Friday Reads 4.26.24

Friday Reads 4.19.24 Friday Reads 5.3.24

Friday Reads 4.26.24

It’s Friday, and you know what that means. Grab a cuppa, and let’s talk about what we’re reading!

It’s not only Friday but indie bookstore weekend!!! I highly encourage you to visit your local indie tomorrow and show your support — and if you can’t make it to them, give the closest a call. They will be happy to pre-order a certain big pink book for you (wink wink, nod nod 😜)

People, it has been a week. Every once in a while, I feel like those professors in the movies whose hair is sticking out in all directions, and they’re standing in their offices, staring at the stacks of books and piles of papers befuddled. I look at them and say — I see you, nutty professor, and I up your overwhelmed befuddlement with three doses of you missed a stack and what in the hell is happening in the world.

Yes. I got overwhelmed earlier this week. It happens. While I’d like to pretend I’m only writing my novel (hello, editor dear, if you’re reading, that *is* all I’m doing, nothing to see here) but there are some weeks that are the perfect storm, and that was the first half of this week. Short story edits, newsletters, blogs, blurb books, Joss stuff, backlist titles (boy do I have a fun surprise coming for YOU!) scandals (I pulled out in January) and debates (I disagree with this thesis)… there’s just not been enough time in the day. The stress gave me a happy little flare, so I lurched around for a couple of days, but that’s better. Might have been the cheese, who knows. The upside of the cheese: learned how to make asparagus properly at last, so que sera sera. (It’s the blanching…) Adding it to a Parmesan cream sauce… delightful.

Anyway. The good news is, the book is working!!! I made a bunch of changes and the next thing you know…words. Creepy, dark words. I am over the moon. I wrote all weekend, and it all finally started gelling. Got back to it in full force yesterday, and it’s been a great writing week.

I am reading an absolute blast of a book, SPLINTER EFFECT by Andrew Ludington. This is a rollicking adventure featuring a chrono-archeologist who is tasked with going back in time to save a famed menorah from ancient Rome. It is brilliant, has tons of historical context, a really cool sci-fi aspects with the time travel, and the main character, Rabbit, is really fun. And he has a nemesis, of course, a woman in the same field who keeps beating him to the goods. Combo quest, action, sci-fi, and I suspect a partnership is forming? Great book. If you like Indiana Jones, you’ll love this.

Next up is FIND ME IN CALIFORNIA by Kerry Lonsdale. I’ve been a huge fan of her work from day one, and I am so excited to have an advance copy of her latest! Kerry’s books have such soul, they are immersive character studies with gorgeous settings. One of my faves.

Hiding underneath the stack of books to my left is…drumroll please… a galley of Ruth Ware’s newest, ONE PERFECT COUPLE. I can’t tell you how loudly I cheered when I opened the package. Y’all know I’m a huge fan, and I’m super excited to chat with her again when she comes through Nashville for book tour in May! We had a blast last year.

My dad is a big Jack Carr fan, and his newest comes out in June. But ONLY THE DEAD, #6 in the series, is out in paperback… Hey dad, you can watch him talk with Barbara Peters at Poisoned Pen about it here…

Also, the wonderful Robert Dugoni was at the Pen this week chatting with Barbara. Man, if I lived in Scottsdale… But I live in Nashville which means I enjoy most of these online. You can learn so much about writing watching these interviews. Happily, Parnassus is going to start streaming select events as well - BRAVA!!!

In case you missed it, the April newsletter is out, in which I discuss all the publishing things.

—you won the A VERY BAD THING galley - please email or DM me your address!

I’m down to just a few copies so I’m going to pause AVBT giveaways for a bit, but this week, as a very special tribute to our indie stores, I will give a $25 giftcard to one of you to your favorite store - or one of mine. Leave a comment with your favorite indie bookseller so we can all learn about some great new places!

That’s it from me. How about you? Good week? Calmer than mine, I hope! I'd love to hear what you're reading this weekend. Any recommendations?

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