We are off tomorrow on our family transatlantic crossing on the QE2. I keeping adding books to my stack since I envision a week collapsed on a deck chair reading and musing as I look out on the water. (Lots of water; no land for days...I will know what Columbus felt like.) Six glorious days of literary pleasure. Well that dream was dashed yesterday when my older son flew in with "great news." There is to be a storm the third day that we are at sea. With high waves. I now envision a wet book. I envision myself huddled in our cabin clutching Dramamine. I also saw pictures of said cabin this week. It's 195 square feet; to compare I just googled and learned that the average prison cell is 96 square feet. A friend noted this week that the point of a cruise is not to hang in one's room. On the map of the ship/liner (never boat), I saw that the library is MUCH bigger; maybe there is a couch where I can spread out. The library has 6,000 books, but I am not unpacking any of mine. A reader can never be sure that they will have the RIGHT book.
 
Our trip will culminate in a weekend in London. When we are there, the boys and my husband are planning to attend maritime museums. I plan to visit bookstores. We each have our passions. I am meeting up with Joni Rendon, a good friend who has been living in London for the past three years. She and my friend, Shannon McKenna Schmidt, have a book called NOVEL DESTINATIONS: Literary Landmarks From Jane Austen's Bath to Ernest Hemingway's Key West coming out on May 20th. I could not think of anyone more qualified to show me literary haunts in London. I also am looking forward to meeting Raymond Khoury, who is the author of THE LAST TEMPLAR and THE SANCTUARY. We have been corresponding for years, and it will be great fun to put a face with a name.
 
Months ago I bought a map of London. I lost this map somewhere in the house. It's in one of the 12 boxes now stacked in my bedroom. I have opened six and given up, so today I just will buy a new map. Why all these boxes? Since life is not busy enough I chose this week to paint my office at home, or rather to have it painted. I was going to paint myself, but as I did the first few brush strokes, Greg said, "Mom, put the brush down and call Grandpa to do this. You CANNOT paint." I was a tad insulted and then I looked at the wall and realized that he is right. I cannot paint. There is some mental block in my head on this. I can paint small things very artistically, but walls never look great. They do not even look cool like Jackson Pollock was there. They look like a kindergartner went mad fingerpainting.
 
I called my dad, and as I finished asking him to come help me, he asked, "Are you painting now?" I informed him I had stopped. He told me to put down the brush in the same voice that policemen use to tell suspects to "drop their weapons." Okay, there is a reason for this. I painted a closet once. I used an entire gallon of paint, and by the time I was done, the closet and I were the same color. So was the floor. It was decided that I was much better at things like picking the colors and picking up lunch. I tell myself that these are very useful tasks. But I wish I could paint.
 
My dad on the other hand is an artist. He also is a very patient man since in this office I have selected four different colors plus a layer of copper tint for the walls. He is Michelangelo, and my office is the Sistine Chapel. Three sections of the wall are turquoise, and we still are negotiating the back of the door being the same color. He thinks it should disappear and be tan; I want it to pop in turquoise. More on these negotiations at a later date!
 
Tuesday night I escaped the paint fumes and went out to see Elizabeth Noble at a local bookstore, The Clinton Book Shop, where she was doing a reading and signing for her new book, THINGS I WANT MY DAUGHTERS TO KNOW. As always, she was fabulously entertaining. She has a wonderful warm sense of humor. When I read her blog I always laugh since she can take mundane moments and completely jazz them up. One of the nicest parts of the evening was when one reader remarked that she was so excited to see Elizabeth that she felt like it was midnight the night a Harry Potter book went on sale. Moments like that are just lovely for authors, as well as readers. It's sparking our Question of the Week, "What book/author would you line up at midnight to get/meet?" You can "meet" Elizabeth this week in our interview with her.

Last night I went to the launch party for TOON Books, a new line of children's comic books that Francoise Mouly and Art Spiegelman co-edited. It was an exciting evening as the creators and writers for the debut titles were available to meet with us. You can read an interview with Francoise below.

Our newest featured author this week is Jane Porter, whose new novel, MRS. PERFECT, will be in stores on May 5th. In this book, a woman must be strong for her family as their fairy-tale lifestyle begins to unravel. We have 10 copies of MRS. PERFECT to give away to readers who would like to preview the book and comment about it. If you are interested, please fill out this form by Friday, April 18th. I am a huge fan of Jane's work, and I truly enjoyed reading MRS. PERFECT. I am very happy to be sharing it with you.

We also received some nice feedback for Linda Francis Lee’s new novel, THE EX-DEBUTANTE. See what our advance readers had to say here. You may also remember the great feedback we received for LOST SOULS by Lisa Jackson, which you can read here. This week, we are featuring Lisa’s responses to our advance readers’ questions. Click here to read them.

Kristin Hannah recently ran a "Best Friends" essay contest on her website. The winning entries --- and the others posted there --- definitely reflect the spirit of her bestselling novel, FIREFLY LANE. You can read them here.

