Apple Seeds --- June, July & August 2010
Our months ¡V weather-wise, are so mixed up, that no one knows if it¡¦s ¡§turn the heat up Pa my feet are a freezin¡¦¡¨ or it¡¦s ¡§April showers bring May flowers¡¨, so by the time you are reading this it¡¦ll either be snowing or so hot you¡¦ll fold this up in zig zags and fan yourself. I hope it¡¦s on the WARM side, because the apple tree next to my office looks to be really full of little itsy bitsy apples right now.
And Mr. P¡¦s grape arbor looks pretty good too, and his garden is way ahead of schedule - he¡¦s out there right now in his shorts and tennis shoes; rain or shine you know. Those plants need a talking to all the time; the squirrels need to get shot, um, I mean scooted out of there.
Julie Garwood, our popular romance and mystery author, has now signed to do three stand-alone novels to be completed during the next three years. No clue at this time what type she¡¦ll be publishing. ¡§Fire and Ice¡¨ is now in paperback, and ¡§Sizzle¡¨ (HC) should be on the shelves in those other bookstores.
John Sandford¡¦s ¡§Wicked Prey¡¨ is finally in paperback AND on that Bestseller List ¡V after having been on the Hardcover List like forever.
For all you writers out there, Jennifer Kloester, (Illus. by Graeme Tavendale) ¡§Georgette Heyer¡¦s Regency World¡¨ will be available in August, and has been ¡§starred¡¨ by Publishers Weekly (PW). ¡§Meticulously researched yet splendidly entertaining¡Kan answer for nearly every imaginable question about Regency society.¡¨ It will even have small maps of fashionable areas of London, taverns and neighborhoods. Believe it or not, it¡¦s going to be in paperback, at $14.99.
Cindy Garard¡¦s ¡§Risk No Secrets¡¨ first week on the Paperback Bestseller List is at #5. The PW promo said Garard places her character in serious jeopardy and sometimes launches herself into potentially perilous pursuits. She¡¦s even gone white-water rafting, and even once went an entire day without chocolate!
Notice to ¡§Reacher Creatures¡¨, those many fans of Lee Child¡¦s ¡§Jack Reacher¡¨ novels: his books have been optioned for the big screen. I guess I get kind of leery when they say, ¡§Big Screen¡¨. Usually means some ditz will re-write who never read a ¡§Reacher¡¨ novel. I¡¦d rather see a TV series, well-written that follows Child¡¦s novels and could last about eight or more years.
Child¡¦s latest, ¡§61 Hours¡¨ is out in Hard-cover, and made #1 the first week on bookstore shelves.
¡§The Spire¡¨ is Richard North Patterson¡¦s follow-up book to his first (award-winning) book ¡§The Lasko Tangent¡¨. AND we are told that June 29 is the date for the Hardcover debut of ¡§In the Name of Honor¡¨. Patterson has been busy, which is good, because he is known to be an excellent and precise writer, and for quite a while we were not selling his books. Why? No one knows. We¡¦ve always had very positive feedback from our customers who¡¦ve read him.
Remembering: After all this time, anyone doing a Linda Howard interview, ask if she will have another family Mackenzie book, and she replies ¡V for all of us who remember: ¡§No, because Wolf and Mary would be so old, they would have to die, and I just couldn¡¦t do that.¡¨
Y
We had two High School Graduates in the family this year. One is going on to College, and one has already been enlisted in the United States Air Force since December and is leaving for the Service on July 13th. We also had a College Graduate: an M.D. no less (!) who is currently getting settled for two years in Alaska. We are so proud of them, and wish them health and happiness forever.
To the new Priest living next door:
Mr. P was not watering the veggies in the rain. There was fertilizer in that watering can, Father, there really was.
Going back a month to the ¡§Where Are They Now?¡¨ section of the Romantic Times (RT) magazine: Do you remember the guy on Mickee Madden¡¦s ¡§Everlastin¡¦¡¨ book cover? You know the one, where the guy is standing in front of the fireplace and if you turned the book just a little bit, the guy disappeared¡Xturned it just a little bit again and he reappeared?
Well, she (Mickee) is working on a screenplay of Everlastin¡¦ and ¡§plans to have the sixth and last book in the series finished in a few months.¡¨
Well, we¡¦ve never seen or known about the other five! Guess we¡¦d better reach her at MickeeMadden@Charter.net.
Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child.
I googled their web ¡Vsite and found it to be fantastic. These gentlemen must write in their sleep. Besides writing together, they have many more books on their own than I thought. Please check out their site, you will spend a long time exploring and reading and enjoying.
Their ¡§Fever Dream¡¨ has been on the PW Hardcover Bestseller List.
For those of you not owning a computer, please get your grandchildren or a neighbor and have them show or help you. Don¡¦t be embarrassed; computer users are always proud of their knowledge, no matter how little. Just ask.
Whatever you do, do NOT take an adult course at school if you don¡¦t have a computer at home to ¡§mess¡¨ with while taking the classes.
ƒN
The trouble with growing old is, we want to start over¡Kwith the good stuff.
Once a year we remind everyone (thanks to Heidi) for the best mystery author/protagonist website: stopyourekillingme.com. If you remember Stephanie Plum (protagonist) but not Janet Evanovich (author) you simply click on ¡§P¡¨ then click on Plum, Stephanie, and you get Janet Evanovich. Cool, huh?
Our Walker Writers¡¦ Group is doing well. You are most welcome to join us! We meet at the store every 2nd & 4th Thursday at 5:15 pm.
Our prose writing group is open to those working on novels, articles or memoirs or to those with a desire to write. Remember: We are positive motivators!
While reading about the printing of a cover shoot for a teen book (which was interesting), the cost was cited as usually around $18,000, but this one ¡§probably cost closer to $26,000.¡¨ Yikes. At that point I wondered if one should buy a frame, or possibly hope the book had a good story line.
And that reminds me of all the famous (and infamous) celebrities/TV/movie stars that were at one time on romance book covers. If you have some ¡§old timers¡¨ at home, check the internet¡Xyou just may have collectible$.
Did you notice? We have another new book by Renee Geving and Cecelia McKeig: ¡§Murder and Mayhem ¡V TRUE CRIME ACCOUNTS -- CASS COUNTY 1897 - 1938¡¨
I was at the Cass County Museum when they were unpacking some of the many boxes of the new books¡KI was hoping they would name me Godmother to their new baby!
Watch for their booksigning on Crazy Days (July 15). Oh, and by the way, the promotional price is $19.99.
Gotta go¡KHave a great summer! ¡K
This from-the-gut Viet Nam War novel by Karl Marlantes (¡§Matterhorn¡¨) took thirty years to write¡Xin between raising a family and building a career in the corporate world. The story burned in him, had to be told, the story of the boredom and then sudden terror and brutality; the friendships and close bonds that were suddenly blasted apart forever. Other publishers and bookstores got on the bandwagon and praised the book with top notch reviews then and now. The book was officially published in May and is still being touted as ¡§A Quintessential American Novel.¡¨ (That¡¦s a word you have to roll around on your tongue a few times.)
Clive Cussler¡¦s ¡§Medusa¡¨ is still sitting way up there on the Paperback Bestseller lists after being on shelves for only four weeks starting in the month of June.
And a young teen and his Mother were thrilled when they spotted our Tom Clancy selections. Plenty of reading for the young man this summer!
¡§The Alchemist¡¨ by Paulo Coelho (5 million copies) and ¡§The Glass Castle¡¨ by Jeannette Walls (2,960,000 copies) are BACK on Trade Paperback Bestseller Lists already!--According to Publishers Weekly.
Listen Up, all you Grandparents:
¡§Skippyjon Jones¡¨ is the latest in the greatest picture-books for the little ones (and other people). The books are about a thrill seeking Siamese cat with oversize ears ¡§who strongly resembles a Chihuahua.¡¨ Anyway this cat goes into his closet, gets into his Zorro-like cape and mask and¡Xwollah, or however you spell it¡Xhe turns into this super persona of El Skippito Friskito. Judy Schachner is the author of these five popular books that now number a combined 1.3 million copies. Not bad, huh? Did I tell you that our youngest grandson is four and we have nine great-grandchildren? That¡¦s a lotta books!
They¡¦ll have to share!
This should grab your attention:
Mr. P was working in his lower garden (the one behind the Laundromat and the Motel) when a bear decided to wander in. Turning circles and seeing nowhere to go, it turned toward the Catholic Church¡Xwhere the said new Priest caught sight of it¡Xand in a stage whisper asked my Mr. P if he should be afraid.
Poor Father. He¡¦s going to spend a lot of time trying to stay away from said Mr. P. and all the strange things that happen around him!
Anyway, the circle turning bear finally loped off into the brush south of the garden (we guess) and disappeared.
So many homes, and not enough dens for the bears. Our deer finally showed up again though. That was nice. The squirrels, chipmunks and bunnies sure aren¡¦t giving up.
June: Linda Lael Miller:
The McKettrick Family Tree
It is Very Well Drawn. You will know from the very beginning who died, who divorced, who was adopted, etc. It¡¦s so well drawn on a half page, you can frame it!
Get the June Romantic Times Book Review Magazine-I believe we still have some.
