HelenKay Dimon

I’m over at Access Romance talking about Hawaii and giving away a book. Stop by and say hello.

For those of you who are dating – not me because my hubby doesn’t allow that sort of thing – you have something new to worry about. Seems the person you’re seeing is judging you by your bookshelf, or so says the Jenna Lang in an article in The Guardian (UK). And just which books are sure not to impress the opposite sex? Here you go:

What books are likely to send men scrambling for the door? “Any of those trashy romance, Sex and the City types”, declared one man. “Anything with ’shopping’, ‘heels’ or ‘chocolate’ in the title”, said another. “It’s a turn-off when girls are too materialistic.”

The women were equally disparaging. “If I saw a man reading Bridget Jones’s Diary, I’d be rather disturbed,” said one, despite having her own well-read copy at home. “Any of those airport novels, the ones with spies and CIA agents, are a no-no too.”

I remember reading a study that said women who read romance had more sex with their partners. Think the men interviewed for this article know about that? I’m guessing no or the answers might have been different.

I’m off teaching a workshop called Fiction Writing 101. Before heading out I saw a message that a book called THE FIDELITY FILES by Jessica Brody was optioned for tv. Go Jessica!!! Since I love books and love it even more when authors get tv and movie deals, I went hunting. I somehow missed this the first time around, but the divorce lawyer in me is intrigued. See what you think…

A beautiful L.A. woman goes undercover as a “fidelity inspector” to find out who’s faithful and who’s not in this dazzling commercial debut.

Working under the code name Ashlyn, Jennifer Hunter is hired by suspicious wives and girlfriends to conduct her infamous “fidelity inspection” on the men in their lives. Between bachelor parties and business trips, “Ashlyn” has successfully exposed hundreds of unfaithful men. Of course, she never actually sleeps with any of them; she tests for an intention to cheat only. But Jen’s double life starts to take its toll and her friends suspect that the reason she hasn’t had a date in two years is more complicated than the demands of her supposed “investment banking” career. And when a suspicious email surfaces with her picture on it warning men of her real motives, Jen fears that her secret identity is in danger of being uncovered. Plus, her best friend Sophie now plans to hire “Ashlyn” for an inspection of her own! Just when it seems like nothing is going her way, Jen meets sexy, sophisticated Jamie Richards. She knows there’s no room for romance in her life, but she finds herself more and more drawn to him. It doesn’t take long to realize it’s time to retire Ashlyn for the sake of true love but not before taking on one last assignment–a job which will change everything.

Has anyone read this? I’m going to try to grab it this weekend and give it a try.

Actor James Franco (he of Spiderman, Pineapple Express and Milk movie fame) just sold a book. Now, for those ready to throw their laptops out the window and head to the nearest Target for an employment application, not so fast. First, Target likely isn’t hiring, so don’t waste your time. No one is hiring. Go read a newspaper and you’ll see what I mean. Second, this book deal actually makes sense. Franco is a grad student in creative writing and the book is a collection of short stories. This is not an actor’s memoir…or whatever it is Kathy Griffin is writing.

No word on the advance but I’m guessing Franco isn’t in it for the money. In fact, what writer is?

Stephen King recently released a book in ebook form only. Appears it was a success. His agent said this in USA Today:

King’s agent, Ralph Vicinanza, said Tuesday that downloads of King’s novella UR, available only as an e-book and released to coincide with the launch of Amazon’s upgraded Kindle reader, have reached “five figures” after barely three weeks on the market.

Well, maybe “five figures” isn’t a success to him but it sure would be to me.

And for those still questioning whether ebooks have a future – those who haven’t heard of Kindle, I guess – there is this bit of news from Publisher’s Lunch:

BN has bolstered their quiet development efforts in digital content by purchasing Fictionwise for $15.7 million in cash. As part of this morning’s announcement the company acknowledges for the first time “the launch of an e-Bookstore later this year.”

Big news and all of it good for ebooks.

A friend pointed me to this site today – Authonomy. This isn’t your usual book lover’s community. This one is run by publisher HarperCollins…and it’s a way to get your unpublished or self-published manuscript noticed. The info section says:

authonomyTM is a brand new community site for writers, readers and publishers, conceived and developed by book editors at HarperCollins. We want to flush out the brightest, freshest new literature around – we’re glad you stopped by.

If you’re a writer, authonomy is the place to show your face – and show off your work on the web. Whether you’re unpublished, self-published or just getting started, all you need is a few chapters to start building your profile online, and start connecting with the authonomy community.

And if you’re a reader, blogger publisher or agent, authonomy is for you too. The book world is kept alive by those who search out, digest and spread the word about the best new books – authonomy invites you to join our community, champion the best new writing and build a personal profile that really reflects your tastes, opinions and talent-spotting skills.

The publishing world is changing. One thing’s for sure: whether you’re a reader, writer, agent or publisher, this is an exciting time for books. In our corner of HarperCollins we’ve been given a chance to do something a little different.

For those looking to get published it might be a place to check.

Today is the official release day for the mass market version of YOUR MOUTH DRIVES ME CRAZY. I could beg you or show you photos of hungry children, but I’ll refrain and simply ask you to buy the %#*@! book.

Annie Parks came to Hawaii to settle a score, not spend time handcuffed to a sexy stranger’s bed—even if said stranger saved her from drowning after she was pitched overboard by some goons. Looking at six feet of hard, Hawaiian muscle and gorgeous cool that’s making forgotten parts of her say, “Aloha!,” Annie needs to stay focused. But a side dish of Kane Travers is awfully tempting.

Kauai Police Chief Kane Travers is not a vacation kind of guy. So it figures that when Internal Affairs suspended him, he’d end up rescuing a sarcastic, dishonest, extremely hot redhead who is clearly hiding something. Kane’s got half a mind to give Miss Whoever She Is something she’ll never forget, even if his cop senses tell him she needs his protection. But how can he get her to tell him anything when his mouth won’t stop covering hers?

And here’s a random photo from our hotel room in Kauai – the setting for YOUR MOUTH DRIVES ME CRAZY – to inspire you to get in the car, go to the bookstore and buy 40 copies: