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Continue Reading "NEWSDAY TUESDAY …"NEWSDAY TUESDAY …
No dance photos to dazzle you with this week. Unless someone from the
Oklahoma Writer's Conference this past weekend has pictures
of a few of us two-stepping it up at The Rodeo on Saturday night — a real live cowboy dance hall, complete with live bull riding. Poor Bulls.We've recently landed several very cool deals I can't wait to mention … but we're still waiting on contracts – which means you'll have to wait for the news.
Plenty of other stuff to mention, though…
CONFERENCES, SEMINARS, APPEARANCES
Chip is heading to Orlando this weekend where he'll be hosting a
fiction writers retreat with Lisa Samson and Susan Meissner. If you're
in the area for the weekend, contact the coordinator at tiffcolter at
gmail.com – there is likely room for a couple more folks. Mention that
you saw the last minute post on the blog and Tiff will let you know if
discount is available.Sandra is making her way north this weekend (May 7-8) to join authors
and faculty Northwest Christian Writer's Renewal in Seattle.Later today, May 4th, Sandra will be interviewed about God's role in
her career over at www.christiandevotions.us. An archive of the show
will be available in case you care to catch it later.MacGregor Literary author Janice Thompson officially debuted her online
course "Becoming a Successful Freelance Writer" last week. Check out
the course on her website – www.freelancewritingcourses.com or on
YouTube.REVIEWS/RANKINGS
Publishers Weekly called Gina Holmes CROSSING OCEANS (Tyndale) a
"haunting tale that packs an emotional wallop." and warned readers to
"keep tissues near."Carla Stewart's upcoming June title, CHASING LILACS
(Hachette/Faithwords) is also receiving a lot of attention. In addition
to being reviewed in Library Journal, receiving a starred review in
Publishers Weekly; mention in Library Journal; Reviews in PW (a starred
one), Library Journal, and Christian retailing.
http://www.christianretailing.com/index.php/product-news/books-mainmenu-8/book-reviewsIrene Hannon's AGAINST ALL ODDS (Revell) remains within the top 20
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Continue Reading ""
Dennis Hillman, Publisher at Kregel, offered an excellent response to my post about "what is reasonable in a book contract" a couple days ago. If you're interested in a publisher's perspective, go to the comments section and read his thoughtful response.
And BIG NEWS: Three authors I represent are finalists for the Christy Award (the books of the year awards in Christian publishing). Lisa Samson's THE PASSION OF MARY MARGARET is in the stand-alone novel category; Mark Mynheir's THE NIGHT WATCHMAN in the "suspense" category; and Kaye Dacus' STAND IN GROOM in the "contemporary romance" category. Congrats to Lisa, Mark, and Kaye!
And one very cool side note… Jeff Gerke, publisher at startup Marcher Lord Press, also saw one of his books named as a Christy finalist. To me, that's a very cool thing — one of the new, small houses up against the Big Boys. Gotta love it. Congrats, Jeff.
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Ack. I forgot to mention that Gina Holmes, an author I represent and whose first novel, CROSSING OCEANS, is just releasing, also made the list of 101 Best Websites for Writers. Gina is the founder of Novel Journey, a GREAT site that I should have mentioned anyway. Congratulations, Gina! (And, um, sorry for not mentioning you before…) You can find Gina's wonderful site at www.noveljourney.blogspot.com .
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Continue Reading "NEWSDAY TUESDAY"
NEWSDAY TUESDAY
SOME FUN NEWS
My son (aka Abe Lincoln) and his 3-4-5 grade classmates wowed a crowd of 300+ guests last week with their orations and period dances during the performance of a Civil War Peace Cotillion.
Until the day of dress rehearsal, my son wouldn't let me hear his oration of The Gettysburg Address nor watch him and his classmates rehearse the complicated dances he and his fellow classmates practiced (often on their own time) for months before the two hour live performance.
I find it simply amazing what kids
can do when we raise the bar! He knows more about the Civil War now than I'll ever pretend to know!
AND SOME SAD NEWS
Dan Penwell, the longtime publisher at AMG Publishers and a wonderfully
gentle man, passed away yesterday after a long bout with cancer. Dan
was a fixture at many Christian writing conferences, offering wisdom to
anyone looking to talk with a longtime publisher professional. He'll be
missed.
AUTHOR NEWS AND REVIEWSChristian Fiction Library
Journal says this of a few recent releases by authors we represent:Janice Thompson's romantic comedy, Weddings
by Bella, is "full of laugh-out-loud moments … and
sure to appeal to fans of Adriana Trigiani's more secular Lucia,
Lucia."In their review
of RITA® Award winner Irene
Hannon's In Harms Way, LJ said Hannon is a "master at
character development" and said new readers will want to go back and
read the first two titles in the series (Against All Odds; An Eye
for an Eye).
Called Riva Riva's Heading Home
"essential for parents and teens who want a YA story with elements of
romance that aligns better than many popular YA novels with their moral
beliefs."And
here's what they said about debut author Carla Stewart's Chasing Lilacs: "This
nostalgic debut is perfect for readers who enjoy Christian
coming-of-age stories."UPCOMING SEMINARS
Here's what Susan Meissner -
Continue Reading "A Bit Detained… (Updated)"
A Bit Detained… (Updated)
Sorry for the delay in posting, but I was in a bad car accident. I was taking a field trip to visit some publishers with a bunch of graduating college seniors, we slid on a snowy road and had a very bad wreck. I'll post in a day or two (when I'm not in a vicodin-induced haze).
UPDATE: Thanks to everyone for the prayers and best wishes. I'm doing better today. Sore everywhere, and still having problems in my abdomen, but the doctors tell me I'll be okay in a week or two. All 19 students who were with me are doing okay — 12 of them went to the hospital, and there were bumps and bruises, a cracked rib, and one person with some internal injuries, but overall we came out of well. If you'd seen the van, you wouldn't believe it. An 8-car accident, with several of the vehicles totaled. Not only did we hit the semi, but we were then rear-ended by the car behind us, and the van began burning right away. Everybody got out in the nick of time, since the fire spread rapidly and burned the vehicle to a shell. There were some real heroes at the scene (my thanks to Molly for immediately helping get people to safety). Just happy it wasn't worse. Again, I appreciate all your prayers. I'll be fine.
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Continue Reading "Merry Christmas to All"
Merry Christmas to All
Merry Christmas, everyone. I'm one of those who really does believe in Christmas. I believe in the whole thing. I believe that Jesus was the Son of God. I believe the birth of the world's savior was foretold by prophets of old. I believe Jesus was that savior. I believe God chose to come down and live as a man, in order to reach out to us. I believe Jesus was born of a virgin, the baby inside Mary being conceived by the Holy Spirit. I believe Joseph was a good man, who assumed that Mary had been unfaithful, but was told by God in a dream that she was pregnant due to a miracle. I believe Joseph and Mary traveled to Bethlehem in order to register with the government. I believe the city was jammed with people due to the government-enforced registration, and they ended up sleeping in a stable, since it was the only place available for them. I believe while they were there Mary gave birth to a son, wrapped him up in strips of cloth, and laid him in a manger. I believe angels were so excited about the birth of the Savior they broke out into song. I believe there were shepherds in the fields nearby, who heard the singing, were amazed at what they saw, and ran into Bethlehem to see this incredible thing. I believe they saw the baby Jesus, understood He was the promised Savior, and worshipped a little baby. I believe that a bit later some wise men from the east came, because they too had been led to believe a Savior was coming, and they found Jesus, gave him gifts, and worshipped him as well. I believe King Herod was afraid of this baby because Herod was a politically-appointed king, but the baby was announced as having been "born King of the Jews." I believe Herod, who was thoroughly evil, had all the little boys
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Continue Reading "Ten Questions"
Ten Questions
A while back, a website manager said she wanted to ask me some questions, in order to find out more about my role and my life. Most of the time I'm answering questions about the industry on this blog, so here's a post that's a bit different… I'm answering questions from Ashley Weis, who runs a very funny and creative blog.
1. As an agent, what is a typical Monday like for you?
I get up early, go running, drink a huge mug of Starbucks (which I now make myself, since I can't see paying $4 a pop each morning), then face mycomputer. It seems like Mondays are the days I need to catch up on emails and phone calls… um,this doesn't sound very exciting, does it? I've been teaching a couple writing classes for a university, but that's coming to an end in a couple weeks, and I've decided I'm done with teaching for a while. I'd love to tell you that I generally do a million dollar deal on Mondays, or that Monday is the day I solve world hunger or pray until I glow in the dark, but it's not. Mondays are my day for catching up on stuff, so it's pretty much a day filled with talking — via the phone or the internet. Patti usually has Mondays off (she works for Barnes & Noble), so she quilts and reads and occasionally interrupts me. We have dinner together, she goes to her Bible study, and I watch Monday Night Football. Clearly you were hoping for something more when you asked the question. (TUESDAYS! It's on Tuesdays I routinely do those million dollar deals and promote world peace. Trust me on this.)
2. What is the best book you ever read?
Ack. Asking a book guy for one favorite book is always a Herculean task. When I was a kid, I thought Treasure Island was the best
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Continue Reading "I’ll miss you, Swick"
I’ll miss you, Swick
Celebration of Life for “Swick”
Michael Swickard
Saturday – October 4th at 2:00 pm
Mike Swickard passed away after his long battle with cancer, at age 54. A celebration of Swick’s life will be held on Saturday, October 4th at Community of Hope Church in Wilsonville. The memorial service will begin at 2:00 pm.
In honor of Swick, uncover those hot rods and join us for a memorial “cruise in.” To honor Swick’s love for cars, please dust off those hot rods and join us for a cruise in car show in the church parking lot. Pray for sun!