colleengleason

Woefully behind on LJ

2007-06-25T11:15:07Z

...but up to date on my Wordpress blog. Visit me there for news and updates all the time.

For my girlfriends.

2006-10-24T16:00:34Z

Go here.

Select a product. Ask to see the side effects.

Enjoy.

(And remember who sent you, okay?)

Retro Tuesday: '80s Rock Bands

2006-10-24T15:59:58Z

Name the artist:

1.

2.

3.
4.

5.

6.

7.

My favorite gizmos.

2006-10-23T13:20:04Z

There are certain little things in life I just wouldn't want to live without. I could, sure, but I wouldn't want to.

And I'm not talking about things like my computer (I'd certainly die without that!), my cell, my car, etc. I'm talking about the little things that make life so much easier.

For example, an apple slicer. I must use it five or six times a day. We eat a lot of fruit in my house, and I use the slicer for apples and pears. Constantly. It never even gets in the dishwasher; I have to wash it by hand all the time.

My newest favorite makes-life-easier gadget is the Tide-to-Go Pen!

My aunt introduced me to this little baby when my five year old daughter splashed ketchup on my white pants. She whipped out this pen and showed me how to use it, and I was hooked.

If you haven't used one, get thee to a store and buy a package of three. One for your purse, one for your diaper bag (if you still carry one), one for the kitchen, keep one at your desk, etc. They literally erase stains--as long as they are fresh--of pretty much any type. Even chocolate from my daughter's white shirt! Great invention. Love it.

I also love duct tape and binder clips. You can do so much with just those two things--I swear you could probably fix a leaking roof (Holli!) or even a flat tire.

My other very favorite little gadget is something I never leave home without. I carry it in my purse--I'd even leave my planner home in order to make room for this nifty little item if necessary.

It's my leather book weight. I love to read while I'm eating (at restaurants or when I'm eating at home alone), and this little gem is one of the best gifts I've ever received. And the comments I get! I can't tell you how many times someone has come up to me in a restaurant--customer or waitstaff--to take a look at it. Love it. If you're a bibliophile, or know one, this is a great inexpensive gift.

So...tell me about some of your favorite gadgets/gizmos. What little thing can't you live without and why?

And don't forget to watch Studio 60 tonight!

Buffy Meets Janes Austen...taking to an entirely different level

2006-10-20T16:48:09Z

As you know, my January release has been described as "Buffy the Vampire Slayer meets Pride & Prejudice," and on some level it's true.

It's about a girl, rather like Buffy in the sense that she finds out she's a vampire hunter, but quite a bit unlike Buffy in other ways (ie, she doesn't complain about it, she actually embraces the chance to be different...at least at first). And this girl happens to live during Regency-era England, which is roughly the time in which many of Austen's books are set.

Anyway, using a high-concept phrase like "Buffy meets Jane Austen" is an easy way for me to give someone a quick preview of what the book is about, in the broadest sense...until a Brit with a delightfully dry sense of humor gets hold of the concept, and writes to me thus...

"I'm seeing Mr D'Arcy[sic] backing away, the camera zooms in onto his exposed, vulnerable throat.... Afternoon tea with the vampire. Won't you walk with me in the moonlit garden?

"Later, Darcy is safely festooned with garlic, and has a high collar embroidered with silver crucifixes.

"At Northanger, the plague of zombies is most troublesome. Yesterday we lost a coachman to them, they ate his brains, and then chased a parlourmaid, who found refuge in the orangery. It is most inconvenient, as one can hardly take a stroll in the rose garden without zombies bursting through the privet hedges. Fortunately old Tom, the gardener, and two of his boys, can be employed to keep them at bay with their pitchforks.

"Emma is strangely pale, wears a velvet band around her throat. These days her behaviour is a little odd. She sends messages by her maidservant that she is 'Indisposed', and will remain in her room throughout the day- yet by evening time, she comes down to dinner, and is a lively, vivacious girl again. Poor girl, she has terrible insomnia, goes out in the night for long walks, returning just before dawn.

"The walks seem to be doing her a measure of good, for she returns lively, refreshed, and rosy-cheeked."

Not exactly what I had in mind, but amusing nonetheless.

Thank you to Ersatz Soubriquet for his charming description of what came to mind when he heard the pitch-phrase about my book!

(You should know by now that I'd take any opportunity to post a pic of Colin Firth as Mr. Darcy.)

Thursday Thirteen #7

2006-10-19T16:29:30Z

I've decided I have to start cross-posting on LJ and Blogger. So here goes...

Thirteen Random Books from my
Towering, About-to-Fall-Over
To-Be-Read (TBR) Pile

....which one should I read next?

1. The Thirteenth Tale by Diane Setterfield

2. The Virgin's Lover by Philippa Gregory

3. A Great & Terrible Beauty by Libba Bray

4. Sense & Sensibility by Jane Austen

5. Surviving Demon Island by Jaci Burton
(Advance Review Copy. Woohoo!)

6. Barbarian Prize by Deanna Ashford

7. Northern Lights by Nora Roberts

8. The Historian by Elizabeth Kostova

9. Harry Potter & the Half-Blood Prince by J K Rowling
(I haven't read it yet because I'm waiting for Book 7...I want to be able to read them back to back. But I'm dying to read it.)

10. Broken Music by Sting

11. Naked in Baghdad by Anne Garrels

12. These Old Shades by Georgette Heyer

13. A Reputable Rake by Diane Gaston

Get the Thursday Thirteen code here!

The purpose of the meme is to get to know everyone who participates a little bit better every Thursday. Visiting fellow Thirteeners is encouraged! If you participate, leave the link to your Thirteen in others comments. It’s easy, and fun! Be sure to update your Thirteen with links that are left for you, as well! I will link to everyone who participates and leaves a link to their 13 things. Trackbacks, pings, comment links accepted!

View More Thursday Thirteen Participants

Thursday Thirteen #3

2006-09-21T13:29:10Z

Thirteen Books I Read & Loved as a Child

My Side of the Mountain, by Jean Craighead George
The Witch of Blackbird Pond, by Elizabeth George Speare
The Mad Scientists Club, by Bertrand Brinley
Little Women, by Louisa May Alcott
Alvin Fernald, Boy Detective, Superweasal, etc., by Clifford B. Hicks
Are You There God, It's Me, Margaret, by Judy Blume
The Three Investigators Series
These Happy Golden Years, by Laura Ingalls Wilder
Cannibal Adventure and Gorilla Adventure by Willard Price
Step to the Music, by Phyllis A Whitney
What the Witch Left, by Ruth Chew
The Trixie Belden series
Nancy Drew (of course)

Get the Thursday Thirteen code here!

Retro Tuesday: '80s Movie Quiz #1

2006-09-12T12:56:28Z

Okay, name the movie from which the quote is taken, and the character(s) and/or actor(s) speaking:

1. "So you lost your job? I've lost twenty of them since graduation. Plus a wife and kid. And, in a new development this morning, a handful of hair in the shower drain."

2. "Wait a minute--he's after you. Who the hell are you?"
"Well, I'm a romance novelist."
"You're what? What are you doing here?"
"I told you, my sister's life depends on me."
"Ah, don't give me that shit. I thought you were donating a kidney or something."

3. "You're not the man I knew ten years ago."
"It's not the years, honey, it's the mileage."

4. "I'm your boyfriend now, Nancy."

5. "Ray. When someone asks you if you're a god, you say 'yes!'"

(All right, I know some of these are easy...but they made me laugh out loud!)

The befuddlement of the mindset of the Class of 1985

2006-08-25T11:56:59Z

You've probably seen the Beloit College's Mindset List--the list put together about this time every year that tells us about the generation that is starting college this year.

It's disconcerting for someone from, say, the Class of 1985 to see things like:

11. A coffee has always taken longer to make than a milkshake.

25. Phantom of the Opera has always been on Broadway.

43. They are not aware that "flock of seagulls hair" has nothing to do with birds flying into it.

It just makes us feel old.

