-5 books at a whack. Please note that if I can get used in my research books, I usually do. I don't buy fiction used (unless it's out of print), but in non-fiction, used is fair game.

Harlequins and Romance -- my Barnes & Noble is getting better about carrying and stocking Harlequins than they used to, so I can usually find what I want. We have a Waldenbooks nearby, but it's a pain to get to (the road it's on has tons of lights and traffic jams), so it's not my first choice unless I have to be in the neighborhood.

Independents -- In Texas, we had a marvelous bookstore, Sue's Book Exchange, and I always went there for my romance novels. They did new, used, and her entire staff could tell you what was good, and what wasn't. It was a romance reader's heaven. Alas, I've yet to find a cool independent in my neighborhood that doesn't specialize in "lit-ra-choor."

So, here's my question for each of you:

What are your book-buying habits? Give a shout-out to your favorite bookstores, or booksellers. I'm curious for those of you who use Amazon for general fiction buying how you make your decisions. Do you know what you want and then order it, or do you browse?

Chick-Lit and Brand Names

The New York Daily News has an article on why the affair between chick-lit and designer lables. I would be remiss if I didn't mention that THE DIVA'S GUIDE TO SELLING YOUR SOUL is mentioned. I would also be remiss if I didn't mention THE GIVENCHY CODE written by the lovely and talented Julie Kenner, was also cited.

GCC: Larger Than Life by Alison Kent

It takes a special talent to combine steaminess and romance, and bring it all off, but I've always thought that Alison Kent is one of the best. Her current release, Larger Than Life , is the sixth book in her Smithson Group series for Kensington Brava . This is the first book that I've read in new series, but I'm really enjoying it. Once again, Alison has shown a flair for writing a sensual story that feels authentic.

From the back cover:

With her wildly popular SG-5 series, Alison Kent proved that taut suspense and hot, sensual romance make for an irresistible mix. Now, in LARGER THAN LIFE, Kent ups the ante again with a story of two people caught in a high-stakes game where their hearts and lives are on the line…

After being beaten and left for dead in the New Mexico desert, Smithson Group agent Mick Savin tries to piece together his last few days. He remembers bits and pieces: gathering crucial intel. An ambush by Spectra thugs. And then…nothing, except waking up in some medical center in rural West Texas. His mission was top secret. So how did he end up here?

The answer is Neva Case. If the former big-city attorney hadn’t been out in her pick-up, Mick wouldn’t be alive. Mick’s never met anyone quite like Neva. She’s smart, sexy, and passionate. She also has a secret. Neva runs the Big Brown Barn, an underground shelter for young girls forced into unwanted polygamist marriages. Neva would do anything for these girls—and that’s what worries Mick. Neva may be trusting, but Mick’s instincts tell him that something’s not quite right. He’s not about to let someone get to Neva and the girls on his watch. Especially when one of the girls brings trouble straight to the barn's front door . . .

Now, with the shelter in unimaginable danger and time running out, Mick is in for the fight of his life, one that could cost him the woman he’s come to love more than anything…

As soon as I finish this one, I can see I've got some catch-up reading to do!!

Atlanta is burning.....

Apparently some of the genteel people of Atlanta are perturbed at the idea of the Runaway Bride profiting from her little Greyhound excursion. I was surprised that Dateline was airing the interview right now when there are two missing persons cases in the headlines. But what do I know about class? I won't be watching. I heard TV Land is rerunning The Munsters. :)

Authors Still Make Money: Film at Eleven!

Forbes came this weekend, listing the top 100 from the celebrity world, including authors. Top scribe on the list? JK Rowling? BUT NO. It's Dan Brown. The dark horse author who came from behind to win the best-seller PowerBall lottery. His annual earnings were listed at 76.5 million, number six on the money list overall, JK Rowling made 59.1 million, number nine on the money list. Nora Roberts at $28.8 million, James Patterson at $27 million and Arthur Agatston, author of the South Beach Diet at $16 million. It cheers me to realize that the highest paid authors are not Bill Clinton, or Jenna Jameson, or Suzanne Summers. No, with the exception of the Arthur A (and I'll let him slide. For God's sake, it's a diet book), these people are all authors.

I get angry at celebrity book deals. Some is sour grapes, I admit it. Some is just the knowledge that writing a book is hard work. It's more than having a pretty face, sleeping with the President, or being a great politician. It's a talent that most of the world believes they possess in great abundance. But when you read a great writer, you know it. It's like watching Michael Jordan play basketball, it's watching Dustin Hoffman in Midnight Cowboy, or listening to Ode to Joy at the symphony. Your soul sings.

There was an op-ed piece in the New York Times recently on the lack of culture in America. Culture meaning arts, music, literature. It was a thought-provoking article on how we are swimming in chum-laden waters, while the wonders of the arts are being swept out to sea. I've never been one to read the classics, and except for my piano-playing days, I don't spend a lot of time listening to Mozart. I'll never be a creature of the Renaissance, I was raised on pop culture, and it equally repels and attracts me. The Forbes list cheers me, though. I'm not a still, silent voice in the wilderness. There's a million others out there just like me who want to be swept away. We still recognize talent, and we're still willing to pay for it.

Hallelujah.

