Go to Mid-Morning Fiction Fix | WBCL for a chance to win free books. Lost in Dreams is one of the selections for February.
1/21/2012
I attended a Thomas Umstadtt Jr. seminar called "Obscure No More: How to Move Your Writing from Unknown to Known." A small class at a bargain price for ACFW members, it was held in Fredericksburg, Virginia--about an hour up the road from Richmond. Thomas really knows his stuff, and I can hardly wait to try out some of his ideas.
12/21/2011
Janalyn Voigt has an interview with me on her blog this week. Go here to read it.
12/10/2011
I did a signing at the Virginia Center Family Christian Store, from 1:00-3:00. Although we sold only two copies of each book, I met some great folks (see picture with the two little girls) and had a wonderful time. Thanks to my good friend and the store manager, Nelson, for letting me schedule this at practically the last minute. And thanks to the nice, anonymous shopper who agreed to step outside and take a picture of me with the white board. No time to ask Barbour to do a nice poster for this event.
12/5/2011
I learned today that Lost in Dreams is on Amazon's 100 Kindle Books for $3.99 or Less" list for the month of December. If you have a Kindle--or the Kindle application for PC or phone--you can get Lost for just $1.99. Hurry, though. This is only good for the month of December. I don't know if it works for those of you who're overseas.
12/2/2011
I'm currently appearing on Casey Herringshaw's blog. I had a lot of fun with this interview. Please check it out at your convenience.
12/1/2011
I'm thrilled to say I've finished the rough draft of Misfits. This novel for teen boys will be of interest to teen girls, too, and probably to adults who enjoy remembering what they teen years were like. Please check my Read/Listen page to read the first chapter. I'd love to have your feedback. You may do that via the "Contact Me" tab. But please keep this in mind: the rough draft is as different from the final version as a log cabin from a fancy mansion.
10/28/2011
I accepted the invitation from an old high school friend to share a table at the United Christian Church of Richmond's 7th Annual Holiday Bazaar. As an author, I was in a unique position among dozens of tables of varying kinds of homemade crafts. the pictures show Kathleen helping set up my half table, me looking official, and my friend Sally just being Sally.
10/24/2011
I've had several blog interviews lately. One of my favorites is Lena Dooley's. Then there's Jill Williamson's blog tour, which contains links to a handful of teen girls she works with to help spread the word about clean teen fiction. Most of these girls have also written reviews of Lost in Dreams. Several months ago they did a blog tour of Found in Translation.
10/16- 10/20/2011
I attended the Autumn in the Mountains Novelist Retreat at the Lifeway Center in Ridgecrest, NC. Although we had only about thirty conferees, the faculty was wonderful: Yvonne Lehman, Jeff Gerke, Angela Hunt, Janet Roller, Ray Blackston, Deb Raney, and Bill Myers. Where else could a Christian writer go and rub elbows with some of the finest Christian novelists around? On Wednesday afternoon, the Lifeway Store held a faculty signing, which they were nice enough to let me be part of, even though I wasn't faculty. The picture of me with Ray Blackston, one of my favorite writers, is courtesy of Deb Raney.
10/9/2011
The American Christian Fiction Writers (ACFW) has a monthly book club, and Found in Translation was selected as one of the two selections for this month. Until the end of the month, a blurb and cover photo appear at the bottom of the first acfw.com web page. That's pretty exciting!
9/19/2011
I did a book signing at the Central Virginia Leadership Conference sponsored by the Dover Baptist Association. Although I sold only six books to conferees--Lifeway manager Bob Solomon handled book sales--Dover Director Steve Allsbrook bought the remaining fifteen copies to give out to visitors at the Dover Association headquarters. Plus he asked Bob Solomon to get another box of books for him. What a tremendous way to get my books into the hands of potential Christian readers! By the way, former friend Alice Rusher took pictures at the event.
8/20/2011
Had the best book signing ever at the Short Pump Barnes & Noble. We'd brought seven or eight copies of Found in Translation just in case they didn't have any (they didn't) and we sold them all, plus four or five copies of Lost in Dreams. That's really important to us because we feel that people who start with the first book in the series are likely to want the second book eventually. Oh, and bless my pointed little head: I forgot to take a camera--or even to have Kathleen use her phone camera while we were there. Incidentally, the white board and easel we bought to use in advance of the signing at Family Christian several weeks earlier worked out well. Kathleen wrote, "Author at work; please disturb" and put an arrow pointing to me. I talked to a lot of nice people, some of whom didn't buy books today. But good PR is good PR, and I want to thank Mary for doing such a good job of hosting this signing.