But aside of feeling every creaking bone and joint, I got to thinking about the mindset of the people like me, who started college in the mid-80s, and the fact that this week alone, two major things have happened to tilt our world.

The Mighty Have Fallen
Those of you who know me well won't be surprised in the least to know I was not too broken up when Tom Cruise got fired this week. I think the guy's a good enough actor, but lots of his actual movies (ie, plots) have been the pits--and I'm not even going to mention his extra-curricular activities.

My Music Man has refused to see a Cruise movie since we sat through the first Mission Implausible, as he calls it.

I actually liked Top Gun (what hot-blooded gal of my generation didn't?--and if you're out there, please, weigh in!), mainly because Cruise's character reminded me too much of this guy I had (and still have) the major hots for.

(Is this the appropriate time to come out of the closet and admit I've never seen Risky Business?)

Despite his long, downward spiral in the last year, I'm still surprised that one of the biggest heart-throbs and box office stars since my teen years has actually bit the dust.

(Heh heh heh. Another '80s reference there...get it? And think about who sang that. And why that's appropriate in TC's case.)

Will there be another chance for Tom Cruise to take back his crown? I'm thinking...No.

He and Mel Gibson are going to have to form a self-help club for '80s heart-throbs that self-destructed in the Summer of 2006.

Why Don't You Pick on Someone Your Own Size
Ever since I was in grade school, I've had a soft spot for the planet Pluto.

It was so lonely and far away, and so very small. It was the underdog of the solar system.

And now some very mean people, most likely emboldened by Paramount's canning of Mr. Cruise, have also fired Pluto.

Talk about being discombobulated! Not only are Tom Cruise and Mel Gibson no longer welcome in Hollywood...but the whole solar system has been turned on its ear.

My whole world has shifted.

To Cliffhang or Not to Cliffhang...

2006-08-24T11:39:49Z

I got to thinking the other day about cliffhangers.

I think there's a time and a place for them. For example, at the end of a chapter. That's good.

Even, at the end of a chapter, but then the following chapter picks up in a different scene, with someone else's point of view, leaving you hanging by your little fingertips for at least a bit longer.

Those are good, right?

What about a cliffhanger at the end of a movie? (Can you say Empire Strikes Back? POTC Dead Man's Chest?) Or book?

The famous Janet Evanovich (I can't remember which number), where Stephanie Plum opens the door to...someone...and invites him in and we don't know who it is until the next book. Which came out a year later.

What about that kind of cliffhanger, where it's not so much related to the action (ie, the Big Bad's been foiled, at least temporarily, but in relation to a subplot, like the romantic relationship arc)?

Do you like that? Does it work or annoy you? (I was fortunate in that Evanovich situation, for I came late-ish to the Plum series, and the book that followed that was already in print and ready for me to pick up, so I can't comment with any real authority.)

Rosario mentioned a Kathy Reichs book that left the reader with a similar cliffhanger (Grave Secrets). I haven't read either of the books she talks about, but I wondered if this is becoming a trend.

Another friend of mine read Death Takes a Honeymoon by Deborah Donnelly, and she complained angrily that the book ended with a cliffhanger in the middle of the action!

So, what do you define as a cliffhanger? When does it become annoying, or an obvious marketing ploy to get you to buy the next book, see the next movie? When does it work?

Name That Hunk.

2006-08-23T06:29:49Z

I'm celebrating today because I finished my latest book and it will shortly be winging its way to my editor.

So, just for fun...name this hunk!

Retro Tuesday: '80s Lyrics Quiz #4

2006-08-22T13:42:45Z

Here we go again. You know the drill...

1. Caught up in the action I've been looking out for you
2. An invisible man sleeping
in your bed
3. But somewhere sometime
when you're curious, I'll be back
around
4. I know her love is true but
it's so damn easy makin' love to you
5. Oh mother dear we're not
the fortunate ones
6. And incidents arose from
circumstance
7. You know I like my girls a little bit older
8. You always live your life never thinking of the future
9. Now we're sharing the same dreams, and our hearts can beat as one
10. She don't need a man's touch
11. She'll get a hold on you, believe it
12. You're everywhere, but you're so hard to find
13. You want your percentage, but I'm the fool paying the dues
14. No April rain, no flowers' bloom, no wedding Saturday within the month of June
15. There's a skeleton chokin' on a crust of bread

Answers posted later today.

Jana blogged about my book.

2006-08-22T01:12:15Z

And I'm practically in tears. Happy tears. Blown-away tears. Joyous tears.

Go see.

O, Gothics! Wherefore art thou?

2006-08-21T15:13:57Z

Does anyone miss those good old gothic romances like I do?

The ones where the young (usually orphaned, usually destitute) girl has to move into a big, old (usually creepy) house and there are strange goings-on. And two men. Yes, the good ones always have two men.

I love romances as much as the next romance reader, but as I've gotten older, I've always thought why--why only one man? Why can't she have two? Or even three? (Vicky Bliss has three men after her in Trojan Gold. And my own Victoria Gardella has three very strong men that she contends with in The Rest Falls Away....)

Which is why I like the gothics. The two men usually fit one of two stereotypes: the tall, dark, brooding, often-sarcastic guy, and the handsome, charming, often-blond one.

We're supposed to think the blond guy is The One, because he's so kind and charming. But it's really the brooding guy who saves the day. Sometimes the blond guy is the villain, even. But other times, he's just Not the Right One.

I miss those books. I devoured Barbara Michaels' modern gothics--and still do, still reread them all the time. Why aren't there more books like them now? Is it because there are two men, and in the romance novels world, you're supposed to know who the hero is right away? ('cause in a good gothic, you don't. Not until you're well into the book, and even then you might still not be sure. Michaels' The Love Talker almost had me fooled till the very end.)

I must admit, when I first saw Star Wars at the tender age of...nine or ten, I guess...I fell for Luke Skywalker (the blond, charming guy). (I can't believe I'm admitting this in public!) I was really ticked when Leia said she loved him in Empire Strikes Back instead of Luke. It took me until I was in high school before I "got" Han Solo (the dark, sarcastic one).

But now I understand and love the heros that kind of sneak up on you. I'd like to see more of them. I know there was a line of gothics awhile ago--Candleglow I think it was called, and I did really enjoy Christine Feehan's two that she wrote for the line (Lair of the Lion and The Scarletti Curse), even though they didn't have the two requisite heros. They were lush and sexy and gothicky and suspenseful, and I enjoyed them nevertheless.

And Eve Silver's Dark Desires was very gothicky in tone and setting, and you weren't really sure the hero was a good guy (well, because he was the hero, you knew he had to be...but he was luscious anyway). I really enjoyed it...but there was only the one hero. (I guess I have a thing for letting the gal have a choice, already!)

But why? Why don't we have any more traditional gothics being published? I hear people talk about how much they loved them....but no one's publishing them. (Or am I missing them?)

Maybe they wouldn't be published in romance, then. Maybe they belong, as Barbara Michaels' books do, in the horror or thriller section.

What do you all think? Any Barbara Michaels fans out there (besides you, Rosario!) Am I missing some good gothics?

Help by answering a quick poll!

2006-08-20T13:56:20Z

I'm doing research so I can pitch an article to a journal for writers...please help by answering the following questions! Thanks.

View Poll: Ah, those classic tales!

Busy, busy, busy...

2006-08-11T21:22:49Z

I've been so busy the last few days getting ready for our annual family road trip to the Upper Peninsula of Michigan (the U.P. as the natives call it), I haven't had time to think about updating the blog.

Well, I've thought about it, but haven't done it. I'm trying to focus on getting as much of my book finished before leaving, plus laundry, cleaning out the van, cleaning the house, and all the other stuff you know that has to be done before we leave.

We leave tomorrow for a week, and it's a 9-hour road trip, with three kids, a husband, and a dog. I'm so looking forward to it.

Actually, I am. I've been traveling to the UP since I was born, every summer, to visit my grandma and grandpa, and every year when I leave, I wonder if it will be the last time I'll see them. My grandma turned 90 on July 21st, and my grandpa will be 89 in August.

This is my maternal grandmother that we're visiting, and although we've always lived at least 9 or 10 hours apart, she's played a special role in my life. A wonderful seamstress, she used to make us pajames every Christmas when we were younger. (I still have the last flannel nightgown she made for me...and I still wear it.)

She also made my prom dress for my senior prom...it was a lovely evening gown with a plum satin overskirt that merged up into a boned, strapless bodice. In the back, the satin overskirt split up the middle to the back of my waist and under it was frothy lavender lace. I wish I had scanned my photos so I could show you all a picture of it. It was gorgeous!

Then, when I got married, my grandmother and my mother made my wedding dress. I helped too, just a little ('cause I can't sew--too impatient). My mother and I had gone to try on dresses all over until we found the one I wanted. Then my mom took careful notice of the design, fabric, etc., and she and my grandmother made the dress exactly as it appeared in the store. My job was to sew little tiny pink satin "centers" into the rosettes of the Alencon lace that covered the entire dress--which was a simple sheath with a super-long cathedral train, made only of Alencon lace. It was beautiful.

When I was pregnant with my first child, the very first piece of clothing I got for her came just weeks after I announced the pregnancy. My grandmother, at that time 80 years old, had sewn and then hand-embroidered little flowers, birds, bees, and hearts all over this little precious jacket. I cried.

(It's a really blurry picture, but the only one I have with me and the kids and my grandma.)

Now my grandma lives in a skilled nursing facility attached to the hospital in the town she's from. She's actually happier than she's been in years, though her memory is more than quirky--which is the reason she had to move in there. Her husband, my grandfather, still lives in the house they've always lived in. He is another story, and he deserves a post all his own...but I'll save that for when I get back.

Anyway, I'm looking forward to the trip, but at the same time, I know that as we leave to come home, I'll cry as I always have, wondering if it's the last time I'll see one or both of them.

One book...

2006-08-09T11:37:59Z

I'm swiping this meme from Rosario (my new best friend, because she's the only person of my acquaintance who's also read the Vicky Bliss books and she's been quoting the best parts back to me...).

One book...that changed your life
The Gift of Fear by Gavin deBecker.
This is a book that every woman should read. It's written by a famous personal security expert--he's worked with everyone from Olivia Newton-John and Cher and other celebrities, to non-celebrities, rape victims, violence-in-the-workplace victims, etc.

This book is about how we have an innate ability to sense when things are "off," that we have this deep-seeded instinct for danger (women often call it intuition), and how, if we listen to it, it will can help us to protect ourselves from all sorts of dangers.

I wrote an article for the Wet Noodle Posse ezine about some of deBecker's information. Read this book.

One book...that you've read more than once
Well, you all know by now that Night Train to Memphis is the first one that comes to mind, although I've reread many others.

One book...that you'd want on a desert island
Uh...How to Survive on a Desert Island? No, wait...I've got it...The Worst-Case Scenario Survival Handbook.

One book...that made you laugh
Anything by Jennifer Crusie, J D Robb, Elizabeth Peters or Susan Elizabeth Phillips...but since I have to pick one book...I'll say It Had to Be You by SEP.

One book...that made you cry
It's a kids' book called The Littlest Angel. It's a Christmas story about a little boy of age 5 who becomes an angel, and who just doesn't fit in up in heaven; so one of the angels kindly goes back to earth to get the treasure box the little boy had hidden under his bed...and what's in that box, and how happy he is, and what happens...well, I bawl everytime I read this book to my kids; it gets so that my husband sits there and chuckles at me because I can never get through the story.

The kids are always asking me why I'm crying. I can't explain to them why it moves me on so many levels.

One book...that you wish had been written
The books that I wish had been written, I've written, or intend to write. :-)

One book...that you wish had never been written
Um...Harry Potter, so I could have written it? (just kidding)
I can't think of any books that I wish hadn't been written!

One book...that you are currently reading
The Virgin's Lover by Philippa Gregory

One book...that you've been meaning to read
Why Bad Things Happen to Good People by Harold S. Kushner

So? What about you?

Retro Tuesday: '80s Lyrics Quiz #3

2006-08-08T13:32:15Z

Here we go...answers posted in the comments section later today.

