Sweet! CITY OF DARK MAGIC sequel CITY OF LOST DREAMS is coming next month!

Can't wait to dive into this advance copy of City of Lost Dreams, sequel to City of Dark Magic, which I read, loved and raved about last year.

Watch this space for my review and your opportunity to win a free copy from the publisher when City of Lost Dreams drops next month.

Meanwhile, you still have time to read City of Dark Magic, which you can see me highly recommend in this book review photobombed by my dog.

"Walk on the Wild Side" Go with God, Lou Reed. :(

Theme Song du Jour: Caroline Savoie covers "Ain't No Sunshine"

This week on Undercover Soundtrack, Roz Morris airs the playlist that inspired my novel Kill Smartie Breedlove.

One of my favorite elements in the process: I formed a collection of covers of Bill Withers' classic "Ain't No Sunshine" as a way of processing and anchoring a major thread for the two main characters, both of whom are widowed. Caroline Savoie's austere acoustic rendition never fails to generate a lump in my throat.

Buy This Book: TJ Bennett's Dark Angel

I've been on a roll lately, reading so many memorable, distinctive books. Among them was Dark Angel, a "Gothic fairy tale romance" by talented historical romance author TJ Bennett.

Dark Angel (Entangled Edge, Oct. 21, 2013) is a lushly romantic retelling of Beauty on the Beast. Only this "Beast," the mysterious, stern lord of an island trapped in the mists of time, is destined to be tried--and tamed--by the beautiful young widow Catherine Briton, the sole survivor of a terrible shipwreck, as well as the only living soul to wash ashore in many an age. With its brooding (and seriously sexy) hero, its towering castle, and its magical secrets, Dark Angel reminded me of the great Gothics I used to love. And since TJ Bennett is (full disclosure) a critique partner of mine, I've been privileged to watch this story come to fruition and highly recommend you check it out!

Cool new look for a terrific book: EVIDENCE OF LIFE by Barbara Taylor Sissel

A great book - Evidence of Life by Barbara Taylor Sissel - gets a brand new look from the publisher. (Looks like they're branding it with her forthcoming release: Safe Keeping.)

My original review of EOL...

#themesongdujour Grateful Dead "Touch of Grey": I will get by! (Thanks, Book Gorilla.)

Today's theme music, Grateful Dead's "Touch of Grey" was inspired by a great blurb about my new memoirella, Love & Other Natural Disasters, a starred title today on BookGorilla.com:

"Think "Molly Ivins meets Anna Quindlen to the tune of 'Touch of Grey'...Not your Mama's Erma Bombeck, but the best of “Earth to Joni”, the syndicated newspaper column chronicling family life, politics and culture, and welcoming readers into the Rodgers household, where life is for living, love conquers all, and pancakes are what’s for dinner."

PS ~ Love & Other Natural Disasters free on Kindle this week!

Introducing LOVE & OTHER NATURAL DISASTERS (Enjoy a sweet little read on me this week!)

So the Gare Bear and I have been married for 30 years as of this summer. Blows my mind. I've always said it's impossible to be married to the same person for 30 years, because it's impossible to be the same person for 30 years. The best you can hope for is that you will be foolish enough to keep falling in love. That seems to be the case for us.

By way of celebration: Love & Other Natural Disasters (the first in a series of memoirellas based on my syndicated newspaper column "Earth to Joni") offers about a dozen essays reflecting on our somewhat stormy but overwhelmingly happy (and frequently hilarious) life together from the perspective of a month-long power outage that kept the Rodgers neighborhood in the dark after Hurricane Ike.

Download it free this week exclusively on Kindle.