44 NaNoWriMo tips and tricks from 24 expert authors

National Novel Writing Month is that crazy time of year when writers drive themselves mad gunning for 50,000 words, a completed novel, and the glorious pride of writerly achievement, all by the end of November. Of course, it's also that time of year when agents become increasingly wary, concerned they'll receive NaNoWriMo manuscripts immediately on December 1...

After doling out revision tips last year, this year we wanted our JVNLA authors to weigh in with their own NaNoWriMo writing advice—whether it be related to revision, persistence, encouragement, or the craft of writing.

We didn't ask our authors to send advice in just any old, boring way, though. Instead, we took to Twitter!

Last Thursday, Friday, and Saturday, our authors flooded a portion of the Twitter-verse with #JVNLAauthors and #NaNoWriMo hashtags. They were responding to this tweet:

We've compiled the 44 tips and tricks they sent in below, with each tweet on its own line under the author's name.

Our expert authors write a variety of genres for a variety of ages, but their advice is perfect for anyone. Take a look!

From Victoria Strauss, author of Passion Blue (Skyscape, November 2012) @victoriastrauss

You're challenging yourself, not competing against others

Take breaks. Go for a walk. Savor a cup of tea. Take a hot shower. Creativity blooms when you let your mind wander.

From Morag Joss, author of Our Picnics in the Sun (Delacorte Press, November 2013) @moragjoss

Keep going to the end of #NaNoWriMo and be proud. Then re-write. And re-write.

From Selena Coppock, author of The New Rules for Blondes (It Books, April 2013) @SelenaCoppock

My advice 4 writers doing #NaNoWriMo? Straight-up disconnect the internet from your computer. And write to Arcade Fire :)


Courtesy of joylajaxx.tumblr.com via giphy.com

From Anne Mazer, author of Spilling Ink: A Young Writer's Handbook (Square Fish Books, March 2010) @Annemazer

Listen deeply to your characters.

Don't be afraid to make mistakes - you can always fix them later.

From Adrienne Kress, author of Outcast (Diversion Books, May 2013) and The Friday Society (Dial, December 2012) @AdrienneKress

Hmm, I'd advise authors doing #NaNoWriMo to not be too self critical. This is the vomit on the page stage, just get it written!

From Jillian Cantor, author of Margot (Riverhead, September 2013) @JillianCantor

Set small page/word goal per day and stick to it no matter what. I do 5 pgs/day

From Victoria Loustalot, author of This Is How You Say Goodbye (St. Martin's Press, September 2013) @VLoustalot

No outlines! Too much planning suffocates the chance for magic.

From Kristi Helvig, author of Burn Out (Egmont, April 2014) @KristiHelvig

Just get the first draft down no matter what...it's supposed to be a hot mess!

Just remember not to submit that hot mess on Dec. 1. Take your time with edits!

Regarding this, Jeffry Halverson, author of Searching for a King: Muslim Nonviolence and the Future of Islam (Potomac Books, September 2012) (@JeffryHalverson), asked...

Other authors chimed in with answers:

From Susan Schoenberger, author of A Watershed Year (Lake Union, November 2013) @schoenwriter

I second @KristiHelvig Get it all down, and then make December #NaDeEdMo

Except it should probably be NaNoEdMo, now that I think about it.

From Mark Ferguson, author of The Lost Boys Symphony (Little, Brown, forthcoming Summer 2015) @thefergusonian

I say write forward. Don't edit what's already written. Doubt will slow you down.

Obviously you'll edit later, to be clear. That's why we call Dec-Oct #NaNoEdMo

To this, Selena Coppock (see her advice above) responded...

From M.D. Waters, author of Archetype (Dutton, February 2014) @_MDWaters

Fun Fact: #ARCHETYPE was my 2011 #NaNoWriMo novel. Finished in 5 weeks. Queried: May 2012 Agented: Oct 2012 SOLD: Dec 2012 #TakeYourTime

Use December to EDIT rather than QUERY.

Every scene needs a goal, motivation, and conflict... How else are you going to keep them entertained?

Your goal has motivation, but does it have CONFLICT?

