Up and Coming Mystery Authors

I mentioned in an earlier post that many of our fiction and mystery titles are by authors so popular that we have them on Standing Order.  This means that our book vendor automatically ships us a designated number of copies of new releases by these writers.  Tops among the mystery authors on Standing Order, both in number of copies ordered and in high circulation figures are: Carol Higgins Clark, Harlan Coben, Diane Mott Davidson, Janet Evanovich, Sue Grafton, J. A. Jance, Faye Kellerman, and J. D. Robb.

Cardboard is a sadly overlooked material. It encases things we receive in the mail, protects our "stuff" when we store or move it and winds up in the trash or recycling bin after its purpose is served.

But with a little imagination, cardboard can become just about anything. Just look at the picture book "Not a Box" by Annette Portis for many sweet, playful ideas.

It seems like only yesterday that the fantasy genre was reserved for a special few, those who wanted more than what the real world had to offer. It used to be that some people had a negative perception of fantasy literature (especially those who read only "mainstream" literature) as being cheesy, badly written, or cliche.

Have you noticed there's a lot of monsters running around in teen literature lately?

If you haven't, get out from under that rock and start reading!  Monsters are running rampant through all genres, including--you guessed it!--comics.  What's cool about the graphic novel side of it is that you get some super visuals to go along with the creepy storylines.