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September 24, 2007 9:46 AM

GUEST BLOG: Brenda Janowitz

When I read about the following on Galleycat, I emailed Brenda and asked her to write about it for Trashionista and she enthusiastically agreed!

Brenda Janowitz on the duelling Scots!

Imagine the thrill I got when I saw my book listed in the pages of Entertainment Weekly.  (Well, first imagine the thrill of someone telling me that my book was mentioned in EW, and then the excitement of running to the drug store, buying my copy, and finally flipping to the Books section to see my name in print…).

There I stood, in the middle of the store, smiling ear to ear as I saw my name in the same magazine as my favorite celebs, not to mention my favorite authors, and I could barely believe my eyes. 

After buying the magazine (and resisting the temptation to show the cashier my name and start screaming and jumping), I drove home in a daze. Visions of phone calls from Drew Barrymore to discuss film rights filled my head. Once I got home, I began calling everyone I ever met to tell them about my good news (and impending celebrity, no doubt).

As I made my calls, I took a closer look at the magazine and realized that my book was actually listed as one of the top five mystery books that week. Funny, I thought, my book isn’t a mystery. Unless, of course, you count the eternal question that is the basis for all of chick lit:  will she or won’t she get the guy??? (Insert dramatic ‘da-da-duuuum’ music here).

It didn’t take me long to realize that EW had confused my book, SCOT ON THE ROCKS (How I survived my ex-boyfriend’s wedding with my dignity ever so slightly intact), which came out in April 2007, with SCOTS ON THE ROCKS (A Bed-and-Breakfast Mystery) by Mary Daheim, which came out July 2007.

So, I did what any writer worth her laptop would do. I pitched an article to them: the dueling SCOTS! I suggested that they print pictures of the two book covers to see whose tartan is more authentic and then compare the books to see who really did her research on Scotland (and, in my book’s case, hot Scottish men!). It would be a fight to the finish to decide whose book is more worthy of the title, SCOT ON THE ROCKS. And maybe, since it’s EW after all, we could even have a reality show tie-in! It would be like the Highland Games, but with cuter outfits! We could each get a team of gorgeous scots to compete on our behalf (I call Ewan McGregor) and then have then compete in a variety of challenges, like slaying the Loch Nech monster!   

Or not.  Geez, being in the pages of EW has really gone to my head…

Came straight to this page? Visit www.trashionista.com for more female fiction news, reviews and interviews.

Posted by Keris on September 24, 2007 in Guest blogs | Permalink

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