A Dandy of a Book!

I stayed up way too late last night (or, actually, early this morning) finishing Dandy Gilver and the Proper Treatment of Bloodstains by Catriona McPherson. It was such fun. It takes place in 1926 Edinburgh. Dandy Gilver, a wealthy and spunky married woman, who, to combat the boredom of being a wealthy married woman, has started a detective agency (after successfully solving previous cases she happened to stumble upon) and goes undercover as a lady’s maid for a woman who’s convinced her husband plans to murder her.

It was very well-written and witty and just plain fun (shades of “Upstairs Downstairs” and “Downton Abbey,” and also of Rhys Bowen’s wonderful series, Her Royal Spyness) with surprises and twists and turns, and the good news is, it’s the 5th in a series, so I have more Dandy Gilver books to look forward to. I’m always so pleased when I find a previously unknown-to-me writer and series that I thoroughly enjoy.

If this sounds like your cup of tea, this website—www.DandyGilver.com—tells more about the series.

Book Events

I’ve been invited to participate in a couple of cool upcoming events:

5th Annual Author Extravaganza
Saturday, June 18, 2011
11 a.m. to 1p.m.
Town Crier Bookstore
716 Commercial
Emporia, Kansas 66801
620.343.9649

This is an amazing giant booksigning, this year featuring 37 Kansas authors, including Adam Catlin, Bev Buller, Brian Craig Miller, Carol Russell, Dennis Young, Diane McAdams Gladow, Donovan Harrison, Doris Johnson and Ray Imhoff, Douglas Armstrong, Dr. William L. Smith, Jerilynn Jones Henrikson, Katherine Pritchett, Kelley Hurst, Lenise Eddings, Linda A. Born, Lisa Waterman Gray, Max Terman, M.E. Williams, Meri Rose Shenk, Michael Halleran, Patty Bultman, Phil Brown, Reaona Hemmingway, Robert Collins, Robert Hannigan, Sally Jadlow, S.C. Dixon, Todd Hunter, Bradly Brackenbury, Marilyn Hope Lake and Denton Warn, Ken Ohm, Donald Pady, Greg Hoots, Michelle Spencer, Lisa Harkrader.

Author/Illustrator Panel
Kansas Reading Association Conference
Friday, October 21, 2011
Emporia State University
Emporia, Kansas

Other writers attending the conference include Beverly Buller, Paul Schneider, Andrea Warren, Roy Bird, Roderick Townley, and Brian Lies.

I’ll post more when I find out details about the author/illustrator panel.

Beanboy Cover Art

<—Here is the cover art for The Adventures of Beanboy. Artist Dan Santat has done an amazing job. I couldn’t ask for a better cover. It has just the right style and tone to both complement the story and entice readers to pick up the book. It will really help Beanboy stand out on a bookstore or library shelf.

I was thrilled when my publisher chose Dan to do the cover. He has written and/or illustrated tons of picture books, chapter books, and graphic novels, including The Adventures of Nanny Piggins, Oh No!: Or How My Science Project Destroyed the World, Guild of Geniuses, and the soon-to-be-released Sidekicks. He also created the Disney Channel television program “The Replacements.” To find out more about Dan and see some of his work, click here to visit his website (http://www.dantat.com).

I’m not sure when Beanboy will be out, but I’ll post the date here as soon as I find out.