Brainless

Everyday I come home from work and there is a neat pile of packages on my front door step, the ones delivered by UPS, FedEx, and DHL. Crammed into my new mailbox (the last one finally exploded) are usually one or two more. Not sure why my mail delivery person insists on forcing these packages into the mailbox but my personal feeling is that she's too damn lazy to get out of her cute little mail truck and walk fifteen feet or so to my door. But I digress...

I get lots of books, and I don't read most of them. I read a lot, but even I can't read 25+ books a week. Nor would I want to, much less review them. Lately Penguin has taken to sending me a box of reissued classics every week along with little notes asking me to review them. I'm sorry, but even as opinionated as I am, I am not presumptuous enough to review Albert Einstein's Theory of Relativity, The Communist Manifesto by Friedrich Engels or The Bible.

But a book arrived yesterday that I would consider reading and even reviewing, except I'm not sure I have enough Ruby Red Absolut to get me through it. So we'll see. The name of this unsolicited book that caught my eye is

Brainless: The Lies and Lunacy of Ann Coulter by Joe Maguire

William Morrow is the publisher and frankly, just reading the pitch that came along with it - did I mention that every book that arrives has at least a one page typewritten letter full of exclamation points stressing its vital importance to the reading community, nay, to the world at large, if only I would read it? Another digression, sorry. Anyway, the pitch was full of so much of the Coulter vitriol that it made my head spin. So I'm afraid to read more from the "Mistress of Malice". The letter included her thoughts on Jimmy Carter; "vengeful, sneaky and backstabbing." I worked for his campaign before I was old enough to vote and that is just wrong. Other thoughts include the fact that Intelligent Design is real science while evolution is "make believe".

But this is my favorite: women's liberation has led to "exhibitionism, promiscuity, sex toys, and adultery." Ummm, it's also led to Ann Coulter. It's given her the right to stay single and sexually active while proclaiming herself a good Christian, and even more importantly, it's given her the right to spew her vitriol, circle her wagons and stir up as much hatred as she possibly can. She's got a platform to speak from that is not in her kitchen, where she would be without women's liberation and all those women who fought for her right to publish snarky, malicious books full of "lies and lunacy".

So yeah, I want to read more. But I'm afraid to. I'm really not advocating drinking, but I am an adult and I know that numbing myself with alcohol may make it possible for me to read more than a page or two and not rip them from the book and burn the rest in effigy. Of course, if there is any book burning to be done I should probably start with the Ann Coulter collection, but I don't advocate that either. Just not buying them is enough for me.

But buy Brainless, if only for the jokes, including this tasteless one from David Letterman that made me laugh out loud:

"Here's what we know about Ann Coulter: She's blond, she's single. Maybe someone will set her up with O.J."

On sale date is October 10. Oh, and the book includes pages and pages of source notes.

2006 National Book Festival

Library of Congress Announces Award-Winning Authors Participate In Sixth Annual National Book Festival Celebrating the Joys of Reading and Lifelong Literacy

Library of Congress and Laura Bush Invite Book Lovers of All Ages to the National Mall on Saturday, Sept. 30

The 2006 National Book Festival, organized and sponsored by the Library of Congress and hosted by Mrs. Laura Bush, will be held from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Saturday, Sept. 30, on the National Mall in Washington, D.C., between 7th and 14th streets (rain or shine). The festival is free and open to the public.

“Each year, tens of thousands book lovers attend this national event to meet their favorite authors and celebrate lifelong literacy, which we are also highlighting in a partnership with the Ad Council” said Librarian of Congress James H. Billington. “Now in its sixth year, the National Book Festival presents a wonderful opportunity to see firsthand how reading changes lives and how our country, its citizens and its libraries promote reading in imaginative and inspiring ways."

“The National Book Festival is a great way for families and friends to share in the joys of reading and discover the works of some of America’s most-loved authors,” Mrs. Bush said. “Readers of all ages can listen to and meet their favorite writers and enjoy a day on the National Mall.”

At the 2006 National Book Festival, more than 70 well-known authors, illustrators and poets will discuss their work in various pavilions, including “Children,” “Teens & Children,” “Fiction & Fantasy,” “Mysteries & Thrillers,” “History & Biography,” “Home & Family” and “Poetry.” Festival goers can have books signed by their favorite authors, and children can meet ever-popular storybook and television characters, such as Arthur The Aardvark, Maya and Clifford the Big Red Dog, who will appear on the festival grounds throughout the day.

Participating authors include best-selling novelists Khaled Hosseini, author of the “Kite Runner” and Geraldine Brooks, winner of the 2006 Pulitzer Prize for her book “March”; novelist and essayist Joan Didion; historians John Hope Franklin and Doris Kearns Goodwin; biographer Taylor Branch (“Martin Luther King”); Kai Bird and Martin Sherwin, winners of the 2006 Pulitzer Prize for their biography of J. Robert Oppenheimer; authors of books for children and teens, including Andrew Clements, Stephenie Meyer, Richard Peck, and Louis Sachar; award-winning illustrators Bryan Collier, Betsy Lewin and Mark Teague; Donald Hall, the recently named 14th Poet Laureate of the United States; and poet Dana Gioia, the director the National Endowment for the Arts; best-selling mystery and thriller authors, including Michael Connelly, Lisa Scottoline, Kathy Reichs and Alexander McCall Smith; science fiction award-winner Spider Robinson; and Elmer Kelton, author of more than 40 novels and voted “the best Western author of all time” by the Western Writers of America.

Popular personalities in the “Home & Family” pavilion include television celebrity chefs and authors G. Garvin and Marcus Samuelsson; CNBC economics and investments commentator Jim Cramer and popular linguistics expert Deborah Tannen, whose new best-seller is titled “You’re Wearing That? Understanding Mothers and Daughters in Conversation.”

Beyond meeting their favorite authors, festival visitors will have the opportunity to learn about the reading programs and resources in libraries across the country. The “Pavilion of the States” will highlight the book, reading, literacy and library promotion activities of all 50 states, the District of Columbia and several American trusts and territories. Representatives from every state and territory will welcome families and children interested in that state's writers and reading programs. In addition, the “Let’s Read America” pavilion will feature reading promotion activities developed by select festival sponsors.

The Library of Congress Pavilion will feature a variety of interactive family-centered activities about the importance of lifelong literacy, cultural preservation, and preserving digital culture. Computers will be available for children and adults to explore the Library’s acclaimed Web site at www.loc.gov. The Library’s myriad online resources contain examples of American creativity in all forms such as music, poetry, films, photographs, maps, and sound recordings. The Library’s new National Audiovisual Conservation Center will introduce the latest technologies in film and audio preservation. The Veterans History Project will also feature a teacher and her students who use VHP material in the classroom. Two students will interview Ezra Hill, a Tuskegee Airman. VHP historian Tom Weiner will interview Darlene Iskra, the first woman to command a ship in the U.S. Navy and serve during the Persian Gulf War.

In the “Teens and Children” pavilion, the national student winners of the Letters About Literature contest will read their personal letters to authors who inspired them. Sponsored by the Library’s Center for the Book with support from distinguished benefactor Target, Letters About Literature invites young readers in grades 4-12 to write personal letters to authors, past or present, who have changed their views of the world or of themselves. Each year, winners are selected at the state and national levels. As the project’s corporate sponsor, Target awards the six national winners and their parents with a trip to the National Book Festival in Washington, to share their winning letters with a national audience.

“It is inspiring to see the number of young people whose lives have been positively affected by a particular author or book,” said Laysha Ward, vice president, community relations, Target. “Through its comprehensive support of early childhood reading, including the Letters About Literature program and the National Book Festival, Target is able to helping to instill a love of reading in kids as the foundation for reading early in life and further the goals of lifelong learning literacy.”

In addition to planning a range of activities for this year’s festival on the National Mall, the Library is offering a variety of ways for people around the country to participate in the event online. New this year will be downloadable podcasts of interviews with popular participating authors. The Library will also present same-day webcasts of selected authors’ presentations from the “Teens & Children,” “Mysteries & Thrillers” and “Fiction & Fantasy” pavilions. Both the webcasts and the podcasts will be available on the Library’s Web site at www.loc.gov/bookfest.

During the week leading up to the festival, washingtonpost.com will host a series of online chats with authors appearing at the National Book Festival. These text-based discussions can be viewed daily, starting on Monday, Sept. 25, on the site at www.washingtonpost.com. The schedule of chats and authors’ names will be posted on the site and the Library’s site at www.loc.gov/bookfest. Participants can submit questions in advance or during the live discussion. Authors’ responses will post while the program is airing or at a later date on washingtonpost.com’s online discussion archive.

In addition to live webcasts, the Library will again collaborate with Book TV on C-SPAN2 to televise the National Book Festival “History & Biography” pavilion events live on Sept. 30. The C-SPAN2 Book TV Bus, a mobile Book TV studio with a multimedia demonstration center for the public, will also be on the National Mall. Festival coverage will be streamed live on C-SPAN’s website www.booktv.org.

The artist for this year’s festival is award-winning Russian illustrator Gennady Spirin, whose lush contemporary technique brings a rich, imaginative depiction to the 2006 National Book Festival poster. Spirin combines a modern aesthetic with the great traditions of the Renaissance. He has illustrated 30 storybooks for children and has won four gold medals from the Society of Illustrators. Four of his books, including “The Sea King’s Daughter” (1997), were named the best illustrated book of the year by The New York Times. Posters featuring the illustration painting will be available free of charge at the festival.

The 2006 National Book Festival is made possible with generous support from Distinguished Benefactor Target; Charter Sponsors AT&T, The Amend Group and The Washington Post; Patrons AARP, the James Madison Council and the National Endowment for the Arts; and a myriad of contributors. The Junior League of Washington will again contribute hundreds of volunteers to help with the National Book Festival.

A preliminary list of participating authors, illustrators and poets follows. For more information about them and the festival, visit www.loc.gov/bookfest.

Publishers say few hits on blog books
By Lauren Beckham Falcone/ Books
Saturday, September 23, 2006

Not so long ago, having a popular blog was the ultimate “in” to get yourself a book deal.

Now? Not so much.

Bloggers, buoyed by site meter numbers and Internet buzz, were the darling of the publishing world about two years ago. But when books hit the shelves, sales fizzled, and now it takes a lot more than a laptop and a blogspot account to make it onto Amazon’s top 100.

“They haven’t performed as well as publishers hoped,” said Boston-based literary agent Jill Kneerim. “It is still a phenomenon that people are hopeful about, but in many cases, people who are fans of the blog have already read the content. So what’s the point in buying the book?”

Stephanie Klein, whose blog “Greek Tragedy” at www.stephanieklein.com netted her a six-figure, two-book deal, released “Straight Up and Dirty” this past spring. It wasn’t the grand slam publishers expected. One agent told The Book Standard, “Paying $500,000-plus for that Greek Tragedy blogger was pretty dumb.”

Other hyped blogger books such as “Baghdad Burning: Girl Blog from Iraq” (riverbendblog.blogspot .com), “Anonymous Lawyer” by Jeremy Blachman (anonymous lawyer.blogspot.com) and “I’m Not the New Me: A Memoir” by Wendy McClure (poundy.com) weren’t anything to, well, blog about.

“A book has to be bigger and last longer than a blog,” Kneerim said. “It has to be more than gossiping or talking about yourself.”

Sara Nelson, editor in chief of Publishers Weekly, agreed.

“(Former Wonkette blogger) Ana Maria Cox’s book didn’t do as well as expected,” she said.

Adams Media publisher Gary Krebs has published bloggers, most recently Erin Shea’s “Tales from the Scale: Women Weigh In on Thunder Thighs, Cheese Fries, and Feeling Good at Any Size,” based on www.ejshea.com/buddha.

“It’s done quite well,” he said. “But I think that (publishing bloggers) is something you have to scrutinize very carefully. If a blog gets the attention of the public, then we are at the point knowing that we really have to look at it and determine if there’s something beyond it. Having a popular blog isn’t enough to get a book deal anymore.”

Tucker Max, the rare successful blogger turned author of “I Hope They Serve Beer in Hell” (tucker max.com), is a bit more, um, direct.

“These bloggers aren’t good writers and they really don’t get a lot of traffic if you really look at the numbers,” he said. “They had a blog, people liked reading the blog, then they wrote stuff people don’t want to read. Who cares what Jessica Cutler’s novel is about? People liked reading she had sex with senators who paid her (money).”


BostonHerald.com - the Edge: Publishers say few hits on blog books

BRAD MELTZER BOOKSIGNING




Last week I went to a Brad Meltzer book signing for his latest, THE BOOK OF FATE - which is a great read (reviewed on my site). It was standing room only at the Barnes & Noble in Boca Raton. One of the store managers guesstimated about 200+ people in attendance and I can tell you that all were very happy they came.



Brad was funny and articulate and warm and welcoming. He told some great stories, read a bit, then took questions from the audience. He thanked his wife, his family, Paul Castronovo (of the Paul & Young Ron morning radio team on BIG 105.9 here in south Florida,) and moi.

Then the line formed and snaked around the second floor while he answered more questions, posed for pictures and signed lots and lots of books. A fun time was had by all.

Hatchette Book Group has posted a fun tie-in game to the book online, check it out:
GUESS WHO'S A MASON

Readers can get a refund for 'A Milions Little Pieces'

Friday, September 8, 2006

Readers aggrieved by the discovery that James Frey's best-selling memoir contained elements of fiction can get a refund for what they paid for 'A Million Little Pieces.'

