Tampa Book Buzz

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2010-11-04T19:30:00.001-04:00

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florida author ronson duncan's new book wired is out

2010-10-13T20:51:00.006-04:00

Local author Ronson Duncan has a new book out titled Wired:

On a picture-perfect day, a day cruise ship is hijacked off the coast of Clearwater, Florida and “wired” with explosives. At the same time, car bombs explode across America -- lots of car bombs -- including the DEA headquarters in Virginia. As these startling revelations unfold, the perpetrators turn out to be a rogue army of Mexican narco-guerrillas formerly trained in the U.S. to combat Mexico’s drug mafia. Now working for the cartels, the ‘Los Zetas’ have joined forces with Al-Qaeda to exact the release of Juan Carlos Alvarez -- the most feared and revered drug lord in the western hemisphere.

For Captain Skip Myles, the situation transcends belief. The unimaginable shock of losing his vessel to armed terrorists -- in Florida waters no less, a mere ten miles from port -- has left him a bewildered captive on his own ship. When he doesn’t come home from his evening cruise, his worried wife calls her ex-Navy SEAL brother in Detroit. That evening Cal rushes to her side and later embarks on a mission to rescue Skip himself -- convinced that if he doesn’t, no one else will.

Coast Guard Rear Admiral Ray Hanna has the ship surrounded but finds himself on a political leash. He can’t release Alvarez and he can’t storm the ship without risking the 218 passengers. When the hijackers begin blowing up passengers one-by-one wearing lifejackets rigged with C-4—makeshift suicide bomber vests, Hanna receives 24 hours to end the standoff or lose his command, leaving him with just one unthinkable choice.

Later that night, armed with a black-market Uzi and some borrowed scuba gear, Cal falls back into the Gulf of Mexico for his two-mile underwater swim to the Majestic Star, plunging headlong into a three-way Armageddon between the U.S. Coast Guard, Al-Qaeda, and the Mexican Mafia.

Wired is an explosive new thriller about love, fear, self-doubt, determination and self-sacrifice. It’s about how a single event can change the fragile landscape of ordinary people’s lives. It is a compelling modern-day saga that deals head-on with the proliferation of drug violence spilling across the U.S.-Mexican border.

AUTHOR BIO: Ron Duncan is a retired businessman who resides on the Gulf Coast of Florida. In the mid-90s he owned and operated a Tampa Bay boat-towing business called SEA-TOW, where he worked hand-in-hand with the Coast Guard in rescuing stranded boaters. It was the product of his experiences there that inspired this book. He is an avid reader and this is his first novel.

To order Wired or for more info, visit Old Line Publishing.

rapture recommendation

2010-10-10T23:34:00.004-04:00

A friend recommended Rapture by Thomas Tessier to me a couple of weeks ago. I'm on page 40 (of 310) and so far there's not alot happening. It's either a very slow build up or my friend and I have very different reading tastes. Guess we'll see...

deep carnivale schedule

2010-09-06T20:05:00.008-04:00

The detailed schedule for Deep Carnivale has been published:

Deep Carnivale: A Celebration of Words

September 10-12

HCC-Ybor City Campus, Performing Arts Building 2112 N. 15th Street,
Tampa

Friday, September 10
MAINSTAGE
HCC Ybor Performing Arts Building
THEATER SHORTS: $5.00

7:30 p.m. -- Anything's Dream (Mac Wellman); Alleycat Players (30 min); Not Yet Dead ( Ronnie Elliott) (15 min); I Am a Cuban Sandwich ( Richard DiPietra) (20 min?); finals poetry competition (30-40 min); MC-David Durney

Saturday, September 11
MAINSTAGE
HCC Ybor Performing Arts Building

9 a.m. -- Ferdie Pacheco reception in lobby
10 a.m. -- Ferdie Pacheco, author, Tales From the 5th Street; Gym Poem by Charles "Candyman" Coney; moderator Paul Guzzo
11:30 a.m. -- YellowJacket Press poets
Noon -- John Capouya, author, Gorgeous George:Taking your Book to Hollywood
12:30 p.m. -- Paul Guzzo and Jon Fisher, Blood is Thicker graphic novel
1 p.m. -- HCC Dancers: Astro Boy
1:15 p.m. -- James Tokley, Sr. Tampa Poet Laureate
1:45 p.m. -- David Durney, IV Poets
2 p.m. -- T.M. Shine, author, Nothing Happens Until It Happens to You
2:30 p.m. -- spoken word audition winners
3 p.m. -- Scott Deitche, author, Cigar City Mob
3:30 p.m. -- Dharma Hour Kerouac Project poets
4:30 p.m. -- Enid Shomer poetry and prose
5 p.m. -- Bill Gaston, author, The Kite Trick
5:30 p.m. -- Exquisite Corpse poem; Jeff Norton remembrance

Saturday, September 11
STUDIO THEATRE

10:30 a.m. -- Melissa Fair and David Durney, Sacrificial Poets
10:45 a.m. -- Lee Academy poets
11 a.m. -- Mary Jo Melone and Art Keeble, Baseball Was My Life
11:30 a.m. Bits n' Pieces Puppet Show, Jack and the Bean Stalk
12:30 p.m. -- Blake High School poets
1:15 p.m. -- HCC students, Languages of Our Planet
1:30 p.m. -- Bits n' Pieces Puppet Show, Robin Hood
2:30 p.m. -- TBA
3 p.m. -- David Durney, IV Poets
3:30 p.m. -- HCC student poets
4 p.m. -- Aleshea Harris poets

WORKSHOPS:
Performing Arts Room 102

2 p.m. -- Scott Harrell, Smashwords, DIY Publishing
2:30 p.m. -- Margo Hammond, Book Babes
3 p.m. -- Michael Dalton, Language and Talking Birds
3:30 p.m. -- Kristy Andersen, Arc of the Story
4 p.m. -- Bobbi Janson Publishing, Marketing, Printing

Saturday, September 11
Art Gallery Stage

Music, poetry, performances, readings throughout the day. Performers include John Clark, Popos, Crabgrass Cowboys, Stephanie Carpenter, Liz Hollister, Brigid Ochshorn

9 a.m. -- opens
11 a.m. -- HCC Dancers: Exquisite Corpse

The Fairytale Palace
at the Rehearsal Hall

Music, poetry, performances, readings throughout the day. Alexxis Avalon, Shana Perkins dance class, Nanette Avery, Ami Corley Sallee, Lee Academy, Blake High School, Bridget Bean, Doreen Horn, Melissa Fair and James Tokley, Sr.

10 a.m. -- arts activities with The Dali Museum, Children's Future Hillsborough, La France and Jezabel's Wandering Gypsies Dress-up, Bits 'n Pieces Puppet Theater. Ends at 3 p.m.
Noon -- Ferdie Pacheco, author, Trolley Cat
2:30 p.m. -- HCC Dancers: Astro Boy

Sunday, September 12
Silver Meteor Gallery
Mors Mortis Art Show $2.00
2:00 - 9:00 pm

2 p.m. -- The 2010 Exquisite Corpse Poem and other works Diana Ferguson, Melissa Fair, Linda Alexander, David Durney, Enid Shomer, Summer Rodman, Doreen Horn, Kim Buchheit, Silvia Curbelo
5 p.m. -- art, performance, music and wrap party

Visit www.deepcarnivale.com to learn more.

my own jane austen book club

2010-09-05T19:15:00.005-04:00

My mom is obsessed with Jane Austen these days. Well, really just Pride and Prejudice. And only on DVD (so far). After successfully mastering the art of how to insert a DVD into her new Christmas-gift DVD player, my technology-adverse mother has been exploring the wonderful world of DVD special features. Or "that extra stuff that's not the movie," as she says.

Almost every day my mom watches the Kiera Knightly version of Pride and Prejudice, and about every other day she watches the BBC Pride and Prejudice with Colin Firth. I suggested to her recently that she and I read all six Austen novels and watch as many of the Austen film adaptations we could find. She loved the idea.

I picked up a Sense and Sensibility book/DVD (the Emma Thompson and Kate Winslet version) combo for ten bucks at MovieStop last week and mailed it to her, so we're going to start with that one. So, after all these years of watching Austen film adaptations and reading about Austen, I am finally, at 40 years of age, going to read my first Jane Austen novel. I'm excited!

4th annual deep carnivale holding auditions for participants

2010-07-27T08:11:00.001-04:00

Received via email:
The Artists and Writers Group, Inc. announces a series of competitive auditions for writers and readers interested in participating in the 4th annual Deep Carnivale, a literature festival scheduled for September 11 at Hillsborough Community College in Ybor City.

The auditions are free and open to all ages. Participants have two minutes to read his or her original material or any work by any author. Finalists will have an opportunity to read another two minutes of material. Three participants at each audition will be selected to read at Deep Carnivale and compete for three cash awards totaling $200.

Judging will be based on both the quality of the material and the presentation. Material should be appropriate for the general public. Authors and writers already invited to read at this year’s festival cannot compete in these auditions.

To reserve a spot on the schedule please contact David Audet at daudet[at]hccfl.edu and indicate which evening and general time you wish to read. However, anyone can attend any audition and if spaces are available, sign up at that time.

The first audition will be held Thursday, August 12, from 7 to 9 p.m. at The Globe Coffee Lounge (532 1st Avenue North, St. Pete).

The next two auditions will be held on Wednesday, August 18, and Wednesday, September 1, from 7 to 9 p.m. at Tre Amici at the Bunker (1907 North 19th Street).
Deep Carnivale is a free, family-friendly literary festival that "brings Florida authors, writers and poets together to share a celebration of literature and writing with the Tampa Bay community." To learn more, visit www.deepcarnivale.com.

book buzz:empty rooms lonely countries by christian a. dumais

2010-07-21T17:36:00.008-04:00

Empty Rooms Lonely Countries by Christian A. Dumais

"There’s no such thing as one story. If we were books, we’d be anthologies. Life isn’t linear enough to allow us the cohesiveness of a novel. We are just little stories made up to look like one, memories with endings that lead to another that lead to another…some sweet, some bitter. Life isn’t a specific genre, so sometimes you may find yourself split up into separate sections in the library. One week you’re a romance, the next you’re all thriller, most weeks you’re just the usual fiction."

This quote from Christian A. Dumais’s short story "Bookends" is the perfect description of his book Empty Rooms Lonely Countries. The 27 stories in this collection -- previously published in the magazines City Style, GUD, Crash Test and others – are personal vignettes of the author’s life that are entertaining as separate, stand-alone stories but are breathtakingly brilliant when combined into an anthology. Each short story included here – some whimsical, some witty, almost all poignant – flows into the next, creating a stream-of-consciousness effect that makes the author’s musings more powerful.

