How to use this Page

About the author
A year ago, author Sheila Curran was just finishing her radiation therapy for tonsil cancer - therapy that left her with third-degree burns inside her throat!

But her cancer was caught in the early stages, and she has regained the use of her taste buds and salivary glands - little things that mean a lot.

You can read more about Sheila's journey: http://www.sheilacurran.typepad.com/

About the book
Books are born in strange places. Sheila Curran’s latest was conceived in the front seat of a car while her friend drove and their daughters chatted in the backseat. The women were discussing an article Curran had written about two young girls whose parents had died within months of each other.

While talking about the tragedy, Sheila realized that choosing the perfect guardian for her kids—one that would raise them as she would--would be next to impossible. Even tougher to swallow would be the possibility that if she died first, her husband might marry someone awful, and then she’d have no control at all. Unless, she mused, she could get him to agree that if he remarried, her sisters and friends would have to agree to his choice of bride, just to prevent some wicked stepmother from moving in.

And thus was hatched the idea for Everyone She Loved: A Novel, an utterly engaging tale that explores the faith one woman placed in her dearest friends, the care she took to protect her family, and the many ways in which romantic entanglements can confound and confuse even the most determined of planners.

About the book
Like many new bird owners, Jenny and Scott Gardiner hoped for a smart, talkative, friendly companion. Instead, as they took on the unexpected task of raising a curmudgeonly wild African grey parrot and a newborn, they learned an important lesson: parrothood is way harder than parenthood.Winging It: A Memoir of Caring for a Vengeful Parrot Who's Determined to Kill Me, is a hilarious and poignant cautionary tale about two very different types of creatures, thrown together by fate, who learn to make the best of a challenging situation.

About the author
Jenny Gardiner is also the author of the award – winning novel Sleeping with Ward Cleaver. Her work has appeared in Ladies Home Journal, and the Washington Post. She writes a column of humorous essays for Charlottesville, Virginia’s newspaper, the Daily Progress. She lives in central Virginia with her family.

I asked, Jenny answered
A. What's the scariest thing that's ever happened to you? Bonus question: have you ever used it in a book?
J: Well, this might not have been THE scariest thing, but it did momentarily scare the bejesus out of me. My then eight-year old daughter had to go for some MRI as part of a study she was participating in at Georgetown University Hospital, which is a sprawling campus. We were running late and I had her hand clutched in mine as we raced across the sweltering July blacktop in the parking lot, trekking from building to building in search of the "right" MRI (lots of different buildings apparently had them. There was a lot of construction so pathways came to dead halts and we were redirected all over the place. Finally some old guard was kind enough to tell us a shortcut--we had to climb here, scale there, leap tall buildings in a single bound. It would take us in through the back entrance of this building, we were to proceed to the basement. So we get to the basement, me and my little impressionable girl, and it's just corridor after corridor of unmarked doorways. There was not a human being to be found, no one from whom I could ask directions. We finally get to a hallway that had MRI images on the walls, so i figured we were warm, right? I get to an open door and we rush into the room, only to find out we'd happened into the cadaver room. Me and my baby, with a room full of sheet-cloaked stiffs with toe tags. I screamed, covered her eyes, and pulled her out of there, lickety split! 
I must use that in a book some time!
Definitely!

A. Mystery writers often give their characters an unreasoning fear - and then make them face it. Do you have any phobias, like fear of spiders or enclosed spaces?
I am HUGELY afraid of heights. I do try to force it on myself though. Years ago we went to a Club Med that was a circus Club Med and I spent the whole week doing the trapeze. It appealed to the former gymnast/ice skater/diver in me, but climbing that skimpy ladder and being suspended so high above the ground did freak me out. Also last winter we were in Costa Rica and did ziplines. A year earlier we'd done ziplines in Hawaii but those were like baby ziplines compared to the ones in Costa Rica. I have to say I did not enjoy even one second of it in CR--the entire time I was gripped with fear. Being like a mile up on a 1-1/2 mile stretch of wire was not my idea of a good time! 
A. I always hoped if I did one of those zipline things I would lose MY fear of heights.

A. Do you

Do authors really need book trailers? Laura Miller at Salon doesn't think so. She makes a good point in that most people who aren't authors aren't even aware of book trailers: " In fact, if you're not an author you've probably never even seen a book trailer unless you happen to visit the Web site of a favorite writer or scroll down a book's Amazon page until you stumble over a link to "related media." Yet new and veteran authors are commonly told by publishers and independent publicists that a trailer is now an essential element of any book's marketing campaign."

She also rounds up some really lame videos for books that deserved better: The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo and The Help.

You can read the whole article here.

If you are going to do a book trailer, do one like this. No wonder it's in development for a TV series.

About the book
Love in Translation: A Novel is for anyone who’s ever dreamt of finding love and family in an unexpected place...

After receiving a puzzling phone call and a box full of mysterious family heirlooms, 33-year-old fledgling singer Celeste Duncan is off to Japan to search for a long, lost relative who could hold the key to the identity of the father she never knew. Once there she stumbles head first into a weird, wonderful world where nothing is quite as it seems—a land with an inexplicable fascination with foreigners, karaoke boxes, and unbearably perky TV stars.

With little knowledge of Japanese, Celeste finds a friend in her English-speaking homestay brother, Takuya, and comes to depend on him for all variety of translation, travel and investigatory needs. As they cross the country following a trail after Celeste's relatives, she discovers she's developing "more-than-sisterly" feelings for him, although his mother seems to have other plans for her son. But when Celeste learns a Japanese song called “The Wishing Star,” things begin to change for her in ways she never expected, leading her to ask, what is the true meaning of family? And what does it mean to discover your own voice?

What the critics are saying
“Tokunaga... describe[s] Japanese culture in absorbing detail.” 
—Publishers Weekly

"Witty, lighthearted and charming story of finding love in an unexpected place."
—Fresh Fiction 

"A delightful plot with wonderful characterizations."
—Affair de Coeur Magazine 

"Four stars!"
—RT Book Reviews Magazine

I asked, Wendy answered
A. What's the scariest thing that's ever happened to you? Bonus question: have you ever used it in a book?
W. Seeing Wayne Newton live in concert was pretty scary. Oh, but I guess you don’t mean that kind of scary. Having my soon-to-be ex-husband threaten to kill my boyfriend (who is now my husband) with the gun he just bought was pretty scary. I haven’t used that in a book, but now that you’ve mentioned it... [April says: You’re not the first author I’ve heard talk about the scary ex with a gun - I hope it’s not a trend!]

A. Mystery writers often give their characters an unreasoning fear - and then make them face it. Do you have any phobias, like fear of spiders or enclosed spaces?
W. I don’t think you have room on your blog for all my fears and phobias. They include snakes, flying in small planes (big ones too), roller coasters, and fear of my car slipping backwards while stopped atop one of San Francisco’s famous hills, just to name a few.

A. Do you have a favorite mystery book, author, or movie?
W. I devoured Agatha Christie’s books when I was a kid. I also love many of Alfred Hitchcock’s movies: “Strangers on a Train,” “Shadow of a Doubt,” “Psycho,” etc.

A. At its heart, every story is a mystery. It asks why someone acts the way they did - or maybe what will happen next. What question does your book ask?
W. For LOVE IN TRANSLATION I’d say: a puzzling phone call, a box full of mysterious family heirlooms, then an unexpected trip to an overwhelming place where nothing is quite as it seems—Japan. What family secrets will 33-year old fledgling singer Celeste Duncan uncover as she searches for a long, lost relative who could hold the key to the identity of the father she never knew?

A. Is there a mys

About the book
What would you do if you discovered you had a half-sister you never knew existed?

In The Secret of Joy, 28-year-old New Yorker Rebecca Strand is shocked when her dying father confesses a devastating secret: he had affair when Rebecca was a toddler—and a baby he turned his back on at birth. Now, his wish is that the daughter he abandoned, Joy Joyhawk, read the unsent letters he wrote to her every year on her birthday. Determined to fulfill her father’s wish, Rebecca drives to a small town in Maine—against the advice of her lawyer boyfriend who’s sure Joy will be a “disappointing, trashy opportunist” and demand half her father’s fortune. But when hopeful Rebecca knocks on her half-sister’s door, Joy—a separated mother who conducts weekend singles tours out of her orange mini-bus—wants nothing to do with Rebecca or the letters her father wrote to her. Determined to forge some kind of relationship with Joy, Rebecca sticks around, finding unexpected support from Joy’s best clients—the Divorced Ladies Club of Wiscasset—and a sexy carpenter named Theo . . . .

