Suzanne Woods Fisher: January 2011

Friday, January 28, 2011

Author Spotlight: Patti Lacy

I’m Patti Lacy, the Normal Novelist. Yep, I really do live in Normal, Illinois, a strange place for a woman who popped into this world from the back seat of a Buick!

After a court reporting career, I returned to the teaching roots established by an education degree from Baylor and my teacher parents and taught Humanities at a community college. In 2005, God whispered for me to write the story of my best friend, a brave Irishwoman who was banished from her beloved cliffs of County Clare, Ireland, when she was only five years old. Kregel Publications published that first story, An Irishwoman’s Tale, and ever since, I’ve been consumed by the passion to write.

Oh! I have a sweet husband, two marvelous grown kids, a son-in-law, two granddogs, and a mutt named Laura!

Share something about your writing. What’s your genre(s), your areas of interest?

I love to span seas and secrets, inspired by true stories of women. A five-year-old whose first memory is, “The little eejit’s got to go.” Two girls, one black, one white, working toys through spaces in a fence, whose chains, along with racism, try to stop them from being friends. A new mother, holding her baby for the first…and last…time during the span of a ten-minute cab ride. How can I NOT write such things?

Oh, the factoids. Sorry! I get carried away! I write women’s fiction in the inspirational market.

How did you get started writing? Did you have a dream of being a published author?

I always get ahead of the questions, like having already answered this one. Sigh. Until 2005, all I’d written was embarrassing love letters, maudlin poetry, and esoteric papers for my master’s work in literature.

After you started writing seriously--how long was it before you were published?

A little over a year. Attending Write to Publish in Wheaton accelerated my process…I would guess by years. Before you blanch, I really believe we all start writing when we begin reading. I’ve been gobbling books ever since I was five. Um, fifty years!

Aside from a cup of good, strong coffee, what helps you get all of your “brain cylinders” firing so you can write well? Do you have any favorite places and routines when you write? How many hours a day do you spend writing?

I ALWAYS write in my study, surrounded by my painting friends ( I love Scott Mutter, Herb Eaton, Angel Ambrose) my books, and MY MUSIC!!! Yes, I tap the keys to…Alicia Keyes, Corinne Bailey Rae, Jamey Johnson, Selah, David Crowder Band, the Fray, Tracy Chapman, Switchfoot…you name it! We’re talking classical, Celtic, country, sacred, rap, blues, jazz.

My adult kids hooked me up with Pandora, which augments a great CD collection.

Hours in a day writing? Anywhere from five or six to ZERO!

What has been the biggest help to you in the journey to publication? Writers’ conferences? Writing groups? Your mom as your first draft reader?

Soulmate critique partners, who GET what I’m doing and will not let me settle for less than the best. An agent who pushes me to the precipice…so I can fly.

I wrote an article for an upcoming Inkwell Inspirations post (2/2 and 2/3) called, “It Takes a Village to Feed a Writer.” In my case, it’s totally true. The prayer partners, the great editors at the publishing houses, my dog Laura, who “muses from the chair in my study; most importantly, the Holy Spirit, Who whispers instruction, encouragement; truly a co-author!

Is the “writer’s life” what you thought it would be?

No! There are more highs and lows than I ever dreamed possible. My biggest lows have come at “big” moments, like book releases. I never dreamed what’s involved in marketing a book, getting a book right, and the aftermath of cutting open your chest, extracting your heart, nestling it in novel pages, and leaving yourself exposed for the whole world to review!

What are your biggest distractions?

Juggling with the various hats of proposal-writer, creator, editor, mentor, seller, publicist.

What was one of the best moments in your career and what was one of the worst?

God has given me SO MANY wonderful moments? Selling out of An Irishwoman’s Tale at Milwaukee’s IrishFest and STILL corresponding with readers from all over the country. Barnes & Noble book signings that reach from Minneapolis, Minnesota to Corpus Christi, Texas. Those special e-mails that explain in beautiful prose how my book touched lives.

Worst? Hmmm. When everything about the industry seems to be about $$$. When the powers-that-be don’t get it…and don’t seem to be trying so hard.

What do you least like about being a writer? Most like?

The one-on-one writing sessions with God, the worn-out keys, and story snippets.

Dealing with…you guessed it!!...the money. Good thing my agent is a whiz at it!

What is the role and importance of an agent?

Asked and answered ... Natasha Kern is THE GREATEST!

What advice would you give to new writers?

Write for the Audience of One. If you don’t it will NEVER BE ENOUGH. Trust me on this one.

Pretend I’m a customer at a bookstore looking for a good book. Give me a one- or two-sentence promo to convince me to buy your book.

I span seas, secrets, and the mysteries of women’s hearts to show how God works for good in ALL things: even when your mother gives you away (An Irishwoman’s Tale); even in the face of a brutal rape (What the Bayou Saw); even when you were coerced as a teenager to give away your beloved son (The Rhythm of Secrets); even when your family lost its precious jewel (Reclaiming Lily). If you love multicultural, romance, and women’s issues, you just may love my books!

How’d ya like THOSE two sentences? :)
Warning: my books are Julie Lessman LOOOOONG

What’s on the book horizon for you?

Reclaiming Lily releases with Baker Books in the fall of 2011. Two cultures. Two women. One child. It’s a definitely different twist on a China adoption story!

Last question, how can readers find you and your books?

My books are either on the shelves of Barnes & Nobles, Borders, Christian bookstores like Family Christian Bookstore, or can be ordered. Then there’s www.amazon.com!

Visit me, folks, at www.pattilacy.com.

I’d love to have you join my Facebook fam and see my daily Art Bite postings (see, I just can’t leave that Humanities instructor role!)

Then there’s the new Author Page, created JUST for Rhythm of Secrets Facebook party. Don’t MISS IT! That Nook, you know…

Thank you for sharing your writing life with my bleaders! (blog + readers = bleaders)

Thank YOU. IT was a blast!

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Patti Lacy is celebrating the release of her latest book with a NOOK Giveaway, blog tour and Book Club Party!

Follow the blog tour and read the reviews!

Patti and her publisher, Kregel Publications, are giving away a NOOK prize package worth over $150 to one lucky winner!!!!

Enter the Nook eReader Giveaway and you could win:

A brand new Nook eReader with Wi-Fi
$25 gift certificate to Barnes & Noble

To enter, simply click on the icons below to fill out the entry form/s, then tell 5 or more friends about the contest. Oh, and enter soon! Winner will be announced on February 16th at Patti's Rhythm of Secrets Facebook Party.

Patti will be announcing the winner of The Rhythm of Secrets NOOK giveaway at her Party on Facebook February 16th!

She’ll be hosting a book club discussion of The Rhythm of Secrets and giving away other fun prizes! (signed copies of her books and gift certificates to Barnes & Noble, Starbucks, & iTunes!). Don’t miss the fun at Patti’s FB Author Page on February 16th at 5pm PST ( 6 pm MST, 7 pm CST, & 8 pm EST)!

Wednesday, January 26, 2011

Thursday on Amish Wisdom: Amish Baskets and The Search interview!

Tune in on Thursday at 4:00 pm Central! To listen in - go here and just click on the player in the top right corner.

Leave a comment on the Amish Wisdom toginet page for a chance to win this beautiful double-tiered pie basket!

This week on Amish Wisdom: Annie Schar from Annie's Baskets and blogger Mary Ann Kinsinger will be interviewing me about The Search!

Be sure to tune in on Thursday - you'll have a chance to win one of Annie's amazing Amish baskets and find out more Annie and her business. I'll also be in the hot seat this week when Mary Ann interviews me about the latest Lancaster County Secrets book, The Search. Don't miss the fun!

More about Annie: Annie is originally from Pittsburgh PA and moved to Ohio in 1965 to attend Ashland College - now a University. She now living on a 56 acre farm raising Holsteins!

Annie majored in Health and Physical Education and taught in the public schools for 3 years. She then went into sales of cars and caps and gowns and then into print sales. a major car accident in 1976 changed her thinking - "I realized life is short and I needed to do what would make me happy."

