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NEW BOOKS BY NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLING AUTHOR BRENDA JACKSON

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BrendaJacksonHarlequin announced it will publish 10 books by New York Times and USA TODAY bestselling author Brenda Jackson, continuing its longstanding relationship with the author by signing two deals that include six books for Harlequin Desire and four contemporary romance novels for HQN Books. Stacy Boyd, senior editor for Harlequin Desire, and Allison Carroll, editor for HQN Books, both based in New York, acquired world rights plus audio for all books from Pattie Steele-Perkins at The Steele-Perkins Literary Agency. The first of Jackson’s new titles for Harlequin Desire is scheduled for publication in April 2021 and for HQN Books in October 2020.

Dianne Moggy, Harlequin’s Vice-President for Editorial, said: “Brenda Jackson is a superb storyteller and we’re thrilled to bring her emotionally-charged romance novels to readers. Brenda has been a star contributor to Harlequin Desire for many years, and we’re equally excited to publish the next contributions to her popular Catalina Cove and Madaris family series for HQN Books.”

Well known as a trailblazing author in multicultural romance, Brenda Jackson released her first book, Tonight and Forever, in 1995 and published her 100th novel with Harlequin this year. She has written over 100 romance titles in total and her books have been adapted to the screen, including the made-for-television movie One Special Moment for BET, and the movie Truly Everlasting. Brenda Jackson was named Romance Writers of America’s Nora Robert’s Lifetime Achievement Award recipient for 2012. She lives in Jacksonville, Florida and earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Business Administration from Jacksonville University.

The Last Thing You Surrender: A Novel of World War II by Leonard Pitts Jr.

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last-thing-you-surrenderaefrerfeThe Last Thing You Surrender: A Novel of World War II by Leonard Pitts Jr.
Could you find the courage to do what’s right in a world on fire?

(Reprinted with permission from Black Pearls Magazine)

Pulitzer-winning journalist and bestselling novelist Leonard Pitts, Jr.’s new historical page-turner is a great American tale of race and war, following three characters from the Jim Crow South as they face the enormous changes World War II triggers in the United States.

An affluent white marine survives Pearl Harbor at the cost of a black messman’s life only to be sent, wracked with guilt, to the Pacific and taken prisoner by the Japanese . . . a young black woman, widowed by the same events at Pearl, finds unexpected opportunity and a dangerous friendship in a segregated Alabama shipyard feeding the war . . . a black man, who as a child saw his parents brutally lynched, is conscripted to fight Nazis for a country he despises and discovers a new kind of patriotism in the all-black 761st Tank Battalion.


Set against a backdrop of violent racial conflict on both the front lines and the home front, The Last Thing You Surrender explores the powerful moral struggles of individuals from a divided nation. What does it take to change someone’s mind about race? What does it take for a country and a people to move forward, transformed?

Nora Jean M. Goodreads 5-Star Customer Review for The Last Thing You Surrender 
This is a POWERFUL read, and I highly recommend it to anyone who is an avid reader. The language is beautiful although the story is haunting. The character development is very real, and it makes the reader hurt even more for these people who become important to the readers’ lives. This is an area of history that we do not learn in school, and the author has provided an imitate portrait of this time. Read this book!

Publishers Weekly Editorial Review for The Last Thing You Surrender

Leonard Pitts Jr., a Pulitzer Prize–winning journalist, turns again to America’s fraught history of race relations in this unflinching, gritty WWII saga. It centers on a trio of finely drawn characters, two black and one white, all from Alabama, whose worlds collide because of Pearl Harbor.

Marine Private George Simon—wealthy, religious, white—survives the sinking of his ship because Eric Gordy, a black messman, rescues him. Eric dies, and while George recuperates, he pays a condolence call on Eric’s widow, Thelma. She and her brother, Luther Hayes, a bitter alcoholic, are living with the memory of their parents’ lynching 20 years earlier.

George and Thelma begin a correspondence after he returns to active duty; she takes a job in a shipyard. Luther, deciding this is a white man’s war, tries to evade the draft but ends up serving with a tank battalion in Europe. George endures horrific conditions in the Pacific as Thelma faces growing racial hostility at work, culminating in a brutal moment of violence that compels her to make a difficult decision.

While remaining true to his characters, Pitts brings the story lines to realistic conclusions even as he holds out hope for the future, resulting in a polished, affecting novel.

 

About the Author
Leonard Pitts, Jr., is the author of the novels The Last Thing You Surrender: A Novel of World War II , Grant Park, Freeman, and Before I Forget, as well as two works of nonfiction.

Leonard is a nationally syndicated columnist for the Miami Herald and winner of the 2004 Pulitzer Prize for commentary, in addition to many other awards. Born and raised in Southern California, Pitts lives in Maryland outside Washington, DC.

Purchase The Last Thing You Surrender: A Novel of World War II by Leonard Pitts Jr.
https://www.agatepublishing.com/titles/the-last-thing-you-surrender
https://www.amazon.com/Last-Thing-You-Surrender-Novel/dp/1572842458
https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/the-last-thing-you-surrender-leonard-pitts-jr/1128941167#/

 

New Book Offers Insider Strategies on Obtaining Quality Medical Care at Reduced Cost

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BookCoverInsidersGuideHealthcare Tops Americans’ Worry List for the Fifth Year in a Row

New Book Offers Insider Strategies on Obtaining Quality Medical Care at Reduced Cost

In an April 2019 report on Americans’ biggest worries, Gallup found that “fifty-five percent of Americans worry ‘a great deal’ about the availability and affordability of healthcare.” Rapid changes in the U.S. healthcare system and escalating medical costs are causing uncertainty and financial stress for consumers.

These trends inspired two physicians with decades of healthcare experience to share the inside story of how the U.S. healthcare system really works and how to navigate it effectively in their new book, Insider’s Guide to Quality, Affordable Healthcare, published in May 2019.

Authors Lawrence W. Lazarus, M.D. and Jeffrey Foster, M.D. aim to help their readers become knowledgeable healthcare consumers and replace their anxiety with confidence. They offer practical information, resources and guidance on how to:

•  find well-qualified doctors and reduce medical expenses.

•  research and select cost-effective healthcare.

•  prevent medical errors that account for more deaths each year than car accidents.

•  obtain a second or third opinion from a specialist.

•  secure a healthcare advocate (“guardian angel”).

This book will be regularly updated at www.qualityaffordablehealthcare.net so readers can stay informed about the latest healthcare news.

Insider’s Guide to Quality, Affordable Healthcare has been endorsed by medical professionals. Dr. A. John Rush, a renowned physician and Adjunct Professor at Duke and Texas Tech Medical Schools, described the book this way: “Finally, a user-friendly guide written by two seasoned doctors to help all Americans choose the highest quality health care while containing out-of-pocket costs.”

About the Authors

dr_larry_lazarusLawrence W. Lazarus, M.D. has specialized in geriatric medicine and psychiatry at Rush Medical School and University in Chicago, Illinois, where he founded the Geriatric Psychiatry Fellowship Program. He is a former president of the American Association for Geriatric Psychiatry and was awarded numerous teaching and research grants from the National Institute of Mental Health. Dr. Lazarus is in private practice in Santa Fe, New Mexico.

dr_jeff_foster-225x300Jeffrey Foster, M.D. has spent his clinical and academic career with Geriatric Psychiatry as a prominent focus. He has worked closely with primary care physicians, nurses, social workers and various specialists in hospital and outpatient settings. A former President of the American Association of Geriatric Psychiatry, Dr. Foster has received various teaching and research grants from the National Institute of Mental Health.

Contact Information
Dr. Lawrence Lazarus, larry@lwlazarus.com, (505) 820-2302
www.qualityaffordablehealthcare.net

Memorial Day Reads

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flagToday, we pay tribute to the American men and women who have died in service to our country. To honor the occasion we have curated a list of nonfiction titles – for adults and young readers – that honor the service and sacrifice of our nation’s military.

