Why I do what I do...

...with books, my website, but mostly why I give away books.

This is for Chris, who is the reason I'm writing this. You know who you are.

I love books. I love to read, always have, since I was 2 years old. Yes, 2 - no snotty comments please or I'll be forced to have my mother call you and brag about me. Trust me, you don't want that.

I started my website when I was working for Borders as a way to keep track of the books I'd read, and the books I wanted to read. The Hachette Book Group, who was Time Warner books at the time, before they became AOL Time Warner, then went back to TW then became who they are now, were the publishers who got me started giving away books. They asked if I would mind giving away their books, and I was thrilled to do it.

Working for Borders was my first experience in getting free books, advance reader copies for the most part, and as an avid reader, what could be better! Since I loved getting free books, I figured other readers would too and I've given away thousands of books in the past 9 years.

As the site has grown, so have the contests and it began to take a lot of my time, basically most of my "free time". Often I found myself stealing time from work, from school, even from my family to take care of handling all the free book stuff. At the suggestion of a writer who is also a marketing genius, (thanks, MJ) I hesitantly started charging a small fee to run these contests on my website.

I am not a business person. I hate asking people for money, and I really, really hate chasing people for money. Which brings me to my sad tale of woe.

I not only do these contests for publishers, but also for independent publicists and authors whose publishers don't think web promotions are a good idea (yes, there are still some out there) or whose publishers don't have the budget, or authors who just want to do a little more to help promote themselves.

I met an author at the first ThrillerFest convention who had just landed a contract for his first book. He wanted to pick my brain a bit, but we kept missing each other and eventually just exchanged a few emails. A year later, his book was being published and his independent publicist (not the one assigned by his publisher but someone he hired on his own) arranged a book giveaway for my readers. This author, like many (most?) thriller writers, is a lawyer.

I ran the promotion last summer. There were well over 1500 entries, a very respectable number.

The author never paid my bill. He never paid the publicist for several other promotions she had arranged for him. In fact, she told me in the almost 20 years she'd been in the business, she'd never had problems with an author like she had with him, to the point of embarrassment. Oh, and he never sent out the books to the winners of the promotion I did for him either. Luckily, his publicist is a woman of honor and she sent them out at her own expense - not reimbursed, I'm sure.

Am I going to sue a lawyer for my piddly little fee? Hardly. The court costs, even in small claims court, would probably be just about what I would collect. Is his publicist going to sue? Doubtful. Sometimes we just have to suck it up and call it a learning experience.

In other words, he is the classic slimeball shyster lawyer, the reason why Shakespeare suggested killing them all, etc. etc.

But I refuse to dump on an entire profession because one guy shit on me. I know too many really nice guys who happen to be lawyers. I've dealt with probably a hundred lawyers-turned-authors who have treated me with nothing but respect and kindness.

But I do worry a bit more when I schedule promotions. Like I said, I hate asking for money, and I really hate asking for it twice.

I'm done venting. Go enter this month's contest- WIN BOOKS

There are a few days left and I am giving aways signed copies of almost all my favorite thrillers from 2007, plus some beautiful coffee table books, the latest Ian Rankin, and more!

Library Journal's Best Books of 2007

The list selected by LJ editors: Margaret Heilbrun, Barbara Hoffert, Anna Katterjohn, Heather McCormack, Mirela Roncevic, & Wilda Williams

Everybody's a Critic: LJ Reviewers Pick Their 2007 Favorites, includes recommendations from a handful of LJ fiction reviewers, including your very own BookBitch

VILLAGE VOICE PICKS BEST BOOKS OF 2007

See the list here: Village Voice

10 books that make perfect presents

Cosmo’s book editor has recommendations for everyone on your list

Slate picks the best books of 2007

Check out the list: http://www.slate.com/id/2179781/

Best Crime Fiction from the Seattle Times

Adam Woog's best crime fiction of 2007

Adam Woog's column on crime and mystery fiction appears on the second Sunday of the month in The Seattle Times.

January Magazine Best Books of 2007

Several lists here - January Magazine

Terry Pratchett

Sad news about Terry Pratchett today - he's been diagnosed with "a very rare form of early onset Alzheimer's". He wrote a note about it on his DiscWorld News.

TIME’s 50 Top Ten Lists of 2007
...including the Top 10 Fiction Books, Top Ten Non-Fiction Books, and Top Ten Children’s Books.

