Sandi Ward

This is a nice time of year to make a cup of hot chocolate, put up a few decorations (just a few at a time), and then relax with a book. This freezing rain we've been having makes me want to hibernate under a blanket! My maltese Jasper doesn't want to go out (he curls up on the couch) and my cat Winnie sits on her scratching board, which is right in front of a heating vent. I hope you're staying warm in your part of the world, wherever that may be.

Scuzi! I have a new version of The Astonishing Thing in Italian, posed here with my "Christmas village", complete with fake snow. It's a hardcover book, which is fun. I'll keep it on my shelf...even though I can't read a word of it! ☺️ Someone even messaged me in Italian on Facebook. I'll have to find a good online translator! Many thanks to Kensington Books, who keep helping me find new readers around the world. 💜

A very happy Caturday to you and yours.

Happy book birthday to Melinda Metz for OUTFOXED! 🎂🎉🎈Winnie is trying to get her paws on my book! 🐾 Thanks so much to Kensington for the ARC. This story has many elements I love: a New England setting, an animal (yes, a very special fox) and romance. This book would make a nice holiday gift for an animal lover! 💜

Melinda Metz

Happy October, Happy Caturday, and Happy Black Cat Awareness Month! We've got a lot to celebrate today!

Is there anything that strikes you as more October-ish than a sleek black cat? I don't know about you, but Winnie and I love this time of year.

Once in a while, I get the urge to read a nonfiction book. I spent my final summer days at the beach reading "BAD CITY: Peril and Power in the City of Angels" by Paul Pringle. This book was right up my alley... an investigative reporter out to get the story despite road blocks thrown up in every direction—even from his own editors at The L.A. Times. We're lucky there are some among us with such persistence, willing to shine a light on corruption.

(If you have any nonfiction recommendations, let me know!)

You brought me WHERE? To the VET??

(Winnie was a little miffed that I took her to the vet this week. But she hasn't been feeling well and needed someone to check her out! Despite the look on her face, she actually doesn't mind going to the vet. They love her there and treat her like the princess she (secretly) is. I wish there were more treatments for pain in cats. 😔)

Happy Caturday 💜

Happy book birthday 🎉🥳 to author Ed Leahy for PROVING A VILLIAN, A Kim Brady Mystery! Ed and I met at a writers' conference many years ago in NYC. It was my first writing conference and I remember it like it was yesterday. It was the first time since college that I'd been around other writers, to learn, share and critique our ideas.

Here's the Amazon link so you can check out the novel (and the whole series of Kim Brady books): https://amzn.to/3RiSAW9

Happy to Kristen McKanagh Author for HOW SNOWBALL STOLE CHRISTMAS! A big thank you to Kensington Books for the ARC. Winnie and I love this book, an early Christmas present. ❤️ If you know someone who loves cats and books, I think you can get a jump on your Christmas shopping TODAY and pick up this stocking stuffer! 🐱

Happy Caturday! Here's Winnie checking out CAUGHT DEAD HANDED, the first book in Carol J. Perry's Witch City Mystery series. I was excited to give this book to my mom because she loves cozy mysteries, we both love Salem MA—and yes, there's a cat in this story! LOL.

Hope you're having a nice September. It's flying by! Soon we'll be in October, one of my favorite months of the year. ❤️

Excited to see THE MUSIC MAN on Broadway! Such a classic show. My daughter was in the chorus back in high school. Hugh Jackman and Sutton Foster deserved having their names in all caps on the poster! Hugh was improvising and laughing his way through the whole show and was obviously having a great time. I love every song in this musical. 💜🎶

Winnie with my summer horror reading... a little Stephen King. It's fun to read these short stories with his accompanying notes. This one is the BAZAAR OF BAD DREAMS. 👻
Happy Caturday everyone...

I had fun with and at the Bethlehem Barnes & Noble last week-end. I know it's been hard for everyone finding their footing and getting back to live bookstore events after the pandemic. I hope my local B&N in NJ restarts monthly Book Club meetings in person soon! 💜📚

See you tomorrow (Sunday July 17) at the Barnes & Noble in Bethelem, PA! Let's chat books. And cats. From 1 to 3 pm! With authors and .

Looking for something different to do on Sunday? Want to get out of the heat and pick up a good book? Come meet a few authors at the BARNES & NOBLE in Easton/Bethlehem, PA () next Sunday July 17th! I will be there from 1 to 3 pm along with and . Come in to chat, say hello, hang out and talk books. 😀 Lindsey has a brand new book out, Project A.I.D.E.N., so you should definitely come ask her about it.

Come and pick out a good book for summer reading... whether it's to take to the beach, read by the pool, or to enjoy in your air conditioned home, EVERYONE needs a good summer read! I'm excited to visit the BARNES & NOBLE in EASTON/BETHLEHEM, PA on Sunday, July 17th from 1 to 3 pm. I'll be with 2 other terrific authors, Kate A. Brandes and Lindsey Frydman. The 3 of us were in a group called the '17 Scribes—we're all authors with debut novels that were published in 2017. And, P.S., Lindsey's novel is a NEW RELEASE and just came out, so you can be the first to get your hands on it!!

I haven't done a bookstore event in a while, thanks to the pandemic and life getting in the way, but I love Barnes & Noble! It's the kind of bookstore where I can hang out all day just falling in love with books. 💜📚 Come by, get out of the heat for a while, and say hello!

Italian rights sale! Very exciting to think The Astonishing Thing will be available in Italian. I've been watching Stanley Tucci's Searching for Italy and getting famished watching him eat amazing food all over the country. This book might go well with a small bowl of cacio e pepe and a glass of Pecorino wine. 🍝🍷📚 Happy Caturday!

The Sentence was so good!! I read it slowly, just a little every day, so I could really admire it and make it last longer. It's perfect that the book is titled The Sentence, because that was one of the strong points of this novel—the writing itself. I often stopped to re-read a passage. This book was clever, funny, and touching.

Happy Caturday!

Winnie wantz ribbon! She can be a little bit lazy, but she'll make an effort to catch this big ribbon. (Not TOO much effort, mind you.) Happy Caturday my friends. It's finally May! Which means warm weather is right around the corner!! (I hope.) ☀️

Winnie with my latest contemporary YA read, Loveless by Alice Oseman. Why have I never heard of Alice until now?? I can see why this book is a B&N YA Book Club pick. This book will no doubt prompt many great conversations. Happy Saturday!

Sometimes, Winnie just can't deal with it. "It" being noise, the sun, the entire day—whatever. I understand Winnie...sometimes we all need to climb into our cat cave and hide out for a while! There are some days I don't write, because I just need to think. It's all got to settle up in my subconscious for a while.

Happy Caturday! 🐱

Love this cover for Jenni L. Walsh and her new historical fiction! The Call of the Wrens is a vivid, emotional saga of love, war, secrets, and resilience—and I'm here for it! Coming in NOVEMBER 2022. Can't wait! 😄

Happy ! 🐱I haven't been posting much lately because 1) work has been crazy-busy (we're working on the global launch of the Moderna COVID-19 vaccine!) and 2) I have ALSO been furiously editing my YA novel, as Winnie is my witness. Mama is always at the computer when she wants a brushing. Sorry, Winnie, you know I'll brush you later!! ⁠
⁠

Winnie can't decide which book to read... will it be The Wes Anderson Collection or Gauguin Tahiti? Decisions, decisions.

Happy caturday! 🐱

Looking for gift ideas? The Astonishing Thing might be appreciated by people who love books and cats. ❤️ (You know, the cool people! 🤣) There are scenes in the book that take place over the Christmas season, so it's a nice winter read. 📚🎁🎄

You can order The Astonishing Thing online wherever you like to buy your books. (Featured here is the mass market paperback cover which sells for $9.99; the yellow version is the original trade paperback front cover, but still the same story!)

Happy Caturday!

A very happy book birthday to Susan Breen for Maggie Dove and the Lost Brides! This is the 3rd book in the Maggie Dove mystery series!

"In the third installment of Susan Breen’s best-selling cozy mystery series, Maggie Dove is hired to track down a bride who stormed out of her own wedding ceremony. Seems an easy enough task. Bethany Coleman was wearing a wedding gown, driving a vintage Rolls Royce and navigating through a treacherous Hudson Valley snow storm. How far could she go? But in spite of her best efforts, Maggie can’t find her and she has to report back to the disappointed groom, her former Sunday School student Graham Lockwood, that Bethany has vanished.

