Read something different this year!

My first books:

A Three-Turtle Summer

As Brown As I Want: The Indianhead Diaries

Free Pecan Pie and Other Chick Stories (mixed genre)

That front table- Casual readers may not have noticed, but most of the books on the front tables of the glitzy bookstores are only there for 2-4 weeks, and competition for a table spot is fierce. After that, they're stashed away on the book shelves and your chance of finding them is just about nil--unless the book falls off and hits you on the toe.

My A Three-Turtle Summer was like that. It was on a front table of some bookstores for about three weeks, then it was shoved onto a top shelf that only a basketball player could reach without a ladder.

This is where traditional publishers come in. With large advertizing budgets, they try to make sure their books are not ignored by the reader. The funny thing is, often, even they can't save their own books. If a traditional publisher can't get their own books read by the public, what chance does a small niche writer, with no advertising budget have? Not much.

Most of my novels have won literary awards, but they are still unknown by almost everybody. If you go to my website, http://www.janellemerazhooper.com/ , you can read sample chapters of my books before you buy.

New in 2007!

Custer and His Naked Ladies

Don't miss it...it's a hoot!

Read something different this year! I think you'll be glad you did.

Thank goodness for my wicked stepmother!

Think Hanukkah & Christmas!

I finally got my laptop back--woo-hoo! I'm really behind in everything, but I wanted to take a moment to plug my book Free Pecan Pie and Other Chick Stories. It makes a great stocking stuffer or hostess gift. iUniverse, $12.95. More info on my www site.

Of course, Custer and His Naked Ladies would also make a great gift. Both of these books have to be ordered (from all the usual places), so start early! I've posted a sample chapter on my regular website. iUniverse, $15.95

Ya'll enjoy your Christmas shopping. when I was a kid I could never please my stepmother with my Christmas gift to her, and she always let me know the minute she saw me. As a result, I was beginning to hate Christmas when I confided my problem to a friend. "Ha!" she scoffed. "I give people what I want to give them and what I can afford. If they don't like it, it's just too bad." I wish I could remember her name--she saved Christmas for me.

Thank goodness for my wicked stepmother--she was worth three books!

Quote du Jour:
"You don't have to have a good start to have a great finish!" Joyce Meyer

Where's John Wayne?

Thanksgiving- This is time of year I miss the girls the most. The women I wrote about in my Turtle Trilogy were based on real characters--my mother and her sisters, and their mother. The story in Free Pecan Pie and Other Chick Stories about the Thanksgiving when my Aunt Pat stirred spinach into my mom's cornbread dressing is true. If I get my laptop back, I'll post the story for you.
With Custer and His Naked Ladies, I say goodbye to the women I so admired when I was growing up. And with them, I say goodbye to writing about the other members of the family. Some of them may have been sweating my writing career. When I was a kid, I used to sit on the floor in the corner and take in all the family secrets--no one paid any attention to me--I was just a kid. Well, the kid has a very good memory; I just never had any intention of writing a tell-all. So now, I'm done. Everybody can relax, ha.
My latest novel, a romance, is set in the Northwest, and has all new characters. It's only a quarter of the way finished, so the outline is nearly as big as the book. So far, I'm calling it Ralph, but that will have to change. I don't want to open the door to a lawsuit!
My husband is cooking the turkey tomorrow, so I guess I should at least pick up the recording stuff so he can get to the table. We're alone for the first time this year as our little family is spending Turkey Day with the other side of the family, so we are cooking a teeny-tiny turkey that will cook really fast. We plan on spending the time we save playing with our grown-up toys. Dick, a hobby woodworker, is making a new cabinet for our TV, and I'm going to play with my camcorder. It's hard to find time to do the fun stuff nowadays.
I wish you all a very happy holiday. Let's all say a prayer for our troops tomorrow, dear Fellow Americans.
I know the rest of the world is disgusted with our president (and probably with us, too), but they should see the situation from our side. The pain is almost unbearable. Everyday, we get another dose of news about how corrupt our president is. There seems to be no end in sight. We may never know the details of how a man with no integrity and fried brains managed to steal the presidency TWICE, but it makes me very afraid for our future. Does gullibility necessarily have to come with goodness? I hope not, because we are a good people. I know that. At the same time, what if it happens again; how will we ever survive? Some of us don't know how we'll survive the rest of the year, much less beyond that.
Well, where's John Wayne when we really need him?