These stories are about love, essentially: the search for love, the pain of lost love, the disillusionment of love gone wrong, the joy and excitement of new love, and nostalgia about past relationships. "Cowboys and Indians" is a funny tale about a guy posing as a S.W.A.T. officer to crash a party, but it’s also about the bonds of friendship and the "I’m Velcro in a world of zippers" frustrations of looking for a date. "The Illusion of Swing" is about a writer writing about swing dancing, at first, and then becomes a bittersweet metaphor about swing being an illusion that keeps people stuck in the past reminiscing over the good ole days instead of breaking new ground and having new experiences.

The narrator of the humorous "Father Groove" performs a friend’s wedding ceremony and then has other guests thinking he’s a priest and calling him "Father" all evening. In addition to exploring the seduction potential of his new identity, "Father" references his parents’ long, solid, loving marriage. In "The Fifth Ocean" our narrator gives a moving wedding toast about his belief in love:

"Here is to Childhood, when all the colors are discovered, all the monsters are possible and Pez candy is the only thing worth fighting for.

Here is to Dreams, where we make up some new colors, all the monsters lurk in the backdrop, and our castles in the sky become worth fighting for.

Here is to Adulthood, when all the colors become gray, all the monsters become our bosses, and our castles fall from the sky.

And then to Love, where all the new colors from the dreams come to life, all the monsters cease to exist, and we discover that the only thing is worth fighting for is the Princess we ask to live in our castles in the sky."

Dumais has great insights into human nature and a cleverly cynical way of expressing those insights: The run-on sentence about an out-of-control life being like a run-on sentence. Striking up a conversation in line for the bathroom at a costume party with a guy dressed as Death and discussing love and death. "Adulthood is another one of those odd myths, like complete happiness or gargoyles."

Despite the third quarter dragging a little bit, I absolutely loved this book. Empty Rooms Lonely Countries is bittersweet and touching, with some really funny bits here and there. There are moments of sagacity and wisdom like I’ve rarely seen before, but it’s oh so sad – heartbreakingly, hauntingly, beautifully so.

Book Buzz: A+

great opening lines: digging up the dead by druin burch

2010-06-12T18:32:00.003-04:00

"When I was four or five years old my mother took me to see a dead man. ..."

-- Digging Up The Dead:Uncovering the Life and Times of an Extraordinary Surgeon by Druin Burch

summer 2010 book preview

2010-06-11T12:28:00.003-04:00

So many books, so little time...

The summer's best reads according to the Wall Street Journal

What Amazon.com wants us to read this summer

Upcoming books at Barnes and Noble

About.com's guide to what to read at the beach

Reading Rocket's list of summer reading for children

This summer's recommended reading list from Just Read, Florida! (links to a PDF)

There's a 2010 Summer Romance Challenge over at Book Chick City

USA Today lists summer books of every genre

Non-fiction fans can get suggestions from the Chicago Sun Times

Here's a list of upcoming graphic novels

NPR thinks that historical fiction is the ultimate summer getaway

Catch the summer fiction special at The Guardian

publisher dream of things accepting anthology submissions

2010-05-16T12:13:00.003-04:00

From the Tampa Writers Association newsletter:

Dream of Things, an independent general interest publisher, seeks creative nonfiction for anthologies on numerous topics. Over the next few years, Dream of Things plans to publish a series of about 24 anthologies that are “easier to swallow than Chicken Soup and easier to digest than Best American Essays,” says owner Mike O’Mary.

“I like some of the Chicken Soup stories,” says O’Mary, “but sometimes they are so sweet and upbeat they’re a little hard to swallow. And the Best American series is great, but most of our stories will be shorter and more personal.”

Dream of Things is currently accepting submissions for anthologies on fifteen topics. See the “Workshop” section of the website for a complete list of topics, submission guidelines and payment information.
For more info, visit www.dreamofthings.com or email editor[at]dreamofthings.com.

poem of the day

2010-04-21T19:00:00.000-04:00

I have been thinking about the love-hat relationship.
It is the relationship based on love of one another's hats.
The problem with the love-hat relationship is that it is superficial.
You don't necessarily even know the other person.
Also it is too dependent on whether the other person
is even wearing the favored hat. We all enjoy hats,
but they're not something to build an entire relationship on.
My advice to young people is to like hats but not love them.
Try having like-hat relationships with one another.
See if you can find something interesting about
the personality of the person whose hat you like.

The Love-Hat Relationship by Aaron Belz

(April is National Poetry Month)

poetry party april 23

2010-04-20T19:48:00.000-04:00

YellowJacket Press and the Artists and Writers Group are having a Poetry Party on Friday, April 23, from 6-9 p.m. at Tre Amici (1907 N 19th St., Tampa).

The evening will feature live readings, poetry games, a “poetry brothel,” raffles, music, art, and more.

Jesse Millner (Ft. Myers), winner of the 2009 YellowJacket Press Chapbook Contest for Florida Poets, will debut his book My Grandfather Singing and will be joined by Florida poets Gregory Byrd, Pamela Epps, Langston Epps, Susan Lilley, Kate Sweeney, Cole Bellamy, Liz Kicak, Kirsten Holt, Jennie Goodwin, Rachel Fogarty, Jessica D. Lotzkar, John Pelot, Colette Earnest, Miranda Bailey, Ginna Wilkerson, and Brent Short. We envision people coming and going throughout the evening as we celebrate poetry with fun, games and original works.

Come for a reading, an hour, or the whole evening -- but do come!

A suggested donation of $5.00 goes to support YellowJacket Press, Florida’s only publisher of poetry chapbooks.
For more info, visit www.YellowJacketPress.orgor contact Gianna Russo at russo15[at]juno.com.

j.r. ackerly's book my dog tulip is now a movie

2010-04-20T18:35:00.000-04:00

J.R. Ackerly's 1956 book My Dog Tulip has been made into a movie, which I recently had a chance to see at a local film festival. I enjoyed it, so of course I now have to read the book.

tampa books examiner writer also has a book blog

2010-04-13T12:47:00.004-04:00

The very talented Tampa Books Examiner Julianne Draper also has a book blog called Cafe Pearl, where she writes about fantasy, science fiction, romance and YA books and authors.

I love books and book blogs, but I especially love book blogs that celebrate Tampa Bay area talent. Pop over to Cafe Pearl and check it out. (But don't forget about TBB! :)

poem of the day

2010-04-12T20:33:00.000-04:00

Everyone loves a story. Let's begin with a house.
We can fill it with careful rooms and fill the rooms
with things—tables, chairs, cupboards, drawers
closed to hide tiny beds where children once slept
or big drawers that yawn open to reveal
precisely folded garments washed half to death,
unsoiled, stale, and waiting to be worn out.
There must be a kitchen, and the kitchen
must have a stove, perhaps a big iron one
with a fat black pipe that vanishes into the ceiling
to reach the sky and exhale its smells and collusions.
This was the center of whatever family life
was here, this and the sink gone yellow
around the drain where the water, dirty or pure,
ran off with no explanation, somehow like the point
of this, the story we promised and may yet deliver.
Make no mistake, a family was here. You see
the path worn into the linoleum where the wood,
gray and certainly pine, shows through.
Father stood there in the middle of his life
to call to the heavens he imagined above the roof
must surely be listening. When no one answered
you can see where his heel came down again
and again, even though he'd been taught
never to demand. Not that life was especially cruel;
they had well water they pumped at first,
a stove that gave heat, a mother who stood
at the sink at all hours and gazed longingly
to where the woods once held the voices
of small bears—themselves a family—and the songs
of birds long fled once the deep woods surrendered
one tree at a time after the workmen arrived
with jugs of hot coffee. The worn spot on the sill
is where Mother rested her head when no one saw,
those two stained ridges were handholds
she relied on; they never let her down.
Where is she now? You think you have a right
to know everything? The children tiny enough
to inhabit cupboards, large enough to have rooms
of their own and to abandon them, the father
with his right hand raised against the sky?
If those questions are too personal, then tell us,
where are the woods? They had to have been
because the continent was clothed in trees.
We all read that in school and knew it to be true.
Yet all we see are houses, rows and rows
of houses as far as sight, and where sight vanishes
into nothing, into the new world no one has seen,
there has to be more than dust, wind-borne particles
of burning earth, the earth we lost, and nothing else.

--A Story by Phillip Levine

(April is National Poetry Month!)

april is national poetry month

2010-04-12T12:18:00.004-04:00

Are you enjoying National Poetry Month as much as I am?

Thanks to the Academy of American Poets website, I can find a poem for any occasion, have a poem emailed to me every day, and find out what poetry-related events are happening in Florida.

There's still time to celebrate National Poetry Month. Don't know what to do? Here are 30 suggestions.

april events at inkwood books

2010-04-07T07:35:00.000-04:00

Local indie bookstore Inkwood Books has some author events coming up this month:

Saturday, April 10, 3 p.m.
Robert Macomber

Florida writer Robert Macomber will discuss and sign The Darkest Shade of Honor, the highly anticipated 8th novel of his Honor series. This installment catches up with Commander Peter Wake on assignment to investigate Cuban revolutionary activities between Florida and Cuba. Traveling through such well-known locales as Key West and Tampa, and interacting with historical figures Theodore Roosevelt and Jose Marti, Wake confronts a catastrophic natural disaster, and will make a decision that requires the “darkest shade of honor.”

Thursday, April 15, 7 p.m.
Kristy Kiernan

Kristy Kiernan returns to Inkwood Books with her captivating third novel Between Friends, concerning two women struggling with life-changing decisions, exploring both timely moral issues and timeless truths about the definition of family. Kiernan has received praise for her trademark “lilting and luminous voice” (Water for Elephants author Sarah Gruen) and the “effortless grace” (Tasha Alexander). Her first novel, Catching Genius, is a word-of-mouth bookgroup favorite, and her second, Matters of Faith, was a bronze medalist in the Florida Book Awards. Kiernan still lives here on Florida's west coast, where she was raised.

Thursday, April 22, 7 p.m.
Ginny Stibolt

Ginny Stibolt, a naturalist with a master's in botany, will discuss and sign her new book Sustainable Gardening For Florida just in time for Earth Day! This must-have reference for Florida's gardeners and landscapers is filled with doable projects and methods designed to benefit Florida's ecosystems, working with nature instead of against her.

Sunday, April 25, 2-4 p.m.
Lois Lowry

Join Inkwood Books for a very special visit from the legendary Lois Lowry as she discusses and signs her newest book for middle readers, The Birthday Ball, the story of a very bored princess forced to choose a husband at her 16th birthday ball, with illustrations by Jules Feiffer. Author of over 30 books for children, Lowry is a two-time winner of the Newbery Award (Number the Stars and The Giver), and is beloved by educators, parents, and young readers for her thoughtful approaches to important topics such as racism and war.