A tentative legal settlement of class-action lawsuits against Frey and his publisher, Doubleday, would provide unprecedented refunds to buyers of his book (with a total payout limited to $2.35 million).

Readers who bought Frey's book before Jan. 26 would have to sign a sworn statement that they bought the book thinking it was a memoir and would have to supply proof of purchase (either page 163 from the $23.95 hardcover or the cover from the $14.95 paperback).

Neither Frey nor his publisher admits any wrongdoing in the proposed settlement, which must be approved by a U.S. District Court judge in Manhattan.


Readers can get a refund for 'A Milions Little Pieces': "SEATTLE POST-INTELLIGENCER
http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/books/284269_tf108.html

2006 QUILL BOOK AWARDS

The Quills aim is to be the "People's Choice" awards for books - basically, a popularity contest voted on by the public. I've listed all the nominees in all the categories below - my picks are in bold italics. I don't know how they came up with some of these lists but I didn't get to vote on who got nominated...

Consumer voting for the 2006 Quill Book awards is now open.
Below is a list of the nominees by category.

Vote now at www.quillsvote.com


Debut Author of the Year

$64 Tomato
William Alexander/Algonquin Books of Chapel Hill

Julie and Julia: 365 Days, 524 Recipes, 1 Tiny Apartment Kitchen
Julie Powell/Little, Brown & Company

The Last Templar
Raymond Khoury/Dutton

The Madonnas of Leningrad: A Novel
Debra Dean/William Morrow

The Ride of Our Lives: Roadside Lessons of an American Family
Mike Leonard/Ballantine Books


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Audio Book

A Dirty Job: A Novel
Christopher Moore/Harper Audio

Manhunt: The 12-Day Chase for Lincoln's Killer
James L. Swanson/Harper Audio

Marley and Me: Life and Love with the World's Worst Dog
John Grogan/Harper Audio

Teacher Man: A Memoir
Frank McCourt/Simon & Schuster Audio

Team of Rivals: The Political Genius of Abraham Lincoln
Doris Kearns Goodwin/Simon & Schuster Audio

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Children's Illustrated Book

Fancy Nancy
Jane O'Connor, illustrated by Robin Preiss Glasser /HarperCollins Publishers

If You Give a Pig a Party
Laura Joffe Numeroff, illustrated by Felicia Bond /HarperCollins Children's Book Group/Geringer

John, Paul, George & Ben
Lane Smith/Hyperion

Walter the Farting Dog Goes on a Cruise
William Kotzwinkle, Glenn Murray and Elizabeth Gundy, illustrated by Audrey Colman /Dutton Juvenile

Winter's Tale: An Original Pop-up Journey
Robert Sabuda/Little Simon

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Children's Chapter Book/Middle Grade

Flush
Carl Hiaasen/Knopf Books for Young Readers

Inkspell
Cornelia Funke/Scholastic, Incorporated/Chicken House

The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane
Kate DiCamillo/Candlewick Press

The Penultimate Peril
Lemony Snicket/HarperCollins Publishers

Ptolemy's Gate
Jonathan Stroud/Miramax Books

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Young Adult/Teen

The Book Thief
Markus Zusak/Alfred A. Knopf Incorporated

Dairy Queen
Catherine Gilbert Murdock/Houghton Mifflin Company

Eldest
Christopher Paolini/Random House Children's Books

Elsewhere
Gabrielle Zevin/Farrar, Straus & Giroux

King Dork
Frank Portman/Delacorte Books for Young Readers

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General Fiction

Black Swan Green: A Novel
David Mitchell/Random House Adult Trade Publishing Group

A Dirty Job: A Novel
Christopher Moore/William Morrow

March
E. L. Doctorow/Random House Adult Trade Publishing Group

Suite Française
Irene Nemirovsky/Alfred A. Knopf Incorporated

Water for Elephants
Sara Gruen/Algonquin Books of Chapel Hill

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Graphic Novel

Fun Home: A Family Tragicomic
Alison Bechdel/Houghton Mifflin Company

Maximum Fantastic Four: A Visual Exegesis of Fantastic Four #1
Stan Lee/Marvel Enterprises, Incorporated

Mom's Cancer
Brian Fies/Harry N. Abrams , Incorporated

Naruto
Masashi Kishimoto/Viz Media

Hellsing
Kohta Hirano / Dark Horse Comics

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Mystery/Suspense/Thriller

The Lincoln Lawyer: A Novel
Michael Connelly/Little, Brown & Company

The New Annotated Sherlock Holmes: A Study in Scarlet; The Sign of the Four; The Hound of the Baskervilles; and The Valley of Fear
Arthur Conan Doyle/W. W. Norton & Company, Incorporated

Promise Me
Harlan Coben/Dutton

Tomb of the Golden Bird
Elizabeth Peters/William Morrow

Twelve Sharp
Janet Evanovich/St. Martin's Press

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Poetry

Amazing Peace: A Christmas Poem
Maya Angelou/Random House Adult Trade Publishing Group

Good Poems for Hard Times
Garrison Keillor/Penguin Group (USA) Incorporated

New and Selected Poems
Mary Oliver/Beacon Press

Still Another Day (A Kagean book)
Pablo Neruda/Copper Canyon Press

The Trouble with Poetry and Other Poems
Billy Collins/Random House Adult Trade Publishing Group

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Romance

Blue Smoke
Nora Roberts/Putnam

The Masque of the Black Tulip
Lauren Willig/Dutton

The Preacher's Daughter
Beverly Lewis/Bethany House Publishers

Savannah Breeze
Mary Kay Andrews/HarperCollins Publishers

Undead and Unpopular
Mary Janice Davidson/Berkley

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Science Fiction/Fantasy/Horror

A Breath of Snow and Ashes
Diana Gabaldon/Dell Publishing

Cell
Stephen King/Scribner, Simon & Schuster

A Feast for Crows
George R. R. Martin/Bantam Books

Labyrinth
Kate Mosse/Putnam

The Stolen Child
Keith Donohue/Doubleday Publishing

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Religion/Spirituality

The Great Transformation: The Beginning of Our Religious Traditions
Karen Armstrong/Alfred A. Knopf Incorporated

Mama Made the Difference
T. D. Jakes/Putnam

Misquoting Jesus: The Story Behind Who Changed the Bible and Why
Bart D. Ehrman/HarperSanFrancisco

The Narnian: The Life and Imagination of C. S. Lewis
Alan Jacobs/HarperSanFrancisco

The Universe in a Single Atom: The Convergence of Science and Spirituality
Dalai Lama XIV/Broadway Books

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Biography/Memoir

Dispatches from the Edge: A Memoir of War, Disasters, and Survival
Anderson Cooper/HarperCollins

Marley and Me: Life and Love with the World's Worst Dog
John Grogan/William Morrow

