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Louisiana Book News
is written by Cheré Dastugue Coen
and includes book reviews,
author interviews, industry news and more.
Cheré is a native of New Orleans
now living in Lafayette, Louisiana.
Louisiana Book News is published
every Sunday for The Daily Advertiser
and other Gannett newspapers.
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Third Annual Dixie Kane Memorial Literary Contest (2008)
The Southern Louisiana (SOLA) Chapter of the Romance Writers of America held its 3rd Annual Dixie Kane Memorial Literary Contest and the winners are:
Short Contemporary:
First Place Andrew Comes Home by Philip L. Levin
Second Place Light the Fire by Mary Stahlke
Third Place Shifting Sands by Karen Dodd
Romantic Suspense:
First Place Body Language by Robin S. Sorrentino
Second Place Got Lola on my Mind by Don Wicks
Third Place Queen Of Envy by Madeline Vann
Single Title Contemporary:
First Place Whatever It Takes by Louise Knott Ahern
Second Place Barn Dance by Vicki Bendau
Third Place Dealer’s Choice by Anne Krist
Historical:
First Place Quiet As The Grave by Marilyn Robbins
Second Place Come Spy With Me by Bethany Miller Cole
Third Place Upon A Moonlit Sea by Jennifer Bray-Weber (tied with)
Waltz With A Stranger by Valerie M. Schwager
Paranormal:
First Place Better Dead by Pamela Kopfler
Second Place Time Hunter by Nancy Litzau
Third Place Shrine of the Heavens by Shauna Roberts
Novel With Romantic Elements:
First Place Ebon Wings by John David Roundtree
Second Place Is It Safe? by Jerol Anderson
Third Place Loves Leaves No One Behind by Claudia Pemberton
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I just got back from the Romance Writers of America national convention in San Francisco and what a roller coaster of information and entertainment that was! I wrote about my experiences and the Louisiana authors who attended in the Aug. 13 issue of The Times of Acadiana. The link will only be live for a week, but you can read it as a PDF here. |
| The Heart of Louisiana chapter of Romance Writers of America is hosting its second annual Romance Readers Luncheon, featuring authors Candice Proctor (aka C.S. Harris and one-half of pen name C.S. Graham), Steven Harris and Hollis Gillespie as the keynote speakers from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. Sept. 20 at Drusilla Seafood restaurant in Baton Rouge. In addition, more than a dozen authors will be in attendance and there will be a post-luncheon book signing. For more information, visit www.heartla.com. |
From May 9's Shelf Awareness:
"In November 2009, Barnes & Noble plans to open a store in Covington, La., north of New Orleans across Lake Pontchatrain. The store will be in the Colonial Pinnacle Nord du Lac lifestyle development at the intersection of I-12 and U.S. Highway 21." www.shelf-awareness.com
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Several Louisiana authors ihave been picked as finalists for the
The Southern Independent Booksellers Alliance's 2008 SIBA Book Award.
The finalists are:
Children's
Br’er Rabbit Captured by Jean Cassels*
Chicken Dance, Jacques Couvillon*
Cooking
After the Hunt by John Folse*
In Praise of Pecans by June Jackson*
Savoir Faire by Pat Paternostro
Fiction
Crawfish Mountain by Ken Wells
Landsman by Peter Charles Melman*
The Unnatural History of Cypress Parish by Elise Blackwell*
Nonfiction
Bagels & Grits: A Jew on the Bayou by Jennifer Ann Moses*
Creole Houses by John Lawrence*
It Never Rains in Tiger Stadium by John Ed Bradley
Rise of the Cajun Mariners: The Race for Big Oil by Woody Falgoust
Books having Louisiana connections that are finalists are:
A Love Affair with Southern Cooking by Jean Anderson
Women of Magdelene by Rosemary Poole-Carter
House on Boulevard St. by David Kirby (LSU Press)
*The book is mentioned or reviewed on this Web site
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Louisiana mentioned in ‘Amazing Places to Live’
Today Show real estate contributor Barbara Corcoran gives Louisiana a mention as a retirement destination in her latest book, Nextville: Amazing Places to Live the Rest of Your Life (Springboard Press).
New Orleans is listed as one of the “best places to find your purpose” as an entrepreneur or business mentor working to help rebuild the city.
“On top of that,” Corcoran writes, “you’ll be in one of the most stimulating places on earth.” It’s also interesting to note that New Orleans has 216 sunny days per year as opposed to Nova Scotia clocking in at 83.
For those looking to leave the state once Social Security arrives, there are plenty of places to choose from, along with good explanations why. | |
| New garden books for spring
Houston
is a few hours to the west, but our climates share similarities, which is why The
Advertiser’s noted garden columnist, Ann
Justice, has written Blooming Trees & Shrubs of the Coastal South and Ornamental Gardening in Acadiana and
the Gulf States www.lulu.com/Acadiana, two books that
well explain gardening in our coastal region.
