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The Liar’s Diary

The Liar’s Diary: Blogging and Buying for Patry

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Today, January 29th, a Tuesday, may not look remarkable where you are. It may seem slow, humdrum, quotidian and boring.

It only seems that way.

Today is actually very special. Remember that scene in It’s A Wonderful Life when George wants to live, and he comes home to find that friendship, community and human caring are the only things that count?

Well, today, Tuesday, January 29th, that scene is being replayed in real life.

All across the country, folks in the writing and publishing communities — authors, editors, publishers, agents, you name it — are blogging about The Liar’s Diary and Patry Francis.

Y’see, like many good things in the world, this all started with an individual act of thought and care. Patry’s paperback release of The Liar’s Diary is today, but a few weeks ago she was diagnosed with an aggressive form of cancer. And Laura Benedict, whom I’m proud to call a dear friend, thought: since Patry won’t be up to promoting The Liar’s Diary, why not get some fellow writers with blogs to help?

Karen Dionne, the amazing founder of Backspace came on board immediately. And soon more people joined, all moved by the courage, grace and determination Patry displays, every day, in the face of what all of us fear. You can read her blog, Simply Wait, and understand why now over 300 people have rallied to this cause.

The writing community is a microcosm of the human community. We all need to take care of one another or we all will perish.

So whether you write, practice medicine, work in an office, bake cakes, sell cars, or repair washing machines, you can help sustain and participate in this “George Bailey” moment. Go to Amazon and buy Patry’s book. If you buy it directly from Penguin, they are even offering 15% off:

In support of Patry Francis and this remarkable blog initiative, Penguin Group USA would like to offer 15% off the paperback edition of The Liar’s Diary when purchased online from us.penguingroup.com until 2/15/2008. On the shopping cart page, enter PATRY in the ‘coupon code’ field and click ‘update cart’ to activate it.

Order it from your favorite bookstore; buy from another on-line dealer; request your librarian to stock it. You can participate on any level. Here’s the pertinent information: THE LIAR’S DIARY/Plume / February 2008 / ISBN 978-0-452-28915-4 / $14.00.

For a full list of bloggers who are participating, you can check out The Thrill Begins, website of the ITW Debut Authors. I am so proud to be one of them!

But this effort is not the sole reason to buy The Liar’s Diary. The fact is, it’s a terrific book. Here’s a bit more about it:

When new music teacher Ali Mather enters Jeanne Cross’s quiet suburban life, she brings a jolt of energy that Jeanne never expected. Ali has a magnetic personality and looks to match, drawing attention from all quarters. Nonetheless, Jeanne and Ali develop a friendship based on their mutual vulnerabilities THE LIAR’S DIARY is the story of Ali and Jeanne’s friendship, and the secrets they both keep.

Jeanne’s secrets are kept to herself; like her son’s poor report card and husband’s lack of interest in their marriage. Ali’s secrets are kept in her diary, which holds the key to something dark: her fear that someone has been entering her house when she is not at home. While their secrets bring Jeanne and Ali together, it is this secret that will drive them apart. Jeanne finds herself torn between her family and her dear friend in order to protect the people she loves.

A chilling tour of troubled minds, THE LIAR’S DIARY questions just how far you’ll go for your family and what dark truths you’d be willing to admit—even to yourself.

Here’s what others have said about it:

“The new questions and revelations just keep coming…Readers will be heartily rewarded.”—Ladies’ Home Journal

“Twists and turns but never lets go.”—Jacquelyn Mitchard, bestselling author of The Deep End of the Ocean

“A quirky, well-written and well-constructed mystery with an edge.”—Publishers Weekly

“Outright chilling.”—New York Daily News

“Genuinely creepy…The unlikely friendship between a small-town school secretary and a flamboyant teacher proves deadly in this psychological murder mystery.”—Kirkus Reviews

“A twisting ride full of dangerous curves and jaw-dropping surprises. This is one of my favorite reads of the year!”—Tess Gerristen, bestselling author of The Mephisto Club

“Francis draws and tense and moody picture of the perfect home and family being peeled back secret by secret…Four Stars.”—Romantic Times

Not to omit multimedia, here’s a book trailer for The Liar’s Diary…

And here’s an audio clip from the brilliant folks at Brilliance Audio …

Now all that’s left is to buy or request Patry’s book. Here’s your chance to get a great read and unleash your inner George Bailey … get the LIAR’S DIARY now.

What You Will

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Today is Twelfth Night or Epiphany, the close of the traditional Christmastide festival in many countries … in Italy, La Bufana (a laundress whom the three wise men encounter en route) delivers the goodies to the bambini on January 6th. At least, that’s what I was told when I lived in Florence. Every Italian city, town or village is a stew pot for stories, each one filled with bragging rights about the locale. In my version, of course, Bufana was a Florentine.

Twelfth Night is also a play by William Shakespeare (and before we go any further, I should announce that I hold to the boringly traditional view that yes, Virginia, there was a Shakespeare. A glover’s son, middle-class, with “small Latin and less Greek” as dissed by Ben Johnson–who himself was a right royal pendant–all Greek and Latin and less talent. No Queen Elizabeth, God love her, no Edward de Vere, no Francis Bacon, no Kit Marlowe faking his own death and writing the plays … hmm, there’s a book in there.)

Twelfth Night (the subtitle is “What You Will”) has given us four centuries of sublime entertainment and that quote about greatness–you know, how some are born with it, others achieve it, and still others have it thrust upon them. And it got me thinking about greatness, how we define it, what we mean by it.

I’ll discuss it more in depth at the end of the month, because I’ll be talking about someone whose courage and spirit, to me, express it perfectly: Patry Francis. You may’ve heard about the blogging day many writers, publishers, editors and agents are all planning to help Patry promote the paperback of her book, The Liar’s Diary.

Patry was diagnosed with an aggressive cancer, and this is one way we can help her promote the release–something all writers need to do. Gone are the days when you can sit in a garret and be artistic. In today’s brave new world of publishing, marketing and PR need to keep rolling, regardless of whether you can keep up.

You can read about the group effort at Publishers Marketplace and about Patry’s experience at her blog, Simply Wait. Laura Benedict, herself a great one in so many ways, came up with the idea, aided and abetted by Karen Dionne of Backspace. The blogging/buying extravaganza begins January 29th … I hope you’ll participate. Another quote from Twelfth Night seems appropriate: “Is this a world to hide virtues in?” The answer is a resounding no.

Meanwhile, I’ll leave you with a dining recommendation, and post more about it next week. If you’re in the Bay Area, looking for good, old-fashioned and incredibly delicious comfort food (two words: Swedish Pancakes), there’s a sprawling, wood-paneled huge dude ranch-style eaterie called The Millbrae Pancake House (located on the old El Camino Real). It’s a time machine of good food and great service. More next time, when descriptions of lingonberry butter will make your mouth water!