Mockingbird: A Portrait of Harper Lee
Charles J. Shields/Henry Holt & Company

The Tender Bar: A Memoir
J. R. Moehringer/Hyperion

The Year of Magical Thinking
Joan Didion/Alfred A. Knopf Incorporated

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Business

Bait and Switch: The (Futile) Pursuit of the American Dream
Barbara Ehrenreich/Henry Holt & Company

The Girl's Guide to Being a Boss (Without Being a Bitch): Valuable Lessons, Smart Suggestions, and True Stories for Succeeding as the Chick-in-Charge
Caitlin Friedman and Kimberly Yorio/Broadway Books

Good to Great and the Social Sectors: Why Business Thinking Is Not the Answer
Jim Collins/Collins

The Number: A Completely Different Way to Think about the Rest of Your Life!: From Debt to Wealth on $10 a Day
Lee Eisenberg/Free Press, Simon & Schuster

The Wal-Mart Effect: How the World's Most Powerful Company Really Works--and How It's Transforming the American Economy
Charles Fishman/Penguin Press

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Cooking

Heat: An Amateur's Adventures as Kitchen Slave, Line Cook, Pasta-Maker, and Apprentice to a Dante-Quoting Butcher in Tuscany
Bill Buford/Alfred A. Knopf Incorporated

Julie and Julia: 365 Days, 524 Recipes, 1 Tiny Apartment Kitchen
Julie Powell/Little, Brown & Company

My Life in France
Julia Child/Alfred A. Knopf Incorporated

Rachael Ray 365: No Repeats: A Year of Deliciously Different Dinners
Rachael Ray/Crown Publishing Group

The Silver Spoon
Phaidon Press Editors/Phaidon Press

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Health/Self Improvement

Healthy Aging: A Lifelong Guide to Your Physical and Spiritual Well-Being
Andrew Weil/Knopf Publishing Group

It's Called a Breakup Because It's Broken: The Smart Girl's Breakup Buddy
Greg Behrendt/Broadway Books

It's Not Easy Being Green: And Other Things to Consider
Jim Henson/Hyperion

Wisdom of Our Fathers: Lessons and Letters from Daughters and Sons
Tim Russert/Random House Adult Trade Publishing Group

YOU: The Smart Patient: An Insider's Handbook for Getting the Best Treatment
Michael F. Roizen & Mehmet C. Oz/Free Press, Simon & Schuster

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History/Current Events/Politics

An Inconvenient Truth
Al Gore/Rodale Press, Incorporated

The Lost Painting: The Quest for a Caravaggio Masterpiece
Jonathan Harr/Random House Adult Trade Publishing Group

Manhunt: The 12-Day Chase for Lincoln's Killer
James L. Swanson/William Morrow

The River of Doubt: Theodore Roosevelt's Darkest Journey
Candice Millard/Doubleday

Team of Rivals: The Political Genius of Abraham Lincoln
Doris Kearns Goodwin/Simon & Schuster, Incorporated

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Humor

The Complete Calvin and Hobbes
Bill Watterson/Andrews McMeel Publishing

Don't Make a Black Woman Take off Her Earrings: Madea's Uninhibited Commentaries on Love and Life
Tyler Perry/Riverhead

The Gospel of the Flying Spaghetti Monster
Bobby Henderson/Random House Adult Trade Publishing Group

A Heckuva Job: More of the Bush Administration in Rhyme
Calvin Trillin/Random House Adult Trade Publishing Group

The Truth (with Jokes)
Al Franken/Dutton

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Sports

Clemente: The Passion and Grace of Baseball's Last Hero
David Maraniss/Simon & Schuster

The Education of a Coach
David Halberstam/Hyperion

Get Your Own Damn Beer, I'm Watching the Game!: A Woman's Guide to Loving Pro Football
Holly Robinson Peete/Rodale Press, Incorporated

Glory Road: My Story of the 1966 NCAA Basketball Championship and How One Team Triumphed Against the Odds and Changed America Forever
Don Haskins/Hyperion

Why My Wife Thinks I'm an Idiot: The Life and Times of a Sportscaster Dad
Mike Greenberg/Random House Adult Trade Publishing Group

JAMES PATTERSON TO RECEIVE INTERNATIONAL THRILLER WRITER'S 2007 THRILLER MASTER AWARD FOR OUTSTANDING ACHIEVEMENT IN THE THRILLER GENRE

August, 2006: The International Thriller Writers, Inc (ITW) is delighted to announce that the 2007 ThrillerMaster Award for outstanding contribution to the thriller genre will be presented to author James Patterson during ThrillerFest 2007, hosted by ITW.

Author Clive Cussler, 2006 ThrillerMaster Award recipient and a spotlight guest for ThrillerFest 2007, will present the award to Patterson during a gala Thriller Awards Ceremony on July 14, 2007 at the Grand Hyatt Hotel in New York City. During the ceremony ITW also will present its Thriller Awards covering five categories including The Distinguished Literature Award; Best Novel; Best First Novel; Best Paperback Original and Best Script.

James Patterson is ITW's second ThrillerMaster award recipient. The first Award was presented to Clive Cussler during ITW's inaugural ThrillerFest, a blockbuster event with more than 100 thriller authors and 400 thriller fans in attendance, which took place at the Arizona Biltmore in Phoenix, Arizona, in summer of 2006.

"For more than 30 years, James Patterson has actively contributed to the thriller genre both through an outstanding body of work as well as his contributions to promoting literacy", said M. Diane Vogt, vice-president of ITW Events. "We are delighted to be presenting this award to him."

First published in 1976, Patterson has over 40 books in print translated into more than 30 languages. Founder of the Page Turner Awards, which annually distributes more than $500,000 in cash prizes in an effort to spread the excitement and joy of reading, Patterson is the recipient of the Edgar Award, The BCA Mystery Guild's Thriller of the Year and The International Thriller of the Year Award.

Patterson also edited ITW's first anthology entitled THRILLER: Stories to Keep You up All Night (MIRA Books, June 2006), which received a record-breaking six figure advance. This first-ever all-thriller anthology includes original stories by 30 of the leading authors of the genre, all of whom are ITW members, with introductions and prefaces to each story written by Patterson.
*****

Founded in October 2004, at the Bouchercon World Suspense Conference in Toronto, Canada, the International Thriller Writers organization (ITW) was created by thriller authors to celebrate the thriller, to enhance the prestige and raise the profile of thrillers, to award prizes to outstanding thriller novels and authors, and to create marketing opportunities for authors within the thriller community. ITW boasts a membership of more than 400 authors (many of whom are New York Times bestsellers) with worldwide sales exceeding 1.8 billion books.

