Now touring Mindy Friddle!

I'm pleased to tour Mindy Friddle as part of the Girlfriend's Cyber Circuit! Her new book, THE GARDEN ANGEL, is definitely one to watch!

ABOUT THE GARDEN ANGEL

Just out in paperback from Picador (Trade Paperback; ISBN: 0-312-42496-5 June 1, 2005)-- A Barnes & Noble Discover Great New Writers selection, Fall 2004--A Southeastern Bookseller's Associations (SEBA) Bestseller--A Pulpwood Queens Book Club Selection

In Sans Souci, South Carolina, talk is cheap, real estate even more so. No one knows this better than Cutter Johanson, a gruff tomboy who waits tables, writes obits, and makes every effort, however comical and in the face of her mercenary relatives, to avert the sale of the dilapidated ancestral home. And despite her plucky resolve, all appears to be lost---until she strikes up an unlikely friendship with Elizabeth, a shy and fragile academic who puts both their fates on the mend.

"Mindy Friddle has a great comic touch, and her novel is a touching, heartfelt debut."-Richard Russo, Pulitzer Prize-winning author of Empire Falls"Friddle has a way with the comic yet apt image...funny, down-to-earth and steeped in a sense of place."-The Washington Post

"The glory of a past that may never be reclaimed is the theme of this unique and satisfying novel ...At times wonderfully comic and sad enough to provoke tears, The Garden Angel is an addictive read, and an enthralling story filled with both loss and hope." --- The Barnes & Noble Review from Discover Great New Writers

"The southern novel is still alive and kicking, thank heavens, and Friddle gives the genre its due...with comic grace. In the tradition of Fried Green Tomatoes at the Whistle Stop Cafe, Friddle's novel celebrates the power of women's friendship. The story is soulful and satisfying, as southern as a slice of watermelon on a hot summer's day."-The Charlotte Observer

"A comic delight....Winning characters and piquant wit, with an underpinning of graciousness: a standout."-Kirkus Reviews (starred review)

"This debut novel is atmospheric in the way of Southern fiction, but it's also brand new. With casual skill, Friddle makes the case that who we like in life may be as critical as who we love."-Publishers Weekly

Mindy Friddle is a former newspaper reporter. She received the 2003 South Carolina Fiction Prize and a Fellowship in Fiction from the South Carolina Academy of Authors. Visit her Web site at www.mindyfriddle.com