Girlfriend Visiting: Under the Sea

In Over Her Head"A playful debut... sincere wit."
-Publisher's Weekly

Who here hasn't really wondered about...merpeople. I mean, it could happen, right?

When Erica Peck, one terrified-of-the-ocean marina owner, finds herself at the bottom of the sea conversing with a Mer man named Reel, she thinks she's died and gone to her own version of Hell. When the Oceanic Council demands she and Reel retrieve a lost cache of diamonds from the resident sea monster in return for their lives, she knows she's died and gone to Hell.
When they escape the monster and end up on a deserted island, she amends her opinion - she's died and gone to Heaven.
But when Reel sacrifices himself to allow her to return to her world, she realizes that, Heaven or Hell, with Reel, she's In Over Her Head.

Okay, fine. It didn't happen. Except behind that hot-cool book cover--and from the delightfully original mind of Judi Fennell. And she's agreed to the girfriends cyber-chat with me!


HANK: You and I get into an elevator on the first floor. We're both going to 22! Oh, I say, you're the famous author. What's your new book about? You say:

JUDI:He's a merman and she's terrified of the ocean.

HANK: Do you remember the moment you had the idea for the book?

JUDI: Oh definitely!

HANK:How and when did that happen?

JUDI: I had just finished revisions of my American Title story, Beauty and The Best, and was trying to come up with another fairy tale I could twist and I thought of The Little Mermaid. Then I had to figure out how to "twist" it. That took all of about two seconds, because the best way to flip it around was to make HIM the mer. Then I saw the movie, Failure to Launch, with Matthew McConaughey and that character is Reel. The devil-may-care, playboy, Mr. Hotshot - who's really hiding a fear - is Reel. The story started flowing (pun fully intended).

HANK: Your main character--is she you?

JUDI: I'd say that any of my heroines that have a backbone are me. Now Erica, she doesn't have a backbone when it comes to the sea. And, yes, that is me, too. I saw JAWS at an early, impressionable age, and it totally ruined the sea for me. I have a running commentary with myself whenever I go boogie-boarding or snorkeling about how I'm being ridiculous and no sharks are going to attack me, and I know it's a totally irrational fear. But I still make sure there's someone out farther than I am and on either side. I'm not comfortable when my kids are out there, but I try not to impart my fear on them.

HANK: Ah yes, Jaws. It's ruined many a summer. I freak out over tornadoes. Absolutely as a result of Wizard of Oz. So--movie time. Tell us who you envision playing your main character?

JUDI: I think Sandra Bullock could play Erica perfectly. Kate Hudson would be a good second, but I could see Sandra as she was in Two Weeks' Notice, with her chattiness, playing Erica perfectly. The love interest?Matthew McConaughey. Reel was fashioned after him, even physically because, let's face it, it's Matthew McConaughey. A bad guy? After seeing the movie Enchanted, I could totally see Susan Sarandon as my sea monster, Ceto. She did the DragonLady Stepmother so incredibly evilly, that she could pull Ceto off.

HANK: And you can be in the movie too--what part would you play?

JUDI: Oh, I'd love to play Kai, Reel's mother. And, no, I'm not that much older than Matthew McConaughey (he could be my younger brother, thankyouverymuch), but Kai is Immortal and magical, so she doesn't age. But Kai has some great lines in the book and puts him in his place so beautifully when he's on his high seahorse.

HANK: Do you read other people books while you're in the writing process?

JUDI: I do read while I'm writing, but I try to stay away from others who write stories similar to mine. I stayed away from Shana Abe's The Last Mermaid and MaryJanice Davidson's Fred the Mermaid series until after I'd finished In Over Her Head.

HANK: How does that affect you?

JUDI: I don't want to be influenced by anything anyone else comes up with.

HANK: What's the very best line of the very best review you've gotten?

JUDI: "A great way to spend a snowy afternoon or a sunny day at the beach," by Lynda K. Scott, Star-Crossed Romance. I hope to see people reading this at the beach when I go this summer.
So far, of course.

HANK: What was your favorite book as a child?

JUDI: I have three. One is The True Story of Okee The Otter by Dorothy Wisbeski. And, yes, I do still have it. I bought it at a book fair in 6th grade and absolutely love this story of a woman who raised a Columbian river otter (back when you could) in suburban NJ. The others are by Dodie Smith: 101 Dalmatians and Twilight Barking. To this day, I still love reading them and wish they would have taken more of the original story into the Glenn Close remake.

HANK: Do you still love them?

JUDI: I bought the Dodie Smith books for my kids to read, so, yes, I still love the stories.

HANK:. What's your secret indulgence?

JUDI: I love finger food at parties. We have Friday night "family hours" in the summer in my neighborhood and I have to walk away from the table because I love all of that food.

HANK: A certain food?

JUDI: Hershey chocolate kisses. There is no more perfect piece of chocolate.

HANK: A particular movie?

JUDI: Ever After and Enchanted. Yes, they're Cinderella stories. Is it odd that I write twists on fairy tales?

HANK: What would you buy on a day of shopping?

JUDI: I hate shopping, so I'll head for a bookstore instead. Or Home Depot. Yes, Hubs had to threaten to take the Home Depot card away. LOL

HANK: What's one thing no one knows about you?

JUDI: Now if I told you, everyone would know, wouldn't they? :)

HANK: Grrr.

JUDI: :-)

HANK: . Do you remember when you typed "The End?"

JUDI: I was sitting on the beach, which is so fitting. I wrote 25 pages that day and it felt soooo good. What happened next? I went in the ocean. Yep, I did. Talked to myself the whole time, calling myself all kinds of idiot.

What they're saying:

"Nora Roberts? Danielle Steel? Much acclaimed romance writers should step aside. There is a new romance writer in town and she is certainly causing a great splash with her debut novel, In Over Her Head."
-ABibliophile.com

"I truly found a pearl in my oyster when I read this delightful tale. I was surprised how good of a book In Over Her Head is. It is extremely well-written, the storyline flows and I was hooked from the first page."
-LongAndShortReviews.blogspot.com

"IN OVER HER HEAD is a delightful, quirky blend of humor, adventure and passion. All in all, this is a fast, fun read and a great way to spend a snowy afternoon or a sunny day at the beach."
-Lynda K. Scott, Star-Crossed Romance

"In Over Her Head is a heartwarming, but action-packed story of two people-one human and the other of the seaworthy body-joined together in an adventure. I enjoyed this story immensely."
-Dawn M. Ekinia, Armchair Interviews

"A delightful underwater adventure... full of good-natured humor and fun. A strong first effort by a promising new talent."
-Romantic Times


About The Author:
Judi Fennell has had her nose in a book and her head in some celestial realm all her life, including those early years when her mom would exhort her to "get outside!" instead of watching Bewitched or I Dream of Jeannie on television. So she did--right into Dad's hammock with her Nancy Drew books.

These days she's more likely to have her nose in her laptop and her head (and the rest of her body) at her favorite bookstore, but she's still reading, whether it be her latest manuscript or friends' books.

A three-time finalist in online contests, Judi has enjoyed the reader feedback she's received and would love to hear what you think about her Mer series. Check out her website at http://www.judifennell.com for excerpts, reviews and fun pictures from reader and writer conferences, and the chance to "dive in" to her stories.

Contest!
To celebrate the release of each of her books, Judi Fennell and the Atlantis Inn http://www.atlantisinn.com/
www.HibiscusHouse.com
and the Hibiscus House bed and breakfasts are raffling off three romantic beach getaway weekends. All information is on Judi's website, http://www.judifennell.com/

Check it out! And have fun...




Judi Fennell
www.judifennell.com
In Over Her Head, coming from Sourcebooks, 6/09

Sourcebooks, June 2009
ISBN # 9781402220012
Wild Blue Under & Catch of a Lifetime, books 2 & 3 in the Mer trilogy

The Latest: On the Road

You never know where the universe will send you--and I just had to share some of the hilariously fun times and wonderful people I've been meeting.

Yes, yes, PRIME TIME comes out in just about a month..and then FACE TIME in late July and AIR TIME in late August: Thank you, endlessly, to SUE GRAFTON for the kind words: "Sassy, fast-paced and appealing..." And there's more! But more about that later.

Anyway--the photo above was at the most unpredictable event I think I've ever attended--I was a judge for a Guitar Hero contest! You're shaking your head in wonderment. Yes, you're so right. But it was for a wonderful literacy organization Everybody Wins! Metro Boston and as past president of the National Beatles Fan Club, I channeled my inner Paula Adbul and and told the contestants the truth. With me? Whoa. Alicia Sacramone, the Olympic gymnast, and Ben Mezrich, author of Bringing Down the House. His new book THE ACCIDENTAL BILLIONAIRES is the inside scoop on the chaos, conflict an big bucks in the creation of Face Book. I can't wait to read it. (And Kevin Spacey's optioned the movie. Go Ben!)

Another great cause! Pari Noskin Taichert and I were auctioneers at the Malice Domestic auction...raising a truly surprising amount of money for RICA, a regional facility in Maryland which provides treatment for emotionally disturbed adolescents . Malice attendees were so generous..and the items up for bid were stellar: A rare first edition from Katherine Hall Page, one from Nancy Pickard, a manuscript from Carolyn Hart..and the list goes on. I auctioned the name of a pet or character in the next Charlie McNally novel--so, thanks to the winner, there's going to be a cat named Squeaker. Got to love it!

Okay, this wasn't for a good cause--except wait. Sure it was. Fun. Barb Goffman of Malice came up with the world's most hilarious panel: which required me to play Nancy Drew. Hence the scarf, cardigan, headband and pearls. And perky smile. Next to me, Jeff Cohen played a brilliant Sherlock Holmes, and Judy Clemens was a smashing Amelia Peabody. Oh, I'll have to find the other photos.Vinny O'Neil was a fantastic Poirot. And our truly amazing leader Chris Grabenstein wrote a wonderful script (sorry, Chris, yes, I improvised...) Barb, it was a once in a life time experience!

Laughing with Harlan Coben. We were on the humor panel at CrimeBake 2008..and it's such fun to see this photo. What a classy, hilarious, and generous guy--and truly talented. His new book is out--which I will read as soon as I can wrest it from the hands of my dear husband.


And here's another great cause..Michael Palmer threw a wonderful party to benefit the Asperger's

Association of New England. There was a huge line to get a signed book, but the party was full of so many new friends, it was worth the wait.

So what else is on the agenda? More photos to come! Check my schedule page...

and come say hi at BEA in New York!

On Friday, May 29 at 3:45, I'll be giving away the new new version of Prime Time at the Mystery Writers of America booth...

And on Saturday May 30, I'll be signing the all new AIR TIME at 10:00 at the MIRA booth.

Wow.

Hope to see you there.

More photos to come! And Email me at hank at hankphillippiryan. com (take out spaces, natch)

Love to hear from you.

xoxo Hank

BREAKING NEWS: Girlfriend Visiting

WOW. Simply, wow. That is the only word I can use to describe this masterpiece. It has been such a long time since I have read such a rich, emotional and tension filled romance.
-- Kate Garrabrant, Romance Novel TV


If you get a chance to chat with Carolyn Jewel in person--do it!

We met in California at a convention, and we had a great time. (I'm now rummaging through My Pictures for our photo together, can't find it, rats, who's supposed to organize these things...oh, I am)

Anyway--she's hilarious. Intelligent. Clever. Unpredictable. Ingenious. And so much fun! Her newest book: SCANDAL is burning up the review pages!

ROMANTIC TIMES says:
Jewel plays readers' emotions like a virtuoso, ensuring they will eagerly follow her characters into dramatic, intensely passionate and gripping love stories that will steal your heart and make you beg for more. She grabs you at the first word and never lets go.

So you can't do better than that. Girlfriend Carolyn is now here for a brief chat! Might as well talk about romance first!

HANK: My most embarrassing-in-retrospect heartthrob is Number 6 on The Prisoner. Who's yours? (I also had a crush on Henry V, but that's not embarrassing. Is it?)

CAROLYN: I have only ever loved Adrian Paul and Jet Li. Ever in my whole life.But Ringo was my favorite Beatle.

HANK: Since becoming a writer, what's the most glamorous thing you've ever done?

CAROLYN: HAHAHAHAHA! The dishes?

