Author event and giveaway: Mary Kay Andrews
Mary Kay Andrews was the guest at a recent Book Your Lunch hosted by Fiction Addiction. The humor that readers are accustomed to in her books is part of her personality so I was not surprised to learn that she was the class clown and was voted “Most Humorous” in junior high – she says she can’t “play it straight” for very long.
Mary Kay has been married to her “starter husband” for 37 years so she’s rather surprised to find that she’s got the #1 and #2 spot on Amazon’s list of “Divorce Fiction.” Her latest book, Ladies Night holds the top spot while her last book, Spring Fever, comes in second. Ladies Night is about so much more than divorce, though – according to Mary Kay, it’s about finding yourself, reinventing yourself, and women’s friendships.
Most people know that Mary Kay started her career writing for the Atlanta newspaper. She started writing mysteries under her real name Kathy Hogan Trocheck. When she turned to women’s fiction, she used a pen name and her career took off. Savannah Blues, her first book as Mary Kay Andrews, outsold all of the Kathy Hogan Trocheck books combined. I happen to love the mysteries she wrote and am glad to see they are being re-released under her pen name.
All of Mary Kay’s characters start in a bad place because there has to be some conflict in commercial fiction. Mary Kay gets her ideas from all kinds of places. The idea for Spring Fever came to her in a dream and the idea for Ladies Night came to her after she read the book 101 Uses For My Ex-Wife’s Wedding Dress, by Kevin Cotter. That book made her think about revenge and things took off from there.
Fans will be happy to know that Mary Kay’s 4th Christmas book, Christmas Bliss, will be released in October.
I got Mary Kay to autograph a copy of Ladies Night for one lucky reader. To enter to win an autographed copy of LADIES NIGHT, by Mary Kay Andrews, simply fill out the entry form. Contest is open worldwide – one entry per person, please. I will use random.org to determine the winner. Contest ends at midnight EDT Wednesday, July 3, 2013. Comments are welcome (and appreciated) but will not get you an entry in the contest.
Mailbox Monday
Welcome to Mailbox Monday, a meme started by Marcia of To Be Continued and hosted by Meredith of Dolce Bellezza this month. What is going on with this crazy weather? We’ve had so much rain, I was thinking of building an ark – thankfully the sun has finally come out around here. Here are the books that showed up in my mailbox last week:
Monday
- The Ocean at the End of the Lane by Neil Gaiman came from Harper Collins
Tuesday
- The Boys in the Boat by Daniel James Brown came from Penguin
Wednesday
- The Funeral Dress by Susan Gregg Gilmore came from the author
- The Village by Nikita Lalwani came from Random House
Saturday
- The Shining Girls by Lauren Beukes came from Hachette
- Gameboard of the Gods by Richelle Mead came from Penguin Audio
Did you find any goodies in your mailbox last week?
Weekend Cooking: Cheese & Beer
Most people know that beer and cheese are great together but knowing what cheese to pair with what beer isn’t always easy. Enter Janet Fletcher – Fletcher has put together Cheese & Beer to help create the perfect pairings. She says “success largely rides on contrasts and complements,” and explains why in her wonderful book. She explains the basics of cheese and beer and tells how to store and serve each one.
After the introductory chapters, each chapter is about a particular style of beer. Fletcher gives the history of the style of beer, style notes, suggests specific beers to try and cheeses to pair with them. Her explanations are brief, but detailed enough for readers to branch out on their own – each beer chapter is two pages long. I really liked the fact that she lists specific beers to try with specific cheeses, but it should be noted that the emphasis is on American craft beers although a few imports are included as well.
The back of the book contains a handy chart for pairings, a glossary, a bibliography and an index. There are also beautiful photographs spread throughout the book.
When Cheese & Beer arrived, Carl and I thought it was a gorgeous book. We flipped through it over and over before we sat down to read it. We marked lots of pairings we wanted to try before we decided the best way to really test out the book was to host a beer and cheese tasting at the store. For the tasting, we paired:
- Oskar Blues Mama’s Little Yella Pils with Cowgirl Creamery Mt. Tam
- Jolly Pumpkin Bam Bière with Fontina Val D’Aosta
- Grand Teton Pursuit of Hoppiness with cave aged Gruyere
- Fuller’s London Porter withe Bleu D’Auvergne
Let me tell you, this tasting was a huge success. People called the pairings “wonderful” and “brilliant.” Many even enjoyed beers and/or cheeses they were hesitant to try. While every pairing had fans, the big winner of the night was the combination of the porter with the blue cheese. People have been talking about the tasting and many people have dropped in to say they’re sorry they missed it. We’ll definitely be planning another tasting using Cheese & Beer! I highly recommend this book – grab a copy if you, or someone you know, loves beer!
Weekend Cooking is hosted by Beth Fish Reads and is open to anyone who has any kind of food-related post to share: Book (novel, nonfiction) reviews, cookbook reviews, movie reviews, recipes, random thoughts, gadgets, fabulous quotations, photographs. If your post is even vaguely foodie, feel free to grab the button and link up anytime over the weekend. To see who else is participating this weekend, click on the logo.
