Category Archives: Upcoming releases

Bestselling Author Linda Lael Miller and HQN Books Announce "The Most Awesome Adopted Pet" Contest

Posted on November 2, 2006 by Aurel

NEW YORK, NY and TORONTO — (MARKET WIRE) — November 02, 2006 — In each and every book, the prolific western author, Linda Lael Miller, includes an adopted animal who finds a home with the central characters. Most recently, Russell, an adopted basset hound, is playing a key role in her new book, “DEADLY GAMBLE.”

So strong is Linda’s belief in the importance of protecting and nurturing animals, she has joined with her publisher and The Humane Society of the United States to create an annual contest to find “The Most Awesome Adopted Pet” in America. To win, entrants must write, in 100 words or less, how adopting a pet has changed their lives for the better and how their pet has become a most treasured companion and friend. Each submission must include a photo of the entrant with the nominated pet along with the name and address of the shelter where the pet was adopted.

 

First prize includes a selection of Linda’s latest books, personally autographed by the author, and $1,000.00, to be shared equally by the winner and the shelter named in the winning entry. The winner and his or her pet will also be featured in an upcoming Linda Lael Miller book. Second and third prize winners will receive an autographed book and a $25.00 gift certificate from a leading pet store.

To enter online, visit www.eHarlequin.com/adoptedpetcontest. All entries are due by December 15, 2006. To obtain a copy of these official rules, send a self-addressed, stamped envelope to: “The Most Awesome Adopted Pet 20614 Rules,” 225 Duncan Mill Road, Don Mills, ON M3B 3K9.

Long an advocate of animal rights, Linda is a strong supporter of The Humane Society’s Pets for Life campaign (www.petsforlife.com). The goal of the program is to curtail the numbers of animals relinquished to shelters — or otherwise given up on — because of breaks in the human-animal bond. To achieve this goal, they have developed a variety of programs to empower pet caregivers to solve the problems that threaten their relationships with pets.

With “The Most Awesome Adopted Pet Contest,” Linda hopes to help build awareness for the campaign and, at the same time, reward a special pet owner and his or her local shelter.

read original press release here

 

Posted in Articles, Authors, Contests, Upcoming releases, Websites |

Countdown to Final Harry Potter

Posted on November 2, 2006 by Aurel

On her official website this morning, Harry Potter author J.K. Rowling has added a new diary entry. After previously telling fans that she thought of a second title for the final Harry Potter book in New York City, she now discloses she’s thought of another one!

“I’ve now got a third title. I’ve been thinking back, and I know that I’ve had more titles than this for a couple of the previous books, so I’m not too worried by this. Title three currently ahead by a short nose, or perhaps that should be a vowel and two consonants.”

Fans who are anxious to read the final Harry Potter volume and hoping the book might be out by 7/7/07 might be slightly worried that J.K.’s still not finished writing it yet. In her diary she also said,

“I’ve just had a great writing week. There are few feelings more joyous than reading back over the week’s work and thinking ‘that’s not bad at all’, as opposed to the all-too-frequent, ‘it’s rubbish, I’ve wasted a week and I’ll have to re-write the lot.’ And if you think that’s an exaggeration or false modesty, you are very, very wrong. It’s perfectly possible to put in eight hour days and have nothing to show for them but a single idea that, if reworked completely, might be passable.”

read original article here

Posted in Authors, Children's books, Science fiction/fantasy, Upcoming releases |

Book Talk: Author Horowitz on his life with a teenage spy

Posted on October 25, 2006 by Aurel
NEW YORK, Oct 24 (Reuters Life!) – Anthony Horowitz has been writing children’s books for 26 years but his teenage secret agent, Alex Rider, carved out a new path for him — action movies, and he thinks it’s awesome.

Horowitz has written six adventure stories about Rider, a 14-year-old British schoolboy who battles villains as a secret agent, since the first in the series, “Stormbreaker,” became a best seller in 2000.

The year “Stormbreaker” was turned into feature film with London-based Horowitz, 50, writing the screenplay.

Horowitz is currently writing “Snakehead,” his seventh Alex Rider book, along with a screenplay for the next film. (more…)

Posted in Articles, Authors, Interviews, Movie Adaptations, Upcoming releases |

New novel from Kite Runner author

Posted on October 23, 2006 by Keren

Khaled Hosseini, the Afghan-born author of best-selling novel “The Kite Runner,” will have his second book out next May, publisher Riverhead Books said on Thursday.

“A Thousand Splendid Suns” is the chronicle of 30 years of Afghan history and a story of family, friendship, faith and the salvation to be found in love.