HANK: But seriously. (I know serious is hard for you....)What's the main thing you hope people take away from your book?

CAROLYN: A burning and insatiable desire to buy my backlist and everything else I ever write for the rest of my life. And to tell everyone they know to do the same thing. OK, seriously, I just hope they enjoy the heck out of the story.

HANK: I print every page of my first draft. The edit it on paper. Then fix the changes. Then go on. What is your process of getting out a first whole draft?

CAROLYN: I print out drafts from time to time because the words look different on paper. I rarely have a complete draft. I just have more and more words that make up a mess that needs constant and massive fixing which I do constantly until somehow the story isn't a mess any more. And then it's done.

HANK: If you could only own and read 5 books for the rest of your life,(excluding your own) what five books would you choose?

CAROLYN: Villette by Charlotte Bronte, Lover Awakened by J.R. Ward, Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe, Some edition of O'Henry Best Short Stories, A Summer to Remember by Mary Balogh.

HANK: Who are your favorite musical artists?. What music would your characters love?

CAROLYN: Paolo Nutini, James Blunt, John Lee Hooker, Muddy Waters. Scandal does not include any musical references, but if it had, it would not have been any of these four. Lord Banallt would probably prefer John Lee Hooker while Sophie would actually prefer Vampire Weekend for having written Oxford Comma.

HANK: What's your Writer Fantasy? To see your book made into a feature film? To be on the New York Times bestseller list for 40 (or so) consecutive weeks?

CAROLYN: Hmm. My fantasies typically involve Adrian Paul or Jet Li. But I could live with 40 weeks on the NYT bestseller list. If I had to.

HANK: What's one piece of writing advice you've found valuable on your journey to publication?

CAROLYN: Dorothea Brande's section of Tapping the Unconscious in "Becoming A Writer” which included this warning; "If you fail repeatedly at this exercise, give up writing. Your resistance is actually greater than your desire to write and you may as well find some other outlet for your energy early as late." (79).

Alas, I failed miserably and repeatedly at her freewriting exercise. It seems I am a no-talent amateur with delusions of grandeur. I can't explain my ten (counting through the end of 2009) published novels, given this failure. I think I must be a freak of some sort.

Brande's book taught me that writing advice can, and possibly should, be ignored. Writers follow different paths to success and one path is nevermore valid than another. What works for me may not work for you and there's nothing wrong with that. The point is to actually go out and find what works for you.

HANK: Any stories about your cover?

CAROLYN: My editor at Berkley, Kate Seaver, sent me some cover art by someone she was thinking of using to see what I thought of his style. She also asked me for my ideas and for samples of covers I liked. As it happens, I am completely clueless about what makes a good cover (aside from knowing a good one when I see it attached to somebody else's book). My samples were all fairly dreadful. They were great for books that were not mine,though. The people whose business it is to create covers that sell books ignored me, thank goodness, and came up with a very passionate cover that conveys the emotion between my hero and heroine. I love my cover and I am really, truly grateful for the talented people who worked to make it come together so wonderfully.

HANK: Tell me a little about what inspired your book.

CAROLYN: Terror. I'm only partly kidding. Just about all my books are inspired by the terror of believing it isn't working and that, working or not, I won't be able to finish on time.

More seriously, Scandal is set during the English Regency period (which was 1811-1820) and I very deliberately drew on my grad school research on a woman who wrote during this time period. Women of the English upper classes had few resources if the men in their lives did not, for whatever reason, fulfill their cultural obligation to take care of their female relatives.

Writing novels was one of the few things a woman could do, openly or secretly, to make money. I was astonished to discover that the money a novelist could expect to make in 1815 isn't much different than it is today. The chief difference between then and now lies in the copyright. In 1815, publishers bought the copyright outright. The author was paid once and that was it. Today, authors typically retain the copyright to their work.

HANK: Where do you write?

CAROLYN: Since my son plays on a traveling soccer team, I am often writing in the car during practice or before games. The backseat of my car is minimalist and I typically get a lot done since there isn't much else to do. During crunch times, I also write in the car during my lunch break. My room, where I do most of my writing (when not in the car) is a cluttered mess. My dog sleeps on the chair tucked behind my back while the cats take turns on my lap.

