Greetings all--just wanted to let you all know about a new book that hit the shelves from debut novelist, Jenny Gardiner. But before we get to Jenny, I just have to tell you about a book I devoured--could not put down and that is Pat Barker's Life Class just out in hardcover. Set against the backdrop of WWI, this is really some of the finest writing I've ever encountered. Trust me on this one, you won't be sorry.

Okay, now back to our regularly scheduled program...Jenny Gardiner is a first timer who's been getting a lot of attention for her new novel Sleeping With Ward Cleaver! So read on and see what all the buzz is about.

American Title III contest winner released to great responses
(New York, February 1, 2008) -- Claire Doolittle is not a happy camper. The married mother of five seems to have lost her way in life. Swept off her feet years earlier by Mr. Right, she’s dismayed that husband Jack has turned into Mr. Always Right, and the only sweeping happening in her life involves a broom and a dustpan. Jack’s officious, perfunctory way has left fun, spontaneity and laughter at the doorstep, and Claire is beginning to wonder if she’s actually married to a modern-day version of Ward Cleaver, the stuff-shirted father figure from Leave it to Beaver sitcom fame.
Worse yet, she’s so bogged down by her overwhelming life and so turned off by the idea of getting it on with her stodgy father-figure of a husband, she’s simply blocked out all of her memories of the Claire-who-used-to-be. Cue a former fiancé, who re-enters her life when she desperately needs to figure out who she was, who she is, and who she wants to be. And if she wants to salvage her sagging marriage, or fall back on her old fiancé, who’s wooing her with promises of what could have been. Throw in a predatory hottie from Jack’s office who’s set her sights on Claire’s ho-hum husband, and you’ve got the recipe for a mid-life crisis of epic proportions.
Jenny Gardiner’s novel, winner of Dorchester Publishing’s American Title III contest, is sure to lure you into the mundane yet compelling world of Claire Doolittle and will leave you cheering for her marriage.

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"Jenny Gardiner brings to life Claire Doolittle with such vibrancy that I feel I know her. Such was my concern over Claire's and Jack's happiness, that I couldn't put the book down which is a rarity for me.With her sharp wit and hilarious descriptions, Ms. Gardiner has a delightful voice that left me wanting more."

"This is book is the 'Bridget Jones Diary"'for all of us married and harried moms! And perhaps a good gift to give to our younger and single girlfriends. It's a gentle and humorous way to give them a glimpse of what's to come . . ."

"Sleeping With Ward Cleaver is a fun, cheeky, often candid and thoroughly engaging story that hits on relationship issues to which many readers will relate."

"What a fun read from the attention grabbing title to the final elevator scene; I was chuckling and agreeing with every word. How did Jenny Gardiner manage to 'get it"'so right and put married life into such hilarious perspective?! But you don't have to be married to appreciate the humor and witty words of Ms. Gardiner. Her determined character, Claire, is a woman we can all recognize as she raises phoenix-like from the 'every-dayness"'of life! For a fresh, funny, entertaining read; SLEEPING WITH WARD CLEAVER by award winning debut author Jenny Gardiner is sure to delight and amuse."

"Sleeping With Ward Cleaver is the most refreshing book I have read in quite some time."

"Highly relatable characters and situations bring this book straight into suburbia with the reader. Poignant and heartfelt, this book will make you laugh, cry and cheer."

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"I just had to send you a note to tell you how much I enjoyed your book.  It was truly a pleasure to read. I felt like I was reading about my own life.  What wonderful insight you have.  It was refreshing to read a book where  the author takes the time to carry the story to its complete ending.  I want you to know that I usually read at night and was two pages to the  ending but I finished it the morning because I wanted the enjoyment of this book to last overnight."

"I am currently reading SwWC, and I LOVE it. I want to avoid all my housework, just so i can read it. Thanks for the great book. "

"finished it last night. As a woman who has been married for 25 years, I would highly recommend it. It reminded me to not take my dh for granted and to tell him frequently that I loved him. Thanks so much."

"Between a long bath and a very long time sitting in my toddler's room with a flashlight (only way he'll go to sleep and not get out of bed) I finished SwWC in one night. Truly, truly funny and an original take on the one that got away. Jenny really nails 'real marriage' and I think page for page she's the wittiest writer around right now."

