Family Stories, Available Now!

Last Monday, I did an errand for my son and realized I was next door to the bookstore where I would soon be holding my book signing for my new release. Even though my book wasn't supposed to be out yet, I thought I would slip in and see where it would be shelved. When I rounded the corner of the romance aisle, I saw three copies of the book already displayed!

At first, I wasn't sure if the books were really there. Over the years, I've done a lot of positive imaging, standing in front of bookshelves and envisioning my book next to some of my favorite authors. A tiny part of me wondered if my active imagination was once again helping me with this writing process.

This time, no imagination was involved. The books were really there!

FAMILY STORIES, for the new Harlequin Everlasting Love imprint, is my first mass market book. I've published others for a more select market -- the libraries and educational markets. Finding the books listed in the library was fun. But seeing the books on a shelf in a bookstore was a much different thrill. Now I can have friends go into a real store and buy the book, rather than selling author copies out of my car trunk. While that's satisfying in its own way, seeing the book on the shelf makes this whole process more valid to me.

I stood in front of that shelf for a few more minutes and then started to leave, planning to come back later with a camera. Then I remembered my sons had convinced me we needed phones with cameras this time. I stopped the nearest stockboy and asked if he would take a picture of me with my book.

He gave me an odd look. I quickly assured him this wasn't just a book that I was buying but one that I had written. I grinned at the look he then gave me. He looked at me and then my book and then snapped a picture of me standing in front of the Romance Series section, holding a copy of Family Stories.

I thought I could include the picture today but the computer-savvy son is off at University and I had to finally quit trying to make it happen. Instead, I'll direct you to the copy of Family Stories listed on the side of our blog. And if you'd like to stop in and pick up your own copy -- at a real bookstore -- well, my next picture is going to be me walking in and not finding any books on the shelves! Because that means somebody bought them!

Spring and a Writer's Fancies

The glitter and excitement of the winter holidays have their place, but give me Spring!

Here in Northern California in mid-March, birds are nesting, my front porch looks like a wedding passed by with the huge plum tree in brilliant white bloom and petals drifted up and down the stairs and every night, countless frogs fill the air with their love songs.

Later in the summer, I'll close the drapes to keep out hot sunlight, but now I pause when I pass a window to absorb soft heat that melts winter cold right out of my bones.

And this spring after way too long between sales, my counting book for the picture book crowd One Frog Sang is on the shelves. Artist Cynthia Jabar enriched the story with vibrant illustrations, may of the double page spreads begging to be framed. In fact, my daughter Cherie created an amazing wall hanging copy of one of those spreads, using applique, embroidery and quilting.

A few days ago, I spoke with several classes at Cherie's daughter Elizabeth's Montessori preschool. It was great fun to talk with the children about frogs and hear them repeat the different frog sounds, then count the frogs aloud on each page. As they returned to the class, the children were invited to come up and explore raised surfaces of the wall hanging with their hands.

On March 10th, my Candlewick editor came from Massachusetts to speak to a 1-day conference of the Society of Children's Book Writers & Illustrators in nearby Davis. She made my book part of her Power Point presentation and said she especially liked the line, "All the frogs sang for love."

Love is what spring is all about, really. Definitely my favorite season. Do you have a favorite? Care to share?

Visit me at: http://ShirleyParenteau.com, turn the sound up and release your inner child!

Five O'Clock Shadow

My new, sexy, funny romantic suspense (still spine-catagorized as contemporary for whatever reason known to the world of publishing) is now AVAILABLE...

Five O'Clock Shadow Kensington ISBN 0821779788
www.geniedavis.com

First, some promo/reviews; then a little background on the book.

Let's see, RT gave it four and a half stars and all of the reviews so far have been great, which warms my heart, and who knows, might improve my ranking on Amazon.

RT said - "A thoroughly engaging heroine whose witty, first-person voice and palpable love of music make this novel terrific. Davis gives all her characters strong dialogue, unique personality
traits and an amusing, offbeat plot to work their way through. But Jessie's narrative is especially delightful. The song references are great fun and in keeping with the heroine's point of view, while her relationship with the hero is steamy but with an underlying tenderness that makes their love scenes compelling.

Romance Reviews said - "...readers will soon fall in love with the dark, sexy man who captures Jessie's heart. The heart and soul of FIVE O'CLOCK SHADOW, however, is the suspense that pulls you into the story and grips you till the end. I had an inkling of who was
behind the threats, but even then, it isn't really obvious. It is those kinds of red herrings
which mark FIVE O'CLOCK SHADOW as an excellently told tale. Danger and passion fill the pages of FIVE O'CLOCK SHADOW, and if readers haven't picked up a Genie Davis book yet, then I urge them to do so today."

And Booklist said - "Davis' romance is fun and entertaining with a real man's man as the romantic lead..."

Here's MY blurb about the book --
Jessie Adams, indie-rock DJ, part-time musician, and full-time fool for long haired rockers
makes a run for local political office to help save her best friend's music club, and finds danger in a stranger's threats and an intense affair with Chuck, a cop with his own cause. When your life depends on surviving both love and a political campaign, winning is only half the battle.

And now for a little bit of background after the endless promotion:

The small town politics in this book were inspired by my own local run for school board...although no one tried to kill me and I never met ANYONE like Chuck, I'm sure alot of people wanted to kill me for my views about the public schools in my town (not positive) It was also in part inspired by hilarious in fighting on a PTA board ...the sort of stuff that if you put in a book as it happened no one would believe it was true. Improbable! Unlikely! A PTA! That's supposed to be civilized, unlike, say, publishing...oh, I changed the name of my town to a fictious town -- only to find out later (but too late to change!) that such a town by such a name does exist nearby.

Lastly, the back cover copy refers to Waikiki. The book has nothing but a glancing reference to Waikiki. The book was running too long and I cut out a hundred pages prior to turning in the complete manuscript. This is what happens when your publisher does not let you see the back cover copy before they print it...