Scene isn't working? Move characters to a new setting.

It takes more words to show a scene, fewer to tell it.

Pinterest is NOT your WIP. Neither is this, so stop reading
(But, really, keep reading this post and THEN get back to work :) )

Lose your muse? Steal someone else's. It's fair game.

Your antag has a story. I bet they even have good intentions.

That emotion you want to share? Amplify by 10 and write THAT.

Dishes? What dishes? That's what minions are for. WRITE

THIS. http://www.pinterest.com/pin/153966880984883798/

From Robert Repino, author of Mort(e) (Soho Press, forthcoming Fall 2014) @Repino1

This year trade football and Friday morning shopping for writing.

From Ellen Potter, author of Otis Dooda: Strange but True (Feiwel and Friends, June 2013) and Spilling Ink: A Young Writer's Handbook (Square Fish Books, March 2010) @Ellenpotter

When you get stuck, take your dog for a walk. Seriously, it works wonders.

Pledge that if u don't finish the novel you'll give $ to least fave organization

From Ellis Avery, author of The Last Nude (Riverhead, December 2012) and Broken Rooms: Haiku and Sculpture (The Crumpled Press, February 2014) @EllisAveryNYC

Let your characters want something. What do I mean? http://online.wsj.com/news/articles...

Here's an excerpt from that Wall Street Journal article, written by Avery:

Many of us have read subtle, well-wrought stories in which a character's most secret soul is illuminated—and yet (yawn) nothing really happens. The writer tried too hard to Make the Reader Care. There are also pyrotechnically masterful stories in which cars explode and the world ends—and yet (ho-hum) nobody cares. The writer tried too hard to Make Something Happen. To avoid both problems, I've found it helpful to ask three questions: What does my character want? What keeps my character from getting what he or she wants? Does my character get what he or she wants in the end or not?

From Wendy Webb, author of The Vanishing (Hyperion, January 2014) and The Fate of Mercy Alban (Hyperion, February 2013) @wendykwebb

Write each day, very early or late, as your household sleeps. No distractions.

Also: Set a goal for number of words, and stick to it.

Also: No social media or email until you reach your word count goal.

From Timothy Schaffert, author of The Swan Gondola (Riverhead, February 2014) and The Coffins of Little Hope (Unbridled Books, April 2011) @timschaffert

If a scene's not working, move characters onto a different set; one that's unexpected: rooftop, bottom of an empty pool.

Or the bottom of a...full pool.


Courtesy of cheezburger.com via giphy.com

From Susan Kelly, author of By Accident (Pegasus Books, May 2010) @susankellynovel

Go ahead and get up in the middle of the night to change "turn" to "pivot" and remove the exclamation marks.

From Alex C. Renwick (aka Camille Alexa), author of Push of the Sky (Untreed Reads, October 2012) @AlexCRenwick

Don't overthink it...At least, not until AFTER you have a draft.

From Dorothy Hearst, author of Secrets of the Wolves (Simon and Schuster, July 2012) @DorothyHearst

Make character influence action, and action change your characters

From J-Wunder, author of Wait...What?!: Life Advice from a Ghetto Genius (Diversion Books, July 2013) @MrJWunderful

drink until you feel the creative juices flow!

From Nancy Springer, author of Drawn into Darkness (NAL, November 2013) @NancySpringer

Talking about your novel-to-be depletes the energy you need to write it. Don't blow it away w your mouth. Write it.

"Show, don't tell" = the reader visualizes everything you say. So be careful. Eyes fall (onto the floor?), roll...

Most likely yr critique group will focus on the surface of yr novel. Dig deeper. Think structure, story logic.

Find out the goofy way I got started writing in my new Goodreads post: https://www.goodreads.com/author_blog_po…

From Patry Francis, author of The Orphans of Race Point (Harper Perennial, May 2014) and The Liar's Diary (Dutton, 2007) @patryf

"Don't confine truth to facts." 5 Writing Tips: Paul Harding publishersweekly.com/pw/by-topic/in… via @PublishersWkly

From Helen Maryles Shankman, author of The Color of Light (Stony Creek Press, October 2013) @hmshankman

What you write when you're inspired--and what you write when you're not inspired--by the time you're done editing...

...you won't know which was which. Just keep writing!


Courtesy of leahkonen.com via giphy.com

THE LAST NUDE wins 2013 Stonewall Book Award!

Congratulations to Ellis Avery and her novel THE LAST NUDE for winning a 2013 Stonewall Book Award! THE LAST NUDE received this year's award for fiction, the Barbara Gittings Literature Award.

The Stonewall Book Awards were announced this week at the American Library Association's Midwinter Meeting in Seattle, Washington. Sponsored by the ALA's Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, and Transgender Round Table, the Stonewall Book Awards honor titles of “exceptional merit relating to the gay/lesbian/bisexual/transgender experience.” The award tradition began in 1971, when the honor was merely a grassroots acknowledgement, called the Gay Book Award, presented to one book a year. Now, a Stonewall Book Award is presented to a work of literature, nonfiction, and children's/young adult literature every year, with honor books also chosen for each category. You can learn more about the history of the award on the ALA website here, and view the other 2013 winners here.

As a Stonewall Book Award recipient, Avery will receive a cash stipend and commemorative plaque, which will be presented to her at the ALA's Annual Conference this summer.

THE LAST NUDE was published by Riverhead in January 2012. Based on a true story, the novel chronicles the life of Rafaela Fano, a young American demimondaine who comes to Paris to escape an arranged marriage. When she meets Art Deco painter Tamara de Lempicka, Tamara encourages Rafaela to model for her and Rafaela agrees. And so begins a relationship that spawned some of the Jazz Age's most iconic paintings (which you can view in our previous post here). In her novel, Avery weaves historical details into a “dark, sexy romp” (Kirkus), an “evocative, heart-cutting” story (Library Journal) of passion, sexual obsession, treachery, and tragedy. 

THE LAST NUDE received praise from More Magazine, O Magazine, Library Journal (starred review), Booklist (starred review), Kirkus, SF Weekly, and many more. A review from The Arts Fuse, which was picked up by The New York Sun, noted, “This contemplation of art, and its believable transformation into character, makes THE LAST NUDE the delight that it is. Avery takes what little is known about the historical Rafaela and turns her into a flesh-and-blood woman who at times is more dimensional than the artificial creature into which Tamara has styled herself.” View a round-up of some of THE LAST NUDE's wonderful reviews in our previous post here.

THE LAST NUDE was also recently named to the 2013 Over the Rainbow Project Book List (sponsored by the ALA's GLBT Round Table). While 84 titles comprise the list, THE LAST NUDE is included among the round table's Top Ten Favorites!

You can learn more about THE LAST NUDE on Avery's website here or in our previous posts here.

Ellis Avery

2012's "Top Ten"s and "Best Of"s

At the end of each year, book reviewers go gaga over list-making, selecting books published over the course of the past year that they consider "Top 10" and "Best Of" reads.  This year, six of JVNLA's books have been named to lists put together by the Los Angeles Times, Daily Candy, Kirkus, The Boston Globe, Pop Sugar, and more!  We are excited to announce these books, lauded as having made a lasting impression on 2012, below:

THE MISEDUCATION OF CAMERON POST by Emily M. Danforth

In the introduction to their Top Ten List of Best Young Adult Books of 2012, The Boston Globe wrote, “We find that the stories and characters in YA literature are as compelling (sometimes more so) than novels written for our own demographic.” Among this new generation of YA novels, loved by teens, loved by adults, Emily M. Danforth's THE MISEDUCATION OF CAMERON POST stands out. The Boston Globe included it in their top ten list and also called the novel “evocative and stunningly written," praising it as “a coming-of-age story" for anyone who "has felt like an outsider or stopped and started her way toward an authentic self."

CAMERON POST was also named to School Library Journal's Best Fiction Books of 2012 and Kirkus's Best Teen Books of 2012. It cleaned up at Booklist, making their list for Editors' Choice: Books for Youth for 2012, Top 10 First Novels for Youth for 2012, and Top 10 Religion and Spirituality Books for Youth for 2012. The Huffington Post also named it to their list of Top Ten Young Adult Books of 2012, noting that the heroine will get “under your skin (in a good way) and stay with you long after you finish the book."

