Sins & Secrets by Carolyn Chambers Sanders has been sold to Black Expressions Book Club as a Main Selection.

Simon & Schuster UK Adds Whistle Stop

Simon & Schuster UK, which published Sudden Rain by Maritta Wolff this spring, has just bought the British rights to publish her novel Whistle Stop.

Willis Barnstone Now Represented by The Literary Group International

Willis Barnstone's work has appeared in The New Yorker, Harper's, Doubletakes, Saturday Evening Post and New York Review of Books. A Guggenheim Fellow and recipient of diverse literary awards, he has had three Book-of-the-Month selections, including The Gnostic Bible. In 1997, his The Secret Reader was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize. For his many publications, the NEH selected him for their Life Achievement Award. Born in Maine, raised in New York, he lives in Oakland and the Greek island of Serifos.

Johnny Damon's Idiot Draws Crowds and Attention

The New York Daily News reports Boston Red Sox star Johnny Damon has drawn huge crowds and great press with his recently published book, Idiot.

Noteworthy in 2004: I Heard You Paint Houses

New York Times bestseller I Heard You Paint Houses: Frank "The Irishman" Sheeran & the Inside Story of the Mafia, the Teamsters, & the Last Ride of Jimmy Hoffa by Charles DiMarco Brandt has been named one of the Kansas City Star's 100 Noteworthy Books of 2004.

The Good Guys on Page Six

Famed New York Post gossip columnist Liz Smith writes: "New on the shelves is David Fisher's unusual crime novel The Good Guys. This is a tale told from both the Mafia and FBI points of view - a chapter by Bill Bonanno, another by Joe "Donnie Brasco" Pistone. Yes! These two real-life tough guys put down their rambling thoughts and adventures, mixed fiction with fact, and had the talented Mr. Fisher expertly meld and shape. The Good Guys is getting excellent reviews, and there's a big party at the Algonquin on January 13."

From the New York Daily News: Clint Eastwood on Flags of Our Fathers

His next movie, Flags of Our Fathers, may be the most ambitious he has ever made. The film, which will be produced by Steven Spielberg, is being adapted from the bestseller about the World War II Battle of Iwo Jima and the men who famously raised the American flag on Mount Suribachi.

Eastwood said it hasn't been cast yet and that he probably won't start shooting before late summer. "It's going to be difficult," he said. "It's very different from the last few pictures. But if we do our jobs, it could be special."

New Paranormal Radio Show Hits Saturday Nights

Asheville, NC (January, 2005) -- A new paranormal radio show, "Speaking of Strange with Joshua P. Warren", will air Saturday nights from 8 to 9 p.m. EST on the #1 talk station in its region, AM 570 WWNC, starting January 15. AM 570 WWNC is the home of "Coast to Coast AM," "Rush Limbaugh," "Dr. Laura," "The Other Side" and "Take a Stand with Matt Mittan." It will broadcast from the Blue Ridge Mountains of Asheville, North Carolina.

Host Joshua P. Warren is the author of regional bestseller Haunted Asheville and Simon & Schuster's How to Hunt Ghosts. As president of L.E.M.U.R. Paranormal Investigations, he has worked with numerous TV programs on the Travel Channel, History Channel, and Discovery. Warren, and his producer Micah Hanks (also a paranormal investigator), will take calls from local listeners reporting encounters with ghosts, UFOs, psychic phenomena, Bigfoot and other unusual subjects. They will also break paranormal news and have discussions with special guests, such as psychics and experts in a variety of paranormal and groundbreaking science fields.

The Good Guys Authors Create a Mob Scene

Patsy's Restaurant was a real Mob scene the other night. Retired FBI agent Joe Pistone, who inspired Johnny Depp's character Donnie Brasco, was dining with his former nemesis, Bill Bonanno. Their book, The Good Guys, is due out this fall. Meanwhile, Joseph Gannascoli, who plays Vito Spatafore on The Sopranos, is writing a culinary crime novel, A Meal to Die For. Literary Group agent Frank Weimann sold both books to Tor/Forge.

What a Girl Wants Wins Praise

Kristin Billerbeck's What a Girl Wants won Book of the Year at the American Christian Romance Writers Conference for women's fiction.

Seeger Receives More Honors

Laura Vaccaro Seeger's Lemons Are Not Red has made yet another Best Books list, this time the New York Public Library Best Books of 2004. It has also received a starred review in Kirkus Reviews.

Hornfischer Honored with Naval Award for Last Stand of the Tin Can Sailors

Best-selling author Jim Hornfischer has been awarded this year's Samuel Eliot Morison Award for Naval Literature by the New York Commandery of the Naval Order of the United States for his Last Stand of the Tin Can Sailors. Originated in the 1980s, the award is given to an American author who, by his writings, has made a substantial contribution to the preservation of the history and the traditions of the U.S. Navy. Previous winners of the award have been David McCullough, Tom Clancy and John Lehman.

CBS Buys Rights to Eric Haney's Inside Delta Force

The CBS television network has purchased the rights to an original television series based on Eric Haney's best-selling book, Inside Delta Force. The series is to be produced through 20th Century Fox television division by the team of Eric Haney, Shawn Ryan (producer of the hit Fox series The Shield), and the Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright, screenwriter and director David Mamet. Eric and David will begin writing the pilot as soon as the ink is dry on the contract. God willing and the creeks don't rise, the series called The Unit will debut in Fall 2005.

Wolverton Wins First Place for Shelter from the Storm

Cheryl Wolverton won the first-place Inspirational Reader's Choice Award at this year's RWA for her suspense novel, Shelter from the Storm.

Highland Legacy (Barbour) Appeared in the #6 Position on the June 2004 CBA Romance Fiction Bestseller List

Tracey Bateman is one of the four authors contributing novellas for this anthology. Bateman has contracted with Steeple Hill for a three-book romantic suspense series and with Barbour for a historical and three more novellas.

Parkchester Pictures Plans to Raise the Dead with Home Before Daylight

Former Showtime programming prexy Jerry Offsay has resurfaced with production shingle Parkchester Pictures, and plans to raise the Dead with his first feature. Offsay has acquired rights to Home Before Daylight: My Life on the Road With the Grateful Dead, a book written by Steve Parish, who spent 30 years with the band as roadie and senior tour manager, and journalist Joe Layden. The band has pledged to cooperate on the project: guitarist and singer Bob Weir will write the music for the film.

Delta Force: A Young Person's Guide to the World of Special Forces

The history and behind the scenes story of the US Special Forces tailored for a young adult audience by founding member and excellent role model Eric Haney, Command Sergeant Major, USA (ret)

Ann Tatlock Wins with I'll Watch the Moon

Congratulations to Ann Tatlock, who accepted the Midwest Independent Publishers Association Award for Fiction for the second year in a row. Her novel, I'll Watch The Moon was chosen over 18 other entries.

Another World Is Possible by Jason West Has Been Sold to Miramax Books

Jason West, the Mayor of New Paltz, NY, has recently been a popular topic in the news for performing controversial same-sex marriages and was profiled in The New York Times Sunday Magazine section. Another World Is Possible is West’s personal memoir and includes his opinions regarding the current political system in the United States and his thoughts on how it should be changed.

George Anastasia's The Last Gangster Is a Real "Hit" as It Debuts on the New York Times Bestsellers List.

As a cop, Ron Previte was corrupt. As a mobster, he was brutal. And in his final role, as a confidential informant to the FBI, Previte was deadly. The Last Gangster by George Anastasia is his story - the story of the last days of the Philadelphia mob, and of the clash of generations that brought it down once and for all.

• 2004 ALA Notable Best Book
• A Kirkus Editor's Choice Best Book of 2003
• NBC Today Show Best Book for Gift Giving, 2003
• A Child Magazine Best Book of 2003
• A New York Public Library Best Book for Reading and Sharing, 2003
• A CCBC Choices 2004 Best Book
• A Bank Street College of Education Best Book of 2003
• A Children's Literature 2004 Choices Best Book
• A Capitol Choices Noteworthy Book for Children, 2003
• A Center for the Study of Children's Literature Picture Book of Distinction, 2003

Lerner Scores Bestsellers

Ben Lerner hits #13 on the New York Times Advice list and #2 on the Wall Street Journal Nonfiction list with Body by God.

Mafia Thriller Double Deal Debuts as New York Times Bestseller

Just one week after its release, Double Deal, published by William Morrow, hit the New York Times bestseller list.

Double Deal relates a 40-year saga told with unflinching honesty by Mob insider and former chief of police Michael Corbitt, providing a provocative expose of organized crime and its unholy alliance with world leaders, intelligence agencies and law enforcement.

In Double Deal, Corbitt breaks his four decades of silence. Making no excuses for his dual existence, Corbitt bares his soul confessing in graphic and sometimes horrific detail a live lived as both a saint and sinner, one that moved back and forth between the conflicting worlds of police officer and gangster with unnerving ease. Michael Corbitt and Sam Giancana have written a harrowing narrative of the ultimate dual life.

Co-Author Sam Giancana is the namesake of the late crime boss Sam "Momo" Giancana. He co-authored with his father Chuck Giancana the international bestseller, Double Cross. Executive Editor Mauro DiPreta acquired this book. (Agent: Frank Weimann)

Blast to the Past

In the Blast to the Past series, Rhody Cohon and Stacia Deutsch tell how Abigail and the rest of class 305 love Mondays when Mr. Caruthers asks them cool questions about history. But Mr. C wants them to do more than put on their thinking caps -- he wants them to travel back in time. Mr. C’s usual “What If?” questions are real, and he has a time-travel gadget to take Abigail and her friends back to the past to make sure history goes the way it is supposed to. Blast to the Past is part The Magic School Bus, part Back to the Future, part Bill & Ted’s Excellent Adventure, and completely fun.

St. Martin's Press to Publish There and Back Again: An Actor's Tale by Sean Astin with Joseph Layden

The Lord of the Rings is one of the most successful film trilogies in cinematic history. Nominated for more than 18 Academy Awards, The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Rings and Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers stand as two of the highest grossing films in box office history.

Though each Lord of the Rings DVD includes a special behind-the-scenes look at the making of the film -- showing some of the techniques and artistry employed to bring Tolkien's vision to life -- the real story of what took place on the set, the harrowing ordeals of the actors and some of the unspoken controversy that occurred between the cast and studio has never been heard, until now. There and Back Again: An Actor's Tale is the complete memoir of Sean Astin, who plays Samwise Gamgee in the Lord of the Rings trilogy. His experience and candid retelling of events is unparalleled. More than a companion guide to the film, this book is filled with stories from the set and of the actors involved that have never been told before.