Review copy provided by Andrews McMeel Publishing. I am an Indiebound Affiliate.
Saturday Snapshot
I saw this display at BEA and I was in awe. I’m not sure who the character is but he’s made completely of Legos. I cannot begin to comprehend how long it took to construct
Saturday Snapshot is hosted by Melinda of West Metro Mommy. It’s easy to participate – just post a picture that was taken by you, a friend, or a family member and add your link on Melinda’s site.
Kid Konnection: The Snatchabook
Eliza the bunny was settling down in bed to read a book and her book suddenly disappears. She’s left confused but then discovers something similar has been happening all over the woods. As rumors spread, Eliza decides she has to get to the bottom of things and comes up with a plan. She’s nervous, but determined and catches the little Snatchabook. She talks to him and finds out that he’s sad because he has no one to read to him. Together they come up with a plan that’s sure to work for everyone.
The Snatchabook, by Helen and Thomas Docherty is a darling picture book that you’ll love to share with your children. There’s so much to love about this book, including the wonderful illustrations. Eliza is such a great character. She’s strong and brave but also empathetic when she discovers the Snatchabook isn’t lucky enough to have someone to read with. She doesn’t seek revenge; she seeks a solution.
Children are sure to love the excitement and mystery of The Snatchabook. There’s just enough tension to make them want to turn the pages but not too much to scare them away. This is a wonderful book for the whole family to share! You can pre-order this book now or look for it in October.
For more children’s books reviews, go to Booking Mama’s feature, Kid Konnection. If you’d like to participate in Kid Konnection and share a post about anything related to children’s books (picture, middle grade, or young adult) from the past week, leave a comment as well as a link on her site.
Review copy provided by Sourcebooks. I am an Indiebound Affiliate.
BEA 2013 – Part 2
I was lucky enough to attend Book Expo America (or BEA) this year and wrote about my first few days there last week. This picks up on the third day of my trip – Friday morning.
Friday
Friday was our earliest morning, but Julie and I weren’t complaining because we were having breakfast at Adriana Trigiani‘s! Believe me when I say getting up early was worth it! Adriana is the ultimate hostess and we were totally charmed by her and thrilled to meet her neighbor John Searles.
After breakfast, we hopped into a cab with Candace and got over to the Javits just in time for Book Group Speed Dating. This wonderful event is presented by Reading Group Guides and highlights great books for book clubs to read. Publishers are given 10 minutes to pitch a handful of books before they have to move on to the next table. This is a fantastic way to learn about new books – the enthusiasm of the publishers sold me on several books I would never have considered otherwise. The books that stood out to me are:
- Burial Rites by Hannah Kent
- Between a Mother and Her Child by Elizabeth Noble
- Dollface by Renee Rosen
- You Knew Me When by Emily Liebert
- Help for the Haunted by John Searles
- The Coldest Girl in Coldtown by Holly Black
- If You Could Be Mine by Sara Farizan
From there, Julie and I walked the floor a little bit before meeting Candace and the ever delightful Chelsy, of Big Honcho Media, for lunch. We ended up going to Clyde Frazier’s Wine and Dine (at least I think that’s its name) and we were all pleasantly surprised at how good it was. After a quick trip to The Pony Bar, we headed back to the Javits for a little while. I discovered quite a few books that day including:
- The Husband’s Secret by Liane Moriarty
- The Double by George Pelecanos
- Guests on Earth by Lee Smith
Before we knew it, it was time to head to The Tipsy Parson for a cocktail party with Dorothea Benton Frank. This party was so much fun! Dottie kept us entertained while we enjoyed Southern dishes like boiled peanuts, cheese straws and deviled eggs.
After that it was time to head to Farrar, Straus & Giroux for their party. It was fun catching up with everyone there and chatting with a few of their authors, including Eli Brown, author of Cinnamon and Gunpowder.
We were all hungry after that, so Julie and I joined Alison and Candace for dinner at Smith and Wollensky before we called it a night.
Saturday
On Saturday morning, we met our friend Miriam and her precious dog, Leo, at Bryant Park for breakfast. Leo sat on my lap for a while and totally won my heart.
Miriam and Leo
Julie and Miriam had to leave after breakfast so I decided to head to the TKTS kiosk again. I was lucky enough to score a ticket for the Tony Award winning play Pippin and I enjoyed every minute of it. There was so much going on that I’d go see it again just to be able to take more of it in.
After the play, I met Candace, Jill, Cindy, and Sheila for dinner and drinks at Tir Na Nog. It was fun to sit, relax, and chat for a while.
Sunday
My flight didn’t leave until 6PM on Sunday so I met Nicole and her cousin for breakfast. Breakfast was short lived though, because Nicole’s cousin wasn’t feeling well.
I decided to stroll back to the hotel since I had a lot of time to kill and hadn’t gotten very far before I got a text from Carl telling me my flight had been canceled. I quickly checked my email and discovered that not only had my flight been canceled but Delta had booked me on a flight leaving the next day. I practically sprinted back to the hotel and called the airline, only to be told they had a high volume of calls and would return my call within the hour. Not knowing what else to do, I grabbed a cab and headed to the airport. Delta called me back and, after a little arguing, they found a way to get me home – through Detroit. The people in Detroit couldn’t have been nicer – since the flight was delayed, they served drinks and snacks in the waiting area and gave out complimentary drinks on the flight. I had a fantastic time in New York, but after all of that, I was happy to be home!
