The Italian Connection
reprinted from SFluxe (www.sfluxe.com)

Look out, Danielle Steele, there's a new gal in town. And she drives a Ferrari.

I went to the book launch on Thursday of Jill St. Anne's latest, "The Italian Connection." It was a festive evening, as it also happened to be the birthday of the author's lovely mother, Judy Fairchild.

Judy was beaming as she watched Jill inscribe the books for fans and friends who had lined up at Emporio Rulli Gran Caffe. The event was hosted by Claudia Ross, elegant in a long black dress that Madonna designed for H&M (you never would have guessed it was from H&M!)

The book is fabulous reading, part romance and part intrigue. I'm halfway through it and have a hard time stopping myself from skipping ahead to find out how it ends!

With its colorful settings in San Francisco and Tuscany, The Italian Connection would make an absolutely perfect movie. I picture it like "Romancing The Stone," in the way it's romantic and exciting, and appeals to all sexes and ages — something that's really hard to do. If Angelina Jolie can't take the starring role Uma Thurman would be just fine, thank you (work on it, Hollywood.)

Pat Murphy of the San Francisco Sentinel was also at the party — and has a report here. Photos above by Sentinel photographer David Toerge.

Reading in London, September, 2006
Jill's first UK book signing. Shown here with her daughter, Lindsay, at her home on Wetherby Gardens in London.

November, 2006
Jill and her mom, Judy Fairchild, at the book signing party Judy hosted at her home in Durango, Colorado.

Jill Zajicek Wickersham '85 a.k.a. Jill St. Anne, Returns with The Italian Connection
reprinted from News at DePauw (http://www.depauw.edu/news/)

September 7, 2006, Greencastle, Ind. - Jill Zajicek Wickersham, a 1985 DePauw University graduate who writes under the pen name Jill St. Anne, releases her second book today. The Italian Connection is the follow-up to The Riviera Conspiracy, which was published in 2002.

From her London home, Wickersham reports that the new novel carries over some of the themes from her debut work, but is not a sequel. "After The Riviera Conspiracy was published, a Hollywood screenwriter wrote a screenplay treatment of it. Her goal was to make the story more commercial and mainstream. I liked what she did and bought the rights to the treatment. I also thought many of her plot points were extremely clever and used several of them in writing The Italian Connection. There are similarities between the two books, but in many ways it's an entirely different novel and one that is more suitable for a screenplay adaptation."

A communication major at DePauw, Wickersham later earned an MBA in international business. After working in the corporate world (most recently with Chase Manhattan), she dedicated her life to her writing and family, which splits its time between London, the San Francisco Bay Area, And British Columbia, Canada.

Rights to The Italian Connection are currently being reviewed by several Hollywood production companies, and Wickersham has created and written a reality-based television series, Yummy Mummys, which has been placed with a London production company.

Learn more about the author at her personal Web site.

In a previous story, Wickersham stated, "I feel DePauw was a great springboard for my life in many respects. The small class size encouraged people to participate in class discussions. And as we all know, there isn't room in today's competitive business and social environment for shrinking violets! Also, there was no possible way one could have attended class unprepared, let alone skip class, which happens all the times at the larger universities."

Durango Book Reading
reprinted from Durango Herald

Local Realtor Judy Fairchild is one proud mama this week. Her daughter Jill Zajicek Wickersham is in town to sign books for her debut novel, The Riviera Conspiracy. The book comes from some of Wickersham's own experiences in banking and international business as well as her life, which includes homes in San Francisco, London and British Columbia, Canada. It is a combination of thriller and romance, with lots of international travel and national security in the balance. Sounds like a good read for a cold winter night. Writing has worked well for the mother of 3 1/2-year-old Lindsay, who will be accompanying her mother to Durango for the big event. The book is available in hardback, and Wickersham will be signing copies at Maria's Bookshop from 5 to 7 p.m. Friday. This is the new author's fourth signing, after signings in Chicago, San Francisco and Portland, Ore.

Chicago signing attended by over 100 people
Jill with her daughter Lindsay, her father David Zajicek and his wife, Lou O'Brien Zajicek.

San Francisco reading on November 21, 2002 draws standing-room only crowd
Kate Kelley, the events coordinator for the Books Inc. store in the Marina said it was their most successful event of the year.