HANK: What's up next? Do you have another project in the works?

CAROLYN: In June, 2009, Grand Central Publishing will release My Forbidden Desire, the second of an Urban Fantasy/Paranormal Romance set in a world that includes mages and demons. Indiscreet will be an October 2009 historical from Berkley Sensation.

Thanks Carolyn! Check her website for more info...and to WATCH THE TRAILER and see you back here soon for THE LATEST!

BREAKING NEWS: Left Coast Crime Awards Nominees

This is such an amazing list--I want to make sure you see it. It's full of terrific authors--and, I'm so pleased to say, some wonderful pals. We all win when there are book like this out there!

The awards will be presented at Left Coast Crime in Hawaii this March! Sigh. And my very own blog sister Rhys Bowen is one of the guests of honor. Sigh. What's Hawaiian for I wish I could be there to cheer everyone on but I'll be working in snowy snowy Boston?

But just so you know--here are the honored books and their very happy and deserving authors. The amazing Janet Rudolph of Mystery Readers Journal is behind all of this...check out her sites for more of the latest!



Bruce Alexander Memorial Mystery Award (historicals)
Nox Dormienda, A Long Night for Sleeping by Kelli Stanley (Five Star)
Touchstone by Laurie King (Bantam)
Tell Me Pretty Maiden by Rhys Bowen (St. Martin Press)
A Royal Pain by Rhys Bowen (Berkeley Prime Crime)
A Fatal Waltz by Tasha Alexander (Harper Collins)

Hawaii Five-O (private eye and police)
Angel Falls by Baron Birtcher (Iota)
Fractured by Karin Slaughter (Delacorte Press)
The Black Path by Asa Larsson (Delta)
The Angel of Knowlton Park by Kate Flora (Five Star)
Mahu Fire by Neil S. Plakcy (Alyson Books)
Death of a Cozy Writer by G.M. Malliet (Midnight Ink)

Lefty (humor)
Thugs and Kisses by Sue Ann Jaffarian ( Midnight Ink)
Six Geese a Slaying by Donna Andrews (St. Martins)
Murder at the Bad Girl's Bar and Grill by N.M.Kelby (Shaye Areheart Books/Random House Group)
Greasing the Pinata by Tim Maleeny (Poisoned Pen Press)
Getting Old is to Die For by Rita Lakin (Dell/Bantam)
It Happened One Knife by Jeffrey Cohen (Berkeley Prime Crime)

Janet Rudolph, Editor,
Mystery Readers Journal
http://www.mysteryreaders.org
http://mysteryreadersinc.blogspot.com

BREAKING NEWS! Girlfriend Visiting

Here's a blog with a soundtrack! When we asked BRENDA JANOWITZ: Name three songs that would be perfect for the soundtrack of your book.

She said:
Well, that would have to be the playlist for Brooke’s bachlorette party (there are four, but they are awesome 80’s hits, so I hope you’ll forgive me!): “You’re The One That I Want,” “Come on Eileen,” “I Want Your Sex,” and Brooke’s all time favorite 80’s song, “We Don’t Have To Take Our Clothes Off.”

Oh, thanks Brenda. Now I can't get Come On Eileen out of my head. Ah. Maybe reading a bit about JACK WITH A TWIST will help...

Planning a wedding can be a trying experience…

A little prewedding anxiety is normal for every bride, and Manhattan attorney Brooke Miller isn’t worried. She’s got the loving support of the world’s greatest guy, so planning her nuptials should be a piece of cake.

But that was yesterday.

Today, Brooke’s landed her first big case and has just discovered that the opposing attorney is none other than her fiancé, Jack. But that’s okay. These two professionals aren’t going to let a little courtroom sparring get their legal briefs in a bunch.… Right? Wrong! Now Jack’s pulling every dirty trick in the law books, and Brooke’s starting to suspect that maybe he isn’t the man she thought he was. Warring with her fiancé at work and at home, Brooke realizes that she’ll have to choose between the case of her life, or actually having a life.

Hmm. Sounds great--very Tracy and Hepburn! But I'm still humming! Let's just chat...