About the author
Melissa Senate lives on the coast of Maine with her son and their menagerie of pets. She’s the author of eight novels (seven women’s fiction and one young adult) with two on the way. Visit her website (http://www.melissasenate.com) for more information and she’d love if you became her friend Facebook (http://www.facebook.com/MelissaSenate) and followed her on Twitter (http://twitter.com/melissasenate).

I asked, Melissa answered
A: What's the scariest thing that's ever happened to you? Bonus question: have you ever used it in a book?
M: When I was nine years old, I lived in a borough of New York City on a busy street. Right across the street was a school yard with a huge handball wall that was all the rage for kids. But: I wasn’t allowed to cross the street without asking an adult to walk across with me. So, my little friend Jackie and I asked a man in a suit with a briefcase to cross us, and he said: “I’ll take you across the street if you show me where I can find a bathroom.” That was our cue to run, but instead, we took him to the basement of my apartment building. LIKE IDIOTS. (Well, nine-year-old idiots.) We watched as he opened his briefcase and took out a big needle and something that looked like rope (at the time, we didn’t realize this was about drugs). We stared at each other for a split second and bolted. From that day on, I was allowed to cross the street by myself.

For the bonus q: I write chick lit/women’s fiction, so that particular bit has not found a way into my fiction, but I’ve found that what I do work into my novels is the impact of the emotion I’ve felt. That fear—and the fear for my friend—has manifested itself in interesting ways when describing all kinds of fear in my books.

A: Mystery writers often give their characters an unreasoning fear - and then make them face it. Do you have any phobias, like fear of spiders or enclosed spaces?
M: I lived in New York City apartments for such a long time that I didn’t realize I would be afraid to live in a house with doors and windows that opened on the ground floor. It’s taken me five years of living in a small town in Maine to stop worrying that someone will come through the windows.

A: Do you have a favorite mystery book, author, or movie?
MS: I love all kinds of mysteries, from cozies to hardboiled. I do have a special fondness for Janet Evanovich.

A. At its heart, every story is a mystery. It asks why someone acts the way they did - or maybe what will happen next. What question does your book ask?
M: The Secret of Joy asks: If a half-sibling you never met, never knew about, came knocking on your door one day, how would you feel? P.S. This very question was inspired by an email I received out of the blue that said: I think you might be my half-sister . . .

A, Is there a mystery in life that you are still trying to figure
M: Motherhood. No annotating required.

About the books

Black is for Beginnings is a companion book to the BLUE IS FOR NIGHTMARES series.

Prophetic nightmares. Near-brushes with death. Killers pursuing her and her friends. Stacey Brown knows that being a hereditary witch isn’t all it's cracked up to be. BLACK continues the harrowing adventures of Stacey and Jacob in the wake of Jacob's brush with death. Ever since he lost his memory, Jacob hasn't been able to remember Stacey - his own soul mate. He leaves Massachusetts, returning to his childhood home in Colorado, hoping to jog his memory. What he remembers is Kira, his ex-girlfriend. As Jacob works to piece together his past, will there be room for Stacey in his future?

Laurie says, “When my editor approached me with the idea of writing a graphic novel, I was very intrigued because it gave me the opportunity to not only try something new, but to really picture the book as a movie.  I have a background in screenwriting and wrote BLACK IS FOR BEGINNINGS in screenplay format, adding in ideas for illustrations and sidebars. It was an absolute thrill to write – to have the opportunity to work with an illustrator, and to see my work come to life in this way.  BLACK IS FOR BEGINNINGS does not take the place of a regular prose novel in the series. It is a companion piece, complimenting the entire series as a whole.”

Deadly Little Lies is the sequel to Deadly LIttle Secret, (the first book in the TOUCH series). It starts up a few months after Ben’s departure at the end of the first book. Camelia’s spent those months researching everything she can find on psychometry (the ability to sense things through touch).

Ben returns to school, but he remains aloof, and Camelia can't get close enough to share her secret with him. Camelia makes the painful decision to let him go and move on. Adam, the hot new guy at Knead, seems good for her in ways Ben wasn't. But when Camelia and Adam start dating, a surprising love triangle results. A chilling sequence of events uncovers secrets from Ben’s past – and Adam's. Someone is lying, and it's up to Camelia to figure out who – before it's too late.

What the critics are saying
"The half-million readers of Laurie Faria Stolarz’s paranormal mystery series will be happy with this shift to graphic style, offering as it does the pleasure of putting faces on characters, its visualized eeriness and vibrant displays of emotion...The graphic style allows Stolarz to distill the story while simultaneously dropping hints about Stacey and Jacob’s supernatural talents, luring new readers to the series." - Kirkus Reviews

"Taking Stolarz’s Blue Is for Nightmares series into the graphic-novel realm is a bold idea, and it pays off in this morbidly entertaining and surprisingly romantic page-turner." - Booklist

About the author
Laurie Faria Stolarz is the author of several popular young adult novels, including Deadly Little Secret, Deadly Little Lies, Project 17, Bleed, and the bestselling BLUE IS FOR NIGHTMARES series, which has sold over 500,000 copies worldwide. Stolarz's titles have been part of the Quick Pick for Reluctant Readers list, the Top Ten Teen Pick list, and YALSA's Popular Paperback list, all through the American Library Association. Born and raised in Salem, Massachusetts, Stolarz attended Merrimack College and received an MFA in creative writing from Emerson College in Boston. For more information, visit Laurie's website at www.lauriestolarz.com.

I asked, Laurie answered
A. What's the scariest thing that's ever happened to you?  Bonus question:  have you used it, in any way, in a book?
L. When I was doing the research for PROJECT17, I went to the abandoned mental institution on which the book is based.  Growing up, the former mental hospital was rumored to be haunted (there are actually unmarked graves on the premises).  Once I really started delving into the research, visiting the place took on a whole new meaning (knowledge really IS power).  I was so horrified that I couldn’t sleep at night.  So, yes, I have used this fear to write a book.


A. Mystery writers often give their characters an unreasoning fear - and then make them face it.  Do you have any phobias, like fear of spiders or enclosed spaces? 
L. I’m the biggest wuss ever, even though I write this scary stuff, too.  You name it – bugs, critters, haunted houses, dark places, basements, attics, creaking noises at night, horror flicks, abandoned places, the list goes on and on.  I use all of this in my writing.


A. Do you have a favorite mystery book, author, or movie?  
L. I love Stephen King and Robert Cormier.  I also love The Lovely Bones by Alice Sebold and Our Secret History by Donna Tartt.  As for movies, I love the Scream trilogy, though I have to watch most of it with a pillow over my eyes.  I also like I Know What You Did Last Summer (but again with the pillow).  I’m not into the mega-horror stuff that’s out now.  If I watched any of that, I’m not even joking when I say I wouldn’t be sleeping for days.


A. At its heart, every story is a mystery.  It asks why someone acts the way they did - or maybe what will happen next.  What question does your book ask?
L. What happens when you fall in love with someone who could possibly kill another, including you?


A. Is there a mystery in life that you are still trying to figure out?
L. I think there are so many mysteries in one’s life.  Unraveling those mysteries and getting to the answers – and finding new mysteries along the way – is what we’re meant to do I believe.

About the book
According To Jane is Marilyn Brant's debut.

It begins one day in sophomore English class, just as Ellie Barnett's teacher is assigning Jane Austen's "Pride and Prejudice". From nowhere comes a quiet 'tsk' of displeasure. The target: Sam Blaine, the cute bad boy who's teasing Ellie mercilessly, just as he has since kindergarten. Entirely unbidden, as Jane might say, the author's ghost has taken up residence in Ellie's mind, and seems determined to stay there.

Jane's wise and witty advice guides Ellie through the hell of adolescence and beyond, serving as the voice she trusts, usually far more than her own. Years and boyfriends come and go - sometimes a little too quickly, sometimes not nearly fast enough. But Jane's counsel is constant, and on the subject of Sam, quite insistent. Stay away, Jane demands. He is your Mr. Wickham.

Still, everyone has something to learn about love - perhaps even Jane herself. And lately, the voice in Ellie's head is being drowned out by another, urging her to look beyond everything she thought she knew and seek out her very own, very unexpected, happy ending.

About the author
As a former teacher, library staff member, freelance magazine writer and national book reviewer for Romantic Times, Marilyn has spent much of her life lost in literature. She received her M.A. in educational psychology from Loyola University Chicago, dabbled in both fiction and art at Northwestern University, studied the works of Austen at Oxford University and is an active member of the Jane Austen Society of North America. Her debut novel won RWA's prestigious Golden Heart Award® in 2007. 

Marilyn lives in the northern Chicago suburbs with her family, but she also hangs out online at her blog "Brant Flakes." When she isn't rereading Jane's books or enjoying the latest releases by her writer friends, she's working on her next novel, eating chocolate indiscriminately and hiding from the laundry.
Her website: http://www.marilynbrant.com

I asked, Marilyn answered
A. What's the scariest thing that's ever happened to you? Bonus question: have you ever used it in a book?

