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Private Down Under by James Patterson & Michael White has joined Apple’s Top Paid iBooks in the U.S. this week at No. 4.

Apple has released its top selling books list for paid books from iBooks in the U.S. for week ending 9/1/14. If I Stay by Gayle Forman continues to lead the list, followed by Mean Streak by Sandra Brown.

We’ve included Apple’s entire list after the jump. (more…)

New Career Opportunities Daily: The best jobs in media.

A happy hoard of costume-clad athletes — including one tiny little dude in a Batman outfit — were seen running down a pumpkin-lined runway and sailing over spider-infested crossbars on Sunday, Oct. 13th, at the mega-awesome Heights on Halloween vault. … Continue reading →

The new serial novel No Rest for the Dead features writing contributions by 25 thriller writers, including Sandra Brown, Jeffrey Deaver, R.L. Stine, Gayle Lynds and Alexander McCall Smith. Novelist David Baldacci wrote the introduction to the charity novel.

Strand magazine managing editor Andrew Gulli and Lamia Gulli edited four-year project. Proceeds from the Simon & Schuster novel will be donated to the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society, honoring the memory of Andrew’s mother.

Here’s more about the serial novel: “When Christopher Thomas, a ruthless curator at San Francisco’s McFall Art Museum, is murdered and his decaying body is found in an iron maiden in a Berlin museum, his wife, Rosemary, is the primary suspect, and she is tried, convicted and executed. Ten years later, Jon Nunn, the detective who cracked the case, is convinced that the wrong person was put to death.”

New Career Opportunities Daily: The best jobs in media.

This fall Clive Cussler, Sandra Brown, Kathy Reichs, Mark Bowden and Andrew Peterson will embark on Operation Thriller, a USO/Armed Forces Entertainment tour.

Operation Thriller sends authors to military bases around the world to entertain our troops–follow this link to read about last year’s tour. At the moment, the exact locations and tour dates cannot be revealed for security reasons. 2011 marks the 70-year anniversary of the USO organization.

Here’s more from the release: “OPERATION THRILLER, will fly to the Middle East, where they will sign autographs, pose for photos with the troops and talk about their books, movies, television series and writing. This trip marks the tour’s second installment, the first one kicked off in November 2010 and was comprised of Steve Berry, David Morrell, Doug Preston, James Rollins and Andy Harp.”

New Career Opportunities Daily: The best jobs in media.

Random House Publishing Group will relaunch its Loveswept imprint as a “digital-exclusive imprint,” reviving a romance line that originated at Bantam Books in the 1980s. Explore more than 900 titles from the original line at RomanceWiki.

The original Loveswept imprint featured early work by writers like Sandra Brown, Janet Evanovich and Tami Hoag. Random House will also revive the original tagline: “Love stories you’ll never forget by authors you’ll always remember.” The books will also be released in a trans-Atlantic partnership with Random House Group U.K.’s Transworld Publishers division.

Here’s more about the line: “The 2011 Loveswept publishing program will be a digital-exclusive imprint, comprised of original, newly written e-books, as well as beloved Ballantine Bantam Dell romances and classic Loveswept titles. The program launches with eight titles in August, and continues with one new e-only release monthly in the fall.”

New Career Opportunities Daily: The best jobs in media.

On this Christmas Day, Sandra Brown --- New York Times bestselling author of over seventy novels, including SMASH CUT, RICOCHET, and the newly released RAINWATER --- shares a deeply personal story that eloquently describes the beauty of the human spirit; one that will surely offer even the biggest skeptic something to believe in.


It’s difficult to write anything about Christmas without slipping into cliché. Discovering an unexpected gift beneath the tree. Welcoming carolers at the door. Sipping a toddy while toasting toes in front of the fireplace where stockings are hung. Feasting on holiday food. These are the scenes depicted on greeting cards and camera commercials. All are clichés.

That doesn’t bother me in the least. I would go so far as to shamelessly declare that I’m partial to clichés. I thrive on traditions, and the cornier the better. I want my Christmases redolent with banalities. I like observing the rites year after year. Traditions are what make it Christmas.

But if I were to open my Christmas memory box and peer inside, two would stand out from the rest. One would be the Christmas of my sixth year. Perhaps this is the first Christmas of memory and that’s why it distinguishes itself in my recollections. The other would be a Christmas much more recent. Only one of these Christmases was happy, as the dictionary defines the word. But in the other, I found a unique joy.

These two holidays were celebrated in different locations, with different family members. One was observed through the eyes of a child, while the other was experienced from the perspective of an adult. These Christmases were separated by decades. They actually had nothing in common except the date on the calendar and, for me, the debatable existence of Santa Claus.

I have a large family. I’m the oldest of five sisters. My mother came from a family of five children; my father was the youngest of eight children, so there was never a shortage of aunts, uncles, and cousins with whom to spend holidays.

But Christmas was no ordinary holiday. In our family it was an “event.” It was anticipated throughout the rest of the year. The celebration stretched over the entire month of December. It was the reference point for scheduling anything else in the fourth quarter of the year. Something as mundane as a dental appointment or as significant as a wedding was either “before Christmas” or “after Christmas” or “sometime during Christmas.”

This heightened anticipation originated with my mother. Year-round she maintained a holiday outlook on life which crested at Christmastime. She was a romantic for whom rose-colored glasses were invented. She liked laughter and gaiety, sparkle and glitter, fanfare and festivity. She loved people and sought excuses to host parties and get-togethers. Not surprisingly, she was in her element during the Christmas season. It was her thing.

