Darden North, MD

When I attended the International Thriller Writers' Conference in New York City during the Summer of 2009, those who registered for the AgentFest portion of the event were allowed to pitch themselves and their work one-on-one, face-to-face with literary agents. As I courageously pitched my current fiction manuscript, Wiggle Room , to a beautiful female Manhattan agent, she asked, "Do you have any strong female characters in your manuscript?" Suddenly, I was struck by what many agents, publishers, and readers are seeking ... strong female characters. I answered the agent truthfully, "No, but I can fix that!" Luckily, I was recently able to pose my own question to freelance editor and author Helen Ginger on The Blood-Red Pencil blog . I asked Can you define a strong female character? Ginger's detailed answer and the comments to follow have been enlightening. I invite you to the link: http://bloodredpencil.blogspot.com/ The specific blog post written by Helen...

The day was Mother's Day 2009, and the mother of my two children was enjoying her coffee in bed before we were to get ready for church. I had taken my own mother out to lunch the day before in Jackson, MS, and we had a very nice visit. As sort of an early Father's Day present for me, however, I checked my email that Sunday morning to learn that my third novel, FRESH FROZEN , had just received two additional national book awards, for which I am thankful: Winner, Best Cover Design and Finalist, Regional Fiction in the 2009 National Indie Excellence Awards. http://indieexcellence.com/indie-results-2009.php Thank you for letting me share this with you, Darden North www.dardennorth.com

Reprinted from ... WHAT TO READ BY NAN GRAVES GOODMAN PORTICO JACKSON Magazine - December 2008 - Page 14 Fresh Frozen by Darden North, M.D. (Ponder House Press) Jackson (MS)OB-GYN physician and author of House Call and Points of Origin , both recipients of literary awards, has woven yet another spellbinding medical world novel of suspense and intrigue, this one based in the modern, expensive world of frozen embryos. When an infertile, nearly bankrupt couple decides to choose from a human egg and embryo donor bank, the trouble begins. The non-ethical owner of the baby-making business runs a shady place, located just north of Jackson, Mississippi. The lives of Hollywood celebrities, a Mississippi socialite, and an Internet thief—who uncovers the baby factory’s shady dealings online—make for an interestingly mixed plot complete with greed, angst, and murder. North has become a master of medical suspense.

Not often a factor analyzed by the national media as it dooms the national and global economy, book signings may be holding their own --- at least around here. Even as my third novel, FRESH FROZEN , was enjoying an October 2008 book release just as the economy was really tanking (not a cause and effect relationship, I’m sure), I along with hoards of other authors and publicists was busy. The goal was to line up and confirm appearances at bookstores, gift shops, art galleries, museums, outdoor festivals, schools, business conventions, family reunions, or any other location where a crowd of potential shoppers was anticipated. (Considering the long lines of folks waiting to vote before and on November 4, it’s too bad that book signings are not allowed at the polls.) While book distributors may encounter difficulty in moving the hardcover works of even the “major” authors, hopefully books and book signings may prove themselves recession-proof in the long run. Then, of course, there is the...