Tuesday, April 03, 2007

One Dangerously Good Book

One night last week, while preparing to leave for my son’s baseball game, I grabbed a book from my To Be Read pile. My custom is to settle in on the top bleacher bench and read while his team warms up, then put the book down when the first inning begins. Because, you know, I AM supposed to be there to cheer my son and his team on.

But this time I hit a snag: the game started, and I simply couldn’t stop reading. I HAD to find out what happened next. In the recesses of my mind, I was hearing umpire’s voices and the occasional crack of the bat, but it was sort of like trying to wake from a lazy nap...I knew I should open my eyes, but I just couldn’t find enough incentive.

Then came the elevated voices: “Head’s Up! Head’s Up! Head’s Up!”

The intensity of the tones finally made me look. As a foul ball hurled through space and slammed into the stadium wall. Right beside my ear.

Talk about a wake-up call! I gasped, realizing how close I’d come to taking it in the face.

So, Lauren Baratz-Logsted, if you are reading this, I do believe you owe me a drink for taking me into the danger zone with ANGEL’S CHOICE. But I’ll settle for coffee and a nice chat at some upcoming conference, so that I can hear more about your writing, and to thank you for one fantastic and compelling read!


I encourage all of you to pick up a copy. But I’d better add a disclaimer: make sure you’re in a safe environment with plenty of free time before you start. Because I promise you, once you pick this book up, nothing--not even people screaming at you--will stop you until you’ve read the last page.

What I’m Reading Now: GRIEF GIRL by Erin Vincent (another page-turner)

Tina

Top Ten Uses for An Unworn Prom Dress
www.tinaferraro.com

21 comments:

Kelly (Lynn) Parra said...

Yikes, I'm glad the baseball missed you, Tina! But what a recommendation for Lauren's book. I can't wait to check it out!! :) :)

Lauren Baratz-Logsted said...

This is certainly one of the most original compliments I've ever received: my book was so absorbing, the reader risked bodily injury to continue reading - thank you, Tina!

TinaFerraro said...

Lauren, as far as an original compliment--well, I am to please. :) As clearly, do you! In fact, I ordered one of your adult books to "hold me over" until you have another YA out.

Lauren Baratz-Logsted said...

Ooh, which one? I hope it's not the lousy one! :) (kidding)

Me said...

Maybe next time you should wear a batting helmet! =) I have kind of an obsessiveness problem with reading a book. It goes either one of two ways: 1) I read it all in one sitting (with potty breaks and, if the book is clearly not a keeper, skipping from dialogue to dialogue), or 2) I start it, read a chapter or two... and never pick it up again (even if I love the book).

I'm trying to work on this problem... feeding myself little bits at a time. But there are several books (partially read) languishing on my nightstand right now.

All in all, it's probably a good thing that I don't have a child in sports to watch. I'd get a lot of reading done... but my mom support would be nil. =)

Personal safety hugs Tina,
TLC

TinaFerraro said...

Lauren, it's called A Thin Pink Line (or something close to that). It had great comments on Amazon, so I added it to my basket. Are you going to have another YA any time soon?

Kelly and TLC, yeah, close call with that ball, huh? And realize, ALL EYES in the stadium were on me--I'd totally been caught "not paying attention". I actually stood and waved the book because what else could I do?

Lauren Baratz-Logsted said...

The Thin Pink Line, Tina, but your version is much better than when people call it The Think Pink Line! :) As for another YA, my second one comes out on January 8 and, as of today, I think we've finally agreed on a title: Secrets Of My Suburban Life. This one has more comedy in it than AC and is about a girl whose novelist mother is crushed to death by a stack of Harry Potter books; in the aftermath, her father moves them to CT where she becomes involved in a sort-of mystery involving an online predator. A few months after that, my first tween book, Me, In Between, comes out, which is about a stacked 12-year-old who is conflicted by that fact. Phew! I just tired myself out. I think I need to go lie down!

Dona Sarkar-Mishra said...

Yikes, Tina, how can you do this to me...I love slightly "heavy" teen books and I must get this book asap :)

Lauren Baratz-Logsted said...

Yes, Dona, you must! :)

Wendy Toliver said...

great story, tina!

TinaFerraro said...

Lauren, the new YA sounds terrific, too!

Dona, yep, I'm loading you down with another read. :)

And hey, Wendy, thanks, and I've been meaning to tell you that I showed your cover to my daughter and her friend and they went CRAZY over it and wanted to know if it was on the shelves already! They're both "fluties" themselves, so it was right up their alley!

Diana Peterfreund said...

How weird. I just blogged about AC today as well -- but in my case it was me refusing to de-plane until I'd finished reading it.

Also, what's up with the wrong cover?

TinaFerraro said...

Diana, you mean the wrong cover here? I'm glad you mentioned that because it was all I could find, but did not correlate to my copy. And how funny that it kept us both in our seats.

stephhale said...

What a hilarious story, Tina! I'm going to be one of those moms's soon. Tee ball practice starts in a couple of weeks. I have a feeling I'll have my eyes peeled on the little one though, at least until he's a teen! :) I've a few of Lauren's adult novels and she's amazing! :)
xo,
Steph

TinaFerraro said...

Yeah, Steph, when they're little, you watch everything. Teenagers? Not so much...

Lauren Baratz-Logsted said...

Thanks so much, everyone! About to scamper off to check out Diana's blog, but before I so, about that cover: After settling on the cover you see here, S&S learned there was another book coming out prior to mine, so they switched covers. But they've never changed it anywhere else - not compaining! just saying! - so, the only place you can see the actual cover is at my site and, of course, in stores. In fact, I've seen the cover you used here so much more often than the real cover, I feel like it IS the cover!

Diana Peterfreund said...

lauren, i think I like the "real" cover (on the book) better. The hair is darker, more like I imagine Angel's hair.

Natalie said...

Wow, Tina...if they decide to ever change the cover, there should be a blurb from you on the back, with a photo of you wearing a helmet and warding off a baseball using the book as a shield. ;-) It sounds great--I'll have to put it on my Amazon list!

Thanks for the recommendation, and I'm glad you're okay!

:-) Natalie

Marley Gibson said...

I read the book in two sittings and really loved it. I thought Angel was very realistic. Great job!

alexgirl said...

Dizzamn! Definitely going to have to pick up this book. I'm always zoning out in my own world, but now I can have an excuse!
Love all the comments, btw. Especially the fact that both you and Diana Peterfreund had similar experiences while reading AC. Very spooooky!

Lauren Baratz-Logsted said...

Thanks again, everyone! You make me feel good on a gloomy, depressing day. And now I can think of myself as The Spooky Author!