New Fiction Line

During ICRS I had lunch with veteran editor and all-around wonderful gal Barbara Scott, who told me about the new fiction line at Abingdon Press. Abingdon was established in 1789 as an imprint of the United Methodist Church. They've done a lot of nonfiction, and now they're really geared up and excited to launch this fiction line.

Barbara Scott has been hired as Senior Acquisitions Editor for fiction. Barbara has been in publishing and writing for many years herself. She started out as a newspaper reporter and magazine writer. Later she served as acquisitions editor for Honor Books. In the mid 90s she co-wrote with Carrie Younce two Peretti-type thrillers published by Thomas Nelson--Sedona Storm and Secrets of the Gathering Darkness. She later moved to Zondervan to serve as acquisitions editor for Zonderkidz and the new young adult line.

Barbara says Abingdon has a "solid, realistic five-year plan" for developing their fiction line. They want to publish 18-20 fiction titles a year by the end of five years. Their first year, which launches with the first release in the fall of 2009, will see 4-5 titles published. Right now Barbara is looking for:

1. Contemporary women's fiction
2. Romance
3. Chick Lit
4. Suspense
5. Historical

For the first year launch she is not looking for adventure, sci-fi, fantasy or apocalyptic. This is a realistic plan to start a new line with the basic genres. "Depending on how things go," she says, they may publish the other genres in the future.

Barbara is an eclectic reader. She wants "to publish books I'd like to read and work with authors I enjoy." She's not interested in running after someone just because he/she is a "big name" in the industry. She is "excited about building new authors who have worked and worked on their craft but haven't yet been able to break in." She is looking for "honesty and authentic emotion" in her books. She doesn't want contemporary fiction that's "mostly depressing." She wants hope in the end. As to the spiritual thread, it needs to be "organic" to the story. It doesn't need to be overly strong. "Nobody has to get saved in the book."

Authors interested in submitting to Abingdon must have a finished manuscript to present if asked for it. Barbara will be going through the normal channels for submission--either meeting her at a writers conference or submitting through an agent. Or--readers of this blog can email Barbara directly, saying you read this post and would like to submit--even if you don't have an agent. If Barbara becomes too inundated and needs to pull back from this generous offer, I will amend this post with that news. Barbara's email address is her first name initial and full last name at abingdonpress.com.

My personal advice if you choose to submit: Don't go for overly long books at this point. Although we didn't discuss length, I would suggest 80-100 thousand words. If Barbara wants to amend that, she'll leave a comment.

Sisterchicks Go Brit

This week, the
Christian Fiction Blog Alliance
is introducing

Sisterchicks Go Brit
Multnomah Publishers (May 20, 2008)
by
Robin Jones Gunn


ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

Robin grew up in Orange County, California and has lived in all kinds of interesting places, including Reno and Hawaii.

Robin’s first novel was published in 1988, and she has continued to write between two to five books a year. Her 63 published books include 47 novels, all of which are still in print. Sales of her popular Christy Miller Series, Glenbrooke Series and Sisterchicks Series, including Sisterchicks in Gondolas and the new Katie Weldon Series including Peculiar Treasures all of which are approaching four million copies sold, with translations in nine languages.

Robin’s passion for storytelling and travel are evident in all her books, especially the Sisterchicks novels, and she has received thousands of letters from readers around the world who have come to know Christ through her writing. She sees this as her dream come true. Her novels are traveling to foreign lands and her characters are doing what she always longed to do; telling people about God’s love.

She and her husband currently live near Portland, Oregon and have been married for 30 years. They spent their first 22 years of marriage working together in youth ministry, and enjoying life with their son and daughter who are now both grown.

As a frequent speaker at local and international events, one of Robin’s favorite topics is how God is the Relentless Lover and we are His first love. She delights in telling stories of how God uses fiction to change lives.

Robin is the recipient of the Christy Award, the Mt. Hermon Pacesetter Award, the Sherwood E. Wirt Award and is a Gold Medallion Finalist. She also serves on the Board of Directors for Media Associates International and the Board of Directors for Jerry Jenkins’ Christian Writers’ Guild.



ABOUT THE BOOK
SISTERCHICK® n: a friend who shares the deepest wonders of your heart, loves you like a sister, and provides a reality check when you’re being a brat.

Two midlife mamas hop over to jolly ole England and encounter so much more than the usual tourist stops. Liz does have a bit of a childhood crush on Big Ben, and she has hoped to “meet” him ever since her fifteenth birthday. Kellie dreams of starting an interior design business and figures Liz needs to be a part of that equation–a calculation that hasn’t added up for Liz yet.

Nothing on the excursion goes the way these two friends had envisioned. They start with a village pancake race and end up being held for questioning on The Underground. Kellie and Liz take a wild tour through the land of C. S. Lewis and J. R. R. Tolkien and then find themselves swept up, up, and away in a hot air balloon over the Cotswalds. London beckons with the Tower of London, Windsor Castle, shopping at Portabella Road in Knotting Hill, and of course, reservations at the Ritz for a posh high tea.

