When I read Jennifer Crusie’s romantic comedy, Bet Me, when it came out in 2004, I knew I was reading something extraordinary. I’d been a Crusie fan well before that book, but with this delicious story of love and Chicken Marsala and friendship–with it’s meta narrative about romance and falling in love provided by an only sort-of sympathetic antagonist, Cynthie, who happens to be a therapist–I ranked Bet Me as my #1 prime example of what a romance novel should be/could be.
Rita Award
I wasn’t the only one. Romance Writers of America awarded it a Rita Award for Best Contemporary Single Title in 2005.
The Cherries Fan Group
The cherries on the cover of an earlier book, Welcome to Temptation spawned a fan group called The Cherries, and even when Crusie took some time off from publishing, these loyal fans continued to engage with her on the author’s long-kept blog (which is chock-full of humor, writing guidance, back-stage looks, and conviviality) called Argh Ink. Click this link to get to all connected blogs on her website. https://jennycrusie.com/blogs/
Crusie & Mayer Books
So, it was with complete and total GLEE that I learned Crusie and her writing partner for several books including Agnes and the Hitman , Bob Mayer, were collaborating on a new series called The Liz Danger novels! The first one, Lavender’s Blue, just came out in July with a truly beautiful hardbound edition as well as ebook, and I am enjoying it so much that I’m forcing myself to slow down and savor the flavor…which is lavender, of course.
There’s romance. There’s comedy. There’s a gigantic stuffed bear in the passenger seat of Liz Danger’s broken-down Camry. And there’s mystery and action, to boot. All my favorite things!
Can you tell how excited I am to have this book in my hands?
Update on Olivia Lively Series
I just hit 56,000 words on the second book in my Olivia Lively Mystery series, with a projected 80,000 words. This has been a much slower process than I imagined; however, I’ve revised and revised as I’ve gone along, so my feeling is that it will be that much faster on the back end, i.e. developmental editing, copy editing, and final drafting.
If you are on Facebook, I have two suggestions for those who want to hang out with me as I live, laugh, write. The first is my author page, ShelleyBurbankAuthor.
https://www.facebook.com/shelleyburbankauthor
The other, better, option is the Shelley Burbank Stakeout Team. This is a private group, small right now, where I offer zoom meets, writing prompts, group reads, and a more intimate glimpse at my writing life and private goals. For example, I recently spent a week experimenting with a new set of recipes and posted photos of the results of my labors.
We also celebrate team member achievements!
It’s the beginnings of a fan group that I hope will grow and be more cohesive as the books pile up and the years pass. I love my friends on the Stakeout Team. Writing for people you know and love gives the work so much more meaning and pleasure.
Interested? Check it out and ask to join HERE.
FREE NOVELETTE!
It’s almost fall, which means there might be some of you who haven’t yet read this novelette (longer than a long short story) about the delightful, if slightly misguided, Annabelle. Free to read or download. on my Freebie page.
Finally, the best way to stay on top of all these things is to join my mailing list. I send one or two per month (sometimes less), and that’s how you’ll get notifications about these kinds of blog posts and book releases and launch parties and other fun stuff. Sign up block is below.
Thank you so much for stopping in. I hope you enjoyed this post & crave more of the same.
Cheers! Shelley