I don’t know about you, but I’ve always had a soft spot for witty, slightly sarcastic prose.
Say what you will, few things are more difficult to pull off in a book than funny. And few things take the enjoyment of a book up a notch like clever banter between a heroine and hero.
Little wonder then, that when I find an author whose characters can instantly respond with well-honed sarcasm—that avoids being mean-spirited—I tend to stick with her or him.
For years, that was the extent of it.
I know some of you younger readers probably won’t believe this but we didn’t always have author blogs or tweets or Facebook posts or eNewsletters . . . or even author websites.
And that meant that except for the rare newspaper or magazine interview, we only knew our favorite witty authors through, well, their witty words on paper.
The digital revolution changed all that. Now we have author blogs and author posts and author tweets and author YouTube videos and author podcasts. Like your favorite author’s Facebook Page, and you can see on almost a daily or hourly basis what tickles her funny bone.
Which is how I came to revere Claudia Dain, the author of Courtesan Chronicles, both on and off the page.
I’ve spent time with her in person and I’ve read her books, which are the envy of her fellow authors for their spot-on parlor talk. Still, it is her Facebook posts—her eye for the laugh that just must be shared—where she daily brightens my life.
Don’t believe me? Let me share a few random examples from her recent shares, with proper credits, of course:
“If you can fold a fitted sheet, you’re obviously a Witch.” (Rottenecards)
“Just replaced the cat litter with 44 packages of pop rocks. . . . And now we wait.” (104.9 The Gump)
“Good moms let you lick the beaters . . . Great moms turn them off first.” (50 Shades of Chocolate)
“Jim receives a note under the door and is intrigued, especially because it’s the closet door.” (The New Yorker cartoon)
“If my body is ever found dead on a jogging trail, just know I was murdered elsewhere and dumped there.” (Comedy 103.1)
“A walk in the woods helps me relax and releases tensions. . . . The fact that I am dragging a body should be entirely irrelevant.” (via the also witty author Jill Shalvis)
“The most dangerous animal in the world is a silent, smiling woman.” (104-7 KCLD)
And, of course, that’s the woman Ms. Dain writes about every day.
And I, for one, wouldn’t have it any other way.
What author’s Facebook shares can you not resist? Or, do you have a sassy author to rival mine?
If so, please, do share.
And in the meantime, enjoy this free short story “The Most Dangerous Game” compliments of the author.
http://claudiadain.com/book/the-most-dangerous-game/
— Jeanne Devlin
I, too, enjoy a witty author. 2 of my favorites that never disappoint for smiles: Jill Shalvis (quoted above) and Kristan Higgans. ♥