March 29, 2010

Flipping Out

 My kids have always been thrill seekers. I remember our youngest begging me to stuff heel-lifts into his shoes so he'd be tall enough to ride the upsidedown rollercoaster with his brothers and sisters. He was 4 yo at the time.

As I perused my kids' facebook photo albums, I noticed every single one of them had photos of themselves leaping, jumping and flipping. Check it out.

Our 23 yo daughter pretending to be a ninja:

Our 22 yo son, also pretending to be a ninja:

Our 20 yo daughter at college leaping over the university seal.

Our 19 yo running up a tree, then flipping himself over.

Even the daughter-in-law (the one on the right) gets into it. Here she is with our 23 yo.

And now you know why my kids have had--between them--16 broken bones.  Me? I've never broken a bone in my life. Why? Because I'm into Barbie. Not leaping over tall buildings. :)

What about you? Are you a thrill seeker or do you play it safe?

***

The ARCs (Advanced Reading Copies) of MAID TO MATCH--my new historical coming out in June--have arrived and from now until the official book hits the shelves, we'll be giving away one per week!

If you would like a chance to WIN a free advance copy of my new release, leave a comment here on my blog between now (March 28) and Saturday (April 3).  We will pick a winner at that time, then start all over again next Sunday.

Meanwhile, have a Happy Easter!

posted by Deeanne on 03/29/2010 - 104 comments - Post a Comment    RSS FEED

March 21, 2010

Authors' Retreat

 A couple of weeks ago I didn't post anything because I was on an Authors' Retreat. Well, I've finally uploaded my pics into our scrapbook and am ready to tell you about our amazing week.

I picked up one of our speakers, Carol Johnson, from the airport and we headed to Round Top, Texas. A small quaint town outside of Austin. We were the last to arrive--other than Cathy Marie Hake who'd broken her wrist the night before in her hotel room!!!

Anyway, Tracie Peterson, who hosted the event, welcomed us, gave us our room assignments and schedules and released us to chat with old friends and meet new ones.  The following day Carol Johnson--a Christian publishing icon--spoke to us about the publishing industry. She was relaxed and personable. It was as if she'd invited us all into her living room for a chat. Everyone really enjoyed her wisdom and her sweet spirit.

Later that afternoon I did a presentation on the life of a Victorian servant, then the rest of the day was left open so those of us who needed to work could work and those of us who didn't could play!

The next day Cathy Marie Hake gave a presentation on medicine and procedures in the 1800s and that night the "Victorian Lady" arrived in full costume to educate us on the mourning customs of Victorian women. It was fascinating! The next morning she did another presentation on Victorian customs for pregnancy and post-delivery.

The rest of the week was open and we worked, we played and we ate 3-squares a day cooked especially for us by the magnificent Merrill DeGroot.

For pics, more intimate details and a chance to see me strapped into a corset, go to my Circle of Friends and click on the Scrapbook!

posted by Deeanne on 03/21/2010 - 4 comments - Post a Comment    RSS FEED

March 15, 2010

Game for Book Clubs

Bethany House put together a game for book clubs who are reading and discussing Beguiled. It has a Clue-like feel to it, but instead of Colonel Mustard in the library with the candlestick, you can have Detective Campbell at the Petrie's with the mourning brooch. :)

The "game board" is a basic map of the historic district of Charleston (which Bethany House will provide, along with the game pieces). But if you want to use the deluxe map drawn in 3D that Mark and I used while writing the novel (the one shown in the photo), you can order it from www.charlestonillustrated.com. Bethany House is giving away 5 of these deluxe maps to the first five book clubs who participate.

The way you play is to find landmarks/streets/houses that are mentioned in the story, then place the appropriate game pieces on the map. You might place Logan in White Points Garden near the Confederate Memorial. Rylee could be rollerblading down Tradd Street. George Reid might be working in the Sebastian's yard. The bronze statue could be placed at First Scots Presbyterian. Then you can move the pieces around--Rylee & Logan can meet for coffee at City Lights, or lunch at North of Broad. You can find the Ben Silver shop where Logan buys Rylee a formal gown. And so on until every member of the book club has had a turn finding and placing a game piece.

