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Juliette Fay is the author of three novels: SHELTER ME, DEEP DOWN TRUE and THE SHORTEST WAY HOME (all of which were Bookreporter.com Bets On selections). Here, Juliette talks about the book she gave to her daughter several Christmases ago and why it turned out to be the perfect gift to have given her, despite it being a “mom book.”

For Lee Woodruff --- co-author (with her husband, Bob Woodruff) of IN AN INSTANT and whose most recent book is THOSE WE LOVE MOST, her debut novel --- the gift of Wallace Stegner’s CROSSING TO SAFETY was a comfort to a newlywed bride who felt displaced and homesick spending her first Christmas in China. She clung to the novel, desperate for any connection back to America. However, re-reading the book 20 years later, she realized it was a blueprint to her marriage…and to her life.

Nelson DeMille, whose latest novel, THE PANTHER, is his sixth thriller featuring Anti-Terrorist Task Force agent John Corey, kicks off this year’s Holiday Author Blogs. In this heartwarming first piece, Nelson talks about a very special fan of his --- a young man who, as a teenager nine years ago, had quite a memorable holiday season thanks to Nelson’s kindness and generosity.

We have two perspectives on the Miami Book Fair. One is from David Abrams, the debut author of FOBBIT, a comedy about the Iraq War, who was attending the Fair for the first time as both a presenter and an attendee. FOBBIT was published by Grove/Atlantic in September and was selected for the Barnes and Noble Discover Great New Writers program. And Miriam Klein Kassenoff, one of our readers who I love spending time with at the Fair, is a longtime attendee, so I was looking forward to her feedback. We’ll start with comments from David and then move to Miriam's feedback.

A dozen great books were part of my vacation reading --- what a way to spend time away! Ah the places books can take you when you float in the pool. 

Jaden Terrell explains why she thinks Nashville is the perfect setting for a crime novel. She offers a description of the city beyond its Music City roots that outsiders may not be familiar with. As a Nashville author, she uses the city's contrasts in her Jared McKean mysteries; the latest book in her series, A CUP FULL OF MIDNIGHT, is now available.  

Kathy Jund, one of our readers in Southern California met up with Carol Fitzgerald at the Romance Writers of America Literacy signing at the Anaheim Convention Center last Wednesday. Here is her report on that event, as well as her commentary on some of the other romance-themed events she attended surrounding the conference.

One of the highlights of the Romance Writers of America “RWA” conference for me is the "Readers for Life" Literacy Autographing where last night more than 400 authors signed books, the proceeds of which will fund literacy charities. The authors sit at cloth-covered tables theatre style with copies of their books that have been donated by their publishers with pens poised, ready to sign --- and often with goodies like bookmarks, upcoming chapters, pens and candy to share. Readers make their way from aisle to aisle to meet favorite authors and explore new ones; all proceeds of the evening this year will be donated to ProLiteracy Worldwide, Read Orange County, and Literacy Volunteers—Huntington Valley. Since 1990, RWA has raised $716,000 to fight illiteracy.  

Our reader, Kathy Jund,  lives in Southern California. (You may remember her from her coverage of the L.A. Times Book Festival.) She attended Karin Slaughter's event at the Cerritos Library in Cerritos, California and in this blog interview she shares her thoughts on the presentation.

While this year I was unable to attend ThrillerFest as I was off to California for San Diego Comic-Con, I am very happy to share this terrific report from my son Greg and my other colleague, Maureen Linehan on this annual conference. By the way, both Maureen and Greg are in their twenties so I looked forward to reading  their thoughts and impressions on this event since they represent the future of publishing. Many of the conferences that I attend have hefty price tags that preclude younger fans from attending.