1. You're like the sun chasing all of the rain away
2. Everyone you meet, they're jamming in the streets
3. I'm not internationally known, but I'm known to rock microphone
4. Every time I see you falling, I get down on my knees and pray
5. We'll take your car, yes we will, we'll take your car and drive it
6. I said to my reflection "Let's get out of this place"
7. Easy ready willing overtime
8. The five years we have had have been such good times
9. Didn't know how lost I was until I found you
10. People of the world today are we looking for a better way of life
11. You in that dress my thoughts I confess verge on dirty
12. I'm about to lose control and I think I like it
13. Write it on a pound note, pound note
14. We are strong, no one can tell us we're wrong
15. Out on the road today, I saw a deadhead sticker on a Cadillac

Comfort Music at the Wet Noodle Posse

2006-08-06T18:58:57Z

I kept my theme of "comfort" and considered the kind of music I tend to gravitate toward during certain moods or tasks...and included a lovely piece of eye candy just for fun.

And just to prove that I'm slowly coming out from under the rock that I live beneath, I'll post this pic of the delicious Gerry Butler in Dracula 2000, which I just watched last night. (Unbelievable that I, a vampire author and Gerry fan had no idea this movie existed until last week.)

Thanks, Heather. I'm still fanning myself!

Walk softly and carry a big purse.

2006-08-05T17:09:51Z

I love big purses. I've been carrying one the size of a billboard since becoming a mother, and even now that all of my children have been past the diaper/ bottle/bib/ change-of-clothes stage for years, I still haven't given it up.

The bigger the better.

However, as Stephanie Plum will no doubt agree, a big purse can be hazardous to one's lifestyle. I may not be fumbling for a gun in the bottom of my purse, but that elusive quarter, lipstick, pen, safety pin, stick of gum, dollar bill, checkbook, cell phone, book weight, ring of keys...you get the picture...can really corrupt the smoothness of my day.

So I recently cleaned out my purse. I'm not going to bore you with the items I found in there, but suffice to say, they were plentiful...and most of it useless, outdated, crumpled, or unrecognizable.

(Especially those receipts they print on the shiny paper nowadays; the ones where the ink wears off or fades after a month or two...I wonder how the IRS views these kinds of receipts--they become fairly worthless after awhile, so is that a good thing or a bad thing for someone trying to find as many writeoffs as possible?)

But I digress.

Anyway, I had recently read somewhere that Hilary Clinton uses these little mesh pouches to organize the contents of her purse, instead of a wallet. One for credit cards, one for cash, one for ID, etc. They're color-coded, thus making each item easy to find, and I thought, in the spirit of trying to become less of a fumble-around-at-the-cash-register kind of gal and more of a quick- draw-speedy-checkout-customer that the people in line behind me appreciate that I'd give it a try.

So today, I got the four I had ordered, duly organized my stuff, and realized I need about three more little mesh bags...but that'll come later. I'm going to give it a try and see how it goes.

When's the last time you cleaned out your purse? What did you find? And if you have any organization tips for the big-baggers like me, will ya share?

Colleen & Esri take on the Supremes

2006-08-05T13:26:15Z

Just had to post this pic...it's me and my WNP buddy Esri, aka Kiki Clark, singing "Where Did Our Love Go" at Gilbert's in Atlanta at the conference.

Don't we look like serious rock stars? (It's a good thing you can't hear what I sound like...seriously, it's a wonder Esri wasn't putting her hands over her ears! I'm such a bad singer that my Music Man once told me not to sing to the baby [when she was a baby], because I'd ruin her ears.)

Chocolate is the new black.

2006-08-05T13:24:33Z

I went shopping yesterday (trying to find something to wear with my new shoes for the cocktail party I'm attending on Friday), and everywhere, everything that's fashionable was chocolate brown.

(Obviously my website and blog fit in perfectly, no?)

Smooth, rich chocolate brown--from sienna to cappuccino to dark chocolate to bronze. I love it all.

It's a great color for me personally, and a girl can only have so much black without getting too gothy. I like black, but I love this chocolate color.

