I’m in a mystery / thriller mood, so I polished off most of the In Death series by J.D. Robb. Not recommended to all since they sorta run together — short time period and all — but not a bad way to spend a day. Next up is THE OXFORD MURDERS and ANONYMOUS LAWYER. Both are highly recommended and I’m hoping for a little aracane feeling in the Oxford one. The Anonymous is just sarcastic I hear *grin* Visit FreshFiction.com to learn more about books and authors.

Yes, I went to the mall yesterday — after all it was 40% off day and I do have holiday shopping to do! And being a reader, the best gift to give is books! Because what I want to get is books so I always figured you give what you’d like to get! But I digress… Visited the Waldenbooks, still Waldenbooks not yet converted to the Borders Express which I am anxious to visit when they finish the changeover. The only store in the area that went through the transformation is not in a “friendly” mall *grin* Unfortunately, they didn’t have any of my top four choices — can it be THAT hard to find the John Hodgeman book — but I did find a cookbook that I’d never buy at normal price so the trip was not a loss. And I did a bit of research. Visiting the romance, mystery, fiction and science fiction/fantasy section. My impressions for any of you marketing gurus out there. The romance section has evolved. It is now the catch all for every other genre. Yes, I know romance readers go across the lines, democratic in their reading and all that, but honestly, they…

Nora Roberts and Jeff Guin Originally uploaded by freshfiction. We trekked to Fort Worth for a night with Nora Roberts but her alter ego J.D. Robb came instead! Which was okay with me since it was the release of her 22nd (gotta check) In Death book — BORN IN DEATH. What fun! We even froze our shoulders and necks at the Mellow Mushroom before the event in the university area of Fort Worth — the author event was held at the Ed Landreth Auditorium on TCU campus. Interesting parking situation, you’d think the students would be gone or in bed. Anyway, Robb/Roberts was the last of the authors for the 2006 series and she was delightful. Thanks to Pat, we had FRONT ROW seats in the VIP section or as M put it, within spitting distance. Thankfully Ms. Robb did NOT spit but was gracious with Mr. Guin and the questioners. Dressed in killer black suit with sparkling jewelry on wrists, neck and fingers, Ms Roberts told the story of her start and hate of “CandyLand” game as well as her key to success — write write write. She’s complusive. She also isn’t fond of people apparently, at least ones…

Catherine Spangler Originally uploaded by freshfiction. After almost three years since her last book, Catherine Spangler returns January 2007 with TOUCHED BY DARKNESS from Berkley Sensation. During her hiatus from the writing scene, Cathy made the decision to write something different after five futuristic romances. She says it took her awhile to “reinvent” herself, create a new type of paranormal series (this one about Sentinels and set on current-day Earth) and to find a new publisher. Her idea for the Sentinels came from her life-long fascination with Atlantis. The Sentinels are reincarnated Atlantians, the same souls who were priests and high priests serving in the temple on Atlantis. The Sentinels have returned to Earth, taking on human bodies and superhuman abilities, in order to track down Belians, also reincarnated Atlantians, who worshiped dark forces and destroyed Atlantis. Sentinels have a slight edge over the Belians because they can use human conductors to enhance their psychic tracking abilities. And a human conductor who psychically matches a Sentinel is always the opposite sex (of course!). Sounds like an intriguing concept. Book two in the series, titled TOUCHED BY FIRE, is scheduled for release in October 2007. Visit FreshFiction.com to learn more about…

Faye, Jayne Ann Krentz, Mindy Originally uploaded by freshfiction. January 2007 will bring several new hardcover releases from favorite authors. January 2nd will be THE HUNTERS (Putnam) when W.E.B. Griffin brings back Delta Force Major Charley Castillo for a third adventure. Slated to go on sale January 16 is DEEP STORM (Doubleday), a stand-alone novel for Lincoln Child, (known for his bestselling collaborations with Douglas Preston), which is set 12,000 feet below the North Atlantic ocean. It’s about an archeological discovery that could prove to be one of the most terrifying in history. Also set for release on January 16 is Jayne Anne Krentz‘s newest Arcane Society novel, WHITE LIES (Putnam). The heroine is a Level Ten para-sensitive and considered a human lie detector, which gives her problems when it comes to any types of relationships, especially when she finds herself in an investigation with an unusual man. Visit FreshFiction.com to learn more about books and authors.

