Mary Alice Monroe ...

Our highlight of the week was dinner and a show, uh, a signing, yes, that's it, a signing in Plano. You know the center of the universe (only if you live in Plano, I'm afraid). Our members from Ft. Worth and beyond do argue with me but it is always amusing to stir them up. But I digress...

Wednesday, June 29th we had a lovely dinner at the Macaroni Grill with Mary Alice Monroe and her escort, Joanne Crandall. It was wonderful especially when Alex our waiter gave us the jug of zinfandel "on the house." And it's always fun to "make your own pasta" because you get to see the REAL tastes of your table mates! Mary Alice likes hers "spicy." Of course, we had to earn our dinner -- by listing and explaining two goals we've set to do before we die. When we combined all the things the guests wanted to do it became a truly exciting set of experiences. If you're curious and I let you guess who had what goal you'd find the goals ranged from visiting La Scala (opera house in Italy for the heathens), visiting London to see the setting of favorite books, touring Ireland to see where ancestors fled, celebrating in Las Vegas, and even a week in New York City.

After getting to know each other, we freshened up and headed down the parking lot to the Barnes and Noble. Cody and other readers were waiting for us -- okay, waiting for Mary Alice since we sorta kept her over a few minutes. Getting our books from their MAM collection nicely displayed on the wall behind the speaker table, and fueling with a Starbucks latte (okay, that would be me) we were ready to settle for an evening with a fabulous author.

Mary Alice Monroe read from her book SWEETGRASS a passage near the end speaking to the heart of the story and yes, it made me tear up. Then she told us about her research for the book, the threat of development on the native habitat and the human lives. How generations worth of traditions are being lost along with the disappearance of the native sweetgrass. She also had a sample of the sweetgrass braiding (for lack of the correct term, forgive me). It still retained a lovely odor that must be wonderful in a large basket. It was helpful to actually have a part of the book to hold in your hand.

Then, we got our books signed, chit chatted some more and hugged and kissed -- you've got to love southern women, even if you've just met, you feel like old friends -- we headed out the doors into the warm evening.

It was a delightful night and we all had wonderful signed books to take home so we can always relive the memory of a special evening in Plano (not quite the center of the universe).

Plum buzz can last...

Last week I read (in one sitting) Evanovich's 11th Stephanie Plum adventure and while I whined about her bumbling, I secretly enjoyed every word of it. Good news. I've found another polish sleuth with another ensemble cast to make my enjoyment carry over into July.

The latest, and second, in Lori Avocato's Pauline Sokol series, is The Stiff and the Dead. And it's a hoot. Pauline, like Stephanie has stumbled into an investigating career. Only she's not tracking bail jumpers but insurance fraud. This latest case has her falling back on her previous experience as a nurse to track prescription viagra abuse at her uncle's senior citizen center. She even has a mysterious, elusive and single-named, Jagger, mentor in this investigation business. He appears at the most opportune times and the sexual tingles get her so distracted, she forgets whatever she might be doing. Hhhmmmm..... seem familiar??

Check her out. I think you'll like her if you're a fan of Evanovich.

What I'm reading...

What am I reading this week? Well let's see...



In paper I finished Lord of Sin by Madeline Hunter (though I may have finished that last week. I don't remember now. LOL). I also read an advance copy of Holly Jacobs' September release Once Upon a King. I also read one of the older Silhouette Bombshells Kiss of the Blue Dragon by Julie Beard. And today I started and almost finished Forget Prince Charming by Natalie Stenzel, another older book, from the early books in the Harlequin Flipside series. I had lots of reading time this week, sitting at the car dealer waiting on my car!





In electronic, I'm still on Soul of a Witch by Angela Verdenius. This is my before bed read so I don't get too far each night since I fall asleep. LOL But I'm about 2/3 of the way in to it and it's really good.



In audio, I'm on the last tape of Left behind Book 3: Nicolae. I'm also still working on Lake in the Clouds by Sara Donati. Next in audio is either Nora Roberts' Key of Light, or Left Behind Book 4: Soul Harvest. I have both ready to go.