The book’s editor, Sarah McGrath, said this book was more from a female perspective and focused on female characters.

Link to the Yahoo News story

Posted in Articles, Authors, Upcoming releases |

Jumping on the magic bus

Posted on October 23, 2006 by Keren

Greg Morago at Courant.com discusses the recent popularity of fantasy and magic in popular media.

These days, it’s not just young village girls who are smitten with magic. Magic and magicians – from amateur enthusiasts performing at children’s parties to the surreal magic and mystical illusion of “Criss Angel Mindfreak” on the A&E channel – are hot. The convergence of “The Illusionist” (the live-action film) and “The Prestige” is only part of magic’s magical cyclical nature, magic experts said.

“Magic comes and goes in popularity,” said Fred Casto, president of the International Brotherhood of Magicians, a hobbyist organization. “But we’ve always been intrigued by the mysterious; we’ve always been entertained by it. Magic brings out that sense of wonderment. It causes us to suspend our disbelief and just enjoy.”

Link (via The Friends of English Magic)

Posted in Reading, Science fiction/fantasy, Upcoming releases |

O.J. Penning Book About Murders

Posted on October 21, 2006 by Aurel

“Acquitted killers tend to keep their mouths shut.

“Even with the constitutional protection against double jeopardy, most people choose not to strain their luck.
 

“Then there’s O.J. Simpson, who is reportedly working on a book about the murder of his ex-wife and her friend with the tentative title, “If I Did It.”

-Hartford Courant

Posted in Articles, Authors, Upcoming releases |

'Kite Runner' Author to Release Second Novel

Posted on October 19, 2006 by Aurel

“Khaled Hosseini, author of the million-selling novel “The Kite Runner,” will have a new book, “A Thousand Splendid Suns,” out next spring, publisher Riverhead Books announced Thursday.” – The Associated Press

Hossieni’s new book is described as, “”heart-wrenching chronicle of thirty years of Afghan history and a deeply moving story of family, friendship, faith and the salvation to be found in love.” by Riverhead.

Posted in Authors, Book Release, Upcoming releases |

Elsevier to Release New Book on Writing for Animation, Comics & Games

Posted on October 19, 2006 by Aurel

“Writing for Animation, Comics, and Games explains the practical aspects of creating scripts for animation, comics, graphic novels, and computer games. It details how you can create scripts that are in the right industry format, and follow the expected rules for you to put your best foot forward to help you break-in to the trade. This book explains approaches to writing for exterior storytelling (animation, games); interior/exterior storytelling (comics and graphic novels), as well as considerations for non-linear computer games in the shortest, pithiest, and most economical way. The author offers insider’s advice on how you can present work as professional, how to meet deadlines, how visual writing differs from prose, and the art of collaboration.”

For more information, visit the Elsevier website.

Posted in Book Release, Upcoming releases |

Author Walter Mosley says write that novel

Posted on September 27, 2006 by Keren

U.S. novelist Walter Mosley, who is most widely known for his crime fiction, says if you’ve got a novel in you, write it.  Mosley, 54, will next year release a 100-page book called “This Year You Write Your Novel” giving people advice on how to write a novel in a year.

Q: You produce about three or four books a year. How do you approach your writing?

A: “When I wake up, the first thing I do is to write for two to three hours. The ideas are unconscious. Every time you spend two or three hours powerfully creating you set off all the depth chargers in your conscience that you are unaware of. It has always been the case for me.”

Q: What tips do you give people?

A: “You have to write every day — for at least one-and-a-half hours but the ideal is three.  You have to write in an unrestricted fashion. Don’t procrastinate or feel guilty about the people you are writing about in the book. You have to be able to say things you really feel.”

Read the Yahoo News interview here.

Posted in Authors, Interviews, Upcoming releases |

Hannibal Lecter rises again

Posted on September 19, 2006 by Keren

A new “Hannibal Lecter” novel, originally scheduled to come out last year, will be published this December. Thomas Harris’ “Hannibal Rising,” which tells of the early years of literature’s most famous cannibal, is the fourth of the million-selling series that includes “The Silence of the Lambs,” made into an Academy-Award winning film starring Anthony Hopkins. The new book will have a first printing of at least 1.5 million copies.

“Now, in `Hannibal Rising,’ readers will at last learn of Lecter’s beginnings and will see the evolution of his evil,” Irwyn Applebaum, president and publisher of the Bantam Dell Publishing Group, said Tuesday in a statement.

Read the Yahoo News article here.

Posted in Book Release, Reading, Upcoming releases |