2010 is a rare TWO BOOK year for me. Coming in October (October 26th to be exact), from Simon & Schuster, is my next novel for adults, THE LOVE GODDESS' COOKING SCHOOL. An Italian cooking class, with special recipes that call for adding wishes and memories to every pot and pan, changes the lives of its new teacher–heartbroken Holly Maguire–and her four students: a twelve-year-old girl; a grieving woman; a serial dater, and a newly separated single father. (I'll post cover soon, but in the meantime you can read more about the novel by clicking on the Adult Fiction tab above.)

Also out now is my latest novel for adults, THE SECRET OF JOY, about 28-year-old New Yorker Rebecca Strand who discovers, via her father's deathbed confession, that she has a 26-year-old half-sister she never knew existed. Off she goes to a small coastal town in Maine to find her. She doesn't exactly receive the warmest welcome–except by the lovable, quirky locals…and a sexy carpenter named Theo. 

One of my favorite and most cherished reviews is by the New York Times bestselling author of SAVING CEECEE HONEYCUTTT, Beth Hoffman:

"This is a wonderful story that encouraged me to take a deeper look at love, relationships, family, disappointment, and most importantly, forgiveness. With a smooth and enjoyable writing style, Melissa Senate whisked me into the lives of Rebecca and Joy, seemingly opposite half-sisters who didn't know the other existed until the death of their father. Though Rebecca is delighted to discover she has a sister, Joy is anything but. It is while Rebecca tries to kindle a relationship with her reluctant half-sister that she begins the process of self-examination, reflection, and ultimately discovery. The author handled this brilliantly. If you yearn for quality contemporary women's fiction that's loaded with wit, insight into the heart, and unusual charm, then this is your book!"

Read an excerpt at Simon & Schuster website! Order from Amazon and check out the rave reviews!! Order from Barnes & Noble or from Borders

Scroll down for my blog, which is updated often with random musings and book recommendations.  The comments are under attack by spam, so feel free to email me with any questions/comments at melissasenate at yahoo.com (use @ symbol and write as all one word–always trying to stay one step ahead of the spammers!)

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STAY by Allie Larkin is one of my favorite novels of the year. I loved it so much I endorsed it with, "I'm madly in love with this big-hearted, charming keeper of a debut about love in all its forms, including the four-legged kind. Allie Larkin has a special and original voice." STAY is such a treasure–warm, emotional, funny, touching–and it made me want to adopt a dog (one day, I will have my dream mutt)!

Q&A!:

I caught Allie in the middle of her debut day for a Q&A about STAY and here are  her thoughtful answers:

1) STAY is one of my favorite novels of the year, and I'd love to know what inspired the story:

Thank you so much, Melissa!  

STAY started as a writing exercise in a college writing class.  I had to pick two words off a sheet of paper and form a sentence.  My sentence was “Separation is a battle.” I wrote a short paragraph around the sentence.  Later on in the class, I went back to revise it and turned it into a short story about Van and Janie having coffee at Starbucks.  In the conversation, Van confesses to herself that she’s in love with Janie’s husband.  Years later, I went back to the story, and realized something was missing.  I started asking myself, what happened before that?  What would the wedding have been like for Van?  And that’s where STAY started.  Later, after Argo became a part of the family, I realized Van needed a dog.  

2) I'm dogless, but one day I will have the little rescue mutt of my dreams. I sort of imagine taking the dog for long walks in which I figure out my plot problems or sketch out scenes in my head. Do you find yourself doing this? I also figure you must meet some very interesting types every day–a writer's goldmine. 

I do!  Hiking with my dogs is one of my favorite ways to work out issues with my stories.  When I’m working through ideas, it’s amazing to have company, but not conversation.  And dog people are amazing, too.  If you have a dog, you share an understanding with other people who have dogs.  You know what it’s like to have that kind of unconditional love in your life.  You know what it’s like to feel understood by someone who can’t talk to you.  It’s an instant connection, and that’s a wonderful thing.

3) I love knowing what books other authors have on their bedside tables or tucked into their bags:

Well, I have to say that I devoured THE SECRET OF JOY, and it’s still on my nightstand waiting for a second read.  It’s wonderful.  And I just finished SEVEN YEAR SWITCH by Claire Cook, and absolutely loved it.  Right now, I’m reading BROOKLYN by Colm Toibin for my book club.  I usually have a non-fiction book going at the same time.  I just started THE UPSIDE OF IRRATIONALITY by Dan Ariely.  And I picked up IT COULD BE WORSE, YOU COULD BE ME last week.  It’s a bunch of short and hysterical essays by Ariel Leve.  Minus the fact that it keeps making me laugh like a crazy person in public, I’m finding it to be the perfect ‘take along in my purse’ book.

[Melissa interjects a THANK YOU about The Secret of Joy!!!]

4) And finally, what would readers be surprised to know about you?  

I think there’s a common idea that to be a writer you must have always been a writer or wanted to be a writer, but I didn’t start writing fiction until I went back to college in my mid-twenties.  I’d never written anything that wasn’t assigned to me before that, and I was an epically awful English student in high school.  

That said, I was always a reader. I loved good stories, and had an interest in what makes people tick, but writing fiction wasn’t something I’d really tried or considered until I went back to school.  Of course, just because you haven’t done something before, doesn’t mean you can’t learn.

Thank you so much for stopping by, Allie! STAY is a true treasure! For more information about Allie Larkin and her debut novel, STAY, you can visit her website or check out the book on Amazon. See links above!

Now touring for her new novel, THE ONE THAT I WANT (published today in hardcover by Random House), Allison has kindly stopped by my blog to answer questions about the book, her writing process–and much more. But first, here's what THE ONE THAT I WANT is about…

What if you woke up one day to all your dreams coming true? But those dreams were more like nightmares….

Tilly Farmer is thirty-two years old and has the perfect life she always dreamed of: married to her high school sweetheart, working as a school guidance counselor, trying for a baby. Perfect.

But one sweltering afternoon at the local fair, everything changes. Tilly wanders into a fortune teller's tent and meets an old childhood friend, who offers her more than just a reading. "I'm giving you the gift of clarity," her friend says. "It's what I always thought you needed." And soon enough, Tilly starts seeing things: her alcoholic father relapsing, staggering out of a bar with his car keys in hand; her husband uprooting their happy, stable life, a packed U-Haul in their driveway. And even more disturbing, these visions start coming true. Suddenly Tilly's perfect life, so meticulously mapped out, seems to be crumbling around her. And as she furiously races to keep up with - and hopefully change - her destiny, she faces the question: Which life does she want? The one she's carefully nursed for decades, or the one she never considered possible?

What if you could see into the future? Would you want to know what fate has in store? 

The novel has heaps of praise:

 A Redbook Book Club Pick"[A] novel about the choices we welcome and the choices we resist."–Redbook

“Well-told . . . a good choice for fans of women's fiction and book clubs. It's fast-paced and feels light yet still packs a satisfying emotional punch.” –Library Journal

And my own thoughts? LOVED it. I read THE ONE THAT I WANT with one hand over my heart. I think it's amazing that a novel with a fantasy(ish) based premise (Tilly's visions) is so utterly realistic. Tilly's relationships–with her sisters, with her father, with her husband, with her friends and students–and most of all–with herself ring so true that I became very emotionally invested. THE ONE THAT I WANT is a beautifully written, gutsy, and very honest book. The kind of book that makes you think, makes you wonder. So I was very happy when Allison answered my nosy questions!:

Q: What inspired THE ONE THAT I WANT?

AWS: I wanted to take the concept and heroine of my last book, TIME OF MY LIFE, and flip it on its head and see, frankly, if I could pull it off. Start with a woman who thinks she’s found total contentedness and tug the threads of her life apart and see what would happen. And to be honest, I really wanted to push myself out of my comfort zone: my last two books were fairly easy for me to write, and I hope to challenge myself further this time. (I did, sometimes too much so.)

Q: Do you want to know what your future holds?

AWS: I’ve given a lot of thought to this, and the answer is no. If I saw truly horrific news, I wouldn’t be able to live with the anticipation, knowing that I might not be able to do anything about it. And if I saw wonderful news, well, wouldn’t it be made less sweet than when it happened in the moment? Sure, sometimes it would be nice to have a map of the future, but I think – in the scope of the bigger picture – it would be really detrimental.

Q: What’s your writing routine and what does your desk look like? Do you write at home? Coffee shop?

AWS: I’m lucky enough to have a home office in NYC, so I write from my house – I have three big windows that overlook a tree-lined street. To my right, I have a day bed that’s usually occupied by my big black lab, and above that, there’s a giant (awesome) underwood painting of a typewriter that was our first big purchase sort of as an “adult” couple. I still love it seven years later. To my left are bookshelves and a tv, and behind me is a Precor Elliptical, which I hope on usually once a day to take a break from sitting on my butt all day. My desk itself is sort of controlled chaos. I have a bit of OCD, in terms of things being out of place and my ability to write, and yet, I still have stacks and stacks of papers, and random and various crap left by both my husband and kids. I don’t know why my desk is the dumping ground for all of their stuff but…it is.

Q: Your top five favorite books or authors?

AWS: Impossible question! I have too many author friends whom I admire to name names. But some recent books I’ve really enjoyed: Then We Came to The End by Joshua Ferris, This is Where I Leave You by Jonathan Tropper, The Island by Elin Hilderbrand (I got an advanced copy, it’s out in July).

Q: What are you reading now?

AWS: I’m just finishing up Leah Stewart’s Husband and Wife, which I really, really enjoyed, and think I’ll pick up Holly LeCraw’s The Swimming Pool next.

Q: Writing advice?

AWS: Listen to criticism and take your ego out of the equation. Too many folks – myself including – think that their early/first work is untouchable, when, in fact, it’s far from it. The only way to improve is to figure out where your weaknesses are, and in order to do that, you need to be open to constructive advice. I sincerely say that if I hadn’t taken criticism early in my career, I never would have been published. Sometimes, you think you know what you’re doing when, if fact, you have no idea.

Q: Favorite “craft of writing” book(s)?

AWS: Oh lord, this sounds TERRIBLE, but I’ve never actually read one. I know, for shame. To be honest, I’ve just gotten on-the-job training, which is how I learn best. I sincerely don’t have the patience to read a book on craft, though I highly recommend that other people do. It’s just not in my disposition.

Q: Does THE ONE THAT I WANT have a soundtrack?

AWS: Yup, definitely. I listened to The Killers non-stop while writing: there was something about the grit and the emotion of many of their songs that really resonated with me for these characters'. And I was fortunate enough – and SHOCKED – that they let me use some of their lyrics for the book’s epigraph. I almost DIED when they granted me permission.

Q: What do you think readers might be surprised to know about you?

AWS: That though I’m pretty driven with my career – I think you have to be if you want to achieve success in this industry – I am totally, ridiculously laid-back in person, to the point where I feel annoyed when I have to put anything on other than my sweats and/or apply make-up for my day-to-day routine. And this extends to my personality too. I dunno: I’m a live and let live person, and as long as my kids are happy, clean, well-fed and read to for a bit every day, pretty much anything else goes.

Q: Okay, I must know: when you found out you hit the New York Times bestseller list for TIME OF MY LIFE, describe how you felt and what it meant to you:

AWS: Well, I remember this SO clearly. I was on the Precor in my office, in an attempt to relieve some of my anxiety of knowing that the list was coming out, and the deadline passed and I didn’t hear anything. So…I just figured it didn’t happen, and I was kind of okay with that, because what other choice was there? Then, suddenly, my Blackberry (this was pre iPhone) started going off. Bam – message after message of congratulations. And honestly, I think my heart stopped. I had to stop working out to compose myself because, of course, I started crying – just there by myself in my office, sweaty and on the elliptical – mostly with relief but also with joy. It’s hard to explain but I really don’t think I realized how much it would mean to me until it happened. Like, I would have been fine if it hadn’t, but when it did, it was monumental. Huge. And then, I settled down and mostly just felt immensely grateful. I mean, that’s really what it was/is about. Gratefulness at how fortunate I am.

Told you she was wonderful. You can check out Allison's website and blog for more information, including an excerpt and how to friend her on Facebook and Twitter. I hope you enjoy THE ONE THAT I WANT–I sure did!

P.S. Visit often for more reviews and interviews with authors of books I loved…. 

How does author Jenny Gardiner describe her new memoir, WINGING IT: A Memoir Of Caring For A Vengeful Parrot Who's Trying To Kill Me?  “Think David Sedaris meets Marley & Me, with a deadly beak. It's the story of an African gray parrot who was given to us as a surprise Christmas gift just a few months after the birth of our first child. A wild, temperamental and trouble parrot that poops a bazillion times a day and has spent the past two decades on a mission to wound me.”

Here's a funny little 3-min video of Graycie:

Like many new bird owners, Jenny and Scott Gardiner hoped for a smart, talkative, friendly companion. Instead, as they took on the unexpected task of raising a curmudgeonly wild African grey parrot and a newborn, they learned an important lesson: parrothood is way harder than parenthood. WINGING IT: A Memoir of Caring for a Vengeful Parrot Who’s Determined to Kill Me is a hilarious and poignant cautionary tale about two very different types of creatures, thrown together by fate, who learn to make the best of a challenging situation.

A gift from Scott’s brother who was living in Zaire, Graycie arrived scrawny, pissed – off, and missing a lot of her feathers. Every day became a constant game of chicken with a bird that would do anything to ruffle their feathers. The old adage about not biting the hand that feeds you—literally—never applied to Graycie. But Jenny and Scott learned to adapt as the family grew to three children, a menagerie of dogs and cats, and, of course, Graycie. WINGING IT is a laugh-out- loud funny and touching memoir.

Read an excerpt and find out more about this memoir and Jenny's debut novel, Sleeping With Ward Cleaver, at Jenny Gardiner's website. (Click on her name at the top of the post.)

Enjoy!

Drive Time by Hank Phillippi Ryan (the 4th in the Charlotte McNally mystery series)

Deadlines. Desire. Deception. When everyone has a secret, the real mystery is knowing when to tell. Investigative reporter Charlotte McNally is an expert at keeping things confidential, but suddenly everyone has something to hide—and even Charlie realizes it's possible to know too much.

Her latest television scoop—an expose of a dangerous car scam, complete with stakeouts, high-speed chases and hidden-camera footage—is ratings gold. Now, in the prime time of her journalism career, it seems like Charlie's dreams are about to come true. If she can just balance her career and her upcoming wedding—perhaps she can really have it all.

But soon Charlie's personal and professional lives are put on a terrifying collision course. Her fiancé is privy to information about ugly phone calls at an elite private school, threats that are suddenly turning deadly. There's a mysterious death. And then—another. Her soon-to-be stepdaughter may be in danger. Her fiancé comes under suspicion. Then Charlie's career takes a turn she never could have predicted. Charlie was starting to believe in second chances, but now she must face the chilling reality: revenge, extortion, family secrets, and murder may leave her alone again—or even dead.

Check out the amazing praise for DRIVE TIME, including a starred review by Library Journal and a glowing blurb from none other than Robert B. Parker!

And check out Hank's website (click on her name above) for more information about her (she's an award winning TV news producer in Boston and everyone is crazy for her Charlotte McNally series).

Now, to introduce PURE PRINCESS, BARTERED BRIDE by Caitlin Crews, aka the talented Megan Crane, who's written several great women's fiction titles. I spent ten years as a Harlequin Books editor, so it's great fun for me to share with you about this Harlequin Presents novel.

 As quiet and dangerous as a jungle cat, achieving the impossible is one of Luc Garnier’s defining characteristics.

 Princess Gabrielle is invaluable – a pearl beyond price. Yet Luc has defied the odds, and a contract for marriage is drawn up. This will be a union on paper first, and of flesh later…

Except Gabrielle is just the same in private as in public – well-bred, well-behaved, and a credit to her country. Luc is determined to find the wanton within and leave his pure princess in total disarray!

Pure Princess, Bartered Bride hit the USA TODAY bestseller list!

“For a debut romance, Caitlin Crews has written a brilliant royal romance, a roller coaster romance with extremely intense emotions oozing from both Luc and Gabrielle.”–Marilyn’s Romance Reviews

Enjoy!

Mermaid Angel Tritone has been researching humans from afar, hoping to find a way to convince them to stop polluting. When she jumps into a boat to escape a shark attack, it’s her chance to pursue her mission, but she has to keep her identity a total secret… 

When he finds out what she really is, they’re both in mortal danger…  

For Logan Hardington, finding a beautiful woman on his boat is surely not a problem—until he discovers she’s a mermaid, and suddenly his life is on the line…

-RT BookReview Magazine 4 Stars

"Judi Fennell has extraordinary imagination and has certainly used it in creating this exciting and colorful story. Her characters are wonderful."

Fresh Fiction

Find out more about Judi's series and her upcoming genie series by visiting her website. Great contests–and reading–await you!

Last night I was asleep by 10:15, thanks to a) being the mother of a verrrrry active 7 year old boy, and b) having JUST finished writing my new women's fiction novel, THE LOVE GODDESS'S COOKING SCHOOL, which is due to my editor on 1/4. I loved every minute of writing this book. A novel about five people taking an Italian cooking class with very unusual recipes, THE LOVE GODDESS'S COOKING SCHOOL will be published this November (I'm pretty sure, anyway).

2010 is a two-book year for me. In June, my second novel for teens, THE MOSTS, will be published by Random House/Delacorte. Interestingly, yesterday on Twitter, someone posted something along the lines of: If there are Best Of lists (as in best books of the year), there should be Worst Of lists. Well, THE MOSTS is very much about that very statement, and in fact, one of the characters, aka Most Beautiful, believes that if schools posts Most This and That lists, ie, Most Popular, Most Beautiful, Most Smart, etc., then the students should post Most Not lists, as well: Most In Need Of An Extreme Makeover. Most Nerdy. Most In Need, etc. The main character, Most Popular, gets involved with a group of Nots when they hire her to teach them how to stay off that list, which will be rearing its ugly head very soon. Sounds like there should be a Most Mean category, huh? The one who'd take it in a landslide believes "reality" should trump feelings. This story and raises a lot of interesting questions, and I hope teens enjoy it.

After all the writing I've been doing, I'm taking a much-needed movie and reading break. Can't wait to see Nine; Up In The Air; Avatar; Did You Hear About The Morgans?; Precious; It's Complicated; The Blind Side; and Sherlock Homes. And I can't wait to hit the bookstore.

After my mini-vacation, I'll be all ready to write up a proposal for a new women's fiction novel, a story that's been poking at me for months now. 

Here's to a happy and healthy 2010!

Melissa

I loved Wendy Nelson Tokunaga's debut,  MIDORI BY MOONLIGHT, and I can't wait to read her new novel, LOVE IN TRANSLATION.

For anyone who’s ever dreamt of finding love and family in an unexpected place…

After receiving a puzzling phone call and a box full of mysterious family heirlooms, 33-year-old fledgling singer Celeste Duncan is off to Japan to search for a long, lost relative who could hold the key to the identity of the father she never knew. Once there she stumbles head first into a weird, wonderful world where nothing is quite as it seems—a land with an inexplicable fascination with foreigners, karaoke boxes, and unbearably perky TV stars.

With little knowledge of Japanese, Celeste finds a friend in her English-speaking homestay brother, Takuya, and comes to depend on him for all variety of translation, travel and investigatory needs. As they cross the country following a trail after Celeste's relatives, she discovers she's developing "more-than-sisterly" feelings for him, although his mother seems to have other plans for her son. But it is when Celeste learns a Japanese song called “The Wishing Star” that things begin to change for her in ways she never expected, leading her to ask, what is the true meaning of family? And what does it mean to discover your own voice? 

“A delightful novel about love, identity, and what it means to be adrift in a strange land. This story of a search has an Alice in Wonderland vibe; when Celeste climbs down the rabbit hole, one can't help but follow along.” —Michelle Richmond, New York Times bestselling author of The Year of Fog

 “An amusing story of one woman's quest for her father and the improbable path of love.  —Meg Waite Clayton, author of The Wednesday Sisters

An interview with Wendy!:

What inspired Love in Translation?

Many things. LOVE IN TRANSLATION is my cockeyed valentine to Japan, which is a place I’ve both loved and loathed, a place that has fueled both fascination and frustration. And it is also a place that has had a huge impact on my life and writing. I also wanted to explore what it means to be a gaijin (foreigner) in Japan and the benefits and downsides of that status and what happens when a gaijin sings in Japanese. I also am fascinated by the concept of the homestay, (something I never experienced), and how that would impact someone as an adult who grew up in foster homes and who never experienced a real family.

Which craft books have inspired or helped you throughout your writing career?

 There are many and some are not technically “craft” books such as “The Resilient Writer: Tales of Rejection and Triumph from 23 Top Authors” by Catherine Wald. Others include “bird by bird” by Anne Lamott, “The First Five Pages” by Noah Lukeman and “The Art & Craft of Novel Writing” by Oakley Hall.

 What do you consider the heart of your story?

 My stories seem to have several “hearts,” or at least I see them that way. In LOVE IN TRANSLATION it’s how Celeste Duncan, a woman without a family, finds one in a foreign culture. It’s also about the power of music on the soul and heart and the meaning of finding your own voice, both in the singing sense and the identity sense.

 What comes most naturally for you to write, dialogue? plot? character? What’s the hardest?

 Easiest for me is plot and that’s what I try to spend time sorting that out on the first draft.  I also like to “talk out” my plot to friends and keep refining it that way. The most difficult is slowing down and spending time on description. I don’t care for long passages of description, but you must have some. So I try and strike a happy medium, but it isn’t easy for me.

 What has brought the greatest joy since you were published? The greatest angst?

 I’d say the greatest joy is having readers who appreciate your writing. And the greatest angst is in working hard to keep those readers and gain more.

Author Bio: Wendy Nelson Tokunaga is the author of the novels, MIDORI BY MOONLIGHT (St. Martin's, Available Now) and LOVE IN TRANSLATION (St. Martin's, November 2009). Her novel, NO KIDDING, won the Literary/Mainstream Fiction category in Writer’s Digest’s Best Self-Published Book Awards in 2002. She is also the author of two children's non-fiction books, and has had short stories published in various literary journals. Wendy signed her two-book deal with St. Martin’s just as she was beginning the MFA in Writing program at the University of San Francisco in 2006. Along with her MFA, she also holds a BA in Psychology from San Francisco State University. In her spare time Wendy sings bossa nova, cool pop, jazz standards and Japanese songs accompanied by her surfer dude husband Manabu on electronic keyboards. They live with their cat Meow in the San Francisco Bay Area, a short walk from the Pacific Ocean.

 Find more information at Wendy’s website (http://www.WendyTokunaga.com). And look for her on Facebook (http://www.facebook.com/pages/Wendy-Nelson-Tokunaga/52795977320) and Twitter (http://twitter.com/Wendy_Tokunaga)  

LOVE UNDER COVER

In her job, she’s an expert on men… In her own relationship, she doesn’t have a clue. Boyfriend behaving badly? Suspect your husband of straying? Jennifer Hunter can supply the ultimate test. She runs a company which specializes in conducting fidelity inspections for those who suspect their loved ones are capable of infidelity.

An expert on men, Jennifer can usually tell if they're single, married or lying… Unfortunately, her new boyfriend, Jamie, is one of the few men that she's never been able to 'read.' Has she finally found the perfect man or is he too good to be true?

"With a complicated, sympathetic protagonist, worthy stakes and a clever twist on the standard chick lit narrative, Brody will pull readers in from the first page." – Publisher’s Weekly

About the author: Jessica Brody graduated from Smith College in Massachusetts with degrees in economics and French. In 2005, she left her job at MGM Studios in Los Angeles to become a full-time freelance writer and producer. Jessica currently lives in Los Angeles, where she is working on her next novel. Visit Jessica's website at: www.JessicaBrody.com

I asked Jessica what her inspiration was, and here's what she had to say:

"As soon as I finished writing my first novel, The Fidelity Files¸ I knew that Jennifer’s journey wasn’t over yet. Although she had seemed to find her happy ending there was so much more fun stuff I had in mind for another book. Setting Jennifer up with an entire agency of fidelity inspectors was definitely the first and foremost on my mind for the next instalment.

Plus, I really wanted to explore what a fidelity inspector would be like in a committed relationship. After everything she’s seen—all the cheating, dishonesty, and betrayal—would she really be capable of settling down herself? So that’s what I set out to focus on in this book."

Enjoy!