news and notes:smith, author teleconferences, blesser, kittay, healey

June 30, 2007 at 2:36 pm | In Local Authors, Florida Authors, For Writers, Books, Tampa Bay Area | No Comments
  • Ever wonder what local author Joy V. Smith’s office looks like?  You can view a photo here on the Writer’s Digest forum.
  • Received via email: Calling all authors!  Do you battle writer’s block?  Is time management hindering you from reaching your goals?  Are you having difficulty facing the rejection of publishers, booksellers and critics?  What are the problems and issues that are preventing you from reaching success? JimSam Inc. and Loretta Pickford of Magnificent Journey are teaming up to offer a series of teleconferences just for you.  If there are specific topics that you would like help with, let us know. For more information, please contact Marcia Freespirit at 813-748-9523 or via email at mfreespirit(at)jimsaminc.com.  Visit www.JimSamInc.com to learn more.
  • Barry Blesser wrote to let me know about his new book Spaces Speak, Are You Listening? Experiencing Aural Architecture. “While the book has provoked strong interest in those academic disciplines that have an interest in the subject of psychology, audio, music, architecture, and so on, it has also found some support from general readers who just want to understand something different.”  Visit www.SpacesSpeak.com to learn more.
  • Local publishing company JimSam Inc. has added the following authors to its publishing family: June Kittay (Tips From Kittay) and Cheryl Healey (Angel Meets the Projector!). Congratulations!

tv writer robert vincent wright has died

June 30, 2007 at 1:25 pm | In Books, In Memoriam | No Comments

Television writer, story editor and producer Robert Vincent Wright (Maverick, Lost in Space, Little House on the Prairie) died June 17 at age of 88.

news and notes:trunk, west, bess the book bus

June 26, 2007 at 7:16 am | In Local Authors, Literacy, Books, Tampa Bay Area | 2 Comments

author ruth bell graham has died

June 23, 2007 at 8:41 pm | In Books, In Memoriam | No Comments

Ruth Bell Graham, author (Footprints of an Angel, It’s My Turn) and wife of evangelist Billy Graham, died last week at the age of 87. Although she was well-known primarily because of her husband, Graham authored or co-authored 14 books during her lifetime.

harry potter party at inkwood books on july 21

June 23, 2007 at 6:45 pm | In Events, Bookstores, Books, Tampa Bay Area | No Comments

Received via email:

Dear Reader,The magic date is 7/21 at 12:01 AM.

Join Inkwood Books as we celebrate the release of the long-awaited Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows at our POTTER PROGNOSTICATORS PARTY and pick up your entry form for a chance to win a trip for 4 to London in the INDEPENDENT MUGGLES FOR HARRY POTTER SWEEPSTAKES!

Inkwood’s doors will open at 11:30 on Friday, July 20. Laura will read a selection and lead a discussion of the surprises that await us all in Book 7. Enjoy Potter Punch and Snitch Donut Holes, and have your fortune told while the minutes count down to midnight. Each prepaid copy of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows will include a MUGGLEBUCK COUPON good for $7.21 off your next purchase at Inkwood Books. (For members of the Inkwood Regulars, this works out to 30% savings when combined with your 10% discount!)

For those unable to attend, FREE OWL POST will deliver your book to your doorstep by 7 a.m. on Saturday, July 21, within a limited range of flight. Books must be prepaid and addresses supplied no later than Thursday, July 19. Of course, the bookstore will open as usual at 10 a.m. on Saturday, for those of you who can wait that long! For campers and far-away friends, MUGGLE MAIL will deliver your prepaid copies on the on-sale date. Books and shipping charges must be prepaid and addresses supplied no later than Monday, July 17.

Inkwood also has our own contest for POTTER PROGNOSTICATORS. Questionnaires are available at the bookstore now, and must be turned in no later than midnight on July 20, for a chance to win to win prizes and gift certificates. Winners will be announced on Tuesday, July 31. (* The Independent Muggles contest is open only to visitors to participating INDEPENDENT booksellers like Inkwood. Entry forms will be available beginning at 11:30 p.m. on Friday, July 20, and must be turned in at the bookstore by 7 p.m. Tuesday, July 24. Additional rules on entry form.)

Inkwood Books
216 South Armenia Avenue
Tampa FL 33609-3310
ph 813-253-2638 

 Visit www.inkwoodbooks.com for more info.

what the dickens?

June 19, 2007 at 1:03 pm | In Personal, Books | No Comments

It was the best of blogs, it was the worst of blogs, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity, it was the season of Light, it was the season of Darkness, it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair.