ThrillerFest 2007. July 12 - Jul 15 2007 Grand Hyatt Hotel, New York City www.ThrillerFest.com
www.internationalthrillerwriters.com

FPA 2006 Publishing Ed-U Conference

The Florida Publishers Association, Inc., is now accepting registrations for its August 19 Publishing Ed-U-Conference and Book Awards Luncheon, to be held at the Hilton Naples in Naples (on the southern Gulf coast of Florida). Speakers include Pam Lontos from PR/PR, Ed Colleran from Copyright Clearance Center, Linda Fasulo from the Collier County Library Service and FOL, and Aileen Tang from the Google Book Search Partner Program. A downloadable PDF of the conference brochure can be found online at www.flbookpub.org/educonf_2006.html or by emailing FPAbooks@aol.com.

Laura Lippman on Tour!

Laura Lippman stopped by Murder on the Beach in Delray Beach, Florida to promote her latest book, NO GOOD DEEDS. It was a standing-room only crowd for the popular author. I was fortunate enough to be able to review her latest entry in the Tess Monahan series for Library Journal and it was terrific.

Lippman spoke about how Robert B. Parker is a huge influence on her writing and how she hides references to his books throughout hers - hiding being the operative word. Apparently most people never get the references! She also spoke about the Baltimore quirkiness of police officers calling themselves a "police", rather than a "police officer." She gets a lot of flak about using the real term in her writing, but it brings a sense of authenticity to her books, as any Baltimore native will tell you.

Everyone who came to see her was a fan, including some local authors - Jonathan King came by, as did Elaine Viets.












One of her fans had a cake made with the cover of the book - I took a not-very-good picture, but hopefully you can get the idea.

As always, it was a pleasure to see her. If she's in your neighborhood, stop by, buy a copy of NO GOOD DEEDS and say hi from the BookBitch!

Pynchon in the news...

While there is never enough time between novels for me, apparently lots of other folks are in a tizzy about a new Thomas Pynchon novel. It was apparently posted on Amazon and pulled at the request of Penguin, due to some scheduling conflicts or some such thing. But an enterprising blogger managed to snare it so you can read all about it here:

Amazon.com: Customer Discussions: Found It

Book Marketing Goes to the Movies

This is an interesting piece from NPR about trailers - think movie previews - but for books, being shown in movie theaters that are located near bookstores.


NPR : Book Marketing Goes to the Movies

THRILLERFEST!

A serial killer was lurking somewhere near the beautiful Arizona Biltmore. Seriously. I didn’t know about it until I got home, thank goodness, but you have to admit that it is a very strange, even freaky coincidence that something like this would happen at the first convention of the International Thriller Writers organization. About 450 folks showed up for this big party weekend, mostly writers and writer-wannabes, but also some readers, reviewers, editors, agents and publishers. I have to say that it totally exceeded even my wildest expectations. I never even dared dream of having a dashing Russian doctor/novelist, the esteemed Vladimir Lange (Fatal Memories) buy me lunch, along with his publisher and fellow lunchmates Katherine Neville (The Eight) & her husband; Willetta Heising, author of my favorite reference guides, Detecting Men and Detecting Women, and the soon to be published Willetta’s Guide to Police Detective Series; and one of my favorite authors and a genuinely nice guy, Brad Meltzer.

I arrived in 107 degree heat to find a beautiful hotel that some say was designed by either Frank Lloyd Wright or his colleague Albert Chase McArthur. It’s spread out in many buildings with the scenic Camelback Mountain in the backdrop. It involved a five minute hike from the main building to my beautiful room, and as I was trudging along, laptop in tow, I heard, “It’s the BookBitch!” I looked up to find the beautiful M.J. Rose lounging outside the coffee shop with Lee Child. There were a few other people there too, but let’s face it, meeting Lee Child just sort of stopped time for me and I’m embarrassed to say I don’t even remember who else I met there.

I was surprised by the organization of the event and especially by the quality and quantity of the panels. They started Thursday afternoon and ran all day and into the night, usually with three different panels going on at the same time, forcing attendees to make some tough choices. Fans met their favorite thriller writers like Sandra Brown and Clive Cussler. Thriller-writer-wannabes got writing tips from their favorite thriller writers like David Morrell and Douglas Preston. But best of all was how everyone from the superstars to the unknowns, the agents, editors, librarians and fans got to meet and mingle in the halls, by the pool, in the bar (of course, we’re talking writers here!) and even in the coffee shop (Starbucks was even more ridiculously expensive than at home – I am addicted and paid the price).

There were terrific, in depth interviews with several authors as well. An hour long spotlight interview with Sandra Brown revealed a smart, funny lady who is still insecure about her work, and even more gorgeous in person than on her book jackets. She admitted that even after 54 NY Times bestselling novels, she still wakes up every morning and worries that the “bad plot fairies” will have visited her during the night. She also told a great story about buying some property that had an old house on it. They wanted to get rid of the house but it was too expensive to move it so they considered demolition. They ended up gutting the house, filled seven tractor trailers with whatever was salvageable and auctioned it off for charity. Then they offered the house to the "Walker, Texas Ranger" TV show. Their writers put together a two-part episode that involved blowing up a house – guess who’s?

I heard that on Wednesday night, the night before the official start of the conference, Jeffery Deaver showed up in the bar and hung out with fans and at least one tongue-tied newbie writer. Apparently he was in town for a signing and decided to stop by. Other nights found Tess Gerritsen, Lee Child, Michael Palmer and dozens of other authors chatting away in the bar with whoever happened to be around.

The first day of the conference was geared towards writers with Jason Pinter, an editor at Crown, talking about the publishing process, Jim Fusilli discussing setting, David Morrell on dialogue, Jon Land on writing a thrilling screenplay, and Gayle Lynds on the eight elements necessary in writing the big thriller. You can watch a video of the Lynds event at YouTube, with others to follow, thanks to Robert Gregory Browne and David Hewson.

One of the most informative panels of the day, Buzz Your Thriller, featured author M.J. Rose, reviewer David J. Montgomery and publicist Sarie Morrell, offering the useful, albeit painful revelation to the hopeful and the newly published that books are not just a creative endeavor, they are a product and as such, need to be marketed and publicized. I’m afraid that M.J. Rose might have made some new authors cry with her advice to take that entire advance check for the first book – all of it – and use the money towards publicizing the book. On the other hand, she made me laugh – David’s mic wasn’t working and she took hold of the very phallic looking device and muttered, "somehow this feels very comfortable to me."

Sarie Morrell (David’s daughter) is a former publicist with Random House and is now on her own, representing authors like Gayle Lynds and M.J. Rose. She obviously knows her stuff and was willing to share lots of good advice, including the warning to be careful how writers, especially new writers, spend money. The long and short of it is that good publicists are not cheap and that press releases require know how. David J. Montgomery reviews mysteries and thrillers for several major newspapers including the Chicago Sun-Times, Philadelphia Inquirer, Boston Globe and my very own South Florida Sun-Sentinel. He’s also in the unique position of having completed his first thriller, so I’m sure he was paying close attention to his fellow panelists as well.

