HelenKay Dimon

The fabulous Alison Kent is giving away two copies of the mass market version of YOUR MOUTH DRIVES ME CRAZY. The official release date is Tuesday, so you’ll be one of the first people to get this…if you win. To tempt you further, she’s throwing in copies of her RT Top Pick, A LONG, HARD RIDE. Go check out her site. Go…

According to Gawker, the site I can’t stop visiting no matter how hard I try, some guy is getting paid “a five-figure sum for Twitter Wit, a book of the Gawker alum’s favorite Twitter posts.”

If I’m understanding correctly, this guy is compiling other’s people’s tweets and a publisher is paying him big money to do it. People think America is no longer the land of opportunity. Clearly this proves that negativity wrong. You can sell anything.

UPDATE: The author I referred to as “some guy” is actually Nick Douglas and he was nice enough to stop by and explain the book. He was even cool about my slightly asshat attitude toward his work, which I admire greatly. Check the comments.

I found this book while wandering around the internet looking at other author websites and trying to get ideas for my website re-design. The book is THE EX-DEBUTANTE by Linda Francis Lee. Love the cover. The story goes like this:

Carlisle Wainwright Cushing, of the old-moneyed Willow Creek, Texas Wainwrights, is the daughter of larger-than-life Ridgely Wainwright … Cushing-Jameson-Lackley-Harper-Ogden. Given her mother’s predilection for divorce, is anyone surprised that Carlisle became a divorce lawyer, far away in Boston, where no one, including her fiancé, knows she’s an heiress. But now, three years later, Carlisle is lured back to Texas to deal with her mother’s latest divorce which has the whole town talking, and the family-sponsored 100th annual debutante ball which is on the verge of collapse. Suddenly the determined lawyer is weighing the merits of beads vs. crystals on ball gowns and teaching eighteen year olds to balance books on their heads, all the while trying to figure out how to tell her deeply Southern mother that she is engaged to a Yankee. Things go from bad to worse and she’s afraid she’ll never get back to Boston, at least with her reputation intact, especially when good ol’ Southern boy Jack Blair shows up on the opposite side of the divorce court, making her wonder if the man is going after her mother in the proceedings, or her given the pesky little fact that she left him three years earlier.

Her trip home challenges Carlisle’s sense of who she really is and forces her to face the secrets her family has tried to keep, well, secret. Funny and smart, poignant and true, THE EX-DEBUTANTE is a story about the risks one woman must take if she stands a chance of finding herself, real love, and her place in that crazy thing we call family.

I’m totally intrigued.

Comedian Kathy Griffin reportedly got a $2 million deal from Ballantine for her memoir. Here’s the article about it. And, well, there’s just nothing else I can add to this one.

Maybe it’s itme for me to find a job in retail…

According to USA Today:

Former Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice has agreed to a three-book deal with Crown Publishers, starting with a memoir about her years in the administration of President George W. Bush.
…
Rice, 54, also will write a memoir about her family, scheduled for 2012, and a young-adult edition of her family book that will come out at the same time. None of the planned works are currently titled.

And that’s what $2.5 million** will get you.

**The amount of the reported deal. And for those editors who might be wondering, I will write for far less.

It would appear the mass market version of YOUR MOUTH DRIVES ME CRAZY is shipping from B&N online – wahoo!! The official release date is March 3rd, but so what. In case you’re wondering, this book was featured as a “Red-Hot Read” in Cosmo and spotlighted on E!Online. It also finaled in numerous contests, including winning the 2008 Bookseller’s Best Award (single title category).

Have I convinced you to try this yet? If not, consider the fact it’s only $6.29 with your B&N membership card. That’s less than the cost of two grande lattes at Starbucks. A bargain!

Come on. You know you want to…

A lovely reader emailed and pointed out that my October ‘09 releases are up for pre-order on Amazon. Wahoo!!!