Each year, AfterEllen.com gives out Visibility Awards “to honor the best lesbian and bi people, characters, events and moments of the year.” They polled their fan base to pick among top nominees in various categories (over 750,000 votes were cast) and also named a staff pick for each category. For Best Book of the Year, fans as well as staff chose THE MISEDUCATION OF CAMERON POST! The staff commented, "Danforth's story is heartbreaking and healing in equal measure."

Speaking of awards, CAMERON POST was also named a finalist for the William C. Morris Debut Award.  This award is given annually by YALSA (the Young Adult Library Services Association) to honor “impressive new voices in young adult literature." In a recent post, The Hub, the blog connecting YALSA to their online teen readers, spoke to some of the likely reasons CAMERON POST was named a finalist, calling it a novel to be “savored,” “a book of lasting images,” “heartbreaking yet hopeful.” The winner of the William C. Morris Debut Award will be announced on January 28, so keep your fingers crossed for CAMERON POST!

THE MISEDUCATION OF CAMERON POST was released in February 2012 by Balzer+Bray.

WE ONLY KNOW SO MUCH by Elizabeth Crane

Daily Candy created a list of Can't-Miss Books of the Year, which featured Elizabeth Crane's WE ONLY KNOW SO MUCH. The website that is all about “fashion, food, and fun” calls the book a “darkly comic gift” that made the editors “cringe-laugh the whole way through.”

Harper Perennial published WE ONLY KNOW SO MUCH in June 2012.

DARK LIE by Nancy Springer

Over at The Crime Fiction Collective, reviewer Marlyn Beebe created a Favorite Mysteries of 2012 list.  The collective is comprised of reviewers, editors, and authors who release essays, reviews, and updates on thriller fiction and digital publishing.  Included among Marlyn's favorites was Nancy Springer's DARK LIE. In Marlyn's review of DARK LIE on her own blog, Stuff and Nonsense, she wrote, DARK LIE “is a gripping story that draws the reader in and doesn't let go until the final page."

DARK LIE was released from NAL (New American Library) in November 2012.

ON POLITICS by Alan Ryan

In Los Angeles Times book critic David L. Ulin's introduction to 2012's best titles of the year, Ulin wrote that 2012 marked a return to books “that both portray and reflect upon the spirit of their moment, telling not just a story but using it to illustrate something about the world in which we live.” Ulin also notes that this type of writing has been missing since the 1960s. Fortunately for all of us, we are witness to the second coming of "writing that takes the measure of the moment."  One such book named to Ulin's top ten books of 2012 is Alan Ryan's two-volume compendium of political thought, ON POLITICS.

ON POLITICS also made Kirkus's list of Best Nonfiction Books of 2012. Kirkus gave ON POLITICS a starred review, calling it "provocative, illuminating, and entertaining—an exemplary work of philosophy and history."

The Daily Beast highlighted ON POLITICS in their end-of-the-year Best Books of 2012 Holiday Gift Guide, noting that it may be the perfect gift for "your aunt or uncle who's a college professor."

ON POLITICS came out in October 2012 from Liveright.

PASSION BLUE by Victoria Strauss

In October, Kirkus gave PASSION BLUE by Victoria Strauss a rave starred review and selected it as an Editor's Pick for Fall 2012.  Naturally, at the end of the year, Kirkus named the book to its list of Best Teen Books of 2012.  Among other praises the review magazine heaped upon the novel and its main character's "achingly real search for her heart's desire," Kirkus called PASSION BLUE "a rare, rewarding, sumptuous exploration of artistic passion."

PASSION BLUE was published by Amazon Children's Publishing in November 2012.

THE LAST NUDE by Ellis Avery

Last year, in our blog post round-up of titles featured on "Top 10" and "Best Of" lists for 2011, we noted that THE LAST NUDE had been included in Library Journal's 2011 list of Top 25 Books to Read in 2012. Since then, THE LAST NUDE has received dazzling praise--from More Magazine's statement that "Avery's prose sings" to O Magazine's declaration "We've been loving this tough-but-vulnerable heroine," and from Kirkus praising the book as a "dark, sexy romp" to a starred Booklist review calling it "glittering, luminescent...riveting."  Fittingly, THE LAST NUDE was included in entertainment and style website Pop Sugar's Favorite Books of 2012 / Must Read List of 2012.

THE LAST NUDE appeared from Riverhead in January 2012.

JVNLA rides the subway!

In order to celebrate the holidays and our books, we at JVNLA decided to go on an adventure through the subway!  After all, what could be a better way to celebrate the end of the year than to stuff rolling backpacks with some of our recently published books and read them en masse in subway cars?

Below, you can see a sampling of the books we brought with us.  They're stacked on top of Mini-JVNLA as she attempts to hold them all!

One of our first books to read is DARK LIE by Nancy Springer (NAL, November 2012).  Below, you can see Jessica, Ariana, and Jennifer with their books out.  On the far left, you'll see a woman who was also interested in the book, who read with us!

Jessica, Ariana, Laura, and Mini-JVNLA read VANISHING ACTS by Phillip Margolin and Ami Margolin Rome (HarperCollins, paperback October 2012).

A kid performing in the subway decided to read VANISHING ACTS, too!  He shows off his skills by simultaneously playing his drum and reading.

Jennifer, Jessica, and Ariana read PASSION BLUE by Victoria Strauss (Amazon Children's Publishing, November 2012).  Jessica looks up from her book to smile at the camera.

Mini-JVNLA and Laura are engrossed in AMBER HOUSE by Kelly Moore, Tucker Reed, and Larkin Reed (Arthur A. Levine Books/ Scholastic, October 2012).

A fellow subway rider was intrigued by AMBER HOUSE, so we gave her a copy to read, too!

Below, Tara and Laura discuss celebrities' favorite New York hotspots while reading MY CITY, MY NEW YORK by Jeryl Brunner (Globe Pequot, October 2011).  Mini-JVNLA is also fascinated by the read.

While we wait for a subway car to arrive, Jessica opens up IF JACK'S IN LOVE by Stephen Wetta (Amy Einhorn Books/ Penguin, paperback August 2012).

Below, Tara is absorbed by her read.  Meanwhile, the guy sitting beside her is trying not to peek at the book, but he knows he wants to.

Jessica, Mini-JVNLA, and Laura all read IF JACK'S IN LOVE on the 6 train.

Jessica, Mini-JVNLA, Jennifer, and Laura are riveted by THE FRIDAY SOCIETY by Adrienne Kress (Dial, December 2012).

Ariana pulls out a copy of EUROPE ON 5 WRONG TURNS A DAY by Doug Mack (Perigee, April 2012) from one of our rolling backpacks.

On the Shuttle, Laura and Tara hang onto the handrails in order to stay focused on their reads.

Jennifer and Jessica read THE LAST NUDE by Ellis Avery (Riverhead, paperback December 2012).

Jessica, Mini-JVNLA, Laura and Tara are all enjoying HOW DOES SLEEP COME? by Jeanne C. Blackmore (Sourcebooks Jabberwocky, September 2012).

And, below, Jennifer reads the picture book to Mini-JVNLA, who proves how this is the perfect bedtime, sleepy-time read.

Laura just can't get enough of ON POLITICS by Alan Ryan (Liveright, October 2012), so she decides to read both volumes at once.

Below, Laura and Jessica think intellectual thoughts while engaged by ON POLITICS.

We hope you enjoyed these photos from our subway adventure!  If you're looking for a good holiday read or a great gift idea, look no further than the books pictured and linked to above (and those featured on the Recent and Upcoming Titles page of our website).  They're all excellent choices!

Ellis Avery in Vogue

Ellis Avery was one of five New York writers featured in Vogue's recent article "Street Style Short Stories: Flash Fiction Takes on Fashion"!  For the article, Avery, along with fellow authors Karen Russell, Alex Gilvarry, Heidi Julavits, and Richard Mason, wrote a flash fiction story based on an alluring fashion photograph taken by Phil Oh.

The photograph Avery uses captures a woman in a unique feathered jacket.  Her story begins vividly: "She crossed the street toward me on that not-yet-spring day, a clarion burst of purple, white, and green, with little trills of marbled ink and wispy plume.  Bird of Paradise, I thought, thank you for braving cold, dirt, and sarcasm to bring a little sparkle to Hudson Street."

View Avery's full story, the gorgeous Phil Oh photograph, and the entire article compiled by Katherine Bernard at this link!

Ellis Avery

Avery's latest novel is THE LAST NUDE, which focuses on Jazz Age artist Tamara de Lempicka and her love affair with the young woman who posed for her most iconic portraits.  The book came out this January from Riverhead.  

Outstanding press for THE LAST NUDE

THE LAST NUDE by Ellis Avery was highlighted in my last post, but this book has received so many phenomenal reviews after only one week of publication that we wanted to put them all in the spotlight!

In addition to the reviews below, Avery was interviewed by NPR.  You can listen to the audio at this link.  She will be traveling to bookstores across the country t oread and answer questions about her book.  Learn which cities she'll be visiting at this link.

"A taut, elegant novel...[Avery's] prose sings." --More Magazine

"What's not to love about Ellis Avery's romantic novel, THE LAST NUDE?...We've been loving this tough-but-vulnerable heroine." --O Magazine

"A dark, sexy romp." --Kirkus

"The no-big-deal way that young Rafaela, the narrator, slips into prostitution in the opening chapters reveals something of Avery's vision: a gorgeous Parisian love story, but not a polite or idealized one...In THE LAST NUDE, the sex feels ripe and real and vital, the very element that artist, model, and masterwork together create, inhabit, and flourish within." --SF Weekly

"A fascinating look at love, art, and betrayal.  Highly recommended." --AfterEllen.com

"Heartbreak transcends the page in a beautiful novel of love and regret between painter and muse." --Shelf Awareness

"The strength of Avery's novel lies in her depiction of a driven and accomplished artist and an impressionable waif who finds that her beauty no longer belongs to her." --Publishers Weekly

"Those eyes!  Those lips!  That hair!  Tamara de Lempicka's iconic Jazz Age paintings that immortalize Rafaela Fano in her nude glory (especially The Dream and La Belle Rafaela) now see glittering, luminescent life in Avery's novel, a riveting lesbian love story of heart-stopping passion, rapture, and stunning duplicity...Avery places lovers Tamara and Rafaela within a richly portrayed circle of culture touchstones...Against that brightly pigmented background, this artist-model lovers' tale is...subtle and seductive...Avery's breathtaking shimmer of first love and its aftermath will turn heads." --Booklist, starred review

De Lempicka's painting referenced above, The Dream (1927), was adapted into the cover for Avery's THE LAST NUDE.  View some of de Lempicka's other iconic images, La Belle Rafaela and Auto-Portrait, below:

La Belle Rafaela (1927)

Auto-Portrait (Tamara in the Green Bugatti) (1925)

Riverhead, January 2012

Ten books on year-end "Top Ten" and "Best Of" lists!

The end of the year marks the moment when book reviewers closely scrutinize all the books they've reviewed in a year's span, seeking out those titles that rise to the top, that can be lauded "The Best."  We've been excitedly gathering the reviewers' notifications as they've come in over the past several weeks.  Now that 2011 is officially over, we are proud to announce that ten of our books have been honored among 2011's "Top Ten" and "Best Of" lists! 

IF JACK'S IN LOVE by Stephen Wetta

According to The Wall Street Journal, today is "a new Golden Age of crime fiction," a Golden Age which encompasses everything from detective novels to more literary crime novels.  Among the top ten 2011 titles the newspaper highlighted as perfect evidence of such an age is Stephen Wetta's debut novel.  The Wall Street Journal called IF JACK'S IN LOVE "funny and suspenseful, poignant and joyous--a one-of-a-kind work worthy of any Golden Age."  Link here.

IF JACK'S IN LOVE was also featured on About.com in their "Top 10 Books of 2011" list.  About.com called IF JACK'S IN LOVE "a debut novel not to miss."  Link here.  The website praised the book glowingly: "IF JACK'S IN LOVE has that spark of a writer who fully invests himself and writes with a startlingly bittersweet humor, infusing his first novel with a tinge of something special...Wetta is an author to watch."

IF JACK'S IN LOVE published in September 2011 by Amy Einhorn Books/Putnam.

A DOUBLE LIFE by Lisa Catherine Harper

The National Book Critics Circle named A DOUBLE LIFE their #4 choice for the year's "Best of the Small Presses"!  The NBCC lauded Harper's memoir as "incredibly rich and enlightening...a clear example of the successful merging of memoir and scientific study."  They added, "[Harper] remains centered...with frequent moments of self-awareness and grace."  Link here.

The memoir came out in March 2011 from University of Nebraska Press.

Lisa Catherine Harper has appeared on another "Best Of" list as well.  Her essay "Poems from My Ex" was named the #5 most read article on PoetryFoundation.org.  Link here.

THE LAST NUDE by Ellis Avery

This novel was only released yesterday, but it made Library Journal's 2011 list of top 25 books to look forward to in 2012.  In the Library Journal starred review, the novel was called "an evocative, heart-cutting work" and "absorbing, affecting, and agitating...highly recommended."  Link here.  THE LAST NUDE was also named a January 2012 Book Pick from Library Journal. 

Riverhead published THE LAST NUDE in January 2012.

BEFORE VERSAILLES by Karleen Koen

Library Journal's "Best Of's" don't end with THE LAST NUDE!  The journal also released a list of "Best Books of 2011 in Historical Fiction," on which BEFORE VERSAILLES was featured.  "Lush prose illuminates one of the most powerful and glittering courts in European history," Library Journal wrote in a rave review.  Link here.

Additionally, The Houston Chronicle's book review blog, Bookish, named a list of top 2011 Texas book picks.  Prominent among them was Texan author Karleen Koen's BEFORE VERSAILLES.  Link here.

BEFORE VERSAILLES was released in June 2011 by Crown.

HEARTSTONE by C.J. Sansom

Marilyn Stasio, columnist for The New York Times Book Review, created a list of "Notable Crime Books for 2011."  Featured among these was British author C.J. Sansom's HEARTSTONE.  Link here.  In an earlier review, The New York Times Book Review said "HEARTSTONE may be the best novel in [Sansom's] richly entertaining and reassuringly scholarly series...History never seemed so real."

HEARSTONE appeared in January 2011 from Viking.

BECOMING FAULKNER by Philip Weinstein

This book was actually released in hardcover at the end of 2009 and will appear in paperback in 2012, but it was a big book under consideration in 2011 for the C. Hugh Holman Award.  And win the award it did!  The C. Hugh Holman Award is given by the Society for Southern Literature for the best and most significant book of Southern Literary Studies for the year.  More information about the award can be found here.

BECOMING FAULKNER will soon arrive in paperback, in April 2012, from Oxford University Press.

THE LAND OF PAINTED CAVES by Jean M. Auel

THE LAND OF PAINTED CAVES hit three top ten bestseller lists of the year!  It was #6 in hardcover fiction for the ABA's "Indie Bestsellers List of 2011," and it was #9 in fiction for the UK's The Sunday Times.  Also in the UK, The Guardian newspaper printed the top 2011 books listed on the Nielsen UK sales charts.  Here, THE LAND OF PAINTED CAVES appeared at #7 in hardcover fiction.

THE LAND OF PAINTED CAVES, the sixth book in Jean M. Auel's bestselling Earth's Children® series, came out in March 2011 from Crown.

THE COFFINS OF LITTLE HOPE by Timothy Schaffert

Rachel Manwill at BookRiot.com named five "Best Books of 2011," and ranking high on her list was THE COFFINS OF LITTLE HOPE.  She lauded the book as having "so many striking elements and...language...so evocative, that [COFFINS] manages to be the rare book where both the forest AND the trees are perfect."  Link here.

