For the college bound...Part 1

There are lots of books out there to help prepare you for going away to college, and my daughter Ariel and I have read most of them! Ariel is an incoming freshman and a reader, so was happy to help with this project. Here are our picks for the best of the best, the books you should not miss.

Harlan Cohen heads the list with two terrific books, one geared towards students, the other towards parents - but feel free to switch with each other when you're done!

The Naked Roommate: And 107 Other Issues You Might Run Into in College by Harlan Cohen: Published in 2009, it's still new enough to cover all the stuff that matters to today's incoming freshman, from the title's what do you say to a naked roommate and other trials of dorm life to STDs to should you be Facebook friends with your parents? It's funny, easy to jump around or read in order, plus Cohen includes lots of real life stories from college students about every situation you can think of - actually, lots more than I ever would have thought of.

Cohen's newest book is The Happiest Kid on Campus: A Parent's Guide to the Very Best College Experience (for You and Your Child). In this book he speaks more to the parents, but Ariel enjoyed reading it as well. There is some overlap with the aforementioned Naked Roommate, but if you can, get both. I figure I will send the Naked Roommate off to college with Ariel so she can have it as a reference as things come up, and keep the Happiest Kid home with me. Unless she takes it with her! This book deals with things like how to stay connected with your child and how much is too much, visiting, safety issues and concerns, and even teaches tech-challenged parents about Twitter and texting. Tons of great ideas and information from parents and students who have been there and done that.

Note: that's Harlan Cohen, NOT Harlan Coben, the thriller writer. Check out his websites, too: Help Me, Harlan and The Naked Roommate Online

An Open Letter to the Publishing Industry

RE: Large Print Books

I am here to vent about an ongoing problem in libraries; the inability to get large print versions of popular books. If a book becomes popular after the initial print run, the large print goes out of print and libraries, AKA library patrons, AKA taxpayers, are screwed.

For instance, my library currently has 193 reserves on the large print version of Sarah's Key by Tatiana DeRosnay. We own 6 large print copies and are currently filling reserves that were placed last February. We would gladly buy more, but it is out of print. Amazon.com has 2 used copies for sale at $280 each!

I had spoken to someone at Random House a few years ago about this when we had a similar problem with one of their books (I forgot which, sorry) and was told they were looking into some sort of print on demand for large print books. Apparently it never came to pass.

There has been some progress made in large print publishing. Many of the larger publishing houses are now producing their own large print books which come out at the same time as the regular print. The rest are farmed out to large print publishers like Thorndike or Wheeler, they of the ugly covers and publishing dates a year after the regular print books hit the shelves.

Hey, publishers, you are missing the boat here! In case you've all been taking your meetings under a rock, the population in the United States is aging. Does the fact that the fastest growing age group on Facebook is now 65+ mean nothing to you? Baby boomers are aging and you can bet more and more of them are going to need large print books.

In these days of economic downturn and sluggish sales across the board, why aren't publishers leaping at the chance to sell more books? If my library needs another 30+ copies of Sarah's Key, I'd bet there are other libraries that do as well - most of which cannot and will not purchase used, $280 copies.

Is there some sort of explanation that I'm missing? I'd love to hear from publishers about this.

Guest Blogger: LISA BLACK on ThrillerFest!

I couldn't get to ThrillerFest this year, but Lisa Black, author of the terrific TAKEOVER and EVIDENCE OF MURDER plus the upcoming TRAIL OF BLOOD (this September,) was kind enough to share her some of her thoughts on her experience at ThrillerFest

Thoughts from Thrillerfest, 2010

I attended the expensive but star-spangled conference of the International Thriller Writers last weekend and came to recall why it’s well worth the money. Writers are fun, funny and endlessly approachable. I think it has something to do with spending copious amounts of time alone—a conference, in essence, crams half a year’s worth of socializing into one weekend and we instantly become giddy with adrenaline and the unaccustomed use of our vocal chords. (There is, of course, the inevitable crash—about halfway through Saturday I might go into a Garbo-like I vant to be alone stage, though more likely I just get tired. It is a marathon of social networking—but I paid for this, dammit. A nap is not an option.

And authors can be so funny. They have a Debut Authors Breakfast on Saturday, where all the first-time authors have a minute to stand up and talk about their books. A participant named Brad Parks, instead of introducing his book, started to talk about how wowwed he still felt to meet all these famous authors, and then he burst out into excellently rendered lyrics that went "Brad Meltzer, I'm sharing a stage with Brad Meltzer" to the tune of "Maria" from West Side Story.

But I know how he feels. At the group signing Harper Collins arranges for its authors at Otto Penzler’s Mysterious Bookshop, I met an older gentlemen who had worked for Agatha Christie’s publisher and had gone to England to meet with her later in her career. Let me reiterate: I conversed with a man who had conversed with Agatha Christie. Agatha freakin’ Christie. Is that cool or what?

At a conference you can pitch to an agent, meet one of your idols, and listen to session after session on writing, aspects of writing and methods of writing and the serendipity of writing. But most of all, more than anything, these conferences are a morale-boosting exercise to get us through the rest of the year when we’re locked in our rooms in front of our keyboards. Over and over the panelists confirm two things: First, that no matter how big you get, you will still secretly think that you suck. It’s normal. Don’t let it bother you and don't let it make you give up, which leads into the second point: Never give up. We all have stacks of unpublished novels and their attendant rejection letters. The sweet and very funny Brad Meltzer told a story that when Harper Lee was halfway through To Kill a Mockingbird she decided that it was terrible and never going to work. She opened her window and threw the entire manuscript out into the snow. Then she called her editor. No one knows what her editor said to her, but after she hung up the phone she went out into the snow and picked up all the pages, went back to work and finished the book.

Never give up.

Reporting in retrospect from Thrillerfest, Lisa Black.


www.lisa-black.com

2010 Top 50 Crime Fiction Blogs award!

Thanks!

Three and a half (3.5) Million Free eBooks at World eBook Fair !

Welcome to the Fifth Annual World eBook Fair where we hope you will enjoy at least a few of the books that are presented here, now in the millions.

Brief History of the World eBook Fair:

Just a few years ago the First World eBook Fairs came on the scene with about 1/3 million books and doubled to 2/3 million in 2008, and over a million and a quarter the following year.

This year there are over Three million eBooks.

The World eBook Fair's mammoth amount of books were created by contributions from 100+ eLibraries and thousands of volunteers from around the world.

This year we have added over a million new free eBooks already, and plan to add 50,000 more by the end of The world eBook Fair, which runs from July 4 to August 4.

The collections include light and heavy reading materials, more reference books, scientific items, etc., and about 50,000 music entries in addition to the 12,000 that debuted last year.

Please note that The Internet Archive and Project Gutenberg are also presenting a number of items in other media; music, movies and artwork, even dance choreography, are included.

At midnight Central Daylight Time July, 4 2010 we estimate that the approximate numbers of titles will be:

2,324,842 from The Internet Archive
750,000 from World Public Library
400,000 from Wattpad
112,000 from Project Gutenberg
62,000 from International Music Score Library Project

>>> 3,648,842 Grand Total <<<

More eBooks To More People Via Cell phone Reads

In addition to presenting twice as many books, we are also trying to reach 10x as much of the population by including a number of programs a person can use to read these eBooks on phones, MP3 players, PDA's, iPods, etc.
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Project Gutenberg , World Public Library , Baen Books , Internet Archive , MobileBooks , MyeBook , Wattpad

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!!! Thanks To Mike Cook / GutenberyNews / For The Tweet !!!

TO SPEAK FOR THE DEAD

JAKE LASSITER IS BACK: 20TH ANNIVERSARY EDITION NOW AN E-BOOK

From Paul Levine:

“When is Jake Lassiter coming back?”

I get the question at bookstores and Bouchercon, at Thrillerfest and Sleuthfest, at Left Coast Crime, and even my dentist’s office. I might be promoting one of the “Solomon vs. Lord” books, or “Illegal,” but the questions always come back to this:

“Where the heck is Jake?”

I wrote seven Lassiter novels between 1990 and 1997. Since then, I’ve written two stand-alone thrillers, a four-book series, and a bunch of episodes for two CBS-TV dramas. But what everyone wants to talk about is that linebacker-turned-lawyer, a tough guy with a tender heart.

“Jake’s not in jail, is he?”

I don’t think so, but given his conduct in court, maybe he should be.

Truth is, Jake Lassiter lives!

In Fall 2011, “Lassiter” will be out in hardcover from Bantam as Jake searches for a missing woman from his past and becomes entangled in the intertwined worlds of politics and porn. But wait, there’s more:

Jake Lassiter is back in print now!

Or rather, in bytes.

On line.

Just a click away.

I’m talking about e-books. You can start reading the 20th Anniversary edition of “To Speak for the Dead,” in about 90 seconds. An international bestseller, the first Lassiter novel was named one of the best mysteries of the year by the Los Angeles Times and became an NBC World Premiere Movie.

For a limited time, e-book sellers are offering “...Dead” at the astonishing price of $2.99. Right, less than your double mocha latte, which by the way, Jake Lassiter would never drink. (That price may surprise the collector who e-mailed recently that he paid $325 for a signed first edition of “To Speak for the Dead.” Wow. I have a couple cartons in the garage if he wants more).

Now, here’s the best part: All author royalties – 100 per cent – will go to the Four Diamonds Fund, which supports cancer research and treatment at Hershey Children’s Hospital. It’s a cause dear to my heart. The facility, part of Penn State’s College of Medicine, is one of the premier institutions of its kind. Thanks to the Fund, children whose families lack the financial wherewithal receive top-notch medical care.

