Deeanne Gist - www.deeannegist.com - Inspirational Romance Author

August 04, 2008

Gotta Have It!

While in San Francisco last week, my sister and brother-in-law (who live in the area) took me to Half Moon Bay (about 20 miles south of the city). What fun it was to see them and what a GREAT town. We walked the streets, visited the shops, spent lots of time in bookstores, ate a yummy lunch and drove back to the city via the coast with the top down on the convertible.

My favorite store that we visited was called Gotta Have It. It was filled with collectibles and all kinds of unusual merchandise. It's got so much stuff that you could go a million times and still see something you missed the last visit.

These are some of the things that I saw and said, "Oh, I Gotta Have It!":

A sign for our upstairs bathroom.

A door-hanger for my office when I'm on deadline and having to crunch out chapters.

And my favorite, two pairs of Crazy Glasses and Crazy Girls!:

Next week, I'll show you pics from the actual conference, which will include pics of the RITA winner for Best Inspirational 2008, pics of Susan May Warren, and pics of our very own Chat Room member, Evelyn!

posted by Deeanne on 08/04/2008 - 1 comments - Post a Comment

July 28, 2008

See You In San Francisco!

With the release of the new book, Deep in the Heart of Trouble, I've done a flurry of book signings lately. But I have to admit, this is the first time I've ever seen my name on a marquee and that was kind of fun and a bit surreal.

I did that particular book signing with Romantic Suspense author Laura Griffin. I'd never read Laura's books before, but she signed one for me and I read it this past weekend. Loved it and went out to buy her second one. Her books have an Evanovich feel to them--a mixture of humor, romance and suspense. (Disclaimer: If you are sensitive to sensuality content, be aware that Griffin's novels are secular.) She's won me over, though, and I intend to keep my eye on the shelves for her upcoming September release, Thread of Fear.

I also did a signing in the Orlando area with Cathy Marie Hake (in the middle wearing the white jacket) and Judith Miller (far right). A local librarian, Linda Goff (next to me), was the force behind this event and I really enjoyed meeting her, along with another local librarian and the staff of the Borders we were signing at. Linda gave us each a star-shaped lapel-pin that lights up when you wear it. It is now part of my standard book-signing equipment. :)

If you've missed these signings, I'll be in San Francisco this week for a "Literacy for Life" book signing at the San Francisco Marriott on Wednesday (July 30) from 5:30 to 7:30. I'll be joining over 500 other romance authors, so if you come, bring your walking shoes! The event is a fund raiser for ProLiteracy Worldwide. Hope to see you there! (For my full 2008 schedule, click here.)

posted by Deeanne on 07/28/2008 - 7 comments - Post a Comment

July 22, 2008

Whew

After spending over thirty hours trying to solve our internet woes, I think I finally have them conquered. Lord willing. So, I'm going to write like mad for the rest of the week to make up for all that lost time and will blog again on Monday.

Have a great week!

posted by Deeanne on 07/22/2008 - 5 comments - Post a Comment

July 14, 2008

2008 Christy Awards

The Christy Awards were announced this weekend at the International Christian Retail Show. And the winners are:

CONTEMPORARY (stand alone)
Chasing Fireflies, by Charles Martin
{Thomas Nelson}

CONTEMPORARY (series, sequels, novellas)
Home To Holly Springs, by Jan Karon
{Viking Penquin}

HISTORICAL
A Proper Pursuit, by Lynn Austin
{Bethany House}

LITS
Hallie's Heart, by Shelly Beach
{Kregel Publications}

ROMANCE
Remembered, by Tamera Alexander
{Bethany House}

SUSPENSE
The Cure, by Athol Dickson
{Bethany House}

VISIONARY
Scarlet, by Stephen R. Lawhead
{Thomas Nelson}

YOUNG ADULT
Hollywood Nobody, by Lisa Samson
{NavPress}

FIRST NOVEL
The Stones Cry Out, by Sibella Giorello
{Revell}

Another great year for Bethany House!! Congrats to all the winners!

posted by Deeanne on 07/14/2008 - 12 comments - Post a Comment

July 07, 2008

First Starbucks Ever

Greg and I spent the Fourth in Seattle for some much needed R&R. While there we went to Pikes Place Market. It started back in 1907 when the price of onions increased tenfold. So, the Seattle City Council put together a street market where farmers brought in wagon loads of goods and sold directly to the consumer.

On the first day, 10,000 consumers greeted the 10 wagons that rolled up to First Avenue and Pike Street. Today Pikes Market Place is considered America's premiere Farmer's Market and has 200 businesses, 190 craftsmen and 120 farmers.

It is also the home of the world's FIRST Starbucks. And I was there. It's a small place with a bar to order at (but not sit at) and a few shelves of goodies. I bought their exclusive Pikes Place gift cards for each of the kids and would have ordered coffee, but the caffine gives me headaches, so I ordered a peppermint hot chocolate.

We did lots of other things on our getaway. More on that later.

What did you do for the Fourth?

posted by Deeanne on 07/07/2008 - 13 comments - Post a Comment

June 30, 2008

The Wedding Ceremony

We don't have any pictures from the reception yet, but here's a few of my favorites from the wedding ceremony:

Here is our son and his groomsmen. (My husband says this is the first wedding he's been to where the groomsmen had longer hair & more jewelry than the bridesmaids. LOL!) :

The vows. (The preacher is a long time family friend. I was the flowergirl in his wedding 40 years ago!) :

The groom tries to spirit his bride away:

Our 21 yo daughter:

Our 18 yo daughter:

Our 17 yo son. He played the pre-wedding music (4 classical pieces he wrote). He played the wedding march (Bach while the bridesmaids walked in and the traditional Wedding March when the bride walked down the aisle):

Greg & me:

First Dance:

More to come when they are available:

Have a great 4th of July!

posted by Deeanne on 06/30/2008 - 9 comments - Post a Comment

June 23, 2008

Study Abroad Mexico

Our 21 yo daughter is in Mexico for a Study Abroad program. (She's taking Spanish II). We received an email from her this week. Here's an excerpt:

"It's very different from home. i went to walmart yesterday and it was quite an experience. first off, they sell liquor everywhere... gas stations, etc... and at walmart they work off comission, so when we were in the liquor aisle the employees really wanted you to buy their liquor so they would give you shots... haha... crazy! don't worry... i didn't take any... gross!

so on the second night we were here a lot of ppl in our group went to this place called Bali Bar (the bars stay open till 5 in the morning...crazy!) but we left at 2, and when we got home we were locked out of our house.

so me and claudia climbed over the gate but the front door was bolted from the inside so we couldn't get in... haha... we had no idea what to do. we tried the back door, banged really loud on the front door, and threw rocks at the window of the other students in our house (they are two mid-twenties teachers from georgia). but our efforts were to no avail.

we kept noticing the police drive by like four times and then they finally pulled up to where we were and were like what's going on? luckily claudia is fluent in spanish and was able to tell them that we were exchange students and were locked out of our house. so we showed them our school i.d.'s and driver's licenses and the cops called our señora and told them he had us with him outside... so she comes rushing down thinking we had gotten in trouble. haha... it was a little embarassing, but no harm done. i wanted to take a picture with the cops but claudia said that it was inappropriate and wouldn't ask. :[ hahahaha"

LOL. The joys of being young. Can't wait to hear about all the rest of her adventures once she is safely back home. :)

(When I wrote her back, I told her that when I said not to drink the water, I didn't mean to drink the alcohol! Ha!)

posted by Deeanne on 06/23/2008 - 3 comments - Post a Comment

June 16, 2008

A Bride Most Widerspenstige

A Bride Most Begrudging came out in German. It was such fun to receive this book in the mail, open it up and see everything in a completely different language!

The names didn't change. Drew O'Connor was still Drew O'Connor and Lady Constance Morrow was still Lady Constance Morrow. The locations didn't change either. Have a look: