Congratulations to...

Susan Wiggs and Brenda Joyce for making Publishers Weekly’s 150 Best Books of 2007!

Three thousand books are published daily in the U.S.(!) and PW reviewed more than 6,000 of them in 2007, in print and online. From that astounding number, they've compiled a list of 150 of the best books for the year in several categories. In the Romance category, two of the five books chosen were HQE titles.

Here is what PW had to say:

The Perfect Bride (which I haven't read yet, and am looking forward to! Update! 11/16 just finished it--really enjoyed it & now am linked into the de Warenne Dynasty! Delightful.)
Brenda Joyce(HQN)
Joyce's seventh de Warenne novel is a first-rate Regency with deliciously damaged leads; fluff-free, Joyce's tight plot and vivid cast make for a romance that's just about perfect.

The Winter Lodge (which I have read and really enjoyed. Guess PW knows a thing or two)
Susan Wiggs (Mira)
Complicated, flesh-and-blood characters inhabit Wiggs's idyllic but identifiable Lakeshore Chronicles, weaving a refreshingly honest smalltown tapestry of romance, domestic drama, mystery and generations-old Polish recipes.

I just happened to be in Seattle and got at chance to visit with Susan recently. Here she is at an autographing I got to attend in Pioneer Square--hey, it was at a cool bar/ restaurant and all I have on me is my phone photo, so don't complain.

Susan lives in a totally amazing house on Bainbridge Island--as you know from Allison's previous post the Pacific Northwest is peppered with writers. I think it's the weather. No, I was so busy admiring the house, I totally forgot to take any pictures. I don't think my phone would have done it justice! Here's another nice dark one of Susan for you!

Seattle is the home of...you guessed it, the Seattle Mariners! Yes, and Starbucks. I'm a tea drinker, and a boring one at that (no flavors, no funny business), so this was not a pilgrimage. Still, interesting to see the very first Starbucks, with (I think) the original branding.





It is really nice to have a place to stop and sit down the "third space," but the everywhereness of Starbucks was beginning to get a bit creepy, so I found a lovely no name spot to have a delicious latte and pumpkin brioche. No that is not a typo. And there is a reason there aren't pumpkin brioches year round, but it's not because they aren't delicious.

I love pumpkin, so this is my season and I feel compelled to order everything pumpkin at least once. Yes, I've tried the latte. It's liquid pumpkin pie filling. It's delicious, I lick it off the bowl, but it's a little weird buying a whole cup of it. I worry if I drink too much of it it will give me a disgust of pumpkins. Can't go there.

This amazing fellow was in the Seattle Aquarium. When you see something like this, you realize those incredible creative types at Pixar and Disney really aren't that creative. They just go to the Aquarium and the Zoo and the Botanical Garden. Nature is totally amazing. Look around!


When you go to Seattle, you have to check out the Experience Music...Project? Theatre? and you can't miss the Science Fiction museum, which is attached. I loved it.

I think we either need to establish a Romance museum or a museum of genre fiction or something. The sf museum was pretty great. It's reading intensive, but there are some fun film clips and interesting history.



I snapped this photo of Dolly, the first clone, in the museum. Isn't she sweet looking?

My aunt is a sculptor and had created a piece called "Dolly Tells All" which we had, so I was really excited to get a glimpse of the "real" Dolly.


Real? Photograph? Sculpture? Clone? Replicant? Is it live...or is it Memorex? And how much and when does it matter? Interesting questions for our time--for any time, for that matter!

I too had a great time in Seattle!