I made my trip to New Albany, Indiana. The Heaven Help Us Bookstore was a beautiful place owned by a couple of beautiful people, Nyla and Mary Lou. They were mother and daughter team, and both had a love of books. Their store overflowed with lots of other lovely Christian items as well. I did a little Christmas shopping while I was there and got the twins a couple of cute plush hammers that make a breaking noise when you whop them on something. My husband, who was sweet enough to drive up there with me, kept popping them against his head and laughing when it sounded like his head was shattering. It must have been a man thing. But then again, I was the one who bought them.
You can bet if I lived in the area, I'd be in Nyla's great store shopping all the time. I kept seeing things I would like to buy. And the book section was well stocked and had lots of great titles. Not only that, Nyla was an avid reader who stood ready to point out the best books to her customers. That's service.
Oh yeah, one more sort of amusing note about the trip. Nyla had told me her story was right next door to the nice restaurant when she sent me directions. I thought that was good, to have a nice restautant right next door. But it turned out the restaurant was actually named The Nice Restaurant. Great thinking. What do people sometimes say when you ask where they want to go out to eat? Right. Somewhere nice or a nice restaurant. So if you're in the New Albany area you can go to the Nice Restaurant and slip on next door to an even nicer bookstore, Heaven Help Us. And believe it or not, just up the street is The Flower Shop. No joke.
Three other inspirational fiction writers were there as well. Jamie Carie had her book, Snow Angel; Shelley Shepard Gray was signing her popular Hidden; and Ramona K. Cecil had a couple of her Heartsong Presents novels there. One of her titles was Sweet Forever. So of course, I ended up buying all their books. They looked so good and writers should support other writers, shouldn't they? A couple of them were sweet enough to return the favor. I decided their books would make great give-aways on my website in the next few months. So check that out after I draw for the "trick or treat" winner on the thirty-first. You've still got time to send me an e-mail in get your name entered into that drawing. Just go to my website, http://www.annhgabhart.com/ and click on contact Ann.
All three of the other authors were coming out with new books in December or the first of the year. So they're ahead of me a few months there. My new book, The Believer, is a summer 2009 release. I got the changes finished on the new book and sent in and approved, so it's a wrap. Of course there will be copy editing and proofing down the road, but the story is ready. I'm hoping my readers will be ready for another Shaker story. I think you'll like Ethan and Elizabeth, the two main characters. Now I need to get started on researching the next book. I thought I had decided on a Civil War book, but I'm wavering on that historical time frame now. I'm thinking that might be better in another story and not a Shaker story. But we'll see. That's one of the good things about research. It seeds your mind with a lot of different ideas and then you have to sort of wait to see which ones are going to sprout and grow best.
Then today was the trip to West Virginia to see Matt and John's baby dedication at their church there. It's always fun to see the new babies and the loving parents and families at a baby dedication service. My son's family took up quite a bit of room with his three girls and the twins. The two year old wasn't too patient with the preacher's dedication talk, but the twins never made a peep. They are both very laid back and happy babies.
We didn't get to stay to play long since Darrell and his group were singing tonight and we had to get back in time for that. That was the third night in a row the guys had sung. Their Homecoming on Friday and Saturday went well. Thanks to all who came and thanks, Faye, for coming by to speak to me. Then Sherry stopped to talk to me tonight. It's great to meet you guys wherever I am. Also hope you're feeling much better by now, Bonnie.
Tomorrow we'll head out for some R & R with Darrell's brothers and sister and spouses in Tennessee. I won't be going to South Carolina until the next week, but I'm really looking forward to the trip down there to see my daughter and maybe gain some new readers for The Outsider and Summer of Joy at the Spartanburg Barnes and Noble Store (Nov 7)and the Greenville Barnes and Noble (Nov 6). I love bookstores. Especially these new bookstores that are so reader friendly. My biggest problem is trying to keep from buying a carload of books everytime I go. I love to buy books for my grandkids and for everybody on my Christmas list. At least this close to Christmas I'll have an excuse.
Guess that's all my news. But I did have one more thing. Do you guys have a magic mirror? Maybe not exactly like the witch in Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, but a mirror that you look in and you see yourself as looking not all that bad. Then you get out somewhere, perhaps go in a public restroom and all of the sudden spot yourself in that big bright mirror and you don't feel so flattered. Your hair looks messier or grayer or duller and your skin looks a little splotchy or not as smooth as it did back in that magic mirror in your own bathroom.
Is it because we're holding our mouths right and lifting our chin to a flattering pose? Or is the light dim and we just can't see? I don't know. What I do know is that most of us have people in our lives who look at us and see us prettier and better than we are. That's because they're looking at us with "magic mirror" eyes of love. I'm wishing you lots of "magic mirror" eyes looking at you this week and making you feel beautiful and loved.
Showing posts with label Heaven Help Us Bookstore. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Heaven Help Us Bookstore. Show all posts
Sunday, October 26, 2008
Wednesday, October 22, 2008
A Writer Needs to Feed Her Imagination
I talked to a fun bookclub on Monday night by phone. I'm not great at hearing on speaker phones, but I could tell those ladies of the South Zumbra Church Book Club were having a good time. And not just because they were talking to me although I'm sure that put a little extra zing in the meeting - getting to quiz the author of the book they'd read. Actually they picked my book to read because the mother of the beautiful model on the cover is a member of the club and she picked the book. I told her one thing for sure - they couldn't knock the cover. It's perfect for the story. I asked them how they picked their books and they had a dozen different ways. They'd just read Gone with the Wind not long ago and I thought that sounded like a great idea. To revisit some old favorite books. I read Gone with the Wind in one long Thanksgiving weekend when I was 13 or 14.
Is there any better way to read a book than to just lie down on your bed or sit in your favorite reading chair and wallow in the words until you've read every last one? I can't do that very often these days. Too many chores and responsibilities and books of my own I want to write. But I do think it's vital for a writer to read. That's the advice I always give young people, but you know it's good advice for any writer. I've been reading Stephen King's book On Writing. He says nobody can be a good writer without being a voracious reader. He carries a book everywhere he goes and reads in minutes snatched out of a busy schedule. I need to do that. Steal a moment here and there to read more books. A writer needs to feed her imagination and what better way than to read and read some more. Reading brings new ideas your way, and King made the point that all the books don't have to be great. That reading a bad book can bolster your confidence. That nearly every aspiring writer has at one time or another read a book and said "I can write a better book than that." And then he adds that reading a really great book can inspire us to think I want to write a book that good. So it's a no lose situation.
Of course I have to admit I don't stick it out through a book I think is really bad. I close it up and find another one. There are just too many books out there to wade through a book I'm not enjoying. Unless of course it's a research book, then I wade on in. So just a thought or two on reading. What do you think? Do you think you have to read to become a better writer? Do you ever give up on a book and start another one?
Okay here are the quotes I promised last Wednesday.
"You know you're old when you've lost all your marvels." --Merry Browne (Could she have any better first name for that quote? And I don't want to ever lose all my marvels.)
"There are no shortcuts to any place worth going." --Beverly Sills
I hope you are going to lots of places worth going and that even if you can't take any shortcuts that you will enjoy the road and discover plenty of marvels along the way.
One last note - I'll be up in New Albany, Indiana for a booksigning at the Heaven Help Us Bookstore on Saturday between 11:30 a.m. and 2:30 p.m. If you're in the area, come on over and say hi. They're celebrating five years of serving the Christian community in that area.
Oh yeah - another really last note - If you want a chance to win my book, The Outsider, go visit Rose McCauley's blog, http://www.rosemccauley.blogspot.com. She does a book give-away every month and this month it's mine. What better way to get a book than free!!
Is there any better way to read a book than to just lie down on your bed or sit in your favorite reading chair and wallow in the words until you've read every last one? I can't do that very often these days. Too many chores and responsibilities and books of my own I want to write. But I do think it's vital for a writer to read. That's the advice I always give young people, but you know it's good advice for any writer. I've been reading Stephen King's book On Writing. He says nobody can be a good writer without being a voracious reader. He carries a book everywhere he goes and reads in minutes snatched out of a busy schedule. I need to do that. Steal a moment here and there to read more books. A writer needs to feed her imagination and what better way than to read and read some more. Reading brings new ideas your way, and King made the point that all the books don't have to be great. That reading a bad book can bolster your confidence. That nearly every aspiring writer has at one time or another read a book and said "I can write a better book than that." And then he adds that reading a really great book can inspire us to think I want to write a book that good. So it's a no lose situation.
Of course I have to admit I don't stick it out through a book I think is really bad. I close it up and find another one. There are just too many books out there to wade through a book I'm not enjoying. Unless of course it's a research book, then I wade on in. So just a thought or two on reading. What do you think? Do you think you have to read to become a better writer? Do you ever give up on a book and start another one?
Okay here are the quotes I promised last Wednesday.
"You know you're old when you've lost all your marvels." --Merry Browne (Could she have any better first name for that quote? And I don't want to ever lose all my marvels.)
"There are no shortcuts to any place worth going." --Beverly Sills
I hope you are going to lots of places worth going and that even if you can't take any shortcuts that you will enjoy the road and discover plenty of marvels along the way.
One last note - I'll be up in New Albany, Indiana for a booksigning at the Heaven Help Us Bookstore on Saturday between 11:30 a.m. and 2:30 p.m. If you're in the area, come on over and say hi. They're celebrating five years of serving the Christian community in that area.
Oh yeah - another really last note - If you want a chance to win my book, The Outsider, go visit Rose McCauley's blog, http://www.rosemccauley.blogspot.com. She does a book give-away every month and this month it's mine. What better way to get a book than free!!
Monday, October 20, 2008
The Joys of the Electronic Age and Booksignings
Hi, everybody. Thanks for stopping by. But this post is late since my phone lost its dial tone all weekend. The repairman just called a few minutes ago to say our phone was working again. Somebody dug a fencepost hole and cut the cable. I don't know who was fencing, but it wasn't us. Anyway, out here in the sticks where those of the slower electronic age reside, a person can’t reach out to talk to people on the other side of the country without that nice little hum in your ear when you pick up the phone or that melodious growl in your modem when you hit the connect button on your computer. Now and again we talk about checking into satellite internet, but I’m the one dragging my feet, thinking it’s just too much trouble to switch over. I’m the kind of person telephone companies, etc. love because I just don’t want to go through the hassle of changing it all over to a new company. I’m loyal as a puppy dog or maybe I should say as an old dog that doesn’t want to bother learning new tricks.
Of course land lines don’t seem quite as vital to most people as they used to be because we all have cell phones these days or so it seems from the way everybody at the grocery store has a phone chatting away as he or she picks up some groceries. Or how half the people who come through a stoplight have telephones pressed against their ears. We are a nation connected. And some can connect to the web on their cell phones, but not me. I figure I’ll hang back on that modern advance a bit longer. Besides I don’t have anything earth-shaking to say. Certainly nothing that you can’t wait a few more hours to read. I put all those kind of words (the kind you have to read right away) into my books. At least I’d like to have those kinds of words in my books.
Virginia Smith and I had our booksigning at JosephBeth Booksellers in Lexington on Thursday night. Thank you to all my friends who came by. And Ginny’s friends too. We didn’t do a reading as we had planned because somehow the contact at the store thought we weren’t speaking and so we ended up just talking to everybody one on one. Ginny kept telling folks I was going to entertain by dancing the two-step or soft shoe or something. That would have had people laughing, but I’m not sure about entertained.
I missed out on the dancing gene, although I used to have a dog that would dance when he came to greet me whenever I’d come home. I have done a few doggie dance steps with him just to encourage him. Tate’s passed on to dance in doggie heaven now. He’d also smile, but the dancing was what everybody liked to see him do the most. Or maybe they just liked to see me doing those dog steps. Anyway, there weren’t any dogs dancing at JosephBeth’s so neither did I. Laughing – that we did do. Even signed a few copies of The Outsider, Orchard of Hope, and Summer of Joy too. Ginny’s book, The Taste of Murder, is hot off the press, just released last week. To her delight, she’s already spotted it in Wal-Mart. She set the book in Owensboro, KY where they have the great barbecue. At least I think that’s what I overheard her telling people. I haven’t had a chance to read it yet. But she does have a newly designed website, http://www.virginiasmith.org/ where you can check out all her books. She says she posted a picture of us on there too, but I haven’t had the nerve to go look at it yet.