Rose also told a great story about how she had lost her dog and subsequently adopted another. She hadn’t had a puppy in years so she joined an online group for solace and support with her new puppy. Eventually they asked about her signature touting her first book, Lip Service (which I loved) and she watched her sales spike after that. Internet marketing is something Rose really excels in and talks about in the book she wrote along with Douglas Clegg, Buzz Your Book.

The party officially started Thursday night with the opening celebration that had Jim Fusilli interviewing Douglas Preston to a packed house – which may have had something to do with the free drinks. Preston is a descendant of Emily Dickinson and Horace Greeley and his brother is not a bad writer either - Richard Preston wrote The Hot Zone, which is required reading in many schools, and more recently, The Demon in the Freezer. Preston told a great story about his aunt stealing Benny Goodman’s suits from his widow - they were neighbors in a ritzy NYC apartment building. True, Mrs. Goodman was throwing them out, but still…and Preston wore them! I loved hearing how Preston snuck Lincoln Child, who was then his editor at St. Martins Press, into the American Museum of Natural History one night after closing (Preston worked there), showed him some behind the scenes dinosaurs, and The Relic and a writing partnership was born.

It was a terrific party and twenty-four of the authors who contributed a story to Thriller: Stories to Keep You Up All Night, the first compilation of the ITW, were there to sign books and mingle with each other and the fans. Recently the NY Times published a not-very-favorable review of the book (obviously they are not thriller fans over at the Times) and the authors decided to have a little fun with it. The review was hung up and each author got to shoot a water rifle at it, until the review finally disintegrated. Needless to say, a good time was had by all.

There were also some awards handed out that first night. As a way to thank several of the committee members who put together the event, beautiful awards were ordered and engraved with each of their names. Except that the printer made a tiny mistake - the only one who got an award with his name on it was Steve Berry. In fact, he could have gotten all the awards. They were all inscribed with his name, turning these lovely thank you gifts into the Berry awards. We’ll have to wait and see if they still call them that at future conventions.

Day Two found more panels for writers, but also for readers. Chris Grabenstein hosted a “Thrillers Live Talk Show” where he did an great job interviewing Michael Palmer, Alex Kava and Lee Child. Child informed the audience that he already has the last title in the series picked out, Die Alone, which will feature Jack Reacher not only getting killed, but also dismembered – there will be no bringing him back after Lee’s retirement. Dirk Cussler was a no show for this panel, leaving Grabenstein to quip that he was “diving under the table”.

Michael Palmer explained that he was able to practice medicine and still find time to write because he doesn’t watch television. He also shared that he & Tess Gerritsen give a standing-room-only workshop once a year for doctors who want to write, and that he interned with Robin Cook. Alex Kava was quite excited about having a sandwich named after her at Vinny’s Deli, a local Nebraska restaurant that is featured in her books. They call it the “Alex Kava Mystery Sandwich” and the mystery is that whoever makes it gets to decide what’s on it! She was also honored when One False Move was chosen for the 2006 One Book One Nebraska book.

Lee Child explained why women love Jack Reacher, despite the fact that he is “unhygienic” – it’s because "he shows up, they have intense sex for three days and then he disappears, never to be seen or heard from again. No mess, no divorce, just a few days of fun." He also explained that the character is based on the 2000 year old myth of the “mysterious stranger”, the one who everyone hopes will show up when they are in trouble and rescue them. The authors also discussed how they came up with character names. Palmer offered that there is a random name generator that uses names compiled from the census. Child says he tends to use stationary products – he just looks around his office and finds names like Mead, for instance. The authors on this panel were very forthcoming, Grabenstein was really quick and funny and it was a lot of fun.

There was a lot of talk about a “mock autopsy” that I really had no intention of attending, that is, until Library Journal asked me to cover it for them. (A seriously condensed version of this piece will be published in the August issue.) I wasn’t really sure what to expect but somehow was thinking there would be a body of some sort in the room. Thank goodness I was way off the mark there. “The Gerritsen Files” was an entertaining and educational mixed media presentation of how forensic science plays a part in thrillers: video, interspersed with an informative, extremely graphic slide show presentation by Dr. D. P. Lyle, followed by a panel discussion that also included C.J. Lyons, Grant Blackwood and Allen Wyler on writing medical thrillers.

Fans and writers alike seemed to enjoy a couple of panels that I missed – a discussion of the Da Vinci Code with John Case (Jim Hougan), Robert Liparulo, Rebecca York, Katherine Neville and the very funny James Rollins, was a big hit. There was also a terrific panel called “How the Masters Influence the Next Generation” with some newer authors: the very tall Jonathon King, J. Carson Black, the very cute Jeff Buick, Grant Blackwood, Thomas O’Callaghan, and the very sweet Mark Gimenez. That panel had people buzzing all day.

The “State of the Union” panel had Douglas Preston moderating Gayle Lynds, David J. Montgomery and David Morrell as they discussed what is going on in the thriller genre. Morrell, a former professor at the University of Iowa, explained that there is a “moral bias against thrillers” by reviewers because our society is based on a "Puritanical, Calvinistic society that says fun is bad, easy reading is bad." Gayle Lynds pulled out this quote that Morrell identified as Horace: “The purpose of fiction is to both entertain and enlighten.” These panelists all feel that thrillers accomplish that, and Montgomery pointed out that mysteries and thrillers are what people want to read today, and the best seller lists reflect that.

Lunch offered a spotlight interview with R.L. Stine, who in creating the Goosebumps series says he is “the literary training bra for Stephen King.” Stine said he finds there to be a very thin line between humor and horror, and judging by how funny so many of these thriller writers were, he seems to have hit the mark. He took questions after the interview and Lee Goldberg’s nine-year-old daughter Maddie made her father ask about a book called Deep Trouble. Maddie wanted to know how a mermaid could have tears running down her face while locked up in an aquarium. Stine was a great sport. He said the mermaid had to come up for air at some point, and they created the most talked about moment of the day.

The afternoon panels were an interesting mix, ranging from “Does a Series Have an Expiration Date” to “What Thrills Us” to “Beyond Good and Evil” to “Politics in Thrillers”. One I’m really sorry I missed was “Sex in Thrillers, with Booze” that featured John Lescroart, Steve Berry, M. J. Rose, and the hot, hot, hot Barry Eisler – along with screaming orgasms. (Yes, you may ask - you have my email.)