To order your basic map and playing pieces, go to bookclub@bethanyhouse.com. For more book club ideas for Beguiled and all my books, go to the Bookstore tab here on my site and click "Book Club Perks" in the sidebar. We have discussion guides and activities and refreshment ideas. For Beguiled, we've included pics from my crawfish boil and my sister's shrimp boil! :)

It was interesting to me to see how the graphics team (at Bethany House) pictured the characters and the stolen items. (To see a larger image, right click the photo and open in a new window.) I think they nailed them. What do you think?

posted by Deeanne on 03/15/2010 - 6 comments - Post a Comment    RSS FEED

March 08, 2010

Maid To Match Excerpt

I've uploaded an exclusive excerpt from Maid To Match for my Circle of Friends. Here's a peek at how the excerpt starts: 

Mack Danver stood stiffly beneath the archway in front of Biltmore House as its heavy wooden door creaked open. His chest tightened. It might as well have been the entrance to Central Prison in Raleigh.

A middle-aged man in a dark navy suit stepped onto the landing, his jowls slackening. “Earl! What are you doing out here? And dressed like that?”

“I’m not Earl. I’m his twin brother, Mack. Mrs.Vanderbilt told me to come.” 

To finish, click on the maroon & gold heart at the top corner of this page, then click on the open book on the table. (If you haven't registered yet, it will only take a moment and entrance into DCF [Dee's Circle of Friends] is free.)

You'll find this excerpt and also a "Deleted Scene from Beguiled"--both newly uploaded this week. You can post your comments there or come back and post them here. Enjoy!

posted by Deeanne on 03/08/2010 - 7 comments - Post a Comment    RSS FEED

March 01, 2010

Getting Organized, Free Kindle Download and Writer Scholarship

I've run out of shelf space. I collect so many research books that don't have any more shelves to put them on. Some of the books I use over and over (like the 1897 Sears Roebuck Catalog). But some are unique to the book I was writing (like The History of Navarro County, Texas).

So this box organizer was ranked #1 on my Christmas list. That way, I can store my books in a numbered box, then go to the web and tag them in my librarything.com account. For example, my research books from A Bride Most Begrudging are in three boxes. I labeled the boxes 1A, 1B and 1C.  For the research books I used with my second book, The Measure of a Lady, I labeled the storage boxes 2A, 2B and 2C. 

Then, I went to librarything.com, entered the research titles and what box they were in. Now, if I'm looking for a specific book, I can look it up on librarything and it tells me exactly what box to find it in.

This system worked great until I got to books six and seven (Beguiled and Maid To Match). All of a sudden, I had a bunch of boxes piled on top of each other and no easy way to get to them. While I was on a plane, I saw this cool box organizer in the SkyMall catalog.  I tore the sheet out and told Greg & the kids that was what I wanted for Christmas.

And that's exactly what I got. I assembled it last month and put it in the garage. Now have all my boxes at my fingertips. Not all of these boxes are full. I have several empty ones--which will give me room for growth.

What about you? Do you have special ways to organize your books or other stuff so that you have access to them on occasion without overloading your shelves or climbing up into the attic?

***

The Kindle version of A Bride Most Begrudging is being offered for FREE for a limited time only. The promotion started today!

***

Cec Murphey is giving a full scholarship (including lodging and meals) to the May 12-15 Colorado Christian Writers Conference to a member of ACFW (American Christian Fiction Writers Assoc). The conference is held at the YMCA of the Rockies in Estes Park (northwest of Denver Int’l Airport). 
 
Clinics include a Beginning Novelist Clinic with Tracie & Jim Peterson, Fiction Intensive with Robert Liparulo, The Joy of Unblocked Creativity with Liz Babbs from Great Britain and Sue Cameron, and a Nonfiction Book Proposal Clinic with Cindy Lambert.

This year their eight continuing sessions include Dave Lambert’s Advanced Fiction Writing CS, The Lightbox Method, and Ted Baehr’s Breakthrough Scriptwriting. 

One of the special features of CCWC is the opportunity to meet one-on-one for 15 minutes with FOUR faculty members of your choice. A 5th appointment is available for the first 50 to register.
 
For more info visit http://www.writehisanswer.com/Colorado . Click on Scholarships to apply for the Cec Murphey ACFW scholarship. The deadline is March 20, 2010.

posted by Deeanne on 03/01/2010 - 11 comments - Post a Comment    RSS FEED

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