GCC: The Garden Angel by Mindy Friddle

We have another great Southern story touring in the Girl's Cybercircuit, The Garden Angel by Mindy Friddle. The story is about Sans Souci, South Carolina, where talk is cheap, and real estate even more so. No one knows this better than Cutter Johanson, a gruff tomboy who waits tables, writes obits, and makes every effort, however comical and in the face of her mercenary relatives, to avert the sale of the dilapidated ancestral home. And despite her plucky resolve, all appears to be lost—until she strikes up an unlikely friendship with Elizabeth, a shy and fragile academic who puts both their fates on the mend.

According to it's starred Kirkus Review, "A comic delight...Winning characters and piquant wit, with an underpinning of graciousness: a standout."

And Booklist says: "...Friddle concentrates her considerable talents on developing fully realized protagonists who earn and deserve the reader's respect."

Check out an excerpt here...

On Reading

I just finished two books, Black Rose by Nora Roberts and Fourth of July by James Patterson. I really enjoyed Black Rose. It's the second in her latest trilogy and is the romance of an "older woman" (47. LOL!). She dealt well with the issues that come up when extended families merge and how protective children are of their parents. Nora always does families well, so this isn't a suprise. Nora's trilogies are about all of Nora I do these days. I used to read JD Robb, but Nora writes too fast for me, so I had to pick one piece of the Nora pie and stick with it. I pick the trilogies, which are to me, the most romanciest, which is why I read Nora.

In non-romance reading, 4th of July was pretty good, too. It's a standard by-the-book serial killer(s) thriller, and I pegged the murderers pretty early on. Not too many characters, it wasn't difficult. The motivation for the killings was a surprise, and a unique justification for murder. But OK. This is part of James Patterson's Ladies Murder Club mystery and it's written entirely in female POV. Mr. Patterson has a female co-author on the cover as well, and it is done well. I don't like these characters as well as Alex Cross, though. I know Alex Cross, (even before Morgan Freeman played him in the movies), and he's very down to earth. It seems like a lot of thrillers involve people who are six degrees of separation from humanity, possibly because I can't relate to someone who is involved in life and death struggles rather than getting the kids off to school with their lunches packed.

There's been a WHOLE LOT of buzz about The Historian, and I'm toying with the idea of reading it. It's 700 pages, and I STILL HAVE A BOOK TO FINISH (nearly done with the edits, though). It's a Dracula story, which dwells on the horror side of vampires, rather than the seductive, do-me side of vampires, and I have to say I like the horror side of vampires better (Angel or Spike never really did it for me as much as Xander, although Spike got the best lines of the series).

I wrote the Sunday issue of Romancing The Blog this week, however, you don't have to read it unless you're sappy -- like me :)

I'm Famous!

Well, you never know which national newspapers might be reading your blog. I was quoted in yesterday's USA Today in an article on the Washingtonienne discussing why romance novels don't work in DC. Actually, the inimitable Nora wrote a series set in DC, but I'm blanking on the name. Romance novels can work anywhere (including France), but certain professions and locations require more writing skill than others to make it work. Just saying.

I'm currently polishing my next book, so posts are still sketchy. Apologize.

In book news, looks like Judith Regan of Regan Books has the Runaway Bride running in the right direction. Sigh. Did anyone doubt this? No. Does anyone want this? Those raising their hands will be shot.

Deep Throat Exposed in Enchanted, Inc.

Ha, just kidding. We all know who Deep Throat is: Henry Kissinger! Ha, just kidding again. But, all Deep Throat jokes aside, today, I'm happy to introduce Shanna Swendson , author of Enchanted, Inc , her debut chick-lit novel that is a magical story featuring Katie Chandler, a 20something, small-town Texas girl, who finds that being average in New York City is anything but. Katie loves the energy of Manhattan, and if she finds some of the people odd, well, that's New York, right? Where else would you see a person on the subway wearing fairy wings? In fact, if Katie wasn't completely sure those wings must be a costume, she'd think they were real, the way they flutter in the breeze. Certainly the gargoyle that perches above the door of the church she passes on the way to and from work isn't real. Its eyes seem to follow her, and she could have sworn it winked at her once, but now that she thinks about it, it was really hot that day, and she hadn't eaten lunch....

Katie is still adjusting to life in the big city while working a for a nightmare boss, when she gets a fantastic offer to work for a mysterious company, MSI, Inc. Through her new job and the magical folk she meets, Katie comes to find out she isn't quite as average as she thought; and the fairy tale life she has longed for begins to come true in surprising ways.

What Katie doesn't realize is how rare and important being ordinary can be. In fact, it is her ordinary characteristics that make her the perfect secret weapon for MSI, Inc. Suddenly the very qualities she thought made her average are what make her special! Now she has magicians and fairies meddling in her attempted romances, a secret life she needs to keep hidden from her non-magical friends, not to mention that dangerous pull she feels for Owen, an attractive but shy wizard who might be the most powerful magic man since Merlin.

ENCHANTED, INC is a magical delight that will be a fun summer read for anyone who's wished upon a star or hoped for a sprinkle of fairy dust.

Shanna's got some wonderful praise from other authors, including Julie Kenner, who I trust implicitly. Julie says: "With its clever premise and utterly engaging heroine, Shanna Swendson has penned a real treat! Enchanted, Inc. is loads of fun!"

Serendipitously, I got the book from Amazon today, and I'm looking forward to a great read ONCE MY BOOK IS DONE!!! (almost there)