M. I was on a dance tour in Europe when I was 19, and I happened to have a free day in Geneva, Switzerland. So, I was walking around--by myself--in their downtown area near the famous lake, sightseeing, and this dark-haired guy started following me. He said a few words to me in a language I didn’t understand, so I’m not at all sure what he wanted, but there was something in his body language that convinced me it wasn’t some friendly “careful, don’t drop your camera in the water” kind of comment. After a minute or two, he was close enough and I was sufficiently freaked out enough to start running. It was a crowded area, so I didn’t have any trouble dodging him and ducking into a building, but I was frightened--no doubt about it. Haven’t used it in a book. Yet.



A. Mystery writers often give their characters an unreasoning fear - and then make them face it. Do you have any phobias, like fear of spiders or enclosed spaces?
M. I absolutely HATE celery. That’s not an official phobia, but I think it should be. The stuff is so horrible it scares me… [April says: I hate it too! I used to tell people I was deathly allergic.] I’m not wild about bugs and rodents (scampering mice and rats make me scream), but my biggest fears involve having to get up onstage in front of hundreds or thousands of people. I’ve done it a number of times anyway, but the heart-pounding, nausea-creating feeling never goes away. 


A. Do you have a favorite mystery book, author, or movie? 
M. I love mysteries, so I have lots of favorites! I was an insatiable Nancy Drew reader as a kid. I also loved the gothic romantic mysteries of Phyllis A. Whitney and Victoria Holt. More recently, I fell in love with Janet Evanovich and have read most of her novels now, too.


A. At its heart, every story is a mystery. It asks why someone acts the way they did - or maybe what will happen next. What question does your book ask?
M> Why is Jane Austen in my main character’s mind? Why did Jane choose HER to visit, rather than someone else?

A. Is there a mystery in life that you are still trying to figure out?
M. I think one of the big mysteries is “What gives life meaning?” I believe we answer that question differently at different ages--and it all depends on how we view the world--but it’s a mystery I keep returning to and trying to answer for myself with greater depth.

About the book
In Air Time, Star reporter Charlotte (Charlie) McNally enters the glamorous and high-stakes world of high fashion . . . and soon discovers when the purses are fake, the danger is real. 
 
To break her latest big-money blockbuster, Charlotte must go undercover—but what if the bad guys recognize her? Carrying a hidden camera and dressing to deceive, Charlie finds she's not the only one disguising her identity. Nothing—and no one—is what they seem. And that means nothing—and no one—can be trusted. In her high-risk job and in her suddenly steamy love life, how can she tell the real thing?
 
Charlie is forced to make some life-changing—and life and death—decisions. With only a split-second to act and with her own life in the balance, Charlie knows if she chooses wrong it will be the last decision she ever makes.  

About the author
Award-winning investigative reporter Hank Phillippi Ryan is currently on the air at Boston's NBC affiliate, where she's broken big stories for the past 22 years.  Her stories have resulted in new laws, people sent to prison, homes removed from foreclosure, and millions of dollars in refunds and restitution for consumers.
 
Along with her 26 Emmys, Hank’s also won dozens of other journalism honors, including 10 Edward R. Murrow Awards, and highest honors from Investigative Reporters and Editors (IRE) and The National Association of Science Writers. Hank’s been a radio reporter, a legislative aide in the United States Senate, and in a two-year stint in Rolling Stone Magazine's Washington Bureau, worked on the political column "Capitol Chatter" and organized presidential campaign coverage for Hunter S. Thompson. She began her TV career in 1975, anchoring and reporting the news for TV stations in Indianapolis and then Atlanta.

Hank and her husband, a nationally renowned criminal defense and civil rights attorney, live just outside Boston.

Q & A with Hank
Q. Charlotte (Charlie) McNally is an investigative TV reporter, and so are you! What qualities do you share with Charlie, and how are you different?

A. When my husband talks about Charlie, he calls her “you.” As in—when “you” are held at gunpoint, when you track down the bad guys, when you solve the mystery . . . and I have to remind him, “Sweetheart, it’s fiction. It didn’t really happen.”

But a couple of things: I’ve been a TV reporter for more than 30 years. (Yes, really.) And so it would be silly, in writing a mystery about TV, not to use my own experiences. Think about it—as a TV reporter, you can never be wrong! Never be one minute late. Never choose the wrong word or miscalculate. You can never have a bad hair day, because it’ll be seen by millions of people! It’s high-stakes and high-stress—literally, people’s lives at stake—and I really wanted to convey that in the books.

And everything that TV people do and say in the books is authentic and genuine. (Of course, Charlie can say things I can’t say, and reveal things I can’t reveal.) We’re both devoted journalists, and over-focused on our jobs.

But Charlotte McNally is different, too. She’s single—I’m happily married. She’s ten years younger than I am, and so is facing different choices and dilemmas. She’s braver than I am, certainly. Funnier. And a much better driver.

Q. Charlie has some exciting adventures in your mystery series—going undercover, confronting some really bad guys. Tell us about some of your adventures as an investigative reporter.

There’s a huge been-there-done-that element to the books—I’ve wired myself with hidden cameras, confronted corrupt politicians, chased down criminals . . . been in disguise, been stalked, and threatened and had many a door slammed in my face. I’ve had people confess to murder, and others, from prison, insist they were innocent. So when that happens to Charlie, it’s fair to imagine me. Although the plots are completely from my imagination, those are real-life experiences.

This week the GCC welcomes author Megan Kelley Hall and her newest YA release, The Lost Sister   

(Kensington, August 2009)

Sisters are born, not chosen. . .

Maddie Crane is grappling with the disappearance of Cordelia LeClaire, and trying to escape the grasp of The Sisters of Misery—an insidious clique of the school's most powerful girls, whose pranks have set off a chain of horrific events, and who have Maddie in their sights...

Beware the sister betrayed. . .

Now in a prestigious boarding school far away from her mysterious hometown of Hawthorne, Massachusetts, Maddie feels free from danger. But when an unmarked envelope arrives at her dorm containing a single ominous tarot card, Maddie realizes with terror that some secrets won't stay buried. Knowing she must return to Hawthorne—a town still scarred by the evil of the Salem witch trials—Maddie prepares to face the fears of her past. . .and the wrath of the sister she wronged.


Praise for The Lost Sister:

A character driven tale containing a deep Gothic feel and haunting foreboding atmosphere that hooks fans of all ages....With strong ties to the late seventeenth century Salem Witch Trials, THE LOST SISTER is a super thriller. -- Harriet Klausner

Hall will have your heart racing and you will not be able to put this book down. With historical allusions to the New England witch trials and a touch of the paranormal, THE LOST SISTER is a thriller in a league of its own.
-- TeensReadtoo / Awarded THE LOST SISTER the Hall of Fame Gold Star Award for Excellence

Blown away... The suspense, mystery, intrigue, and drama steadilybuild up throughout the novel, making it impossible to put the bookdown. I would recommend it to almostall book lovers. It has made me hungry for more of Ms. Hall's work! - Mrs. Magoo Reads

Stacy:  If you couldn't be a writer, what would your dream job be?

Megan: Is Johnny Depp’s personal biographer still available? Wait that would be writing…. Um, how about being the caretaker of his island or boat? Are those positions available?

S: What's the most surprising thing to happen since publication of your book?

Megan: The fact that I’ve had famous people (writers/screenwriters/directors) tell me that they’ve read my book and liked it. Those moments are indescribable.  But, just as powerful are the emails that I receive from teens who’ve written to me to tell me how much they loved SISTERS OF MISERY.  Teens are so passionate about what they read. It makes me just as passionate about writing for them.

S: What are you working on now?

Megan: I finished my third YA suspense novel and my agent is out with it right now! Fingers crossed!

S: Did you have a favorite teacher who encouraged your writing/reading habit?

Megan: I’ve been inspired by every Shakespearean professor I’ve ever had.  I think being interesting and engaging is a prerequisite for teaching Shakespeare. Although I was in the presence of greatness in college, studying under Pulitzer Prize winning author, Steven Millhauser (he hadn’t won the Pulitzer at that point), it was another professor that improved my writing. Tatyana Tolstoya (Tolstoy’s granddaughter) invited me to have coffee with her to discuss my writing.  I was very excited, wondering what words of wisdom she would pass on to me.  We were having coffee and smoking cigarettes at Skidmore’s coffee house.  I was looking forward to some form of praise for my latest short story.  Instead, she blew smoke in my face and said in her thick Russian accent, “You have too much vanity in your work.” I didn’t understand, so I asked her to explain. “You think you’re a better writer than you really are.” Way to bring someone down a peg.  Especially, since I really didn’t think that I was all that great a writer (not anymore, at least). From that point on, I never let myself have lofty visions of my work.  I always know that I can do better.  I’ll never allow myself to rest on my laurels. So, all in all, it was excellent, albeit harsh, advice.

