Mix that meme

Among other newsletters I have signed up for, I receive a daily Shelf Awareness newsletter for the bookselling trade -- as part of my preparation for the day when I have a book to hawk.* Here's their preview of books coming out next week:

Labyrinth by Kate Mosse (Putnam, $25.95, 0399153446). A quest for the Holy Grail linking two women, one from the 13th century, the other living now.... The Tenth Circle by Jodi Picoult (Atria, $26, 0743496701). The father and family of a 14-year-old girl pass through many levels of hell after she accuses her former boyfriend of rape. ... Queen Bee Moms and Kingpin Dads: Coping with the Parents, Teachers, Coaches, and Counselors Who Can Rule--or Ruin--Your Child's Life by Rosalind Wiseman with Elizabeth Rapoport (Crown, $25, 1400083001). ... The Automatic Millionaire Homeowner: A Powerful Plan to Finish Rich in Real Estate by David Bach (Broadway, $19.95, 0767921208). The automatic millionaire puts down speculative roots. The Journey: How to Live by Faith in an Uncertain World by Billy Graham.

Clearly, the way to success is simply to combine some of these themes into a single book.

LABYRINTH: THE MILLIONAIRE'S TENTH HOME -- A real-estate speculator and his attractive, divorced realtor choose a hilltop mansion as his retirement home, but the nosy, noisy over-controlling parents who are his next-door neighbors threaten the pair's search for the holy grail of peace and quiet. A descent into the mansion's secret passages uncovers a hidden chamber where terrible crimes may have been committed by depraved local high schoolers and a psychotic basketball coach whose drive to win at any cost leads toward an unforgettable climax.

My agent could sell that in a second.

* No news on that front lately. Got another really nice rejection last week though, the kind that makes you want to use it as blurbs on the back cover of the book. "Fun and snappy and smart.... A spot-on rendering of the Rat Pack and their dicey world." Isn't that nice?

books, trends,publishing process