All events are held at Inkwood Books, 216 South Armenia Avenue in Tampa, and are free and open to the public unless otherwise noted. To reserve books, call 813-253-2638 or email inkwoodbooks[at]gmail.com.

Visit Inkwood Books online for more info.

eckerd college events march 22 and 23

2010-03-18T19:18:00.000-04:00

Here’s some recent news from Eckerd College:

Eckerd College presents authors Jerald Walker and Lyndall Gordon on Monday, March 22, and Tuesday, March 23, respectively. Both events are
free and open to the public.

Monday, March 22, 7:00 p.m., Miller Auditorium, Eckerd College
We Are Americans:Traveling to the Motherland in Search of One's Racial Identity
Jerald Walker, author of Street Shadows:A Memoir of Race, Rebellion and Redemption (Random House, Bantam, January 2010)

In Street Shadows, Iowa Writers' Workshop alumnus Jerald Walker recounts the renunciation of the "thug life" he embraced as a teenager on the south side of Chicago in favor of the education and middle-class life his parents had always dreamed of for their children.

Explored in this memoir are questions of race and identity through the lens of personal choice – including decisions Walker made as a high-school dropout, a drug and alcohol abuser, a returning student, a young academic, and a visitor to Africa in search of his roots. It was this visit to Africa that helped garner Walker national attention when the chapter in Street Shadows that chronicled this journey, We Are Americans, was selected for inclusion in The Best American Essays 2009.

Tuesday, March 23, 5:30 p.m., Fox Hall, Eckerd College
Lives Like Loaded Guns:Emily Dickinson and Her Family's Feuds
Lyndall Gordon, biographer

Lives Like Loaded Guns:Emily Dickinson and Her Family's Feuds will be published in June 2010 (Penguin, U.S.). This story approaches Emily Dickinson by way of feuds in her family, beginning in the poet's lifetime. The feuds exploded over adultery, but came to focus on the poet herself. Rival camps claimed her legend and shot each other down over the course of three generations.

Lyndall Gordon grew up in Cape Town, South Africa, where she studied history and English, then nineteenth-century American literature at Columbia in New York. A Senior Research Fellow at St Hilda's College, Ms. Gordon is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature and member of PEN. Each summer she participates in the Writing Seminars at Bennington College, Vermont. Ms. Gordon has authored biographies of T.S. Eliot, Virginia Woolf, Charlotte Bronte, and Mary Wollstonecraft.
Both events are free and open to the public. Learn more about Eckerd’s College Program Series online.

tempus projects exhibition march 19 through april 9

2010-03-15T21:02:00.000-04:00

From March 19 through April 9, Tempus Projects in Seminole Heights will be featuring Grey Matter, a "group exhibition of drawing, painting, printmaking and sculpture. Artists exhibiting their work include Hildebrando Bellizzio, Deon Blackwell, Dave Galbraith, Allen Hampton, Wes Kline, Elizabeth Kozlowski, Lauren Garber Lake, Shannon Richie-Lindsey, Lynn Manos, Cindy Mason, Alessandro Midulla, Meg Mitchell, Ellen Mueller, Justin Nelson, Princess Rashid, and Brian Taylor."

The Grey Matter opening reception will be Friday, March 19, from 7-10 p.m. Tempus Projects is in south Seminole Heights on the back lot of 5132 Florida Avenue in Tampa (the zip code is 33603 for those of you Mapquesting it).

"The event is free and open to the public, but donations are greatly appreciated. The exhibition runs through April 9, with gallery hours by appointment. Classes and groups are encouraged and welcomed."

I'm most curious about the printmaking portion of it, or course. For more info, visit www.tempus-projects.com.

local author dr. lavinia rodriguez in st. pete times

2010-03-15T18:04:00.005-04:00

Received via email:

The St. Petersburg Times featured the first of four weight loss and health articles to be written by Dr. Lavinia Rodriguez. Last weekend's article focused on dieting failures and how to take control of weight loss efforts. Through her series, Rodriguez will teach everyday people how to take control of their health and wellness without feeling deprived and pressured. Dr. Rodriguez also released a book, Mind Over Fat Matters: Conquering Psychological Barriers to Weight Management, which explains why most people can't follow through with their intentions on diet and exercise plans. The book explains how to make moving the body a fun experience and how to make the brain a partner on the journey to health.

The Bella Garden Book Series named Dr. Rodriguez as their author of the month. This Thursday, March 18, from 6:30--8 p.m., Dr. Rodriguez will be their the special guest, joining their monthly book lovers' gathering at Bella Garden Boutique (5664 Fishhawk Crossing Blvd, Lithia, FL 33547).

About Dr. Lavinia Rodriguez: Dr. Rodriguez is a licensed psychologist with three decades of experience in heatlh, wellness and eating disorders. She served as a principal consultant at the University of South Florida for many years and has led several health related initiatives as well. Dr. Rodriguez has treated many people as a doctor and has written articles on the subjects of eating disorders, in particular, and weight loss in general.
Here is Dr. Rodriguez's most recent St. Pete Times article. To learn more about Dr. Rodriguez or her book, visit www.fatmatters.com.

writers giving advice to aspiring authors and screenwriters today at the university of tampa

2010-02-22T07:32:00.000-05:00

Received via email:

WRITERS TO GIVE ADVICE TO ASPIRING AUTHORS/SCREENWRITERS AT UT

The movie theaters are filled with films that were adapted from books. But how does one write a book that will end up on the silver screen?

UT Assistant Professor of Journalism John Capouya knows. On Monday, February 22, he'll share his secrets at an event called From Book to Movie: Two Writers Tell a Gorgeous Story, at 6 p.m. in the Reeves Theater on the second floor of the Vaughn Center at the University of Tampa. Capouya and screenwriter/actor John Posey, who is adapting Capouya's book on Gorgeous George for a feature film, will discuss narrative storytelling and the craft of adaptation.

"I got very lucky, including the fact that they are including me in the film and script writing process," Capouya said. Gorgeous George: The Outrageous Bad-Boy Wrester Who Created American Pop Culture tells the story of George Wagner, who created an outrageous image that would later influence Muhammad Ali, James Brown and Bob Dylan. With his regal capes and feminine hairdo, George challenged traditional concepts of masculinity and created a following for the "heel'' or villain in wrestling. Reviews of Gorgeous George appeared in The New York Times, Entertainment Weekly, Sports Illustrated and The Wall Street Journal.

The event is free and open to the public.

The University of Tampa is a private, residential university located on approximately 100 acres on the riverfront in downtown Tampa. Known for academic excellence, personal attention and real-world experience in its undergraduate and graduate programs, the University serves 6,300 students from 50 states and approximately 100 countries. Approximately 70 percent of full-time students live on campus, and more than half of UT students are from Florida.

For more info, call 813-253-6216.

upcoming events at inkwood books

2010-02-07T18:53:00.007-05:00

There are lots of events coming up soon at Inkwood Books (216 S. Armenia Ave., Tampa):

EVENT: Ernest Hooper with Dr. Keith Berry and Paula Stahel
DATE: February 18

Celebrating with St. Petersburg Times columnist Ernest Hooper, honoring the publication of his grandmother Ann Nixon Cooper's book, A Century and Some Change:My Life Before the President Called My Name, at Inkwood Books on Thursday, February 18, at 6 p.m. Hooper will be joined by Dr. Keith Berry, HCC history professor, providing context for Cooper's story spanning a century of historic change, and Paula Stahe, immediate past president of the Association of Personal Historians and owner of Breath and Shadows Productions, sharing experience helping individuals and families capture life stories as legacies for the future.

President-elect Obama mentioned Cooper in his acceptance speech, bringing fame to the 106-year-old beloved matriarch. Her life story began before there were cars or planes, when both her gender and her race kept her from voting, and she lived to see a black president - and the first copy of her book - before she passed away. The daughter of a tenant farmer, wife of a dentist, and respected Atlanta elder has left a lasting legacy for us all.

EVENT: Lisa McMann
DATE: February 25

New York Times best-selling young adult author Lisa McMann will discuss and sign her newest book, Gone, at Inkwood Books on Thursday, February 23, at 7 p.m. McMann’s compelling paranormal thriller series features Janie, a strong but vulnerable female protagonist who gets caught in the dreams of others. Following Wake and Fade, and this new installment continues the series with McMann’s trademark blend of mystery and romance, recommended for grades 8-11.

EVENT: Johanna Moran
DATE: March 4

Meet Johanna Moran, author of The Wives of Henry Oades, a paperback original novel based on real events in the 18th century, at Inkwood Books on Thursday, March 4, at 7 p.m. The author's father, a law professor, found an abstract of a controversial court case, and her mother hoped to write about it someday, but passed the idea on to Moran. The book tells the story of Henry Oades, who migrated to New Zealand where his wife and children were abducted by Maori and given up for dead. Grief stricken, Henry sailed to California and was remarried when his lost wife and surviving children appeared on their doorstep. They take them in, attempting to adapt while townspeople disapprove, and Henry is charged with bigamy, punishable by hanging. As their legal troubles mount, the relationship between the two wives, each with a lawful and righteous stake, forms the heart of this astonishing tale of marriage - certain to become a bookgroup favorite.

Visit www.inkwoodbooks.com for more info.

author connie may fowler is coming to tampa

2010-01-19T13:30:00.008-05:00

Award-winning author -- and Tampa native -- Connie May Fowler is coming to town. She will hold a novel-writing seminar on March 27 in Tampa in collaboration with the Henry B. Plant Museum and the Arts Council of Hillsborough County.

Tampa is also the site of the launch of Fowler's new book How Clarissa Burden Learned to Fly at Mise en Place (Lafayette Room) on April 3 from 4-6 p.m. Inkwood Books will handle book sales.

Here's the press release:

Acclaimed author Connie May Fowler will be in Tampa March 27, conducting a one-day novel writing seminar. Held at University of Tampa’s Reese Theater in the Vaughn Center, the seminar will cover many topics, including how to begin your novel; how to develop characters, plot, arc, and conflict; handling point of view, and the business of writing.

Fowler, who grew up in Tampa, has written seven highly lauded books—one memoir and six novels. Her latest, How Clarissa Burden Learned to Fly, will be published April 2, 2010. The nationwide launch takes place in Tampa on April 3. Fowler is best known for Before Women had Wings, her award-winning novel set in Tampa, which Oprah Winfrey produced into an Emmy-winning film. Fowler penned the screenplay.

The seminar is being held in collaboration with the Henry B. Plant Museum and the Arts Council of Hillsborough County. Tuition is $150 before or by February 28 and $160 after that date. To reserve a spot (seating is limited), email your reservation to mail[at]writingbelowsealevel.com.

Fowler told me via email that when her publisher asked her where she wanted to launch the book, "for some reason--just something in my heart--told me that I needed to launch it in my hometown."

For more info on either the seminar or the Tampa launch of Fowler's new book How Clarissa Burden Learned to Fly, visit www.conniemayfowler.com.

the joy of reading

2010-01-19T12:54:00.003-05:00

I'm back home now after spending a few days in Georgia with my mom following her heart attack last week. Thanks for the emails and messages from those of you who saw my posts on Facebook. (My mom's doing well, all things considered, and is back at home.)

Over the last few days, I've come to appreciate and enjoy my love of reading more than ever before. Reading has always been a comfort, a hobby, a routine, a passion, a part of my every-day life, but recently I realized how thankful I am for the benefits of reading. I read while sitting next to my mother's hospital bed, passing the time until she woke up. When my mom was awake, I'd entertain her by reading her the latest Hollywood gossip from some trashy tabloid magazines. When I'd exhausted all of those, I looked up her favorite actors online and read her their biographies. When hospital visiting hours were over, I walked the aisles of the local bookstore to cheer myself up. When I couldn't sleep late at night, I'd crack open one of my recent bookstore purchases.

The past few days would have been far more miserable, lonely and boring if I didn't love to read as much as I do. Thanks, Mom, for passing your love of reading on to me.

january book releases

2010-01-11T23:37:00.005-05:00

Thanks to the Book Swap of Carrollwood's monthly newsletter, I now know about some of the books being released this month:

HARDCOVER:

January 5:
Noah's Compass by Anne Tyler
Impact by Douglas Preston
The Wolf at the Door by Jack Higgins
Not My Daughter by Barbara Delinsky

January 12:
The Swan Thieves by Elizabeth Kostova
I, Sniper by Stephen Hunter
Treasure Hunt by John Lescroart

January 26:
Blood Ties by Kay Hooper
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

ADVENTURE/SUSPENSE:

January 5:
Innocence by Hosp, David
A Knife Edge: A Thriller by Rollins, David

January 26:
Dearly Devoted Dexter by Lindsay, Jeff
Max: A Maximum Ride Novel by Patterson, James
Still Life by Fielding, Joy
The Scarecrow by Connelly, Michael
The Silent Man by Berenson, Alex
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

BEST SELLER:

January 5:
Renegade by Mann, Catherine
Sexy as Hell by Johnson, Susan

January 26:
Chasing Harry Winston by Weisberger, Lauren
Curse of the Spellmans by Lutz, Lisa
Dead by Midnight by Barton, Beverly
Down River by Harper, Karen
McKettricks of Texas: Tate by Miller, Linda Lael
On Fire by Neggers, Carla
One Day at a Time by Steel, Danielle
Original Sin by Brennan, Allison
The Cinderella Deal by Crusie, Jennifer
Crossroads by Plain, Belva
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

HISTORICAL ROMANCE:

January 5:
Lessons from a Scarlet Lady by Wildes, Emma

January 19:
The Truth about Lord Stoneville by Jeffries, Sabrina

January 26:
A Highlander's Homecoming by Mayhue, Melissa
Angel's Peak by Carr, Robyn
Ravishing in Red by Hunter, Madeline
To Tame a Dangerous Lord by Jordan, Nicole
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

PARANORMAL ROMANCE:

January 5:
Bone Magic by Galenorn, Yasmine
Come Hell or High Water: A Broken Heart Novel by Bardsley, Michell
Death's Mistress: A Midnight's Daughter Novel by Chance, Karen
Inked by Chance, Karen
Naked Dragon: A Works Like Magick Novel by Blair, Annette
Smolder by Morel, Melina
The Taking by McCarthy, Erin
Wicked Enchantment by Bast, Anya

January 19:
Succubi Like It Hot by Myles, Jill

January 26:
Nightwalker by Graham, Heather
Spider's Bite: An Elemental Assassin Book by Estep, Jennifer
Twice as Hot by Showalter, Gena
Bone Crossed by Briggs, Patricia
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

NON-FICTION:

January 5:
Women & Money: Owning the Power to Control Your Destiny by Orman, Suze

So many books, so little time!

great opening lines:how to love like a hot chick by jodi lipper and cerina vincent

2010-01-08T11:37:00.006-05:00

The first thing we want to say to you is that you are a Hot Chick. Somewhere between the bastard who never called you after your fantastic first date and that old boyfriend whose head would do a complete one-eighty to check out any passing blond, you just forgot. Or maybe you never knew that you were hot. That’s okay. We forgot for a while there ourselves.

-- How to Love Like a Hot Chick:The Girlfriend to Girlfriend Guide to Getting the Love You Deserve by Jodi Lipper and Cerina Vincent

2010 resolutions

2010-01-04T08:11:00.002-05:00

Ah, the new year. A fresh calendar, a clean slate, a new two-digit number to get used to writing on my checks. Traditionally, people make new year's resolutions about eating healthier, exercising more, saving more money and being a better person.

Blah, blah, blah. I make – and break – those resolutions every year.

This year, I’m making different resolutions. Fun, easy resolutions. I want to make up for last year's deficit of books, reading and fun in my life. So, in 2010, I plan to:

Attend my monthly book club meetings. Maybe even read the assigned book.

Read the Lord of the Rings books that I got for Christmas ten years ago and then promptly forgot about.

Read something by a classic author who I've never read before and am embarrassed to admit publicly that I haven't read (Jane Austen, *cough*).

Get involved again with the Florida Bibliophile Society and the Tampa Writers Alliance. Check out other groups that I’ve written about over the years but have never visited personally.

Stop whining about not getting magazines in the mail anymore and renew my subscriptions already.

Carry a book or magazine in my purse so I can sneak in a few minutes of reading here and there. There doesn’t seem to be a way to avoid waiting in lines, so I might as well get some reading in while standing there.

Oh yeah, and actually update this blog instead of just thinking about it.

Here’s to a good 2010!

april 2008 archives

2008-04-01T21:14:00.000-04:00

The April 2008 archives will be posted soon.

march 2008 archives

2008-03-01T21:08:00.000-05:00

The March 2008 archives will be posted soon.

february 2008 archives

2008-02-01T21:04:00.000-05:00

The February 2008 archives will be posted soon.

january 2008 archives

2008-01-01T21:03:00.000-05:00

The January 2008 archives will be posted soon.

december 2007 archives

2007-12-01T21:01:00.000-05:00

The December 2007 archives will be posted soon.

november 2007 archives

2007-11-01T21:00:00.000-04:00

The November 2007 archives will be posted soon.

october 2007 archives

2007-10-01T20:57:00.001-04:00

The October 2007 archives will be posted soon.

september 2007 archives

2007-09-01T20:55:00.000-04:00

The September 2007 archives will be posted soon.

august 2007 archives

2007-08-01T20:53:00.001-04:00

The August 2007 archives will be posted soon.

july 2007 archives

2007-07-01T20:52:00.001-04:00

The July 2007 archives will be posted soon.

june 2007 archives

2007-06-01T20:49:00.000-04:00

The June 2007 archives will be posted soon.

may 2007 archives

2007-05-01T20:47:00.000-04:00

The May 2007 archives will be posted soon.

april 2007 archives

2007-04-01T20:45:00.000-04:00

The April 2007 archives will be posted soon.

march 2007 archives

2007-03-01T20:44:00.000-05:00

The March 2007 archives will be posted soon.

february 2007 archives

2007-02-01T20:42:00.001-05:00

The February 2007 archives will be posted soon.

january 2007 archives

2007-01-01T20:41:00.000-05:00

The January 2007 archives will be posted soon.

december 2006 archives

2006-12-01T20:40:00.000-05:00

The December 2006 archives will be posted soon.

november 2006 archives

2006-11-01T20:38:00.000-05:00

The November 2006 archives will be posted soon.

october 2006 archives

2006-10-01T20:36:00.000-04:00

The October 2006 archives will be posted soon.

book news:allen, noori, llewellyn, mcree, smith

2006-09-06T08:12:00.005-04:00

Local author Skip Allen's new book Requiem for the Phoenix (the sequel to Out of the Ashes) is now available. Click here to learn more about his book, browse a chapter or order your copy.
Local author Afsane Noori (Change Thrivers) has revamped her website to reflect her new career as a motivational speaker. Here's her press release.
Former local author (recently moved to Alabama, I believe) Kimberly Llewellyn's new book Real Women Don't Wear Size 2 was reviewed in this month's Tampa Bay Illustrated magazine. I read this book this past weekend....WOW!
Local author and beach expert David McRee has updated the "beach threats" info on his website www.beachhunter.net/ in response to Steve (Crocodile Hunter) Irwin's death.
Local author and fellow blogger Joy V. Smith has a story titled Pretty Pink Planet in WomanScapes, a collection of alternative visions written by women about women, which is now available. The WomanScapes authors have donated their talent in order to benefit worldwide humanitarian relief efforts. WomanScapes is available as a free download after you make a donation of at least $5 to a non-profit organization that provides humanitarian relief. It is also available as a paperback from amazon.com: Amazon.com: WomanScapes: Books: WomanScapes Authors.

hot library smut

2006-09-05T08:08:00.002-04:00

When I saw the subject line of this email from the president of the Florida Bibliophile Society, I thought "what on earth??" Book lovers, you MUST check out this hot library smut.

get "lit" in valdosta, georgia

2006-09-05T07:32:00.001-04:00

No fair...my hometown (Valdosta, Georgia) waits until I don't live there anymore to start the Wiregrass Literacy and Literature Festival of the Deep South. It's only a 3 1/2 hour drive to Valdosta. Who's up for a road trip this weekend?

september meeting of the tampa writers alliance

2006-09-04T22:26:00.004-04:00

From the Tampa Writers Alliance website:

Becky Salichova of Bouncing Ball Books will be our September speaker. Her topic will be “What a Publisher is Looking For,” which will cover the process of publishing, the process of writing, market vision, the advantages of being an independent publisher, and why this particular publisher focuses on children’s books and short story collections. Becky will go on to talk about the Miami Book Fair International on November 12 – 19. Then, along with TWA President Sandra Kischuk, she will kick-off a cooperative Tampa Writers Alliance/Bouncing Ball Books Short Story Collection Contest - the Grand Prize being a publishing contract. As always, all interested persons are invited to attend. There is no charge for admission.

bottles from the deep by ellen c. gerth

2006-09-04T20:02:00.010-04:00

Local author Eric Sturm sent me information about Ellen C. Gerth, another local author who has written a book very different from the romance, poetry and mystery novels that usually cross my path. (Thanks Eric!) Read the press release below and tell me this book doesn't pique your interest:

Bottles From the Deep:Patent Medicines, Bitters, & Other Bottles From the Wreck of the Steamship Republic

by Ellen C. Gerth

Shipwreck Heritage Press

Publication Date: August 2006

$12.00, softcover, 112 pages, 95 color photos and 2 maps

ISBN-10: 1-933034-07-6 (ISBN-13: 978-1-933034-07-2)

7” x 7”, Antiques & Collectibles

BOTTLES FROM THE DEEP

New Book by Publisher of Shipwreck Stories Features Bottles from the Civil War Era Discovered 1,700 Deep in the Atlantic

This illustrated small book presents colorful examples from an amazing find of 19th-century bottles in a shipwreck in the deep Atlantic, 100 miles off the coast of Georgia. The bottles were en route to New Orleans in October 1865, just months after the end of the Civil War. They present a fascinating time capsule of popular goods of the times – from popular herbal “bitters” (with their astoundingly high alcoholic content) to quack medicines (Mrs. Winslow’s Soothing Syrup for Children) to condiments, hair tonics, writing inks, perfumes, beer and wine, and more.