She worked for a printing company and eventually started her own company (28 years ago - just closed in October) which allowed her the freedom to set her own schedule and lead a less stressed life - like the Amish. She started Annie's Amish Baskets in December 2000 and sold her first basket on Christmas eve. For more about Annie's baskets and her Barn Stars, please visit: www.anniesamishbaskets.com and www.anniesamishbarnstars.com

For a chance to win one of Annie's Amish baskets and a signed copy of The Search leave a comment {HERE} (along with your email address) and we'll choose two winners at random (one for the book and one for the basket) next week! Winners will be notified via email.

More about Mary Ann Kinsinger: Mary Ann is the gentle voice behind the very popular blog, A Joyful Chaos. If you missed Mary Ann's very first radio interview on Amish Wisdom - click and listen here, or listen for free on iTunes.

Mary Ann Kinsinger lives with her husband and three children in the beautiful Appalachian mountains in southwestern PA...only a few miles from the house where she grew up in an Amish family.

Mary Ann has enjoyed writing from a very young age and has had some of her work published in magazines. She is a busy mother and enjoys spending time with her family, reading, crafts, cooking, and for the past year blogging... where she is chronicling her journey from a happy little Amish girl to where she is today.

Tuesday, January 25, 2011

Have you entered the iPad Giveaway yet?

The latest installment of the Lancaster County Secrets, The Search, is out and to celebrate I'm hosting The Search iPad Giveaway!

One Grand Prize winner will receive an iPad Prize Package worth over $500 and includes:

A brand new iPad (16KB with Wi-Fi)
Signed copies of all three Lancaster Country Secrets books (The Choice, The Waiting, & The Search)

To enter, simply click on the icons below to fill out the entry form/s, then tell 5 or more friends about the contest. Oh, and enter soon! Winner will be announced on February 3rd at the Everything is Coming Up Roses Facebook Party. (Did you know The Search takes place on a rose farm?)

Facebook Party:

Join me for the Everything is Coming Up Roses Facebook Party on February 3rd! We'll be announcing the winner of the The Search iPad Giveaway, hosting a book club discussion of The Search, giving away copies of all three books and HEAPS of other readerly prizes! Including roses delivered to your door for three months for you AND a friend! Be sure to join us on Thursday, February 3rd at 5:00 PM PST (6:00 MST, 7:00 CST & 8 EST) at Suzanne’s Author Page.

Friday, January 21, 2011

Author Spotlight: Lynn Dove

Welcome to Author Spotlight! Each week will feature a different author. We'll get the scoop behind their writing life and dish a little. The authors will also be giving away a copy of their latest book. FUN.

The winner from last week's Author Spotlight with Cara Putman is Lourdes! Please email my assistant Amy with your mailing address. (amy@litfusegroup.com)

This week is Lynn Dove is in the Spotlight! To win a copy of Lynn's latest book, Heal the Wounded, leave a comment on this post!

Share a little bit about yourself. Married with kids? Empty nester? Do you work full-time and write when you can squeeze it in?

I am a Christ-follower, a wife, a mom, a soon-to be grandmother, a teacher and a writer (in that order). I wear so many different “hats” that I find prioritizing them tends to focus me better. I have been married to my best friend, Charles for 32 years and we have three wonderful children: daughter, Laurelle (husband, Matt) are expecting our first grand baby in February, and we have two live-at-home teenagers, Brett and Carmen. We are blessed that every one of our children are also Christ-followers and involved in some kind of ministry unique to their gifts and talents.

I substitute teach junior and senior high school, but admittedly I have spent most of my time lately pursuing my writing career, so I am not in the classroom as often as I would like to be. I work with the youth at our church and have done so for many, many years and I currently work with a vibrant group of grade eight girls that keep me on my toes with their theological questions!

I have often complained to my husband (and others) that I have cobwebs on my vacuum cleaner because when I get absorbed in writing and marketing…who am I kidding?...in ANYTHING…I tend to forget about housework, cooking, laundry etc. I am the anti-Martha Stewart I think. LOL!

And share something about your writing. What’s your genre(s), your areas of interest…

I write contemporary Christian fiction for young adults and teens. My books deal with relevant social issues such as teen pregnancy, family conflict, gossip and bullying. I wanted to present to my readers an alternative to the occult-type books out there that seem to be so popular nowadays with the youth. My books appeal to all youth regardless of whether or not they are Christian and I think that is why my books have been given a more world-wide readership. Parents of youth are looking for a family-friendly alternative to some of the dark and disturbing messages that some of the current books in this genre offer. Yet teens also want to “keep it real”, so I don’t shy away from the grittier topics such as “cutting”, teen pregnancy, alcohol abuse and family conflict. All teenagers can relate in some way to those issues.

Both my books, Shoot the Wounded and Heal the Wounded have recently been selected as “Helpful Resources” on the world’s largest anti-bullying site: www.bullying.org My goal is getting the word out there through my books, speaking and blog writing, that bullying is not to be tolerated.

How did you get started writing? Did you have a dream of being a published author?

I was blessed all through school with teachers who encouraged me to write. My biology teacher wrote in my year book just before my graduation, “To the only literary biologist I know.” My teachers always knew that when I handed in an assignment, they would get a long treatise of literary verbiage that probably made them cringe to mark. I always dreamed of being a published author but honestly I never thought I would be doing this, or writing in this genre, now when I’m 50 something. Starting a new career in mid-life is truly a blessing from God!

After you started writing seriously--how long was it before you were published?

I actually wrote Shoot the Wounded well over ten years ago. It started out as a short story and after I had written one hundred pages I knew I couldn’t consider it a “short” story any longer. Then the manuscript literally (hahaha) took up space on the hard drive of my computer for ten years. I was diagnosed with breast cancer in 2001 and battled the disease for two years. My family and I experienced God profoundly through that time and certainly to many I am considered a “survivor” today but I hope I have done much more than survive, I hope I have “thrived”!

In 2003 I felt the call to go to seminary, and I also worked on staff at my church as the Children’s Minister. My daughter, Laurelle got married and I took time with her planning the wedding. Life was just very full to say the least during those years. After I graduated seminary in 2007 with my Master of Religious Education degree, I rediscovered my manuscript, almost by accident there on my laptop and it was my husband who encouraged me to get it published. God started opening some doors for me and in 2009 Shoot the Wounded was published. I wrote the sequel, Heal the Wounded in a year and published it in October, 2010 and I am working on the final book in the “Wounded Trilogy” – Love the Wounded that I hope to release in 2011. I am also writing a more autobiographical account of my journey with breast cancer. I am currently putting together that book proposal to submit to publishers.

Is the “writer’s life” what you thought it would be?

When I published Shoot the Wounded in 2009, I truly had no idea the amount of time and energy an author puts in to promoting and marketing a book. I made (make) a lot of mistakes, but I have learned so much about the business and I love to connect with other authors, such as you, Suzanne, who continue to encourage me daily. I am blessed to be amongst such a community of faithful writers!

What was one of the best moments in your career and what was one of the worst?

There have been several “stellar” moments in my short career. When my friend Caleb sent me his art work for the cover of Shoot the Wounded, I was so overwhelmed by its brilliance, I cried. I think that was the moment I realized that I was actually going to publish a book…with a cover! I felt the exact same emotion with Caleb’s cover design for my second book, Heal the Wounded. I can’t imagine how I’ll react when he sends me the last of his cover designs for Love the Wounded!

A few more highlights that come to mind was at the book launch of Shoot the Wounded when it was “commissioned” at my church. It was truly a humbling and profound experience to have one of the deacons pray for me and for my book, acknowledging that this was much more than just a book launch, this marked the start of my writing “ministry”. Whenever I get caught up with numbers and sales of my books, and I feel a sense of pride in my own accomplishments start to bubble up, I remember that God is in control of this enterprise, and He is directing my steps as well as determining whom He wants to read my books. It is for His glory, not mine that I write.

Another “best” moment for me was when my debut novel, Shoot the Wounded was named a Finalist in the Readers Favorite Book Awards. That was very exciting.

The worst moment came after I received a very mean-spirited, negative review of my first book. It was hurtful, not a bit constructive, only critical and harsh, and it destroyed my confidence for several weeks afterwards. It was my husband who reminded me that if I considered my writing a ministry, I must also expect that at some point, I would also face spiritual attack. Every writer has had their share of negative reviews I know. It is one of those things that kind of goes with the territory when you publish a book. That said, after that awful experience, I vowed I would never be the cause of destroying another author’s self-confidence by posting a negative review on my blog or elsewhere, about their books. I only post positive reviews on books that I have liked and enjoyed. I am all about being an encourager.

What advice would you give to new writers?

As a Christian author, oftentimes we do not like to “toot our own horn”. It goes against our nature to promote ourselves because we are taught in scripture to humble ourselves. I have learned that you need to promote yourself in order to have your books read. It is important to connect with your readers through social media sites such as Facebook and Twitter, and I have found that having an interesting blog is equally effective to showcase your writing. My blog, Journey Thoughts has become almost more popular than my books this past year! I have been able to interview wonderful Christian authors and I have been told by my faithful readers that they have been blessed and ministered to through my blog.

Pretend I’m a customer at a bookstore looking for a good book. Give me a one or two sentence promo to convince me to buy your book.

Heal the Wounded is the much-anticipated sequel to my debut novel, Shoot the Wounded. Like the first book, Heal the Wounded takes the reader even deeper into the lives of teenagers who are trying to live out their faith in the midst of upset and struggle.

Last question, how can readers find you and your books?

I love to connect with my readers on my website: www.shootthewounded.org or on my blog, Lynn Dove’s Journey Thoughts: http://lynndove.wordpress.com. Readers may also connect with me on Facebook or on Twitter.

My books may be ordered directly off my website or they can be ordered from Amazon.com or Amazon.ca for my Canadian friends.

Thank you for sharing your writing life with my bleaders! (blog + readers = bleaders)

Wednesday, January 19, 2011

Thursday on Amish Wisdom: Patricia Mauro

Tune in on Thursday at 4:00 pm Central! To listen in - go here and just click on the player in the top right corner.

This week's guest is the amazing Patricia Mauro.(You may have caught her Author Spotlight a few weeks ago). She says this of her new book, Safe From the Past, "A kidnapping, divorce, the loss of my Amish family and father, abandonment, and extreme poverty are just some of the issues I dealt with as a young child. My mother finally told me that I must go to college so I can break out of the cycle of hopelessness. It seemed like an impossibility, I had no money and absolutely no confidence or self esteem."

Don’t miss Thursday’s interview and find out how Patricia is reconnecting with her Amish roots and family. Be ready to discover what hope, faith and determination can do to change a life.

More about Patricia: Patricia Miller Mauro grew up in Dover, OH. She attended Muskingum University and went on to work in New York City's financial district for thirteen years where she also obtained her MBA from NYU.

During her time in NY, she wrote an article for the Recovery Journal entitled, “A Tribute to My Mother” which was published in 1999. Her recently released book entitled, "Safe from the Past: A Story of Hope, Faith and Determination" serves to inspire others to believe in themselves and to trust the power of God in our daily lives.

Patricia, her husband and her two children now reside in Dallas, TX.

For more information visit Patricia's website, www.patriciamaurobooks.com.

For a chance to win a copy of Patricia's book, leave a comment {HERE} (along with your email) and we'll select one winner randomly next week.

More about Safe From the Past: There is no future in the past.

A truly inspiring, deeply personal tale of perseverance in the face of unimaginable hardships, Safe from the Past makes clear the restorative power of an education.

Through her own hard work and determination, Patricia Miller Mauro succeeds in leaving behind a bitter world -- one of extreme poverty, violent adults, and a seemingly inescapable cycle of insecurity, instability, and despair -- for a bright future fueled by higher education and a rewarding career.

Told in an open, honest voice with the deepest sincerity, the author's life story serves as a rousing inspiration to those with the desire to create a better life than the one they are currently living.

No matter how helpless you feel, everyone has the power to shape their own life.