Lisa will return to talk about Tampa and St. Pete (A Tale of Two Cities, get it?) this weekend.  Please check back then.

news and notes:florida book review, odom, nappier, boucher

June 15, 2007 at 7:41 pm | In Local Authors, Florida Authors, Fiction--Mystery, Books, Tampa Bay Area, YouTube | 1 Comment
  • Received via email: Please pass this along to Florida writers and readers– Announcing a new web publication, The Florida Book Review. We are up and running at www.floridabookreview.com with reviews of Florida fiction, poetry, nonfiction, crime writing, books on Florida history, and young adult books. There’s a new feature on John D. Macdonald, an interview with Michael Hettich, a blog by editor Lynne Barrett, reconsideration of some Florida classic reads, lots of literary links and much more. New material is being added all the time. Please check us out, bookmark us, and pass the word.  Check it out.
  • Local author, speaker and performer Ersula Knox Odom has just completed her first successful season portraying educator/activist Dr. Mary MacLeod Bethune at libraries across Florida.  Congratulations!
  • Local author K.L. Nappier has posted video trailers on YouTube and on MySpace.
  • A very belated congratulations to local author Wendy Boucher for the good review of her new book Letters From a Dead Armadillo in the Tampa Tribune.

author mark harris has died

June 15, 2007 at 8:33 am | In Books, In Memoriam | No Comments

Baseball novelist Mark Harris (Bang the Drum Slowly) has died at age 84. Read more here.

writer jeanne davis glynn has died

June 14, 2007 at 10:36 am | In Books, In Memoriam | No Comments

Award-winning soap opera writer Jeanne Davis Glynn (General Hospital, As The World Turns, Guiding Light) has died at age 75 after an eight-year battle with cancer.

winner of the inaugural melissa nathan award for comedy romance announced

June 14, 2007 at 9:47 am | In Awards/Prizes, Books | No Comments

Received via email:

The winner of the inaugural Melissa Nathan Award for Comedy Romance 2007 was announced Wednesday night at a reception held at the Magic Circle Headquarters in London. The winner was Anybody Out There? by Marian Keyes (published by Michael Joseph).

The judges were comedian Jo Brand, author Joanna Trollope, actress Jessica Hynes (née Stevenson), head book buyer for Tesco Gaynor Allen, and author Sophie Kinsella.

The Melissa Nathan Award for Comedy Romance is the first of its kind. This new prize is being awarded to a writer who has combined in a novel the magical, life-enhancing elements of both humour and love. The award has been set up by Melissa Nathan’s husband, Andrew Saffron, in honour of Melissa who died from cancer at the age of just 37, in April 2006.

Based on criteria which Melissa drew up herself shortly before she died, the prize is open to writers of any age or gender, who have written a book first published in the UK during the calendar year 2006. This is the first time that a literary award has been established to recognise the genre of ‘comedy romance’. Its aim is to reward authors who can draw the two sections – ‘comedy’ and ‘romance’ – together in a way that is both compelling and natural. The winner received a trophy and a cheque for £5,000.

About Anybody Out There? by Marian Keyes: Publishing phenomenon Marian Keyes’ novel Anybody Out There? is a touching and funny account of Anna Walsh and her journey from her parents’ Good Front Room to the resumption of her life in New York where she was living with her gorgeous husband Aidan and had The Best Job In The World. Back in Manhattan Aidan seems to have vanished, but Anna sees him everywhere – walking down the street and passing by in a bus – so why won’t he return her calls?

Anybody Out There? tells the story of Dubliner Anna, the fourth of five Walsh sisters, the family readers have come to know and love in Marian Keyes’ previous books Watermelon, Rachel’s Holiday and Angels. We are also introduced to the life of the other Walsh sister Helen, whose job as a private investigator sees her hiding in bushes and getting caught up in the Dublin criminal underworld – with hilarious consequences! One thing’s for sure, when the Walsh women get together there’s no telling how things will turn out…

The other shortlisted books were: Barefoot in the Dark by Lynne Barrett-Lee (published by Accent Press); The Ex-Boyfriend’s Handbook by Matt Dunn (published by Pocket Books); The Cinderella Moment by Gemma Fox (published by HarperCollins); Making Your Mind Up by Jill Mansell (published by Headline); and The Rise and Fall of a Yummy Mummy by Polly Williams (published by Little, Brown).

Melissa Nathan’s novels are both heart-warmingly romantic and very, very funny. Her books The Nanny and The Waitress were also Sunday Times Top Ten bestsellers. Melissa’s second novel, Persuading Annie, will be re-issued by Arrow on August 2, 2007.

Visit www.melissanathan.com to learn more.

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