Meanwhile, a different unhappy bride shows up on Maggie’s doorstep. This is her 23-year-old niece from Indiana, Livy Dove, whom she hasn’t seen in more than a decade. Livy’s been jilted by her fiancé, and her parents think the best way for her to recover would be for her to spend some time with her favorite Aunt Dove in the beautiful little village of Darby-on-Hudson. Livy’s a genius, elegant, proud. Vulnerable.

And on the day Livy arrives, Bethany’s murdered body is discovered. The obvious suspect is Graham Lockwood, who has motive enough. And opportunity. He comes to Maggie’s house and begs her to prove he’s innocent. She knows he’s not that sort of person! While there, he meets Livy, and the two of them fall in love at first sight. Maggie can almost see Cupid’s darts soar by. A murderer stalks her village, Maggie must protect her niece. But how do you protect someone from the most dangerous emotion of all? Love."

If you're holiday shopping for a book lover, here are some ideas... I think the light that folds open like a book looks very cool!! https://www.cnn.com/2021/11/08/cnn-underscored/gifts-for-book-lovers-holiday/index.html?iid=CNNUnderscoredHPcontainer

15 gifts for book lovers (that aren't just books) | CNN Underscored We all know and love someone who's a bit of a bookworm. To help you find the best possible gift for them, we’ve rounded up 15 fun and unique gifts for the book obsessed.

My editor at Kensington let me know this week that the French rights to What Holds Us Together have been sold, so it will be translated into the french language...Mais oui! C'est vrai. How exciting for my little book.

I have been to France twice in my life. The first time was in high school when Madame Gall took all of her "little souls" in french class to Paris, Versailles, Chambord, Chenonceau. I remember it well.

The second time was a few years ago when we took our almost-adult children to see Paris. I took the photo in this graphic—we were lucky to have blue skies and beautiful weather the entire visit. And we got to tour Notre Dame before the devastating fire.

Happy caturday! 🐱

Happy, happy book birthday to Jenni Walsh for BY THE LIGHT OF FIREFLIES!

Jenni writes *amazing* books for those middle-grade readers who are looking for historical, action-packed stories! Read more...

Sybil Ludington believes in the legend of fireflies--they appear when you need them most. But it's not until her family is thrust into the dangers of the Revolutionary War, and into George Washington's spy ring, that Sybil fully experiences firefly magic for herself--guiding her through the darkness, empowering her to figure out who she's supposed to be and how strong she really is--as she delivers her imperative message and warns against a British attack.

BY THE LIGHT OF FIREFLIES is the captivating tale of a young girl's journey as a daughter, a sister, a friend, a spy, and eventually a war hero, completing a midnight ride that cements her place in history as the "female Paul Revere."

Walsh (I Am Defiance) again brings a powerful woman from history to life with this middle-grade adventure featuring 16-year-old Revolutionary War hero Sybil Ludington...Walsh's easy, flowing prose breathes life into colonial America. Readers will find themselves in the thick of the Revolutionary War as well as eighteenth-century living...Middle-grade historical fiction fans will be swept up in the bravery of one young woman's fight to save her country against a British attack. - Publishers Weekly, BookLife Editor's Pick ⚡️

A very, very happy book birthday to Melodie Winawer for ANTICIPATION!

Did you know she is a doctor as well as an author? She's a role model and so inspiring!! 😊 Read more...

From the author of the “engrossing historical epic” (Booklist) The Scribe of Siena comes a thrilling tale set in the crumbling city of Mystras, Greece, in which a scientist’s vacation with her young son quickly turns into a fight for their lives after they cross paths with a man out of time.

Blending the historical romance of Diana Gabaldon, the rich detail of Philippa Gregory’s novels, and Dan Brown’s fast-paced suspense, Anticipation is a thrilling and satisfying read like no other.

A very happy Halloween to you and yours. Stay safe and don't eat all of the candy before the kids arrive! I've already run out of Twix! 😂