About Jenny 

Jenny Gardiner’s work has been found in Ladies Home Journal, the Washington Post and on NPR’s Day to Day. She likes to say she honed her fiction writing skills while working as a publicist for a US Senator. Other jobs have included: an orthodontic assistant (learning quite readily that she was not cut out for a career in polyester), a waitress (probably her highest-paying job), a TV reporter, a pre-obituary writer, and a photographer (claim to fame: being hired to shoot Prince Charles–with a camera, silly!). She lives in Virginia with her husband, three kids, two dogs, one cat and a gregarious parrot. In her free time she studies Italian, dreams of traveling to exotic locales, and feels very guilty for rarely attempting to clean the house. Visit her at her website, www.jennygardiner.net, or her group blog, www.thedebutanteball.com, a site that has hosted iconic authors such as John Grisham, Meg Cabot, Meg Tilly and Jodi Piccoult in recent months. 

 A Little Q&A With The Author

RR: When you're not writing, there's a good chance you're...

JG: At the gym or running my kids around.
 

RR: When did you know you wanted to be writer? And did anyone in particular encourage you along the way?
I was writing extra credit reports to salvage my dismal math grades from early elementary school on so I knew it was the only skill that might save my butt!
JG: I had a teacher in high school who really inspired me because of his love and appreciation for literature. He was my English teacher AND my Latin teacher, and the coolest thing was each year right before Christmas break, he read aloud to our class in Latin from Jean Shepherd's IN GOD WE TRUST ALL OTHERS PAY CASH (the movie A Christmas Story was taken from there). I learned to love memoir and first person narrative and learned the value of well-crafted prose and from this I understood how I could be transformed to another time and place simply through enjoyable writing.
 

RR: Are you currently working on a new novel/project? And if so, can you tell us what it's about?

JG:  My agent will soon be shopping MARY KATE GOES OVER THE FALLS, about a somewhat naive woman trapped in an abusive marriage who goes out to pick up her husband's dry cleaning and instead picks up a handsome hitchhiker along the side of the road, the lure of whom reminds her of the lip of Niagara Falls, said to tempt people to jump into the falls. They embark on a road trip of self-discovery, en route to Niagara Falls, where Mary Kate is determined to take the plunge as her first act of defiance in her life.

RR: What's your favorite part of writing?  Starting something new? Revising what you've already got drafted? Developing characters? The plot?  Something else all together?

JG:  I love the potential that starting something new presents to me as a writer. That tabula rosa thing is very exciting. And as you start knocking out some sentences and get into the flow of it and start thinking like your characters and figuring our their motivations, it's such a charge.

RR:  Do you remember where you were and what you were doing when you got the call--I'm talking, the call--when you learned that you had sold your novel/project?

JG: I went the unconventional route to publication. I'd entered Dorchester Publishing's American Title III contest in the hopes of expediting getting my book in front of an editor's eyes. Much to my surprise my book was chosen as a finalist in the contest. For the six months following that, I had to hunker down and become a marketing maven, spending many, many hours online especially, trying to enlist support for my book in the contest from all sorts of crazy angles. Little did I know I would be laying the groundwork for marketing/publicizing my book. I was just busy trying to stay in the contest, and because of the nature of the contest, and it was sort of before contests started becoming fairly ubiquitous, people were generally pretty enthusiastic about backing me--they felt somewhat vested in the process.
In the meantime, I had prior to all of this been talking back and forth with a lovely agent who had kind of taken me under his wing. We'd been batting about some book ideas, tried to flesh things out, but he was very busy and things kept being sidelined. But ultimately he facilitated my signing with my agent, as he thought we'd be a good match-up, which we have. At around this time is when I won the contest, which meant that I won a book deal--hugely thrilling and I just didn't realize how lucky I was that on top of all of that, I had built up a potential readership along the way.
So that was the long answer to say this all sort of culminated in the perfect storm, in a good way, the book deal, the agent, everything. And I found out by voice mail because I got the call on my cell phone, which never works in my neighborhood, darn it!
 
RR: Central Casting: If they were to make a movie out of your book, who would you cast to play your main characters?

JG: I keep going back and forth on this. Totally has to be a woman who is not an ingenue type. She's gotta have some meat on her bones and life to her face. I sort of like Emma Thompson but she might be getting too old. Kate Winslett would be nice. For lack of another male lead I keep veering toward Matt Damon because he's got that Ward Cleaver-ish look although he's good looking, too.
 
RR: What's the one book that you wish you'd read because everyone tells you should. This is  the one book that you keep attempting to read, the one everyone praises, but alas the one you just can't get through.

JG: The Historian. I keep wanting to read it but it's so fat in hardback--too large and unwieldy to read at bedtime and too large to lug along in my purse. I should go back and buy the paperback which is way skinnier LOL

Thanks to Jenny for taking time to stop by and best of luck to her on the new book!
 

If you’re making the rounds to your favorite blogs today, chances are you’ve already encountered the name Patry Francis because I’m only one of 300—yes 300—authors and bloggers who are out there today plugging the paperback release of Patry’s debut novel, The Liar’s Diary.

It all started several months ago when Patry revealed on her popular blog that she was battling an aggressive form of cancer. Knowing that she wouldn’t have the strength to get out there and promote her paperback release her friends, spearheaded by Susan Henderson and others, rallied together asking bloggers to conduct a ‘cyber tour’ to get the word out about Patry’s book.

Having met Patry last year at the Backspace Conference, I didn’t think twice about signing up. Apparently 299 others felt the same way. To learn more about Patry, I highly recommend her blog and while you’re there, take a moment to check out her website and her book trailer.

I wish Patry a full and speedy recovery.  In addition to sending out prayers, another wonderful way to support Patry would be to buy a copy or two of her novel. I assure you, you won’t be sorry. Luckily for her fans and those who will be discovering her writing for the first time, Patry is a courageous fighter and we can all look forward to many more novels from her in the future.

“The new questions and revelations just keep coming…Readers will be heartily rewarded.”—Ladies’ Home Journal


When new music teacher Ali Mather enters Jeanne Cross’s quiet suburban life, she brings a jolt of energy that Jeanne never expected.   Ali has a magnetic personality and looks to match, drawing attention from all quarters.  Nonetheless, Jeanne and Ali develop a friendship based on their mutual vulnerabilities THE LIAR’S DIARY is the story of Ali and Jeanne’s friendship, and the secrets they both keep.

Jeanne’s secrets are kept to herself; like her son’s poor report card and husband’s lack of interest in their marriage.  Ali’s secrets are kept in her diary, which holds the key to something dark: her fear that someone has been entering her house when she is not at home.  While their secrets bring Jeanne and Ali together, it is this secret that will drive them apart.  Jeanne finds herself torn between her family and her dear friend in order to protect the people she loves.

A chilling tour of troubled minds, THE LIAR’S DIARY questions just how far you’ll go for your family and what dark truths you’d be willing to admit—even to yourself.

Patry Francis is a three-time nominee for the Pushcart Prize whose work has appeared in the Tampa Review, Colorado Review, Ontario Review, and the American Poetry Review. She is also the author of the popular blogs, simplywait.blogspot.com and waitresspoems.blogspot.com. This is her first novel.  Please visit her website at www.patryfrancis.com.

“Twists and turns but never lets go.”—Jacquelyn Mitchard, bestselling author of The Deep End of the Ocean

“A quirky, well-written and well-constructed mystery with an edge.”—Publishers Weekly

“Outright chilling.”—New York Daily News

“Genuinely creepy…The unlikely friendship between a small-town school secretary and a flamboyant teacher proves deadly in this psychological murder mystery.”—Kirkus Reviews

“A twisting ride full of dangerous curves and jaw-dropping surprises.  This is one of my favorite reads of the year!”—Tess Gerristen, bestselling author of The Mephisto Club

“Francis draws and tense and moody picture of the perfect home and family being peeled back secret by secret…Four Stars.”—Romantic Times

Say hello to the driving force behind the Girlfriends Cyber Circuit, Karen Neches. She's taken time out of her busy schedule to pay a visit before  her newest novel, EARTHLY PLEASURES  hits bookstores this February. And the early word is that she's got something really special here which is why she's already been  selected as a Booksense Notable for February.

"...Appealingly unorthodox... a heaven where angels lust, drink and follow terrestrial celebrity gossip… A tangled story of cold ambition and true love unspools. Neches’s funny and sweet novel shows that to err is human and angelic as well."
Publishers' Weekly

Welcome to Heaven. Use your Wishberry to hustle up whatever you want. Have an online chat with God. Visit the attractions such as Retail Rapture, Wrath of God miniature golf and Nocturnal Theater, where nightly dreams are translated to film.

Your greeter might just be Skye Sebring who will advises her newly dead clients on what to expect now that they’re expired. “Heaven is like a Corona Beer commercial” she assures her charges. “It’s all about contentment.”

So different than Earth where chaos reigns. Unfortunately for Skye, she’s been chosen to live her first life. She’s required to attend Earth 101 classes, which teach all of the world’s greatest philosophies through five Beatle songs.

Skye has no interest in Earthly pursuits, until lawyer Ryan Blaine briefly becomes her client after a motorcycle accident. Just as they are getting to know each other, he is revived and sent back to Earth.

She follows his life via the TV channel “Earthly Pleasures” but discovers he has a wife as well as a big secret. Why then does he call a show for the lovelorn to talk about the lost love of his life?

In Earthly Pleasures (Simon and Schuster, February 2008, $14) great love can transcend the dimensions, narrowing the vast difference between Heaven and Earth.

"What a treat!  Earthly Pleasures more than lives up to its name.  I was glued to the pages of this delightful little gem of a novel, and wish it could have been twice as long!"
-- Megan Crane, author of Frenemies


”Karen Neches' Earthly Pleasures is a rare treat. I laughed from the first page and cried in all the right places. Do yourself a favor and curl up with this book. Heaven knows, you won't be sorry!"
--Julie Kenner, author of Demons Are Forever

"Equally hilarious and poignant, Earthly Pleasures is a little powerhouse of a novel about love, life...and what comes next."
--Melissa Senate, author of See Jane Date and Love You to Death
"Karen Neches’s novel is an intriguing love story with a rare combination of both wit and depth. In her fresh voice Neches gives us an innovative version of heaven where the one true thing still remains: love that transcends both time and space."

--Patti Callahan Henry, National bestselling novelist of Between the Tides

“Earthly Pleasures is more than just a novel. It's a dream, a calling, a divine trip from which you won't want to come home. I loved it!—Valerie Frankel, author of I Take This Man and Hex and the Single Girl.

RR: What do you when you're not writing?

KG: When I'm not writing, there's a good chance I'm reading and swilling red wine. Usually at the same time.
 
RR:  When did you know you wanted to be writer? And did anyone in particular encourage you along the way?

KG:  When I was ten, a boy threw a rock at my head and I wrote an essay called “The Blood Curdling Experience” The kids were howling in the aisles. I thought  “hmm, maybe there are something to this writing jazz.” I didn’t get serious about writing until ten years ago though.
 
RR: Are you currently working on a new novel/project? And if so, can you tell us what it's about?
 
KG: I’ve written a book about a group of 40-something friends who revive their 80s rock band.


RR:  What's your favorite part of writing?  Starting something new? Revising what you've already got drafted? Developing characters? The plot?  Something else all together?
 
KN:  The finally polish. I like to scrutinize every word to make sure it belongs. Starting a book is horrifying to me because I know that almost every word I write will be changed in the end. I have to try  and forget that and plunge onward.

RR:   Do you remember where you were and what you were doing when you got the call--I'm talking, the call--when you learned that you had sold your novel/project?
 
KN:  I was a special ed teacher and had just come home from a trying day (let’s just say spit balls were involved). The call came that afternoon. It was the single most exciting moment of my life. I drank massive amounts of wine and had to call in sick the next day.
 
RR:  Central Casting: If they were to make a movie out of your book, who would you cast to play your main characters?
 
KN:  Kate Hudson as my main character, Skye Sebring (a greeter in Heaven) because she has a sunny, angelic look. Matthew McConaughey as her love interest, Ryan because he’s so good with Kate and Ryan can be cocky at times.

One of the main characters is a 85-year old black woman named Caroline and I’d like to Cicely Tyson in that role (with appropriate make up of course.) God, who is female in my novel, would have to be played by Bette Midler, becasue she never takes herself to seriously.
 
RR:  What's the one book that you wish you'd read because everyone tells you should. This is  the one book that you keep attempting to read, the one everyone praises, but alas the one you just can't get through.
 
KN:  Housekeeping by Marilynne Robinson

Karen Neches was single for over twenty years. She used to tell people she was in the “hospice stage” of being single as she never expected to recover. Then at the age of forty-three she finally met her soul mate. Earthly Pleasures is dedicated to him. She maintains a web site at www.karenneches.com
Neches also writes under the name Karin Gillespie and is the nationally bestselling author of The Sweet Potato Queen’s First Big-Ass Novel with Jill Conner Browne and three novels in the critically acclaimed Bottom Dollar Girl series. She’s founder of the virtual tour The Girlfriend Circuit as well as the grog for Southern authors A Good Blog is Hard to Find. She is a former lifestyle columnist for the Augusta Chronicle.

Thanks to Karen for stopping by and please checkout her website: www.karenneches.com 

Happy New Year everyone. I'm back after the holiday mania which included, among other things, a visit to a farm where I tried my hand at Cow Whispering--but I'll have to explain at a later date. And speaking of which,  one of my New Year's resolutions for 2008 (and note that I've never kept a resolution) is to be more faithful to my blogging, so  (unless life interferes) look for more entries coming soon...  

In the meantime...We have a special guest dropping by today...Colleen Thompson, author of The Salt Maiden.  To learn more about Colleen and her new novel which just hit bookstores in December, keep scrolling on down!

Some novels begin with a character, others start with a what-if question or a situation, but my sixth romantic thriller, The Salt Maiden (Leisure, Dec. 2007) was inspired by a place I visited a few years back, a sunburned, sand-scoured desert community in the dead center of the least populated county in the U.S. With water too briny for human consumption and land too to support any but the hardiest of desert plants, it’s an eerily daunting landscape, one that made me wonder, What on earth would bring a person out here?

Apparently my subconscious took it as a challenge, and came up with a Houston veterinarian, Dana Vanover, in search of her troubled missing sister, the birth mother of a child in desperate need of a bone-marrow transplant. In spite of her ambivalence about her sister, Dana braves heat, rattlesnakes, and hostile locals — as well as her attraction to the handsome sheriff who wants her gone.

"Poetic use of language, intricate plotting and a wealth of fascinating details make Thompson's latest novel a masterful work of suspense. Readers will come for the action and stay for the three-dimensional characters and well-crafted narrative. This is a fabulous read!"
Romantic Times BOOKreviews Top Pick,
2007 Reviewers Choice Nominee, Best Romantic Suspense

An excellent thriller with a touch of romance. I could not bring myself to set the book down. I simply HAD to know what would happen next. From the beginning it is non-stop action, drama, and mystery. Fans of Tess Gerritsen, Tami Hoag, and Sandra Brown will adore this tale. Phenomenal!
Detra Fitch, Huntress Book Reviews

THE SALT MAIDEN is a great book filled with action of all kinds - from steamy love scenes to terror ridden suspense.  Just when you think you have it all figured out - wham, something unexpected happens. The plot of the story is interesting and the characters in the book are very lifelike.  The book touches on the complexities of mother-daughter and sibling relationships.  If you want to spend some wonderful time being entertained, you need to invest the time and money in reading this book.
Dana Henderson, Romance Junkies

Wait until you read the ending of this marvelous suspense thriller. You'll never guess and it will keep you on the edge of your seat. I have never missed a Colleen Thompson thriller and never will. THE SALT MAIDEN is yet another treasure you cannot miss. It's wrought with intensity, mystery, intrigue, passion and a roller coaster ride until the last page is turned. Take the ride; you'll be glad you did.
Suzanne Tucker, Fresh Fiction

Colleen Thompson is an author waiting to “happen”. Oh, she has been out there, is well respected as a growing talent. She has a solid backlist of amazing tales; only, she just has that presence of an author ready to have that break out novel. The Salt Maiden is that book. Her skill and flow of the prose marks her as a master wordsmith. She weaves an intricate plot into this eerie, sinister tale that kept me spellbound. This simply is Colleen Thompson at her very best.
Deborah MacGillivray, The Best Reviews

THE SALT MAIDEN by Colleen Thompson is riveting suspense with an emotionally satisfying romance. The finely detailed characterization combines with an eerie exquisitely written landscape to make this novel a reading and re-reading pleasure...Colleen Thompson creates a romance that is reflective in tone through her portrait of the wasteland, adding a fresh intriguing vision to the genre.
Merrimon Book Reviews

CT:  When I'm not writing, there's a good chance I'm reading - or talking writing. I'm obsessed. I'll admit it.

RR:  When did you know you wanted to be writer? And did anyone in particular encourage you along the way?
CT:  From the time I was very small, I was making up stories, and early in my youth, I got into the habit of writing daily. I knew from a very young age I wanted to be a writer, but I wasn't sure "real" people could do such a thing. I received some encouragement from teachers in school, but it wasn't until I came out of the closet as a writer years later and scratched up the nerve to network with other writers that I found the friends I needed to help bring me along.
 
RR:  Are you currently working on a new novel/project? And if so, can you tell us what it's about?
CT:  I'm currently working on TRIPLE EXPOSURE (Leisure Romantic Suspense, August 2008), a romantic thriller about a photographer who, after her acquittal in the murder of an unbalanced young stalker, is forced to return to her West Texas desert home. Soon, however, a photo she shoots of a reclusive desert craftsman lands both of them in danger.

RR:  What's your favorite part of writing?  Starting something new? Revising what you've already got drafted? Developing characters? The plot?  Something else all together?
CT:  I love the initial brainstorming and writing of the proposal, when everything is still fresh and exciting and flexible. This part is the "play part," where I can "what if" to my heart's content.

RR:  Do you remember where you were and what you were doing when you got the call--I'm talking, the call--when you learned that you had sold your novel?
CT:  THE SALT MAIDEN was my thirteen book sale, and it was a bit humdrum. I was home alone and writing in my office. The first sale, made in the hotel room of a writers' conference, where I was chatting with my critique partners, was by far the most exciting. But every sale still feels like a victory to me.

RR:  Central Casting: If they were to make a movie out of your book, who would you cast to play your main characters? 
CT:  Josh Brolin as Sheriff Jay Eversole, a man who's struggling to hide the PTSD from his recent service in Iraq and either Charlize Theron or Hillary Swank as Dana Eversole, the Houston veterinarian pushed to the ends of endurance in her struggle to save a dying child and her missing sister.

RR: What's the one book that you wish you'd read because everyone tells you should. This is  the one book that you keep attempting to read, the one everyone praises, but alas the one you just can't get through.
CT:  Great question. I'm embarrassed to say it's The Time Traveler's Wife by Audrey Niffenegger. I intend to take another crack at it again soon since so many people I respect tell me it's brilliant.

 Thanks to Colleen for popping in and please check out her website at colleenthompson.com.  See you back here soon!

This holiday season, I'm looking forward to spending a little time with Eliza Graham's Playing With The Moon!  Whether you curl up before the fire with this gem or you give it to the fellow book lovers on your holiday list, I think we all have a real treat in store for us. 

 Here's a bit about the book and a look at what the critics have been saying!

 Shattered by a recent bereavement, Minna and her husband Tom retreat to an isolated village on the Dorset coast, seeking the solitude that will allow them to cope with their loss and rebuild their foundering marriage. Walking on the beach one day, they unearth a human skeleton. It is a discovery which will plunge Minna into a mystery which will consume her for months to come.

The remains are soon identified as those of Private Lew Campbell, a black American GI who, it seems, drowned during a wartime exercise in the area half a century before. Growing increasingly preoccupied with the dead soldier's fate, Minna befriends a melancholy elderly woman, Felix, who lived in the village during the war. As Minna coaxes Felix's story from her, it becomes clear that the old woman knows more about the dead GI than she initially let on.

Playing with the Moon has been nominated a World Book Day ‘Hidden Gem’.

Historical Novels Review
Eliza Graham tells a powerful tale and her characters are well drawn and believable. I enjoyed this book very much.

World Book Day website
…a penetrating reflection on the historical events that have forged our sense of British cultural identity. It is also skilfully constructed, deeply humane, and full of fascinating, flawed, characters.

The (London) Times
A chance visit to a depopulated Dorset village was the inspiration for Playing With The Moon, the first novel by a former Towers Perrin staffer turned freelance. Eliza Graham, who has worked for the actuaries for 13 years, spent the past five of these trying to find a publisher for the novel, which is about a 1940s inter-racial love affair and the eventual murder of a black GI. The village is Tyneham on the Isle of Purbeck, emptied in 1943 to be used in the preparations for the D-Day landings. "It was poignant, walking around the village," Graham tells me. "It was as if they just stepped out for a day or two – 60 years ago."

The Oxford Times
She seems to have hit on a winning formula, interweaving an evocative historical tale with a modern story of relationships.

Bookbag
I loved this book. It had me completely hooked before I'd read the first page and I didn't put it down until I'd read the last. The characters are compelling.

 A Little Q & A With Eliza!

RR:    How do you spend your free time when you're not writing?

EG:      When I'm not writing, there's a good chance I'm helping someone do their maths/Latin/spelling homework, finding an excuse to look at clothes on eBay or plowing through some proofreading as part of my day-job.
 

RR:    When did you know you wanted to be a writer? And did anyone in particular encourage you along the way?

EG:    I wanted to write from childhood onwards. My parents and later my husband gave me masses of encouragement.
 

RR:    Are you currently working on a new novel/project? And if so, can you tell us what it's about?

EG:    My next novel, RESTITUTION, comes out in September 2008. It's the story of people falling in love at the wrong time and place (Germany in 1945, as the Red Army moves in) and making decisions that will have devastating consequences for decades to come. I'm currently working on something new for me: a Young Adult novel. It's set in the London Blitz and includes mysterious refugees, spies, spivs, looters, bombed-out houses, air-raid shelters and lots of explosions. It's been simultaneously fun--and poignant--to write.

RR:    What's your favorite part of writing?  Starting something new? Revising what you've already got drafted? Developing characters? The plot?  Something else all together?

EG:    I love the occasional inspiration I get when I'm somewhere inappropriate (in the bath, shopping for food, on the way to take a child to a sports-ground, etc), It's like a shot of literary viagra. It doesn't happen to me as often as I'd like but it's so exciting when it does.

RR:    Do you remember where you were and what you were doing when you got the call--I'm talking, the call--when you learned that you had sold your novel/project?

EG:    I was working away on my laptop at home when I received an email, not a call, and I kept scanning  it to see if I'd missed the bit that said, '...but I'd like to wish you all the best for the future.' When I couldn't find those oh-so-familiar words I yelled at my husband to come down and check the email for me.
 
RR:    Central Casting: If they were to make a movie out of your book, who would you cast to play your main characters?

EG:    I'm not sure about the younger members of the cast but possibly Dame Judi Dench for Felix, the elderly woman who knows the answer to the mystery in the book. I feel I would *have* to take personal control of the casting of the part of Private Lew Campbell, gorgeous young African-American GI who comes to an untimely end but is probably the nicest character in the book. Tough job but someone would have to do it...

RR:     What's the one book that you wish you'd read because everyone tells you should. This is  the one book that you keep attempting to read, the one everyone praises, but alas the one you just can't get through.

EG:    Hamlet. And I was supposed to have read it and every other single word written by The Man very thoroughly for my degree course in English at Oxford University. Still haven't quite, erm, managed it. But I have seen it on the stage several times (note of self-justification in voice now) and even read the early plays that many don't bother with, including the one in which people are murdered and made into meat pies and unwittingly eaten by their father (I think...). I don't know why I can't get through Hamlet in its entirety, even though I've enjoyed analysing parts of it.

More About Eliza 

Eliza Graham worked in marketing and PR before taking up writing nearly six years ago. She lives near Oxford, England, with her husband, two children and small menagerie. Playing with the Moon is her first novel. In Sept. 2008 Macmillan will publish her second book: Restitution about a German family with conflicting loyalties and a troubled history facing the terror of the Red Army invasion in 1945.

Thanks to Eliza for popping in--especially during this busy time of the year!  Please take a moment to visit Eliza's blog and click here to buy Playing With The Moon.