The SS Republic was a side-wheel paddle-steamer that departed New York harbor in October 1865, bound for New Orleans. Along with some 80 passengers and crew, its shipment included a remarkable cargo: a reported $400,000 in gold and silver coins. The ship also carried other goods sorely needed in New Orleans, once the cosmopolitan jewel of the South, but by then depleted by years of war and Union occupation. But the steamship ran into a fierce hurricane and sank after two days battling the violent winds and high waves. Most of the passengers and crew were rescued from lifeboats in the days following the sinking, but the cargo was believed lost forever.

The remarkable discovery in 2003 and archaeological excavation into 2004 of the wreck on the Atlantic floor (as told in the recent book Lost Gold of the Republic, by Priit J. Vesilind, Shipwreck Heritage Press) by Odyssey Marine Exploration of Tampa, Florida, would eventually yield more than 51,000 coins. Today, those Civil War–era coins are worth many millions of dollars to collectors (perhaps as much as $75 million per appraisals).

Now this small companion book tells the tale of the intriguing array of bottles recovered from the deep-sea wreck: a total of more than 6,000 bottles, a cargo being carried to New Orleans to replenish merchants’ shelves. The diverse shapes and colors reflect a rich heritage of bottled goods in use in the mid-1860s. Amazingly, most of the bottles were found unbroken, some still even containing their original contents. Many, however, had their cork seals inside, pushed in by the tremendous water pressure at the depth of 1,700 feet.

Each specimen, hand-blown into a mold, is a work of art in itself. The stories these bottles tell speak to a time when virtually anything could be bottled, advertised, and sold, when manufacturers swindled the public with outrageous claims and when early victories of Prohibition had lost momentum.

Categories in the book Bottles From the Deep include patent medicines; bitters; wine, beer, & spirits; food bottles; hair products & beauty aids; and ink bottles. The range of products and their containers — from bear-grease pomades to French perfumes, from hot pepper sauces to beer and wine, from century-old peaches or pineapples to quack medicines of all sorts — convey a delightful and often quirky glimpse of a long-gone era, discovered in the beautiful translucent shapes of bottles from the deep.

Ellen C. Gerth, author of Bottles From the Deep, is Curator of Collections for Odyssey Marine Exploration, the shipwreck recovery and marine archaeology company that discovered the wreck of the SS Republic in 2003. She lives in Tampa, Florida. Ms. Gerth is a graduate of Bowdoin College and George Washington University with a degree in Cultural Anthropology and Museum Studies. Her previous experience includes research and writing for the Smithsonian Institution, the National Geographic Society, and Time-Life Books.

For more on Shipwreck Heritage Press and the SS Republic story, as told in the 2005 hardcover book Lost Gold of the Republic: The Remarkable Quest for the Greatest Shipwreck Treasure of the Civil War Era by Priit J. Vesilind (“An excellent history of a notable piece of deep-water archaeology.” – ALA Booklist), visit http://www.lostgold.net/.

no laboring over labor day weekend

2006-08-31T22:51:00.001-04:00

I'm jaunting to Paris over the holiday weekend....well, not really. I'm going to Miami...ok, that's not true either. I'm going to my mother-in-law's house for dinner and the rest of the weekend I'm gonna sit around in my pajamas and read and watch movies. Either way -- Paris or jammies -- I'm taking a break from responsibility, including blogging. Back on Tuesday. See you then.

september's book club pick is....

2006-08-31T22:46:00.002-04:00

...The Last Templar by Raymond Khoury.

Throughout the month, I'll post tidbits about the book and/or the author, and then on the last day of the month I'll let you know what I thought and hopefully you'll do the same. To join the Tampa Book Buzz Online Book Club -- to vote on the monthly book choice and to access the discussion board -- is easy: email me at tampafilmfan (at) aol.com. Happy reading!

online book club review:the five people you meet in heaven by mitch albom

2006-08-31T22:32:00.001-04:00

The Five People You Meet in Heaven is only 196 pages -- brief pages -- long and can be easily finished in one sitting. The message of Mitch Albom's book stays with you a bit longer.

This book is about the life, death and afterlife of Eddie, an 83-year-old widowed war veteran, who has seen his life slide downhill from youthful dreams into a routine monotony of working as a maintenance man at an amusement park. On his 83rd birthday, he dies in an effort to save a young girl from a malfunctioning ride. He awakes in a version of Heaven he never expected; in this afterlife, Eddie meets five people whose lives have intertwined with his in profound and not always obvious ways.

To give details about the five people would give too much away, so I'll only say that I enjoyed Five People That You Meet in Heaven on two levels. Eddie's life story -- full of coincidences, joy, sorrow, sadness and love -- was entertaining in and of itself. The deeper story -- about the meaning of life and the meaning of others in our life -- was expected, but yet welcomed.

What did you think?

book news:mcree, jacobs, kelly, leto, llewellyn, london, rock, st. claire, boucher

2006-08-30T08:17:00.002-04:00

The Pinellas Public Library Cooperative has revamped its website. They now offer downloadable versions of their monthly newsletters, among other things.
Local author David McRee (Florida Beaches) was recently mentioned in the Sarasota Herald-Tribune. Congratulations!
There are several Tampa Area Romance Authors members who have books out this month: Ann Jacobs (Wrong Place, Wrong Time?); Leslie Kelly (Here Comes Trouble); Julie Elizabeth Leto (The Domino Effect); Kimberly Llewellyn (Tulle Little, Tulle Late); Jeanie London (If You Could Read My Mind); Joanne Rock (The Knight's Courtship); and Roxanne St. Claire (Thrill me To Death). (Thanks go to local author Joy Smith for sending me this list)
Local author Wendy Boucher earned mega-blogosphere points recently by having one of her posts mentioned on The Daily Kos. Way to go, Wendy!

florida author april star

2006-08-29T17:49:00.001-04:00

Sebring, Florida author April Star wrote to say hello and to tell me about her new wanderlust mystery series. Her debut novel Tropical Warnings is due for release in November as a hardback first edition mystery from Five Star Publishing and Thorndike Press.

In Star's mystery series, her RVers/amateur sleuths seem to find murder, mystery and mayhem at ever camping resort they pull into (remind me not to go RVing with Star!). Visit www.authoraprilstar.com to learn more about this Florida author and her books.

st. pete times festival of reading is october 28

2006-08-25T08:14:00.002-04:00

Mark your calendars. Pack the sunscreen. Get out your sharpie markers and your bookbag. The St. Pete Times Festival of Reading is scheduled for October 28. Here's the homepage. Here's the most current list of featured authors. Here's their bios. Here's the most current list of booksellers and exhibitors. Here's info on tranquilizers in case you need pharmaceutical help waiting for October 28 to get here.

worldcat.org library search website

2006-08-24T07:54:00.001-04:00

The St. Petersburg College Library Blog has a great post about the WorldCat.org website, which sounds like an easy way to search library databases. Read the post here. I haven't had a chance to do more than bookmark the website, but I'll give it a try this weekend.

wordsmith from the tampa writers alliance

2006-08-22T18:14:00.001-04:00

There was a large envelope in the mail this week. It wasn't ticking...my address wasn't written in block letters with no return address in the top lefthand corner..there was no visible white powder on it. Inhale deeply, squint eyes and rip it open....

My copy of Wordsmith 2005 had arrived!

Wordsmith 2005 contains winning entries in the categories of fiction, non-fiction, novel, poetry, scripts and the Dr. Ed Hirshburg Award for Excellence in Florida Writing, along with the best of the remaining submissions from the Tampa Writers Alliance 2004 Annual Writing Contest. This is Wordsmith's 16th Edition. (from the back cover)

So far, I've only had a chance to thumb through it, but it's going right to the top of my bedside table stack o' books.

books i want to read

2006-08-19T10:51:00.001-04:00

My reading list keeps getting longer. I've come across a lot of books recently that sound very interesting:

Special Topics in Calamity Physics by Marisha Pessl -- People called this "a blockbuster debut" full of "literary and pop cultural references and illustrations by Pessel herself" that "demands attention."
The Ruins by Scott Smith -- Entertainment Weekly called it an "old-fashioned horror story" and Salon.com warns "don't start this book if you are weak of stomach or nerves." The Week highlighted The Ruins as Novel of the Week and Time included it on their list 6 Guilt-Free Pleasures to Read at the Beach.

I talked my local librarian into giving me an extra copy of a new-book catalog he had lying around (although he made me promise not to clog their online system by adding all of them to my library holds list). There are too many fascinating, intriguing titles to mention them all here, but here's a few that piqued my interest:

Social Intelligence:The New Science of Human Relationships by Daniel Goleman (out September 26th)
The Birth House by Ami McKay (August)
Renfield:Slave of Dracula by Barbara Hambly (September)
Considering Doris Day by Tom Santopietro (September)
Brainiac:Adventures in the Curious, Competitive, Compulsive World of Trivia Buffs by Ken Jennings (September)
Women of Valor:The Rochambelles on the WWII Front by Ellen Hampton (September)
Reading Like A Writer:A Guide for People Who Love Books and for Those Who Want to Write Them by Francine Prose (September)
Dead Center:Behind the Scenes at the World's Largest Medical Examiner's Office by Shiya Ribowsky and Tom Shachtman (September) .

So many books, so little time!

local author k.l. "kathy" nappier

2006-08-18T16:37:00.005-04:00

I met local author K.L. "Kathy" Nappier a couple of weeks ago at a Tampa Writers Alliance meeting and have been reading about her online ever since. According to her bio on the Double Dragon Publishing website, Nappier's been writing for 20 years and her supernatural thriller Full Wolf Moon placed in the Draco Awards’ Final Three in the Horror Division, placed in the Kay Snow Awards and was a finalist in the New Century Awards, along with another of her novels.

Her other works include Voyagers and a short story in Twisted Tails: An Anthology to Surprise and Delight. In October, Nappier will be a presenter and panelist in the Muse Online Writers Convention (participation is free, but requires registration).

Purchase Nappier's e-book here, listen to her podcast interview, watch the webcast of her Dragon Page Radio interview here (NOTE: On this site, once you click on "Listen", select show#224 from the menu and slide the audio bar to approximately the 7 minute mark to access the interview segment of the show.), or bookmark her Amazon.com blog.

Whichever you choose, definitely keep your eyes on this local author.

books this week:ann rule, dean koontz and meg cabot

2006-08-18T14:31:00.001-04:00

I have been a reading fool this week (as opposed to just a regular fool). Last weekend, my Second Job accidentally - blissfully - left me off the schedule, so on Saturday I read Heart Full Of Lies:A True Story of Desire and Death by true-crime goddess Ann Rule. I would read the tax code if Rule wrote it; her writing is compelling and draws you into the story from page one.

On Sunday I started Velocity by Dean Koontz. In the mid-90s I discovered Kootnz and read everything he'd written up to that point. Then, when there was nothing more of his to read, I sort of forgot about him for a few years. He puts out at least one book a year, so it looks like I need to go on another Koontz reading spree to catch up.

Yesterday I finished Size 12 Is Not Fat by Meg Cabot, which was a book club pick at the South Tampa Barnes and Noble women's fiction book group a month or two ago. The library waiting list was a little long, so needless to say I didn't make it to that particular book club meeting. Meg Cabot is the author of The Princess Diaries and many other books, but I'd never read her stuff before now. Size 12 Is Not Fat is the first book in her Heather Wells mystery series and centers around a nosy, crime-solving, ex-pop star, slightly overweight, single but looking, late twentysomething woman who works in a New York college residence hall. It was fluff, but additive, fun fluff.

florida bibliophile society fall meeting schedule

2006-08-18T13:17:00.001-04:00

The Florida Bibliophile Society is returning from its summer hiatus with a full schedule:

September 17 (Largo): guest speaker will be James Tarpley, award-winning Sarasota bookseller

October 15 (Tampa): touring Special Collections at the University of South Florida

November 19 (Largo): guest speaker will be Frank Russell, woodcarver and author of many books on woodcarving and other topics

Visit www.floridabibliophilesociety.org to learn more or to get a membership application.

dan poynter in plant city august 19

2006-08-12T20:40:00.001-04:00

Author, publisher and frequent lecturer Dan Poynter is the guest speaker at this month's National Speakers Association Central Florida meeting in Plant City August 19. Known as "The Book Guy," Poynter will give a speech titled "Turning Your Speeches Into Books."

Click here for meeting registration information.

(Thanks go to local author Eric Sturm for letting me know about this.)

bookreporter.com's beach bag of books this week

2006-08-12T19:48:00.001-04:00

This week's Beach Bag of Books promotion on www.bookreporter.com features Lipstick Jungle by Candace Bushnell.

Click here to read their review of Lipstick Jungle and to enter the sweepstakes.

argentinean-american author mariel dabbah in tampa August 24

2006-08-11T07:58:00.002-04:00

The South Tampa Barnes and Noble is hosting Argentinean-American author Mariela Dabbah on Thursday, August 24, at 6:30 p.m. Dabbah will discuss and sign two of her Spanish-language books.

From the press release received via email:

Como conseguir trabajo en los Estados Unidos: How to Get a Job in the United States will help every immigrant master the necessary steps in the process of looking for a job in the United States. It offers specific information, taking into consideration that many of the readers may not have proper documents to apply for all job openings. It identifies alternatives that will suit their individual situations. It also deals with cultural issues.

Ayude a su Hijo a Tener Exito en la Escuela Guia Especial para Padres Latinos: How to Help Your Child be Successful in School (A Special Guide for Latino Parents) helps Latino parents understand the U.S. school system, and how to get the most for their children from the system. It begins with an overview of the U.S. system, and continues with the differences and similarities to the familiar Latin American countriesÂ’ educational systems. It encourages the parents to set aside their fears and directs them to work with the appropriate person within the school facility.

Mariela Dabbah received her MFA from the University of Buenos Aires. An immigrant from Argentina in 1988, she originally came to this country as a tourist. She eventually received her green card and has started several companies. She lives and teaches in New York. She has written fiction as well as non-fiction, with the non-fiction having an emphasis on topics related to the assimilation process of immigrants and factors that contribute to their success in America.

The South Tampa Barnes & Noble is located at 213 N. Dale Mabry Hwy in Tampa. For more information, call 813-871-2228 or click here.

(cross-posted at Sticks of Fire)

sword of truth miniseries?

2006-08-11T07:09:00.001-04:00

I saw on ReadersRead.com that director Sam Raimi has optioned the film rights for Terry Goodkind's Sword of Truth series. OMG!! I had no idea who Terry Goodkind was in 1998 when I worked weekends at Waldenbooks, but I bought a copy of Wizard's First Rule for him to sign when he came in for a book signing one afternoon. When I finally got around to reading it, I was enthralled. I absolutely loved -- adored -- LOVED -- the first four or five in his Sword of Truth series. (Didn't like the one before last so much and haven't read the newest one yet.)

I hope the movie does the book series justice and I don't have to post "why did they do that?" a year from now.

my speech on whether or not authors should blog

2006-08-05T09:19:00.001-04:00

I've found a way to squelch my nerves before speaking in public: Tylenol! On Wednesday I stayed home sick from work because I had a headache, so I was mega-dosing Tylenol all day long. When it came time to give my presentation to the Tampa Writers Alliance Wednesday night, I did a good job, if I do say so myself. I explained what blogging is, listed some of the different types of blogs, gave examples of authors who blog and what they blog about, listed the pros and cons of blogging, and discussed some online marketing tips.

Blogging is my second-favorite subject to talk about (myself being No. 1, of course). I also turned in my TWA membership application, so now I'm an Official Writer and everything. In addition to seeing the usual suspects Skip Allen (who showed me the artwork for the cover of his new book), S.L. Juers (who gave me some insight into how he came up with the main character in his book Eternally Yours) and TWA president Sandra Kischuk (who is an absolute dear), I had a chance to meet:

Kathy Astl, TWA secretary, paralegal and legal textbook author (which means she's way smarter than the rest of us);

K.L. (Kathy) Nappier, author of Full Wolf Moon, who sat in the back of the room directly in my line of sight and helped me out a lot by nodding occasionally, which was very encouraging;

Chris Jackson, author of Deathmask and a fellow blogger, whose website I've only had time to glance at so far, but plan on going back to because he's written some very interesting sci-fi and fantasy stuff (plus he was a super nice guy);

and Michael Darling, author of Hoplite Renegades, who gave me a copy of his book before getting lost in the library with me as we tried to find our way back to the parking garage. With his interest in military history and science fiction, he reminded me a lot of The Husband, but with a long ponytail. When I told The Husband that I proudly told Michael that I recognized the word "hoplite" he told me that I was wrong: "hoplite" refers to the shield the ancient Greeks used and not to their clothing, like I thought. Michael was polite, though, and didn't correct me. He was ... a darling (sorry, couldn't resist).

I met several other TWA members also, but without their business cards to refer to, I'm afraid that their names escape me at the moment. All in all, it was a good night.

To blog or not to blog: that is the question!

this month's book giveaway on tcm

2006-08-05T07:35:00.001-04:00

This month, TCM (Turner Classic Movies) is giving away copies of the new biography of Elizabeth Taylor by J. Randy Taraborrelli titled Elizabeth. Click here to read about this new book and to enter the sweepstakes.

local author vicki taylor

2006-08-04T17:41:00.001-04:00

Local author Vicki M. Taylor has written her third novel. Here's part of her press release:

Trust in the Wind, a novel written by Vicki M. Taylor, has just been released by Mundania Press. This is Taylor’s third novel, all of which are based in Florida. She spent the last ten years living in Florida and enjoys the casual life. Her novels reflect the community of Tampa and its surroundings.

When pregnant teen Joanne chooses single motherhood, she loses everything, including her family. Four years later, she’s fiercely independent, trusts no one and is barely keeping her head above water. Roy is a Hillsborough County Sheriff, and a widower who lost his wife and child during a burglary gone terribly wrong. Six years later, he still refuses to love for fear of losing it again. Together, these two just might get a second chance to learn about trust and love. When you can’t count on people, Trust in the Wind.

Taylor lives in Tampa with her husband, dog, and parrot. She is a member of the Romance Writers of America, National Association of Women Writers and more.

Visit www.vickimtaylor.com for more information.

(Thanks go to Tommy at Sticks of Fire for forwarding this to me.)

book buzz:eternally yours by s.l. juers

2006-08-04T07:36:00.001-04:00

It's been a long time since I've enjoyed reading a book as much as I did Eternally Yours by S.L. Juers. If the term "vampire fiction" turns you off, I implore you to read further, because Eternally Yours is so much more than that.

This book is a suicide note, written because "I need someone to understand. My death holds as much purpose as my life. I want it understood, I was rational and justified in the end." The author of this suicide note is Rudolph Sonthofen, who was a normal child growing up in late 18th century North Carolina until a vicious animal attack changed his life forever.

Rudolph doesn't change into the sadistic and thirsty vampire often found in these stories; he merely develops a sensitivity to the sun, ages far slower than normal and has the overwhelming need to consume blood whenever the moon is full. For a few decades, Rudolph lives an almost-normal life, carefully tracking the lunar cycles to make sure he has animal blood available and periodically moving to different parts of the country to avoid questions about never looking any older. Then he learns what his future holds for him: watching friends and loved ones grow old and die, continually having to assume new identities and relocate to begin a new life, and never finding a cure for his curse.

Juers has created an amazing story that is impossible to put down. Eternally Yours is a fascinating first-hand look at our nation's history by a fictional character in the position to live through it all. Rudolph was a hunter and trapper, an outpost store owner, a California gold miner, a participant in the Underground Railroad, a member of two Native American tribes, a New York factory owner, a photographer and much more throughout his 228 years.

It's also a heartbreaking, touching story of friendship, love, loss and loneliness. And, finally, it's a fresh look at the familiar genre of vampire fiction. Rudolph embraced modern medicine so that his vampirism could be studied and hopefully cured. He embraced the new visual art of cinema and used movies to forget about his life, all the while hating the portrayal of vampires on the movie screen. "I was in tears while I watched the dramatic and, somewhat romantic portrayal, recalling parts of my life and reliving the anguish of my need...I knew the word 'vampire' would be known to all who dared to purchase a ticket to the affordable experience."

