Another chance to have your name immortalized in a book by a favorite author, or to give the ultimate unique gift to a loved one, while also donating to the First Amendment Project - a nonprofit organization dedicated to providing free legal services on public interest free speech and free press matters.

Authors taking part include Suzanne Brockmann, Kevin J. Anderson, Rebecca Moesta, Dan Chaon, Andrew Sean Greer, Ben Katchor, Elinor Lipman, Margot Livesey, Rick Moody, Thomas Perry, Sarah Shun-Lien Bynum, Laura Benedict, T Campbell, Patrick deWitt, Joshua Ferris, Dan Gutman, Phillip Margolin, Nami Mun, Francine Prose, Mona Simpson, Ayelet Waldman, Robert Mailer Anderson, Janet Burroway, Stacey D'Erasmo, Dave Eggers, Dan Gutman, Derek Haas, Walter Kim, Lorrie Moore, Francine Prose, Mona Simpson,Jane Smiley and Vendela Vida

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Booklovers! Would you like to have your name immortalized in print, or give a once in a lifetime Christmas gift to a loved one? If so, now's your chance - just pop over to Ebay, and place one or more bids in the Authors for Autism Character Auction which has just opened.

Budding authors! Here's your chance to have your work critiqued by an established author. If you want to take advantage of this opportunity, pop over to Ebay and place your bid in the Authors for Autism auction.

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Sometimes interviews are a great thing. They actually make you think. One interviewer asked me if being a psychologist for 25 years had anything to do with the fact that I wrote a few memoirs. I said that it made me less afraid to write the truth about myself and my feelings no matter how bizarre or unflattering they might be. After delving into the unconscious of others for so long I realized that we are all pretty much the same. The difference between a murderer and a nun is really very little. Usually it is only one moment in time that differentiates the two. Both people have the same unconscious instincts or desires that they have had to repress--primarily sex and aggression. Freud isn't famous for nothing. Just look at TV that only has various forms of sex or aggression blasting on 400 channels to know that Freud was no amateur. Sometimes people say to me "Oh I was so shocked you were involved in a murder trial and were investigated by the FBI." Really they had thought or probably did the same things I did but didn't get caught. I know that and they know that.  Realizing we are all on a level playing field is freeing and I felt I could write what I wanted so my pen just danced across the page.

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A couple of weeks back, Kim Kovacs posted about her reading challenge to read 80 books set in different countries within one year. Here, by popular demand, is her reading list as a spreadsheet, so you can sort the books by country, rating, fiction vs nonfiction and so forth.

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In a move that seems destined to put consumer and corporate noses out of joint WOWIO Inc, a provider of digital media content and eBooks (wowio.com) announced on Friday that they have received a Notice of Allowance from the US Patent and Trademark Office for a broad patent application, filed in 2006, covering a variety of methods for delivering ads in eBooks, including contextual ads based on the personal information or demographic criteria of the reader. A Notice of Allowance effectively means that the patent has been approved, and will be issued once the required fee has been paid.

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On September 15, 2009 one of my (far too many) book groups embarked on a reading challenge entitled "Around the World in 80 Books."  Its object was to read 80 books from 80 different countries over the course of the subsequent 12 months.  Of the nearly seventy people who signed up to participate, six of us met the goal.  Sure, there's a sense of accomplishment, but far more importantly I've found that I've learned quite a lot over the past year, both about history and about my reading tastes in general.

The first thing I discovered was that when one is looking for books about a specific country or region, it's FAR easier to come up with non-fiction books than novels.  Most book sites don't allow you to search by a specific country.  (Ever try to find a novel about Qatar or Oman?  It ain't easy!)  At first, this intimidated me.  I've had an annual goal for as long as I can remember to read six non-fiction books a year, and most of the time I don't succeed.  I do a fine job of BUYING non-fiction books; there are many that look really interesting.  Somehow, though, they always seem to languish on my shelves longer than the novels I purchase.  I finally decided, though, that if I was going to participate in this challenge, I'd just have to bite the bullet and read some non-fiction (yikes!). 

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