I was talking to the saleswoman at Parisian (where I found the perfect dress to go with my shoes. Guess what color it is.) and she told me, when I commented, that yes, it's going to be here for awhile.

I'm delighted. It's a lot better than that neon green or mustard that was popular a few years ago (I couldn't wear it), and although I like pink (which is now being shown with the chocolates), it's not my best color.

And...*drum roll* my Gardella Vampire Chronicles promotional t-shirts are none other than chocolate brown with hot pink printing on them. Can you say stylin'?

As soon as I get them in my hot little hands, I'll post a pic. If not, those of you at RWA will get a sneak peek, 'cause I'll be wearing them all over. I'll be the one in the tee that says "Born Venator" on the front.

And what, you ask, is a Venator? Well, to quote my dear friend Diana, "You'll have to read the book to find out. "

Or....buy me a drink in Atlanta. A cosmo or two is bound to loosen my tongue, right, Diana?

Eagerly Anticipating...

2006-08-04T22:31:08Z

Now that Pirates of the Caribbean II is out, and Cars, and The Devil Wears Prada, and Superman Returns, and a few other much-anticipated summer movies are out; and the new Janet Evanovich, and the new Nora Roberts hardcover (which I will be dashing out to get today), and the new Julia Quinn and Kim Harrison...

I'm feeling like summer's on its downhill cycle. We've peaked, and now we're on an easy slide to September.

But wait! There's more! Some of my most eagerly-awaited releases are still to come.

First, my dear, dear friend, Diana, who is as witty and sharp as they come, has her first book hitting the shelves on Tuesday--to much well-deserved fanfare. Secret Society Girl: An Ivy League Novel is about a young woman attending an Ivy League School who is invited to join one of those secret societies that were only for men...and included such members as John Kerry and George Bush (either one; take your pick).

I had the pleasure of reading it months ago and it's a fun, witty, smart read that I couldn't put it down...and I couldn't be more thrilled that it's finally going to be out there. (Plus, Diana's giving away prizes on her blog every day until Tuesday.)

Secondly, I've been waiting for years for the release of Alan Moore's and Melinda Gebbie's Lost Girls series. It's the beautifully illustrated and written erotic story of a grown-up Alice in Wonderland, Wendy (from Peter Pan), and Dorothy Gale (each of their stories). About ten years ago, the first two comics were released, and I purchased them as soon as they came out...but then none of the others were ever completed.

Moore changed publishers, got involved in other projects, and finally, now, Top Shelf Productions is releasing the entire collection in gorgeous leather bound volumes. I pre-ordered months ago, and expect to have them in my hands some time in August. After ten years, finally!

(Weirdly enough, when I first met Diana, she was writing a book called The Lost Girls, which I loved--all the way down to her heroine's name [Kix].)

Third...the final installment in Lisa Kleypas's Wallflower series. Can't wait to get my hands on that baby.

My jury's out on whether You, Me & Dupree is going to be worth a viewing at the theater or a wait-for-Netflix option...I really like Kate Hudson, and Owen Wilson is usually pretty good. So I'm debating.

What else are you waiting for, during the months of blockbuster releases?

Top Ten Reasons Cap'n Jack won't Get the Girl

2006-08-04T22:29:46Z

10. Because Lord Norrington saw her first.

9. Because he'd rather get Will Turner?

8. Because that would end the franchise after only three episodes.

7. Because in Mickey Mouse-world, the princesses always get their princes (and none of them have gold teeth).

6. Because Cap'n Jack has better pirate fashion sense than Elizabeth does.

5. Because cool pirates don't throw hissy fits and handfuls of sand when things don't go the way they think they should.

4. Because, as his father always says, "You can't always get what you want."

3. Because it's a bit difficult to woo a gal when you're in the belly of the Kraken.

2. Because Elizabeth just doesn't get the importance of conserving rum, even when stranded on a deserted island.

...and the number one reason Cap'n Jack won't get the girl...

1. Because no way, no how, will we believe that Elizabeth Swann and Will Turner are the secret twins of the most evil man in the Empire.