Top Ten Fiction Books:

The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao by Junot Díaz
Then We Came to the End: A Novel by Joshua Ferris
A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khaled Hosseini
Out Stealing Horses: A Novel by Per Petterson
Tree of Smoke: A Novel by Denis Johnson
The House of Meetings by Martin Amis
No One Belongs Here More Than You by Miranda July
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows by J.K. Rowling
Like You'd Understand, Anyway by Jim Shepard
The Post-Birthday World by Lionel Shriver


Top Ten Non-Fiction Books:

The World Without Us by Alan Weisman
Life of Picasso: The Triumphant Years, 1917-1932 by John Richardson
A Long Way Gone: Memoirs of a Boy Soldier by Ishmael Beah
Legacy of Ashes: The History of the CIA by Tim Weiner
The Rest is Noise: Listening to the Twentieth Century by Alex Ross
Born Standing Up: A Comic's Life by Steve Martin
Animal, Vegetable, Miracle: A Year of Food Life by Barbara Kingsolver
The Nine: Inside the Secret World of the Supreme Court by Jeffrey Toobin
The Center Cannot Hold: My Journey Through Madness by Elyn Sacks
Here If You Need Me by Kate Braestrup


Top Ten Children’s Books:

When Dinosaurs Came with Everything Written by Elise Broach, illustrated by David Small
Today I Will Fly Written and illustrated by Mo Willems
Motherbridge of Love Illustrated by Josee Masse
Iggy Peck, Architect Written by Andrea Beaty, illustrated by David Roberts
Great Joy Written by Kate DiCamillo, illustrated by Bagram Ibatoulline
Diary of A Fly Written Doreen Cronin; illustrated by Harry Bliss
The Chicken-Chasing Queen of Lamar County Written by Janice N. Harrington; illustrated by Shelley Jackson
Smelly Bill Written and Illustrated by Daniel Postgate
City Lullaby Written by Marilyn Singer, illustrated by Carll Cneut
Cherry and Olive Written and Illustrated by Benjamin Lacombe


To see all 50 of TIME’s Top 10 Lists of 2007, go to http://www.time.com/time/specials/2007/top10/0,30576,1686204,00.html

Lists include:

1. Campaign Gaffes
2. Cartoons
3. TIME Top 10 Stories
4. Middle East News Stories
5. Asia News
6. Movies (Richard Corliss)
7. Movies (Richard Schickel)
8. New TV Shows
9. Returning TV Shows
10. Albums
11. Songs
12. Live Performances
13. Fiction Books
14. Non-fiction Books
15. Video Games
16. Web Videos
17. DVDs
18. Theater
19. Kids’ Books
20. Fashion must-haves
21. Fashion Trends
22. Museum/Art Exhibitions
23. Magazine Covers
24. Comics/Graphic Novels
25. TV Ads
26. Buzzwords
27. Scandals
28. Crimes
29. Underrreported Stories
30. Oddball News
31. Animal Stories
32. Awkward Moments
33. T-shirt Slogans
34. Photos
35. Sports Moments
36. Worst Biz Deals
37. Best Biz Deals
38. Toys
39. Gadgets
40. Sports Matches
41. TIME.com Most Popular Stories
42. Websites
43. Breakups
44. Medical Breakthroughs
45. Scientific Discoveries
46. Green Ideas
47. Religion stories
48. Natural Disasters
49. Man-made Disasters
50. Quotes

NATIONAL BOOK CRITICS CIRCLE PICKS BEST RECOMMENDED BOOKS OF 2007

Check out the selections which herald the start of a new monthly list of recommendations. FYI, I am a voting member but none of my selections made the top 5.

NBCC's Best Recommended

Washington Post Top 10 Books of 2007

Looks somewhat similar to the NY Times, plus additional lists for fiction, nonfiction and critic's picks.

Washington Post

'Tis the Season...for all those best books of the year lists

I've posted my favorite thrillers on my website, but here's the NY Times --

The 10 Best Books of 2007


And if that isn't enough for you, check out the NY Times 100 Notable Books of 2007

I'll post more lists as I come across them. Happy Holidays!

2007 National Book Award Winners

The winners of the 2007 National Book Awards were announced November 14, at the New York Marriott Marquis Hotel in New York City. The annual awards are given by the National Book Foundation to recognize achievements in four categories: Fiction, Nonfiction, Poetry, and Young People's Literature. The night's ceremonies included the presentation of the National Book Foundation Medal for Distinguished Contribution to American Letters to essayist Joan Didion and the Literarian Award for Outstanding Service to the American Literary Community to Terry Gross, host and executive producer of National Public Radio's Fresh Air.

