Texas Pages

If you enjoyed Sunday's review of the Ten-Year Nap, you might be interested in her interview with The New York Times.

And if you prefer your author interviews to be spoken, here she is on public radio's Fresh Air.

The $60,000 Orange Prize is open to any novel by a woman published in English.
This year, American writer Patricia Wood and two other first-time novelists are among six finalists.
Wood is nominated for her debut novel "Lottery," the tale of a jackpot winner that was inspired by her own father's $6 million win in the Washington State lottery.
The shortlist also includes two other first novels: "The Outcast," by Britain's Sadie Jones; and "Lullabies for Little Criminals," by Canadian writer Heather O'Neill.
The other nominees are France-based Canadian Nancy Huston for "Fault Lines"; Britain's Charlotte Mendelson for "When We Were Bad"; and British novelist Rose Tremain for "The Road Home."
The winner will be announced June 3.

(Associated Press)

NEW YORK -- A Harry Potter fan who wants to publish an encyclopedic guide to the wildly popular fantasy novels broke down and cried on the witness stand Tuesday as he faced off in federal court against his idol J.K. Rowling.

(More from The Associated Press follows.)

White dew on the jade stairs;
In the long night it has wet her silk stockings.
Now she lowers the crystal screen
And watches through the beads an autumn moon.

Here's some of what's new this week:
* Hold Tight, by Harlan Coben (Dutton, $26.95). Delves into teenager/parent relationships during a serial killer's sadistic spree in a suburban New Jersey town. I've read this one, and it's a doozy -- it'll scare the daylights out of you, and make you want to confiscate every single electronic device your teenagers own.
* The Day I Ate Whatever I Wanted: And Other Small Acts of Liberation, by Elizabeth Berg (Random House, $23). A collection of inspirational stories about women.
* The Miracle at Speedy Motors, by Alexander McCall Smith (Pantheon, $22.95). Newest installment in the No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency series.
* Breaking Free: My Life With Dissociative Identity Disorder, by Herschel Walker (Touchstone, $24.95). Tells the story of the former Dallas Cowboys running back and his battle with the mental illness once known as multiple personality disorder.
* Bad Money: Reckless Finance, Failed Politics, and the Global Crisis of American Capitalism, by Kevin Phillips (Viking, $25.95). Examines the bleak future of the U.S. economy.
* Just Who Will You Be?: Big Question. Little Book. Answer Within. by Maria Shriver (Hyperion, $14.95). Mrs. Gov. Schwarzenegger asserts that who you are is more important than what you do.