Christmas Traditions

If you live in the Midwest you know that the past week has been a wild one for the prairies. We're buried under a few feet of snow (help!) and the temperatures have been lethal. But, oh, how I love it! We've been sledding, sipping cocoa, playing games, watching movies, and even sneaking under the Christmas tree. As my oldest tells anyone who'll listen: "We have so many presents under there it's embarrassing." I have to quickly add that our Canadian family spoiled us by sending boxes filled with presents. After all, it's not my fault our modest Christmas is... well... not so modest.

Any-hoo, blogging is the last thing on my mind. The Baarts are too busy playing trains, building Lego, and enjoying a soothing glass of Bailey's on ice. But I am able to pry myself away long enough to direct you to TitleTrakk. This week your "Christian Book, Music, & Movie Terminal" is featuring a Christmas author interview. 27 authors (including myself) have been asked the question: What is your favorite Christmas tradition? The answers make for some fun reading. I encourage you to check it out! And when you're done, take a minute to share. I'd love to know what your favorite Christmas tradition is. :)

Interview

Lena Nelson Dooley at A Christian Writer's World is giving away another copy of Summer Snow. If you missed your chance during Michelle's giveaway last week, you can still win a copy from Lena by posting a comment after my interview. I'm actually sending the book out this time so it will be a signed copy. Just click on the link above and leave a comment. Good luck!

Reviews

I'm so busy right now I just don't have time to blog! Every spare second I can squeeze out of my day is spent working on my third book. My deadline with Tyndale isn't for months, but I've set my own personal due date of June 15. That gives me a few weeks to edit before I turn it in to my agent on July 1. It's so crazy! Don't get me wrong--I love this part. The rush to the end is always exciting... Everything is building to the final climax and the (hopefully) satisfying conclusion. But my mind is so "in it" that I find it hard to focus on anything else. To that end, instead of trying to be interesting, I'm going to direct you to a couple of reviews of Summer Snow. All these wonderful ladies also reviewed Leaves, and I've been honored by the chance to get to know them a bit over the last few months (even if it is via email). I hope you enjoy reading what they had to say about Snow.

Deena at A Peek at My Bookshelf

Anna at Hope Road

Amanda at A Patchwork of Books

Novel Journey Article

Whoops! I completely forgot that a few months ago I wrote an article for the website Novel Journey. Novel Journey is filled with book reviews, author interviews, and tons of advice for readers and writers both published and aspiring. In fact, they recently received the distinction of being one of Writer's Digest 101 most valuble websites for writers. Anyway, a while back the ladies at Novel Journey asked me to collect a few of my suggestions and ideas for writers. The article was posted on Wednesday. Just click on the link to read about the five things that influence my writing the most!

Interview on Writer... Interrupted

With Summer Snow set to release in just over a month, I will be popping in a few different places for interviews and reviews. Gina Conroy at Portrait of a Writer... Interrupted has graciously offered to host me today. Since Gina's blog focuses on being a mom and a writer, you'll learn a lot about how I balance (or try to balance) being a mother, a wife, and an author. Read my tips for getting back on track after being interrupted, and learn how I attempt to juggle writing, staying in shape, and mothering. I'm no pro, but I love to dialogue about this kind of stuff. Anyway, you can also win a FREE BOOK simply by leaving a comment. Gina will pick one person who leaves a comment to receive a signed copy of Summer Snow from me. Head on over and check it out! Don't forget to leave a comment!

Book Club Selection

After the Leaves Fall is the March Faith Point Book Club selection for Books-A-Million! There is a great discussion guide as well as other suggestions for reading Leaves with your book club. Check it out! And if you do have a book club that would like to discuss Leaves, I'd love to participate in some way. Drop me an email and I'll answer some of your questions or even set up a time for a phone chat with your group.

Archived Interview

Well, yesterday I had the chance to spend a little time with Steve Bonenberger at Business Talk Radio Network. Originally the interview was supposed to lead off the second hour of Steve's program, Nexus Found, but for whatever reason he decided to switch my segment to the first hour. I was pretty excited about that since the first hour of Steve's program airs twice: once in the evening and once in the morning. My mom was the only person who caught it live this morning at 7:00 central time. Anyway, Steve already has the interview archived. If you'd like to hear it, click here and then choose the following segment: 2/28/08 - Hour 1. There is a minute or two of commercials and then the interview is the first thing you'll hear. It runs about 13 minutes.

Have a great weekend!

