A surprising number of bettors correctly chose French writer Jean-Marie Gustave Le Clezio to win the 2008 Nobel Prize in literature — leading the award jury to suspect a leak.

Yes, I know the point of the story is that someone leaked the name of the winner. Bad, bad Swedish Academy voters. But, really, I’m more intrigued by the idea of a bunch of folks betting on this. It kind of cracks me up. Guess people will bet on anything if there’s the potential to make a dollar.

So, yeah, it’s official. Nothing is sacred.

Last year (2007) was easy because I had one release. This year is tougher since I have two single titles and four novellas. Needless to say, I’m not submitting all of those since the electric company folks insist I pay them instead. So now I must choose. I’m thinking one single title and one novella. I have the following to choose from:

-RIGHT HERE, RIGHT NOW (single title)
-THIS OLD HOUSE (novella from HARD AS NAILS)
-ALL ABOUT ADAM (novella from HARD AS NAILS)
-MAN AT THE DOOR (novella from HARD AS NAILS)
-CAN YOU HAND ME THE TAPE? (novella from TO ALL A GOOD NIGHT)
-HOT A HELL (single title)

Now, the titles HOT AS HELL and HARD AS NAILS likely are problematic for those entries. People see those and think the books are something they’re not - ie, erotica - and I truly think that impacts the judging scores. That’s not a slam to erotica. It’s just that I don’t write erotica and if people are expecting that, they’ll be disappointed. And, honestly, I don’t think the RITA judging is very pro erotica.

Still, I’ll submit. Just don’t know which ones.

For those authors and wannabe authors looking for good news, this might not be the story for you. For those who want to know so that they can decide whether or not to take that third job at the night window at Wendy’s, here is a peek of what’s been happening the last few days:

-Barnes & Noble is off 19 percent
-Scholastic had peaked on September 19, and is down 26 percent since then
-Borders is off 44 percent
-Books-a-Million has fallen even further, giving up 49 percent
-Amazon peaked at $81 a share on September 19, losing 31 percent since then

Oh, happy days…

The good news is that some publisher are buying. There are sales notices for all sorts of book deals. If you’re writing YA fantasy, you are in the right place at the right time because all the publishers appear to want that. Everyone else? Deep breath.

Now it’s your turn. Go buy Diana’s newest release, HUNGRY FOR MORE, and pre-order HOT AS HELL.

I’m willing to beg…

Susan is lovely and her home is unbelievable. Honestly, the view from the backyard is inspiring. But don’t take my word for it. Here are some photos…

This is what Susan sees from her yard every single day. Debbie Macomber’s house sits somewhere on that piece of land to the right:

Here’s a photo of me with Susan. She hurt her arm right before we got there but that didn’t stop her from being a fabulous hostess:

My hubby playing with Susan’s dog Barkis.

The view of Seattle from the ferry:

Here we are getting blown all around while on the ferry. Note: my hair does not normally go up like that.

An amazing time.

Rev. Sylvester Graham led America in its first health food crusade. He bought into the widely spread notion that spicy foods contributed to lust, and vice versa. So in 1829 he introduced the spice-less snack to curb sexual desire.

Apparently Dr. Kellogg (the cornflakes guy) apparently believed the same thing.

Learn something new every single day…

Forbes has updated their annual guesses on the earnings of the most successful authors. This year’s list, covering June 1, 2007 to June 1, 2008, estimates the top 10 authors “pulled in a combined $563 million.”
1. J.K. Rowling, $300 million
2. James Patterson, $50 million
3. Stephen King, $45 million
4. Tom Clancy, $35 million
5. Danielle Steel, $30 million
6. John Grisham, $25 million
6. Dean Koontz, $25 million
8. Ken Follett, $20 million
9. Janet Evanovich, $17 million
10. Nicholas Sparks, $16 million

For the record, I make about $1.67. No millions. Just $1.67.

This isn’t the first book by Harrison to grab my attention. A few years ago I stumbled across one of her memoirs, THE KISS. It’s about her completely inappropriate relationship with her father. I’ll let you read the description on B&N because, really, it’s too awful. I’m having a hard time wiping that from my head to focus on this one. Still, I kind of want the new book:

Early on an April morning, eighteen-year-old Billy Frank Gilley, Jr., killed his sleeping parents. Surprised in the act by his younger sister, Becky, he turned on her as well. Billy then climbed the stairs to the bedroom of his other sister, Jody, and said, “We’re free.” But is one ever free after an unredeemable act of violence? The Gilley family murders ended a lifetime of physical and mental abuse suffered by Billy and Jody at the hands of their parents. And it required each of the two survivors–one a convicted murderer, the other suddenly an orphan–to create a new identity, a new life.

It’s like a textbook for the Brotherhood series. Not sure where to start reading it. Do I skip to the never-before-seen short story? Look up things I want to know? Not sure.