As the release date for Goodbye, Magnolia nears (the date will be announced soon!), I am looking for some of you to team up with me to share all the excitement surrounding the book launch. Self publishing a book is so much work and being a one woman show is hard. Besides writing the book, which is a huge task in and of itself, I’m responsible for every other step of this process – editing, proofreading, layout, ebook formatting, etc. And on top of all that, I get to be my own marketing team, which is so overwhelming for someone who is very much an introvert. So I’d love to have some of my blog friends (like YOU!) on my team. You’ll get to read the book months before anyone else and give me some valuable feedback and input. So …

Would you like to join my LAUNCH TEAM?

I’m looking for …
– readers who are familiar with my writing.
– readers who will enthusiastically share, share, share about the new book.
– those who are active on social media.
– bloggers with a dedicated following whose readers would enjoy the book.
– book club participants whose group would like to read the book.
– those willing to give promotional materials to friends, family, everyone!

You don’t have to fit into all of those categories. I’m looking for a variety of people, who will share in different ways. Most importantly, I want people on my team who are passionate about books and reading and want to help me spread the word about this book that is so special to me.

What you get as a member of the team
– a digital ARC (Advanced Reader Copy) of the book in PDF format
– an eBook copy of the final book before release
– a signed paperback copy of the book before release
– Access to a private Facebook group just for the team, where we can chat, get to know each other, talk about the book, and you can be a part of the whole process of self-publishing.
– Fun giveaways within our team!

What I’m asking of you
– Read and review the book online on Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Goodreads, etc. the week of the book launch.
– Spread the word any way you can during the week of the book launch (Social media: Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, etc., blog a review of the book if you have a blog, pass out bookmarks (will be provided), tell friends, etc.)
– Interact with the launch team, introduce yourself, ask questions, enjoy!
– Ask your local library to carry the book.
– Let me know if you have any other ideas for spreading the word.

Are you IN?
If you want to join the team, please CONTACT ME for more information.

A big THANK YOU in advance!

Let’s DO THIS! Yeah!

I’ve been jotting down verses and quotes that sort of find me during my days ever since January 1st of this year. Reading through my notebook is making me very happy. I love quotes. I love collecting them. I love looking up where the quote originated from and reading more about the person who said it. It’s becoming a favorite routine of mine. And I’m LEARNing, which is exactly my goal for the year.

I was thinking about my sweet little young adult fiction book the other day and my love for quotes and verses couldn’t be any more obvious in there. Drew speaks only in quotes and cliches and verses. It’s his language. He uses it, especially the Bible verses, to guide Claire to the truth about himself and about God. How I wish I had started this notebook of quotes before I finished The Truth About Drew. So many great quotes and verses that would have worked with the story. But I’m happy with how it turned out and I wouldn’t want to change a thing. I’ll just have to save them for the next book.

This verse, that found me during my morning Bible reading a couple weeks ago, goes perfectly with Goodbye, Magnolia. Maggie thought she had her life all planned out, but it wasn’t God’s plan for her at all. I’ve been in this same situation many times in my life. Plans are made, my heart set on things going one way, and they just don’t. Sometimes things go very far in another direction. But over and over again, I have seen situations work out for the better in ways I never would have imagined. I believe this verse. I believe that the Lord knows every step I take and will take. We can plan all we want, but if we’re trusting God’s guidance and seeking Him in our lives and it’s not His will for us, those plans will change.

And so it is for Maggie, my lovely main character. Her heart was set on marrying, but it was not to be. And that was for the best. I’m getting so excited to share more of the book with you.

I can’t believe I’m sharing this today. It was the 80’s, so what can I say? 😉

I’ve shared about Mt. Baldy before, one of the important locations in The Truth About Drew. A few scenes take place on a bench up there. This is the bench I pictured when writing. Simple. Logs on each end and a couple boards stretched across the middle. My childhood best friend took this photo of me in 1986. I was 13. Almost the same age as Claire in the book.

