I'm Feeling a Bit ... Bookish

People have been asking me lately when the next book is coming out. Especially the fine lady on a certain reader review / book lover social networking site who felt I was excessive in my use of naughty words. Last night I had a dream just for her, in which every other line of my next novel was the word "fuck."

I tell people I am working on my next novel, and in my head, I am. But it's so damn easy to get distracted in these early stages. Particularly when you are homebound, warily watching construction workers trample your yard and tear up your street like the ugly stepchild-army of Genghis Khan and Hernan Cortes.

So to prime the pump, I shared a lovely dinner last Thursday with friend and colleague Katie Krueger, who just released a memoir of her experiences living and working in West Africa on a Rotary Foundation Ambassadorial Scholarship. Proceeds from Give with Gratitude are being donated to support education in Senegal, so if you're looking to merge good read/good deed, I highly suggest picking up her book, available on her website.

I spent the next several hours with the lovely Therese Fowler, currently promoting both the soft cover release of her first novel Souvenir, as well as the hard cover release of her sophomore novel, Reunion. I just adore Therese, and she's a phenomenal story teller. On page, and in-person. (I got home at 1:30 in the morning.) Have you picked up her books yet? If you haven't, WHY NOT?

I am also reading and LOVING: Smart Girls Like Me by Diane Vadino, with two advance reading copies on deck: This is Where I Leave You by Jonathan Tropper (releases in August) and Everyone She Loved by Sheila Curran, which releases on June 16, one week from today.

Sheila's a delightful member of the GCC, which brings me in a somewhat roundabout way to the point of my post...a new GCC tour for author Judi Fennell, celebrating the release of her debut novel, In Over Her Head. Publisher's Weekly dubbed it a "playful debut" with "sincere wit." I've never read a romance featuring a 'Mer man,' but Judi has definitely piqued my curiosity.

About the book: Erica Peck thought she'd never have to go into the water again. After all, there's plenty to do running her family's marina from shore without having to dive in herself. But then her unstable ex-fiance shows up with a gun and demands her help in finding a bag of rare jewels she accidentally tossed into the ocean.

Unable to find them, bleeding from a grazing gunshot wound and running out of oxygen fast, she has no choice but to give herself up to the mercy of the sea. Rescued from the water and sharks by a gorgeous merman named Reel, Erica quickly finds herself falling head over fins in love with him. And when Reel risks his life to save hers, she discovers that she doesn't want to live without him, no matter the consequences. But can they ever find a way to be together when she still can't stand the water and he can't survive on land?

(Sidenote: Reel has a brother named Rod. I love that!)

To celebrate the release of each of her books, Judi has teamed with the Atlantis Inn and Hibiscus House bed and breakfasts to give away three romantic beach getaway weekends. Visit her website for details on how to enter.

The interview:

1) Now that you are published, what (if anything) have you changed about your writing routine?

I write more often and have to be more focused. You'll find me at Borders a lot so I can't have the distraction of the internet.

2) Do you listen to music while you write?

Classical or ocean sounds. If anything has words that I can sing to, I'm sunk. It'll pull me out of the story.

3) Have you found that as you've developed your writing and story telling skills, you watch movies or read books 'differently?'

Oh definitely. And in some ways that bums me out because I can't enjoy it in my innocence.

4) What vacation would be most inspiring to you as a writer?

Bermuda. It's where Atlantis is in my books and I'd love to have first-hand knowledge. Google Earth can only do so much. At least, that's my argument to Hubs.

5) What is one of your strangest / most quirky author experiences?

Having a bookseller email me that she received my book as an advanced reading copy and she snagged it for a friend of hers, but opened it any way to see if it could capture her interest since she's not a romance reader. She wrote to say that she absolutely loved the book and would be buying all of my series. Surreal.

Thanks, Judi!