Crested Butte here I come...
I am looking forward to this weekend. It's a nice getaway for my husband and me even if it is technically a working weekend. Crested Butte is in a very beautiful part of Colorado.
But first, the new Harry Potter attraction opens at Universal Studios Friday.
"The trouble is, you have to leave sometime. And once outside, the ordinary may seem more drab than ever."--Neil Genzlinger in the
New York Times from his lengthy story on Wizarding World, the Harry Potter attraction... He says it's "not really an attraction that you do, it's one that you absorb."
And speaking of Harry Potter, here's a quote from John Grisham:
"I laugh when I tell people I'm a famous writer in a country where nobody reads," he said.
But Grisham may want to change that. Speaking of the 13-year-old protagonist of Theodore Boone: Kid Lawyer, Grisham said, according to the
Telegraph : "Theodore is really an effort to catch Harry Potter. Back in the 1990s I was routinely introduced as the bestselling author in the world. I tried to pretend like it was no big deal.
"Then along came Harry Potter and suddenly I was number two. I've got to tell you, I really miss being number one. I'm going to catch Harry one way or another."
In my heart, John Grisham will ALWAYS be number two, or three, or five hundred... Just sayin'
For those of you who followed this (or maybe even entered,) the winners are:
This year's Amazon Breakthrough Novel Award contest, sponsored by Amazon, Penguin Group and CreateSpace "in search of the next popular novel," includes for the first time a YA category. Winners are:
General Fiction: Farishta by Patricia McArdle (Riverhead/Penguin, $24.95, 9781594487965/1594487960)
YA Fiction: Sign Language by Amy Ackley (Viking/Penguin, $16.99, 9780670013180/ 0670013188)
McArdle and Ackley each receive a $15,000 advance and publication by Penguin. Amazon customers voted on the nominees.
McArdle, a retired American diplomat who lives in Arlington, Va., follows a female U.S. diplomat in northern Afghanistan who provides aid to refugee women fleeing the violence there. She becomes their farishta, or "angel," in the Dari language.
Ackley's career has spanned everything from public administration to labor relations for top automakers. She lives in Brighton, Mich., and is the mother of three children. Ackley was moved to write Sign Language after the death of her father and two close friends to cancer.
Click
here to read excerpts from the winning novels.
An HBO marketing apology for TrueBlood:
So, what did you think about the first episode last Sunday?
Last Friday night Phil and I had dinner with our good friends Jay and Patty Salam. It was kind of a belated birthday celebration. Here we are with our cutey pie waiter, Billy.
Now, as handsome as this group is, look closely at the back of the booth. Here's what they brought me...
Is that not the best birthday gift EVER??????
And last (but not least) it's official! From Publisher's Marketplace:
Jeanne Stein's untitled eighth Anna Strong novel (sold), to Jessica Wade at Berkley, by Scott Miller at Trident Media Group.