Also several local papers in Kentucky picked up the article Don White, who used to be the editor of our local paper, wrote about me. Don's writing human interest pieces now about people he meets who have some kind of Kentucky connection. Believe me, he's written about a lot more interesting people than me. You can check his stories out at www.thekytraveler.com. I saw the article about me that was in the Danville Advocate, but he says maybe twelve or thirteen papers across the state picked it up. Not the local paper here in Anderson County. I think they’re tired of printing articles about me. They did a piece on me back in February when Summer of Joy came out.
I never could get them to do the article about my Hollyhill books that I pitched to them. Since I based so much of Hollyhill on my local town, Lawrenceburg, I thought it would be fun to really zero in on that as a hook, but the newspaper reporter wasn’t a long time Lawrenceburg resident and he just didn’t see the appeal to that. I still think it would be a fun article. “Lawrenceburg Stars in Author’s Hollyhill Stories.” Or something along those lines. Oh well. Maybe they were afraid I'd made everybody in Lawrenceburg sound like they were from Jupiter like Wes. If you haven't read my Hollyhill books you won't know what in the world (or Jupiter) I'm talking about. Sorry, you'll just have to read the books to find out.
And now the Shakers are the stars in my new books. I’m knee deep in making a few changes to keep my editor happy with my new Shaker book, The Believer. Nothing major, thank goodness. Just a tweak here and there. And I got the proof of the final cover last week. It’s sort of like the last one with the girl and guy in the front with some Shaker buildings in behind. I like it. I’ll post it on my website as soon as I know a publication date. I’m thinking next summer, but I don’t know that for sure yet. Guess I should ask. Sometimes I just expect to get all the info without ever asking.
The next week is a busy one. Aren’t they all anymore? And can you believe it’s almost November? You realize what month comes after November. I’d better be marking off some time on my calendar to go shopping for all those grandbabies. But this week the Patriots are having their Homecoming on Friday and Saturday nights. That’s always fun. If you’re in the area, check out their website, http://www.patriotquartet.com for more details. And then I’ve been telling people I’m going to be in Indiana on Saturday (a booksigning at Heaven Help Us Bookstore in New Albany at 11:30 a.m.), West Virginia on Sunday (the baby dedication day for the twins at my son’s church), and Tennessee on Monday (a trip to the mountains with Darrell’s brothers and sister and spouses – we’ll have a blast.) Actually I’m not usually so busy. But this all sounds like fun. Hope all your busiest days are fun. And if they are tell us about them. I enjoy reading your comments and I like getting e-mails from you readers. You can contact me privately from my web page if you want.
Oh yeah, and I’ll be drawing for the winner of my Hollyhill books on Halloween day. Guess it’ll be a trick or treat time. So if you haven’t signed up for the drawing, send me an e-mail in the next couple of weeks. I have a dial tone now so I'll get your messages. Thank goodness. I was worried I was going to have to call that machine woman at the telephone company again. You know, the one with the soft voice that says please say yes or no in answer to all my questions. Of course, she does usually ask easy questions. Yes? Or no?
Of course land lines don’t seem quite as vital to most people as they used to be because we all have cell phones these days or so it seems from the way everybody at the grocery store has a phone chatting away as he or she picks up some groceries. Or how half the people who come through a stoplight have telephones pressed against their ears. We are a nation connected. And some can connect to the web on their cell phones, but not me. I figure I’ll hang back on that modern advance a bit longer. Besides I don’t have anything earth-shaking to say. Certainly nothing that you can’t wait a few more hours to read. I put all those kind of words (the kind you have to read right away) into my books. At least I’d like to have those kinds of words in my books.
Virginia Smith and I had our booksigning at JosephBeth Booksellers in Lexington on Thursday night. Thank you to all my friends who came by. And Ginny’s friends too. We didn’t do a reading as we had planned because somehow the contact at the store thought we weren’t speaking and so we ended up just talking to everybody one on one. Ginny kept telling folks I was going to entertain by dancing the two-step or soft shoe or something. That would have had people laughing, but I’m not sure about entertained.
I missed out on the dancing gene, although I used to have a dog that would dance when he came to greet me whenever I’d come home. I have done a few doggie dance steps with him just to encourage him. Tate’s passed on to dance in doggie heaven now. He’d also smile, but the dancing was what everybody liked to see him do the most. Or maybe they just liked to see me doing those dog steps. Anyway, there weren’t any dogs dancing at JosephBeth’s so neither did I. Laughing – that we did do. Even signed a few copies of The Outsider, Orchard of Hope, and Summer of Joy too. Ginny’s book, The Taste of Murder, is hot off the press, just released last week. To her delight, she’s already spotted it in Wal-Mart. She set the book in Owensboro, KY where they have the great barbecue. At least I think that’s what I overheard her telling people. I haven’t had a chance to read it yet. But she does have a newly designed website, http://www.virginiasmith.org/ where you can check out all her books. She says she posted a picture of us on there too, but I haven’t had the nerve to go look at it yet.
Also several local papers in Kentucky picked up the article Don White, who used to be the editor of our local paper, wrote about me. Don's writing human interest pieces now about people he meets who have some kind of Kentucky connection. Believe me, he's written about a lot more interesting people than me. You can check his stories out at www.thekytraveler.com. I saw the article about me that was in the Danville Advocate, but he says maybe twelve or thirteen papers across the state picked it up. Not the local paper here in Anderson County. I think they’re tired of printing articles about me. They did a piece on me back in February when Summer of Joy came out.
I never could get them to do the article about my Hollyhill books that I pitched to them. Since I based so much of Hollyhill on my local town, Lawrenceburg, I thought it would be fun to really zero in on that as a hook, but the newspaper reporter wasn’t a long time Lawrenceburg resident and he just didn’t see the appeal to that. I still think it would be a fun article. “Lawrenceburg Stars in Author’s Hollyhill Stories.” Or something along those lines. Oh well. Maybe they were afraid I'd made everybody in Lawrenceburg sound like they were from Jupiter like Wes. If you haven't read my Hollyhill books you won't know what in the world (or Jupiter) I'm talking about. Sorry, you'll just have to read the books to find out.
And now the Shakers are the stars in my new books. I’m knee deep in making a few changes to keep my editor happy with my new Shaker book, The Believer. Nothing major, thank goodness. Just a tweak here and there. And I got the proof of the final cover last week. It’s sort of like the last one with the girl and guy in the front with some Shaker buildings in behind. I like it. I’ll post it on my website as soon as I know a publication date. I’m thinking next summer, but I don’t know that for sure yet. Guess I should ask. Sometimes I just expect to get all the info without ever asking.
The next week is a busy one. Aren’t they all anymore? And can you believe it’s almost November? You realize what month comes after November. I’d better be marking off some time on my calendar to go shopping for all those grandbabies. But this week the Patriots are having their Homecoming on Friday and Saturday nights. That’s always fun. If you’re in the area, check out their website, http://www.patriotquartet.com for more details. And then I’ve been telling people I’m going to be in Indiana on Saturday (a booksigning at Heaven Help Us Bookstore in New Albany at 11:30 a.m.), West Virginia on Sunday (the baby dedication day for the twins at my son’s church), and Tennessee on Monday (a trip to the mountains with Darrell’s brothers and sister and spouses – we’ll have a blast.) Actually I’m not usually so busy. But this all sounds like fun. Hope all your busiest days are fun. And if they are tell us about them. I enjoy reading your comments and I like getting e-mails from you readers. You can contact me privately from my web page if you want.
Oh yeah, and I’ll be drawing for the winner of my Hollyhill books on Halloween day. Guess it’ll be a trick or treat time. So if you haven’t signed up for the drawing, send me an e-mail in the next couple of weeks. I have a dial tone now so I'll get your messages. Thank goodness. I was worried I was going to have to call that machine woman at the telephone company again. You know, the one with the soft voice that says please say yes or no in answer to all my questions. Of course, she does usually ask easy questions. Yes? Or no?
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)