Scavenger Hunts and Books by the Banks

Ever been on a Scavenger hunt? That's where you have to find things. I used to try to think up some fun scavenger hunts for my Bible School kids. I think it's more fun when you do clues. Like something a squirrel would love. (Lots of acorns at our church.) Or the pastor's favorite verse. (Going to have to ask him that one.) And on and on. I was in a group once where we had teams that competed to get the items first. I remember one of the items was a sock with a hole in it. Okay, so how many of you thought about the fact that all socks have a hole in them where you stick your foot in? Not many of us rushing around to gather our items thought of that. 

When we were kids we sometimes made a different kind of scavenger hunt. We had clues. You looked where you might be in hot water and then in the teakettle or perhaps the bathtub you found the next clue and on until at the end there was the prize. Fun games that took a little thought. 

Well, I'm going to be taking part in a Christian Fiction Scavenger Hunt beginning on October 18. I've heard about these where readers chase around to all the different blogs where they can read some new and fun things about the authors or their books. Then they gather the clues and put them together for the answer. That qualifies them for the prizes. And there are some neat prizes. One is an iPad. And then a couple of people are going to get copies of all twenty-five books. On top of those prizes, a lot of the individual blogs are offering extra prizes. I'll be offering a choice of one of my Shaker books. 

I've never taken part in one of these before, but I've heard they're great fun. So on October 18, not a normal blogging day for me but Scavenger Hunts are not normal times :), I'll post an article written by my guest blogger while another writer will be posting the article I sent her. And on and on. Some great writers in the mix including several writing friends, Laura Frantz, Suzanne Woods Fisher, Lyn Cote, and Judith Miller, to name a few. I hope you'll mark the date and come take part in the fun. 
 
It's been a busy time for me this week with the edits due for my 2014 release, Love Comes Home. I had to cut over 13,000 words. My delete key stayed hot from overuse all week. I've had a few of your sweet people say you'd like to have those extra words. So here are a lot of them - was, just, and, that, said. Not too interesting so far, are they? lol. I did cut a few paragraphs here and there too, but I think the story is better for it. 

I'm headed up to Cincinnati to Books by the Banks this Saturday, October 12. If you're in the area, please come out and join in the fun. And don't leave without saying hello. I'll be there somewhere! The organizers do a great job of having fun things for the kids and always have a full room of writers eager to talk to you. Here's a photo I took on the way out of Cincinnati last year. My husband was driving then. I'll be driving this year, so no pictures of the drive. But maybe I'll get a picture with some of the other writers. Always fun to meet new writing and reading friends. For more information about events that day and the authors go to Books by the Banks.

Thanks for reading. Check back Sunday. Maybe I'll do some of those mystery pictures and let you guess to enter for a chance to win a copy of the newly packaged Orchard of Hope. 

Signing Books in Cincinnati

I love book fairs. That's because I love talking books with other writers and readers. The only bad thing about book fairs is that I want to carry a heavy load of books home with me when I go. Of course it's fun seeing readers adding my books to their armloads as they walk around looking at the offerings too. Usually readers have so many choices that they have no trouble finding something that sounds like just the book for them. Sometimes that's my book. 

I went to the Books by the Banks last year and it was fun, but the crowd seemed to be lacking. Saturday that wasn't the case. People were still coming in to look at the books an hour before the event was scheduled to end. That's when a reader has to find the best books fast. A lot of kids were being introduced to the wonderful world of stories. This fair has events for young readers all day long. They got stories read to them. They danced. They had their faces painted and had balloon hats. The best part they had fun with books and authors. 
The fair had some famous names. Dennis Lehane was there with his mysteries or suspense novels. His books Shutter Island and Mystic River were both made into movies. A long line waited to have Judy Collins sign her memoir, Sweet Judy Blue Eyes: My Life in Music. Another interesting writer I met was Mary Ann Winkowski who was the inspiration for the t.v. show The Ghost Whisperer. She had a cookbook, Beyond Delicious: The Ghost Whisperer's Cookbook: More than 100 Recipes from the Dearly Departed. Now that's a title that almost demands you pick the book up and give it a look. 

Of course there were over a hundred authors there, so I could go on and on with the names. Robin Yocum shared a table with me and that's him in the photo above. He was a former crime reporter at a daily newspaper and had written true crime books. He was at Books by the Banks Saturday with his first novel, Favorite Sons. It was a mystery/suspense and sounded like a great story. I always enjoy getting to know the writers around me at book festivals. And as at every fair, I met some aspiring writers who hoped to someday be sitting on the other side of a stack of books at a book fair.

Next up is the Kentucky Book Fair on November 12. That's always a great event as people are beginning to think Christmas and an autographed book makes a fun gift whether you're gifting yourself or a family member or friend. I've signed books and talked to readers at the Book Fair for a lot of years, but it's always fun. Monday I recorded a promo show for the upcoming book fair that aired on the Frankfort, KY cable channel last night. I did a program last year too. That time I got a copy of the show on DVD, but I never had the nerve to watch it. I really didn't want to see how I looked and sounded, but I guess it wasn't too bad or they wouldn't have asked me back this time. 


So have you ever gone to a book fair? As a writer or a reader? What do you like about book fairs? Do you like to talk to the writers about their books? 


Thanks for reading. And if you're in the Frankfort area on Saturday, November 12, I hope you'll hunt up my table and tell me hello. You'll be able to meet lots of writers there. Almost 200 of them. But won't any of them enjoy talking to you more than me. 

Books by the Banks

I love book fairs and festivals. They have two of my favorite things in life - people and books. Well, maybe I shouldn't say people are things, but you get the idea. Book fairs are places where most everybody who is in the place has a love for books. That's why they are there - unless, of course, they were dragged there by a bookloving relative or friend. I've seen patient husbands trailing along after their wives and carrying their bags of books and smiling indulgently when the wives stop at yet one more author's table. And I know those two have a great marriage. In fact last year I signed a book for a young wife whose husband surprised her with the trip to the KY Book Fair because he knew how much she loved to read. Such a romantic gesture and so thoughtful too. Besides, what longer lasting present can a person get! A book usually takes at the least a couple of days to read and then sometimes that story can live in your imagination for years afterwards. No box of candy can last that long except maybe as extra pounds on your hips. Flowers wilt. Books keep giving.

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So I'm hoping a few people will want my book and my autograph. This book fair is a bit different than others I've attended. Each author is generally signing only one title for readers. So I'll only have one book to push. That's another thing about book fairs, the competition for book buyers can be keen. And if you as a writer have the misfortune of being at a table beside a super salesman, then you might as well pack it in if you can't match the sales pitch. Most of the time when a reader gets the hard sell by an author, they are afraid to even take a peek at the books on the next table. Of course they usually buy a book from the good salesman author. Sometimes every title available on that author's table.

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I've watched the super salesmen (and women) operate and admire their talent of selling their work. Not my talent. As one guy told me once, I'm good at giving away bookmarks. So if any of you live in the Cincinnati area and need a bookmark come on down by the river on Saturday to the Books by the Banks festival. I love to talk to people and I'll give you all something to keep your place in those books you just bought from the guy down the row.

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Book prize drawing day is the last day of the month. Still time to pitch in your name if you haven't already. And I've got two more days to get these edits on Angel Sister done. I only lack about a hundred pages, but I can feel myself drooping. Sleepy eyes don't make very good final edits eyes. And tomorrow I've volunteered (I couldn't tell my daughter-in-law no! And I didn't have a deadline when I said yes.) to help with my grandkids' elementary school book fair. It will be fun and I'll have a couple of hours free sometime - surely - to finish these edits. Just one more rough spot in them to go.

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Thanks for reading and hope you are having a great Wednesday.