The week of April 13-19 is National Library Week. I found it interesting how many of you said you were going to the library more these days, given the current economy. By the way, if you are on the QE2 this crossing, I will be easy to spot. I will be facing backwards as we leave the harbor with my BlackBerry pointed towards the Statue of Liberty trying to seize a few last signals as we pull away from land. It will be my own way of saluting. Then, as we cruise into Southampton, I will be reenacting the famous Titanic scene where Rose holds the necklace high from the deck of the ship. In my case...the BlackBerry will be pointed towards shore trying to pull a signal. Wish me luck.
 
Greg has asssured me that the ship has Wi-Fi and Internet access. He has mumbled each time he has mentioned the price for this. Thus next week's newsletter may be the most expensive one ever sent! If the signal fails, someone on staff will "channel me" and get the news your way. The boys have each confessed that they are a bit worried about what my husband will do on the ship since on most of our vacations he just plays golf. There is a driving range. Stay tuned --- and for this week keep reading. Bon voyage to us. Hail Hail The Queen! Have a great week. Get some reading done.


Carol Fitzgerald (Carol@bookreporter.com)

Elizabeth Noble is the bestselling author of THE READING GROUP, THE FRIENDSHIP TEST, ALPHABET WEEKENDS and the newly released THINGS I WANT MY DAUGHTERS TO KNOW. In this interview with Bookreporter.com's Kathy Weissman, Noble discusses what inspired her latest novel --- which she describes as a love letter to her children --- and explains which elements from her own life and how those close to her fueled the plot of her story. She also gives insight into how her characters are formed, shares her thoughts on ideas of feminism in today's society and reveals details about her next writing project.

THINGS I WANT MY DAUGHTERS TO KNOW by Elizabeth Noble (Fiction)
Give it to your mother, give it to your daughter, share it with friends. This generous-spirited, sensitive, surprisingly witty female-bonding novel by an endearing British writer tells what happens to a family when they take on the ultimate challenge: how to live on after a great loss. Reviewed by Kathy Weissman.

-Click here to read a review of THINGS I WANT MY DAUGHTERS TO KNOW.
-Click here to read an excerpt from THINGS I WANT MY DAUGHTERS TO KNOW.
-Visit the author's official website, www.ElizabethNobleBooks.com.

New Yorker art editor Francoise Mouly and her husband, acclaimed cartoonist Art Spiegelman, recently launched TOON Books, a new line of comics designed for children ages four and up. Its inaugural titles, now available in stores, are BENNY AND PENNY IN JUST PRETEND, SILLY LILLY AND THE FOUR SEASONS and OTTO'S ORANGE DAY. In this interview with Contributing Editor John Hogan, Mouly describes how her son, a reluctant reader, inspired the idea for this line and explains the benefits of these comics over conventional picture books. She also discusses how the books will be incorporated into school reading programs, shares some of the feedback they've received from teachers and librarians, and muses on the constantly changing attitudes towards comics.

-Click here to read a review of the TOON Books debut titles.

New York Times and USA Today bestselling author Heather Graham has written over one hundred novels and novellas. In THE DEATH DEALER, the chilling follow-up to THE DEAD ROOM, a woman and a private investigator must get to the bottom of a series of murders mirroring the macabre stories of Edgar Allan Poe. THE DEATH DEALER is now in stores.

-Click here to read a third excerpt from THE DEATH DEALER.
-Click here to read Heather Graham’s bio.
-Click here to read Heather Graham's backlist.
-Click here to read critical praise for THE DEATH DEALER.
-Visit the author’s official website, www.TheOriginalHeatherGraham.com.
-Click here to see our advance copy winners.

More about THE DEATH DEALER:
Genevieve O'Brien knows all about nightmares. She survived for two months as the prisoner of a deranged killer. Now a new menace is stalking the streets of New York. The media is buzzing about the “Poe Killings,” a string of homicides mirroring the author's macabre stories --- and Genevieve’s own mother may be in danger...

Spooked by the bizarre slayings, Genevieve turns toward the one who rescued her --- private investigator Joe Connolly.

Karen Robards is the New York Times bestselling author of over 30 books, including OBSESSION and VANISHED. In GUILTY, her new romantic suspense now available in stores, a feisty female attorney's life is threatened when her hidden past resurfaces in an unexpected way.

-Click here to read a review of GUILTY.
-Click here to read a third excerpt from GUILTY.
-Click here to read an interview with Karen Robards.
-Click here to read fast facts about Karen Robards.
-Click here to read Karen Robards’s bio.
-Visit the author’s official website, www.KarenRobards.com.
-Click here to view a trailer for GUILTY.
-Click here to see our advance copy winners.

More about GUILTY:
Sixteen years after she and her friends committed an unspeakable crime, Kat --- now Kate --- has built a new life for herself. Now a single mom, she works as a prosecutor in the Philadelphia DA's office. But her dark past rears its head when she walks into court one day and discovers that she is to prosecute Mario Castellanos, one of her friends from that terrible night 16 years earlier. And that is only where the trouble begins...