There’s even more news about Jake. The second book of the Lassiter series, “Night Vision,” is also available as an e-book, as is “9 Scorpions,” a stand-alone legal thriller set at the Supreme Court. In the next several months, all seven Lassiter books will be on Amazon Kindle and the other e-bookselling platforms. So, even if you’re new to the series, there’s time to catch up before the new one hits the stores next year. If you’ve already read the books in the dead-trees format, try them again on your e-reader or right on your desktop or laptop. Here’s a quick look at what’s available now.

TO SPEAK FOR THE DEAD – Defending a surgeon in a malpractice case, Jake begins to suspect that his client is innocent of negligence...but guilty of murder. A sexy widow, a robbed grave, and another murder follow. “Move over Scott Turow. ‘To Speak for the Dead’ is courtroom drama at its very best.” – Larry King, USA Today

NIGHT VISION – Jake is appointed a special prosecutor when a serial killer
begins stalking women on a sexually oriented Internet chat site. Enlisting a brilliant woman psychiatrist, Jake wades into a maze of lies and corruption to uncover the murderer. “Sparkles with wit and subtlety.” - Toronto Star

9 Scorpions – Sam Truitt, the newest and youngest justice on the Supreme Court, hires a brilliant and stunning female law clerk, unaware she has a personal stake in a huge case before the court. It’s a story of passion and violence, justice and revenge, in and out of court. “A relentlessly entertaining summer read.” New York Daily News

For more info and to purchase, please visit http://www.paul-levine.com/content/jake-lassiter.asp.

Author Paul Levine explains why he has pledged 100% of all royalties to the Four Diamonds Fund for childhood cancer treatment and research.

In the United States today, one in 300 children will be diagnosed with some form of cancer. All of us have friends or family members who have fought that grueling battle. These days, with great advances in medicine, there’s a increasing chance the fight has been successful.

Yet, progress seems excruciatingly slow for those on the front lines.
A few years ago, one of my dearest friends, the godfather of my son, lost his daughter Margaux to Ewing’s sarcoma, a rare but vicious bone cancer. The survival rate for Ewing’s sarcoma that metastasises is a disheartening 10 per cent.

Ten per cent!

In this age of medical miracles, how can that be?

After Margaux’s death at age 14, I dedicated a book to her. Such a feeble gesture. I wanted to do more. Still do. Here’s how.

Twenty years ago this month, my first novel, “To Speak for the Dead,” was published to a decent amount of fanfare. The legal thriller introduced the world to Jake Lassiter, a linebacker-turned-lawyer who seeks justice but seldom finds it. The book facilitated my career change from lawyer to novelist and has always held a special place in my heart. Now, good old Jake can help a cause that’s also dear to me.

I will donate all proceeds of “To Speak for the Dead” to the Four Diamonds Fund, a charity that pays for treatment of pediatric cancer patients at Penn State Hershey Children’s Hospital. In addition to providing world-class medical care, the Fund supports research in immunotherapy, carcinogenesis, and several other fields I can barely spell, much less understand.

In basic terms, the Fund helps sick kids. I don’t know a more worthy cause.
I’m hoping that the e-book will sell for years, bringing enjoyment to readers and support to a life-saving cause. Hoping, too, that others will be moved to directly contribute.

Here’s a little background about the Fund. In 1972, a 14-year-old boy named Christopher Millard was an aspiring writer. Or rather, he was already a writer. He’d penned a mythic tale about “Sir Millard and The Four Diamonds,” in the tradition of Sir Galahad and Sir Lancelot. What are those Four Diamonds? Wisdom. Courage. Honesty. Strength. All are needed in our daily lives, especially in children’s battles with a dread disease.

You have probably figured out that Chris wrote the story while in the throes of cancer. The diamonds of his story were allegorical. The quest was for life itself. After a three-year battle, Chris died, but his memory lives in the name of the Fund established by his family.

Penn State students have contributed an astonishing $61 million to the Fund through their annual dance marathon. This year’s event raised $7.8 million alone. The motto of “Thon” is “For the kids.” And that, too, is the dedication of “To Speak for the Dead.”

Even if you don’t own an e-reader, you can download the book to your laptop or desktop. So, if you’d like a “breathlessly exciting” read (Cleveland Plain Dealer) or a “genuinely chilling” one (Washington Post), please give it a try. For a limited time, the book is only $2.99. Purchase information here: http://www.paul-levine.com/content/jake-lassiter.asp.

One last thing. If each of us can contribute – just a bit – of courage, wisdom, honesty, and strength, maybe we can reach the goal of Conquering Childhood Cancer.

Guest Blogger: KARIN SLAUGHTER

Karin Slaughter is on a blog tour for her latest book, BROKEN, and I am delighted to host her today.


I’ve been writing about Dr. Sara Linton for ten years now, and I’m still surprised by the different aspects of her character. In Broken, it’s the week of Thanksgiving and she’s back home in Grant County for the first time in four years. Instead of being excited about being with her family, Sara is wary. A lot has happened since the tragic events that ended Beyond Reach. She’s had to build herself into a new person, and just driving into the Heartsdale city limits is so difficult that she has to pull over to the side of the road and collect herself.

It’s been almost a year since I wrote that scene, and I can still feel Sara’s anxiousness when I think about it. I suppose that’s the gift and the curse of being with these characters so long. I see them as human beings, and I feel their losses almost as if they were close friends. I also feel their anger, which is why writing about Lena Adams was hard this time around. She’s always been a difficult character because she’s very erratic and just when I think she’s on the right track, she takes a one-eighty and does the exact wrong thing.

Sara has been warning readers about Lena’s unpredictable behavior for years, and I think finally folks are seeing that she’s right. Yet, still, I find myself thinking—hoping—that Lena is going to manage to turn herself around. She’s not altogether awful. She tries to be a good cop. She loves her family. She’s been loyal to a fault. The thing is, people who do bad stuff never think they are bad people. That’s what I’ve always found so fascinating about Lena: she really thinks underneath it all that she’s doing the right thing. I think readers often take that ride with her.

In one chapter, you might think she’s finally managed to turn things around, and then in the next, she’s doing something breathtakingly risky and even downright stupid. I guess that’s why it was so much fun bringing Will Trent into Grant County, where he gets caught between these two strong women. On the face of it, Will seems like the character with the most flaws. He’s in a crappy relationship, he grew up in an orphanage, he’s got a mean boss and he’s dyslexic. And yet, of the three, he comes across as the least broken.

If you'd like to win a signed copy of BROKEN, along with several other thrillers, please visit www.bookbitch.com and click on the Win Thrillers page for all the details!




Karin Slaughter is the number one international bestseller of several novels, including the Grant County series. A long-time resident of Atlanta, she splits her time between the kitchen and the living room.

Thrillerfest is right around the corner!

From Shane Gericke:

THRILLERFEST SCHEDULE IS POSTED

. . . ALONG WITH SOME BAD POETRY

Yes it's true so very true,

That we have done our work for you,

And now it's time for you to look,

At the complete ThrillerFest schedule and panel assignments now posted on our website.

Clearly, I won't win poet of the year. But who cares, now that I can decide where to go and who to see at ThrillerFest!

As can you. The panel assignments and official schedule of everything we offer is now posted on the ThrillerFest website, in downloadable PDF format. It lays out every panel, talk, presentation, party and autograph session, along with the authors appearing at each.

Click here for the hour-by-hour breakdown of CraftFest, AgentFest, ThrillerFest, Thriller Award Banquet and evening events.

More ThrillerFest updates you should know:

JUST THE FAQs: Any question you might have about the conference is now answered on the website. We explain in a handy FAQs format why ThrillerFest remains in New York instead of moving around the country . . . what a cab ride should cost from LaGuardia . . . and why the coffee in the hotel lobby is so $%^*& expensive. (And where you can buy a cup for half the price.) I even threw in some sex so you'll read the whole thing. Click here to read. Still got a question? Drop me a line and I'll add it to the mix. If you want to know, chances are others do too.

MEET MARK BOWDEN: Who? Yep, that's the point of our Headliners series--to introduce the fabulous authors headlining ThrillerFest V. Just posted is Lawrence Light's profile of journalist Mark Bowden, the author of BLACK HAWK DOWN, the world-renown book and Hollywood epic about the heroic rescue of American soldiers trapped behind enemy lines in Somalia. (Yeah, it's that Mark Bowden!) He's the first-ever winner of our True Thrills award for nonfiction, so click here and scroll down past the FAQs to read all about him.

MEET THE REST: First we profiled Harlan Coben. Then, Lisa Scottoline, and now, Mark Bowden. But brace yourself: over the next three weeks you'll see a mega-blitz of Linda Fairstein, Gayle Lynds, Brad Meltzer, David Morrell, and our 2010 ThrillerMaster for lifelong excellent in thriller writing, Ken Follett. Scroll through Latest News (where you just read the Bowden piece) to find each profile the moment it appears.

RECORD AGENTFEST: We're delighted to announce we've persuaded 48 world-class literary agents to hear your pitches at AgentFest. That's a record turnout of agents, and each and every wants to find the Next Big Thing amongst your manuscripts. Click here for their individual bios and photos. If you decide to give speed-pitching a go (it's like speed-dating, except with manuscripts, and you don't get kissed at the end), click here.