8/18/2011
The royalty statement for January through June came today. Looks like Found in Translation has sold just under 4,000 copies so far. That should leave about 6,000 in Barbour Publishing's warehouse. Hurry and get your copy before they're all gone. *G* Oh, and I did receive a check for $26 for royalties on ebook sales.
8/15/2011
Check out the blog interview at the Barn Door Book Loft. Some unusual questions gave me a chance to provide some unusual (and fun) answers. The interview covers the 16th as well. You'll have to search the archives if you miss this on the dates posted.
Bad news. Barbour Publishing is discontinuing their Young Adult line, so Lost in Dreams will be the final book in the Altered Hearts series. My apologies to faithful readers who will be disappointed at this news. One piece of good news is that I'm still free to try to get Rosa No-Name published. Rosa was my fourth manuscript, and I wrote it as a prequel to Found in Translation. The other piece of good news is that now I am free to pour my heart into Misfits; being on the fence about the rest of Altered Hearts had kept me from really jumping into Misfits.
8/7/2011
Today was the book release party for Lost in Dreams. Held at Winn's Baptist Church, it didn't draw as many church people as we had hoped because they had a called business meeting after church to vote on a new youth minister and many people either forgot or didn't feel they could stick around any longer. Nonetheless, we had a great time. Just as with the party for Found in Translation, Nelson, the Family Christian Store manager, and his wonderful mom came to handle book sales. Special thanks to Mary, Katie, and Hayes for their help--and especially to my wonderful wife, Kathleen.
8/6/2011
The first book signing for Lost in Dreams at Family Christian Store was a great marketing event, even though it didn't result in many sales. The lady in the picture below is the mother of the FCS manager, and she is just WILD about both books, but especially the new one.
8/1/2011
Although Lost in Dreams has actually been available before now, today is the official release date. Three cheers for Barbour Publishing for recognizing and promoting my talent. I'm not conceited; I'm just excited. What helps to make today even more special is two blog interviews. One is with Kara Hunt. The other is with Rhonda Gibson. On Rhonda's, go to the Featured Authors page.
7/31/2011
The book release party posters are up at church! This one's just outside the sanctuary vestibule.
7/30/2011
Kathleen and I dropped off an easel and white board for Family Christian Store to use outside to display a poster about the first book signing of Lost in Dreams. It'll be next Saturday, 7/6. Nelson, the store manager, will come to Winn's Baptist Church the next day to sell books at our official book release party. He's such a good guy to work with. Go Family Christian!
By the way, that's Becky in the picture, not Nelson. *L*
7/19/2011
Hurray! I received my author copies of Lost in Dreams today. Although they're for promotional purposes, they aren't part of the influencer copies. By the way, is it too weird that I started reading my own book? Pretty good read so far. Others should try it. *G*
7/18/2011
I got the poster from Kelsey at Barbour for the book release party at church on 8/7. She does such a great job on my posters, doesn't she? Family Christian Store probably received their book signing posters, too. I'll be there on 8/6, at the Short Pump Barnes & Noble on 8/20 and tentatively at Lifeway on West Broad Street on 8/27. Too bad Kristi won't be able to be here for any of these special events.
7/14/2011
Sent Barbour my influencer list for Lost in Dreams. Barbour expects to have books back from the printer by 8/15. If you're an influencer, hopefully you'll have your copy soon. August 1 is the official release date.
5/26/2011
Nicole O'Dell interviewed me live on her Teen Talk radio show. This was my first radio interview ever. Once I got over the initial fear, I really enjoyed it. I only said a couple of dumb things, like referring to my stepdaughters as Kathleen's. You can look for the link to download or listen to an instant replay here. Nicole has another guest on first. My part is slightly after the mid-way point.
5/12/2011
The trailer for Lost in Dreams was posted on the Barbour Facebook page.
I participated in a get together for mostly self-published authors at Richmond's wonderful Book People independent bookstore. The seven or eight participants ranged in age from fifteen to--well, I dare not guess, but far older than me. Interesting exchange of information.
3/30/2011
I mailed the galley proof of Lost in Dreams back to Barbour.
3/19/2011
Laurie Alice Eakes, Christy Barritt, and I held a multi-author signing at the Barnes & Noble at Newport News. We had a lot of fun being together and--of course--bought one another's books while we were at it!
3/17/2011
Received the galleys for Lost in Dreams to proof. The deadline is the end of March, and I should have no trouble meeting it.
3/14/2011
Working with Kelsey at Barbour to get endorsements for Lost in Dreams. I'm thrilled that Ray "Mr. Flabbergasted" Blackston has agreed to endorse Lost, and I hope Nicole O'Dell will be able to do so as well.
3/6/2011
Kristi and I had a book signing at a Family Christian Store in Orlando. This time I took a guitar to play to see if it attracted any attention. Not as much as I'd hoped. We enjoyed it, though.
1/29/2011
I had a book signing at the Short Pump Barnes & Noble. Thanks for all your help, Mary!
1/16/2011
We had a fantastic book release party at Winn's Baptist Church--nearly forty books sold! Nelson, thanks for bringing your mom to help you handle sales. And thanks, Hayes Smith and Mary Gosh, for your help in setting up and keeping things running smoothly.
1/15/2011
Kristi and I did a book signing at the Family Christian Store near Virginia Center Commons. Thanks for your help, Nelson!
1/14/2011
Kristi and I did a book signing at the Lifeway Store on West Broad Street. Thanks for your help, Bob!
1/1/2011
Today is the official book release date for Found in Translation. We stopped by Family Christian and Barnes & Noble. The former hadn't received their copies yet and the latter doesn't plan to stock it. Hmm. Not off to a great start, but this is in God's hands. Thank goodness!
12/30/2010
Ken Odor from the Goochland Gazette interviewed me. It was my first interview ever!
12/20/2010
I'm dancing in the air. The advance copies of Found in Translation came today, and they look SO good! Thank you, Barbour Publishing!
11/20/2010
Misty Taggart (Trailers to the Stars) has finished the book trailer for Found in Translation. It looks great! Check it out here.
11/17/2010
Those tee-shirts are home and waiting to be given away at appropriate times. Thanks to Mr. Roy Fama at Royal Printing for a great job. Check 'em out:
11/8/2010
Barbour Publishing has decided to skip a cycle of my Altered Hearts series and see how sales go for the first book. My editor really sees potential for books 3 and 4, but not before the fall of 2012. That's okay. Gives me a chance to work on something different for a while.
11/1/2010
A short story of mine, Coupon Girl, is in the November issue of Christian Fiction Online Magazine.
10/25/2010
I sent my editor three chapters each of Overshadowed and King's Highway to present to committee in November along with my synopses. Whether they offer contracts or not, Kathleen and I are excited about both of these manuscripts, which are told from Jo's point of view.
10/20/2010
I ordered forty tee-shirts for promoting Found in Translation. The shirts are a nice, youthful orange. The second, third, and fifth lines are white, and lines one and four are navy.
10/7/2010
Found out from my editor that my proposals for Overshadowed and On the King's Highway will go to committee the first Friday in November. We won't have to wait much longer!
9/28/2010
Whoops! "Light romance" isn't going to work for The Lady & the Impractical Jokester. And I may have problems as the male author of contemporary women's lit. So I've asked my agent to list my wife Kathleen as a "with" author. To give it an air of feminine authenticity. :-)
9/21/2010
Got home from the ACFW conference yesterday and e-mailed the galley proof corrections back to Barbour today. Conference was great, and I learned from one editor that I should label The Lady & the Impractical Jokester as "light romance." And Jeff Gerke has confirmed that The Devil & Pastor Gus" is "speculative fiction." Makes quite a difference to have the proper labels for manuscripts. *G*
9/14/2010
I found out today that I should have received the galleys for Found in Translation several weeks ago. Today was the deadline for providing feedback. Unfortunately, a giant mixup sent the galleys to someone else's address. Barbour is overnighting hardcopy of the the galleys today, and I'll use as much time as I can over the next serveral days--unfortunately, I'll be at the American Christian Fiction Writers conference in Indianapolis from Thursday through Monday. But I want to thank Ashley for helping me in every way she could.
9/7/2010
I sent Kelly a very detailed synopsis of On the King's Highway, the sequel to Overshadowed.
8/25/2010
I sent Kelly a detailed synopsis of Overshadowed, the manuscript I hope will fit the needs for the third book in the series. I'm working on some plotting now of the fourth book, which will be in some ways a continuation of Overshadowed. Kathleen and I are hoping and praying.
8/18/2010
Barbour wants to change the title, Prancing on Pebbles, to Lost in Dreams. They think it has more teen appeal. The important thing is they love the new title, and so do I! I also received a copy of the Lost in Dreams cover today. I didn't think they could possibly outdo the cover for Found in Translation, but I think they did.
8/6/2010
Kelly at Barbour has requested that the third book in the series be about Jo--and go to an additional book if possible. Although that means ditching 30,000 words of an Aleesha-based book, I'm thrilled to be this close to having two additonal contracts. I'm doing my best never to give Kelly a reason to think I'm hard to get along with.
8/6/2010
I contracted with Misty Taggart at Trailers to the Stars to create a trailer for Found in Translation. That's now on her schedule for early October.
7/7/2010
Kelly at Barbour verified that Found in Translation will release in January of 2011. It can already be found at Amazon, BN.com, and Chrisianbooks.com--without the cover or all the specifics.
6/28/2010
I sent synopses of what I'd like the rest of the Altered Hearts series to contain to Kelly at Barbour. She assures me she'll get back with me soon about that.
6/16/2010
Kelly at Barbour sent me the final version of the book cover for Found in Translation. It's wonderful! Just a tad different from the tentative version. Main difference I see is the series name was changed from Mission: Altered Hearts to just Altered Hearts. Kelly also wants ideas for the next couple of books in the series.Finally, she also sent the book copy (back cover copy, for example) for Prancing on Pebbles for me to look over and recommend changes to. I'll do that tonight or tomorrow.
6/8/2010
I've created a blog on WordPress to host the teen girl tribe of influencers I hope to build. Chip MacGregor and Jim Rubart suggested the tribe idea at their fiction marketing seminar. I'll put it on my homepage menu in a few more days.
6/4/2010
I received the second half of the advance for Prancing on Pebbles. By the way, Proven Faithful is now Out of Order. As a title, not as a manuscript.
6/3/2010
I received the Barbour-edited version of Pebbles. The problems don't look nearly as extensive as those to Found in Translation were.
5/19/2010
Kelly at Barbour sent me the tentative book cover for Found in Translation. It just needs to be approved by the marketing and ad folks. It looks SO good. I hope they don't change it.
5/5/2010
I've been working on the plotting of both Proven Faithful (tentative title for book 3 in series) and Do I Ever! That's the one about the divorced couple pretending to still be married for the sake of their best friends. It was originally For Better or Worse...Again.
4/15/2010
I sent my agent the manuscript and proposal for Wherefore Art Thou Ramon? And my wonderful editor at Barbour suggested that the next book in my series there might be about Aleesha. I'm not worried about trying to make her "black enough," but I'll need help from African-American friends to keep her from sounding "too white"! *LOL*
3/24/2010
Vacationing in Memphis after a successful Fiction Marketing Seminar in Nashville. I'm sprucing up my website as part of the plan. I have ditched "Christian Fiction with Warmth & Whimsy" at Chip MacGregor and Jim Rubert's suggestion. I'm not saying "Christian fiction rippling with laughter, tears, and YES! moments" will definitely be IT, but I think that has a lot more YA appeal.
3/10/2010
I've sent Prancing on Pebbles to Barbour! *happy dance* I hope to work on Ramon some now, plus get some ideas in mind for a sequel to Pebbles. I also need to review Rosa No-Name to see whether I think I should suggest that as a prequel to Found as I'd originally intended. Coming up next week: Chip Macgregor's Book Marketing Seminar.
3/4/2010
The Family Christian Store near Virginia Center Commons allowed me to leave some business cards advertizing my upcoming books. They'll put them in customer bags. I think of this store as my home bookstore.
2/22/2010
Found in the Translation has officially been retitled Found in Translation without the the. I'm not sure I'll ever get used to the change, but the new title seems to be more appealing to readers, and their opinion counts more than mine. *G*
2/16/2010
I've sent the Barbour-specified revisions for Found in the Translation back. Now I can concentrate on Prancing on Pebbles again. Going to a local Christian writing conference this Friday, Saturday, and Sunday.
2/6/2010
I'm almost done making Barbour-specified revisions to Found in the Translation and hope to send it back by the middle of this month. Progress on Prancing on Pebbles is great. I've left the rough draft behind in the dust. I'm praying that I can send Barbour a sufficiently polished version by the end of this month and get some feedback.
1/16/2010
I "interviewed" Kristi about her experiences in Mexico and put the answers in a document. When we finished, I handed the file over to her and told her to turn that into the Foreword the folks at Barbour had requested her to do. She did a great job, I think. I did a tad of touchup and sent the final version to Barbour.
1/13/2009
Once Kristi arrived from Orlando, we didn't waste any time getting the portrait made for the book cover.
10/29/2009
Had a great visit at Barbour Publishing last Friday. Those folks are SO nice. We also enjoyed a visit to Ohio's Amish country while there.
9/29/2009
Looking forward to Novelists Retreat at Ridgecrest. Will use writing time there on Prancing on Pebbles. Also looking forward to a nice visit with the folks at Barbour. They sound like great people to work with.
9/28/2009
I received and deposited my first-ever book advance! Also, my copies of the contracts. Thank you, Barbour...
9/17/2009
Received signed contracts from Kristi and mailed to Barbour for delivery on 9/19.
9/14/2009
I've received the contract from Barbour for signing and have emailed it to my daughter, Kristi, who will write the Foreword. Hopefully, she'll print, sign, and overnight to us on 9/15.