This year's winners are:

Fiction
Denis Johnson, Tree of Smoke (FSG)


Nonfiction
Tim Weiner, Legacy of Ashes: The History of the CIA (Doubleday)

Poetry
Robert Hass, Time and Materials (Ecco/HarperCollins)


Young People's Literature
Sherman Alexie, The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian (Little, Brown) -- The #1 Fall 2007 Book Sense Children's Pick

MIAMI BOOK FAIR 2007!

It was my pleasure to attend the Miami Book Fair on Saturday and as always, had a great time. My first surprise of the day occurred as I entered the fair. The first booth, or rather booths (they had several) was Borders. Big deal you say? Well, it is to me. The first time I attended the fair was about 10 years ago when I worked the booth for Borders. In those days all the bookstores had booths, the independents and the chains. But slowly the chains disappeared, probably to the delight of the indies, but as a former Borders employee it saddened me. The street fair became less.

But Borders has a new CEO and he is taking the company in a new direction. That leadership was sorely needed. Doing a book fair is just the tip of the iceberg, but it is telling of a direction that the company seems to moving in – the stores look better, the cafes are now all Seattle’s Best (owned by Starbucks who is apparently taking over the coffee drinking world,) and Borders is taking back their website from Amazon.com. But this is supposed to be about the book fair, and I’ve strayed. Forgive me and follow me back to the fair…

At the Borders booth I ran into one of my favorite authors, Joseph Finder. Joe was busy schmoozing and signing books and posters, but he stopped to chat with me and my friend Judy. I was delighted to run into him because I had gotten a really nice email about him. A new author trying to get published found Joe through my MySpace page and contacted him. This author wrote to tell me that Joe was incredibly nice and so helpful, and he thanked me, as if I had anything to do with it! But I was happy to hear it – so many people say they want to help, but rarely do, so it’s wonderful to hear that a successful and very busy author took the time to help out the new guy. And it was my pleasure to share that with Joe.

In turn, Joe shared a bit of news with me. He is working on his next book, which is to be the first book of a series! It will be set in the corporate world, but none of his former characters will be appearing. It’s all new and we won’t get any more info than that for quite a while because he still needs to write it. Details, details.

Strolling through the fair I also bumped into P.J. Parrish, well, half of the award winning sister act, at any rate. They are hard at work on a book that will bring both their series characters together. I also ran into Christine Kling, who has been immersed in researching mysteries set in the high seas, something she has some expertise with herself. She’s also exploring historical maritime fiction as well, and seems to be having a ball.

I stopped by the author’s lounge to see who might be lounging instead of working, and ran into Jim Born, who was on his way to appear on a panel of Florida Book Award winners. I also got to chat with Jeff Lindsey, and I asked him if we were going to have to wait two more years for another Dexter book. He said if he could make enough money on this latest one, he wouldn’t have to do another book for five years. Yes, the man writes for money. I also asked if he was involved with the TV series on Showtime – it’s not something I would watch, but I know several people who really enjoy it. He told me he took Hemingway’s advice about Hollywood: go up to the border, throw your book across, and when they throw money back, take it and run. Sounds like good advice. I ran into Jeff a few minutes later at one of the wonderful booksellers’ booths at the fair and got this fabulous picture - yes, Dexter’s daddy, the serial killer creator himself, was there buying Curious George board books.

I finally made it over to a panel that was supposed to start at noon. Got in line and waited because Wesley Clarke was still speaking in the room. He ran about half an hour late, which meant that for the rest of the day, that room would be a scheduling nightmare. It was worth the wait though, to see Dave Barry and Ridley Pearson. They’ve been collaborating on a trilogy of children’s books about Peter Pan’s back story, and it is always a treat to see them.


Dave Barry took a “sabbatical” from writing his weekly column for the Miami Herald, and I really miss him. I fear the sabbatical has turned into retirement because he shows no sign of wanting to return and seems to be keeping busy elsewhere. Barry is the book fair’s version of stand up comedy, and he truly excels at it, but he was asked to cut it short so they could catch up on time. Hmmph! Despite the fact he was there promoting a children’s book, he took great delight in pointing out that the event was being sponsored by AARP. He told some great stories and had everyone laughing. Ridley is also a funny guy, and between the two of them they have quite the tag team match going on. The co-chair of the fair informed us that even though this event wasn’t being filmed for Book TV (as most of the nonfiction events are) it was being filmed in its entirety and would be posted on iTunes U but I couldn’t find it. Keep checking back.

Since they have finished the Peter Pan trilogy, they both have more children’s books in the works. Science Fair is about a middle school science fair that goes terribly, terribly wrong. It’s set in Washington D.C. and the science project at the center of the book is going to destroy the world, unless these kids can stop it. Barry’s suggestion for all teachers in the room is to sit the parents down at the beginning of the school year and say look, we need money, and if you don’t give it to us we are going to have a science fair! The dollars would come pouring in…. Pearson also told us he was approached by Disney (who publishes the Peter Pan books) and asked if he would write a crime book for kids that was set in DisneyWorld. He told them he would, provided he was given unlimited access to the park. He was set loose in the Magic Kingdom at 5:00 a.m. on several occasions and got to see them turning on the rides, and all the backstage stuff. The book that came out of that was called Kingdom Keepers. Next up for Mr. Pearson is a book called Steel Trap, a thriller about a 14 year old boy who has a “perfect memory”.

I headed over to the crime fiction panel of the day, featuring Joe Finder, Power Play; Nick Stone, Mr. Clarinet; Greg Iles, The Third Degree; and Ridley Pearson, Killer Weekend. Except I had just left Ridley at the Dave Barry/Ridley Pearson event, so I was curious how he was going to get to the next panel when his first panel was running so late. Answer solved: they just changed the name of the panel to 'waiting for Ridley', and announced he'd be joining them close to the end of the discussion.

I had met Nick Stone up in the author’s lounge, and was delighted to run into him again waiting for his panel to start. He is from Cambridge, and lives in London and has that wonderful British accent that most Americans just adore. He confided that he was a nervous wreck about speaking in public, but he did a fabulous job - he was charming and well spoken. He also told me that he used to be a boxer, which amazed me. His nose is just perfect, and he has all his own teeth! That’s because, he said, he was really good at it. He’s really good at writing too, judging from all the awards and accolades his Mr. Clarinet has received.

Joe Finder was engaging and charismatic as always. He talked a bit about his background, how he got into writing fiction after his first attempt at a journalistic look at Armand Hammer didn’t work out quite the way he thought it would. He also discovered that while his friends (and former co-workers) at the CIA wouldn’t talk to him at all as a journalist, as a novelist they were happy to open up. So were the CEO’s of some of the biggest and best known businesses in the country, and Joe found his niche as the John Grisham of the corporate world. He also shared a rather startling statistic with his audience: “60% of the CIA payroll is in the private sector.”

I was happy to share a little story with him about his latest, Power Play. I recommended it to a co-worker, a septuagenarian gentleman who told me he started reading it one night and literally couldn’t put it down – he stayed up all night reading, and in the early morning hours when his wife discovered what he was doing and demanded he come to bed, he told her he would – as soon as he finished the last chapter. He told me he couldn’t remember the last time he had stayed up all night reading, quite a kudo to Mr. Finder’s remarkable story.

Greg Iles is a really fine writer of very different books. He says every time he turns in a manuscript, his agent says, can’t you ever do anything the same twice? He sort of did with his first two books, they were both set during WWII but that was where the similarities ended. But he is doing it with his next book; he’s bringing back a character, Penn Cage, to another story. Cage has actually appeared in a few of Iles’ books, but this next one will have him center stage. He also talked about his recently released book, The Third Degree. It is based on a real life incident that he has turned into a novel that takes place in the span of seven hours. I haven’t read it yet, but it is in my to-be-read pile and I can’t wait.

Iles says that “insight is only bought with pain.” He feels that most writers’ books take a downward spiral in quality because they are forced to write a new book every year. For some writers, like Pearson, that’s not a problem. But for Iles it is, he says that really only gives him six months to write and he would really prefer a two year span between books to get it how he wants it. And I'm very sorry to say he talks like a man who is thinking about retirement.

Ridley (real name: Robert) Pearson shared that he is working on a new series that will be set in Sun Valley, Idaho, where he lived for 24 years. He says “there is a lot of insanity because there is so much money” and he’s got a lot of great story ideas already. He also told us that he feels a writers’ job is to suspend the readers’ disbelief, and if they don’t, the reader has every right to chuck the book against the wall. Personally, I’ve never heard of anyone doing that with one of Ridley’s books.