First we have HOLDING OUT FOR A HERO. I love this story. The hero is Josh Windsor from YOUR MOUTH DRIVES ME CRAZY (mass market reissue, March ‘09) and IT’S HOTTER IN HAWAII (April ‘09). He’s out of luck, out of a job and, according to Josh, out of the hero business. Yeah, right. The back cover goes like this:

TOO CLOSE FOR COMFORT…

Deana Armstrong needs a hero—not for herself, but for the nephew all her money and time can’t seem to get out of jail. Unfortunately, the best hero in all the Hawaiian Islands is set on turning in his badge and getting his excellent butt into another line of work. If that wasn’t enough, Josh Windsor also has a big-time grudge against Deana herself. But if there’s anything being rich, smart, and stubborn has taught Deana, it’s never to settle for second best…

Josh has had it with saving people. He’s had it with getting hauled into court. And boy, has he ever had it with Deana. Or well, he hasn’t had it. Yet. But the more she pops up sounding infuriating and looking good enough to eat, the more her hot bod and her cold case wriggle into his mind. And there’s only so much even a hero can resist…

My other release that month is the anthology KISSING SANTA CLAUS (ignore the misspelling on Amazon), with the fabulously talented Donna Kauffman and Jill Shalvis. The hero in my novella is Ted Greene, again from YOUR MOUTH DRIVES ME CRAZY and IT’S HOTTER IN HAWAII. Can you tell I really wanted to write about Hawaii last year? Here’s the back cover copy:

Three hottie humbugs find holiday magic where they least expect it…

DONNA KAUFFMAN
Lock, Stock and Jingle BellsHolly hates the yuletide season more than ever since she inherited her mother’s Christmas novelty store, but her childhood pal Sean’s determined to warm her up—to Christmas and to him. When they uncover a diary concealing secrets involving both their families, this could be the Christmas that changes their lives forever…

JILL SHALVIS
Bah Handsome!
Behind on her bills, B&B owner Hope receives an unlikely guest—stranded solicitor Danny, who’s been threatening to put her out of business. Hope’s staff sees more fire than fight in the sparks that fly as they try and bring Hope and Danny together, but only a Christmas miracle can help these unlikely lovers see the light…

HELENKAY DIMON
It’s Hotter at Christmas
Hawaii’s no paradise for Marissa, who, thanks to a series of unfortunate events, can’t seem to get away from the sand to enjoy her Christmas East Coast style—with plenty of snow and slush. But tall, dark, and serious police officer Ted’s about to give this bad Santa in heels a Mele Kalikimaka she’ll never forget…

Go forth and pre-order.

Or was. Apprently Sarah, Duchess of York may not publish her “racy” (not my word) historical novel after all. Her collaborator says:

The Duchess and I are reconsidering our original publishing plan and weighing a number of factors and options for the short term and for the long run. As soon as we come to a decision about which path we are to take, you shall know.

Uh, okay. So…someone in Buckingham Palace is unhappy or is it something else?

We saw the movie THE INTERNATIONAL over the weekend. And while I can’t get those two hours of my life back, I can issue a warning to those who read this blog to think about seeing something else. First, let me just go ahead and say that Clive Owen is in it. Usually this would be enough for me. He’s adorable, inhabits every role he plays no matter how stupid, and did I mention he’s adorable. For those who just need to know Clive Owen is in a movie to be hooked, you can stop reading. For the rest of you…

The female lead is Naomi Watts. I try very hard to believe she’s a good actress but I’m just not sold. I don’t see it. Ignoring her for a second, the real problem here is the plot. It boils down to – and this is not a spoiler since the commercials say it – this big Bank is very bad. The main characters race all over the world to get proof of this. Now, I know that sounds fun. That’s where I got sucked in. But don’t buy it. It’s an illusion. See, while there are chases and bad guys this thing never goes anywhere. There’s zero character development The result is that you don’t care all that much for these poeple, except to the extent they are both pretty and you don’t want them disfigured. And, of course, out of a general love of Clive.

There is a great scene in the Guggenheim, but it goes on waaaaay too long.

I continue to believe Clive Owen is worth the cost of a movie ticket no matter what, but think about renting this one. Stick with the Bourne franchise.

I’m not a big Valentine’s Day person. Seems to me it’s about what you do 365 days per year and not just on one day. But I like the sentiment of celebrating love, so…

Happy Valentine’s Day