To S.L. Juers, let me say that this fan is "eternally yours."

local romance authors' book signing august 5th

2006-08-04T07:15:00.001-04:00

There's a multi-author book signing at the Carrollwood Barnes & Noble from 2 - 4 p.m. on August 5th. Here's the list of Tampa Area Romance Authors members who will be there (according to author Kimberly Llewellyn):

Kimberly Llewellyn
Karen Rose
Susan Kearney
Roxanne St. Claire
Beverly Brandt
and a few more...

(Thanks go to Kimberly Llewellyn for sending me this info.)

august's online book club pick Is...

2006-08-01T17:43:00.001-04:00

...The Five People You Meet in Heaven by Mitch Albom. Throughout the month, I'll post tidbits about the author and the book. On the last day of the month, I'll post my review and hopefully you'll post a comment or two letting me know what you thought of the book.

Tampa Book Buzz Online Book Club members determine the monthly book selections and have access on online discussion boards through Target's Bookmarked website. If you're interested in joining, email me at tampafilmfan (at) aol.com.

Happy reading!

online book club review:the lovely bones by alice sebold

2006-08-01T17:19:00.001-04:00

Alice Sebold has created a unique narrator in The Lovely Bones: a 14-year-old dead girl looking down from her “Heaven” telling the story of her murder and its impact on her family. Before I read this book, I thought this idea sounded a little creepy and was wary of reading it. I was wrong; oh, so wrong. The Lovely Bones is sadly beautiful. It’s a poignant look at one family coping with unspeakable tragedy that changes their lives forever.

Susie Salmon watches her friends and family disintegrate after her death: her father becomes obsessed with finding her killer; her mother detaches and uses every coping mechanism she can think of to get by; her baby brother becomes attached to his father and grows up to secretly resent his dead sister; her sister starts lifting weights and shows no emotion to anyone; her classmate becomes obsessed with Susie and believes she can communicate with her. Meanwhile, Susie spends her years in "Heaven" visiting dead relatives, playing endlessly, making new friends while missing her old ones, watching Earth, and living vicariously through her friends and family.

The ending seemed a little rushed, as if Sebold got tired and wanted to tie up all the loose ends in a hurry. Ending aside, The Lovely Bones is refreshingly original and very moving.

What did you think?

news--alicia r. warren, ersula knox odom, tampa bay association of black journalists, kimberly llewellyn

2006-08-01T07:09:00.001-04:00

*Local author Alicia R. Warren has a written a sequel to her book The Chances We Take. It's called One More Chance and is available now. Warren was recently interviewed by www.tampabayin.com. Click here for the interview.

*Speaking of www.tampabayin.com, local author Ersula Knox Odom was also recently interviewed on that site.

*The Tampa Bay Association of Black Journalists has announced that Rene Syler, co-host of CBS’ morning news program The Early Show, will serve as keynote speaker for its Second Annual Griot Drum Awards and Scholarship Banquet November 16th in the Poynter Institute for Media Studies.

*Kimberly Llewellyn's newest book Tulle Little, Tulle Late is out.

inkwood books' 3rd annual get caught reading contest

2006-07-31T07:08:00.001-04:00

From Inkwood Books' website:

Inkwood's 3rd Annual Get Caught Reading Contest!

2006 GET CAUGHT READING PHOTO CONTEST- We are now accepting photos for our 3rd annual Get Caught Reading contest. Send, bring, or email us your favorite original photo of a reader in action for a 20% off coupon and a chance to win big prizes! The Grand Prize includes a $100 Inkwood gift certificate and a poster on our wall. Winner will be chosen August 15th 2006.

i'm speaking wednesday night to the tampa writers alliance

2006-07-30T10:11:00.001-04:00

Yep, you read that correctly. I'm speaking at the Tampa Writers Alliance meeting Wednesday, August 2, at 7 p.m. at the John F. Germany Public Library in downtown Tampa. Here's the write-up from the TWA website:

TWA's August 2 General Meeting...

In our ongoing commitment to present relevant informative programs beneficial to all interested writers during our first-Wednesday-of-the-month general meetings, we are pleased to have Lisa Ciurro, originator of the Tampa Book Buzz blog addressing us on Wednesday, August 2, 7:00 p.m., in the Downtown Tampa John Germany Public Library auditorium, 900 Ashley Street.

More and more authors are using this fairly new tool to promote their writing careers. Learn the pros/cons of this new marketing technique. What really is blogging? Why should writers consider blogging? How can you as a writer use your blog to market yourself (and your work) These are some of the topics that will be addressed by this well known and highly visible Tampa literary icon. Whether you write poetry, novels, short stories, plays or non-fiction, this program Lisa has a lot to offer - don't miss this one. Admission is free.

OMG! I'm a "well known and highly visible Tampa literary icon!!" I think I want that engraved on my tombstone. (Which might be sooner rather than later, if I die from fright in the middle of my presentation!)

Hope to see you Wednesday night.

great opening lines:the lovely bones

2006-07-30T10:05:00.001-04:00

My name was Salmon, like the fish; first name, Susie. I was fourteen when I was murdered on December 6, 1973.

--The Lovely Bones by Alice Sebold

And How Was Your Week?

2006-07-30T09:59:00.000-04:00

What have I been up to, you ask, since I obviously haven't been blogging lately? Well, among other things, I:

*Read this month's TBB Online Book Club pick The Lovely Bones almost non-stop because it's that compelling.

*Bought a new computer and began planning my defection from Blogger.

*Kept busy with things related to my film blog.

*Worked on my notes for my presentation Wednesday night at the Tampa Writers Alliance.

*Started worrying and getting nervous about my presentation.

And how was your week?

"Lessons from Joan, Living and Loving with Cancer, A Husband's Story"

2006-07-22T09:47:00.000-04:00

University of Syracuse professor and author Eric Kingson read about the TBB Online Book Club recently reading Joan Didion's The Year of Magical Thinking and wrote to let me know about his book Lessons from Joan, Living and Loving with Cancer, A Husband's Story (Syracuse University Press, November 2005). He told me that:

Lessons from Joan speaks primarily to life and hope and to insight--spiritual, emotional and otherwise--following a cancer diagnosis that ultimately leads to death. It tells of how my late wife's strength, warmth, humor, and love - - and that of many people we met along the way - - helped extend life and make it worth living. It also provides lessons for dealing with logistical and emotional hurdles following diagnosis with a life-threatening disease. And it contains some humor...

If you have the time to look at Lessons From Joan, I think you will find that it is a compelling and useful story – one that addresses many of themes addressed in Joan Didion's book in an equally open but gentler manner.

Kingson will be in Tampa in early September to speak at a conference and will have a book signing at the Barnes & Noble in Clearwater. For additional information, visit www.syracuseuniversitypress.syr.edu/fall-2005-catalog/lessons-joan.html.

Book News--Mike Lawson, Upper Story Books, Jerry Cowling

2006-07-21T07:07:00.000-04:00

*Seattle author Mike Lawson wrote to let me know that his latest thriller The Second Perimeter -- a story of espionage and revenge -- is now available. His
first book, The Inside Ring, has been nominated for this year's Barry Award at Bouchercon in the best thriller category and was listed as one of top ten thrillers of 2005 by the Seattle Times and other publications. Visit www.mikelawsonbooks.com to learn more.

*The Imperial Book Lodge has a new home! Now called Upper Story Books, it will share space with Tampa Antiquarian Books in Seminole Heights. (Thanks go to David at the Seminole Heights blog for this wonderful news!)

Local author Jerry Cowling has some upcoming speaking engagements. He will talk about Abraham Lincoln to the Maitland Historical Society on August 20th and to the Tampa Newcomers Club on August 29th. He will begin another round of Civil War shows and book and gift fairs in the fall, beginning with the Dade City Pioneer Days the first week of September.

TBABJ Poetry Slam July 27th

2006-07-18T08:25:00.000-04:00

The Tampa Bay Association of Black Journalists is presenting their second poetry slam Off the Record II:A Spoken Word on July 27th, from 7 to 11 p.m. at Studio@ 620, 620 1st. Ave. South, in downtown St. Pete.

Here's the detailed information I received via email:

The Tampa Bay Association of Black Journalists is organizing a poetry slam on July 27 to bring together some of the area's best poets and artists with some of the area's best-known journalists of color. This is our second time presenting such an event, and we're extending invitations to artists throughout the Tampa Bay area. It's scheduled for July 27 at Studio@ 620, with a $50 cash prize and gift certificates for second and third place.

Off the Record II: A Spoken Word event…your take on people of color, news, life and more

Studio@620
620 1st. Ave. South
downtown St. Petersburg

July 27, 7 to 11 p.m.

Door Charge: $3 donation

Theme: "Off the Record, Again" ...your take on people of color, the news, life and more.

Format: 5-minute maximum for performers. $50 cash first prize, $15 gift certificates for second and third place. All poets welcome. Sponsored by the Tampa Bay Association of Black Journalists, a group of media professionals dedicated to improving and celebrating coverage of people of color.

For more info, email digdog@aol.com or visit www.freewebs.com/tampabaynabj/ or www.thestudioat620.com.

Read "The Lovely Bones" Before You Die

2006-07-17T18:17:00.000-04:00

Thanks to Miss Snark, I found this list of 100 books you should read before you die. This month's TBB Online Book Club pick -- The Lovely Bones by Alice Sebold -- is on the list. Now I'm even more excited about reading it (um, no, I haven't started it yet).

Blogs For Readers

2006-07-17T17:31:00.000-04:00

Fellow book lover and blogger Alice Anderson (who lives in Georgia, where I'm from, so you know she's great) has a wonderful new website called www.blogsforreaders.com. She's building a directory of online resources for readers and authors alike.

I'm honored to announce that she kicked off her "Blog Tour" with Tampa Book Buzz! How cool is that? Makes me look all official and like I know what I'm doing.

Definitely bookmark www.blogsforreaders.com. But don't forget about me (I'm very sensitive, you know.)

Florida Author J.B. Preston

2006-07-16T13:55:00.000-04:00

Author J.B. Preston lives in central Florida, but hey, that's local enough for me to include here. He wrote me to let me know that his adventure-romance novel Autumn Under the Papagalos is now available through Authorhouse. Visit www.jbpreston.com to learn more about his book or to read an excerpt.