Plum & Grey are definitely not boring

Plucky kick-ass heroines both, Stephanie Plum and Aisling Grey. I have just one problem with them. They kind of fumble around, get involved in things they shouldn't and make decisions without garnering hardly ANY information. I don't know about you, but I'd like to think if I was gonna be a kick-ass heroine I'd also want to be smart. Smooth even.

In Janet Evanovich's latest number, 11 if you're counting, Stephanie decides to quit the bail bond business because someone from her past has threatened to kill her. Granted, she kills a car in all her books, but she has gotten sort of used to that. This new threat forces her to become more introspective and question where her life is going. Marriage, kids, learning to play the cello...

Wait!! We cannot have Stephanie Plum decide between Morelli and Ranger. If she did, there would be no more reason to read the series!

Speaking of decision making difficulty, Aisling, that's ASh-ling to you peons not yet corrected by the author herself, is in Budapest this time and still can't commit to becoming a Wyvern's immortal mate.

Jim, the demon-dog is back, and a good thing since he has become one of my favorite characters of hers. Aisling is attending a conference and couriering another priceless object for her uncle when she is set upon by gypsy thieves and has her underwear scattered on the train station platform. Much embarassment, dead bodies and beasties ensue.

Actually that last statement is true for both books. Stephanie's niece is still in her horse phase. And Bob continues to eat indiscriminately. All in all both of these books are highly entertaining, and well established characters doing what they do best, I just wish they were a little MORE....

and on a book note -- URBAN SHAMAN

I apparently hit a few nerves on my URBAN SHAMAN report. Other readers report that they really liked it. I'm still trying to figure out where it went wrong for me, but even reflecting on my read, I'm convinced it's not a book that jumps out and does the hoops for me.

However, if you like "urban fantasy," the new catch term for fantasy sent in a contemporary alternate city universe, you might give URBAN SHAMAN a try.

Hmm, do you think it is just because I'm not convinced I like this shaman stuff? Although, I did re read INDUSTRIAL MAGIC this weekend; Dennis is a shaman and I liked his bit part. In fact I need to get my copy of HAUNTED to re read. I really like Kelley Armstrong's work, everything but DIME STORE MAGIC was top notch reading, unlike Kim Harrison who started out strong then wimped on the new book. ::sigh:: so picky. But I still have Harrison on my auto buy list, which is saying I have HIGH hopes for future works.

Speaking of books, and putting off doing "real" work, paranormal has been a topic of conversation recently. Most of my buds have joined me in finding our recent enjoyment in books either classified as strictly paranormal (or fantasy, urban or otherwise) or with a strong paranormal leaning. If we did a quick checklist, we'd find mystery with paranormal, romance with paranormal, fantasy, thriller with psychic leanings. Hmmm. Do you think it's because the fresh writers are gravitating to the paranormal or is paranormal the only genre without a strong formula defined? I'm sure it will change since most of us are also tiring of the john, jane, dick, harry and suzy vampire stories. I mean, seriously, there is only so much blood sucking (or sex sucking) you can tolerate! And throwing in a shoe obsessed blood sucker isn't going to make it okay either.

And piglet moves on...

A sad note to those of us who either grew up on Winnie the Pooh, or grew to appreciate it with our children. John Fiedler, 80, Stage Actor and Film Voice of Pooh's Piglet, Dies - New York Times.

Ah, we love the Pooh so much, it is still one of our favorite movies / shows. Speaking of cartoon movies, how many besides us collect the DVDs and videos of old favorites? I noticed our cleaning crew's daughter and a visitor last week were eyeing the "fun" section of our DVDs. Gwen's been collecting each Disney one as it comes out -- first in video and now in DVD. She didn't get to see many of them in the theatre but she sure loves to have Disney marathons now.

Ever wonder what it takes to make your author looks so glamorous on the cover?

I stumbled across Sigrid Estrada Photography when I should have been working this weekend and was reminded of all the great back cover photos I've seen in past years with the copyright of Sigrid Estrada.

And check out the great travel photos! Wow, I wouldn't mind the ones with flowers on my walls. I've got to find out if she sells her prints. Ah, well.

Also follow the link to the Salon article -- the fact she irons his shirt is just astonishing. Since it was from 2000, I wonder if she still does it?