A Dark Love was named one of the top five mass-fiction titles of 2009 by Publishers Weekly. They had this to say about my debut thriller: "Carroll develops what could be a stock story of an abusive marriage into a pulse-pounding romantic thriller with a strong, inspiring heroine determined to save herself." And Riptide, my second thriller, which was published in October, has received some really nice praise. It got three stars from Romantic Times BookReview, who said: "Carroll is a strong writer whose ability to construct a scene and weave a tale rivals the best in the business." See the Books section for details about the plots of both of these books, available at bookstores everywhere from Avon Books. I'm really excited. At this time last year, I was doing final edits on Riptide and hoping my foray into thrillers would be well received. I had written, sold and published two romantic comedies (The Write Match and The True Match) to Avalon Books in New York, but I felt thrillers were more of what I like to read and more of what I should be writing. It was almost two full years from the time I signed my multi-book contract with HarperCollins to publication (thanks again, Stephanie Cabot, Agent Extraordinaire!) and I was pretty jittery towards the end of this summer as the publication dates drew near. My annual vacation with family and friends in Montauk helped (but what was up with all that rain?), but I still couldn't help but wonder what it would all be like. I'd seen my Avalon books in libraries, but seeing the thrillers on sale in bookstores everywhere was going to be brand new. What if they flopped?
More importantly, I'm hearing from readers about the books. It's been so much fun to sign on to webmail and hear from someone who bought my book and stayed up all night to read it. I feel really good about that! It's flattering in times like these that someone spends eight dollars on my book and feels they got their money's worth. A Dark Love, by the way, is about to go into a second printing in Germany, where its German publisher Bertelsmann/Random House is preparing a special edition for its national Diana Verlag book club. And -- most importantly -- I'm at work on my next book. It will be another thriller, another fun romp set in two of my favorite places -- New York City and the Hamptons. Watch this space. P.S. Lovers of crime writing are bemoaning the loss of a man I admired very much, Dominick Dunne. If you missed the feature about him in November's Vanity Fair, go online and read it. Also, just finished Tana French's awe-inspiring The Likeness (followup to her award-winning debut thriller, The Woods). If you want a book you can sink your teeth into, check it out. And if you want another couple of books to keep you turning pages well after the lights go out, well, um, buy mine!!! Enjoy, and thanks for dropping by. All best wishes,  |