Books in the Mail! Kelley St. John and Diana Holquist

2006-07-07T13:04:00.000-04:00

I love it when my mailbox contains something besides bills and junk mail. Yesterday I received advance review copies of two books that will be published in September:

(1) Real Women Don't Wear Size 2 by Kelley St. John:

Since college, Clarise Robinson has learned not to let her curves stand in the way of her life. A successful career as head of the women's department at Eubanks Elegant Apparel and her reputation for style and sass has made her "confidently curvy"...almost.

Deep down, Clarise knows she's still holding back and playing it safe. So after her 30th birthday and a trip to the Gasparilla Pirate Festival in Tampa, Clarise decides it's time to make some changes, take some risks, throw caution to the wind -- and maybe even find the love of her life.

I loved St. John's first book Good Girls Don't and am looking forward to reading this new one. According to the letter I received, St. John lives in Alabama, so I guess I can't call her a local author anymore (sniff, sniff).

(2) Make Me A Match by Diana Holquist:

...a charming romantic comedy with a gypsy twist set in Baltimore.

An intriguing premise if ever I've heard one.

Spend my weekend blogging or reading? Blogging or reading? Hmmmm...

(descriptions in bold above taken from letters from Warner Forever)

Random Book News

2006-07-07T12:36:00.000-04:00

*The Clearwater Main Public Library is looking for book donations.

*Protest or censorship at this San Antonio library? Read this and see for yourself.

*The winners of the Bram Stoker Awards have been announced.

Passing The Time With A Good Book

2006-07-05T12:29:00.000-04:00

On Monday (a vacation day!) I had to spend 3 1/2 hours waiting around for some much-needed car repairs to be finished. I brought Thomas Friedman's The World Is Flat along with me to keep me company. Friedman's book is a fascinating look at how the world is being "flattened" by technology and globalization. A phone call to schedule an X-ray in Tampa could be answered by a call center in India, while your X-ray might be sent to Germany to be reviewed, with you being none the wiser. You can research your health problems on the internet before ever consulting the doctor (for that matter, you can research your doctor too).

While interesting, The World Is Flat is a tough read for me, because every so often I have to put it down to think about and absorb what I've just read. Plus, I have to force myself to stop thinking about the negative side to all this new technology: identity theft, losing jobs to other countries.....and so on. I wasn't up to reading that book for three hours straight. What to do, what to do?

Thank goodness for Saturn of Brandon's bookshelf! They had a small bookshelf full of books in the waiting area marked "bring one, take one; take one, bring one." I picked up The Nanny Diaries by Emma McLaughlin and Nicola Kraus and could barely put it down to drive myself home when my car was ready. It's the perfect summer/beach/vacation/waiting-in-line read: funny, quick, light, entertaining. When I got home I refused to budge from the sofa until I had finished it. What a delightful book!

Now I just need to return it to Saturn (or drop off another book) so as to not anger the cosmic "take one, bring one" gods.

Tim Dorsey at Tampa Writers Alliance Meeting Tonight

2006-07-05T12:24:00.000-04:00

From the Tampa Writers Alliance website:

Tampa Writers Alliance July 5th general meeting....

July's speaker is a real treat. If you attend any program this year, make it this one!

Prolific, well-known, published author, Tim Dorsey, will speak on “Living Your Dream: Writing Novels about your Interests and Getting Them Published” at the July 5 General Meeting, 7 p.m. at the John Germany Library, 900 Ashley Street, downtown Tampa. Tim, author of several novels including Florida Roadkill, Hammerhead Ranch, Orange Crush, Triggerfish Twist, Stingray Shuffle, Cadillac Beach, and Torpedo Juice as always been one of our most popular speakers. Don't miss this one. Free admission.

Happy 4th of July

2006-06-30T17:53:00.000-04:00

I'm one of the lucky ones who has a four-day weekend ahead of me. Four whole days....

I'm taking a break from my life, including blogging. See you next week!

July's Online Book Club Pick Is....

2006-06-30T17:49:00.000-04:00

...The Lovely Bones by Alice Sebold

Throughout the month, I'll post tidbits about the book and author. On the last day of the month, I'll post my review and hopefully you'll post comments letting me know what you thought of it.

Happy reading!

Learn more about the Tampa Book Buzz Online Book Club.

Online Book Club Review:Maps for Lost Lovers

2006-06-30T17:19:00.000-04:00

Maps for Lost Lovers examines the Muslim faith, Pakistani culture and the human struggle for love and acceptance through the microcosm of a small immigrant neighborhood in England. Jugnu, a Muslim Pakistani immigrant, and his lover Chandra have disappeared and are believed to have been murdered by Chandra's brothers as punishment for their adultery and rejection of their religious values.

As the story of the couple's lives and deaths unfolds, author Nadeem Aslam tells the story of Jugnu's brother Shamus, his wife Kaukab and their family. Each family member is secretly unhappy for a different reason. Shamas both resents and respects his wife's adherence to strict religious beliefs, but longs to be free to question his upbringing and the world without fear of retaliation.

Kaukab hates living in England, where her children are endlessly exposed to Western culture and encouraged to forsake their upbringing and reject her. Her religion and culture make her feel superior to the "whites" she encounters, while at the same time making her feel embarrassed by her limited English, her clothes that reek of pungent spices, and her lack of knowledge about Western society's rules. Shamas and Kaukab's children have each rejected their upbringing in ways ranging from the quietly subversive to the openly hostile.

Author Aslam, himself born in Pakistan and living in London, imbues Maps with the lush details and nuances of Pakistani cooking and fashion, describing spices and fruits and gold threads and rich tapestries in exquisite detail. The sensuality present in meals and clothing stands in stark contrast to the repressive and regimented rules that govern everything else in the characters' lives. Through his various characters, Aslam questions the Muslim and Pakistani traditions of arranged marriages, honor killings, the status of women, the rules of divorce, multiple marriages and limited contact with Westerners.

He doesn't provide any answers to these questions; almost nothing in the novel gets resolved. Most of the characters end up just as unhappy as they were at the beginning of the book, if not more so. I found this a little unsettling, but perhaps Aslam wants us to be exposed to the questions so that we might find the answers on our own. I found the pace excruciatingly slow and at times wished for less detail about the many colors, textures and flavors mentioned frequently. I also found myself getting a few of the characters confused because so many names started with "S" or "K."

Maps for Lost Lovers presents challenging -- and to some, inflammatory -- questions about faith, religion, love, culture, prejudice and acceptance. Those questions, however, are buried beneath the overly detailed lives of unsympathetic and unlikeable characters.

What did you think?

Learn more about the Tampa Book Buzz Online Club.

Photos From June 24 Book Signing--Part 5

2006-06-29T08:36:00.000-04:00

Here's another photo from last Saturday's local author book signing at the South Tampa Barnes & Noble (my computer is acting up today, so I'm posting each photo separately).

local authors Skip Allen (Out of the Ashes) and Barbara J. Sorey (Know Where You Going? You Gotta Know Where You Been!)

Photos From June 24 Book Signing--Part 4

2006-06-29T08:32:00.000-04:00

Here's another photo from last Saturday's local author book signing at the South Tampa Barnes & Noble (my computer is acting up today, so I'm posting each photo separately).

local authors John Pristell (Boy versus Girl) and Barbara J. Sorey (Know Where You Going? You Gotta Know Where You Been!)

Photos From June 24 Book Signing--Part 3

2006-06-29T08:26:00.000-04:00

Here's another photo from last Saturday's local author book signing at the South Tampa Barnes & Noble (my computer is acting up today, so I'm posting each photo separately).

Local author Steven Sims tells a customer about his book Spy Wednesday

Photos From June 24 Book Signing--Part 2

2006-06-29T08:06:00.000-04:00

Photos From June 24 Book Signing--Part 1

2006-06-29T07:51:00.000-04:00

Here's the first photo from last Saturday's local author book signing at the South Tampa Barnes & Noble (my computer is acting up today, so I'm posting each photo separately):

local authors John Pristell (Boy versus Girl) and Skip Allen (Out of the Ashes)

Great Opening Lines:"Eternally Yours" by S.L. Juers

2006-06-29T07:36:00.000-04:00

To whomever might read this:

Suicide! It is not a decision that comes easily. The mere consideration of such a drastic undertaking, by any God-fearing person believing he will incur eternal damnation in Hell, must be the result of extreme circumstances. So, though you don't know me, and have only chanced to come upon this letter, I want you to understand.

---- Eternally Yours by S.L. Juers

Local Authors Book Signing Last Saturday

2006-06-27T17:21:00.000-04:00

On my way to work last Saturday, I stopped by the local authors book signing at the South Tampa Barnes & Noble store. When you walked in the door, the first things you saw were the six tables set up in the front of the store and the smiling faces of some of our local authors, eager to say hello, give you a bookmark and tell you about their books.

Skip Allen was there, selling his thriller Out of Ashes and being his usual charming self. He kept telling me snippets about the sequel, for which I accidentally repaid him by knocking over a bottle of water on his table. (Luckily, no books were harmed in the making of this story.)

Barbara J. Sorey was there with a big smile on her face, as always, letting people know about her book Know Where You Going? You Gotta Know Where You Been!. Sharing her table was veteran journalist Steven Sims, promoting his thriller Spy Wednesday. I introduced myself to him and we had time to chat for a little while; he's a really nice guy.

The gracious No Coincidence author Ann Baker was at one of the front tables. We commiserated with each other about having to go to work later in the day (although she was going to put in a 12-hour shift as a law enforcement officer and I was only going to my piddly Second Job for a few hours).

At the table behind her were authors Daisy Parrado (Grandma Reads My Thoughts) and ... Bill Pearce (I hope I got his name correct!), both of whom remembered me from the recent panel discussion I participated in at the bookstore, which made me feel like a mini-celebrity. (Plus, Parrado had candy!)

I met the very polite John A. Pristell, who gave me a copy of Boy versus Girl, a collection of his poems. One of Pristell's friends happened to be videotaping while he and I were talking and exchanging business cards, so the Pristell family videotape collection unfortunately now has a good ten minutes of very unflattering side shots of Yours Truly.

There was another author there whose name I didn't get, which is ok, because he was a little grumpy.

I'm having trouble getting my photos from Saturday to load, so I'll post them separately.

Norman Chastain Is A Local Author At Heart

2006-06-27T07:33:00.000-04:00

cue the song It's A Small World...

Author Norman Chastain -- who was born in Jesup, Georgia (about 20-30 minutes away from my hometown), raised in Tampa, and now lives in Atlanta -- has a new mystery-thriller called After the Game that opens with a murder scene that takes place in Tampa, just off Bayshore Boulevard.

Got all that?

After the Game looks interesting and Chastain recently received a good review from Lighthouse Literary Reviews. I've asked him to let me know if he ever comes down for a book signing.

...it's a small world after all...