The highlight of the afternoon for me was “The People v. Jack Reacher.” Lee Child portrayed his character, Jack Reacher, and was defended by the hilarious Paul Levine (Solomon vs. Lord) in this murder trial based on the story in Persuader. Michele Martinez (The Finishing School) was the ferocious prosecutor and her star witness was a law enforcement officer, James O. Born (Escape Clause), with a murky past - something about drunk driving and a bunch of dead nuns? The court was presided over by the honorable M. Diane Vogt and the bailiff, who spent most of the trial napping center stage, was portrayed by David Dun. Despite the fact that there were two juries, one comprised of reviewers and press (including your very own BookBitch), and the other of members of the audience, neither could reach a consensus, thus causing a mistrial. It might have had something to do with the fact that despite several objections from Martinez, Lee Child/Jack Reacher flirted shamelessly with the mostly female jurors, or that Paul Levine warned the jury in his closing remarks that if Reacher were found guilty, there would be no more books. More than one sigh was heard at that remark. Rumor had it that if he had been found guilty, there was a contingent of cardboard-gun toting women willing to break him out of jail.

Day Three featured a few different tracks, including a full day of “Special Operations” that had hands-on demonstrations of street fighting, knife brawling, and “weapons and tactics you don’t see in textbooks”, including James O. Born warning that the next person to say the words, “dry heat” would be shot by a real gun with a real bullet. It actually started the night before when the person I was speaking with started laughing as a body went flying by. Hands on demonstrations were apparently being given in the bar. Fort Lauderdale author Neil Plakcy was kind enough to take notes on all of these and share them on his website: http://www.mahubooks.com/thrillerfest_notes.htm

Another panel was on heroes and featured the brilliant Gregg Hurwitz, the very funny Chris Mooney, Christopher Rice, the adorable son of Anne Rice, and the who-knew-he-was-so-damn-hot Will Staeger, moderated by the lovely and scarily-smart Tess Gerritsen. Rice made an interesting comment that “writing is the ultimate act of arrogance” which Mooney agreed with, saying, “where else can you talk for 400 pages and not be interrupted.” They also talked about rewriting. Rice said that he wrote 900 pages for one of his books, most of which was cut, and Staeger claims that he has 37 drafts of Painkiller. And they keep it all, at least in computer files, if not the actual paper. One of the funniest moments came when Hurwitz said that one of the benefits of reading a Christopher Rice novel while traveling is that he gets hit on by a lot of really good looking men. I wonder how his wife feels about that….

Another panel called “Readers Grill the Authors” had audience members asking Dale Brown, Lee Goldberg, Brad Meltzer and Erica Spindler anything they wanted – the best questions won prizes like an advance reader copy of The Book of Fate by Brad Meltzer (September publication date), a rubber duckie Copycat tie-in from Spindler, and a couple of Lee Goldberg novelizations of Monk and Diagnosis: Murder. Dale Brown offered to name a character after the audience member who won – look for “Ken Phoenix” in his next book. In the process, some interesting things were revealed. Spindler made the jump from romance to thrillers because she says she has a “dark gift.” Meltzer disclosed that he doesn’t read books anymore because while he may enjoy the first hundred pages or so, after that he starts deconstructing them, so he reads comic books instead. Lee Goldberg claimed that “reading energizes me.” Dale Brown flew his own plane in for the afternoon and brought the news of the scrubbed space shuttle launch. He was really sweet and bought me one of those ridiculously expensive coffees, so I got to spend a little extra time with him.

There was lots of excitement in the hall that afternoon as Clive Cussler signed books and chatted with fans for more than an hour. The day was capped off by an hour long interview with Brad Meltzer, after which he acted as auctioneer for a charity auction that featured gift baskets donated by some of the biggest names in the thriller community – Steve Berry, Sandra Brown, Lee Child, Linda Fairstein, Tess Gerritsen, R.L. Stine and many others. The highest bid, $1700, went to a basket from Clive Cussler that included rare manuscript pages, a handwritten letter, photographs, signed books and more.

The first Annual Thriller Awards Banquet was a truly entertaining evening, produced and emceed by the very funny Robert S. Levinson and showcasing the musical talent of the Killer Thriller Band: Blake Crouch, John Lescroart on vocals and lead guitar, Gayle Lynds (on triangle!), David Morrell on keyboard, Scott Nicholson, Michael Palmer on drums, his son David Palmer on amazing harmonica, Dave Simms, Nathan Walpow, F. Paul Wilson and the “Thrillerettes” (or possibly “Killerettes,” they lobbied for a name change): Heather Graham, Harley Jane Kozak and Alexandra Sokoloff. They may have had people dancing in the aisles but the real event of the night was the awards.

There was some controversy a week earlier when Elaine Viets posted a biting essay on the Lipstick Chronicles blog, stating, “It’s tough to define an award-winning thriller, but the new International Thriller Writers has succeeded: It’s anything written by a man.” Are you surprised to hear that as of this writing (July 9) there are 160 comments posted? Read Viets’ rant in its entirety and all those comments here: Lipstick Chronicles


ITW co-president Gayle Lynds responded, “As an author (not as a woman who has spent her life battling sexism), I could complain that no women were nominated. At the same time, I could also complain that no people of color were. I'm not sure whether any Muslims or religions other than Christian or Jewish were nominated, but I think they weren't either. As long as awards are given in whatever field, there are always going to be those who say, "I wish it were otherwise. And because it isn't, it's prejudice." The only time there's really an institutional problem, at least in my mind, is when there is a history of one group of people being disenfranchised. Since this is ITW's first year, the organization can have no track record of institutional prejudice.” Read Lynds’ response in its entirety here:
Sandra Blabber

I read all the responses on the Lipstick Chronicles blog and a few others including Sarah Weinman's, Jason Pinter's and Sandra Ruttan's and miraculously, kept my mouth shut and my typing fingers elsewhere. I didn’t respond for many reasons, but this is my forum so I’ll just throw in a brief comment or two now.

I understand Elaine Viets’ complaint, but I found it completely unjustified. There were some comments made about men not reading women authors and after many years as a bookseller and readers’ advisor I have to tell you it’s true. And to be fair, the converse is true as well; there are many women who won’t read male authors either. I myself have often been accused of reading “guy books.” Furthermore, it is my contention that most thrillers – not mysteries, but thrillers – are written by men. I have no idea of the percentage or actual numbers, but my best guess is that it is a significant number. ITW says that 29% of the submitted titles were written by women, a significant number to be sure but certainly a healthy minority.

I’ve had it pointed out to me that my ‘best books of the year’ lists tend to be heavily favored by male authors. I don’t care. I pick the books that I love most regardless of who wrote them, and I expect that was how the judges did it for ITW as well. If I had to stop and count gender or anything else I’d stop doing it altogether. I didn’t agree with all the choices that the judges made and perhaps I would have included a woman somewhere on those nominating lists, but I would have included some different men on those lists too. The long and short of it is that I wasn’t a judge and I wasn’t asked, and more importantly, I trust the integrity of those who did make those difficult choices.