A few detours along the way and the possibility of being lost in a London fog of wonderment aren’t enough to stop these two Sisterchicks! Each step of their regal journey is lined with evidence of God’s gracious compassion, and both come to realize that God knows their every wish. He is the One who planted every dream in their hearts.

And, oh, what a surprise awaits them when they return home!


To read the first chapter, go HERE

“Robin has done it again! You and your Sisterchicks will love taking this new adventure together!”
- Karen Kingsbury, New York Times best-selling author of Between Sundays and Ever After

“My only complaint about Robin’s latest is that now I want to hop a plane to England! But combine a cup of Earl Grey tea and this charming story and you’re halfway there. Another delightful tale about women helping women to live their lives to the fullest.”
- Melody Carlson, author of These Boots Weren’t Made for Walking and A Mile in My Flip-Flops

“Sisterchicks in Gondolas is a true delight. The characters shine, and evocative language will make any reader want to visit Venice. Biblical truths are portrayed simply, yet will touch hearts and lives with their realistic application.”
- Romantic Times magazine

Zondervan Fiction Writers Contest

Announced at the Christy banquet on Saturday night: Zondervan is sponsoring a contest for unpublished novelists. Full guidelines will soon be posted on the Z website. When they are, I'll let you know. For now, here are the basics.

Unpubbed fiction authors, start getting your manuscripts ready now. There will be three rounds of judging for the contest. In the first round each author will submit a proposal for a novel. These will be judged and winnowed down. Those who make it through the first round will be asked to submit the complete manuscript. These will go through a second round of judging and be narrowed down to finalists. (Not sure how many--the guidelines will say.) The finalists will be judged by selected Zondervan authors to determine the winner.

The winner will be announced at next year's Mt. Hermon Writer's Conference, held over Palm Sunday weekend. Winning prize: publication of the novel by Zondervan.

Start polishing those wips!

All dressed up for the Christy Banquet:

Left to right--Angie Hunt, Robin Lee Hatcher, Sunni Jeffers,

Terri Blackstock, Marlo Schalesky, Tracy Higley, Brandilyn Collins

ChiLibris Retreat/Christy Awards

In case you haven't heard yet, here are the winners of the 2008 Christy Awards:

Contemporary Stand Alone: Charles Martin, Chasing Firelies
Contemporary Series: Jan Karon, Home to Holly Springs
First Novel: Sibella Giorello, The Stones Cry Out
Historical: Lynn Austin, A Proper Pursuit
Lits: Shelly Beach, Hallie's Heart
Romance: Tamera Alexander, Remembered
Suspense: Athol Dickson, The Cure
Visionary: Stephen Lawhead, Scarlet
Young Adult: Lisa Samson, Hollywood Nobody

Today in Orlando ICRS, the International Christian Retail Show, begins. Since last Thursday I've been at a novelist's retreat, hanging out with some of the wonderful people who write fiction for the Christian market. We discuss the craft and the business, encourage each other and generally have a whole lot of fun. There were about 70 in attendance. Below are a few photos I was able to catch.

Tomorrow and the next day I'll be blogging about some news of the industry: (1) a brand new fiction line you'll want to hear about, and (2) a contest for unpublished authors with a wonderful grand prize.

Tom Morrisey, Christy Finalist

Sarah Sumpolec, Sharon Ewell Foster

Robin Lee Hatcher, Tammy Alexander (Christy winner)

Robin Jones Gunn

Randy Alcorn

Nancy Rue, Randy Singer

Nancy Moser, Creston Mapes

Karen Ball, Francine Rivers, Karen Kingsbury

James Scott Bell, Terri Blackstock

Rene Gutteridge, Denise Hunter,

Kristin Billerbeck (Christy finalist), Wanda Dyson

Gayle Roper, Brad Whittington

Dave and Neta Jackson

Robert Whitlow

Angela Hunt

Allie Pleiter, Lynn Austin (Christy winner)

Boston Concert

Today I'm off to Orlando. Got up at 3:45 a.m. to catch a 6:30 flight out of San Francisco. I'll blog from the retreat/convention as I can.

Tuesday night I got to rock out at a concert of one of my favorite bands from the 70s--Boston. I laid out the money for seats in the 3rd row, dead center. We were 10 feet from the stage. Awesome! My husband ended up having to travel for business that night, so I took my local author friend Dineen Miller along.

Sadly, two years ago the lead singer of Boston, Brad Delp, committed suicide. The band found their new lead singer through a MySpace page. Who's the new lucky guy? Tommy DeCarlo, an employee at Home Depot, who's always loved Boston. He sounds a lot like Delp, who had quite a vocal range. But DeCarlo kinda looks like a Home Depot guy. :) Definitely not the rocker image.

Wind River

This week, the
Christian Fiction Blog Alliance
is introducing
Wind River
(Bethany House July 1, 2008)
by

Tom Morrisey

FIRST LINE:

The morning sun had just cleared the summits to the east, and the grass in the small valley was still thick with dew, wetting the boots and the shins of the man and the boy.

MY TAKE:

I was really looking forward to receiving this book, as I loved High Places. I've just started reading Wind River. Tom takes his time with story and characters, allowing plot and nuances to unfold slowly. I'm fully prepared to enjoy this book, and I do recommend Tom's writing highly.

