Rioja wine from Spain

Rioja wine featured in my newest novel "Greek Bonds and French Ladues" in the chapter entitled "Majorca" 

Last summer, our friend Arlette Gamelin invited my wife Minche and me to stay at her beach-front condo at Cala Bona on the southwest corner of Majorca. While there, she introduced us to Rioja wine, a very fine Spanish red somewhat akin to Malbec or Merlot. I featured the wine in my chapter entitled "Majorca" in my newest novel. While at Trader Joe's in Claremont, I found Rioja from Spain for $11.00 a bottle that is simply great! So, Happy New Year or Bonne Annee! I got mine, I hope you get yours!

Epub edition of Greek Bonds and French Ladies

A very well-done Epub edition is on my telephone from Kobo. This is the Smashwords edition. It came through beautifully. $2.99 at Kobo for all of you Kobo readers. The same version is at the Apple iPad store, Barnes and Noble, Diesel, Sony, and other ebook retailers.

Epub version available to view at Goodreads

Epub version available to read on your browser at Goodreads (all of it is readable, but not downloadable).

Link to Goodreads book page is here.

Satirical novel about a hedge fund betting in on the 2012 Greek bond bailout. Now out in Kindle, Smashwords, and Amazon print. Ebooks $2.99 (a free and complete edition is viewable on your browser at Goodreads).

May 2012—Athens is rocked by riots as the Greek economy tanks. The International Monetary Fund warns Greece to clean up corruption. In Geneva, hedge fund investor Jim Schiller bets billions on a bail-out of Greek bonds. What secrets threaten the bail-out? Jim wonders.

To find out, Jim travels to Paris and meets with international consultant Sophie d’Auverne, a former French finance official close to IMF director Christine Lagarde. Sophie assures Jim that Greece will be bailed out and investors will make billions.

Then a shocking revelation—France sent a CD with 2,000 names of tax evaders to the Greek government. Now two former Greek ministers caught up in a corrupt Russian arms deal are dead of “apparent suicide.” Enraged German public opinion is turning against the Greek bail-out.

The French are rumored to have a master list of a 130,000 Europeans with secret Swiss bank accounts. And a spy working for a foreign government saw a second copy of the list go out the door of the finance ministry. Where is the mysterious second copy? Why are secret agents stalking Sophie? Can Sophie and Jim save the day before scandal blows the Greek bail-out apart and Europe erupts into a massive financial crisis?

A satire of the bizarre reality behind modern-day finance.

 What are editors saying about this novel?

The CreasteSpace Editorial Evaluation says many nice things:

With regard to the humor in the novel:

 “One of the best parts of this work is the humor and wit. It carries the reader along for the most part.”

“…the fascinating sub-story of the vicomtesses of d’Auverne.”

“The author has a good sense of witty writing, especially in the quick-witted exchanges in dialogue. We also get some fun out of some of the action, especially involving the hijinks of the two Russians. The author is also quite good in eliciting emotional tones from setting description, including the weather and the season and time of day to evoke one mood or another in readers.”

“This appears to be a very unique and fresh work. It is not clichéd by any means.

“It works.”

 The Chinese Garden at the Huntington Library in Pasadena. Today Minche and I went to the luncheon meeting of the Scripps College Fine Arts Foundation (always a delight to have lunch in the Hampton Room of Malott Commons overlooking the beautiful quadrangle and the San Gabriel Mountains beyond). Susie Moser, a Scripps alumna, gave a presentation on Phase II of the construction of the Chinese Garden at the Huntington Library. She is the vice president for fundraising behind the project and she had many fascinating tales to tell about working with the Chinese government and many wealthy Chinese people in both California and China to fund the project. (Minche both speaks and reads Mandarin and could read both sides of the program cards!). A lot of fun and very illuminating because the two societies will be drawing ever closer together in the future.

Scripps College Fine Arts Foundation. Minche and I went to the luncheon meeting of the Fine Arts Foundation where we were able to purchase a half dozen paintings from the estate of Corinne Gallman, who served as president of the foundation for nine years over about four decades. Paul's mother Helen served as a co-president with Corinne in the 1990s and Paul served as co-president with her 2008-2010. She died this past January in her home in Claremont. Overall, the Foundation has donated more than $11,000 to the Fine Arts Foundation scholarship fund with proceeds from Corinne's art collection. And we revere Corinne's fine taste and rollicking good humor. One of the grande dames of Claremont.

"A Farewell in Paris" book review by Kirkus Reviews

20 Signed Copies in the mail to Goodreads Winners.  I offered 20 free signed copies on the Goodreads giveaway program during the month of January. Winners were selected January 31, the list sent to me, labels printed, and after two trips to the Claremont Post Office 1 copy went to the UK, 1 to British Columbia, and 18 to addresses across the U.S. Now, let's see if (1) people read the book and (2) possibly write a review for either Goodreads or Amazon. If anyone wants a free signed copy and agrees upfront to write a review, send me an email at myersbooks@gmail.com and I will get a copy off to you. First 10 requests only. 

A Farewell in Paris is now up on NOOK!

My latest novel is now up on all the major ebook sites: Kindle, Kobo, Nook, Diesel, Smashwords, etc, for only $2.99.