SC Book Festival and Georgia Book Clubs

L to R: Paula Benson, Margaret Maron, me, Tatjani Soli

Some weekends are just more fun than other weekends. Last weekend was one of those fun kind for me. First I was in Columbia at the SC Book Festival which is one of the most writer friendly festivals I've had the pleasure of being invited to attend. This is my second time to attend, but what I like so much about it is that at this festival I get to go listen to the other writers' presentations.

This year I got to hear Roy Blount Jr. talk about his Alphabet books. Fun. Of course I listen to Roy almost every Sunday after church on "Wait, Wait, Don't Tell Me," a radio program. We were on the same shuttle bus the first night we were there and while I didn't recognize his face, I did his voice. But I also got to hear lots of other writers on panels along with the fun of getting to know them as we shared tables at the dinners and snack times. I was on a panel with Christian writers, Dale Cramer and Nicole Seitz on Saturday and with bestselling writers, Margaret Maron (The Bootlegger's Daughter) and Tatjana Soli (The Lotus Eaters).  We were an interesting threesome since we wrote different sorts of fiction, but I think that made the panel even more interesting as we each brought something different to the panel discussion led by the very personable and bookloving Paula Benson. It was the last program of the day so we didn't have a big crowd but we talked books - how we write, why we write, and what  we write

But on Saturday I also had the fun of talking by phone to a great book club in Georgia. And they

sent me this neat, smiling picture. Of course they're smiling. They just got through talking about my book, Angel Sister. :-) And eating no telling what yummy food for breakfast. What a great way to start a Saturday with food and books and friends. The ladies had some intriguing suggestions for me to consider for future stories. It's always interesting hearing what readers think about my books. And it's always fun talking to readers at book clubs. I wish I could go to them all in person - that way I'd get in on that yummy food, right? But Georgia is a little too far away, so we had to visit by phone. It's neat that the ladies sent me their picture. I keep expecting them to wave.

I like book clubs. I've visited quite a few different ones in person or by phone now and it's always a fun time. I've never been in a book club, but I can't help thinking it must be the best kind of club in the world. Books and people who read and then talk about those books. Sounds good to me. Have you ever been in a book club? Did you like talking books and the pleasures of reading? 

Thanks for reading. Remember to check out my book giveaway on my website and send me a message to be entered. Talk to you Sunday about my dog, Jody. 

A Dog Story Book

Here's the cover I promised to post Sunday about the book of dog stories, The Dog Next Door. I know. It's Monday and not Sunday. But I was at my daughter's house last night and didn't have time to get on the computer. And I was too busy enjoying all the writers and books at the S.C. Book Festival this weekend to get it on earlier. If you live in the area or anywhere within reasonable driving distance - and you love books - you should consider a trip to Columbia, SC when they have their book festival next year. They always draw in some big names along with lots of other regional and national writers who maybe aren't on the NY Times Bestseller list, but who write great books. There is so much variety. Fiction of lots of genres, history, bestsellers, gardening & cooking books, kids books and etc. I'll share some more about the fun I had in Wednesday's blog.  But now back to the dogs.

I hadn't written a short piece in years. Maybe one for a local magazine fifteen years or more ago. I love the book form. I like writing novels. But when I got the e-mail asking if I had a dog story I wanted to tell, I thought why not see if I could still think short. I started out writing short pieces for church magazines and dreaming of publishing stories in Redbook or Good Housekeeping. At that time those magazines published several short stories every month. What happened to all the people who used to like reading short stories? I don't know, but whatever it was, the market for short stories dried up before any of those editors saw the gold in my stories. Probably because I didn't have any gold in those stories. To make a long story short - which I am not very good at - the market dried up for short stories and I quit writing short pieces at about the same time. I don't think those two things had any sort of connection. LOL

But I love dogs and I knew Callie Smith Grant, who was compiling this book. Plus I had a story about a dog that I thought might work. Actually, as many dogs as I've had, I should have enough stories about dogs to fill a book all by myself, but I decided to pick this one story about my cockerspaniel, Jody. I'm not going to tell you the story here, but it is a heart tugger. Jody was a wonderful dog, but this is more about him being a gift to me than about the dog he turned out to be. Maybe next Sunday, I'll just tell you about the kind of dog he was and post a picture of him. That sounds like fun. I must be on a dog kick. That's going to hold true until the end of the month. On Sunday May 29, I'm going to be posting Suzanne Woods Fisher's interview about her and her dogs. Tell your friends about that one.

Here's the blurb for The Dog Next Door. If you like dogs, I hope you'll check it out when it releases in June.

Dogs are truly one of God's finest creatures, a marvelous gift for us humans. In the perfect follow-up to A Prince among Dogs, Callie Smith Grant compiles a delightful collection of true stories that celebrate the dogs in our lives. These stories will touch our hearts, renew our spirits, and show us how God made these wonderful creatures for unique purposes.

Readers will love these uplifting glimpses into the lives of ordinary and extraordinary dogs and the people who love them. The stories are warm, captivating, and ideal for a good curl-up-and-read or a perfect gift for any dog lover.

You can click on the Table of Contents on the book on its Amazon page and see the other writers who have written a story or stories about their dogs. One of my writing friends, Virginia Smith, has the lead off story. I haven't gotten a copy yet so haven't been able to read any of the stories, but I'm sure they will be fun/inspiring/touching/all of the above.

Thanks for reading. Talk to you Wednesday. Until then be sure to smile at a writer. Or maybe a dog. :-) 

A WOW Experience at the SC Book Festival

Hi, everybody.

I'm late posting this week because I was late getting back from the South Carolina Book Festival, and believe me, it was a festival. And they celebrated writers and books. Of course I've been a lifelong book lover, so it was the perfect place for me. Everybody associated with the festival was extra friendly and helpful. A special thanks to Mary who managed to make every writer feel like the only writer there. It was such fun.

My daughter, Tarasa, went with me as my guest and we both enjoyed as many of the presentations as we could attend. Sometimes we had to choose between two or three panels of authors that we would have enjoyed hearing. We only made one bad decision. If we'd been closer to the door we'd have bailed on that presentation. It just wasn't our thing. I kept having to pinch myself to keep from dozing off and Tarasa read her Festival program.

The headliner was Harlan Coben who writes bestselling thrillers. He was presenting at the same time I was on Sunday afternoon. I was on a panel about the importance of place across genres, and to be honest, I didn't think anybody would come listen to us. But they did. Not as many as went to see Harlan Coben, but enough that we had a good session. Tarasa went to Harlan Coben's presentation. She can hear me any time. She said it was great and that Mr. Coben was very personable and nice to everyone who wanted to talk to him. I guess that shouldn't be a surprise. Writers are just people. Some of us are friendly. Some of us are surly. Some of us like talking to people. Some of us don't. I love talking to people myself. Especially people who like to read just as much as I do. Maybe instead of the weather we should all talk about books.

So the Festival was definitely a WOW experience for me. My daughter and I had been talking about that sort of experience before we went to Columbia. She works at a hospital and they had had a meeting on how to make a visit to their hospital a WOW experience. Now, I'm not sure I could have a WOW experience at a hospital. Not a place many of us want to go. But a Book Festival is a different matter. Just going in a place with that many books and authors is a WOW time right away. And then to have everybody be so nice and friendly, well, it just got better and better.

My newly re-designed website is up and running. We're still tweaking a few things here and there and fixing typos, etc. Susie, my webmaster, did a great job and I really appreciate her help. I was overwhelmed thinking about the time I'd have to put in to learn how to do some of that stuff. So if you've seen it, let me know what you think either here or by contacting me from the website. www.annhgabhart.com

One last thing before I wear out your reading patience. I heard on the radio this morning that somebody has done a study and find that people who count their blessings at least once a week live longer and happier lives. That was one of the great things about the festival at Columbia. I'd been sort of down with my writing. No real reason. Just a worried "parent" over a "child" she wasn't sure was doing well. I still don't know about that, but talking with other writers and booksellers seemed to get me back on focus and counting my blessings. Then when I got home there were a few e-mails from readers who had enjoyed my book. Definitely a blessing.

So today I plan to live longer by counting my blessings. A great family. A loving and praying church family. Beautiful grandchildren. A new book out on the store shelves. Readers who are also friends. A blog to chat on. A new website. I could go on and on, but I'll save some for next time. May you have such an abundance of blessings that it would take you a week to count even half of them.

Ann

Book Readings and Signings

My booksigning/reading went well on Friday night. Thanks be to the Lord for family and friends who are ready to support a writer in need. There is absolutely nothing sadder than an author at a booksigning when nobody shows up to get a book signed. Actually I haven't done many booksignings like that. I did have one signing back years ago when my first books were out. My aunts and mother came. I can't remember whether they bought any books. The rest of the time I just chatted with any customer who got within shouting distance. Most of them had no idea why I was sitting there behind a stack of books. The large posters you see at many booksignings are there for a reason. "See me. I wrote this book! Honest!"

I didn't have to do that kind of shouting Friday night. Everybody was very gracious and kind and they even bought most of my books. So it was fun. I love talking to people and I like having book discussions. A reporter from the Anderson News was there. I've been trying to talk up a human interest article about how I used what I remembered about Lawrenceburg in the sixties for Hollyhill in my books and how I zeroed in on the importance of a community newspaper by having Jocie's dad be the editor, but I don't think that idea went over with the reporter. (I'll bet Jocie would have written it up the way I wanted.) So we'll just have to wait and see what he writes. I'm hoping I didn't say anything too stupid. It's amazing the stupid things a person can say when a reporter is listening. It may not sound all that bad at the time you're saying it, but after it's written down and and printed in the newspaper for everybody to read, the words spin around and sound way different. Any of you ever had that experience?

Next weekend I'm off to South Carolina to the Book Festival in Columbia. My daughter, Tarasa, is going along and we're making it a several day trip to celebrate our birthdays. We both hit one of those years that have zeroes last year so we have to do something to celebrate that kind of milestone. The book festival promises to be interesting. I'm on two panels. One about Faith in Fiction and the other about the importance of place across genres. I'm trying to think wise thoughts, but maybe I'll just listen to everybody else's wisdom. I'm looking forward to sitting in on some of the other panel sessions and hearing what those authors have to say. If you're in the area, come check the festival out. My panels are at 10 a.m. Saturday and 3 p.m. Sunday. Then I'll be signing my books for about an hour directly following the panels.

Also watch for my new and improved website in the near future. And let me know what you think.

Next week, I won't be posting until Tuesday since I'll be on the way home from S.C. on Monday. Hope all of you have a good week and that you notice all those ordinary everyday blessings that make life so good. We can even do some counting. I can count my booksigning and my friends and family being there. That's not an everyday kind of blessing, but it's definitely a blessing. For the everyday type, I'd say the smiles of my Christian brothers and sisters at church this morning. My pastor's good sermon. Visiting my mom and sister. Walking with my dog, Dub, and my neighbor dogs, Roxie and Baby. They love to walk with me. Talking to my daughter on the phone. Finishing my page edits way before schedule. Watching basketball. And so many more. Tell me some of yours. And that will be a blessing too.

Launching Summer of Joy and Beginning a New Book

We've been having some real Kentucky weather. Last week up to almost 70 degrees and then tornadoes and storms. This week windchills down to zero. It's chilly out there. When I walked yesterday, I had to pull out my big coat. The one that's so fluffy and thick that my arms stand out from my sides. I don't pull out that heavy armor very often. I'm more the President Kennedy style. You remember how he never wore a coat? Of course a Secret Service man might have been holding his coat out of sight of the cameras.

My book launch is this Friday night. Might not be too good of scheduling since Thursday is Valentine's Day, but maybe everybody will want a fun love story/family drama to give to his or her special someone. Summer of Joy is a fun story. I wanted it to vibrate with the joy of living. I guess you as readers will have to let me know if I was successful on that one.

I'm beginning on a new book. At last. I kept trying to get myself to do other stuff. Publicity type stuff. Store visits. Who knows what? But I have to be writing. I can surely clean out the closets another day. Surely. Of course I've been saying that for a few months now. One of these days I'm going to open the door to the closet and be buried under that pile of stuff I should have already carried off to Goodwill or the landfill. But I've got to write. I don't have the same impulse about cleaning.

Next week I'll be off to South Carolina to a book festival down there. I'm going to be on a couple of panels talking about Faith in Fiction and The Importance of Place across Genres. Both of those promise to be interesting and there will be some great writers on the panels with me. I'll no doubt learn a lot. If you live in the area, check out all the fun on the South Carolina Book Festival website and come out and enjoy. They've got some big name writers coming to share their expertise and sign books. My daughter will be attending with me. She loves to read so she should have fun at the festival.

My youngest son, Daniel, had a birthday last Friday. There is no way my baby can be that old. I usually feel as if I'm about that age. I just don't see how he caught up with me so quickly. ;) But he's a great person, a wonderful dad and husband and son, and I'm very proud of him. He wanted Snickerdoodles. Sort of an unusual birthday cake (cookies), but he and the kids enjoyed them, and we managed to stick on a few candles.

Hope all you guys have a loving Valentine's Day. Remember God loves you and so do a lot of your Christian brothers and sisters. And writers like me always love readers like you. Ann