S: What's your favorite kind of chocolate?

Megan: Dark chocolate. My husband once told me that he went to a corporate party that had a CHOCOLATE ROOM. Fountains of chocolate, chocolate covered fruit, every type of chocolate dessert imaginable.  That is my idea of heaven.

About the Author:

Megan Kelley Hall is a freelance writer and literary publicist living North of Boston. Her first YA novel, SISTERS OF MISERY, was published by Kensington in August 2008. Hall also has an essay about her recent open heart surgery in former CNN anchor Daryn Kagan's anthology, WHAT'S POSSIBLE! (Meredith Books, 2008). THE LOST SISTER, the second in the SISTERS OF MISERY series, is in stores now.

Hall regularly writes articles for a variety of local and national magazines and publications, including Elle, Glamour, Boston Magazine, Parenting, American Baby, Working Mother, The Boston Globe, Boston Herald, and several other publications.

Find out more about Megan at:

www.megankelleyhall.com

About the book
Simply Irresistible is the third and last in The Elite book series. Jennifer Banash brings us more adventures from the spoiled, rich teens in Manhattan who nearly ate Casey McCloy alive when she first arrived in the Big Apple from her small town of Normal, Illinois. Casey learned very quickly after she moved in with her grandmother at The Bramford, the most exclusive luxury apartment building on New York’s Upper East Side and got into the prestigious Meadowlark Academy on a full scholarship, that it’s not who you are but who you know.

Simply Irresistible (The Elite) brings us a whole new set of adventures now that Casey has had a big city-haute makeover, courtesy of her classmate and neighbor Madison Macallister – part teen icon and part queen diva-bitch. Wearing the right clothes, saying the right things, and meeting the right people, has given Casey the look and the attitude – she’s “in” and loving it!

Much to Madison’s dismay, her rival is climbing up the social ladder in a big way and could end up just as popular as Madison now that the two are set to star in their own TV reality show, “De-Luxe.” Yes, showbiz came knocking on two of The Bramford’s most illustrious doors and, as much as Madison thrives on the attention the show brings, she’s not thrilled about having every bit of her life of privilege caught on tape. However, fame comes at a price and Madison is one chick who is willing to pay anything…especially if it means becoming the next reality “it girl.” Casey, on the other hand, is realizing that Reality TV can sometimes be unreal, causing her to wonder if she even knows who she is anymore. With her relationship with Drew, Madison’s ex, currently more off than on, she can’t help wondering if everything i n her life is really just an illusion – and how much longer the illusion can last….

I asked, Jennifer answered
A. What's the scariest thing that's ever happened to you?
J. I astral projected out of my body when I was sixteen. One minute I was laying in bed, then next I was floating along my bedroom ceiling! It was totally bizarre.

A. Mystery writers often give their characters an unreasoning fear - and then make them face it. Do you have any phobias, like fear of spiders or enclosed spaces?
J. Bugs--especially cockroaches. I will literally freak out if I see a roach and start screaming hysterically. I know they can't hurt you, but they're so gross that I don't care. It's definitely not a rational response.

A. Do you have a favorite mystery book, author, or movie?
J. Agatha Christie. She's the only mystery writer I read where I NEVER know what will happen next. I can never guess the endings. Plus, she disappeared for two weeks at the height of her career, and when she turned up, she couldn't remember where she'd been or what she's done for that time. Totally spooky. I also love the films based on her books--particularly Death on the NIle, and Evil Under the Sun

A. At its heart, every story is a mystery. It asks why someone acts the way they did - or maybe what will
happen next. What question does your book ask?
J. The question that simply Irresistible is obsessed with is what's real, and what's fantasy, and where's the line between the two in an age where that line is being increasingly blurred and stretched, when everyone, as Andy Warhol put it, is capable of becoming famous for fifteen minutes---usually for doing absolutely nothing!

A, Is there a mystery in life that you are still trying to figure out?
J. Yes. Where are my stripey socks from American Apparel? They disappeared two weeks ago, and I suspect my dog of foul play. If anyone's seen them, do let me know!

This week the Girlfriends' Cyber Circuit welcomes Lucienne Diver, fellow Fluxian, LJer (varkat ), and author of Vamped (Flux, May 1 2009).

ABOUT THE BOOK:

Rule #1:  Do not get so loaded at the after prom party that you accidentally-on-purpose end up in the broom closet with the surprise hottie of the evening, say the class chess champ who’s somewhere lost his bottle-cap lenses and undergone an extreme makeover, especially if that makeover has anything  to do with becoming one of the undead.  

Gina Covello has a problem. Waking up a dead is just the beginning.  There's very little she can't put up with for the sake of eternal youth and beauty.  Blood-sucking and pointy stick phobias seem a small price to pay.  But she draws the line when local vampire vixen Mellisande gets designs on her hot new boyfriend with his prophecied powers and hatches a plot to turn all of Gina’s fellow students into an undead army to be used to overthrow the vampire council.  

"VAMPED is a total delight!  Diver delivers a delightful cast of undead characters and a fresh, fast take on the vampire mythos.  Next installment, please!"   — Rachel Caine, New York Times bestselling author of the Morganville Vampires series.

"I really sunk my teeth into Lucienne Diver's VAMPED.  A fun, frothy, teenage romp with lots of action, a little shopping, and a cute vampire guy.  Who could ask for more?"  — Marley Gibson, author of Ghost Huntress: The Awakening.

“This book rollicked along, full of humor, romance, and action.  Gina is a smart-aleck heroine worth reading about, a sort of teenage Besty Taylor (Undead and Unwed) with a lot of Cher Horowitz (Clueless) thrown in.  Fans of Katie Maxwell will devour VAMPED.  — Rosemary Clement-Moore, author of the Maggie Quinn: Girl vs. Evil series 

This week the GCC welcomes Linda Gerber, author of the brand-new YA novel, Death by Denim (Penguin), the third in the Death By series.


Aphra Connolly is being chased by some very dangerous people. She knows her survival depends upon staying far away from love interest Seth, and listening to her mom’s lectures on the finer points of anonymity and survival. But how is a girl supposed to live under the radar and not think about her boyfriend when she’s in Paris—the most romantic city in the world? When her mom’s contact in Paris is found floating in the Seine with a deadly message stuffed in his mouth, Aphra realizes that she will never be able to stop running unless she confronts the situation head-on. Sneaking away from her mom, Aphra tracks down the criminal mastermind in Italy, only to unwittingly reveal Seth’s location. And her mistake has just put them both in mortal danger. . . .



The interview:

Stacy: DEATH BY DENIM is set in France and Italy. Did you do any on-site research, I hope?

Linda: Ha! I would have loved to use this as an excuse to go back to Europe, but I was not so lucky. I have been to Paris, though, so I was able to use that experience in describing the settings there. I've also been to Italy, although not to the city Aphra travels to in the book. For that, I had to rely on a lot of books, pictures, maps and other travelers' accounts. Not quite as fun as going there...

“Death by Denim, the third book in Linda Gerber's fun, action-packed, and suspenseful series, is just as riveting as its prequels. Gerber's style is not only modern and down to earth, but cunning and intelligent as well… Aphra is an engaging and lively narrator whose bravery and smarts readers will admire. Equal parts action, romance, and mystery, Death by Denim is a fun-filled and engrossing read that will appeal to fans of Ally Carter's Gallagher Girls series.”  – The Compulsive Reader 

“Gerber does not disappoint with this exciting novel from her Death by… series. Gerber’s strength is by far in creating such a thrilling and fast paced plot that will keep readers on the edge of their seats. …Death by Denim is a wholly enjoyable read, full of action, romance, and international flair. Fans of Death by Bikini and Death by Latte, the earlier installments in this series, won’t want to miss Death by Denim. Teen girls in particular looking for a fast and fun mystery to devour will enjoy Gerber’s Death by… series.”  - The Book Muncher 

“Nancy Drew meets "Alias" in the latest fast-paced, murder-mystery romance.” - Paddyfield 

***  Top Choice Award - Flamingnet Book Reviews *** 

 

Praise for the series: 

“Will capture mystery fans.” – Booklist 

“Strong writing and plenty of plot twists.” -The Providence Journal 

“Fast-paced, fun, and maybe just a little scary.”-YA New York 

Just “the right amount of intrigue, suspense, humor and romance.”-Flamingnet Book Reviews 

“Five enchantments.”-Enchanting Reviews 

Linda Gerber recently returned to life in the Midwest after four years in Japan, where she served as the Regional Advisor for the Society of Children's Book Writers and Illustrators. Her books include SASS: NOW AND ZEN, SASS: THE FINNISH LINE and the YA mysteries DEATH BY BIKINI, DEATH BY LATTE and DEATH BY DENIM. She currently lives and writes in Dublin, OH, blissfully ignoring her husband, kids, and one very naughty puppy.  