HANK: You and I get into an elevator on the first floor. We're both going to 22! Oh, I say, you're the famous author. What's your new book about? You say:

BRENDA: OMG, you think I’m famous?! I love you!!! [start hugging and squeezing you in mad, crazy manner….]

But then once I get over that, I’d probably tell you that JACK WITH A TWIST (Engaging your adversary and other things they don’t teach you in law school) is the story of Manhattan attorney Brooke Miller, who plans the wedding of her dreams, all while litigating the biggest case of her career…. which just so happens to be against her perfect fiancé. Hilarity ensues. Really. Marian Keyes called it “a funny, sweet romance” and Carole Matthews said it was “[a]nother fun-filled page-turner from Brenda.” Ironically, I wrote JACK before even getting engaged myself!

HANK: Do you remember the moment you had the idea for the book? How and when did that happen?

BRENDA: I’ve always been a writer. In fact, that’s the reason why I became a lawyer in the first place—trying to find a career where I could write full time. But I’ve always had a real love for fiction, and I’d find myself practicing law and thinking about these fictional stories that I wanted to write. When I was invited to my ex-boyfriend’s wedding, my life slowly but surely began to resemble some of my favorite chick lit novels, and I said to myself, ‘I’ve just gotta start writing this stuff down…

When I finished SCOT ON THE ROCKS, I just knew that Brooke’s story had to continue! Since both she and Jack are lawyers, I thought it would be so much fun to pit them against each other in the courtroom… all while planning their fairy-tale wedding. Thus the idea for JACK WITH A TWIST was born!


HANK: Your main character--is she you?

BRENDA: Brooke has some of the aspects of my personality, but she isn’t me. She is version 2.0 of me, a more fun version.

Like I tell my students in my Mediabistro classes, real life is just real life. Fiction should have a structure to it. In fiction, you can mine from your real life for your novel, but you then fictionalize it to give it structure and make it more interesting.

HANK: So--movie time. Tell us who you envision playing your main character? The love interest? A bad guy? And you can be in the movie too--what part would you play? And why?

BRENDA: Well, clearly I’d want to be Brooke now that I’ve heard that I’m famous and everything. Man, fame really went to my head quickly, didn’t it?!

But, seriously, I’d love Drew Barrymore for Brooke, and Fran Drescher as her mom. For Jack, I could see a lot of my Hollywood crushes playing the part: Adam Sandler, Jack Black, or Paul Rudd would be perfect. (Yes, I like me a funny guy.)

HANK: What's the very best line of the very best review you've gotten? So far, of course.

BRENDA: Marian Keyes offered to give me a blurb for JACK WITH A TWIST. When Marian Keyes emailed me to tell me that she loved it, I pretty much fell over in my chair. As far as I’m concerned, Marian Keyes is a goddess—she inspired me to follow my dream to write a book—and to hear that she actually enjoyed something that I wrote was such a major thrill!

MORE ABOUT BRENDA:

Brenda attended Cornell University, earning a Bachelor of Science in Human Service Studies, with a Concentration in Race and Discrimination. After graduating from Cornell, she attended Hofstra Law School, where she was a member of the Law Review and won the Law Review Writing Competition.

Upon graduation from Hofstra, she went to work for the law firm Kaye Scholer, LLP, where she was an associate in the Intellectual Property group, handling cases in the areas of trademark, anti-trust, internet, and false advertising.

Brenda later left Kaye Scholer to pursue a federal clerkship with the Honorable Marilyn Dolan Go, United States Magistrate Judge for the Eastern District of New York.

Since her clerkship, Brenda has worked as a career counselor at two New York City law schools, where she published a number of articles on career related issues in publications such as the National Law Journal and the New York Law Journal. She currently lives in New York with her husband.

Brenda is the author of JACK WITH A TWIST (Engaging your adversary and other things they don’t teach you in law school) and SCOT ON THE ROCKS (How I survived my ex-boyfriend's wedding with my dignity ever so slightly intact), as well as the short story BASED ON A TRUE STORY. You can learn more about Brenda at http://www.brendajanowitz.com/ and check out her blog at http://www.brendajanowitz.blogspot.com/.

HANK: Okay--now I'm not humming! I'm headed for the bookstore! Hope to see you there.