AND AUTHOR AWARDS
RT Reviewers and Editors Career Achievement:
Page 34 ¡V 35 ¡V 36
Jim Proebstle, one of our Area Authors, who penned ¡§Absence of Honor¡¨ read and then spoke at the Library about his writing process. He was very well received and was asked to return again after his next book is published. (Which will be soon, by the way¡K)
Have you noticed the cute little ¡§Coloring Aprons¡¨ we sell? They are made by ¡§Kitty¡¨, the spouse of Mike Holst, a very popular Area Author from Crosslake, MN. We make sure to keep a good supply of his many novels on hand, as they sell so well year round.
We have had other authors leave books to read for probable entry onto the shelves. And, it looks like some of them are going to make it! But, I¡¦m going to run out of room. There are so many talented people out there. And, some of the books are much, much too expensive (I believe) for this store to sell. Sorry.
Just about done! Let¡¦s see now:
Well, I suppose I¡¦m going to have to own up to getting old; I sure wasn¡¦t a child prodigy, and did graduate at a normal age of 17 --- So: I¡¦m going to my 50th High School Graduation Celebration this August. Of course, not a one of us has changed a bit; we all looked this way 50 years ago!
Actually, our class of a little over thirty have always celebrated special birthdays and five and ten year class reunions and anything special we could conjure up, with teachers asking if they could please come along too!
Back to work:
I think I¡¦ve mentioned before that I¡¦m glad they¡¦ve revamped the Inspirational Writing Instructions. They were so rigid before no one spoke naturally, acted naturally. Now they are rated just like all other novels: 4 stars and down. And for years, if someone dared to rate them they were one and two stars! Now: Good job, everyone! And, selling like crazy!
There has not been a Bestseller List, Hardcover or Paperback, without a James Patterson novel in it for several years now. Granted, this author ¡§lends¡¨ his name to several books, but he does have a hand in authoring the novels, whether it is in the actual writing , ideas, editing or ¡§tossing things around when stuff gets tight¡¨, and of course the publicity. He has helped so many writers become published authors. And, that my dear friends, says a lot.
By the way, I tried to get a complete list of James Patterson Books ¡V HAH ¡V have you tried to, on the wonderful computer? I don¡¦t have the time to waste.
Dorothea Benton Frank has a new hardcover out, ¡§Lowcountry Summer¡¨, which has received a starred review from PW. Frank has almost always received high ratings for her lazy Southern gal sass stories. As PW says, ¡§When Frank nails it, she really nails it, and she does so here.¡¨
Also haven¡¦t tried Eric Von Lustbader¡¦s ¡§Robert Ludlum¡¦s The Bourne Objective¡¨ (hardcover) to see how the writing is compared to Ludlum¡¦s. But, I hear, it¡¦s good. Von Lustbader is good! Makes sense.
Remember I told you all about Bob Siqveland in the last Newsletter? Well, you can get a chance to meet Bob at the Chase on the Lake in Walker at 7 pm on July 6th. Bob will discuss his latest book, ¡§The Wilderness of Time¡¨. It is a tale that makes one wonder what happened to the scales on Lady Justice¡¦s statue.
If you miss Bob that night, you can meet him on July 15th at 7 pm at the Hackensack Senior Center.
I received my Nora¡¦s News e-mail, (from Nora Roberts) announcing her stand-alone hardcover ¡§The Search¡¨ is to be on store shelves July 6th.
She is also to be a keynote speaker at the 30th Romance Writers of America Conference in Orlando on July 28th, which is open to the public and features hundreds of romance authors. There is no admittance charge. Any romance author-wannabe worth their salt belongs to the Romance Writers of America. It is an IN to everything!
Glenn Beck¡¦s ¡§The Overton Window¡¨ hit the #1 spot right away for Hardcover Bestseller/
Fiction. I don¡¦t know if one of his greatest fans (a person who works here) is going to like his fiction political thrillers or not, because she likes his nonfiction! We¡¦ll see if she¡¦ll read it...
¡§Someone¡¨ on a Bestseller Division said Glenn Beck was going to give Nelson DeMille a run for his money. Nah. ¡§The Lion¡¨ is still waay up there on the Bestseller List, and is still going strong, just as DeMille always does.
To the soldiers of that forgotten war, Korea:
Robert Poindexter has published a ¡§humorous and unflinching memoir¡¨, 212 pages I¡¦ll have you know, as he recounts his experience in the Army, from being drafted, (which the young men don¡¦t have to worry about now) during boot camp and during his 13-month tour in Korea.
Oh, hey, somebody saw the bear up by the school. Probably looking for a map so he could get out of Dodge, man. Or at least out of Mr. P¡¦s garden. Have a great day ya¡¦all.
ƒN | 