You can find Linda online here:

http://lindagerber.com

http://www.new.facebook.com/profile.php?id=518643863

http://lindagerber.blogspot.com/

This week the Girlfriends' Cyber Circuit welcomes Jennifer Banash, author of In Too Deep (Berkley Trade), the second installment in the Elite series.

About the Book:

If you don’t belong here— you just don’t belong…

The Bramford building’s newest resident and small-town transplant Casey McCloy is adapting to life in the Big Apple and loving it. She’s got the look, the attitude, and a delish new boyfriend, Drew Van Allen. But she’s starting to have second thoughts as to whether the “New York” Casey is the real Casey. And she’s not so sure she likes herself much anymore. She’s not the only one.

Madison Macallister has always had her Manolo Blahniks firmly planted on the top rung of the social ladder—until that corn-fed cow Casey stole Drew away from her and made her look the fool. So what if Madison wasn’t exactly dating Drew at the time? She wanted him. And everyone knows that Madison gets what she wants, like Drew—and a little revenge.

The Interview:

Stacy: If you couldn't be a writer, what would your dream job be?

Jennifer: Film director or photographer. I studied photography in college and loveed it.

Stacy: What's the most surprising thing to happen since publication of your book?

Jennifer: Umm . . . that anyone actually read it? :)  That floors me every day, to be honest.

Stacy: What are you working on now?

Jennifer: I'm working on a YA series about a girl who moves with her family from Southern California to a castle in Romania. She discovers a diary in the cellar that belonged to one of the most prolific female killers in history--and becomes drawn into her story in ways she never imagined possible.
 
Stacy: Did you have a favorite teacher who encouraged your writing/reading habit?

Jennifer: I studied poetry in college with a number of encouraging professors, but I've never really had a mentor of any kind. 

Stacy: What's your favorite kind of chocolate?

Jennifer: The darker the better. I like it so dark that it's practically baking chocolate!

Praise for In Too Deep and The Elite series:

“The Elite is Pretty in Pink for the millennium generation.” —Romance Reviews Today

"What's a Normal, Illinois girl to do when she enters the world of New York City's rich and bitchy? Hold tight, because this is one drama-filled ride." --Melissa Walker, author of Violet on the Runway.

"In Too Deep is a seductive read."—Innovative: A Word for the WriTeen Blog

“Fans of the drama, romance, gossip, and privileged lifestyle depicted in Gossip Girl and Blue Bloods will be drawn to In Too Deep... In Too Deep continues to showcase the glitzy and glamorous lifestyle of New York City’s privileged teens...Banash’s Elite series continues to rock above the rest.”—The Compulsive Reader Blog

“As you know, life in the posh and drama-filled Upper East Side is never easy! Hold onto your Hermes scarves and Coach handbags, the Bram Clan is back for more action and drama!”—The Book Vault Blog

“Banash is fabulous at creating relatable characters in over-the-top situations.”—In Bed With Books Blog

About the Author:

Jennifer Banash attended high school on the Upper East Side of Manhattan and currently lives in Southern California with her Beagle, Sigmund, and her vast designer shoe collection. She is the author of the Elite series, published by Berkley Jam. Watch for the third installment of The Elite, Simply Irresistible, coming in July '09!

Visit Jennifer at her website, her blog, at MySpace, or on Facebook. And read her books!

This week the Girlfriends' Cyber Circuit welcomes Diana Rodriguez Wallach, touring with her new book, Amor and Summer Secrets (Kensington).



About the book:

Fifteen-year-old Mariana Ruiz has no desire to step foot outside her affluent Philadelphia suburb. BUT she may not have a choice.

With total disregard to the high-glam Sweet16 her best friend is hosting, Mariana’s father ships her off to a tiny mountain town in Puerto Rico to stay with family she’s never met. The heat is merciless, the food is spicy, and only one of her relatives—her distant cousin Lilly—speaks English. Her consolation prize is Lilly’s homespun Puerto Rican Quinceãnera. Only the riotously festive party exposes Mariana to more than just her culture. She uncovers new friends, her first love, and a family secret that’s been buried on the island for more than 30 years.

Stacy: If you couldn't be a writer, what would your dream job be?

Diana: A rock star. I can’t sing at all, but man, do I wish I could. When Oprah was doing that season of “Wildest Dreams,” I kept saying that all I’d want to do is walk out on stage before a Madonna concert at Madison Square Garden and scream into the microphone, “Hello, New York!” How awesome would that be?

Stacy: What's the most surprising thing to happen since publication of your book?

Diana: I’ve gotten emails from readers! When I wrote Amor and Summer Secrets, I didn’t imagine anyone reading it aside from my friends and family. So I still find it weird that there’s a teenage girl in Alaska who liked my book so much that she sent me an email. It’s hard to wrap my brain around.

Stacy:  What are you working on now?

Diana: I am hard at work on a new work-in-progress. It’s a complete departure from my Amor series—lots of spies, suspense, fight scenes and, of course, a love triangle. I’m really excited about it. Plus I get to travel because I’m setting some scenes in Europe. And the main character is a lot of fun to write. She’s much cooler than I am, all about girl power, and her dialogue is very punchy. I hope to have it ready for the publishing world soon!

Stacy: Did you have a favorite teacher who encouraged your writing/reading habit?

Diana: The entire English Department at Ridley High School was awesome when I was there, and still is. My ninth and tenth grade teachers, Mrs. Lown and Mrs. Cavanaugh, came to my book launch party in September—as did the rest of the department and my 12^th grade Spanish teacher, Senor Lasalle. Also, my kindergarten teacher, Mrs. Sewell, came to one of my signings. Truly, I give it up to all of them. I wouldn’t be where I am now if they hadn’t taught me what I know.

Stacy: What's your favorite kind of chocolate?

Diana: Dark, always dark. I especially love those dark chocolate Dove ice cream bars. Yum.
 

So, I know I said that last week was my final GCC tour, but Saralee Rosenberg asked if I could kindly tour her, as she'd just joined when I opted out. So below, please see some fun answers to a variety of questions about her book, Dear Neighbor, Drop Dead. (What a great title!) And for a little FYI: I know there was some debate in the comments section as to why I left the GCC, and I just wanted to address it quickly because I think these women are fabulous, and I think the camaraderie that they provide is also fabulous. In a nutshell, we all commit to touring each other on specific dates, and the truth is that once I start writing my next book (which I plan to in about two weeks after I get back from my vacation), I'm no longer going to be able to honor that commitment. I intend to keep blogging, but it might be more erratic or come in spurts or take me on different tangents as I delve into the writing process, and it wasn't fair to these authors if I wasn't able to tour them...nor would it be fair to me if I felt really guilty over this obligation that I knew I couldn't honor. So, I hope that clears up those questions that were posed in the comments section... :)

Without further ado, Saralee Rosenberg and Dear Neighbor, Drop Dead.

In Mindy's yoga-obsessed, thirty-is-the-new-wife neighborhood, every day is a battle between Dunkin' Donuts, her jaws-of-life jeans, and Beth Diamond, the self-absorbed sancti-mommy next door who looks sixteen from the back. So much for sharing the chores, the stores, and the occasional mischief to rival Wisteria Lane.

It's another day, another dilemma until Beth's marriage becomes fodder on Facebook. Suddenly the Ivy League blonde needs to be "friended," and Mindy is the last mom standing. Together they take on hormones and hunger, family feuds and fidelity, and a harrowing journey that spills the truth about an unplanned pregnancy and a seventy-year old miracle that altered their fates forever.

Dear Neighbor, Drop Dead is a hilarious, stirring romp over fences and defenses that begs the question, what did you do to deserve living next door to a crazy woman? Sometimes it's worth finding out.