Going Public. . . In Shorts with Patrick Lawlor
June is Audiobook month (JIAM 2013). The audiobook community is giving back by teaming with the Going Public Project by offering a serialized audio story collection. All proceeds will go to Reach Out and Read literacy advocacy organization. Throughout June, 1-2 stories will be released each day on the Going Public blog and on author/book blogs. The story will be free (online only – no downloads) for one week. In collaboration with Blackstone Audio, all the stories will be available for download via Downpour. The full compilation will be ready June 30th.
The full schedule of the story release dates and narrators are at Going Public. Engineering and Mastering are provided by Jeffrey Kafer and SpringBrook Audio. Graphic design provided by f power design and published by Blackstone Audio. Project coordination and executive production by Xe Sands.
I’ve been lucky enough to be paired up with Patrick Lawlor for this fun project. I asked Patrick a few questions and planned to summarize his answers. He did such a good job summing things up himself, I’m just going to share his response here. After reading it, you’re going to want to hang out with him. Be sure to listen to Patrick’s fabulous recording of The Lottery Ticket by Anton Chekhov.
I started out as an actor, primarily on stage. Actually, my MFA is in Classical Acting, primarily Shakespeare. I have done all I can to make a living as an actor, and part of that has been expanding my definition of what it means to be a working actor. Subsequently, over the years, I have done stage, film, television, radio plays, theme parks, renaissance faires, murder mystery weekends, corporate training projects, industrial films. I’ve been an actor, director, stuntman, fight choreographer, teacher, tour guide, dancer, pub singer, bad mime, and yes, waiter, bartender and LOTS of file clerk gigs. Then, I was living in Los Angeles, working as a records management consultant for a major studio, the ultimate file clerk gig, when my wife surprised me with an Introduction to VoiceOver class one Valentines Day. I was hooked and took more classes. During one class, I heard about an APA event in New York that would put me in front of a lot of audiobook publishers. I had really never heard of audiobooks before, but in preparing, I immersed myself in the genre. (My favorite book in this period was Carl Hiaasen’s LUCKY NUMBERS, narrated by Ed Asner) I went, auditioned, met a lot of great people, and had my first book by lunchtime. (Daniel James Cabrillo’s NEW HOUSE, a short story from the anthology, AQUA EROTICA. Yes, my first gig was Erotica! I was so worried that my first book would be my last, that I recorded under a pseudonym! Now, approaching 300 books recorded, I think I’ll be okay.) I got 5 books that first year, 7 the next and then things took off. I now average between 25 and 30 books a year.
As far as my preparation is concerned, I have a fairly flexible routine. Each book is unique and presents unique challenges. Some have a lot of technical, foreign or invented words that need pronunciations. Some need a lot of character voices and/or accents or dialects. Sometimes I have to learn a whole way of talking, for instance if I’m reading Military nonfiction, business books or any number of things I don’t personally know about. Nothing is worse than listening to an authority who obviously doesn’t really know what he’s talking about! Generally, though, I always read the book (well, almost always. Sometimes time prohibits a preread). I make a list of all words I don’t know how to say. You’d be surprised how many everyday words you think you know that you’ve never actually said aloud. I pay special attention to real people’s names, regional pronunciations, odd words and technical words and phrases. If possible, I talk to the author to get her/his take on pronunciations and anything else they might find important. If it is a nonfiction, I then start to record. I normally do not do any distinct voices for nonfiction, unless they are specifically called for or the person has a famous voice. If it is a fiction, this is where the fun starts. Character Work! I come up with voices, accents and dialects for every character in the book. I draw as much as possible from clues in the text – accent, stutter, quiet, fast talker, etc. once this is done, I hit the studio!
I have won 4 Audiofile Earphones Awards and a Publishers Weekly Listen-Up Award. I have been an Audie Award Finalist 3 times, as well as several starred reviews from Library Journal and Publishers Weekly. i have been featured in numerous Best Of, Year’s Best, Editor’s choice, Fan Favorite and other similar lists.
I am the only working male audiobook narrator in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. (There ARE two female narrators, but one of them lives in a suburb, and the other does mostly theatre.) I continue to do theatre, and as a matter of fact, will be playing Jacques in Shakespeare’s AS YOU LIKE IT, later this summer. ( that’s the guy who says, “All the World’s a Stage…” for those of you keeping score at home.)
I’m happily married to the very talented filmmaker, Karen Erbach (check out the Girl Scouts of America’s 100th Anniversary commercial, To Get Her There. It still airs all over the country! I’m a huge fan!) We have a fantastic 3 year-old American Staffordshire (Pittie) Mix named Charlie, who is, quite possibly, the best dog in the world. To relax in our spare time, we run marathons, and are currently preparing for our 9th one together.
Be sure to check out other posts in this series from:
