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Win a trip to Willow Lake! I’m not kidding. Check it out here: http://www.eharlequin.com/swinvitation.html?swid=100006
Today is the official release of Snowfall at Willow Lake. Enjoy!
Aaaand…First-time author Patry Francis also has a new book out today. It’s on my TBR. Check it out:
“The new questions and revelations just keep coming…Readers will be heartily rewarded.”—Ladies’ Home Journal
When new music teacher Ali Mather enters Jeanne Cross’s quiet suburban life, she brings a jolt of energy that Jeanne never expected. Ali has a magnetic personality and looks to match, drawing attention from all quarters. Nonetheless, Jeanne and Ali develop a friendship based on their mutual vulnerabilities THE LIAR’S DIARY (Plume / February 2008 / ISBN 978-0-452-28915-4 / $14.00) is the story of Ali and Jeanne’s friendship, and the secrets they both keep.
Jeanne’s secrets are kept to herself; like her son’s poor report card and husband’s lack of interest in their marriage. Ali’s secrets are kept in her diary, which holds the key to something dark: her fear that someone has been entering her house when she is not at home. While their secrets bring Jeanne and Ali together, it is this secret that will drive them apart. Jeanne finds herself torn between her family and her dear friend in order to protect the people she loves.
A chilling tour of troubled minds, THE LIAR’S DIARY questions just how far you’ll go for your family and what dark truths you’d be willing to admit—even to yourself.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Patry Francis is a three-time nominee for the Pushcart Prize whose work has appeared in the Tampa Review, Colorado Review, Ontario Review, and the American Poetry Review. She is also the author of the popular blogs, simplywait.blogspot.com and waitresspoems.blogspot.com. This is her first novel. Please visit her website at www.patryfrancis.com.
THE LIAR’S DIARY
By Patry Francis
Plume Paperbacks / February 2008 / $14.00
ISBN: 978-0-452-28915-4
Readers Guide available at www.penguin.com
For more information or to schedule an interview with Patry Francis, please contact Laurie Connors, Plume Publicity
212-366-2222 / laurie.connors@us.penguingroup.com
Oh, fun! The Winter Lodge is up for a Reviewers Choice Award from RT Book Reviews. It’s up against some of the best books of 2007. I am in good company–every single author in this category is one I regularly read and love, so there’s really no down side to this. Here’s the whole list:
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SIZZLING
Susan Mallery HQN (January 2007) -
NOT ANOTHER NEW YEAR’S
Christie Ridgway Avon (January 2007) -
THE WINTER LODGE
Susan Wiggs Mira (February 2007) -
JUST LIKE HEAVEN
Barbara Bretton Jove (March 2007) -
SUGAR DADDY
Lisa Kleypas St. Martin’s (March 2007) -
VIRGIN RIVER
Robyn Carr Mira (April 2007) -
ALL ABOUT EVIE
Beth Ciotta HQN (May 2007)TANGLED UP IN YOU
Rachel Gibson Avon (August 2007)A TOUCH OF MINX
Suzanne Enoch Avon (October 2007)THE PERFECT MATCH
Kimberly Cates HQN (December 2007)
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Best of luck to us all!
“There is nothing–absolutely nothing–half so much worth doing as simply messing about in boats.”
–Ratty to Mole in The Wind in the Willows by Kenneth Graham
Around here, we go boating. A lot. It’s just so scenic. On the Sound, it’s also a way to avoid traffic. When I had jury duty in the summer, I went to the courthouse by boat–a 15-minute ride–thus saving myself a one-hour commute. It’s a way to try restaurants and visit friends on the mainland and to entertain people when they visit.
Jay used to watch a TV show called “Sea Hunt” with the main character called Mike Nelson, played by Lloyd Bridges. Anyone else remember that show? I’m totally blanking, but I think Jay hears the theme song in his head when he’s out on the water.
Good luck (or maybe that’s sibling rivalry taken to extremes?) runs in the family this year. We figured the roadster Jay won was a once-in-a-lifetime deal, but then…
Here is my sister’s husband with the 2007 red Corvette he won in a raffle last weekend for a $10 donation. Really. I’m not making this stuff up. Suggestions for vanity plates welcome!
Publishers Weekly weighs in on Dockside:
“Wiggs returns to the town of Avalon, N.Y., and the shores of picturesque Willow Lake with the fourth* installment of her popular Lakeshore Chronicles (after The Winter Lodge)….Wiggs’s uncomplicated stories are rich with life lessons, nod-along moments and characters with whom readers can easily relate. Delightful and wise, Wiggs’s latest shines. (Aug.)”
[*This is one vigilant reviewer! It's the fourth Lakeshore Chronicles title. Technically, the second was "Homecoming Season," a novella in the anthology More Than Words 3. I'm very flattered that the reviewer noted that.]
Aaaannd…a propos of nothing, what do the following places have in common?
- Surprise, AZ
- Maple Grove, MN
- Fort Myers, FL
- Edina, MN
- Rochester, NY
Answer? They are the top 5 cities for selling Wiggs books at Barnes & Noble. I’m now on a mission to visit each one of these cities!
I didn’t know them, but their story has a kind of happy ending:
Kathleen Florence Kane Rogers, age 94, and Bruce Harris Rogers, age 93, died peacefully in their home on Friday June 15. They were residents of Bainbridge Island since 2003.
Kathleen was born July 12, 1912, in Vancouver, B.C., the only child of Northern Irish parents Emily Kane and Daniel Long Hanna. She grew up in Victoria B.C. and moved to Tacoma, Washington as a teenager. She attended the University of Washington and then Cornish School as an art history major.
Bruce was born October 16, 1913 in Toronto, Kansas to Clarence and Minnie Rogers, both school teachers. The family moved to Seattle in 1927. He graduated from Roosevelt High School in 1930 and the University of Washington Law School in 1937.
They were married in 1937 in Seattle, moved to Kansas City, Missouri, and then to Portland Oregon. They returned to Seattle where they lived with their family for 40 years on the shores of Haller Lake. After retirement they moved to Edmonds where Kathleen became an active member of the Friends of the Edmonds Library and the Historical Society where she served as a docent for many years.
They leave two sons, Michael of Bainbridge and John of Silverdale, 6 grandchildren, and 7 great grandchildren. Kathleen and Bruce recently celebrated their 70th wedding anniversary surrounded by family and friends.
At their request there will be no services; a family memorial gathering will be held at a later date. In lieu of flowers, remembrances may be made to the Bainbridge Library or Helpline House.
Who doesn’t remember GO DOG GO, aka the best early-reading book in the history of the world?
My niece taught Barkis to climb the juniper bushes today and they spent hours up there:
Barkis is 10 weeks old today! Ruff!
Top 3 ways to get me to watch a TV movie:
- Make it be about a writer.
- Play a Talking Heads song during the credits.
- Have the main character say, “If everybody could do it, don’t you think everybody would be a freakin’ writer?”
And that, my friends, is the TV trifecta. I love stories about writers. I’ve written a few myself. “Write or Wrong” with Kirstie Alley is funny, smart and watchable. There are also bonuses: A lap dog. Fear of cosmetic surgery. A main character who keeps her clothes in my closet [point deduction because she lies about being on the wagon]. References to Hemingway and Cyrano de Bergerac. A hero (also a writer) with a subtle Scottish burr. A BMW Z-4 Roadster. Oh, and a shocker happy ending. 
This movie will re-air on Lifetime this Sunday, so set your DVR. Definitely worth a look.
Heads up. Friday Night Lights just showed up on Sunday. Past episodes of this drama will re-air on Sundays, which is a great way to get hooked. 
I’m a very unlikely viewer for this show. I’m not a football fan and have managed to go through life without actually knowing the rules of the game. TV dramas about high school kids almost never work for me. This sounds like the last kind of program I’d tune into. It’s not about football the way Bull Durham is not about baseball.
I started watching Friday Night Lights because of a book. An amazingly good book–so good that, while reading it, I forgot that I don’t like or understand high school football. I found myself on the edge of my seat, invested in the characters and their storyline. I was interested to see how this lovely work of nonfiction would morph into a fictional TV drama.
My favorite parts–sharp, powerful character archetypes. The rebel, the princess, the hero and anti-hero, the bad girl, the good girl…They’re all beautifully portrayed. The women in this show get to be strong and smart and funny. That alone is enough to win my heart.
“My mother is a poem I’ll never be able to writethough everything I write is a poem to my mother.”
Thanks Mom. I love you.