Q. What was the inspiration for your new novel?

A. Of my four novels, DEAR NEIGHBOR, DROP DEAD is the only one that was inspired by, well, me! This story is based on my first novel, ALL IN THE CARDS, which was never published, but did take a very exciting journey to Hollywood. Back in 1997, Bette Midler optioned it for a feature film (she was looking for a follow up comedy to “First Wives Club”). Exactly! Wow! First time out and it’s a home run. Sadly, the reason you never heard of it is because ultimately, Bette and her partner couldn’t get financing or find the right screenwriter to adapt it. Bye bye Bette... Now fast forward to a few years ago. My novels, A LITTLE HELP FROM ABOVE, CLAIRE VOYANT and FATE & MS. FORTUNE had done very well but were about single women looking for love in all the wrong places. I wanted to write about my “peeps” in the suburbs and pitched my editor on letting me rewrite ALL IN THE CARDS. She was hesitant because she wasn’t sure Avon was the right publisher for a suburban/soccer mom story with bickering neighbors. Then came “Desperate Housewives” and suddenly it was, get me suburban/soccer mom stories with bickering neighbors. Timing is everything.... So although DEAR NEIGHBOR is an incarnation of my earliest novel, it is a much richer, deeper, funnier story and is resonating with readers of all ages.

Q. When you got that first phone call announcing you had sold a novel, how did you react? How did you celebrate?

A. Phew. You can’t imagine the relief. I had given up a successful career writing non-fiction, which had sent me on two national book tours, including an appearance on Oprah (heaven!!!!), only to have my writing life come to a screeching halt when I switched to working on a novel. It took me three years to write A LITTLE HELP FROM ABOVE, another year to find an agent, and the agent a year and a half to make the sale to Lyssa Keusch at Avon. In theory, the sale should have been one of the greatest events of my life, if not for the timing. I got word that the deal was done exactly two days after 9-11, and because I live in the New York area, the grief and shock was all I or anyone could think about. I let family and friends know, of course, but run out and buy diamonds or book a cruise? Didn’t happen. And interestingly enough, all of my book celebrations since then have been, not subdued as much as put in perspective. I’m sure that my joy and satisfaction will always be tempered with the memory that life is so full of yin and yang. And maybe that’s for the best.

Q. Which scene or scenes in your novel did you love writing?

A. I am crazy about writing dialogue and would spend days working on a scene between Mindy and Beth to make sure that I got the tone, the phrasing, the timing and the subtle nuances just right. There was so much that they wanted to say to each other after eight years of making each other crazy, I just had to let it out a little at a time, like air coming out of a balloon. But the scene I loved writing the most was the one where they are in a hotel room and Beth confronts the fact that she might be pregnant. It is a funny, poignant moment where both characters reveal their greatest joys and misgivings of motherhood and I remember when I sat at my computer, the words just poured out and I had to sit still to hear every last word coming through. I realized at the end that they had just broadcast my own conflicts and vulnerabilities about being a mom and it was whoa... where did that come from?

Q. Is there a scene you cut from the book that you kind of wish you could put back in?

A. Funny you should ask. Originally, I wanted to title the book Same S--T, Different Zip because the story was very much about that no matter where you live, you have to put up with so much petty neighbor crap and competition. For obvious reasons, I wasn’t allowed to have a curse in the title but in keeping with the theme, I incorporated a funny blog in the story titled, “You Say You Want A Revelation”. It was “written” by a mom in Georgia and Mindy was so hooked on it, she couldn’t wait for the next post. Unfortunately, the blog, which appeared every few chapters, took up a lot of space and got cut on the editing room floor. Bummer. It had some very funny commentary, but I did get to include one out-take in the back of the book.

Q. When and where do you write? Is it cluttered or minimalist heaven?

A. I’m a crack-of- dawn morning writer maybe because my muses are busy all night and can’t wait to have me pour out what they sunk in (at least they let me go to the bathroom first). That being said, when I’m in the zone, I write morning, noon and night. I know I’m done, however, when I look up at the computer screen and I see this, “She said, hjkljkl;uiop.” Then it’s time to shut the lights. As for where I write, the majority of my work is written while chained to my computer table which is situated right smack in the middle of my master bedroom... I never thought this would be my workspace. I always fantasized about having the kind of home office that “playwright” Diane Keaton got in “Something’s Gotta Give.” - this huge, white, ocean-facing office that was stocked with floral bouquets and a breathtaking view. Perhaps one day, but for now it’s fine. I look out at my beautiful backyard and at least my commute is a breeze. Not to mention I can make it to the fridge in under thirty seconds.

Q. When deadlines hit, what happens in your house?

A. Let me put it this way. Please don’t ring my bell unless you’re bringing fresh baked cookies because I don’t want you to see that the dining room looks like a mini landfill. And that’s before you reach the piles on the stairs (I swear there is one that has been there since Clinton was President). The clothes in the dryer go round and round for days because I keep hitting wrinkle remove, we run out of milk, the shows saved on Tivo go unwatched, calls from my kids get answered with, “Make it quick and NO CRISIS’s today”. Also I look like hell and probably need of a touch up. As for dinner? The family is on their own... although they would tell you I say that every day. Basically it’s every man/child for himself and don’t give me a hard time about anything... This is why I write all the time, otherwise I’d lose my privileges, lol.

Q. Do you put friends in books? Have any of them recognized themselves?

A. I get asked all the time by family and friends to be in one of my novels, but I tend not to go there unless they’re willing to buy several dozen books in appreciation for being immortalized (if Girl Scout Moms can bribe, so can I). Once I did give in and named a character after a friend, only to describe the character as a philandering shoplifter. She was horrified and wanted to know how I knew? I didn’t know, I made it up, but boy did that make things interesting afterwards... Also, my husband’s business partner had been prodding me for years, to which I would say that a character who sold insurance, played golf and visited his grandkids in Florida would not exactly be memorable. But finally, in Dear Neighbor, to get him to stop bugging me, I did name a minor character Steven Hoffman. I made him a lawyer in Portland, and it really made Steve’s day... then he asked why he wasn’t a major character and could I feature him again in the next book? Men!!!!

Q. Do you think about writing series or do you prefer stand alone titles?

A. Readers often ask if I can turn my novels into a series because they like the characters so much and want to revisit them, which is great. I have thought about it, but the bottom line is, the high drama, intrigue and craziness that unfolds in the novel is pretty much a once in a lifetime event for the characters. I wouldn’t know how to replicate the same level of intensity and sea changes and I’d be afraid that readers would post this on Amazon: “The first book was so much better!” That being said, I have thought about writing a novel where my previous characters make token appearances so readers could learn what was new in their lives. I might call it WHINED AND DINED, and it would take place at a spa weekend so that there would be a chance for lots of characters to mingle and to get to know one another. And I do like the idea of having tough-as-nails Shelby Lazarus fighting over a massage therapist named Ivan with get-out-of-way Beth. Stay tuned.

Q. What comes first? The title or the idea?

A. For DEAR NEIGHBOR, DROP DEAD, the title came to me only a few months before publication and trust me, by then I was in a total panic. The original title, based on the very earliest draft, was ALL IN THE CARDS, but everyone agreed that was kind of boring. Then I submitted a list of twenty titles, some interesting, some wacky, some that would never fly because they involved curse words. Here is a sampling: Hot, Hungry and Hormonal; Ask Your Doctor if Stress Is Right for You; Same SH-T, Different Zip; If Lucy Hated Ethel; and one of my personal favorites, The Bitch Next Door. No, no, no, my editor said to all of those. Then I came up with Dear Neighbor, Drop Dead and she smiled. We have a winner!!! And I must admit, it’s a beauty. Everyone gets it. No need for an explanation. As for my novel, CLAIRE VOYANT, that title came to me years ago and it took me a while to create an entire story based on the premise that a girl named Claire would have super natural abilities.

Q. What is up next for you?

A. I am very excited about my next novel because the focus is about a child leaving for college and this is hitting very close to home fas our youngest is now a senior in high school. But in this story, Jackie, a twice-divorced mom, has one son, 17-year old Daniel and she is in a panic thinking that when he leaves for college in the fall, she’ll be left alone with her ornery, widowed father. Thus, when she sets off on the campus tour circuit, she decides to throw caution and her underwear to the wind and boy does she have one hell of a good time. It’s worse senioritis than even Daniel has and their adventures visiting the Ivies is one for the books. In the end, she rediscovers the smart, ambitious girl she left behind at Yale Law and pledges to get her life back on track. The title of the book is EARLY DECISION and I think it’s going to be my best yet. No publication date as of yet.

Q. If Oprah invited you on her show, what would the theme of that show be?

A. Sigh. I’ve actually had the distinct privilege of appearing on Oprah to discuss my non-fiction book, 50 FABULOUS PLACES TO RAISE A FAMILY, and I gotta tell you, it was awesome. She was soooo nice and I and my husband/co-author were treated like royalty. We got the limousine, the fancy hotel, the nice dinner out, hair and make-up and a souvenir coffee cup that still sits on my desk as a pen holder. And Steadman was there, too (he smelled so good!) Would I love to be a guest again? Are you kidding me? It would be a dream come true to be invited back as a best selling novelist. In fact, I had a dream scene in DEAR NEIGHBOR, DROP DEAD that involved my character Mindy being on the show to talk about what it was like to live next door to Beth, the bitch. It had to be cut because of space limitations, but trust me, Oprah is always on my mind. Nobody sells a book like her.

