reported by Nigel Gimble, FictionFanatic.com

When Spice author Jina Bacarr opens her podcast with a story about desperate housewives who withhold sex from their husbands until the men stop the war, she's quick to point out this erotic story isn't new. "Lysistrata was written in 411 B.C. by the Greek playwright, Aristophanes," she says, "but it's as timely today as ever and just as sexy as the latest trend in women's fiction hitting the book shelves."

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reported by Seth B. Stevenson, FictionFanatic.com

By now you probably know the basic details of the story: At age 17, unpublished author Kaavya Viswanathan landed a $500,000 contract to write two books. "I still cannot believe this. I never expected this would happen. I had only vaguely thought of becoming a writer," she is quoted as saying in an April 2005 article printed in The New York Sun. Now, after the publication of her first book, Viswanathan is more newsworthy than ever.

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reported by Allan Fark, FictionFanatic.com

Fans of THE L WORD? have completed the first network-sanctioned, fan-written script for an existing series for Showtime.

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reported by John Graham, FictionFanatic.com

Could one of the year's hottest new children's books possibly have nothing to do with boy wizards? Could it instead take a fun, historical look at America's Founding Fathers? Here's more on the new book from the man who helped tell "The True Story of the Three Little Pigs!" and the tale of "The Stinky Cheese Man."

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reported by Jenny L. Cox, FictionFanatic.com

Filming has begun in Los Angeles on Revolution Studios' "Next," a science fiction action thriller starring Academy Award? winner Nicolas Cage, Academy Award? nominee Julianne Moore and Jessica Biel, it was announced today. The film, which is being directed by Lee Tamahori, will be released domestically by Columbia Pictures in 2007. IEG Virtual Studios, an affiliate of Initial Entertainment Group, holds the international distribution rights.

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reported by Jenny L. Cox, FictionFanatic.com

Johnny Ostentatious has published NOIR REUNION, which is available on the small press Active Bladder. NOIR REUNION -- a punk-rock thriller -- centers around Philadelphia, where Ostentatious was born and lives today.

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reported by Libby Jordan, FictionFanatic.com

Check out that copy of Dan Brown?s The Da Vinci Code on your bookshelf. First edition first printings are being offered for up to (US) $600 at Abebooks.com along with a handful of signed versions priced from $1,000 to $4,000.

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reported by John Graham, FictionFanatic.com

Janet Evanovich and Reed Farrel Coleman, President and Vp of the Mystery Writers of America, say writers of crime fiction and mysteries aren't really as macabre as their fans would think. "We look more like crime victims than detectives, we think Jack The Ripper is unfairly treated in the press and Murder, She Wrote is high Art," they tease.

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reported by William A. Davis, FictionFanatic.com

Cherie Priest disliked her job at a school "in the sticks" outside of Chattanooga, Tenn. But it had at least one virtue -- a good Internet connection that allowed her to begin posting in a blog the material that would eventually become a novel.

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reported by Stuart Rothenberg, FictionFanatic.com

Paris Stories: The Writing of Mavis Gallant is a documentary profile of one of Canada's leading writers - the Paris-based short story master, Mavis Gallant. Paris Stories explores the force of fiction of a woman who left Canada and her "good job for a girl" to live in a city where writers aren't viewed with suspicion and asked for three months rent in advance.

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reported by Ivan Messier, FictionFanatic.com

In honor of National Library Week (April 2-8), Brandi Young, is enlisting the help of authors around the globe to help complete a digital reincarnation of a poster that won first place in a Library Week poster contest in 1985. Early visitors are intrigued and eager to see the project completed.

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reported by Brian Scott, FictionFanatic.com

Dr. James Garlow, one of the leading experts on the theology debate about "The Da Vinci Code," has compiled "The Da Vinci Codebreaker," (Bethany House) the first and only glossary of terms designed for those interested in learning the facts about the people, places, documents and events referenced in Dan Brown's runaway best-selling novel and the upcoming film by the same name.

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reported by Lisa Cutler, FictionFanatic.com

Mystery author Michael W. Sherer had a double hit today with a short story and his latest novel. Both feature Chicago freelance writer and amateur sleuth Emerson Ward. Sherer?s short story, A Primer On Death, was the top best-selling short piece on ?Amazon Shorts? at Amazon.com today. Amazon Shorts features both short fiction and articles by wide range of authors for just $0.49.

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