Squawk Radio
Tuesday, June 13, 2006
Xtina Dodd gives you Jill Barnett!
I met Jill Barnett more than ten years ago at an RWA conference in New York City. At the time her book, BEWITCHING, possibly one of the funniest, sweetest books in history, had taken the genre by storm. Jill and I bonded — okay, I hung around her because she was cool — and we hung around so much we ended up changing clothes in each others’ rooms. Thus, when I asked her for a quote, she suggested, “Christina Dodd — I’ve seen her naked.” We didn’t use that one, but Jill’s wicked sense of humor led her to define a new genre — frothy historicals.
Then, in amazing tour de force that has come to define Jill’s talent, her first hardcover was a ground-breaking novel set in World War II called SENTIMENTAL JOURNEY. It was a shock to discover that Jill, who I’d thought was shallow (like me), had hidden depths and a heart-breaking way of telling a story.
Now she’s back with THE DAYS OF SUMMER. When I worked at the bookstore, this is the kind of book we sold people when they came in and announced they were going on vacation. It starts with a horrific crime, follows an engrossing mystery, and the fascinating characters fall in love, suffer tragedy, die, change, grow. Kirkus named DAYS OF SUMMER one of its Top Ten Summer Beach Reads.
Welcome Jill Barnett!
I met Jill Barnett more than ten years ago at an RWA conference in New York City. At the time her book, BEWITCHING, possibly one of the funniest, sweetest books in history, had taken the genre by storm. Jill and I bonded — okay, I hung around her because she was cool — and we hung around so much we ended up changing clothes in each others’ rooms. Thus, when I asked her for a quote, she suggested, “Christina Dodd — I’ve seen her naked.” We didn’t use that one, but Jill’s wicked sense of humor led her to define a new genre — frothy historicals.
Then, in amazing tour de force that has come to define Jill’s talent, her first hardcover was a ground-breaking novel set in World War II called SENTIMENTAL JOURNEY. It was a shock to discover that Jill, who I’d thought was shallow (like me), had hidden depths and a heart-breaking way of telling a story.
Now she’s back with THE DAYS OF SUMMER. When I worked at the bookstore, this is the kind of book we sold people when they came in and announced they were going on vacation. It starts with a horrific crime, follows an engrossing mystery, and the fascinating characters fall in love, suffer tragedy, die, change, grow. Kirkus named DAYS OF SUMMER one of its Top Ten Summer Beach Reads.
Welcome Jill Barnett!
Christina Dodd, 9:56 PM
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