Happy Oprah Winfrey's birthday! And my birthday! And a very special birthday for Patry Francis, who is celebrating the birth (rebirth, actually) of a bouncing baby paperback. When Patry, who is also my sister in survivorship, let it be known that her cancer treatment and recovery was going to prevent her from doing the moving and shaking we all need to do for the paperback release of her debut novel The Liar's Diary, friends and friends of friends and total strangers in the literary community agreed to blog her book today and give it the boost that simply isn't in Patry's energy budget right now. There is so much cynicism in this business, so much jealousy, snarkiness, and strife, I find this a powerful affirmation of what we all must remember: We're all just folks doing the best we can. And when we care for each other, show compassion and support our fellow artists, we are creating a finer, more generous world in which to write.
But let's talk about the book.
When the hardcover came out last year, Tess Gerritsen gave this bombastic blurb:Nothing is as it seems in this masterful and twisty thriller about love, obsession, and poisonous friendships. When passionate and seductive Ali Mather joins the faculty of the local high school, she sets off a chain of events that rock the lives of everyone around her. School secretary Jeanne Cross is fascinated by Ali, who seems to be everything that Jeanne is not. Repressed and unhappily married, Jeanne is drawn deeper and deeper into an exhilarating friendship with this wildly uninhibited woman – a friendship that soon begins to threaten Jeanne’s already-shaky marriage. As the two women draw closer, Jeanne discovers that Ali is hiding secrets that have now come back to haunt her. Someone is breaking into Ali’s home, someone who is obsessed with her. As the threats escalate, and Ali’s terror grows, Jeanne discovers that everyone is hiding a secret, and that she cannot trust even those she loves. Patry Francis writes with a quietly intimate voice, subtly weaving her spell as the tension slowly but surely builds to a fever pitch. Packed with jaw-dropping revelations, LIAR'S DIARY still manages to save one last walloping shock for the end.
Peace, joy, and healing energy to you, Patry. And many, many more words in a row.
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