Author,
gardening expert and columnist Howard Garrett has also made the connection in
his Plants for Houston and the Gulf Coast
(University of Texas Press). The book covers trees, shrubs, ground covers,
annual, perennials, grasses and plant maintenance with an emphasis on organic
gardening, filled with clear photographs and explanations of about 400 plants.
Molly
Glentzer, the lifestyle editor of the Houston Chronicle and Don Glentzer, a Houston photographer with work
in the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, have collaborated on a lovely book that
explains the names behind roses titled Pink Ladies & Crimson
Gents: Portraits and Legends of 50 Roses
Houston
is known for its roses, but then Acadiana has its fair share. Here’s your
chance to understand why they are named after writers, conquerors, kings and
“well-bred ladies and gents.”
Hint:
All make for great Mother’s Day presents. |
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New Orleans bartender wins Amazon prize
New Orleans bartender Bill Loehfelm won the inaugural Amazon Breakthrough Novel Award for his noir mystery, Fresh Kills, a story set Staten Island amid its famous garbage dump, Fresh Kills. The award comes with a $25,000 publishing contract with Penguin. The book will be published later this summer with pre-orders available at Amazon.com.
New Orleans children's book author Anita Prieto is interviewed at Blogzone. She is the author of "B is for Bookworm" and "P is for Pelican."
Tennessee Williams Festival
Dozens of authors converged on the Tennessee Williams/New Orleans Literary Festival this past weekend in the Vieux Carré, including the joking Claire Cook (Must Love Dogs) and Lee Smith (On Agate Hill) and the more serious (sometimes) historical novelist Valerie Martin, returning natives and local university professors, among many others.
New Orleans native Scott Gold, author of The Shameless Carnivor: A Manifesto for Meat Lovers, shared how his stint as a literary agent helped turn him into an author while Bev Marshall, who teaches at Southeastern in Hammond, explained how her husband’s constant interruptions led to a guest house where she writes and smokes.
All enjoyed talking about their work, even though the stories varied greatly.
“There is nothing I’d rather do than write a book where your characters take over,” Smith explained. “It’s like having a lover in your closet and you can open that door and do it again.”
“I’m really motivated by contracts,” Martin said to laughter. “I don’t think it’s fun and I’m always feeling my way.”
Betsy Carter, author of the memoir Nothing to Fall Back On, admitted she had to write about a string of bad luck before she could pen her first novel. She wrote about the conflicts women face trying to meet their goals and taking care of others. “I think that’s what most women writers face.”
After winning a contract from his proposal, Gold freaked out a little, he said, but found his way via a coffee shop in his neighborhood of Brooklyn. “The two motivational forces for me are caffeine fire and deadlines,” the food writer explained.
“Every day is a new struggle,” said Cook, who wanted to write at a young age but put it aside until age 45 when she scribbled pages in the family mini-van outside her child’s swim practice. Must Love Dogs became a movie staring Diane Lane and John Cusack and Life’s a Beach, published last June, was a Good Morning America and People magazine summer book pick.
Success still doesn’t make writing easy, Cook said. “If it were the easiest thing in the world to write a book, we’d all do it.”
I recently received an email from author Cora Zane, who writes sensual and erotic paranormal romances. She lives in the small community of Weston, just outside of the Jonesboro, was born in Louisiana and have lived here all her life. Her ebook is out this month, titled The Gloaming: An Anthology of Faerie Stories, available at www.freyasbower.com.
“My inclusion in the volume is called At the Edge of Twilight, and is a fairy tale of a young divorcee who finds true love in her own back yard,” Zane wrote me by email. “Other authors in the anthology are K.M. Frontain, Kelley Heckart, Nita Wick, and Esmerelda Bishop.”
ParaNormalRomance.org reviewed the anthology and said: “In the Gloaming is a collection of amazing stories written by five very talented authors. Each story is so unique and well written. From finding true love to defeating evil, there is something for everybody in this book.”
Eleanor Cochran’s comtemporary romance Choicemakers, which came out Feb. 1 by e-publisher Wings, has received best-seller status on the publisher’s home page. The second book in the trilogy, Risk Taker, is due out May 1. For more information or to buy the book, visit WingsPress.