Roxanne St. Clair Originally uploaded by freshfiction. Fans of Roxanne St. Claire‘s will be happy to know that she’s signed a new deal with Pocket to write a trilogy connected to her popular bodyguard series, the Bullet Catchers. Roxanne tells me, “This time all three will be linked by more than just the high-end security and investigation firm. All three books, which will all be released in 2008, will share a connected story arc. Although they will each stand alone, the stories will include an overarching mystery that deepens with every book and is solved at the very end.” Visit FreshFiction.com to learn more about books and authors.

So ironic…last year a group of Fresh Fiction staff attended the SXSW Interactive…for the uninitiated that’s the South by Southwest conference held in Austin during the famous music and film festival. All the digit heads, an old term probably shows MY age, meet to discuss new and cool stuff relating to technology and media / entertainment. I got sucked in because G has been attending the Film and Music parts for a couple of years and I’ve usually spent the week with her in Austin, but I’d get bored with nothing to do. So, I dragged a few other FF members in 2006 to check out the Interactive part of the conference. AND WOW, what an eye-opener! But there were two outstanding presentations we continue to talk about… the emergence of Second Life and Threadless. We’re not going to discuss Threadless because they still piss me off…long story told best in a bar over a couple of drinks…but the Second Life is just ironic. M and D attended that one and couldn’t really get it. I said jokingly they should open a bookstore in the virtual world or at least publish some books there. So what do you know? Someone…

DFW Tea Ladies Originally uploaded by freshfiction. I’m in the middle of a duh phase…for all of you subscribed to our newsletters I got a bit mixed up at midnight on Sunday and switched a list. But on a bright note, some of you got to see what the daily Fresh Press newsletter looks like. And while it wasn’t a high brow weekend, there were some interesting authors and books on the media. But as usual, I digress, and since I haven’t had coffee yet, the digression may be even MORE pronounced than usual. Doing catchup on work since the “Buns and Roses” is over except for the debrief, but it was a grand success and hopefully we made lots of new friends and introduced new readers to the romance genre and romance readers to new authors! If you want to see — inquiring minds are always curious — what you missed, check it out. As for today, this is about it. I’ve read nothing worth blabbing about in the past three days — Time and Newsweek and the thumb nailed CSS manual don’t count. So, please feel free to tell us what you’ve been reading! Oh, plug for Lori…

Lori Wilde’s Table Originally uploaded by freshfiction. Okay, so the “Buns and Roses Romance Tea for Literacy” in Richardson was the butt of the Dallas Observer’s comments, but it was a grand showing on Sunday (and why I did NOT blog — I was exhausted!) I’m not sure the exact count, but I know it was over 180 guests for the tea at The Richardson Hotel. We were entertained royally by our emcee Candace Havens — the witty entertainment reporter on the Dorsey Gang — and inspired by Elizabeth Boyle. We had two tables: DFW Tea Readers group had Lori Wilde as our hostess and PatCat Books had Judy Christenberry as theirs. A HUGE thanks to Pat Richardson for her contributions on Sunday and for racing from work to make it! Over 22 romances authors, locally and from across the country, were the table hostesses for the tea which benefited the literacy programs of Richardson. The authors included: Lorraine Heath, Gena Showalter, Shanna Swendson, Arlene James, Lori Wilde, Kathleen Baldwin, Sandy Blair, Celya Bowers, Victoria Chancellor, Judy Christenberry, Gretchen Craig, Jana DeLeon, Shana Galen, Kristi Gold, Jane Graves, Jackie Ivie, Kara Lennox, Janis Susan May, Jill Monroe, and Catherine Spangler….

Saturday, so it’s really a busy day, combining family time, social responsibilities, oh, yes, a business to run. When I took on this challenge to actually blog for a week I forgot to ask if I’d get off the weekends, so here goes, just in case I’ve got to blog 7/365. Yesterday was a strange day — filled with worked and uncooperative email systems — but I was excited when I saw the new book at 11pm. Woo Hoo! Another one I got to vote for. Yes, occasionally I am asked to vote on a Fresh Pick, I figure it’s only when they really need a tie-breaker, or geez, it could I’m like Cheney ::shudder:: But I digress…you may notice I do that too much in this blogging thing. Saturday’s pick is ALREADY DEAD by Charlie Huston! Oh, man, oh, man. I loved AD when I read it last year. It was the first Huston book I’d ever read but I had to go out and get everything else he’d written — The Harry Thompson trilogy which were not as good as ALREADY DEAD. And, yes, for those of you sighing, it’s another vampire book. Oh. well. But you know,…