The Tudor Secret WINNER!

CONGRATULATIONS TO...Joanne at Jo-Jo loves to read!

You are the winner of The Tudor Secret by CW Gortner!

I will be emailing you shortly. Please get back to me within 48 hours,
the way... I've already put Fire Roasted Tomato Triscuits on my grocery list :D

Last Day to Enter!

Today is the last day to enter my FIRST EVER giveaway! I am giving away a copy of The Tudor Secret by CW Gortner.

If you haven't already done so...please leave a comment on my review post dated February 15. Only comments posted for that blog post are eligible!

Remember...tell me a secret in your comment.

The contest ends tonight at 11:59pm and I will choose a winner tomorrow.That winner will be notified by email.

Thanks and good luck to all who entered!

Long Time, No Hop!

Well, I haven't Hopped in a while and am excited to start Hopping. I always find great blogs to read! Don't you think the book blog community is freakin' COOL?!?

From Jennifer's blog..."In the spirit of the Twitter Friday Follow, the Book Blogger Hop is a place just for book bloggers and readers to connect and share our love of the written word! This weekly BOOK PARTY is an awesome opportunity for book bloggers to connect with other book lovers, make new friends, support each other, and generally just share our love of books! It will also give blog readers a chance to find other book blogs to read! So, grab the logo, post about the Hop on your blog, and start HOPPING through the list of blogs that are posted in the Linky list below!!
The Hop lasts Friday-Monday every week, so if you don't have time to Hop today, come back later and join the fun! This is a weekly event! And stop back throughout the weekend to see all the new blogs that are added! We get over 200 links every week!!

RULES:
Your blog should have content related to books, including, but not limited to book reviews.
1. Enter your book blog link in the Linky List below
In your link, please state the main genre that you review: eclectic, contemp. fiction, ya, paranormal, mystery, non-fiction, etc.
Example: Crazy-for-Books (contemp. adult fiction)
2. Post about the Hop on your blog. Spread the word about the book party! The more the merrier! In your blog post, answer the following question (new question each week!).

This week's question comes from Jessica who blogs at a GREAT Read:
"What book(s) would you like to see turned into a movie?

I would have to say "Lucia, Lucia" by Adriana Trigiani. Not only because it's one of my favorite novels but I think it would be a visually beautiful movie. Much of it is set in 1950 New York City... and at a Fifth Avenue department store where she is a designer. I can just imagine the fashions! Lots of crinoline, tulle and, of course, hats, gloves and pocketbooks (hey, Lori... your favorite word!)


Thanks for hopping by. Come back later as I will be posting my Friday meme... First Line Friday and please leave a comment so I can hop to your blog!

First Line Friday!

I began First Line Friday because first lines have always intrigued me since I heard an author say that writing the first sentence is, by far, the most difficult part of writing a novel. The reasoning was that a first sentence can make the reader continue reading or cause the book to be tossed aside. So, go to your To Be Read Pile, choose as many books as you want and share the first line. Be sure to include the title and author so that if your reader also finds it intriguing, they can find the book. Also, share your thoughts about the first line. Does it draw you in? Is it...exciting...thought provoking...scary...funny? Join in, if you enjoy first lines as much as I do! Be sure to use my great First Line Friday graphic and leave me a comment so I can read your blog! I'm not the only one with a meme celebrating first lines... Becky at Page Turners at http://pageturnersbooks.blogspot.com/ hosts Book Beginnings... check her blog, too.


Chapter One
The city of your birth awaits your return."
The Secret History of the Pink Carnation
Lauren Willig

I chose this first line as opposed to the first line of the prologue because I liked it better :D I'm interested to see if the recipient actually goes to the city of their birth.

I have this novel (although not with this cover. I just like this one better...lol) on my TBR pile for a couple of reasons. One... there are a lot of book bloggers who are very excited about the release of her newest novel, The Orchid Affair. So, naturally, I'm curious about the entire series and where better to begin then the beginning! Two... I found an almost-pristine copy (probably only read once) at The Friends of the Library for $1.50... ♥ that! So, I'll jump in, at some point, and see what everyone's talking about.


I carried my blue suede hobo bag today. I love wearing this bag when I wear jeans. It looks spot on ... as my Brit friend says :D M was off school today so she, my Mom and I went to the German deli and stocked up! My Mom was born and raised in Bavaria and we were brought up with a love of traditional German foods! After we shopped, we took it all back to my Mom's house and had a fantastic lunch... Alles gut!

I think this is a first (or third...lol) for me. I've published three blog posts today! I hope you're not sick of me! By the way... thanks for reading. I appreciate that you take the time to stop by Bags, Books & Bon Jovi. Speaking of...

Have a Nice Day!

Follow Friday 40 and Over~

If you're stopping by from Java's blog...http://nevergrowingold.blogspot.com... WELCOME!!!

Stick around and check out my blog! I hope you like what you see. Please leave a comment so that I can read your blog, too!

Be sure to read C.W. Gortner's guest blog about his new novel, The Tudor Secret. You can find it here... http://bagsbooksandbonjovi.blogspot.com/2011/02/tudor-secret-by-c-w-gortner.html. You can also read my review as well as enter my very first giveaway here...http://bagsbooksandbonjovi.blogspot.com/2011/02/tudor-secret-by-cw-gortner-review.html If you choose to enter the giveaway, please comment on that post as that is where I'm taking the entries. But, feel free to comment on the author's guest post... he's ne of my favorite authors!

I hope you stop back later as I will be posting my Friday meme, First Line Friday!

Thanks for stopping by. I'll see you on your blog :D

Link A Contest Thursday!

Thanks to Kristen at www.bookworminginthe21stcentury.com She is hosting Link a Contest Thursday! What a great idea! You can find a bunch of different book-related contests on her blog... including my giveaway of C.W. Gortner's The Tudor Secret. If you haven't already entered my giveaway... please do! It's a great novel and I'm excited to be giving it to a lucky reader! Here's the link... http://bagsbooksandbonjovi.blogspot.com/2011/02/tudor-secret-by-cw-gortner-review.html

The Tudor Secret by C.W. Gortner Review & Giveaway!

Did you read the great guest post from C.W. Gortner, the author of The Tudor Secret? I hope it piqued your interest.

I am so happy that this novel is the first in a series. I love series novels... knowing that I will be able to follow characters who intrigue me is one of my favorite things about reading! And Brendan is definitely intriguing!

Speaking of Brendan... I was interested to read how Mr. Gortner would write a male protagonist. The other books that I've read, The Confessions of Catherine de Medici (please read my review here... http://bagsbooksandbonjovi.blogspot.com/2010/06/confessions-of-catherine-demedici-by-cw.html) and The Last Queen were both told from a female perspective. You know how some authors are "one trick ponies" and when they venture out of their comfort zone, can have disappointing results. No worries here!! Brendan is a fully thought-out and well-written character... as are all who populate this book... both the truly historical characters as well as the ones written from the author's imagination.

Mr. Gortner's writing style just flows. He has made his novels effortless to read. I can focus on the plot and not get lost or bogged down in details. Yes, I appreciate details in my reading but when they overwhelm the plot, I tend to lose interest. The Tudor Secret is the perfect balance. I'm transported to a time and place that I don't know as much about as I probably should but I'm not so bombarded with details that my imagination is not engaged.

The Tudor Secret, while at its heart, is a great mystery... it is also an adventure story. I felt there was more "action" in this book as opposed to his previous novels. Don't misunderstand, though! Confessions and The Last Queen are not "staid" novels, by any stretch... but, they are more character driven. The Tudor Secret is about intrigue, espionage(such a great word!) and secrets of the English Court.

This novel is a a fast read... I read in very quickly... sometimes over my husband's suggestions to "please turn out the light". It's one of those books that I thought I could turn out the light at the end of the chapter but I'd, inevitably, sneak a peek at the first line (well, you know me and first lines...lol) of the next chapter. That, of course, turned into just a few more pages... okay, sometimes, it was just a few more chapters :D

Now... THE GIVEAWAY!!! MY FIRST GIVEAWAY!!!
I know you'd love to win a copy of The Tudor Secret by C.W. Gortner. He has graciously offered to personalize it, too.

To enter... just leave a comment with your name, email address and blog URL (if you have one. I love to read your blogs!)... But wait... there's more! I sound like an infomercial, don't I :D

It's a giveaway for The Tudor Secret... so, in your comment... tell me a secret! It doesn't have to earth-shattering or life-changing but something fun or maybe not quite so secret. Hmmmm... what could I mean... I could tell you that I finished what was left of a pint of Häagen-Dazs Coffee ice cream while watching Mike & Molly... but that would be a secret!

The contest begins when this post is published and will end on 2-22-11 at 11:59pm. A winner will be randomly chosen on 2-23-11 and notified by email.

~~Thanks to C.W. Gortner, Cheryl at http://www.pumpupyourbook.com/ and the publisher for providing a copy of The Tudor Secret in exchange for my honest & thoughtful review as well as a copy to give away.~~

The Tudor Secret by C. W. Gortner~

C.W. Gortner, author of the new historical novel, The Tudor Secret, has written a guest post about Elizabeth and Robert for Bags, Books & Bon Jovi. The novel was released on February 1st and has received well-deserved praise! He has listed, on his website, all the blogs that are participating in his virtual tour. Check them out for more guest posts, reviews and even a few giveaways. Did I just say review and giveaway?!? Hmmm... you might want to stop back here tomorrow for my review and yes... my very first giveaway! I am so excited! I hope you enter to win a copy of this great book!



Elizabeth and Robert: A Dangerous Liaison

Elizabeth Tudor, better known to history as Queen Elizabeth I, was unexpected. Her parents, the glamorous Anne Boleyn and formidable Henry VIII, were convinced that the child Anne carried was a long-awaited son. Yet the boy Henry had so yearned for and torn his realm apart to obtain turned out to be a girl, born with what seemed to be a curse writ into her fate. Within three years, Henry would behead her mother and re-marry four times; she’d gain a younger brother, Edward, in addition to her older sister Mary; face a daunting fight for her life that would test her to her core; and would, if the legend is true, fall impossibly in love with one man— Robert Dudley.

In one of the few portraits we have of Elizabeth in her youth, we see a brittle red-haired princess with spidery fingers—so reminiscent of her mother’s—clad in an ornamental red dress against a curtained backdrop. She stares enigmatically at us, secrets lurking in her dark eyes. Keenly intelligent, arguably as alluring as Anne ever was, this portrait was painted shortly before troubled adolescence catapulted Elizabeth into an ultimately lethal flirtation with Thomas Seymour. It must have been an unforgettable lesson for the impressionable princess of the dangers inherent in her nascent sexuality. Certainly, if she’d harbored any doubts before, nurtured on whispered stories of her mother’s horrifying end, the execution of Seymour proved to Elizabeth that in her world, sex certainly could equal death.

Many believe, however, that when it came to Robert Dudley, this trauma was superseded by inescapable desire. Elizabeth and Robert are inextricably linked, two halves of a fractured whole. They cut their teeth in one of the most treacherous courts in history, witnessing early on the consequences of unbridled ambition or passion. If ever there were two people who should have known better, it was they. Yet their own dangerous liaison lasted a lifetime, epic in its unattainable promise and darkened by rumors of murder and betrayal. Elizabeth knew the price those who courted her could pay; and Robert was the favored son of a family stained by treason. Still, they gravitated to each other like stars on an unstoppable collision course. What drew these two powerful personalities together?

In The Tudor Secret, we meet Elizabeth in her nineteenth year. Four years have passed since the execution of Seymour and she’s a seasoned veteran of the court, wary and fully aware of the perils lurking behind every tapestry. Propelled by concern for her brother King Edward, she’s come unannounced to London to discover why he’s disappeared from the public eye. Robert Dudley’s father, Northumberland, holds sway over the realm and plots to further his iron grip. And Robert, though already wed, burns to achieve what he believes is his right: the heart of a princess. It is a quest that will pit Elizabeth against a tenacious foe and give smoldering birth to a catastrophic love affair that will define her life and haunt the man who yearns to possess her— proving that Elizabeth and Robert remain as fascinating today as they must have been all those hundreds of years ago.

Thank you so much for spending this time with me. To learn more about me and my books, as well as access special features, please visit me at: http://www.cwgortner.com. Happy reading!

C.W. Gortner is the author of the acclaimed historical novels The Last Queen and The Confessions of Catherine de Medici. He holds an MFA in Writing with an emphasis on Renaissance Studies from the New College of California. In his extensive travels to research his books, he has danced a galliard in a Tudor great hall and experienced life in a Spanish castle. He is also a dedicated advocate for animal rights and environmental issues. Half-Spanish by birth, he divides his time between Northern California and Antigua, Guatemala.

The Tudor Secret is the first book in Gortner’s The Elizabeth I Spymaster Chronicles series.

You can visit the author online at www.cwgortner.com or his blog at http://historicalboys.blogspot.com/.

~~Thank you, Mr. Gortner for your guest post.~~

Remember to come back tomorrow for my review and first ever giveaway!

♥♥HAPPY VALENTINE'S DAY!♥♥

First Line Friday!

I began First Line Friday because first lines have always intrigued me since I heard an author say that writing the first sentence is, by far, the most difficult part of writing a novel. The reasoning was that a first sentence can make the reader continue reading or cause the book to be tossed aside. So, go to your To Be Read Pile, choose as many books as you want and share the first line. Be sure to include the title and author so that if your reader also finds it intriguing, they can find the book. Also, share your thoughts about the first line. Does it draw you in? Is it...exciting...thought provoking...scary...funny? Join in, if you enjoy first lines as much as I do! Be sure to use my great First Line Friday graphic and leave me a comment so I can read your blog! I'm not the only one with a meme celebrating first lines... Becky at Page Turners at http://pageturnersbooks.blogspot.com/ hosts Book Beginnings... check her blog, too.


"The storm led me to Padthaway."
Murder on the Cliffs: A Daphne du Maurier Mystery (Daphne du Maurier Mysteries)
by Joanna Challis

This first line is really not that remarkable. However, it reminds me of the very famous first line from Rebecca... "Last night I dreamt I went to Manderley again." I'm probably way over-thinking this. And, to the casual reader, these two first lines are probably not even close. I probably just want to make the connection because a young Daphne du Marier is the main character of Murder on the Cliffs. yeah... over-thinking it!

Don't you love the cover? It's so gothic! Not gothic as in teenage girls wearing black lipstick and nail polish but as in the true definition of the word... "a genre of literature that combines elements of both horror and romance". Can't you just hear that storm churning and the rain beating against the leaded glass windows of the estate on the cliffs? Wow... with a little editing that could be a great first line :D No... I'm not an author... I do write grocery lists, though... wink, wink!


My Coach Carly was my bag today. It's a pretty basic Coach bag bu, whenever I carry it, I always get a few compliments. I think women who know handbags, appreciate a well made classic bag... just as I do when I see one. I am definitely that woman who will compliment your bag, if I see you rockin' it :D

Booking Through Thursday

There’s something wonderful about getting in on the ground floor of an author’s career–about being one of the first people to read and admire them, before they became famous best-sellers.
Which authors have you been lucky enough to discover at the very beginning of their careers?

I was lucky to work at a bookstore and receive ARCs LONG before there were book blogs and probably before there was even the internet. There were a few that I read in an ARCs who went on to become best-selling authors. The two that I really remember are... Elizabeth George and Diana Gabaldon.


There was an ARC of Elizabeth George's A Great Deliverance that was so popular amongst the employees that no one was allowed to take it home for fear that it would be "forgotten" there. So, it stayed on the break table with everyone's bookmark... each marking different pages :D She has gone on to create, in my opinion, one of the very best British mystery series and I've been a fan since the beginning.


We also received an ARC of a new romance novel titled Outlander. You might have heard about it...lol. If you haven't, I'll actually be reviewing it on March 8th. I posted the original cover but the paperback cover I received has a fantastic cover. I can't wait to share it. Anyway, I read Outlander (the first of countless times) and loved it. In the publisher's letter that accompanied the ARC was Diana's address. She wanted feedback about her novel. Now remember, this was before email so I sat down with a piece of monogrammed stationery... does anyone even have monogrammed stationery any more?... and wrote a fan letter! And to my surprise, she wrote back. We actually corresponded for a while. She even sent me typewritten pages of the book she was working on...I think it was Voyager but it could have been Dragonfly in Amber. I need to dig them out to post with my review.

There have been a few others, as well. Patricia Cornwell was actually Patricia Daniels Cornwell when I met her at a book signing. Her first, and best book, in my opinion, Post-Mortem, had just been published and there were less than 20 people at the signing.

I also discovered Jacqueline Winspear, author of the Maisie Dobbs series, right after the first book was published. She is an amazing author and I take every chance to recommend her novels to readers who not only want a well-crafted mystery but superb writing about flawed but "real" characters. Her novels really transcend the mystery genre (as do Elizabeth George's) and are really just quality literature.

It is quite fun to "get in on the ground floor" of an author's success. I feel almost "proprietary" about the authors I've discovered. I want them to succeed and feel, almost, like I've helped... in a very, very small way, of course. by recommending them. And now, with my blog... I'm reaching a bigger audience who will discover or re-discover these fantastic authors!


I carried my Dooney & Bourke black Donegal Crest satchel today. I met a good friend at Panera for lunch. She had a busy morning and had to postpone it so I, of course, brought a book. This bag is very rectangular and fits books perfectly.

Did You Figure It Out?

Did you figure out why I am using this really cute blog background and why I'll change it tomorrow?

Here's a hint...

It's been a great day!

First Line Friday

I began First Line Friday because first lines have always intrigued me since I heard an author say that writing the first sentence is, by far, the most difficult part of writing a novel. The reasoning was that a first sentence can make the reader continue reading or cause the book to be tossed aside. So, go to your To Be Read Pile, choose as many books as you want and share the first line. Be sure to include the title and author so that if your reader also finds it intriguing, they can find the book. Also, share your thoughts about the first line. Does it draw you in? Is it...exciting...thought provoking...scary...funny? Join in, if you enjoy first lines as much as I do! Be sure to use my great First Line Friday graphic and leave me a comment so I can read your blog! I'm not the only one with a meme celebrating first lines... Becky at Page Turners at http://pageturnersbooks.blogspot.com/ hosts Book Beginnings... check her blog, too.


1602

"Everyone has a secret."
The Tudor Secret
CW Gortner

Well, okay... then! What a FANTASTIC first line! What a way to completely capture my attention. I realize the title of the novel is The Tudor Secret and there will be secrets but to come right out and tell me that everyone has secret is, in my opinion... brilliant! Now, as I am reading it, I'm looking at each character in a different light.

I don't usually use the first line from a book I'm currently reading but I love this first line and wanted to share. I won't go into a lot of detail about this novel for two reasons. One... I'm not finished with it and two... CW Gortner will visit Bags, Books & Bon Jovi on ♥ Day with my review and something special to follow the next. So, if this first line intrigues you... as well it should, you need to stop back by on ♥ Day and meet the author of this great first line.

I know it's been a while since I posted the handbag I carried. I bought a new bag tonight. M and I were alone for dinner so we headed to Panera (of course!) and shopping at the mall. I have liked this bag for a while but I just wasn't sure if I was too "mature" ... yeah, that's a good word, I'll just stick with mature... for it. It was marked down again and I took that as a sign from the handbag goddesses :D that the bag should be mine. And mine, it is!!

India Black~ A Madam of Espionage Mystery

I hope you enjoyed my interview with Carol K. Carr yesterday. She is the author of India Black, A Madam of Espionage Mystery.

I could not agree with her more when she characterizes the first (yay... there will be more!) India Black novel as a "old-fashioned adventure, with episodes of derring-do and comic interludes"... what a perfect description! And she was not wrong... it was everything promised and then some! I even learned a little history along the way... thanks, Dizzy.

The cover is a perfect example of India. She looks proper and oh so lady-like on the outside but, as we soon learn, that is just her "hard candy shell". She is uncompromising, unapologetic and, at times, unaware of the impression she gives. And when she does know, she just doesn't care! She is who she is and if you don't like it, you "can go to the devil. It's all the same to me"... India's words, not mine.

Speaking of words... the first lines are PERFECT... "My name is India Black. I am a whore.". Doesn't that just suck you in? I dare you to read the preface and not want to follow India on her first adventure. You are swept up until the very last line. Some authors are great at creating characters, some at writing witty dialogue, some at fashioning intriguing mysteries. It's a rare and wonderful thing when an author brings together all of these. Ms. Carr has done, not only that, but, I think, she loves to really set the scene. She left no detail untold but did not "overwrite" (I'm not sure that's even a word... but it's my blog and I'm using it :P) either. I hate, especially in mysteries, when there is so much detail that I start skimming in order to move the story along. I want to know where I am, but, hey...let me use my imagination a little. Ms. Carr knows that fine line.

Of course, this novel is characterized as a mystery. And the mystery that India finds herself embroiled in is well-plotted and not easily figured out. Just the way I like 'em! One of my biggest pet peeves when reading mysteries is being able to figure it out midway through. Ugh!! I want to be challenged and enjoy the unraveling, if you will, along with the protagonists. But, I have to be able, after I've finished the book, to go back and see that, really, it was all laid out. This mystery accomplishes all that. I truly enjoyed the ride that was this novel.

Thanks to Carol K. Carr and the publisher for providing a copy of India Black, A Madam of Espionage Mystery in exchange for an honest and thoughtful review.

Interview with Carol K. Carr... Author of India Black~

I'd like to thank Carol K. Carr for graciously stopping by Bags, Books and Bon Jovi to answer some questions about reading, writing and, of course, India Black, her "Madam of Espionage"!


Who's India Black, you ask?!? Well, here's the blurb from her website...www.carolkcarr.com... "When Sir Archibald Latham of the War Office dies from a heart attack while visiting her brothel, Madam India Black is unexpectedly thrust into a deadly game between Russian and British agents who are seeking the military secrets Latham carried. Blackmailed into recovering the missing documents by the British spy known as French, India finds herself dodging Russian agents—and the attraction she starts to feel for her handsome conspirator."

~~ How did this story evolve? It's much more than a mystery... how do you describe it?

"I really struggled with the description of the book in my query letters to agents. India Black doesn't fit neatly into any particular genre. It has elements of historical fiction, romance, espionage, and comedy. I eventually settled on calling it an old-fashioned adventure, with episodes of derring-do and comic interludes. That's as close as I could get to a description, though it's since been called a "romp" and a "caper," which are both good words for it."

~~ Why India Black? What is it about her that made her become your main character? Why did you choose a first person narrative?

"I like characters who are a little cheeky, sometimes snarky, and very sure of themselves, provided that they are blissfully unaware of their character flaws, and the author has fun with that. I wanted to create a character who was brave, resilient, adventurous, cynical, and, sometimes, just a little too impetuous for her own good. We should smile at India's foibles, but be rooting for her all the way. In some ways, India is my alter ego, although in an exaggerated sense. She says and does the things that I'd say or do if I weren't afraid of shocking my mother, or getting run through by a sword or shot by a Russian spy. We share a dislike of hypocritical authorities and do-gooders determined to help whether or not their assistance is needed. I never considered writing from the third person point of view with India. From the moment she sprang into my mind, I knew she must tell the story in her own words (and if we shared some personality traits, that just made it easier to express her point of view)."

~~ Describe your thoughts the first time you saw the actual physical book. Also, the first time you saw it in a bookstore.

"As you know, the first thing you receive from the publisher is the ARC (the author's review copy), which is an actual book with the actual cover, though printed on a different paper stock, and the cover is subject to some minor changes. I received several copies of the ARC in the fall of 2010. I'm going to admit that I was expecting this to be a big thrill, and I was surprised that it felt a little anticlimactic. So was the the sight of the actual book on bookstore shelves (there I was, right next to Caleb Carr). But there's a reason I don't remember these two things as being a huge thrill and it's this: by the time the book was released, I'd already started to receive reviews online. Hearing from people who actually liked (and in some instances, loved) the book eclipsed every moment on the long journey to publication. Knowing that people like the book is so much more thrilling than finding an agent, or selling the book to a publisher, or seeing it in print for the first time. I suppose it's a confirmation that I really could write something that readers would enjoy. That is a wonderful feeling."

~~I love when fictional characters interact with historical figures as India did in this novel. Will there be other real-life people in India's future?

"Yes. She's going to encounter the Queen on her next outing. Of course, I love Disraeli and he will make several appearances. Gladstone will likely visit again (sadly, Dizzy died a few years after India met him, and Gladstone became prime minister). I intend to drop several historical figures into future tales. I love the eccentricity of the Victorian public figures. They are so much more interesting than our own."

