Tuesday, September 1, 2009

I was a First Reader!


As part of my work, I read a lot of book related blogs to see what is new and interesting. One of my favorites is dearreader.com Suzanne is a wonderful friend to authors and readers. She lives in Sarasota Florida and runs a very successful online book club. Many local libraries subscribe to it. When you sign up, you receive a chapter or so of a book in your email every day for 5 days. At the end of the week, you make your own decision about whether to get the book and finish it! Great idea, isn't it?

Suzanne also runs a lot of contests and I won one this summer. The prize? I had a chance to be a first reader for an author getting ready to deliver his manuscript to the publisher. His name is Nate Kenyon and he has written a number of well received horror/thriller novels. Nate sent me his new novel, Sparrow Rock, as a PDF file. It was so good I read the whole thing before the paper copy could get to me! It is the story of some teens who plan to party in an eccentric grandfather's fallout shelter. But then the bombs actually fall and they try to survive many scary challenges. Trust me, you can't stop reading it! I sent Nate feedback: things I liked and didn't like, questions about the story, comments on the characters. And it turns out that Mr. Kenyon lives in Newton MA! It's a very small world, isn't it?

Sparrow Rock will be out in the spring but Bone Factory is available in paperback right now. I have a signed copy (thanks Nate) which you can borrow... just find me in the library!

Here's what Booklist had to say about it: “Kenyon’s masterful third novel weaves supernatural realism and vivid characterizations into a powerfully suspenseful plot that keeps you on the edge of your seat.”

1 comment: