HelenKay Dimon

Whether you like James Patterson’s books or not – and many don’t – you’ve got to give the guy credit for the career he’s built. According to Galleycat:

With 31 hardcover novels reaching number one and 45 total books on the list, author James Patterson has earned the Guinness World Record for the “Most Entries on The New York Times Best-Seller List.”

Some people will hate him for that acomplishment alone.

While I’m sick and confined to the couch, friend and fabulous fellow author Jill Sorenson is stepping in to hold an awesome contest for you all. Here’s Jill…

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Hi everyone! CRASH INTO ME is this month’s Red-Hot Read in Cosmopolitan! To celebrate, I’m giving away autographed copies of CRASH INTO ME, my debut for Bantam Dell, and DANGEROUS TO TOUCH, my debut for Silhouette Romantic Suspense. Leave a comment stating which one you want, and you’ll be entered to win. I’ll pick winners by Sunday and will post them here. U.S. only please.

Good luck! -Jill
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P.S. from HelenKay…I’ve read both of these and they’re fabulous. The hero in CRASH INTO ME is a former professional surfer. And look at these pretty covers:

UPDATE: Winners announced in comments section.

I officially have strep throat. Not happy.

Will be back to blogging tomorrow with a contest, so stay tuned…

I’ve been away from the internet for a few days thanks to being sick…again. Really tired of this sinus stuff, by the way. While I’m off recuperating I thought I’d share some information on my March 2010 release. Seems far away, doesn’t it? IN publishing time it isn’t. I have three more releases at the end of this year and my first Harlequin Intrigue in Feb. 2010 before we get to this one, but I still want to share so I’m gonna.

The title: LEAVE ME BREATHLESS

Back Cover Blurb:

PERMISSION TO APPROACH

Callie has no problem brushing aside Ben’s disbelief. She left the FBI to escape the boys’ club, but she can be deeper undercover and twice as lethal as any beefy John Doe. As for whether someone’s after Bennett or not, the death threats and car bombs look pretty convincing to Callie. Of course, she might get distracted, sitting inches from the sexiest judge in DC for ten hours a day. Keeping him safe is no picnic. Keeping it professional—that might be impossible.

Love this one.

There was an article about Charlaine Harris in yesterday’s New York Times. It’s a good piece. My favorite part is right at the beginning:

Charlaine Harris was sitting in the small dining nook of her suburban cedar-and-stone home one afternoon last week when she took the call from her editor in New York. After she hung up, she yanked both fists down and let out a triumphant, “Yes!”

Ms. Harris, the author of the Sookie Stackhouse vampire mystery romance novels, had just heard that the latest book in the series, “Dead and Gone,” would make its debut on the New York Times hardcover fiction best-seller list this Sunday in the No. 1 spot. It was a first for Ms. Harris, who has published 26 novels in nearly three decades and sold the original book in the Sookie series, “Dead Until Dark,” for just $5,000 nine years ago.

So, she went from a $5000 advance for her first book to a seven-figure advance under her current contract, all in just nine years. Impressive.

I read a fabulous article in the Wall Street Journal about the Donald Trump lawsuit. Seems Trump is suing the author of TrumpNation: The Art of Being the Donald, Tim O’Brien, for defamation. The book put Trump’s net worth in the $150 to $250 million range. Trump says that’s an outrage and insists his net worth is in the billions. He argues the number the author quoted ruined his public image.

Yeah, the author is the one who makes Trump look bad. Riiiiiight.

So, Trump was deposed. During the same he said he bases his net worth estimations on “mental projections.” In other words, he lies about his assets. What a surprise. Regardless of how silly this sounds, Trump is going after O’Brien and says:

…he will “wish he never heard of that God damn book” and predicted that “the publishing company will pay me hundreds of millions of dollars” as a result of the suit.

Explain to me why people admire Trump.

And why isn’t B&N carrying the O’Brien book?

Stephen King has set out his annual summer reading list in Entertainment Weekly. I hadn’t planned to read any of them. In case you’re wondering, here they are:

1. SHATTER by Michael Robotham – Seems the bad guy talks the victims into killing themselves. Now I’m intrigued.
2. QUICKSILVER by Neal Stephenson – Apparently this one has pirates and kinky sex. Well, there you go. Who wouldn’t love that.
3. THE TOURIST by Olen Steinhauer – A spy novel. Enough said on that.
4. LITTLE DORRIT by Charles Dickens – The identity of the author should tell you what you need to know here.
5. DROOD by Dan Simmons – Okay, I was wrong. I do intend to read this one. Sounds gothic and sinister. I love that combination.
6. DOG ON IT by Spencer Quinn – I love animals but I’m done with dog books. And the dog-as-narrator thing? Sorry.
7. HANDLE WITH CARE by Jodi Picoult – This one just hasn’t grabbed my attention. No idea why.

Now I must think about my summer reading list. Will post it next week.

My friend and fellow Brava author Sylvia Day has launched a new series under the name S.J. Day. I remember the day a few years back when Sylvia told me about this idea. She was so excited. And I’m excited for her because the first of the new trilogy – EVE OF DARKNESS – is now out. Take a look…

Cursed by God, hunted by demons, desired by Cain and Abel… All in a day’s work.

But she’ll worry about all that later. Right now she’s more concerned with learning to kill while staying alive. And saving the soul she’d never believed she had.

Go buy it.

I’ve been reading about this new digi-novel” Anthony Zuiker, creator of CSI, is putting out. According to USA Today, it goes like this:

Level 26: Dark Origins, to be published by Dutton Sept. 8, is the first in a series in which each book will be supplemented with 20 videos, or “cyber-bridges,” featuring actors playing characters from the novel.

Still not sure how this is going to work – like, do I have to watch the videos to know what the hell is going on or will reading the book be sufficient – but I like the combo of text and video. The most interesting part of the article is the part where Zuiker compares the style of his book to books by James Patterson. I can almost hear the reviewers groaning in response.

Saw an AP article today titled, Study: Bad boy doesn’t always get the girl. I, of course, read it. Seems there’s a tribe in Ecuador called the Waorani that has the murder rate of any group. In keeping with the idea that chicks love bad boys, Penn State did this study to figure out if the most murderous among the male Waorani also got all the women. Here are the findings:

The Waorani had a reputation for killing outsiders and being equally aggressive among one another, being listed as having the highest homicide rate known to anthropology. Indeed, over five generations 42 percent of all Waorani population losses were caused by killing one another and another 8 percent were killed in conflicts with outsiders.

And it wasn’t just men. Murder accounted for 54 percent of male deaths but also 39 percent of women.

Brave researchers interviewed men in 23 settlements, talking to any man old enough to have experienced warfare before the pacification of recent years who was willing to be interviewed about their lives and families.

They found that more aggressive men do not acquire more wives than other men, do not have more children and their wives and children do not survive longer. In fact, warlike men have fewer children who survive to reproductive age, they found.

Okay. I get it. Too much fighting makes Johnny too tired for loving. Now how about a study to figure out why these folks fight all the time?