“That is how we always keep our beloved dead alive, isn’t it? By telling stories about them; true stories.” ― James D. Bradley, Flags of Our Fathers

 

 

The Mathews Men by William GerouxTHE MATHEWS MEN: SEVEN BROTHERS AND THE WAR AGAINST HITLER’S U-BOATS by William Geroux

Mathews County, Virginia, a bleak strip of land along the Chesapeake with almost nothing to offer—sent one of the largest concentrations of sea captains and merchant mariners of any community in America to fight in World War II. The Mathews Men shows us the war far beyond traditional battlefields—much of it just off the US coast—but also takes us to the landing beaches at D Day and to the Pacific. “When final victory is ours,” Gen. Dwight D. Eisenhower had predicted, “there is no organization that will share its credit more deservedly than the Merchant Marine.”

 

Flags of Our Fathers by James Bradley and Ron PowersFLAGS OF OUR FATHERS by James Bradley, Ron Powers

Here is the true story behind the immortal photograph that has come to symbolize the courage and indomitable will of America. In February 1945, American Marines plunged into the surf at Iwo Jima–and into history. Through a hail of machine-gun and mortar fire that left the beaches strewn with comrades, they battled to the island’s highest peak. And there, they raised a flag. The son of one of the flag raisers has written a powerful account of six very different men who came together in the heroic battle.

 

A Bright Shining Lie by Neil SheehanA BRIGHT SHINING LIE: JOHN PAUL VANN AND AMERICA IN VIETNAMby Neil Sheehan

Winner of the Pulitzer Prize and the National Book Award

One of the most acclaimed books of our time—the definitive Vietnam War exposé in which renowned journalist tells the story of John Vann—“the one irreplaceable American in Vietnam”—and of the tragedy that destroyed a country and squandered so much of America’s young manhood and resources.

 

An American Family by Khizr KhanAN AMERICAN FAMILY: A MEMOIR OF HOPE AND SACRIFICE by Khzir Khan

Having instilled the same ideals that brought him to America in the first place, Khan relates the heroic and tragic story of his middle son, U.S. Army Captain Humayun Khan, who is killed while protecting his base camp in Iraq, and the ways in which their undying pride in him and his sacrifice have helped them endure the deepest despair a parent can know. An American Family is a lyrical and intimate depiction of what being an American really means.

 

The Invisible Front by Yochi DreazenTHE INVISIBLE FRONT: LOVE AND LOSS IN AN ERA OF ENDLESS WARby Yochi Dreazen

The unforgettable story of a military family that lost two sons—one to suicide and one in combat—and channeled their grief into fighting the armed forces’ suicide epidemic.

 

 

 

The Ghosts of Hero Street by Carlos HarrisonTHE GHOSTS OF HERO STREET: HOW ONE SMALL MEXICAN-AMERICAN COMMUNITY GAVE SO MUCH IN WORLD WAR II AND KOREAby Carlos Harrison

The Mexican-American families who lived on a single street in Silvis, Illinois sent fifty-seven of their children to fight in World War II and Korea—more than any other place that size anywhere in the country. Eight of those children died. It’s a distinction recognized by the Department of Defense, one that earned that strip a distinguished name: Hero Street. Based on interviews with relatives, friends, and soldiers who served alongside the men, as well as personal letters and photographs, The Ghosts of Hero Street is the compelling and inspiring account of a street of soldiers—and men—who would not be denied their dignity or their honor.

 

FOR YOUNGER READERS

 

Flags of Our Fathers by James Bradley and Ron PowersFLAGS OF OUR FATHERS: HEROES OF IWO JIMA (Young Readers edition) by James Bradley, Ron Powers, Michael French

New York Times bestseller, now adapted for young readers, Flags of Our Fathers is the unforgettable chronicle of perhaps the most famous moment in American military history: the raising of the U.S. flag at Iwo Jima.

 

Boots on the Ground by Elizabeth PartridgeBOOTS ON THE GROUND: AMERICA’S WAR IN VIETNAM by Elizabeth Partridge

Winner of the National Book Award

In March 1965 President Lyndon B. Johnson sent troops into Vietnam. 57,939 American soldiers would be killed and seventeen years would pass before this controversial chapter of American history concluded with the dedication of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial in 1982. The history of this era is complex, but it’s the personal stories of eight people—six American soldiers, one American nurse, and one Vietnamese refugee—that form the heartbeat of Boots on the Ground. From dense jungles and terrifying firefights to chaotic medic rescues and evacuations, each individual’s story reveals a different facet of the war and moves us forward in time.

 

Amazon Literary Partnership 2019 Grants Announced

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amlitSince 2009, the Amazon Literary Partnership has awarded more than $12 million in grant funding to more than 150 literary organizations, with a particular focus on supporting a diversity of voices. Grant recipients include nonprofit writing centers, residencies, fellowships, after-school classes, literary magazines, national organizations supporting storytelling and free speech, and internationally acclaimed publishers of fiction, nonfiction, and poetry.

Supported groups

Read more about our 2019 grant recipients below some of our recipients are highlighted below, in their own words. We encourage you to support them as well.

In 2019, Amazon Literary Partnership awarded funding to the below grant recipients

The Academy of American Poets

The Academy of American Poets is our nation’s leading champion of poets and poetry. Founded in 1934, the organization produces Poets.org, the world’s largest publicly-funded website for poets and poetry; National Poetry Month; the popular Poem-a-Day series;American Poetsmagazine; Teach This Poem and other resources for K-12 educators; an annual series of poetry readings and special events; and awards to poets. It also coordinates and supports the work of a national Poetry Coalition, an alliance of more than 20 poetry organizations working to promote the value poets bring to our culture and the important contribution poetry makes in the lives of people of all ages and backgrounds.

Community of Literary Magazines and Presses (CLMP)

CLMP ensures a vibrant, diverse literary landscape by helping small literary publishers work better. We communicate the art of literary publishing to readers, writers, booksellers, librarians, educators, funders and other literary stakeholders, and work to bring all of these communities together. CLMP carries out this mission so that essential literary voices from all corners can make their way from writers to readers.

Words without Borders

Founded in 2003, Words Without Borders expands cultural understanding through the translation, publication, and promotion of the finest contemporary international literature. Our publications and programs open doors for readers of English around the world to the multiplicity of viewpoints, richness of experience, and literary perspective on world events offered by writers in other languages. We seek to connect international writers to the general public, to students and educators, and to the media and to serve as a primary online location for a global literary conversation.

Lambda Literary Foundation

Lambda Literary nurtures and advocates for LGBTQ writers, elevating the impact of their words to create community, preserve our legacies, and affirm the value of our stories and our lives.

National Book Foundation – 5 under 35

In 2006, the National Book Foundation established the 5 Under 35 prize to recognize young, debut fiction writers whose work promised to leave a lasting impression on the literary landscape. 5 Under 35 has identified some of the most celebrated young writers working today. Previous honorees include Brit Bennett, Angela Flournoy, Phil Klay, Nam Le, Valeria Luiselli, C.E. Morgan, Téa Obreht, ZZ Packer, Karen Russell, Justin Torres, Claire Vaye Watkins, Tiphanie Yanique, and Charles Yu.

Hurston/Wright Foundation

The mission of the Hurston/Wright Foundation is to discover, mentor, and honor Black writers. Named for literary geniuses Zora Neale Hurston and Richard Wright, the foundation preserves this legacy and works to ensure the future of Black writers and the literature they produce.

National Novel Writing Month (Nanowrimo)

National Novel Writing Month believes in the transformational power of creativity. We provide the structure, community, and encouragement to help people find their voices, achieve creative goals, and build new worlds—on and off the page.

Girls Write Now

Girls Write Now mentors underserved young women to find their voices through the power of writing and community. Girls Write Now serves a culturally and educationally diverse community of mentees — 90% girls of color, 70% immigrant or first generation, 25% LGBT/non-conforming; and 90% high need.

Graywolf Press

Graywolf Press is a nonprofit publisher of fiction, nonfiction, poetry, and genre-defying literature whose aim is to foster new thinking about what it means to live in the world today. Graywolf is committed to the discovery and energetic publication of twenty-first century American and international literature. We champion outstanding writers at all stages of their careers to ensure that adventurous readers can find underrepresented and diverse voices in a crowded marketplace.

Writers in the Schools

To engage children in the joy and power of reading and writing, WITS revolutionizes the way reading and writing are taught, nurturing the growth of the imagination and awakening students to the adventures of language.

Asian American Writers’ Workshop

Established in 1991, AAWW is a national not-for-profit arts organization devoted to the creating, publishing, developing and disseminating of creative writing by Asian Americans–in other words, we’re the preeminent organization dedicated to the belief that Asian American stories deserve to be told.

Ucross

The mission of Ucross Foundation is to foster the creative spirit of deeply committed artists and groups by providing uninterrupted time, studio space, living accommodations, and the experience of the majestic High Plains while serving as a good steward of its historic 20,000-acre ranch.

Center for Black Literature

Founded in 2003 and spearheaded by Brenda M. Greene, Ph.D., the Center for Black Literature at Medgar Evers College, CUNY, builds on the tradition and legacy of the National Black Writers Conference that began in 1986.The Center serves as a voice, mecca, and resource for Black writers and the general public to study the literature of people from the African Diaspora.

Chicago Humanities Festival

The Chicago Humanities Festival connects people to the ideas that shape and define us, and promotes the lifelong exploration of what it means to be human.

Seattle Arts and Lectures

For over 20 years, Seattle Arts and Lectures has presented dynamic arts and education programs for children and adults throughout the Puget Sound region. SAL’s mission is to spark the imagination through programs that connect people and ideas. SAL’s programs include its renowned Literary/Arts and Poetry series, presenting some of the world’s most influential writers and artists; Wednesday University, offering lifelong learning in the arts and humanities; and Writers in the Schools (WITS), bringing professional writers into public schools for year-long residencies.

WITS writers-in-residence give students the opportunity to create, present, and receive feedback on their writing, culminating in showcase events such as public readings and publication of selected works in anthologies. The WITS program also offers in-school professional development opportunities for teachers and provides local writers with meaningful employment. Amazon is proud to support Seattle Arts and Lectures and their dedication to nurturing our next generation of great authors, while providing professional writers with meaningful work and financial support, through the Writers in the Schools program.

Full list of winners:

Nebula Award Winners Announced

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Nebulacolor-300x258-1The Nebula Awards® are voted on, and presented by, active members of Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America, Inc. Founded as the Science Fiction Writers of America in 1965 by Damon Knight, the organization began with a charter membership of 78 writers; it now has over 1,500 members, among them many of the leading writers of science fiction and fantasy

Here are the 2018 winners:

Best Novel

Best Novella

Best Novelette

Best Short Story

Ray Bradbury Award for Outstanding Dramatic Presentation

Andre Norton Award for Young Adult Science Fiction and Fantasy

Best Game Writing

Susan Rice to Publish Memoir

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riceFormer National Security Advisor to President Barack Obama and U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Susan E. Rice will publish a memoir with Simon & Schuster, Tough Love: My Story of the Things Worth Fighting For, on October 8, 2019.

In Tough Love, Susan Rice reflects on a dynamic career on the frontlines of American national security and foreign policy, delivering an inspiring account of a life in service to family and country. Mother, wife, scholar, diplomat, and fierce champion of American interests and values, Rice connects the personal and the professional, laying bare the family struggles that shaped her early life in Washington, D.C. and examines the ancestral legacies that influenced her. Rice’s elders – Jamaican immigrants on one side and descendants of slaves on the other – shared values, high expectations, and the compulsion to see each generation rise while paying it forward. Taught early, with tough love, how to compete and excel as an African-American woman where there are precious few, she shares wisdom gained along the way. With unmatched insight and candor, Rice provides an intimate insider’s account of some of the most complex issues confronting the United States over three decades.  Rice recounts untold stories behind such recent national security challenges as the war against ISIS, the Edward Snowden leaks, the Syria conflict, Russian interference in the 2016 election, and the surreal transition to the Trump Administration.  Tough Love concludes with an appeal to the American public to bridge our dangerous domestic divides in order to preserve our democracy and sustain our global leadership.

“Ever since my name became synonymous with Benghazi, I have wanted to tell my own story – who I am, where I came from, what motivates and defines me,” said Ambassador Rice.  “My sincere hope is that people of all backgrounds will find inspiration and empowerment from the lessons I have learned – as a senior policy-maker, leader, mother, a woman of color, and a proud American committed to the unity, strength, and renewal of our country.”

Dawn Davis, Vice President and Publisher of 37 INK, who will edit the book for the Simon & Schuster imprint, added, “Susan Rice’s memoir is a surprising and illuminating account of a woman’s journey – a journey that encompasses an unconventional childhood, marriage, motherhood, service to her country, and some of the most important international issues of our time. There’s so much more to her life than what’s been reported. Tough Love is a window into a public servant’s public and personal challenges.”

Ambassador Susan E. Rice served as President Obama’s National Security Advisor and U.S. Permanent Representative to the United Nations from 2009-2017 and as U.S. Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs, Special Assistant to the President, and Director for International Organizations and Peacekeeping at the National Security Council under President Clinton from 1993-2001. Rice began her career as a management consultant with McKinsey and Company and later served several years as a Senior Fellow at the Brookings Institution.

Ambassador Rice is currently Distinguished Visiting Research Fellow at the School of International Service at American University, a Non-Resident Senior Fellow at the Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs at Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government, and a Contributing Opinion Writer for The New York Times. She also serves on the board of Netflix and the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts.  Previously, she was a Director at the Bureau of National Affairs (now Bloomberg BNA) and served on several non-profit boards, including the National Democratic Institute and the U.S. Fund for UNICEF.

Rice received her Master’s degree and Ph.D in International Relations from Oxford University, where she was a Rhodes Scholar, and her B.A. in History with honors and distinction from Stanford University. A native of Washington D.C. and graduate of the National Cathedral School for Girls, she is married to Ian Cameron, and they have two children.

New Rachel Maddow Book, BLOWOUT, in October

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rachelRachel Maddow unveiled the title, cover and publication date of her upcoming book last night on her MSNBC TV program, The Rachel Maddow Show. BLOWOUT: Corrupted Democracy, Rogue State Russia, and the Richest, Most Destructive Industry on Earth, will be published by Crown on October 1.

Maddow’s BLOWOUT offers a dark, serpentine, riveting tour of the unimaginably lucrative and corrupt oil-and-gas industry. With her trademark black humor, Maddow takes us on a switchback journey around the globe—from Oklahoma City to Siberia to Equatorial Guinea—exposing the greed and incompetence of Big Oil and Gas. She shows how Russia’s rich reserves of crude have, paradoxically, stunted its growth, forcing Putin to maintain his power by spreading Russia’s rot into its rivals, its neighbors, the United States, and the West’s most important alliances. Chevron, BP, and a host of other industry players get their star turn, but ExxonMobil and the deceptively well-behaved Rex Tillerson emerge as two of the past century’s most consequential corporate villains. The oil-and-gas industry has weakened democracies in developed and developing countries, fouled oceans and rivers, and propped up authoritarian thieves and killers. But being outraged at it is, according to Maddow, “like being indignant when a lion takes down and eats a gazelle. You can’t really blame the lion. It’s in her nature.”

This book is a clarion call to contain the lion: to stop subsidizing the wealthiest industry on earth, to fight for transparency, and to check the influence of predatory oil executives and their enablers. The stakes have never been higher. As Maddow writes, “Democracy either wins this one or disappears.”

