Lisa Scottoline Has A Column - And You Should Read It

Lisa Scottoline has a weekly column in the Philidelphia Inquirer, which appears every Sunday under the title "Chick Wit."

You should read it. It's hilarious. And, of course, it's well written.

Janet Evanovich is Working Right Now

I discovered a short post over at Janet Evanovich's website, where she describes her average workday. It made me feel better, and I thought I'd post it here (it's the next to last FAQ), for all of us to remember as we're procrastinating or distracting ourselves or eating more chips, making more coffee:

Janet Evanovich is working right now. And she has been since 6 this morning.

Cowboy up, my friends.

This gets to me so much, that I've changed my screensaver: "Janet Evanovich is WORKING right now!" Really helps keep me on track and away from standing, staring into an open fridge.

I may lose weight this way, too, right?

Image: Fearless Fourteen was the Most Borrowed Book of 2008 in Dayton, Ohio, among other places. Check out my post today over at Writer-Lawyer for more on such things....

RIP Donald E. Westlake

Four books a year. Books worth reading. Plus screenplays, like The Grifters. Wow.

Donald E. Westlake died of a heart attack on his way to dinner with his wife, on a nice, warm night while vacationing in Mexico. He was 75.

Read his obit by the New York Times for details: Donald E. Westlake, Mystery Writer, Is Dead at 75

Over 40 Romances: Last Chance Harvey Gets Okay Ratings

Rotten Tomatoes gives it an okay rating (75%) so maybe it's worth your while to go and check out this year's over-50 romantic comedy, Last Chance Harvey.

To sum it up from the reviews I've read, it's Dustin Hoffman and Emma Thompson doing their part to keep up with Jack Nicholson and Diane Keaton in Something's Gotta Give ... and that's going to be very hard to do.

Add to that, Hoffman is 71 and Thompson is 49. Poor Emma. Somethings in Hollywood never change -- note to self: romance better served where hero is not so old that he can be the dad of the over-40 or over-50 heroine. Geez.

By the way, Diane Keaton was born in 1945, Jack Nicholson in 1937 ... Keaton at 57 not only made more sense coupling with Nicholson at 66, web bios report the two stars actually dated back in the 70s.

For another viewpoint, check out SmackDown! Last Chance Harvey (2008) vs. Something's Gotta Give (2003)

Bottom line: hopefully, someone out there is recognizing a market for over-40 romance stories on the shelves and on the screen ... BabyBoomers do fall in love ... and aassuming this to be true, the best one hasn't hit yet.

Not Everybody's Sales Are Going Down - mediabistro.com: GalleyCat

Over at GalleyCat, there's some good news for writers:

"Overall, fantasy sales are down 18 percent compared to the first 49 weeks of 2007, but mass market paperback sales are up 14 percent—and overall romance sales are up 83 percent, with mass market paperbacks alone experiencing a 50 percent boost. And that's not even considering how many romance books might, in a different climate, have been categorized as fantasies..."

That's right: Mass market paperbacks are skyrocketing in sales ... and romance sales were up 83%.

Anything that's up 83% in this economy is big, big news.

New Penguin "eSpecials" from Penguin tying Hardback with E-Book updates

Starting with the debut of Alan Greenspan's The Age of Turbulence in paperback, Penguin is offering an e-book in tandem with the paperback release.

Penguin is marketing them as "eSpecials."

As an example, the Greenspan e-book is based upon the original work's epilouge, and it's my understanding that this e-book will be periodically updated, to address future changes in our fluctuating economy.

Check out all the details over at Penguin's blog -- New "eSpecials" from Penguin Marks a First in eBook Publishing.

With our economy being what it is, looks like there may be a lot of "e-book specials" for Mr. Greenspan ....

Over 40 Romances: An Untapped Market for Romance Novels?

Is it just me, or does it look like there's an untapped market for romance novels featuring protagonists that are 40+ or even 50+?

Consider the aging Baby Boomers and then go read the list over at All About Romance (Novels, Reviews, Books, Reading) - Special Title Listings: Older Couples.

After all, Something's Gotta Give found a nice audience ....

It's National Novel Writing Month - Again

Sure, for most people November 2008 is a big deal because we're electing our president, but for many writers out there, November means one gut-wrenching thing: it's NaNoWriMo time again.

National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo) is an annual challenge to put 50,000 words of a story down on paper in 30 days. Hopefully, in some sort of organizational format so you end up with the first draft of a publishable work when the bell rings.

Here's the website if you dare.

At 1667 words per day to meet quota, you're only 3334 words behind as of the date of this post ....

Writing Synopses

Lynn Viehl, over at Paperback Writer, has a great post on writing synopses - and it includes links to other sources of information, as well. One of those links, for example, is to Charlotte Dillon's collection of over 50 links dealing with writing synopses (includes examples, runs the gamut really).

What's a synopsis?

It's a chapter-by-chapter summary of your novel, written so your editor doesn't have to read your book in its entirety. Should end up between 2 - 15 pages, depending upon the size of your manuscript.

Lynn Viehl recommends you write your synopsis BEFORE you write the novel itself, one of her hints for NANOWRIMO ....

Lydia the Tattooed Lady

I caught part of Dick Cavett's famous interview of Groucho Marx the other day, and was thrilled to hear Groucho singing Lydia, The Tattooed Lady ... which you'll remember, was also sung by Tracey Lord's little sister in The Philidephia Story ....

I'm putting the lyrics here because it's my blog and I want to ... and for your listening pleasure, here are the links to listen to both Groucho Marx sing this little ditty as well as Virginia Weidler from the movie:

At the Circus
The Philidelphia Story

Oh Lydia, oh Lydia, say, have you met Lydia?
Lydia The Tattooed Lady.
She has eyes that folks adore so,and a torso even more so.
Lydia, oh Lydia, that encyclo-pidia.
Oh Lydia The Queen of Tattoo.
On her back is The Battle of Waterloo.
Beside it, The Wreck of the Hesperus too.
And proudly above waves the red, white, and blue.
You can learn a lot from Lydia!

La-la-la...la-la-la.La-la-la...la-la-la.

When her robe is unfurled she will show you the world,i
f you step up and tell her where.
For a dime you can see Kankakee or Paree,or Washington crossing
The Delaware.

La-la-la...la-la-la.La-la-la...la-la-la.

Oh Lydia, oh Lydia, say, have you met Lydia?
Lydia The Tattooed Lady.
When her muscles start relaxin',up the hill comes Andrew Jackson.
Lydia, oh Lydia, that encyclo-pidia.
Oh Lydia The Queen of them all.
For two bits she will do a mazurka in jazz,
with a view of Niagara that nobody has.And on a clear day you can see Alcatraz.
You can learn a lot from Lydia!

La-la-la...la-la-la.La-la-la...la-la-la.

Come along and see Buffalo Bill with his lasso.
Just a little classic by Mendel Picasso.
Here is Captain Spaulding exploring the Amazon.
Here's Godiva, but with her pajamas on.

La-la-la...la-la-la.La-la-la...la-la-la.

Here is Grover Whelan unveilin' The Trilon.
Over on the west coast we have Treasure Isle-on.
Here's Nijinsky a-doin' the rhumba.
Here's her social security numba.

La-la-la...la-la-la.La-la-la...la-la-la.

Lydia, oh Lydia, that encyclo-pidia.
Oh Lydia The Champ of them all.

She once swept an Admiral clear off his feet.
The ships on her hips made his heart skip a beat.
And now the old boy's in command of the fleet,
for he went and married Lydia!
I said Lydia...
(He said Lydia...)
They said Lydia...
We said Lydia, la, la!