The awards went on despite the controversy. In fact, James Rollins, the awards chair and a veterinarian who proudly claims to be able to "spay a cat in under five minutes," offered to neuter the winners and level the playing field. The beautiful Thriller awards went to:

Best Novel - THE PATRIOT'S CLUB by Christopher Reich (Delacorte Press)
Best First Novel - IMPROBABLE by Adam Fawer (William Morrow)
Best Paperback Original - PRIDE RUNS DEEP by R. Cameron Cooke (Jove)
Best Screenplay - CACHE (Hidden), screenplay by Michael Haneke

As previously announced, the first ThrillerMaster Award, a lifetime achievement award, went to Clive Cussler for his body of work.

The closing day of ThrillerFest had panels in the morning on, ironically enough, “Gender Issues in Thrillers”, among several others like “What I Love about Thrillers,” “Financial Crimes” and “Writing Killer Settings”. The grand finale was a brunch featuring an in depth interview of the enormously talented John Lescroart, where all the participants learned the correct pronunciation of his name (Less-KWAH).

Final thoughts on ThrillerFest: The hotel did a terrific job of hosting the conference. Yes, the bar was small, and with all the renovating going on it was very warm in places, but the staff was accommodating and the rooms were lovely. The banquet food was terrific – and how often do you get to say that. All the authors were friendly and inclusive. The panels were interesting, enlightening and fun, and the panelists diverse. All in all, I’d have to say that the first convention of the International Thriller Writers organization was a roaring success.

As for next year: "M. Diane Vogt, ITW Board Member and National Events Committee Chair with overall responsibility for ThrillerFest, confirmed the event will be held at the Grand Hyatt in New York City on July 11 -15, 2007." I can’t wait!

I've posted pictures at Kodak Gallery.

THE 2006 THRILLER AWARDS

The winners of the first ever THRILLER Awards:

Best Screenplay - CACHE (Hidden), screenplay by Michael Haneke

Best First Novel - IMPROBABLE by Adam Fawer (William Morrow)

Best Paperback Original - PRIDE RUNS DEEP by R. Cameron Cooke (Jove)

Best Novel - THE PATRIOT'S CLUB by Christopher Reich (Delacorte Press)

As previously announced, the first ThrillerMaster Award went to Clive Cussler

Congratulations to all the nominees and all the winners.

SIBA Book Award Winners Announced
Columbia, SC - May 30, 2006 The Southern Independent Booksellers Alliance (SIBA) is pleased to announce the winners of the 2006 SIBA Book Award, celebrating the best of southern literature, as picked by independent booksellers throughout the South.

The 2006 Winners are:

FICTION: Gods in Alabama by Joshilyn Jackson, Warner Books

“Gods in Alabama is an intriguing, multi-layered mystery wrapped up in a Southern package. Don't miss this one!” Tammy R. Lynn, The Book Basket, Wetumpka, AL

POETRY: What Travels with Us by Darnell Arnoult, LSU Press

“Darnell Arnoult gathers the nourishment for the soul in her poetry. She echoes the past into our future so we know "the place" that we are part of. Immerse yourself in this poetry and wash away all that belongs not to you.” Emoke B'Racz, Malaprops Bookstore & Cafe, Asheville, NC

COOKBOOK:
Being Dead is No Excuse by Gayden Metcalfe & Charlotte Hays, Miramax

"Oh. My. God. If a funeral isn't the time for some good solid southern humor, I don't know what is. These two women have written a funny and smart book about how we act down South when we know the neighbors are watching. Plus recipes! It's to die for!" Elisabeth Grant-Gibson, Windows a bookshop, Monroe, LA

NONFICTION:
Marley & Me by John Grogan, William Morrow

“An incredible tale of canine connection. Grogan will make you laugh, make you cry, and help you to understand that "man's best friend", like all good friends, needs to be appreciated -- warts and all. Even though you know how the book must end, you are in for an incredible journey.” Janet Bollum, The Muse Bookshop, Deland, FL

CHILDRENS:
Rosa by Nikki Giovanni, Henry Holt

“The wonderful Nikki Giovanni brings to life the story of Rosa Parks, an ordinary woman who made a decision that sparked the Montgomery bus boycott and accelerated the struggle for Civil Rights in America. Bryan Collier's realistic yet luminous art lends a dream quality to this beautiful book.” Elisabeth Grant-Gibson, Windows a bookshop, Monroe LA

Each year, hundreds of booksellers across the South vote on their favorite "handsell" books of the year. These are the "southern" books they have most enjoyed selling to customers; the ones that they couldn't stop talking about. The SIBA Book Award was created to recognize great books of southern origin.

Books are nominated in several categories, including fiction, nonfiction, poetry, cooking and children's. For a book to be eligible, it must be set in the South, and it must have been published within the 2005 calendar year. In order to promote diversity in the award, no author can win the award in the same category twice.

Winners will be recognized with a $500 prize at the SIBA Book Award Luncheon, sponsored by Baker and Taylor, at the annual SIBA Trade Show in Orlando at the Gaylord Palms Hotel on September 8th, 2006.

The Macavity Award Nominations 2006
(for works published in the U.S. in 2005)

The Macavity Awards are nominated and voted on by members of Mystery Readers International. Winners will be announced at Bouchercon during opening ceremonies, September 28, 2006.

Best Novel
o One Shot by Lee Child (Delacorte Press)
o The James Deans by Reed Farrel Coleman (Plume)
o The Lincoln Lawyer by Michael Connelly (Little, Brown)
o Vanish by Tess Gerritsen (Ballantine Books)
o Strange Affair by Peter Robinson (William Morrow)
o The Power of the Dog by Don Winslow (Knopf)
o Solomon vs. Lord by Paul Levine (Bantam)

Best First Novel
o Immoral by Brian Freeman (St. Martin's)
o All Shook Up by Mike Harrison (ECW Press)
o Baby Game by Randall Hicks (Wordslinger Press)
o The Firemaker by Peter May (St. Martin's)

Best Nonfiction:
o Tracks to Murder by Jonathan Goodman (Kent State University)
o Behind the Mystery: Top Mystery Writers Interviewed by Stuart Kaminsky; photographed by Laurie Roberts (Hothouse Press)
o New Annotated Sherlock Holmes: The Novels, edited by Leslie S. Klinger (Norton)
o Girl Sleuth: Nancy Drew and the Women Who Created Her by Melanie Rehak (Harcourt)
o Spook: Science Tackles the Afterlife by Mary Roach (Norton)

Best Short Story
o "It Can Happen" by David Corbett in San Francisco Noir, Akashic Books
o "Everybody's Girl" by Robert Barnard
o "The Big Road by Steve Hockensmith (AHMM, May 2005)
o "There Is No Crime on Easter Island" by Nancy Pickard (EQMM, Sept-Oct 2005)

Sue Feder Historical Mystery Award
o In Like Flynn by Rhys Bowen (St. Martin's Minotaur)
o Spectres in the Smoke by Tony Broadbent (St. Martin's)
o The War of the World Murders by Max Allan Collins
o Night's Child by Maureen Jennings (McClelland and Stewart)
o Pardonable Lies by Jacqueline Winspear, (Henry Holt)