Kevin Rabalais, who was born in Bunkie, came up with the idea of his debut novel, The Landscape of Desire, almost literally, in a flash of inspiration, according to an article in www.theage.com.au. "I was reading an Australian history book during a New Orleans thunderstorm," the article states. "I'd ducked inside a cafe after teaching a university course in literature and came across a small anecdote about the Burke and Wills expedition. I realised this is a novel waiting to happen." Read the story about Rabalais and his novel on the doomed expedition of Burke and Wills at: theage.com
Jessy Ferguson has started interviewing Louisiana authors for her blogging column called Louisiana Saturday Night posted every Saturday and this week she interviews Barbara Colley of Luling. She invites authors living in Louisiana to contact her if they want to be included. The criteria is:
"Live in Louisiana and be published but it doesn't matter if you're published in fiction, NF, children's material, poetry or articles or self-pubbed. My desire is to honor and advertise all authors living in Louisiana."
For more information and/or to read the interview, visit
Jessyferguson.blogspot.com
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The North Louisiana Storytellers (NOLA) and Authors of Romance held their annual conference Feb. 29-March 1 in Shreveport. Among the editors and agents attending were Cori Deyoe, Three Seas Literary Agency; Lucienne Diver, Spectrum Literary Agency; Chrys Howard, Howard Publishing; Wanda Ottewell, Harlequin; Elaine Spencer, The Knight Agency and Tessa Woodward, Avon.
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| Cheré Coen, Connie Rachal and Elaine Grant at the North Louisiana Storytellers conference March 1 |
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| Booksignings and literary events |
Rev Run &
Justine Simmons, stars of the MTV’s reality series Run’s House, will
sign copies of their book, Take Back Your Family: A Challenge to
America’s Parents, at 2 p.m. Friday, Aug. 15, at Octavia Books, 513
Octavia St. in New Orleans.
Robert St. John, author of New South Grilling, will sign copies of his book at 1 p.m. Saturday, Aug. 16, at Williams-Sonoma of Canal Place in New Orleans.
Tom Piazza holds a book launch, reading and signing of his latest novel, City of Refuge, at 6 p.m. Tuesday, Aug. 19, at Octavia Books, 513 Octavia St. in New Orleans. Piazza is the author of Why New Orleans Matters.
Also at Octavia Books is Amanda Boyden signing Babylon Rolling at 6 p.m. Thursday, Aug. 21.
Drew Zaunbrecher will perform from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. Friday, Aug. 22, at Barnes & Noble, 5707 Johnston St., Lafayette.
Bud Johnston will sign copies of his book, The Perfect Season, from 2 p.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday, Aug. 23, at Windows a Bookstore in Monroe.
The Heather Graham Writers for New Orleans Workshop will be Aug. 29-31 at the Hotel Monteleone, 214 Royal St. in New Orleans. For details or to download a copy of the registration application, visit www.theoriginalheathergraham.com.
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| The LSU Manship School of Mass Communications inducted
author and Advocate reporter Mike Dunne into its Hall of Fame. Dunne was an
award-winning newspaper reporter, author of "America's Wetland: Louisiana's
Vanishing Coast" and part-time instructor in Baton Rouge before his death in
2007. Other
inductees include Pulitzer Prize winner Brett Blackledge, Baton Rouge Area Foundation
Executive Vice President John Spain and deceased Advocate reporter John
LaPlante Jr. |
| Jady Regard of New Iberia has produced two new titles in his children’s book series focusing on college football: “Born to be a Longhorn” and “Born to be an Aggie.” In both books, a young boy and his father head to the stadiums for a day of football, tailgating, marching bands and mascots. | |
| Heart of Louisiana Luncheon
The inaugural author luncheon of the Heart of Louisiana chapter of Romance Writers of America was a huge success. On Oct. 13, dozens of authors participated in the meet, greet and learn at Drusilla Seafood in Baton Rouge. The lunch speakers were the incomparable Erica Spindler and Hailey North of New Orleans, who gave fun, educational and inspiring speeches. Both are best-selling authors. Spindler writes tingling suspence, such as Copy Cat and Last Known Victim. North's Avon contemporary romance, titled Not the Marrying Kind, will hit shelves in November. |
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| Heart of Louisiana authors appearing at the inaugural Heartla Luncheon Oct. 13 in Baton Rouge. From left, Sylvia Rochester, Elaine Grant, Eleanor Cocrehan, Cheré Coen, Jo Templeton, Nancy S. Brandt and Tammy Riviere. |
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| All of the authors participating in the inaugural Heartla luncheon in Baton Rouge on Oct. 13. |
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To read the latest Louisiana Book News column, published every Sunday in the Accent section of The Daily Advertiser of Lafayette, Louisiana, visit The Daily Advertiser, click on "Accent" and then go to Sunday.
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To join the Louisiana Book News Yahoo email group, visit Yahoo Groups, type in "Louisiana Book News" in the search box and choose the group with the photo of the live oak tree (like the one above). We welcome all interested writers, readers and book worms. Not only can you read about the latest on Louisiana books and authors, but writers can post their booksignings and events as well.
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| © Photos by Cheré Dastugue Coen |
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© Cheré Dastugue Coen, 2007
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