The Atlantic Monthly named Ralph Nader one of the "100 most influential Americans" and he’s an American icon in my opinion. I may not always agree with him, but I certainly wouldn’t pass up the opportunity to hear him speak, and it was my pleasure to do so at the fair. He has a book out called Seventeen Traditions, and it is a tribute to his parents and the way he was raised. He joked that it’s the first book he’s written that everyone has liked; people said it was a great Mother’s Day gift, then a great Father’s Day gift, and now they’re saying it’s a great holiday gift. He feels our nation has commercialized children to the crisis point, and with this book he hopes to remind people what childhood is really supposed to be about. From the stories he told, it is easy to see how he became the man that he is; whether or not you agree with him or his politics, no one can argue that he is an independent thinker with the courage of his convictions. And we need more like him.

Some of the traditions he spoke about were the importance of listening and why children need to be exposed to nature. Something that really struck me was a story he told about what his father said to him one night at dinner when he was 8 years old, and it stayed with him all these years. His father didn’t just ask him how was school today, instead he said, “What did you learn in school today, how to believe or how to think?” Nader said he often thought about that as he sat in classrooms all through high school and college and law school. He also spoke about the tradition of going to the library, and spoke warmly about his local library, the Beardsley & Memorial Library in Winsted, Connecticut.

Other traditions his parents fostered in him were independent thinking and the importance of charity. He said he parents didn’t preach these things, they lived them, and by his observing how they lived, he learned to live that way as well. He told another story about I think it was his sister seeing a street cleaner, and saying to her mother, I’m so glad I don’t have to do that job. Her mother remarked that’s why it’s important to respect people who do the work you don’t want to do, but want to have done – and that’s why they should be paid well for doing those jobs.

After Nader’s speech, questions were taken from the audience. The first question up was more of an accusation; the man said he felt like it was Nader’s fault that Gore lost the election in 2000 because of his Green Party nomination, and was obviously still very upset about it. His remarks garnered applause from at least half the audience, along with some booing from others. Nader showed the kind of man he is and answered the question head on. He spoke about his disgust with the corruption of our current administration and the two party system. He said that 25% of the Democrats in Florida voted for George Bush, and he pointed out that Bush “stole more votes from Gore” than he did. More questions were asked, but what struck me most was that he actually answered the questions he was asked, no matter how uncomfortable, so unlike any other politician or public figure I’ve ever seen.

The last speaker of the day was Chris Matthews, of MSNBC’s Hardball and NBC’s The Chris Matthews Show, and author of Life's a Campaign: What Politics Has Taught Me About Friendship, Rivalry, Reputation, and Success, his latest book. The co-chair of the book fair, Barbara Skigen, came out and tried to clear the room after Nader, asking everyone except the “friends” of the book fair to leave.

“Friends” contribute various sums of money to the book fair, depending on how good a “friend” they want to be, and these donations entitle them to wear a “friends” badge around their neck. It also gets them preferred, reserved seating at the front of the room at most of the events, especially the big name events like Matthews. But people weren’t moving; they had good seats or at least some seat for Nader, and they didn’t want to give it up. Meanwhile, hundreds of people had been queuing up for at least an hour (this room was still running about forty minutes late) out in the hall in two lines; the “friends” line which includes friends, media and author/guests, and another, much much longer line for every one else.

Last year the book fair started charging a modest $5 admission to the fair, but each event has always been on a first come, first serve basis, so if there was an author you were dying to see, you had better make sure you queued up early enough to get in. At fairs past (before I had media credentials) I had waited in line for more than an hour to be allowed in to stand in the way back of the room. Others, behind me in line, had been turned away from some events.

I was in the room so I don’t know exactly what was going on out in the hallway. Miami’s finest police officers were brought in, and about a dozen cops swarmed the room, checking everyone’s credentials to make sure no non-friends were still in the room. But they were, and a couple of them stood up and started shouting at Barbara Skigen that they didn’t want to leave. She suggested they get a bond issue on the ballot to build a bigger auditorium. She finally asked them to move to the back of the bus, I mean the back of the room, so they could let the “friends line” inside. A gentleman 'friend' came in and sat behind me and said that there were “thousands” of people waiting outside. A woman 'friend' sat next to me and I asked her what was going on. She said there “lots and lots” of people waiting for more than an hour. By this time it was about 5:30 or so, and the event was supposed to start at 5. She said no explanation was given as to why they were still waiting. They finally let them in a few at a time, and I don’t know that they ever let anyone in who was on the non-friends line. It’s a fairly large room, but I don’t know how many seats it holds – I would guess at least a few hundred, but obviously that wasn’t enough.

The book fair can’t call itself a free event anymore since they charge admission, but they probably need to note that paying admission does not get you into the big name events – only the “friends” are guaranteed that. Mitch Kaplan, founder and active leader of the fair, needs to take a look at how this is working, or not working, as the case may be. He was there for this brouhaha, I saw him at the front of the room briefly before he headed backstage. Hiding certainly wasn’t helpful in sorting the mess out.

Chris Matthews finally was introduced by a Miami attorney and old friend of his at 5:45. Matthews came out and said he thought he was at one of the old Democratic conventions; the Republicans would make an announcement asking people to clear the aisles and they would, the Dems would have those announcements and nobody would move.

He told some great stories, one in particular about when Reagan was shot. He said he was more severely injured than anyone knew, it was kept very quiet but he had lost about half the blood in his body and was near death. About a week later he was finally stabilized, and they decided they needed to let someone in, a visitor. Matthews noted that administration was familiar with the constitution, unlike our current one, and chose to invite Tip O’Neill, speaker of the house, leader of the opposition party, and in line for the presidency, something that never would have occurred to Cheney. One of the administration members was in the room when O’Neill came in. He recently recorded an oral history of what he saw at the University of Virginia. What he said was that Tip O’Neill was on his knees at Reagan’s bedside, and they were holding hands and praying together, reciting the 23rd psalm.

He also said that the difference between “grownups and bloggers” is that grownups have to pass each other in the hall. The point Matthews was trying to make, and that he tries to make in his book, is something he says he learned from Winston Churchill; to grin when you fight. Enjoy the argument, he says, and get loud (big surprise there!) When it gets quiet, get scared.

Recent college graduates would benefit most from this book. He says that kids go through school and every year they get promoted, they know where they are going. In college they’re asked what they dream about, and are pointed towards programs that can get them to their dream. But once they graduate, they need to learn how to ask for what they want. Matthews says “whatever door is open, squeeze through it.” I purchased a copy for my 22 year old son who recently graduated from college. I’m giving it to him for Chanukah, and I hope he finds it beneficial. I don’t have to worry about him reading about his gift here, he never reads my blog!

Matthews says that we are an attention deficit society; the average viewership for his show is 11 minutes. He also says that he hasn’t figured out the world yet, and he doesn’t have all the answers, “but O’Reilly does, and Keith does.” He also took questions at the end, and said Joe Biden doesn’t have a chance but he thinks he’s a good guy and will probably end up as Secretary of State.

Matthews thinks that Hillary has the best chance of becoming president, but that Bill needs to step back and stop distracting us. He compared her situation to a “really good, a great horror movie – the girl finally saves herself,” while in the bad, B-movie horror flicks, the guy saves her. He says she has the “highest floor and the lowest ceiling in politics.” He talked about how smart women are, and says that Giuliani is a tough guy, but we don’t need bravado, we need smarts. He talked about traditional families, and how it’s the women who are the administrators, they keep the checkbook, juggle all the appointments, know what’s going on with every family member. Men check out noises in the night.

Another interesting question was about how to get kids interested in politics and what’s going on in the world, and how to get them out to vote. Matthews gave a succinct, realistic and rather unfortunate answer: “reinstate the draft.”

I also learned that Matthews was a speechwriter for Jimmy Carter, and that his first job on Capitol Hill – after “knocking on 200 doors”, was as a “capitol cop.” He had a uniform and a gun, and spent his days putting his life on the line guarding a “room full of papers.” Turns out those were the Pentagon Papers he was guarding. Matthews has spent 36 years covering politics, and it sure seems like he’s loved every minute of it.

I stood in a very long, very fast moving line to have my book signed. Matthews was personable and charming, even though he must have been in a hurry – he’d been invited by University of Miami President Donna Shalala to join her for a historic evening at the Orange Bowl. In the Miami Hurricanes’ final game at their home of 70 years, they lost - Virginia 48, Miami 0.

Now mark your calendar: next year’s Miami Book Fair International is slated for November 9-16, 2008. Hope to see you there!

Anyone going to the Miami Book Fair?

I am so excited! So many authors, so little time.... Gail Tsukiyama, Kristin Gore, Dave Barry (of course) Chris Mathews (is he really that loud in person?) Ralph Nader (is he running again??) Richard Russo, MJ Rose, Greg Iles, Vince Flynn, Tim Dorsey, Jim Born, Jeffrey Toobin, Jeff Lindsay, Scott Turow, the list goes on and on and on and on and so do I....

So who's going?

Miami Book Fair