~~ Speaking of India's future... what can you tell about future novels? Do you have a plan for the series?

"I've completed the second book in the series, India Black and the Widow of Windsor. I don't have a publication date yet, but I'd anticipate it will come out in 2012. India, French, and Vincent take a trip to the Scottish Highlands to protect Queen Victoria. As to whether there will be a third, that will depend on how well India Black sells (she's doing well at the moment). I don't like to be stressed about deadlines, so I've already developed the plot for the third book (and have ideas for 3-4 more)."

~~ What do you read? Fiction, non-fiction, mysteries, romances? Authors and titles, please!

"I am a history buff with an avid interest in Victorian England (naturally), British colonial history (especially east Africa and India), and the Middle East. I just finished the new bio of T.E. Lawrence by Michael Korda, which was excellent. I'm addicted to mysteries and have been since I first discovered my Grandma Pal's collection of Agatha Christie paperbacks. I love vintage mysteries (Josephine Tey, Christianna Brand, Dorothy Sayers and H.C. Bailey, among many others). I also love more current authors: Kate Atkinson (all the Jackson Brodie books), Phil Rickman (when, oh when, will the next Merrily Watkins novel be out?), Jim Kelly, Susan Hill, Julia Spencer-Fleming, Laurie R. King, Tana French, Christopher Fowler (the Bryant and May series), Charles Todd, Jacqueline Winspear. I didn't list all the titles, as I figured I could use my entire allotted space to do that, but I'll read just about anything by these authors."

~~ One of the latest "trends" in reading are eReaders. What are your thoughts on this new way to read? Does it bother you that, while someone might be reading and enjoying India Black on a eReader, it's kind of a private thing? By that I mean, the cover is "hidden". The reader is not "advertising" the book to other nosy (yes, that would be me!) readers who might start a conversation based on seeing the book being read.

"I bought an eReader last year, but I'm still addicted to physical books. I use the eReader for traveling, and I tend to download classics that I've wanted to read but would hate to carry around (and they're so inexpensive, it amazes me). Right now my eReader has Little Dorrit, The Complete Works of Arthur Conan Doyle, The Story of an African Farm, Orley Farm, and some other doorstops on it. I hadn't even thought about the disadavantage of the "coverless" book. I've recently seen a study which indicated that most mystery readers buy books based upon a recommendation from someone they know, or a librarian or book club. I think the study understates the effect of the internet and the blogging world, which I'll talk about in answer to your next question. So while I would love to see everyone carrying my book around, I think it matters more that I'm communicating with readers through the web or directly. A bigger issue for authors is how quickly an ebook can be pirated and made available for free on the web."

~What do you think of the book blog "phenomenon" and book bloggers, in general? What are your thoughts on regular people championing your novel and other readers, like me, learning about India Black through book blogs?

"I am now the world's biggest fan of book bloggers! As a debut author you do not have a large marketing budget. You'll get some limited assistance, but with hundreds of thousands of books being published each year, publishers have to choose how to spend their marketing dollars, and it's usually going to go to established authors with a track record. As a new author, you have to take responsibility for bringing your book to the attention of readers, and the very best way to do that is to find bloggers who are willing to review it. I have been overwhelmed by the generosity of bloggers who took time to review India Black, host guest blogs, do interviews, or conduct giveaways. I am sure that India would not be selling as well as she is without the buzz created by bloggers like you, and the others who have been so kind and generous with their time and praise."

~~ Because my blog is Bags, Books & Bon Jovi... I have to ask... what bag are you carrying today? What book are you reading today? And, last but, definitely, not least... are you a Bon Jovi fan? :D

"Mmm. I have to admit to owning only one purse, a black Coach bag that I've had for at least fifteen years. It's a classic, and I just keep giving it lots of love and attention. I had a brown one like it, but I lost it (along with my Coach briefcase) in a house fire three years ago. I'm a failure when it comes to accessorizing. I just keep it simple. I've worn the same watch for 30 years. It's just easier for me not to have to think about these things. There, my secret is out."

Again, thanks to Carol K. Carr for taking the time to answer my questions! I will post my thoughts about her first book in this new series tomorrow.