CALLING ALL VOLUNTEERS: ThrillerFest needs volunteers for all kinds of cool jobs, from the registration desk to helping folks navigate CraftFest to keeping time at author panels. Why not you? The work is fun and satisfying, and you can work as many or few hours as fits your schedule. David Wilson, ThrillerFest's coordinator of volunteers, has bunches of slots to fill, and he'd love to hear from you. Drop him an e-mail ASAP at ITWVolunteers@aol.com to get on the list. For those of you who contacted me during the year hoping to volunteer, I forwarded your names already. But please drop David a line anyway, just to make sure he knows you want to work--it couldn't hurt, right? He'll get in touch with you when he's ready to make assignments.

ONE MORE TIME: Volunteering at ThrillerFest is a unique opportunity to meet your favorite authors face-to-face. (Imagine yourself handing Steve Berry, Lisa Scottoline, Sandra Brown or Ken Follett a badge and program book. . . .) It's also a fun way to learn ThrillerFest from the inside out. I'd be so pleased if you wrote to volunteer coordinator David Wilson and said: Yes, We Can. Again, it's ITWVolunteers@aol.com.

SLOTS SLIP-SLIDIN' AWAY: You receive these e-mail updates as part of your ITW membership, whether or not you've registered for ThrillerFest. If you’re one of the latter, please consider joining me at the world's coolest literary conference. I signed up after selling my first thriller manuscript five years ago, and wound up liking the event so much that now I'm chairman. Yeah, it’s that much fun. Catch the excitement yourself by clicking here to register.

Thanks for reading, and see you in New York!

With warmest regards,

Shane Gericke
Chairman, ThrillerFest 2010

Questions? E-mail me at shane@shanegericke.com

Guest Blogger: SIMON WOOD

IS IT SAFE?
By Simon Wood

I was thinking about the perception of safety the other day. My wife, Julie, doesn’t like it when I leave the front door unlocked when we’re in the house. She doesn’t want anyone storming the castle gates while we’re at home, so she puts her faith in a deadbolt. A two inch slug of steel not even an inch in diameter will keep her from harm. She doesn’t worry (but probably will after this blog) that there’s nothing stopping evil doers from chucking a rock through any of our floor to ceiling windows and entering the house that way.

I started thinking about other safe things in our lives.

When the little red man tells me not to walk, I don’t. The little red man knows all about danger. That’s why he’s red. When I ignore his advice, my heart rate shoots up a few beats.

The same applies to stop signs at a four-way stop. I put my faith in the driver of the eighteen-wheeler coming from the other direction that he’ll obey what it says on a red octagon and not plow into me.

Down on the Bay Area’s subway train system, BART, a row of yellow bricks keep me safe from the speeding trains if I stand behind them. And I do feel safe. The moment I stand on those yellow bricks, I feel queasy. I’ve put myself in danger. A train could hit me. Someone could bump me and send me sprawling onto the electrified rails. Those yellow bricks are just yellow bricks, but they have some power behind them. It’s really silly. My safety can’t be measured by the width of a row of yellow bricks. There are so many other contributing factors that can take their toll on me.

How many of us fear earthquakes, tornadoes, being struck by lightning, shark attacks or an in-law coming to stay? While these things exist, there’s little chance of them affecting us.

I look around me without my safety goggles on and reexamine my environment. There are so many things I perceive as safe. Harm won’t come to me because I’m not putting myself in harm’s way. Theoretically, that is. But boy, isn’t it a tenuous belief system? I am safe on the sidewalk because sidewalks are safe. There’s nothing to say a car won’t plow into me or I won’t trip and fall into the road, but I don’t think about these things because the sidewalk is my talisman.

It all comes down to perception. If I perceive danger everywhere I go, then I will see danger everywhere. Perception is reality. If I think safe, then I am safe. I guess there’s a little bit of the Pavlov’s dog syndrome at work inside us all.

Fundamentally, we all believe in a safe world and it is when all of us agree and on how to act. But what if someone doesn’t? Where’s our safety then? In jeopardy is the answer.

I quite like it when my thinking goes off the rails like this. I cross my eyes and I see the emperor without his clothes on. This is useful when it comes to the stories I tell. I like to pick at a character’s world until it unravels by attacking all the things that they hold dear. Basically, I break down their perceptions and belief system. Life is a tightrope and I like to twang the cable while there are people on it—fictionally speaking that is.