Radio Interview

On Thursday, February 28 (that's tomorrow!) I'm going to be doing a radio interview on Business Talk Radio Network. Steve Bonenberger hosts a show called Nexus Found on the network, and he regularly highlights authors, artists, musicians, and entreprenuers. The show airs weekdays 8-10pm EST. If you would like to tune in live, I will lead off the second hour of the show (9pm EST). Or, if you would like to catch the show after the fact, you can check out the archives for the Nexus Found program. I'm not very tech saavy, but Steve graciously walked me through the process of tuning in and I'll try to do the same for you!

1. Go to Business Talk Radio Network.

2. Click on the "Listen Live" tab if you intend to listen live. OR

3. Click on "Archives/Podcasts."

4. Find Steve Bonenberger's profile and Nexus Found.

5. Click on 02/28/08 - Hour 2.

Happy listening!

Interview on RelzReviewz

There's nothing terribly interesting for me to blog about these days, so why don't you pop on over to RelzReviewz. I did an interview with Rel about After the Leaves Fall, Summer Snow, and life in general. She also has lots of other interesting interviews and insightful reviews--you won't be disappointed! Click here for the interview and here for the review of Leaves.

Another Cool Review

There's another great review of After the Leaves Fall! As if you haven't read enough already. Anyway, more reviews means more exposure so I'm thrilled. This one is from an Aussie--gotta love that, too. Oh how I'd love to go there someday... At any rate, I'll stop babbling and let you check it out. Have fun browsing around RelzReviewz!

"Leaves" on USA Today!

So I just got a really cool email... Michelle's review of After the Leaves Fall is on USA Today Online! How fabulous is that? I don't know how she pulled it off (magic? friends in high places?), but I sure would give her a bone-crushing hug if I could get my arms around her! Best of all, Michelle's review is littered with the hope of a loving God who longs to make all things new. What a neat message to promote in such a public forum. Anyway, check it out at USA Today. And leave a comment--you can still win a free book!

National Adoption Month

November is a special month for my family. It marks my oldest son's birthday, our trip to Ethiopia to bring our baby son home, Thanksgiving, of course, and now, an event that is particularly special to us: National Adoption Month. I could write volumes on what adoption has meant to our family, but rather than strike out on my own promote awareness of adoption, I'm going to send you over to Linda Hargrove's excellent website. I'm so excited about what she's doing and I encourage you to spend some time at her blog!

Linda is a debut novelist, an adoptive mother, and an advocate for Biblical racial reconciliation. She's a beautiful woman with an equally beautiful mission. And all month she has opened up her blog for other adoptive parents to post their family stories. Today Linda has posted my adoption story, or at least a part of it. Head on over and check it out. And don't forget to leave a comment and encourage Linda in all the Lord is calling her to do!

Also, you still have a few more days to sign up for the FREE books I'm giving away. Scroll down to the next post and add your comment to be entered!

Final Stop (on the illustrious bloggity blog tour)

My final blog tour stop is this week! Wow, these past ten weeks flew by. Thank you, THANK YOU from the bottom of my heart to all the lovely ladies who so graciously hosted me on their interesting and entertaining blogs. It has been a real treat getting to know so many people from so many places. Hmmm... No guys though. Interesting, I never thought of that before. Are there any men out there reading my book? Or has it been branded women's lit? Anyway, that's beside the point and I'm getting off track. Bottom line: it's been great. It being all of it: the blog tour, the book, the entire wonderful process. I'm so glad I get to do it again!

This last stop is a fun one for me to end with because Deena didn't mind kicking back a bit when she read After the Leaves Fall. My somewhat ambiguous conclusion wasn't her cup of tea, and she questioned me on it--good for her! I had lots of fun doing this interview because I had the chance to articulate why I did (or didn't do) certain things in the writing of my debut novel. Whether or not you agree with me, I hope you can concede that this sort of dialogue is fun. And, I hope you enjoy the interview.

Hey, there's lots going on this week so stop back soon for some fun news and a GIVEAWAY. Don't you think it's time I gave away one (or a few) of my own books? Call me crazy, but I'm thinking that would be fun... :) See you soon!

Blog Tour: All Week

Only three stops left!

This week I'm sticking close to home at the blog of a woman whom I have known for years. Miriam sewed me a gorgeous, little red dress for my senior prom, and we've been friends ever since. Who wouldn't love a woman who could make a dress like that? Anyway, Miriam is a real gem of a woman and I am so blessed to know her! She's fun and talented and, best of all, she makes me laugh.

Miriam is doing something a little different for her stop on the tour. Instead of posting one big interview, she is going to post one question a day. The questions are a little more in-depth so I've spent a bit more time on them. Check back every day for a new question. Click here for Miriam's blog. Happy reading!

Nearing the end...

There are only a few stops left on my blog tour! I can't believe October is half over--what happened to fall?

Anyway, before I get too depressed thinking about the eventual advent of snow (hey, that sounds like a book title to me: The Eventual Advent of Snow), I should let you know that this week I am at Novel Journey. Ane Mulligan reviewed After the Leaves Fall last week at Novel Reviews and now she's posted our interview. There are so many interesting interviews on this site! Have fun browsing around.

Ane and I have a neat connection. She picked up the Advance Reader Copy of ATLF at the International Christian Retail Show in Atlanta this summer. She read it and loved it! Isn't that cool? Then she contacted me via email and we've been in touch ever since. She's a real sweetheart and a writer, too. Ane's encouragement has meant the world to me!

Happy reading! Oh, and I have to slip in a little disclaimer... I did the interview with Ane over three and a half months ago, so when I read it this morning I had to laugh a bit. There are things that I definitely would have said differently today! I think I sound like a bit of a dork. But hey, so it goes. I'm sure I'll look back on all these interview and cringe in the not-so-distant future. Argh. All my stupid thoughts saved for posterity in the bowels of the illustrious World Wide Web. Now that's even scarier than the eventual advent of snow.

Halfway through the blog tour...

One of the best things about this new writing gig is all the incredible people that I get to meet. I suppose it started nearly 18 months ago when I got an email from the lovely Becky at Tyndale. She liked the first 50 pages of my book! Can you imagine? Since then I've had the opportunity to fly out to Chicago to meet many more people at Tyndale (they are all so amazing), as well as "meet" online numerous reviewers, critics, agents, and people I totally consider newfound friends. How fun is that?

I guess I'm getting a little carried away reminding you that the next stop on my blog tour is Amanda's website, A Patchwork of Books. Not only is Amanda adorable, but she loves books--loves, loves them. Is crazy about them. Her reading lists astound me! Oh to be able to devour books like this girl can... Anyway, Amanda was sweet enough to make room for After the Leaves Fall in her schedule, and I am honored that she was willing to host me this week. I have thoroughly enjoyed getting to know her through email and her blog. Check it out! She's a sweetheart, you don't want to miss this one.

Also, I have to post a link to Carrie's site again. I had a booksigning in a nearby town this past Friday and Carrie dropped by! It was so much fun to meet her in person after all our internet correspondence. What a wonderful woman. Anyway, someone snapped a photo of the two of us at the signing. I'll have to print that one off and save it forever. It's my first booksigning picture!

Next Blog Tour Stop

Time for another stop on the blog tour! This week I am hanging out with Becky at "In The Pages." Though Becky is a librarian and book lover, we actually did not meet via our shared bookish world. Instead, we first ran into each other at a support group meeting for adoptive parents! Becky is the mother of a beautiful daughter from China (with another one on the way). I admire her as a mom and as an amazing woman of God. One of my favorite things about her is that I keep running into people who say to me, "Do you know Becky? You would just love her--she's so great!" And it's true. Head on over to Becky's blog and check out our little chat. But don't stop there, be sure to spend some time perusing her book picks. She has a brilliant mind and a great eye for a good read. (And I'm not just talking about After the Leaves Fall!)

PS - Tomorrow I'll have the complete blog tour list up and running!

Blog Tour: First Stop

Guilty admission: I'm scrambling a bit to put together this blog tour.

Truth is, I've never done anything like this before, and I just don't know what it should look like. But my first "stop" on said illustrious book tour is coming up tomorrow!

I suppose I'd better point you in the direction of the wonderful Carrie, lover of "small world" coincidences and all around fantastic person. We "met" online via one of those small world connections, and though we live all of twelve miles apart I'm a little embarrassed to admit that we have not yet met in person. But plans to get together are in the works!

Anyway, I'm babbling. Pop on over to Carrie's website tomorrow for a review of After the Leaves Fall, an interview with me, and a chance to win a copy of the book! I'm not sure how many she has, but Carrie will be giving away a few copies of After the Leaves Fall. Be sure to stop by and enjoy her thoughtful blog.

And check back here tomorrow. I hope to have the complete list of sites and dates for the blog tour.