That distinctive Christmas of my childhood was celebrated at the home of my maternal grandparents in the small town of Fayetteville, Texas. At that time, there were only four grandchildren in the family --- me, my next oldest sister, Melanie, my cousin, Gloria,

Dave Miller is stuck in his dead end job at the Last Stop convenience store. Really stuck. Ever since he applied for the job and the owner turned him into his own personal vampire wage slave. The only bright spot in his nights is when the goth girls leave the local juice bar and come into the store to pick up snacks. Dave is particularly taken with the beautiful Rosa, but feels destined to be "just friends". Especially since there are other gorgeous vamps like Wes around, who are ready to make girls like Rosa who think they want to be vamps into their vampire brides.

Vegetarian (re blood bank drinker) Dave challenges Wes not to use his powers over Rosa, and to try to win her the old fashioned way. Will the good guy win?

The amazing team of Jessica Abel, Gabe Soria and Warren Pleece have created a fabulous vampire story that takes away some of the romance and makes readers see that life as the undead isn't as glamorous as it seems. Eternity is, after all, just that. The panels on page 139 brilliantly portray this.

Now as a former goth girl, I am a little particular about the portrayal of that segment of our population. I think that Life Sucks hits it spot on. From the clothing and style of the goth kids, to the reactions of those outside of the circle, it all felt right. The illustrations themselves are rich and defined, and the reader seems somewhat unaware of the fact that everything is taking place at night.

Do yourself a favor and pick it up. A great and different take on the vampire story.

When Jennifer was younger, she couldn't imagine getting through life without the help of Cameron Quick. Jen was overweight, lispy, and a bit smelly, due to the fact that her single mom was working full time during the day, and in nursing school at night. But Jennifer's life was not nearly as scary as Cam's, as she witnessed one year on her birthday. Now she knew why she wasn't supposed to go over to Cameron's house.

Everything changed for Jennifer when Cameron just disappeared. The mean kids at school told her that Cameron was dead. When Jennifer went home crying to her mother, her mom did not deny the fact. And Jennifer just about shut down.

Now in a different part of the city and in high school, "Jenna" is completely transformed. She works hard everyday to keep the weight off, to remember that boyfriends like Ethan like "happy" girls, and that Jennifer Harris no longer exists. Her mom ended up marrying Alan, and nobody around knows anything about Jenna's past.

And then, Cam comes back.

Jenna doesn't know what to think. Cameron Quick is supposed to be dead! That's the main reason why Jennifer Harris is no more. Not only is Cam in town, he's in her school and looking to deal with the past. A past that only exists in Jenna's head as slippery memories. What will happen when Jenna and Jennifer collide?

Sara Zarr has written an intense story that called to my mind The Rules of Survival by Werlin. Jennifer didn't have any adult help, and as a result, she and Cam had to survive together. What they have is beyond love and friendship. The reader feels real empathy for most of the characters in the book (save Cam's dad), and I found myself willing Jenna towards the truth.

Do you remember your first childhood crush? Mine was on a boy named Dexter, in my third grade class.

I don't remember much about him, or what he looked like, except that he loved to draw, and drew a perfect Charlie Brown. Dexter sat across from me in class, so I watched him draw everyday, while I thought about other things instead of listening to our teacher. When our third grade teacher lectured, all I heard was a voice reminiscent of the adult voices in the Charlie Brown television specials. In other words, I heard, bloc, bloc, bloc, roll off her tongue most of the day. To me, she just rambled a bunch of jumbled grown-up words, that we "bright-eyed and bushy tailed" third graders, hadn't the slightest interest in. Her name was Mrs. Keysler, and she wore those cat-eyed sixties glasses with a chain that jangled when she walked, so we could here her coming at recess. Anyhow, one day while Dexter was drawing, and I was staring at him, my heart thumping around in my chest, I noticed a new shiny whistle on the top of his desk, and when I asked him if I could look at, he put it in my hand. Our teacher continued speaking in the background, bloc, bloc, bloc, bah, bloc… as I turned the whistle over and over in my hand. Then I took the whistle, put it up to my mouth, and blew it as hard as I could! The room fell silent.

After which, I heard the hushed sound of children’s voices fill the empty silence, followed by that snickering sound children make before they start pointing fingers! It's such an annoying tactic among tattlers, whose goal at this time in their life, is to retire as the teachers pet! I could feel the stares, and of course, see their self-serving tattler fingers rise to the occasion, and point in my direction! I heard one little girl cry, “She is sooo dumb!” I just sat there, horrified, as my face grew hot and flushed with humiliation. I thought of this story when thinking of what to write as part of an “about me” profile for a writer’s social community. I was thinking of why I became a writer…, which is another post, that lends a reference to how important a role I think teachers play, in helping us shape our self image; so I guess I was thinking of my teachers, and for some reason Dexter popped into my head!

Anyway, that's what I remember about my first crush; one of those funny to me now, not so funny then, experiences, especially since my teacher made me stand in the back of the classroom the rest of the day!

After that, Dexter (who may have turned out to be an illustrator) looked at me with a cautious look on his face, for what seemed like the rest of my life, and the girl who called me “soooo dumb”, turned out to be one of my closest friends! We never know what our children are going through in a day, or experiencing with their first crush, do we?

I’ll have to ask my son about his experience with his first crush. Do you remember yours?

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