This book has received outrageously phenomenal reviews over the course of the year.  The New York Times called "each of Schaffert's books...a quirky little gem," People praised COFFINS (in no less than a four stars review) as "memorably narrated" and "a witty...profound story," and The Washington Post deemed it "alluringly strange to the very last page."

THE COFFINS OF LITTLE HOPE was released in April 2011 by Unbridled Press.

A SEA IN FLAMES by Carl Safina

A SEA IN FLAMES was named by the Project on Government Oversight as one of "Ten Books That Matter" for 2011.  According to their website, the Project on Government Oversight is "a nonpartisan independent watchdog that champions good government reforms."  Link here.  Elsewhere, A SEA IN FLAMES has been praised as "an illuminating, monitory study" (Kirkus), full of "factual elegance" (The Washington Post), and "a revealing, thoughtful history...an insightful work" (The New York Times Book Review, Editors' Choice).

Crown published A SEA IN FLAMES in April 2011. 

THE VIEW FROM LAZY POINT by Carl Safina

Another book by Carl Safina received acclaim in "Best Of" lists this past year: this time THE VIEW FROM LAZY POINT in Newsday's "Best Books of 2011" list.  In a separate review, Newsday said the following about the nonfiction work: "Before Carl Safina, environmentalists could often be heard wondering where the next Rachel Carson, Aldo Leopold, or Henry Beston might be hiding...[Safina writes] pure sensuous detail, seeing the natural world from a variety of angles."  Link here.

After reviewing this book, the New York Post called Safina "a Thoreau for the 21st century"; The New York Times featured THE VIEW FROM LAZY POINT on a full page feature, named it Editors' Choice, and remarked that "Safina's book soars"; and Huffington Post praised it as "striking," a book "about what it means to be human in a world where the rhythms of life have been thrown askew, indeed, burst asunder."

THE VIEW FROM LAZY POINT appeared in hardcover in January 2011 from Henry Holt, and it arrived in paperback this month from Picador.

Sneak peek of THE LAST NUDE!

Check out the beautiful cover for Ellis Avery's newest, THE LAST NUDE, a sweeping historical set in 1920s Paris! The novel chronicles the affair between artist Tamara de Lempicka and the young woman who posed for her most iconic Jazz Age images, Rafaela. Fittingly, the cover portrays one of de Lempicka's most famous paintings of Rafaela, The Dream (1927).

Riverhead Books, January 2012

This book won't be out until January, but it has already received some fabulous reviews, as well as an incredible interview with Emma Donoghue, bestselling author of ROOM. You can read the interview online, here. THE LAST NUDE is also a Library Journal pick and has been featured in Go Magazine. It is also already available for online pre-order!

"As erotica and powerful as the paintings that inspired it, Ellis Avery's artist-muse love story is as much about money, class, and betrayal." --Emma Donoghue

"A remarkable novel: at once a seductive evocation of Lost Generation Paris, a faithful literary rendering of Tamara de Lempicka's idiosyncratic and groundbreaking art, and a vibrant, intelligent, moving story in its own right. It's also smoking hot." --Emily Barton, author of BROOKLAND

"A sly, sleekly written stereograph of art, desire, and desperation in Paris in the '20s, THE LAST NUDE brings Rafaela to electric life, much as Tamara de Lempicka did when she painted her." --Alexander Chee, author of EDINBURGH

"THE LAST NUDE carries us through one of the most fascinating and turbulent periods in modern art, and into the minds and bodies of two of art history's most riveting heroines. With prose and imagery that are both lyrical and unabashedly sensual, Avery breathes life and depth into famed artist's muse Rafaela, tracing her rocky but thrilling path from lost girl to Lost Generation icon, and laying bare acts of love, desire, and betrayal with all the assuredness of a master artist herself." --Jennifer Epstein, author of THE PAINTER FROM SHANGHAI

"Avery transports the reader on a fast-paced magic carpet ride to Paris between the World Wars, a time when artists, patrons, and models fused the business of sex and art, with deeply painful results." --Aaron Hamburger, author of FAITH FOR BEGINNERS