I thought it would be fun to share this picture of the bench. If you were to visit Mt. Baldy today, you would see an entirely different bench, which stands in a different spot than this one. The new one is big and bulky with a tall back on it. Much sturdier. But I much prefer the bench of my childhood.

Here’s a little excerpt from one of the Mt. Baldy bench scenes:

Old leaves from autumns past crunched under her feet as she walked along the familiar path. A squirrel ran across in front of her with a large nut in its mouth. There was rustling in the bushes to her right. Every sound seemed amplified and she was beginning to feel a little paranoid. She had walked this path dozens of times before, but always with Drew. Never alone. Where she normally felt happy and peaceful walking up that hill, now she felt sad and lonely.

She glanced over her shoulder at nothing, then took the old railroad tie steps to the top as quickly as she could. As she pushed past the branches of the big pine tree at the top, she spotted someone sitting on the bench. Her heart nearly burst out of her chest with happiness. She felt like running to embrace him, but she approached slowly, afraid she was dreaming or that it wasn’t actually him. But it was. That sandy blond head of his was bowed forward a bit, his eyes were closed, and it looked as if he was deep in prayer. He opened his eyes and smiled at her without a word.

Claire sat next to him, anxious to be close. Tears stung her eyes. She had so many things she wanted to say, but she couldn’t find the words.

He took her hand in his.

“You saved my life.” She looked into his eyes as she spoke. “How did you do that?”

Click HERE to purchase the paperback or the eBook for Kindle or the Kindle app.

Yesterday, on Stephanie’s blog, she talked about things people say just to say something, not because they really have anything good to contribute to a real conversation, but just to connect. And sometimes the words people blurt out just to have something to say can be hurtful and insensitive and not positive or uplifting at all.

This verse was in my Bible reading this morning. I’m reading through the book of Proverbs, one chapter a day in the month of January, and it made me think about that post.

Gracious words are a honeycomb, sweet to the soul and healing to the bones.
Proverbs 16:24

I want to teach my kids how important it is to speak kindly to people, no matter what the circumstance, because words really can sting and the negative and thoughtless things we say stick with people and can cause damage.

I jotted this verse in my quotes+verses notebook today. I’ve been glancing through that little notebook every day just reading through the things I’ve written so far. Hopefully, these words will really stick with me and become a part of who I am and help me be a more positive, kind person as well.

Have a wonderful weekend!

If you come here daily and read right from my blog, you may have noticed a few of the options to buy my book, The Truth About Drew, missing from the top of the page. If you read through an rss feed or blog reader, you won’t know what the heck I’m talking about. 😉

I recently made the decision to remove The Truth About Drew EBOOK from places other than Amazon and enroll in their KDP Select program. It’s something I’ve been thinking about for a few months now, not just a decision on a whim.

When I initially launched the book, I thought I needed to make it available on every platform right away instead of keeping it exclusively with Amazon. Obviously, Amazon is a huge site and it is definitely the one that has brought me the most sales. Though I have sold some eBooks on other sites, not enough to keep me from trying out Amazon exclusively for a few months. This will allow the eBook to be available for special pricing or free promotions and will be available to more people through their subscription service, Kindle Unlimited, as well as their Kindle Owners’ Lending Library.

While I continue to work on the new book, I’m going to give Kindle Select a try and see how it goes. This will help me decide whether I will do the same with Goodbye, Magnolia.

So watch for special pricing as we near the holidays (you know I’ll announce it here, too!).

I walked past my book today on the shelf in our dining room and picked it up. It made me smile. I’m proud of this little story, my first published work. And, boy, was it a lot of work. I flipped the pages and read a little bit from the third chapter then flipped to the next chapter and thought about the first section of chapter four.

Claire feels a lot like me and how I viewed the world around me at her age. Very self absorbed. Very focused on myself and not always really looking at those around me. I wasn’t like that all the time, but if I’m really honest, the world pretty much revolved around me and my little story. I think that’s normal for teenagers. My daughter is in her “tween” years and it’s pretty much all about her right now. 😉

But sometimes I still act like that teenage girl, focused only on myself and what I’m feeling. I’m a work in progress, for sure. We’re put on this earth for a purpose. I believe that with my whole heart. And one such purpose is to love others. Everybody has a story, things they are dealing with, things they struggle with that nobody knows but God.

What would it be like to suddenly see people more clearly? The subtle hints of their struggles and insecurities shining through. I think it would be really hard. Especially for someone who never paid much attention to what was really going on outside their own little story, to suddenly see what their friends and family are feeling and realize that they don’t have it all together after all. It would be eye-opening for sure.

Here’s the excerpt of Chapter 4 of The Truth About Drew that I read this morning.

     “Things seemed to go back to normal on Monday. Amy and Claire were fine again, pretending that nothing had changed. Brody and Co. continued to rule the school. There was no sign of Drew. But something felt different to Claire.
     As she walked the halls that day, she remembered the feeling of warmth and calm that had washed over her when Drew took her hand at the dance. In that moment, something had shifted and it was as if she could see everything a little more clearly than before.
     Little things that she usually overlooked caught her eye, almost moving in slow motion, like the hopeful grin on Amy’s face when Nate walked by them and the way Nate walked slightly behind Brody, almost in his shadow. There was a sadness in her brother’s eyes she had never noticed before and a very obvious reluctance as he took Lara’s hand when she reached for his.
     Claire was finally seeing things, really seeing them for the first time. She wasn’t sure what had caused this sudden clarity, but it was freaking her out.
     She thought back to Friday night, sitting on the hood of Brody’s car with Amy. It was the first time she’d ever really noticed Amy’s insecurity. She was usually the epitome of self confidence and positivity, but to see her break down like that over a guy had opened Claire’s eyes to another side of her friend.
     Had that part of Amy always been there and she just hadn’t noticed? Had she been so wrapped up in herself that she hadn’t clearly seen the people around her?
     She remembered something Drew had once said. “Your ears are open but you don’t hear a thing. Your eyes are awake but you don’t see a thing.”
     She couldn’t even remember what had brought it on, but it was one of his little sayings that had stuck in her head for a long time. Only now did she truly understand.”

I don’t know how other people choose names for their novels, and I actually didn’t do this for Goodbye, Magnolia, but when I was writing The Truth About Drew, I really wanted the names to have meaning. I wanted the main characters personalities to fit with the name they held, because I felt like the book itself had so much meaning. So, here is a list of the characters’ names that I chose purposefully:

DREW • Wise. Brave. Courageous.
CLAIRE • Clear. Bright.
BRODY • Brother … duh! 🙂
AMY • Dearly loved. Beloved.
DAMON (Amy’s last name) • Constant. Loyal.
ZACH • Remembered by God.
GILBERT (Zach’s last name) • Trusted.
LIAM • Determined Guardian.

I didn’t really choose the names of the other characters based on their meanings, but I thought it would be fun to look them up anyway. Here is what I found:

NATE • Gift of God. – OK, this is a lovely meaning for Nate, but maybe in relation to my book, it could be flipped around to “God’s gift”. If you’ve read it, that might make more sense. 😉

MANDY • Lovable. Worthy of love. – This goes well with all that Mandy went through. She is definitely worthy of love, even after everything that happened, God brought her through it and gave her something new.

SAM • Bright sun. God hears. Heard by God. – I like this. I don’t really go into Sam’s story very much, but I do reveal his faith in God, and God definitely heard all the prayers that went up for him after a big event happened in his life.

TRUMAN (Claire + Brody’s grandparents’ last name) • Loyal. Faithful man. – This goes well with Grandpa and Grandma, faithful followers of Christ their whole lives.

LARA • Famous. – Well, she’s not famous, but she’s a popular cheerleader, so I’ll just interpret it that way.

KELLER (The football coach’s last name) • Little champion. – LOL! They do win those football games. 🙂

DONNA (The coach’s wife) • Lady. – Yep, she’s a lady. 😉

That was fun. I’m amazed to find that the meanings of the names really feel like the characters to me. Even some of the ones whose names I didn’t choose for their meaning. This book was such a labor of love for me. Even when I was choosing those names, I felt such a leading from God. Claire and Drew and Brody and Amy and Zach … they all feel like kids I would be friends with if I was their age again.

Those who have already read The Truth About Drew may notice that I left out a name. If you know what name I’m referring to, look it up and you will understand why I didn’t include it in this list. 😉

DO YOU KNOW WHAT YOUR NAME MEANS? Leave it in the comments below. My first name means “Follower of Christ”. I’d say that describes me to a T.

I’m so happy and excited to introduce the new book, Goodbye, Magnolia, and cover design here … on the BLOG.

I don’t have an exact release date yet, but I will say …
COMING SPRING 2015!

What’s it about?
Wedding photography is Maggie’s passion. The art of capturing a moment forever in time is magical to her, and she’s worked hard to become the best of the best. Week after week, she works with couples as they plan their happily ever afters, but she hasn’t been so lucky in love.

Behind the camera, it’s easy to hide from the pain and rejection of her past. The life she has made for herself is safe and predictable, until the owner of a rival photography studio sets up shop in her small town and comes to her with an unexpected proposal. Suddenly, everything she has worked so hard to build is threatened and her simple, controlled life is thrown into chaos.

As she travels the state of Michigan photographing weddings, she struggles to keep her business afloat and the wall around her heart intact. But along the way, she learns more about loyalty and love than she ever imagined.* * *

A few thoughts
I’m venturing into a new genre with this book. Contemporary romance or women’s fiction or chick lit, whatever you want to call it. What it will most certainly be is a “clean” read, as in something I wouldn’t be embarrassed to let my daughter read. It will be full of friendships, family, secrets, grand gestures, and love, of course.

Most of all, this is a story about letting go and learning to love again. … And weddings. Lots of weddings.

—> I cannot end this post without a SPECIAL THANKS to my sweet cousin, Sarah, the beautiful bride you see on the cover. Two years ago, I photographed her wedding and she agreed to let me use one of her wedding photos for the design.

I downloaded an ebook this morning called “Writing to Find Yourself” by Allison Vesterfelt. It is available for FREE over at Noisetrade right now. It’s all about finding yourself, your voice, through writing.

It’s been a few weeks since I touched my latest work in progress. I’ve barely stopped long enough to write out what’s been happening in our days let alone to write anything “deep”. Maybe it’s because July was a busy month. Maybe it’s because I was sick and didn’t feel up to it. Or maybe it’s because the last chapter I worked on was an emotional one. It dredged things up that hurt, and I was sick and tired of remembering.

Writing helps to heal old wounds. I know that. It is cheap therapy, as Allison says in her book.

Maybe I’m just afraid. Because I will learn things about myself that I would rather not. I’ll face all the things I never dealt with and I’d much rather they stay locked away.

But I know to find my real voice and tell my stories, God wants me to open up. There is no growth if you don’t.

So I will write.

To heal.

To grow.

For me.

I love Pinterest. Who doesn’t, right? You can get lost on there for hours and hours. I have a board on my Pinterest for little announcements about my book(s) and such, but I thought it would be really fun to make one for each of my books with pictures of locations that were in the book or were inspiration for the book. Some of the pictures I found browsing around Pinterest, but I also scoured through folders and folders of my own photos to find the places I used in my book. Lots of it was taken from my life, places I’ve been, etc. Write what you know, right? And I do.

You can follow all my Pinterest boards HERE.

I will soon be adding a new board for locations from the new chick lit novel. That one will be loaded with pictures of locations, but also many weddings I’ve shot, since they were so much my inspiration for this book!