The notion of safety tends to play a part in the stories I tell. I don’t focus on global terror or category 5 hurricanes or anything like that because it’s too abstract. I don’t have any experience with something like that and it’s too infrequent to worry about it. I like to focus on the what-ifs of daily life. What if someone ignores a deadbolt and breaks in through the window? What if a waiter steals my credit card number and uses it? These are things that can happen and if the situation snowballs how can that one incident keep coming back at me to make the situation worse? My latest book, Terminated, deals with a vindictive employee who terrorizes his female boss and dismantles every part of her life, from her family to her reputation amongst friends and colleagues. It’s a real life threat that we can all identify with. It’s something that could happen to any of us and something we’d be little prepared to combat. Look at your own workplace. How would you deal with one of your coworkers turning on you? What damage could they inflict on you and your livelihood? It’s scary to daydream about, but it’s a scenario that could happen and that’s what makes it all the more powerful. We could all fall prey to circumstances we couldn’t imagine and would have to struggle to overcome. An act of terrorism, while real, thankfully happens rarely. A minor dust up with a stranger is far more likely, and therefore scarier.

I hope I haven't given any of you worriers out there something new to worry about. Now, sleep tight and I'll see you in your dreams.

Yours in perfect security,

Simon Wood

simonwoodwrites@yahoo.com

www.simonwood.net



BIO: Simon Wood is an ex-racecar driver, a licensed pilot and an occasional private investigator. He shares his world with his American wife, Julie. A longhaired dachshund and five cats dominate their lives. He's had over 150 stories and articles published. His short fiction has appeared in a variety of magazines anthologies, such as Seattle Noir, Thriller 2 and Woman’s World. He's a frequent contributor to Writer's Digest. He's the Anthony Award winning author of Working Stiffs, Accidents Waiting to Happen, Paying the Piper and We All Fall Down. As Simon Janus, he's the author of The Scrubs and Road Rash. His latest thriller, Terminated, is out in mass paperback. Curious people can learn more at www.simonwood.net.

LETTERS WITH CHARACTER

Harper Perennial presents
LETTERS WITH CHARACTER
An Interactive Literary Environment

On the occasion of the publication of Ben Greenman’s What He’s Poised to Do (Harper Perennial, On Sale: June 15, 2010) we invite you to celebrate the art of correspondence and WRITE A LETTER TO A FAMOUS FICTIONAL CHARACTER

Before there was any fiction at all, there were letters. For centuries, letters were the only way for people in different locations to communicate with each other. But letters have also become a rich and complex element of the best literary fiction. The acclaimed author Ben Greenman explores how letters function in life, as well as how they function in fiction in his new collection of inter-linked stories What He's Poised to Do.

"Ben Greenman's masterwork of stories inspired by letters offers
fresh insight into the mysteries of intimacy."--Simon Van Booy.

On the occasion of the book's publication, and in celebration of the art of the letter as a form of fiction, Harper Perennial invites you to participate in its Letters With Character campaign, and to write a letter to a fictional character. The letters can be funny, sad, demanding, fanciful, declarative, or trivial. They can be about a novel, a short story, or a children's book, works both literary or popular. There is only one requirement: They must be written by a real person and must also address an unreal one.

The best, most interesting, strangest, and most moving letters will be collected on LettersWithCharacter.blogspot.com. Visit the site to see a selection of those that have already been written: a romantic appeal to Captain Ahab, a moving consideration of middle age addressed to a Garcia Marquez heroine, a hilarious challenge to Agatha Christie's famed detective Hercule Poirot.

And feel free to submit your own letters to LettersWithCharacter@gmail.com

Edgar Awards

Last night was the Mystery Writers of America's 64th annual Edgar Awards dinner. I was thrilled to see two of my favorite books of 2009 were winners - congratulations to John Hart on winning another very well deserved Edgar for THE LAST CHILD, and to Otto Penzler for THE LINEUP, a fascinating glimpse into the minds of so many truly creative and gifted crime fiction writers.

Here are the winners!

Best Novel
The Last Child by John Hart (Minotaur)


Best First Novel by an American Author
In the Shadow of Gotham by Stephanie Pintoff (Minotaur)

Best Paperback Original
Body Blows by Marc Strange (Dundurn)

Best Short Story
"Amapola" by Luis Alberto Urrea in Phoenix Noir, edited by Patrick Millikin (Akashic)

Best Fact Crime
Columbine by Dave Cullen (Twelve)

Best Critical/Biographical
The Lineup: The World's Greatest Crime Writers Tell the Inside Story of Their Greatest Detectives edited by Otto Penzler (Little, Brown)

Mary Higgins Clark Award
Awakening by S.J. Bolton

Ellery Queen Award
Barbara Peters and Robert Rosenwald of Poisoned Pen Press

MWA Grand Master
Dorothy Gilman, best known for her Mrs. Pollifax series

Marilyn Johnson

The undisputed queen of the Florida Library Association annual conference and libraries everywhere is Marilyn Johnson. Johnson is the author of This Book is Overdue: How Librarians and Cybrarians Can Save us All, and a librarian advocate. That's librarian, not library.

If you watch the news, you know there are plenty of people out there fighting to keep their libraries open in this age of budget shortfalls. State legislators are inundated with letters and have to pass picket lines to argue the budget. But in all those discussions, the librarians themselves may be on the picket line, but they are rarely discussed.

