NEW BOOKS COMING!! I’ve signed with Thomas Nelson for three more Southern historical novels to be published beginning in 2013. I’m thrilled to continue working with the fabulous fiction team at Nelson, and excited to share more details with you about these new books as they are finalized. In January I headed up to Nashville for a day of brainstorming and editorial discussions with my team–Allen Arnold, Ami McConnell, Natalie Hanemann and Becky Monds, and spent some time with my publicity and marketing team including Katie Bond, Eric Mullett and Ashley Schneider. Every time I spend time with them, I am delighted and thankful all over again that I have such a great team behind my books.
BEAUTY FOR ASHES released March 1st with a fantastic Author Chat party on Facebook. My team at Thomas Nelson partnered with LitFuse Publicity group and we gave away some great prizes including a diamond and sapphire ring, a Kindle with wi-fi, books, gift cards, and more. I had a wonderful time chatting with readers and looking at the photos they submitted during the party. If you missed this one, I hope you’ll watch for news when we release the final Hickory Ridge novel, EVERY PERFECT GIFT late this fall, just in time for Christmas.
E-NEWSLETTER LAUNCH. On May 1st, I sent out the first edition of “Inside Story” my new quarterly e-newsletter— to almost 1200 subscribers! In each issue, in addition to updating my book doings, I recommend books by other authors that I think my readers will enjoy. Subscribers also get advance notice of book giveaways and other promotions, and from time to time, behind the scenes material available only to subscribers. If you haven’t subscribed yet, it’s super easy to sign up here on the site. The next issue will go out August 1st.
A BLAST FROM THE PAST: Before I moved to the inspirational market, I wrote more than a dozen novels for young adults. On May 29, 2012, Simon and Schuster will release three of them—DEFYING THE DIVA, THE PUPPETEER’S APPRENTICE, and THE SECRET PRINCE as e-books. It’s exciting to see some of my older titles getting a new look for a new audience.
CAROLINA BOUND: Ron and I leave next month for a combined research trip/beach vacation to South Carolina. My current project is a novel inspired by the life of a woman SC lowcountry rice planter. I’m taking a private tour along the rivers to the plantation houses, and then to Pawley’s Island, where a different book will be set. The research will take a full day, but after that, it’s all kicking back in our rented beach house and vegging in the sun. No wi fi, no e-mail. Bliss.
THANK YOU, BOOKSELLERS! Recently I visited ten bookstores in the San Antonio area and received such a warm welcome from the folks at Barnes and Noble, Family Christian Stores and Books A Million. Thank you one and all.
2011 EVENTS
Here are a few places you’ll find me this year. More dates and events will be added periodically. If you happen to find yourself in the area I’m visiting, please stop by and say hello. It’s always a blessing to meet and greet old friends and to make new ones.
May 21, 2011 at 11 am, Book People, Austin, Tx Writers Workshop, SCBWI “The Care and Feeding of Agents”. How to work most effectively with one or more agents. PLUS: Five things your agent does not want to hear.
May 28th at 10:00 am CST Live radio broadcast on Girl Talk Texas KSLR -AM. Tune in!
June 3 at 8:20 CST On the radio with Bob Langstaff of WAMV-AM in the Roanoke/Lynchburg, VA listening area.
June 5 at 7 am EST On the radio with Doug Hess of WRVB-FM radio’s Community Insight show. Parkersburg West Va and environs, I hope you’ll listen in.
June 8 at 12:10 CST On the radio in Albuquerque with Jim Sandell of 11 Oclock Live. If you’re in the Albuquerque listening area, I hope you’ll tune in.
June 8 which happens to be our 37th wedding anniversary, is also the official release date for BEYOND ALL MEASURE but you can find it in most stores now. I’ve been visiting with local booksellers this week and even though this is my sixteenth published book, it was still a thrill to see it on the bookstore shelves. Of course, a bigger thrill will be seeing it fly OFF the shelves and into the hands of readers!
Sept 22-25, 2011 St. Louis, Mo: Annual Conference, American Christian Fiction Writers. I’ll be taping an interview for CHRISTIAN RETAILING’s “person behind the pen” online feature. Looking forward to it, and to sharing it with you whenever it’ s up on their site.
October 15, 2011 at 2:00 pm Meet the Christian Authors Booksigning Barnes and Noble Champions Ridge, Houston, Texas. Come on out and meet a dozen of your favorite Christian authors, sign up for a chance to win a new NOOK reader. Hope to see you there!
IT TAKES SO LITTLE TO CHANGE A LIFE
Please join me in supporting the cause of literacy here at home and around the world. Something as simple as donating a book to a library, tutoring a child to help improve reading skills, or teaching in an adult literacy class can make the world a better place for all of us. What a fantastic ripple effect! Almost every city and town in America has some kind of organization for promoting literacy.Together, we can change the world, one reader at a time.
Look around and you’ll almost always find some need to fill. I’ve recently sent books to replenish a church library destroyed in the Joplin, MO tornado, and books to restock an elementary school library that lost 3,000 books to a water leak in the sprinkler system. Very small contributions by themselves, but powerful when added to the donations of others. I hope you’ll look for opportunities in your neck of the woods.
Don’t know where to start? Visit ProLiteracy worldwide at www.proliteracy.org to learn how you can become a literacy advocate. Thanks!
“Literacy is the ladder out of poverty, but we have to help them climb.” Morgan Freeman
