Tampa Book Buzz

local author news:llewellyn, boucher, nappier

• Local author Kimberly Llewellyn is guest blogging at Literary Chicks during the month of May. (My apologies for the delay in posting this; it was accidentally shifted further down on my Pending Posts list.)  Congrats!
• Kudos to local author Wendy Boucher for her recent interview in the Tampa Trib. 
• Local author K.L. Nappier’s short story The Thing Most Precious appears in Volume 2 of the anthology series Twisted Tails II, Volumes 1 and 2.  Click here for more info on this recently-released collection.  Bitten, Nappier’s sequel to her book Full Wolf Moon, is being released later this year.  Congrats!  (I started reading Full Wolf Moon this past weekend and managed to get through one whole page before the phone starting ringing and Real Life demanded attention.  But that one page was good!  I’m turning off my phone and trying again this weekend.)

books-a-million grand opening this weekend in brandon

The Brandon Mall now has a Books-A-Million store! The grand opening is this weekend.

• 2-4 p.m. today — historical romance author Karen Hawkins will sign her new book How to Abduct a Highland Lord
• 5-7 p.m. today — chick lit author Kimberly Llewellyn will sign copies of her new books Tulle Little, Tulle Late and The Quest for the Holy Veil
• 6-8 p.m. tomorrow — bestselling author Tim Dorsey will sign copies of his new book Hurricane Punch

There will also be story times for kids, music and samples of Ghiradelli chocolate. Visit the Brandon Westfield Mall’s website or call 813-571-2062 for more info.

(Thanks go to local author Kimberly Llewellyn for sending me this info.  It’s my fault that it’s posted so late.)

book and local author news:smith, brooksville’s booktown, llewellyn

• Joy V. Smith’s article Selling a Cool Book About the House That Joy Built is #2 in the 2006 Preditors and Editors poll (non-fiction category).  Her short story Pretty Pink Planet is tied for #13 in the their short story SF category.
• The St. Pete Times has an article about Brooksville possibly becoming a “booktown.”  Sounds interesting, doesn’t it?
• Local author Kimberly Llewellyn’s new book The Quest for the Holy Veil will be available March 6.  Visit www.kimberlyllewellyn.com to learn more.

book buzz:remote control by cynthia polansky

When you pick up a new book and discover that the first sentence of Chapter One is “I died on a Tuesday when I was thirty-one years old,” you know that you’re in for an interesting read.  Cynthia Polansky’s Remote Control is that and more.  The main character Judith is an average, normal, happily-married woman with a best friend, two dogs and a good job — until her untimely death from hilariously embarrassing circumstances. 

After her death, Judith is anything but average.  Unable to fully concentrate on the afterlife lessons of her spirit guide Ashraf, she obsessively watches over her bereaved husband Saul and best friend Micaela.  Judith’s initial concern for Saul’s adjustment to widowerhood morphs into jealous anxiety after watching Saul become romantically involved with their gorgeous and greedy accountant.  Judith figures that she can fulfill her responsibilities in the afterlife and protect her husband at the same time.  She discovers, however, that meddling busybodies who show up late for work are just as annoying in the afterlife as in her past life, but with far more serious consequences.

Remote Control is one part humorous chick lit and one part clever paranormal fantasy, stirred with inspirational wisdom and served with some startling plot twists. The book you finish is not the same one you started, but you enjoy them both and learn a lot on the journey.

Visit Polansky’s website at www.cynthiapolansky.com. Remote Control will be available in November 2007. To reserve your copy, email echelonpress(at)comcast.net.

local author news:cowling and boucher

*Local author Jerry Cowling (Lincoln in the Basement) has had a busy book-signing schedule lately.  So far this month, he went to a book fair in Lutz and to the Christmas Festival in Brooksville.  On January 6, he has a booksigning at Village Voices in Bradenton and will be a vendor at the Brooksville Raid (a Civil War event) on January 20 and 21.

*Local author/artist/blogger Wendy Boucher (Parvenue Throws a Party) has been teasing her fans for months now.  At a book group meeting a few months ago, Boucher talked about her new book Teacup Travels, currently making the publishing rounds with her NY literary agent.  She also mentioned an earlier unpublished work of hers, a mystery titled Letters From A Dead Armadillo, that she might get around to publishing one day.  Well, that day has finally arrived!  

Letters From A Dead Armadillo has an official release date of May 18th, so Boucher fans don’t have too much longer to wait. And I think I read some small mention of Boucher’s upcoming art exhibit at the Lyssa Morgan Gallery in South Tampa…a minor, routine, everyday event…something about a solo month-long show of her work opening on May 18….or something like that.  Only five months and five days more to wait, Boucher fans.

book news:allen, noori, llewellyn, mcree, smith

*Local author Skip Allen’s new book Requiem for the Phoenix (the sequel to Out of the Ashes) is now available. Click here to learn more about his book, browse a chapter or order your copy.

*Local author Afsaneh Noori (Change Thrivers) has revamped her website to reflect her new career as a motivational speaker. Here’s her press release.

*Former local author (recently moved to Alabama, I believe) Kimberly Llewellyn’s new book Real Women Don’t Wear Size 2 was reviewed in this month’s Tampa Bay Illustrated magazine. I read this book this past weekend….WOW!

*Local author and beach expert David McRee has updated the “beach threats” info on his website www.beachhunter.net in response to Steve (Crocodile Hunter) Irwin’s death.

*Local author and fellow blogger Joy V. Smith has a story titled Pretty Pink Planet in WomanScapes, a collection of alternative visions written by women about women, which is now available. The WomanScapes authors have donated their talent in order to benefit worldwide humanitarian relief efforts. WomanScapes is available as a free download after you make a donation of at least $5 to a non-profit organization that provides humanitarian relief. It is also available as a paperback from amazon.com: Amazon.com: WomanScapes: Books: WomanScapes Authors.

book news:mcree, jacobs, kelly, leto, llewellyn, london, rock, st. claire, boucher

*The Pinellas Public Library Cooperative has revamped its website. They now offer downloadable versions of their monthly newsletters, among other things.

*Local author David McRee (Florida Beaches) was recently mentioned in the Sarasota Herald-Tribune. Congratulations!

*There are several Tampa Area Romance Authors members who have books out this month:
WRONG PLACE, WRONG TIME? by Ann Jacobs
HERE COMES TROUBLE by Leslie Kelly
THE DOMINO EFFECT by Julie Elizabeth Leto
TULLE LITTLE, TULLE LATE by Kimberly Llewellyn
IF YOU COULD READ MY MIND… by Jeanie London
THE KNIGHT’S COURTSHIP by Joanne Rock
THRILL ME TO DEATH by Roxanne St. Claire
(thanks go to local author Joy Smith for sending me this list)

*Local author Wendy Boucher earned mega-blogosphere points recently by having one of her posts mentioned on The Daily Kos. Way to go, Wendy!

books this week:ann rule, dean koontz and meg cabot

I have been a reading fool this week (as opposed to just a regular fool). Last weekend, my Second Job accidentally - blissfully - left me off the schedule, so on Saturday I read Heart Full Of Lies:A True Story of Desire and Death by true-crime goddess Ann Rule. I would read the tax code if Rule wrote it; her writing is compelling and draws you into the story from page one.

On Sunday I started Velocity by Dean Koontz. In the mid-90s I discovered Kootnz and read everything he’d written up to that point. Then, when there was nothing more of his to read, I sort of forgot about him for a few years. He puts out at least one book a year, so it looks like I need to go on another Koontz reading spree to catch up.

Yesterday I finished Size 12 Is Not Fat by Meg Cabot, which was a book club pick at the South Tampa Barnes & Noble women’s fiction book group a month or two ago. The library waiting list was a little long, so needless to say I didn’t make it to that particular book club meeting. Meg Cabot is the author of The Princess Diaries and many other books, but I’d never read her stuff before now. Size 12 Is Not Fat is the first book in her Heather Wells mystery series and centers around a nosy, crime-solving, ex-pop star, slightly overweight, single but looking, late twentysomething woman who works in a New York college residence hall. It was fluff, but additive, fun fluff.

news:warren, odom, tampa bay association of black journalists, llewellyn

*Local author Alicia R. Warren has a written a sequel to her book The Chances We Take. It’s called One More Chance and is available now. Warren was recently interviewed by www.tampabayin.com. Click here for the interview.

*Speaking of www.tampabayin.com, local author Ersula Knox Odom was also recently interviewed on that site.

*The Tampa Bay Association of Black Journalists has announced that Rene Syler, co-host of CBS’ morning news program The Early Show, will serve as keynote speaker for its Second Annual Griot Drum Awards and Scholarship Banquet November 16th in the Poynter Institute for Media Studies.

*Kimberly Llewellyn’s newest book Tulle Little, Tulle Late is out.