Julia Quinn

I admit, I'd never read Julie Q until I started hearing (way back in pre-Internet days -- for me, at least) that she wrote great dialogue. Having loved many an old Cary Grant movie for nothing more than the snappy dialogue (yeah, and if you believe that . . .), I picked up one of her books and loved it. LOVED it. I've been reading her ever since.

But I hadn't picked up her new book yet. (Haven't bought Harry Potter #7 yet either.) Yeah, I'm usually right there, but this time I had some stuff that had to be done that I was having some trouble getting done, so I made myself a deal: no new books until the other stuff was finis.

So last Saturday, after achieving my goals and spending some horrifically hot and sweaty time at my mom's house cutting up branches with my chain saw and burning them, I stopped at Wal-Mart to pick up some groceries. I stunk. I was coated with sweat and soot and ash. My hair was flat as Kansas in places and sticking out maniacally in others. If I'd bothered to put on makeup that day, it would have been long gone.

But, hey, it was Wal-Mart and Saturday night. I didn't stand out that much.

I got all the stuff I needed and swung by the books on the way to the register to pick up HP. But . . . I didn't. I saw the interview on NBC with J.K. Rowling and all the spoilers, and now it's kind of . . . well, spoiled the book for me. I don't want to read it yet. I will. Just not yet.

But I got Julie Q's latest. The Secret Diaries of Miss Miranda Cheever. At least, I think that's the name.

Oh. My. God. I LOVED that book. Couldn't put it down. Read until my eyes were so blurry that I couldn't make out the words. Great dialogue, and then some. This woman can write.

And she's so darn nice, too. She came to Oklahoma about a year and a half ago to do an all-day workshop for our writers group. Leah and Robert and I picked her up at the airport, had dinner with her, chauffeured her the next day and back to the airport on Sunday, and she was an absolute doll.

Smart, funny, incredibly talented, and so nice you can't even hate her for any of the rest of it.

I can't wait for her next book. Rachel5:16 PM