Q. What is one of your strangest/most quirky author experiences?

A. My first three novels are a trilogy in that they all deal with the super natural. All of my main characters have funny and intriguing encounters with the other side, the after life, and/or a ghost. But never did I expect that I would personally have a strange encounter with the spirit world while I was hard at work. And yet... I had been writing my debut novel, A LITTLE HELP FROM ABOVE over a three year period, and as you can imagine, was very very tired. All I wanted to do was cross the finish line, have a good cry and eat a box of Mallomars... One night, I was working on the final pages and was so bleary eyed I convinced myself that the ending was terrible but maybe my editor wouldn’t notice, or would say to me, no, this is great, don’t change a word. But just as I was fixing the last page, we had a power outage and the whole house went dark. It was so strange. There was no storm, no reason to lose power. But when the lights came back on a minute later, I had lost the latest version of the ending. It literally disappeared and I freaked out and cried. How could this happen? On a whim I called my neighbors to see if their power had gone out but it turned out ours was the only house that did... Clearly it was a sign from above. The next morning I started over on the ending, and when I finished, it was so much better, so much more rewarding. This time I cried from joy. I had finished and it was great.

Q. Tell us about your writing process. Do you outline or are you more organic?

A. I know that every author has a different approach and there is no right or wrong way to go about writing a novel. For me, the most important thing is to have a steady handle on my protagonist because I believe that the question readers should ask is not what is your book about but who? If the main character is multi-dimensional and in a serious bind, that is the recipe for a great story. The way that I develop a compelling character is to write their back story- pages and pages of how their life unfolded, what frustrates them, the things they desire that have eluded them, etc. Then I put on my Katie Couric hat and interview them and out of that, comes tons of possible story lines. In the end, I liken the process of writing a novel to driving with a man. I know where I want to go but damned if I’m going to stop for directions. Sure I’ll get lost but eventually I’ll arrive at my destination and tell everyone I knew where I was going from the get go. And one other thing. I do not outline because I find it too confining. No surprise for the writer? None for the reader, either.

Q. What is your writer fantasy?

A. I can only have one? I have several. I want to make it to the New York Times Best Seller List and stay there for at least a year. No wait. I want to have two books on the list at the same time, just like Jodi Piccoult. I also want to have Oprah tell me that she couldn’t put my book down and why am I wasting time talking to her, I should be busy writing the next one. I also want a feature film or TV show to be developed based on my book and it should star Jennifer Aniston and John Mayer (and their maybe babies). Finally, I would like my kids to say to me, “Mom. You Rock!”

Q. Would your high school friends be surprised to discover you’d become a novelist?

A. Funny question. When I attended my 20th high school reunion in Munster, Indiana, I had been living in New York since graduating college and had lost contact with most of my classmates. One of the first people I ran into was Mary Ann Jugovic, the class valedictorian and the sweetest girl ever. The first thing I said to her is, “please tell me that you went to med school and became a pediatrician.” To which she said, “only if you tell me that you moved to New York and became a writer.” And the verdict was? She was a pediatrician with a beautiful family and I was an author with a beautiful family. Dreams do come true.

Q. If you could ask one author for one piece of advice, who would you ask and what would you want to know?

A. I’m very lucky because I actually had that opportunity. One of my favorite authors in the world is the novelist, Sol Stein, who wrote THE MAGICIAN and THE LIVING ROOM, among many others. I discovered him in college and feel in some ways, he was an influence in my secretly aspiring to be a writer. Recently, I was curious to see if he was still writing (or even still alive) and discovered he had a website and an email address. I wrote him this long, flowery message, never expecting a response. But the next day he sent me a lovely note back and we exchanged several emails. In one of them I asked his advice on whether I should change my name and use a pseudonym for my next book. This is something that my editor and agent had been discussing and I was torn. He wrote back and said, don’t you dare. Saralee Rosenberg is a wonderful name and quite memorable.... now you know why I loved this guy, and so far, I’ve followed his advice.

Ugh. Apologies! For some reason, Blogger has locked this blog to review it for potential spamming, and I've been unable to post since Friday! SO ANNOYING. So I'm writing this in the hopes that I can get it online sometime soon.

I don't want to write anything too important in case by the time this goes up, it's outdated, but in the meantime, I'm actually on my GCC tour this week! So to keep you occupied until I get up to speed with blog posts, here are some links to various Q/As I've done.

Again, apologies on the inactive blog. Blame Blogger.

Brant Flakes - http://marilynbrant.blogspot.com/

Wendy Nelson Tokunaga - http://blog.wendytokunaga.com/

FOOTNOTES - http://joannerendell.blogspot.com/

Kelly Parra: http://publishersmarketplace.com/members/writerwords/

Whew! So I'm taking a break from the whirlwind of ToML stuff to promote someone else's book, something you know that I'm always happy to do! We're returning to our regular programming with a GCC tour stop. Today, we have Nadine Dajini and her new book, Cutting Loose, which Publishers Weekly deemed "engrossing," and the Romantic Times calls, "hard to put down." Nice! Pick up a copy on Amazon today!

I love Joanne Rendell, an author friend who is also a busy mom and can commiserate with all of the juggling that we working moms do, and I also love the premise of her book, The Professors' Wives Club, which I picked up at Barnes and Noble last week. The premise reminded me a bit of Sex and the City for the academia set: strong friendships, strong women, life crises, life re-evaluations. Check out the description below, and then read on for words of wisdom from Jo herself. (I love her even more for copping to her Facebook addiction!) :)

Ellen Meister is not only one of my favorite authors, she's one of my favorite authors, and by that, I mean that she just totally rocks as a person. Sassy, fun, supportive. I love her. So that should be a high incentive for you guys to all check out her new book, THE SMART ONE. Here's the scoop:

If you're even remotely hooked into the book biz, then you know that vampire/demon books are the rage these days. Just look at Stephanie Meyers' success! Now that she's wrapped up her series, I can think of no better successor than Jackie Kessler! I met Jackie over at Backspace a few years ago, and seriously, beyond crafting juicy novels, she is such a champion and cheerleader of other writers that I really do encourage you to support her by picking up a copy of her book.

Here are a few details on Hotter Than Hell, the sequel to The Road to Hell. And then Jackie kindly answers my usual questions.

Whose soul do you have to damn to get a promotion around here?

Daunuan was never the ambitious type. There's so much to love about his job just the way it is—mind-blowing sexual prowess, the power to seduce any human, excellent dental plan. But now Pan, the King of Lust, has offered to make Daun his right-hand incubus—a position other demons would give their left horn for. All he has to do is entice a soul destined for heaven into a damnable act of lust. Should take, oh, seven minutes, tops.

Then he meets his target, Virginia Reed. She’s cute. Funny. Smart. Unfathomably resistant to his charms. He can’t understand it. But Daun has centuries of seduction to his credit. He’s the best there is. Sooner or later he’ll transform this polar icecap of a female into a pool of molten desire, and every instinct tells him she’ll be worth the effort.

Meanwhile, he has to deal with a plague of rogue demons Hell-bent on taking him down, sent by an unknown enemy with a serious grudge. And one other problem: the dawning realization that he’s falling in love—that unholiest of four-letter words—with the woman he’s about to doom for all eternity...

1) What’s the backstory behind your book?
Ever since Jezebel mentioned her buddy, the sexy incubus who could make her sweet spot tingle without even touching her, Daunuan refused to be just a minor character. Originally, he was going to be the one who shot Jezebel in Hell’s Belles and then he was going to get killed by Paul. But the book took a completely different direction from what I’d imagined, and next thing I knew, Daun was (shudder) helping Jezebel instead of hunting her. And then in The Road to Hell, his feelings for her became quite clear—to me, if not to him and Jesse. Demons don’t love, after all. So what he was feeling must have been nothing more than indigestion. (No one ever said demons were the smartest creatures out there.) I knew that I wanted to write Daun’s story, but it took a while for me to figure out what sort of story it would be. Daun’s in Hell, and Jesse’s with Paul, which doesn’t do much for a happily ever after for him. Did Daun even deserve a happy ending? He’s a demon—an Evil creature who has sex on the brain pretty much all the time. What would he know of love? What if he had to find out the hard way? Poor Daun. He never knew what hit him. (Hee hee hee…) And thus, HOTTER THAN HELL.

2) It seems that a lot of readers confuse fiction with real life, assuming that a novel must be an autobiography of the author as well. How many elements of your real life are reflected in your book?
I swear up and down, I’m not a demon. No matter what my mother might think.