Maddow will host the Adult Book & Author Breakfast on Thursday, May 30 at BookExpo, where she will discuss BLOWOUT.

Epic Signing Event (and More) at Book Lovers Con 2019

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BLCBLC GGR2New Orleans, LA

May 19, 2019

At the Books and Beignets Morning Mixer, Saturday started with yummy beignets covered with powdered sugar, good conversation with fellow readers, and the opportunity to meet new authors. Good morning, romance!

Next came the Book Bash Author Signing. Three hours with 230 authors, thousands of books, and lots of swag, all in one room. Need I say more?

BLC Signing 1 BLC Signing 2 BLC Signing 4 BLC Signing 3

BLC Signing 5 BLC Signing 6 BLC Signing 7 IMG_0643 

Berkley’s Geek Geek Revolution: Romance Edition was indisputably my favorite event of Book Lover’s Con, so far. It was so much fun to watch Karen Rose, Lexi Blake, Meg Tilly, Jasmine Guillory, and Chloe Neill battle over the title of Ultimate Romance Geek. Damon Suede was incredible as the host. He was funny, irreverent, and brilliant with his questions and hilarious hints. You could see the camaraderie, competitiveness, and connection among the authors as they jumped out of their seats in excitement to answer first. They were fiercely competitive, yet helped each other get the answer right. Witty and funny, they totally engaged the audience and made the event thoroughly enjoyable. The audience became participants not just spectators, as they laughed, played along, and even contributed questions to stump the authors and win prize bags. Hats off to Berkley and their fabulous authors!

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~ Kathie Firzlaff for Readers Entertainment

Fun Continues at Book Lovers Con 2019

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BLC LogoNew Orleans, LA

May 18, 2019BLC Day2 3

I was up early Friday morning for an event called Three Truths and a Lie! It was a Romantic Suspense, Mystery, Horror and Thriller signing: Amateur Sleuths wanted! Twenty-one authors, seated at tables around the room, presented three truths and a lie, and discerning readers used their brains, lots of laughter and clues, and some pretty good guessing to figure which was which. It was fun to watch the enthusiasm of the readers as they worked to puzzle it out. Those clever enough to separate the truth from the lies won, and were rewarded with prizes. Finally everyone chose a couple of books from the favorite authors they’d met, and they were able to get them signed.

Next came an event called Small Town Romance Readers Carnival. Yep, it was just like it sounds. The room was decorated to look like a small town square, complete with evenly spaced trees, lit with twinkling lights, and wrought iron benches to relax and enjoy the show. We tried our hand at a variety of games from unique sounding ones like Gone Fish’n Pond, Snake In My Boots, and  Krazy Ball to good old standards like Ring Toss, Ball Bounce, and Dice Game. It was a chance to meet authors  Jamie Beck, Tracy Brogen, Melinda Curtis, June Faver, Suzanne Woods Fisher, Liz Johnson, Donna Kauffman, Sally Kilpatrick, Emily March, Nancy Naigle, Terri Osburn, Abigail Owens, Sheila Roberts, Farrah Rochon, JoAnn Sky, Anna J. Stewart, and Rae Anne Thayne. Everyone won fun swag from the authors, and a lucky five won a grand drawing basket.

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I didn’t get to attend until almost the end, but friends told me the Never Ending Story with Charlaine Harris and friends was hilarious, a real blast. 

Day two ended at the Voo Doo Vampire Club, an event designed to emulate a sophisticated, somewhat creepy vampire bar. There we talked with friends, visited food stations and drink bars positioned around the room, and watched the finest vampire attire parade on past. Once again the costumes were fabulous, red and black, feathers, leather, and masks. Vampire costumes so artfully done they would make Count Dracula jealous.

BLC Ball 2 BLC Ball 3 BLC Ball 5 BLC Ball 6

~ Kathie Firzlaff for Readers Entertainment

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