I met up with Marilyn at FLA, where she gave a hilarious presentation, complete with a PowerPoint presentation, to a packed house. I got to spend some one on one time with her as well, and had a great time getting to know this champion of librarians.

I was curious about her; why this fascination with librarians? When she was in high school, Marilyn told me she worked as a page at the library for $.95/hour. After her first year, she asked for a nickel raise and was turned down, so she quit. That was the end of her library career, but really just the beginning of her great love affair with libraries.

Marilyn is a journalist, and one of her jobs was writing obituaries, which led to a book, Dead Beat: Lost Souls, Lucky Stiffs, and the Perverse Pleasures of Obituaries. But something curious happened in the writing of that book; Marilyn noticed that the obituaries she found most fascinating were not those of famous celebrities, but those of librarians. That fascination led her to her new book, an homage to librarians of the past, present and future.

This Book is Overdue covers librarians from "Frederick Kilgour, the first to link libraries' computer catalogs to one another back in the late sixties" to George Christian & Janet Nocek, the Connecticut librarians who sued the federal government as John Doe over the Patriot Act, to the virtual librarians of Second Life and all the blogging librarians, too. Johnson celebrates these librarians as heroes of the information age in an always interesting and often humorous way.

According to Johnson, librarians are "sensitive to patrons and reward innovation." They don't sell people out and they keep secrets. In her research, Johnson found street librarians who literally worked the streets during the demonstrations at the Republican National Convention in New York City, armed with smartphones, lists of phone numbers for legal aid and such, and the locations of public restrooms. She found missionary librarians, who not only provided students from developing countries with laptops but taught them how to use them well enough for the students to take online college classes.

Johnson readily admits to having not much of a grasp of MARC catalog records, was forced to use the word "cybrarian" for lack of anything better for her computer powered librarians, and that she really had to address stereotypical librarian fashion sense as gracefully as possible. When one librarian complained about the cover of the book, specifically the librarian superhero's "sensible shoes", Johnson grabbed her marker and turned them into stilettos!

Johnson was also very excited and proud to tell me about the American Library Association's ALTAFF, the Association of Library Trustees, Advocates, Friends and Foundations. While enjoying their programs at the annual conference, Marilyn wanted to join the library advocacy group. But when she looked at the application, she wasn't sure which box to check. Was she an advocate? A friend? What? So she called ALA and they decided to add another box for authors. Marilyn feels that writers are an endangered species, and libraries keep them alive, and now writers can support the ALA.

I really enjoyed chatting with Marilyn, and I loved reading her book. It's warm, witty, and wise, just like many of the librarians portrayed within. As a library school student on my way to becoming a librarian, I found it inspiring.

Thanks, Marilyn, for being a cheerleader for a profession that is grossly underpaid, often misunderstood, and rarely appreciated. Librarians everywhere should applaud you; you did us proud!

TOP 10 THINGS I LEARNED AT FLA

Last week I had the privilege and pleasure of attending the Florida Library Association's annual conference. I got to meet fellow library students, professors, authors and of course librarians from all over the state. It was a lot of fun and I learned a lot of interesting things. Here's my top 10 list:

1. I learned about "augmented reality;" not really sure what it is? Try YouTube for some interesting videos about it - here's one for a magic card trick

2. I learned that Delray Beach librarian Brian Smith has a terrific blog about his adventures as a Florida librarian that he calls Bribrarian

3. I learned that the Orange County Library system charges for the use of their meeting rooms: $25 for two hours. They also offer more computer classes than any library I've ever seen with dedicated librarian/teachers at every branch.


4. I learned that the Jacksonville Public Library allows their patrons to reserve meeting rooms online, and to pay their fines online as well. They also have a really cool Zine collection and blog about it here.

5. I learned that there are organizations that are trying to censor libraries as to what materials they should or shouldn't have in their collections, and they do so using innocuous, innocent sounding names like "Safe Libraries". That's the difference between librarians and those who seek to stifle us; I have no qualms about sharing their website.

6. I learned that the Pasco County Library is using QR codes on their books. This allows patrons use their smart phones in the stacks. They can use the camera & an app to scan the QR code on the spine of the book, and instantly read reviews on Amazon.com! "Point your phone at a printed page. Take a picture. Get taken to a website. That's the power of QR codes, codes embedded in print that can link cell phones to specific websites." Read the rest here.

7. I learned that anyone can upload video along with a PowerPoint presentation or notes to iTunes.

8. I learned that anyone can register for a free account at imdb.com and create and manage your own movie lists, catalog your DVD collection, get local movie info and more.

9. I learned about free video editing software called Camtasia Studio, which CNET calls a "powerhouse for creating and producing screencasts for the Web, mobile phones, and DVDs."

10. I learned that Marilyn Johnson, author of THIS BOOK IS OVERDUE, is out there telling the world that librarians are smart, feisty, independent thinkers that will fight for your right to receive quality information in whatever format is currently available. Truth told, I already knew that, but it's always great to hear it again!

ITW 2010 Thriller Awards Finalists

Here are the finalists for the 2010 Thriller Awards. The International Thriller Writers group will announce the winners at their 5th annual conference at the Grand Hyatt in New York City on July 10.

Best Hard Cover Novel:
VANISHED by Joseph Finder
LONG LOST by Harlan Coben
FEAR THE WORST by Linwood Barclay
THE NEIGHBOR by Lisa Gardner
THE RENEGADES by T. Jefferson Parker

Best Paperback Original:
SHADOW SEASON by Tom Piccirilli
URGE TO KILL by John Lutz
VENGEANCE ROAD by Rick Mofina
THE COLDEST MILE by Tom Piccirilli
NO MERCY by John Gilstrap

Best First Novel:
FRAGMENT by Warren Fahy
DEAD MEN'S DUST by Matt Hilton
COLLISION OF EVIL by John J. Le Beau
DRACULA: THE UN-DEAD by Dacre Stoker
RUNNING FROM THE DEVIL by Jamie Freveletti

Best Short Story:
THE DESERT HERE AND THE DESERT FAR AWAY by Marcus Sakey
A STAB IN THE HEART by Twist Phelan
AFTERSHOCK & OTHERS by F. Paul Wilson
ICED by Harry Hunsicker
BOLDT'S BROKEN ANGEL by Ridley Pearson

Much Ado about Much Ado

I am delighted to welcome guest blogger Ron Block of the Jacksonville Public Library for what is becoming his annual guest blog post on one of the premier book festivals in Florida, MUCH ADO ABOUT BOOKS!

Jacksonville recently turned out for the annual Much Ado About Books Festival and Ex-Libris Gala.

The kickoff for the “everything books” was an amazing visit to Lights over London. The already stunning Main Library was transformed into scenes of London town and featured Royalty from both sides of the ocean-

Two Queens- one of England and one of Junkin’


Popular New York Times author Mary Kay Andrews bowed before Queen Elizabeth I- portrayed with her usual elegance by Betsy Lovett Chair of the JPL Foundation Board. The Queen graciously greeted and posed with each “Londoner”, and was spotted being adored by her royal subjects.


The Main Library transformation was incredible. Chris Bohjalian, author of the current bestseller, Secrets of Eden, remarked that the inside of the library reminded him of Hogwarts Academy. Throughout the evening, attendees were able to sample British Treats supplied by Whole Foods and local musicians tore through the crisp February air and none other than Mary Kay Andrews was spotted cutting a rug with her escort. Authors in attendance were Michael Palmer, Andrew Gross, Katherine Hall Page and loyal JPL friend Steve Berry, who along with his wife, Elizabeth, led a day long writer’s workshop that was a huge hit.

The next morning began with an exclusive breakfast with Chris Bohjalian for a limited number of participants. Chris was late for his first panel at the Main Event Venue, stating that the breakfast had been so stimulating he lost track of time. His first panel discussion was entitled “Building suspense and mystery” along with Katherine Hall Page and Michael Craven. Their comments and answers to questions were wonderful, including a story told about Joyce Carol Oates purchasing a Selectric Typewriter to avoid online distraction while she writes. (What number is my book ranked on Amazon today?). Following the first round of panels, the authors gathered in the Main Library Conference Center for book signings.



The rest of the morning we were treated to talks by Michael Palmer, Andrew Gross and Teen author Sara Zarr. All the panels were riveting, and each author was very gracious and kind. Michael Palmer even visited a nearby restaurant and thrilled the waitress with a signed copy of The Last Surgeon.


The main event of the day was the keynote luncheon. The conference level ballroom was unrecognizable as each table was covered in bright pink material (later found out to be former choir robes!) along with Benjamin Moore Paint Cans filled with Magnolia Tree Branches. The podium was surrounded by ladders of different sizes and colors all of which were draped with multi colored robe material and magnolia stems. A perfect setting for our guest of honor-Mary Kay Andrews, ready to dish it southern style! MK entered the room and made a point of visiting each table, posing for pictures and thanking everyone for their support of the library. Following her introduction by local celebrity, Charlene Shirk, all bets were off. We were treated to the southern style wit, charm and borderline naughty antics of a true southern woman. She had the room laughing with her instructions for making proper chicken salad, along with stories of the basis for many of her memorable characters. Listening to her is like visiting an old friend. Mary Kay followed up her talk by answering every last question anyone had for her and signed books for as many people who were willing to wait in line. She is a true character, and Jacksonville fell in love with her.

I can’t wait to see what happens next year! An aside to Mary Kay- as you wrote in my book- thank YOU for a great time! xo