3) A lot of my blog readers are aspiring or new authors. How did you land your first book deal?
I started getting serious about wanting to be a published author in 2003. That year, I worked on what I referred to as my Great American Novel, or GAN. It was a contemporary fantasy—that is, it had characters from Here suddenly appear There, a place where magic was real. Chaos ensued. (I know: strikingly original, right?) By January 2004, I was ready to start the querying process. By January 2005, I had scored more than triple-digit rejections. That’s when I started a new novel, this one a chick-lit story. I wrote it in five months and started querying. I quickly got 40 rejections, but most of them were actually personalized, saying that they loved the first person, sassy voice but didn’t like the story. So I took the fantasy from the first book and the sassy narrator from the second book and merged them, aiming for a “magical chick-lit” style. And I wrote HELL’S BELLES, which is about a demon who runs away from Hell, hides on Earth as an exotic dancer, and learns the hard way about true love. (Sex, strippers and demons; what’s not to like?) And I queried…and wound up getting five offers of representation. I selected one to be my agent, and he sold the novel to Kensington in a three-book deal one week later. (FYI, HELL’S BELLES is getting reissued as a mass-market paperback in September 2008. Smaller and cheaper—life is good!)

4) I have a serious procrastination problem when it comes to tackling my fiction. What’s your routine? How do you dive it? Do you have any rituals or necessary to-dos before or while you write?
Usually, I write first thing in the morning, before my day job, and then at night, when my Precious Little Tax Deductions are sleeping. (Yeah, I get very little sleep.) No real rituals, although there are times when I simply must have music playing (like when I’m writing a club scene with Jesse, or if a dynamic character is making a first appearance). Motivation? Well, deadlines are a good one. J Once you’re contracted, you have to make your deadlines. For the stories that aren’t contracted yet, those tend to wait until the Muse moves me. (Sometimes with a crane, but hey, it’s still movement.)

5) Clearly, your book will be optioned for a multi-million dollar film deal! Who would you cast as the leads, if you were given creative control?
Ooh. Anyone other than Demi Moore can be Jezebel. And as for Daun…hmm. I just saw The Dark Knight, and let me tell you, Christian Bale is seriously doing it for me. Hee hee hee…

6.) What's your favorite part of writing? Starting something new? Revising what you've already got drafted? Developing characters? The plot? Something else all together?
Getting lost in the writing, where a scene just sucks me in. Man, there’s no rush like when you’re on a roll, and you know every single word you’re crafting is exactly right. When I’m doing it right, it’s almost like the characters are the ones doing the writing, and all I’m doing is transcribing for them.

I've mentioned Jess Riley and her new book (a perfect beach read), Driving Sideways, on the blog before, but I'm really excited to tour her today as part of GCC because her road to publication is awfully similar to a lot of readers' roads, which is to say that it was easy, but she persvered, and now, voila, here she is. Before we get to my questions and her answers, here's some scoop on the book:

Leigh Fielding wants a life. Seriously. Having spent the past five years on dialysis, she has one simple wish: to make it to her thirtieth birthday. Now, thanks to the generosity of the late Larry Resnick and his transplanted kidney, it looks like her wish may come true.

With her newfound vitality (and Larry’s kidney) in tow, Leigh hits the road for an excursion that will carry her from Wisconsin to California, with a few stops in between: Mount Rushmore, the Badlands, the Rockies, Las Vegas–and a memorable visit to thank Larry’s family for the second chance. Yet Leigh’s itinerary takes a sudden detour when she picks up a seventeen-year-old hitchhiker, Denise, a runaway with a bunch of stories and a couple of secrets. Add a long-lost mother, a loaded gun, an RV full of swingers, and Hall and Oates’s Greatest Hits to the mix, and Driving Sideways becomes a hilarious and original journey of friendship, hope, and discovery.

1) What’s the backstory behind your book?

I started Driving Sideways in the summer of 2004, after a near three-year hiatus from fiction writing. Based on the lessons learned from my previous ‘practice novel,’ (which shall forever remain unpublished, and deservedly so), I wanted to tell a story that was both fun to write and a little different. So after my What-If moment (“What if a young woman has a kidney transplant and convinces herself she’s channeling the traits of her donor—tastes in music, food, hobbies, etc.—only to learn she’s completely wrong about him or her?”), I created the character of Leigh Fielding, who sees her new kidney as a catalyst to tie up the loose ends of her life by taking a cross-country roadtrip.

I wanted to make it somewhat outlandish, somewhat raunchy, somewhat heartbreaking, but ultimately hopeful. The research for the book was fascinating, and I stumbled across the reason for Leigh’s failed kidney almost by accident—Polycystic Kidney Disease. It’s the most common life-threatening genetic disease in the world, and there is no cure, yet most people haven’t heard of it. I’ve been humbled by the book’s reception from PKD patients and their families, and it has since become a cause I support.

2) It seems that a lot of readers confuse fiction with real life, assuming that a novel must be an autobiography of the author as well. How many elements of your real life are reflected in your book?

Many of the amusing anecdotes are true, including some of the more off-the-wall bits (yes, there really WAS an ad campaign like that conducted by Geoffrey with a G, and the way the ‘real life’ Larry died was even more unbelievable than that in the story). I also took the same road trip my characters did, with my own best friend, at least twice (possibly more—it all blurs together now). Speaking of which, my best friend was the inspiration for Jillian, and she was a fantastic sport about it.

But I did not have a kidney transplant necessitated by renal failure, and both of my parents are living and still together. I don’t have an overprotective older brother, either. That said, people who know me well tell me that “Leigh is totally YOU!” (concerning her outlook on life, neuroses, use of humor as a coping mechanism).

3) A lot of my blog readers are aspiring or new authors. How did you land your first book deal?

First, I learned some hard lessons about craft and market trends by having my initial attempt at a novel roundly rejected. But four years later, I parlayed those lessons into Driving Sideways, the first three chapters of which I entered in two very different writing contests to ‘test the waters’ before querying agents again: the James Jones First Novel Fellowship and the Get Your Stiletto In The Door competition. I was floored to learn Driving Sideways was one of eight finalists (from 600 entrants) in the James Jones contest, and the only one of 200 entrants in the Stiletto competition to receive requests for the full manuscript by the two final judges (an agent and an editor). My goal was for the editor to like it enough to request the full manuscript, and as soon as I had that name, I subscribed to Publisher’s Marketplace and looked up every agent that had ever sold to her. I sent out 10 query letters, was able to choose between 4 agents (I was floored!), and we sold Driving Sideways at auction just before Christmas in 2005. It was very nearly orphaned when my editor left our acquiring house (HarperCollins) for Random House, but amazingly enough, I was able to shift my contract to Random. The book’s release was delayed by one year, but I got to stay with the editor who gets me and my book.

And now, the book’s been out for five weeks, and I just learned it’s going back for a second printing…I’m so, so glad I didn’t quit writing back in 2002, when I was so discouraged by rejection that I very nearly did!

4) I have a serious procrastination problem when it comes to tackling my fiction. What’s your routine? How do you dive it? Do you have any rituals or necessary to-dos before or while you write?

Oh, I hear you on this one!! Lately, my routine has been “Procrastinate all day with email, walking the dog, watching the cute wren family in the backyard, read a magazine, walk the dog again, write some blog entries, and talk on the phone.” But I do squeeze in some late-night fiction writing. In a perfect world, I will find a way to balance the promotion of book number one with the writing of book number two—I think I need to divvy up the day somehow. I have until October to figure it out, when I return to my day job.

5) Clearly, your book will be optioned for a multi-million dollar film deal! Who would you cast as the leads, if you were given creative control?
I wish there was a female equivalent of the Judd Apatow crowd—we need more quirky, salty, snarky Ellen Page-type actresses. A whole brat pack of ‘em. There are plenty of roles for young women in Hollywood, but comedy (think the girl version of Superbad or Swingers) remains elusive. I think Ellen Page would make a great Leigh, and Amanda Seyfried would make a great Jillian (or an unexpectedly fun Denise). Maybe Rainn Wilson as Chris? I like Paul Rudd and Vince Vaughn, but they’re a little too old for Leigh.

As if you need a better reason to pick up best-seller Melissa Senate's newest book, Questions to Ask Before Marrying, the title alone should sell you. Seriously, I love this title because, well, because of a lot of things, but mostly because it's simultaneously funny, serious, intimate and probing. And if the title of a book can raise all sorts of questions before I've even cracked the spine, I'm guessing the book itself will do much the same. Thus, I'm super-thrilled to host Melissa Senate and her new book on the blog today. You might know her from See Jane Date or Theadora's Twist, her first YA book. The Boston Globe, among others, raves about her, and honestly, this is a great pick for your beach bag this summer.

Here's a little overview: