Feeling a bit under the weather. Everyone in our house has colds. I read a great book last weekend: Riding Through Shadows by Sharon Ewell Foster. I purchased this novel from Crossings years ago, but never got around to reading it. There’s a sequel and I look forward to purchasing that and reading it.
I’ll post reviews on Sharon’s novel as well as Dark Pursuit by Brandilyn Collins soon.
I received my cover flats for Milk Money from my publisher today! The cover flats are different from my mockup! They changed the cows as I requested! I’m so excited! As soon as I can get a pdf or jpeg of the new cover I will post on this blog and on my websites! I should have my author copies soon!
I visit a variety of blogs daily. If interested, look at the sidebar to the left and you’ll see the list of blogs that I visit regularly.
One of the posts that I read yesterday from Rachelle Gardner’s blog has been on my mind. She had a guest blogger, Editor Sue Brower from Zondervan. Here’s the part of the post that’s been on my mind:
My pet peeve is to see an author turn valuable blog space into a book review site. I know, if you promote Jane Doe’s books to your fans, she will promote your book to her fans. The “blog tour” has become a key component on most marketing plans. I just get frustrated when I want to want to learn more about a favorite author and instead find a commercial for someone else’s book. Do you realize you are spending your precious writing time promoting other people’s books? AND, you’ve lost an opportunity to dialog with your reader when they have proactively sought you out? Think about who you want your audience to be and how you want to interact with them, then blog accordingly.
My first thought was, ouch! Although I am an author, I still spend a lot of time promoting others’ books. I promote my own, also, and my books, as well as my author interviews, have been featured on other authors’ blogs.
I guess I’ve pretty much turned my blog into a book review blog because I don’t have anything else to blog about! I spend a lot of time reading novels (except when I’m on deadline). So, after I read a book, I’m going to blog about it. Also, my life is pretty boring. I mean, do people reading this blog really want to hear about the trials and tribulations I had a few months ago when I was potty-training my son? I go to work as an accountant each day, and my days are pretty predictable.
Sue does have a good point about how to figure on how to interact with readers though. I guess that’s what I’m still trying to figure out. I have a section in the sidebar, where I’ve invited visitors to ask questions about writing or how to get published. I’ve received a few questions, which I will answer soon, but I don’t get enough questions from blog readers to justify spending a lot of blog posts on responses.
If anybody has any ideas on topics to cover on this blog, besides more book reviews, then throw them at me! I’m open to suggestions! Meanwhile, I’ll continue blogging about books and whatever else crosses my mind!
I’m sitting here, watching the election coverage while I blog on my laptop. I opened my mailbox and received a nice little surprise from Switzerland today…my royalty statement from Harlequin, and there was a check enclosed! I’m just surprised that I’m still receiving royalties from my novel, 
First Mates which was released back in February 2005.
It was re-released as a large print hardcover edition back in July 2006. It appears that I’m still earning royalties on the hardcover edition.
I started reading the novel, The Shack, and I recently finished Dark Pursuit by Brandilyn Collins. I will be posting reviews of both novels in the future.
Hubby and I will be heading to the polls mid-day tomorrow. We all need to pray before we cast our ballots.
Don’t you wish that election day was a holiday? Most people have to scramble to get to the polls in the morning before work, or in the evening, after work. We should just get a day off so that the polls aren’t so congested in the early and latter parts of the day! Since both hubby and I work fairly close to one another, and the polls aren’t that far away, we’re gonna take a long lunch break to vote.
For my monthly book giveaway, I thought I’d give commenters a question to answer.
I attended the ACFW conference last September, and I spoke with two editors regarding African American (AA) fiction. A few years ago, I blogged about how AA books are shelved here and about people reading AA authors here.
It appears that a lot of African Americans will only read books by AA authors. However, while I was growing up, there were practically no AA authors out there, so I read whatever I could get my hands on! I was joyous when the publishing scene exploded with lots of AA books (I was an adult by this time.)
My question to all of you is, if you are NOT African-American, do you mind reading African-American fiction? Do you feel that AA books are only written for other African Americans? If you go to a bookstore, and see the AA section, would you go to that section and browse, or do you feel that those books are only for AA readers?
And if you are AA, do you ONLY read books by AA authors, or do you read books by people of all races?
I’ll start by responding to my own question. If you visit my blog enough, and see the books I give away, you’ll probably already know my answer. I’ll read a novel as long as it’s well-written and enjoyable. I don’t care if the author or characters are AA or not, I’m gonna read the book regardless. If I don’t like it, I won’t finish reading it!
If you are NOT AA and enter a bookstore, and you usually skip the AA section, I’m letting you know it’s OKAY to go to that section and browse a bit! Pick up some of those fiction titles and give them a try! You might find that you enjoy them! However, the whole shelving issue comes into play here. Depending on the bookstore, the AA Christian fiction MIGHT NOT be shelved in the AA section. It might be in the Christian fiction section. So if you’re looking for Christian fiction titles and the author is AA, it’s a toss up about where you might find it.
When my Love Inspired novel First Mates came out, I visited some bookstores in my area and moved a few copies FROM the romance section TO the AA section, knowing that some would only purchase my novel if they found it in the AA section.
As usual, when you comment, please leave your email address so that I’ll have a way to contact you if you win! I’m giving away the following new/slightly used novels for the month of November:
John’s Quest by Cecelia Dowdy
Here is the book summary from Heartsong Presents website:
It’s amazing how quickly life can change. Overnight, Monica Crawford finds her neatly organized world turned upside down. Her sister abandons her blind son, Scotty, leaving him on Monica’s doorstep. Caring for a handicapped child brings unexpected conflict-but unexpected joy as well. When John French volunteers to tutor Scotty, he finds himself irresistibly drawn to Monica. But John and Monica are very different. She is a strong believer, determined to live her life for Christ. John is an agnostic who wants nothing to do with God.Will John see the light? Will Monica realize that sometimes letting go of a dream is the way to achieve it? Only in full surrender will either of them be happy- whether they end up together or alone.
A Time To Dance by Karen Kingsbury
Diamond Duo by Marcia Gruver – I have 2 copies of this novel to give away.
Dance Into Destiny by Sherri L. Lewis
The following cozy mysteries, published by Barbour Publishing, will be given away as a set:
1. The Wedding Caper by Janice A. Thompson
2. 
Murder In The Milk Case by Candice Speare – When mommy and wife Trish Cunningham find the body of Jim Bob Jenkins behind the two-percent mil, she knows she’s having a bad day. Worse, she’s a suspect in the murder. Sleuthing to exonerate herself from criminal charges, she shakes up a murderer who has nothing to lose by killing anyone in the way–including Trish.
3. 
Band Room Bash by Candice Speare – When Trish Cunningham and her oldest stepson, Tommy, find Georgia Winters, the English teacher at Four Oaks High School, dead in the band room, the suspect list is lengthy. The teacher had a number of enemies–including Tommy Cunningham.
Once again Trish pulls out her notebook to collect clues. Detective Eric Scott, suffering from unrequited love for Trish’s best friend, Abbie, pointedly asks Trish to butt out. But despite the detective’s warnings, she jumps in as usual and finds herself embroiled in a mystery that has its roots in thwarted love and revenge. The finale could be Trish’s swan song.
4. Baker’s Fatal Dozen by Lisa Harris
5. Drop Dead Diva by Christine Lynxwiler, Jan Reynolds, and Sandy Gaskin
I’m giving away these three Heartsong Presents romance titles as a set:
1. 
Sandhill Dreams by Cara C. Putman – from Heartsong Presents website:
Lainie has no dreams left. Lainie Gardner dreamed of becoming a nurse. Of serving her country. Of doing something important in the war. But rheumatic fever changed all that, and instead of running home, Lainie is determined to find a job at Fort Robinson in Nebraska’s sandhills. Tom Hamilton had dreams, too. Dreams of preparing the horses at Fort Robinson for duty on the warfront. Instead, he is assigned to train war dogs and their handlers, meaning that each day he must face the fear he’s had of dogs since he was bitten as a child. Lainie and Tom wonder why God seems to have denied them their dreams. But is it possible new dreams will bring them more joy than they ever imagined?
2. Better Than Gold by Laurie Alice Eakes
3. 
Reckless Rogue by Mary Davis – from Heartsong Presents website:
Lizzie Carter is no ordinary doll. Lieutenant Pete Garfield loves to flirt with the ladies-“dolls” as he calls them-in every town where he lands his Curtiss JN-4D biplane. There are always plenty in the crowds who gather to gape at his amazing aeroplane and pay him for a ride. But one special girl in Cashmere, Washington, captures his interest with her extraordinary knowledge of aeroplanes and her insistence on flying his! No one but Pete flies the Jenny, but he sure doesn’t mind giving pretty Lizzie some free rides. Lizzie Carter has always dreamed of flying, but she won’t be satisfied until she pilots an aeroplane herself. She sees Pete’s arrival in Cashmere as the perfect opportunity to make her dreams come true. But she didn’t expect this carefree aviator to capture her heart. Will Pete settle in one town long enough to fall in love with one special girl? Or will the past he’s been fleeing finally catch up with him?
I’m giving away these two sweet romances as a set – please note that these two books are NOT inspirational titles, but they are sweet.
1. For Her Child by Linda Goodnight
2. Rough Around The Edges by Marie Ferrarella
Here are some of the winners of my October Book Giveaway!
John’s Quest by Cecelia Dowdy – Elizabeth Mays of Stevensville, MI
Two Heartsong Presents Mysteries as a set:
1.Fog Over Finny’s Nose by Dana Mentink
2.Recipe For Murder by Lisa Harris
WordLily of Siloam Springs, AR
Blue Heart Blessed by Susan Meissner – Katie of Adams Basin, NY
The Quest by Nancy Moser – Abi Buening of Grand Forks, ND
Sanctuary by Molly Noble Bull – Mary Zander of Rochester, NY
I’m still waiting to hear back from the people who won the three Heartsong Presents romance set and the sweet romance With This Child. If I don’t hear from them soon, I’ll be picking another winner for these titles.
I’ve been sporadically working on the novel I blogged about here. One of the characters was not working for me. I’m not sure if I didn’t develop her enough or what. She’s a minor character, however, since I don’t find her presence really working, it affected the way I portrayed one of the main characters (if that makes any sense).
So, I’ve discovered what I needed to do to make the story work.
In Southern Comfort, the story I’m working on now, I removed the character whom wasn’t really working for me. I changed the story and had the heroine to be grieving for said character at the beginning of the story. This creates more conflict and is helping me to write this manuscript.
I kind of did the same thing in my story, Milk Money, when it wasn’t working. In Milk Money, Emily’s mother wasn’t really working for me, either. However, I don’t remove Emily’s mother completely. Instead, I have her away on a trip. With her gone, it was easier for me to write the story for some reason. I have her mother to come back about mid-way in the story, but I have her to leave again…two times! When I was going through the content edits for the story, the editor stated that Emily’s relationship with her mother was strange and kind of hard to follow. So during the content-edit stage, I changed the mother’s role from mother to stepmother, giving an explanation for their distant and strange relationship.
Have any of you ever had a character, either major or minor, who just was not working for your story at all? If so, what did you do to correct it? Did you delete the character (through death, or just pretend they didn’t exist at all?). Or did you re-develop the character so that he/she would work within the context of your story? Or, did you do something else to make your story flow?
Paperback: 288 pages
Publisher: Barbour Publishing, Inc (October 1, 2008)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 1602602050
ISBN-13: 978-1602602052
From the back cover:
Bertha Biddle is desperately in love with Thaddeus Bloom….
Trouble is, she’s not sure he returns her affection.
When a stranger named Annie Monroe comes to Jefferson, charming every man in town, Bertha is determined to learn her beguiling secrets. But just how far will she go to win Thad’s heart?
Thad is more than smitten with Bertha. But his father plans to send him away to military school. Will Thad follow his father’s dream at the cost of losing Bertha’s love forever?
When Annie’s unsavory companion enters the scene, foul deeds are afoot, testing faith and hearts. Will a murder provoke a startling twist of fate—in this world and the next?
This was a good story with well-developed characters. The story was intriguing, and, from reading the back cover, I knew a murder was going to happen to one of the characters, and I tensed whenever something happened, wondering if the murder had taken place.
I also thought Marcia did a great job with how she portrayed Sarah and Henry, an African-American couple in the story. Sarah misses her home, and Henry wonders if he’s made a mistake, bringing Sarah so far away from her loved ones. The couple deals with problems faced by a number of marriages, including infertility.
I loved the way the author showed the attraction between Bertha and Thad. I know this is sometimes hard to do, and still keep the story sweet and tender.
Also, as you see Annie suffer from the abuse of her male companion, your heart aches for her, and you’ll find yourself hoping the woman will learn to lean on Jesus to help with her pain.
This story was a love story, and a story of friendships, it is also a story of how we need to embrace God’s grace, especially during times of hardship.
I’d also like to point out that this post is just one part of Marcia Gruver’s blog tour. If interested, here are the rest of the participants of the tour! Be sure to check out their blogs to see what they had to say about Diamond Duo:
As I’d mentioned in an earlier post, the North Carolina event, in which I was supposed to participate, was canceled unexpectedly the day before the start date. Some of the other participating authors of the canceled event (Jacqueline Thomas, Pat Simmons, Maurice M. Gray Jr., Lacricia A’ngelle and Michele Andrea Bowen) got together at Ideas Coffeehouse last Saturday for an impromptu booksigning. From what I’d heard, the event went pretty well and they sold some books and met some fans.
I skipped the Ideas Coffeehouse event since I’d already made plans to meet author Linda Leigh Hargrove. She’s written two books for Moody’s Lift Every Voice imprint:
The Making Of Isaac Hunt
and
Loving Cee Cee Johnson
Both books have beautiful covers and I look forward to reading her titles.
Linda and I walked around the mall and talked shop for a few hours! I had a lovely time and it was good to speak to a fellow scribe for the afternoon. You’ll find Linda’s picture posted on today’s blog entry.