TEN BEACH ROAD is hitting the shelves anew this month as part of National Breast Cancer Awareness Month and Penguin Group’s READ PINK® program.

The READ PINK® program was created by my publisher, Penguin Group (USA) to promote public awareness of breast cancer and breast cancer research and to support and recognize the contributions of the Breast Cancer Research Foundation®(BCRF) by connecting the cause to books written by, for and about women.

For the past two years, Penguin’s Read Pink donation has sponsored 500 hours of research time and I’m incredibly proud and honored to have my book on the shelves with the Read Pink Seal on the cover and information about BCRF in the back of the book.

But… it’s October!  My books usually hit the stores when temperatures are rising, school is out and we’re either headed to the beach or at least daydreaming about sand, surf and sun.  So this got me thinking about what makes a book a beach book, and why we should throw caution to the wind and read them all year long.   After all, if some fashionista somewhere can decree that white pants are acceptable all year long, then why can’t we do the same with beach books?

Not convinced?  Well, let me share my “Top 10 Reasons to Spend Time at TEN BEACH ROAD in October” list with you and see if we can get on the same page.  (Pun fully intended!)

Since school is back in session, it’s important to set a good example for your kids by reading.  If you pick up TEN BEACH ROAD, you’ll be enjoying a sweat-soaked summer with Maddie, Nicole, and Avery as they rehab a dilapidated beachfront mansion in Pass-a-Grille, Florida.  Your kids will just think you are very smart and studious.

1.   If you need something to warm you up, the men of TEN BEACH ROAD are hot.
2. Now that I think about it, I’m not sure why books that really take you away are necessary in the summer.  What better time for a good mental escape to the beach than a cold, rainy day in October?
3. When you’re looking ahead to long cold months with the sun setting earlier and earlier each day, you can at least feel good that you have not lost everything in a Madoff-style Ponzi scheme like the women of TEN BEACH ROAD.
4. If your neighborhood is getting too cold and windy for DIY projects, you can read about Maddie, Nicole and Avery’s work on Bella Flora and just tell your hubby that you’re in the “planning stages” for next spring and summer.
5. Did I mention that there are some hot guys in TEN BEACH ROAD?
6. Reading beach books in the summer can make you feel bad about not being quite bikini ready… but in October, you can pull out a big cozy sweater and some chocolate cake and know you have months before you have to worry about that again!
7. If beach vacations are not just for summer, then beach books shouldn’t be either.  October is actually a good time to head to the beaches in Florida.  The crowds have thinned and the temperatures are still warm.  You could leave the kids with Dad, grab your girlfriends, a few copies of TEN BEACH ROAD and call it a book club weekend!
8. Friendships are timeless, and so are troubles.  TEN BEACH ROAD is the story of three women who are thrown together when they lose everything.  It could be set in Aspen in March, Boston in December or Dubuque in May.  The story is about the women, their lives, and their bond.  So reading it in October wherever you live will work.  I promise.
9. I think I have mentioned that there are some hot guys in the book, but it bears repeating!  If you’re looking for a way to warm up, there’s nothing better than picturing Joe Giraldi running shirtless on the beach.  (Not sure who Joe is?  Pick up the READ PINK® edition of TEN BEACH ROAD to find out)!

So, show the world the kind of woman you really are: brave, fearless, and bold.  Wear white pants after Labor Day, drink a Piña Colada in December and proudly show off your copy of TEN BEACH ROAD in October.  You’ll be the envy of the neighborhood, and you can be proud knowing you’re supporting a great cause!

OCEAN BEACH by Wendy Wax

Berkley Books/Trade Paperback/Original/Fiction

$15.00 ($16.00 Canada)

0-425-24541-1 ● 978-0-425-24541-5

BUY YOUR COPY TODAY!

Wendy Wax introduced Madeline Singer, Avery Lawford and Nicole Grant and their story of friendship, family and triumph in her highly praised novel, Ten Beach Road, which USA Today cited as one of “six that belong in your beach bag.” It’s the first time Wendy, who was born and grew up in St. Pete Beach where the book takes place, set one of her stories in Florida.  For her latest novel, OCEAN BEACH, she returned to the Sunshine State, this time Miami, and she brought the cast of Ten Beach Road with her.

Wendy has lived in Atlanta for fifteen years and hadn’t been to Miami for some time before she began researching OCEAN BEACH. Her first memories of the famous resort city are from childhood. “When I was little, we stayed at the Fontainebleau Hotel and ate at Wolfie’s,” she says, admitting a bit of nostalgia for the now closed landmark deli.

She remembers her cousins had a well-known Italian restaurant, Gino’s, on Collins Avenue, just south of Wolfie’s, and that her father, who traveled the state, always brought home “real” bagels from Miami and stopped for a meal at the legendary Joe’s Stone Crab. The restaurant is famous for serving not only Ken Wax, but Will Rogers, Amelia Earhart, Gloria Swanson, Walter Winchell and Al Capone, who dined under the name Al Brown.

“Certainly, I remember my big brother getting married at the Diplomat Country Club, but most of my memories are of things like swimming in a salt water pool for the first time.”  She, of course, remembers working on her first feature film there, Night in Heaven.  The family dog, a Greyhound named “Blue Boy,” was retired from a Miami dog track, Wendy notes, adding “None of us could beat him to the front door.  Or catch up with him when he made a break for it.”

Today, she knows much more about the city, especially South Beach’s legendary Art Deco structures.  One home in particular caught her eye and, despite its need for extensive repair, inspired the creation of The Millicent, the fictional house at the heart of OCEAN BEACH, an Art Deco Streamline Moderne “credited” to revered Miami Beach architect Henry Hohauser.

There’s another slice of Wendy’s Florida past that complements her research for OCEAN BEACH. That’s her on air and behind the scenes work at Tampa television station WEDU, where she produced and hosted the program The Home Front, which aired on PBS stations across the United States.  In her new book, her protagonists film the first season of their reality show, Do Over.

More important to Wendy, however, is the collective past she explored—learning more about South Beach’s amazing architecture and the way the area developed, how the city played host and home to the rich and famous as far back as the early days of television, and the stories behind many of Miami’s restaurants and hotels, such as the Fontainebleau where she stayed as a child, unaware of its rich history of celebrity guests and ties to Hollywood.

“I have no trouble imagining Max and Millie Golden there,” says Wendy of the fictional comedy team who bought The Millicent shortly after they married.  “I’m sure they would have hobnobbed à la George and Gracie with friends like Frank Sinatra, Fred Astaire, and Ann-Margaret.”

Wendy read voraciously as a child and her love affairs with language and storytelling paid off beginning with her first shift at the campus radio station while studying journalism at the University of Georgia. She studied in Italy through Florida State University, returned home, graduated from the University of South Florida, and later worked at WEDU and at Tampa’s WDAE-Radio.

Wendy’s writing has been highly praised. The Atlanta Journal-Constitution says she “writes with breezy wit and keen insight into family relations.” Her books have been featured in national publications such as USA Today and Women’s World, and at online book blogs and sites such as On A Clear Day You Can Read Forever, Luxury Reading, Night Owl Reviews and Fresh Fiction.  In 2011 she was honored by the City of St. Pete Beach, which declared May 12 “Wendy Wax Day.”

The mother of a toddler and an infant when she decided to change careers, Wendy admits it may not have been the best timing in terms of productivity. “I’m still not certain why I felt so compelled to write my first novel at that particular time,” she says, “but that first book took forever.” Since then she’s written seven others, including Ten Beach Road, Magnolia Wednesdays, the Romance Writers of America RITA Award finalist The Accidental Bestseller, Leave It to Cleavage and Single in Suburbia. Her novel 7 Days and 7 Nights was honored with the Virginia Romance Writers Holt Medallion Award. Her work has been sold to publishers in ten countries and to the Rhapsody Book Club, and her novel, Hostile Makeover, was excerpted in Cosmopolitan magazine.

Wendy has just finished her next novel, which will be published in spring 2013. When not writing, she spends much of her time speaking to writer’s groups and book clubs, enjoying time with her family, visiting relatives in St. Pete, and devouring books.

www.authorwendywax.com facebook.com/AuthorWendyWax @Wendy_Wax