Earth Hour with Bookshelf Cat...

At 8 pm on March 29th, 2008, lights and non-essential appliances will be turned off all around the world for one hour, demonstrating how simple actions can make a real difference when everyone participates. Even one light makes a statement and you can make a difference! At Eclectics, we'll be telling ghost stories by the light of Bookshelf Cat's glow-in-the-dark eyes. How 'bout you?

Visit Earth Hour and on Saturday night, flick off!



Bookshelf Cat will be sharing Earth Hour stories aboard the Friday Ark this weekend.

Drake's Back! Read Episode 5 for free...

Part Five of the online serial by Erin McCarthy and Kathy Love is online now at The Impalers Vampire Band web site.

Drake: Tales of a Lusty Pirate is free to download, so go ahead...get Impaled! (Mature content. If you're under 18, get Demonized, instead!)

Bunny? What bunny?

I don't see a bunny.

Do you see a bunny?

Happy Easter and joyful springtime greetings from Eclectics and the Bookshelf Bunny Cat (who absolutely did not authorize this photo).

Hop on over to the Friday Ark for more spring frolicking.

Number 1 on the New York Times list!

Congratulations to Eclectics author Victoria Alexander, whose novel The Perfect Wife is currently the #1 mass market paperback on the New York Times Bestseller list! The book is #4 on Publishers Weekly bestseller list and #65 on the USA Today list.

When the Earl of Wyldewood meets Sabrina Winfield, he thinks he's found the ideal match. Graceful and genteel, the elegant blonde will look simply exquisite displayed on his arm. And a lady like Sabrina will undoubtedly occupy her time with proper matters, leaving him free to pursue his own pleasures . . .

But beneath Sabrina's delicate beauty lies the most infuriatingly stubborn, wildly adventurous woman the earl has ever met. She's nothing like the perfect wife he had imagined. And before long, all he can think of is quieting her biting wit (with his kisses), putting an end to her outlandish schemes (with his own carefully planned seduction), and doing everything in his power to become the perfect husband.

Visit Victoria Alexander for a preview.

New from Dusty Rhodes: Shawgo

In the early 1870’s, the young state of Texas was struggling to survive. Its vast, undeveloped land of over 260 thousand square miles became a haven for the lawless. Murderers, rustlers and renegade bands of hostile Indians and Comanchero roamed the vast wastelands of west Texas with only a narrow river separating them from the sanctuary of Mexico. One group of dedicated lawmen stood between this element and the law-abiding citizenry—the Texas Rangers. This is the story of one of those men. Shawgo—Texas Ranger.

Visit Dusty Rhodes for an excerpt and ordering information. Shawgo is available now!

Wearin' the green...

Bookshelf O'Cat wishes you a happy (early) St. Patrick's Day!

Look for other happy cats aboard the Friday Ark.

New Today: The Secret Adventures of Charlotte Bronte by Laura Joh Rowland

THE SECRET ADVENTURES OF CHARLOTTE BRONTË, by Laura Joh Rowland (author of the Sano Ichiro mystery series) is an epic, world-at-stake thriller starring the legendary 19th century author and her equally famous family. It’s a tour of Victorian England from gutter to palace, featuring a hero who combines Mr. Rochester with Agent 007 and a villain whose devious schemes threaten the very fabric of the British Empire. Charlotte Brontë is plunged headlong into the sort of thrilling adventures and passionate romance she never actually experienced, but secretly craved.

Visit Laura Joh Rowland to meet the characters and read an excerpt, or buy a copy now!

Author appearances this week...Laura Joh Rowland and Barbara Colley

Wednesday, March 12, at 7 PM:
Join author Barbara Colley for a discussion of her latest Charlotte LaRue Mystery, WASH AND DIE, book seven in the 'Squeaky Clean' series, at the Jefferson Parish East Bank Regional Library, 4747 West Napoleon Avenue, Metairie, Louisiana. For information, visit Jefferson Parish Library.

Friday, March 14, at 6 PM:
Novelist Laura Joh Rowland (author of the Sano Ichiro mystery series) signs her new book, THE SECRET ADVENTURES OF CHARLOTTE BRONTË, an epic, world-at-stake thriller starring the legendary 19th century author and her equally famous family, at Octavia Books, 513 Octavia Street, New Orleans, Louisiana. Visit Octavia Books for details.

Once upon a time...

Bookshelf Cat enjoys a bedtime story.

Look for more drowsy cats at the Friday Ark.

Appearances this Week: Barbara Colley & Erin McCarthy

Thursday March 6 - Barbara Colley
Join Barbara for a book talk and signing this Thursday evening at the Lincoln Parish Library, 910 N. Trenton, Ruston, Louisiana

Friday March 7 - Barbara Colley
Barbara will be reading and signing her latest, Wash and Die, this Friday afternoon beginning at 4:00 p.m. If you're in Monroe, Louisiana, come out and see her at Windows: A Bookshop, 609 Park Avenue. For more info, phone 318-361-9004.

Saturday March 8th - Erin McCarthy / Erin Lynn
Erin is the guest speaker at this month's meeting of the Florida Romance Writers in Ft. Lauderdale. This is a ticketed event and reservations are required. Visit Florida Romance Writers for details.

New from Lisa Manuel: Fortune's Kiss

Moira Hughes’s stepfather has died, and although the bulk of the family holdings must pass to a relative, a codicil to his will secures her and her mother’s future – or so she believes. When their London solicitor denies all knowledge of this codicil, practical, country bred Moira must put aside both pride and propriety, travel to London and press her rights. Once there she resolves to confront her stepfather’s heir, the dashing black sheep of the family whom she believes has unlawfully withheld her rightful share of the family fortune.

Graham Foster, treasure hunter and Egyptian antiquities expert, must leave his adventurous life to return to England and claim the barony left him by a distant cousin. Upon his arrival he discovers his estranged and spoiled family making free with his inherited home and fortune, while a dazzling, dark-haired step-cousin several times removed adamantly accuses him of foul play. There are times he feels his only true friend is his pet African Sun Spider...

Coming to a wary truce and teetering on a middle ground of irresistible if imprudent desire, Graham and Moira team up to hunt for her lost treasure. A trail of fraud, deceit and murder leads them through the streets of London and into each other’s arms, and to the most unlikely of conclusions.

Visit Lisa Manual to read an excerpt of Fortune's Kiss - available today!