AP - The wife of embattled South Carolina Gov. Mark Sanford called his affair with an Argentine woman "inexcusable" but said Thursday she is willing to forgive him.

AP - A year before it became a best seller, author Jeffrey Zaslow wondered if all the time he'd put into his book about the longtime friendship of 11 women would be wasted.

AP - A Swedish author whose new book was promoted as a sequel to J.D. Salinger's "The Catcher in the Rye" cannot publish it in the United States because it too closely mirrors Salinger's classic without adequate parody or critique, a judge ruled Wednesday.

Reuters - With her debut collection of short stories, Zimbabwean writer Petina Gappah has been heralded as a major new literary voice, but she said it was a struggle to write about her homeland without being didactic.

AP - Michael Connelly headed back to the newsroom for this latest best-selling thriller.

AP - The "instant" books on Michael Jackson are coming soon.

AP - Fresh out of college with an English degree in hand, Peter Leonard wrote a six-page short story he liked very much and asked a famous author for a few notes.

AP - Rhianna Pratchett has a fantasy writer's genes: Her father is Terry Pratchett, author of the "Discworld" novels. But the daughter has pursued her muse in a different medium, as one of the most respected scriptwriters in video games.

AP - Billy Crystal is taking his acclaimed stage autobiography, "700 Sundays," on the road this fall.

AP - Former Vice President Dick Cheney has signed a book deal with a conservative imprint of Simon & Schuster and said he hopes readers of all ideologies will be interested in his story. The memoir by Cheney, widely considered the most powerful vice president in history, is expected to be published in Spring 2011, a few months after President George W. Bush's book comes out.

AP - "Finger Lickin' Fifteen." (St. Martin's Press, 308 pages, $27.95): The barbecue sauce hits the ceiling in "Finger Lickin' Fifteen," Janet Evanovich's new Stephanie Plum novel.