By the way, High Places is now up for a Christy Award. Winners will be announced at the banquet this Saturday.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

Tom Morrisey is a mountaineer, aviator, shipwreck diver, and explorer, who holds a Full Cave certification from the National Speleological Society - Cave Diving Section.

He has launched, edited or contributed to numerous national publications and is an award-winning adventure-travel writer. A popular speaker, he is also active in both evangelism and the arts. Morrisey earned an MFA in creative writing from Bowling Green State University, and his fiction has been featured in numerous anthologies and magazines.

His first novel, Yucatan Deep (Zondervan, 2002) was a finalist for the Christy award, and he is the author of four other novels: In High Places (Bethany House Publishers, 2007), Dark Fathom (Zondervan, 2005), Deep Blue, (Zondervan 2004), and Turn Four (Zondervan 2004). In addition Tom has also written two nonfiction books: 20 American Peaks & Crags (Contemporary Books, 1978) and Wild by Nature (Baker Books, 2001). He and his family live in Orlando, Florida.

ABOUT THE BOOK


You Can't Outrun the Sins of Your Past

Desperate to forget what happened to him in Iraq, Tyler Perkins flees to the emptiness of Wyoming. He's here to escape and also to fulfill a long-ago promise by accompanying his 86-year-old friend Soren Andeman on a fly-fishing trip--once more for old time's sake. But their trek to an idyllic trout lake soon becomes something more deeply harrowing--a journey that uncovers long-held lies, deadly crimes, and the buried secrets of the past. Ty barely has time to contemplate the question of what constitutes justice when nature unleashes her own revenge. Trapped in a race back to safety, he must face his own guilt-ridden past or risk being consumed.

Powerfully imagined by the acclaimed author of In High Places, Wind River is an engaging wilderness adventure that explores the power of confession, the beauty of forgiveness, and the freedom of truth unveiled.

If you would like to read the first chapter, go HERE.

"Mornings" on FamilyNet

I should have put this up yesterday. Chalk the oversight up to my currently crazier-even-than-usual schedule. Today I'm on the live "Mornings" show with Lorri and Larry, aired on FamilyNet radio and also shown on FamilyNet TV. (Check the web site for channels.) "Mornings" airs live on Sirius radio channel 161 from 6 - 9 a.m. Eastern. I'm on at 8:20 a.m. Eastern for about 20 minutes. I think you can listen to archives from their web site, in case you miss it and want to hear what went on. Seeing as how 8:20 Eastern is 5:20 a.m. my time, I will do my best not to get my tangue tongled.

Lorri and Larry will be talking to me about Amber Morn and my Kanner Lake series. Besides whatever else they decide to ask.

The Edge of Recall

This week, the
Christian Fiction Blog Alliance
is introducing
The Edge Of Recall
(Bethany House July 1, 2008)
by
Kristen Heitzmann

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

Of her three main interests, art, music and writing, she chose to study English at the University of Colorado and thrived on Creative Writing and Literature classes. She married her husband Jim, and turned her energy to building a family. They have four children whom they have home schooled for all or most of their education. Kristen is a music minister with the ecumenical covenant community People of Praise.

Once she realized the stories in her head were truly a calling from the Lord, she made writing not just a passion, but a ministry. She has written seven historical fiction novels as part of the The Rocky Mountain Legacy series, the Diamond of the Rockies series, and the Christy Award winner Secrets. Most recently, she has written several contemporary fiction novels, including Echoes, Freefall and Unforgotten.

Kristen and her husband, Jim, and their family live in Colorado Springs, Colorado, where she serves as worship leader in their church.

ABOUT THE BOOK

Tessa Young, an up-and-coming landscape architect who specializes in the design and creation of labyrinths, has immersed herself in the mythological, spiritual, and healing aspects of the elaborate structures. She also is searching for God and hoping to make sense of the nightmares that have plagued her since childhood.

When Smith Chandler, an estranged colleague--with whom she'd half fallen in love a dozen times before catching herself every time--calls to propose a project he claims is the opportunity of a lifetime, she reluctantly agrees to check it out. Smith is reconstructing a pre-Revolutionary War abbey for wealthy clients. Among its remarkable features is an overgrown labyrinth.

Unable to resist, Tessa accepts his offer to work with him. Soon she is immersed in the project of a lifetime. But one evening, after weeks of work in the labyrinth, Tessa and Smith are attacked. While protecting Tessa, Smith is stabbed, and the nightmare begins...again.

If you would like to read the first chapter, go HERE

Pre ICRS

Hope everyone had a great fourth. We sure did. We always have a big barbeque at the house in Idaho. My son invites a lot of friends, and I'm never quite sure how many are going to show up. Let's just say I do a HUGE store run.

I was expecting to finish Exposure on Wednesday. Didn't happen. As I was reading through it, I saw more that needed to be done to the ending. I worked until midnight that night, then crashed. The next morning I was up early and back at it. Finished in the afternoon and hit the ol' "send" button at 3:00 p.m. I looked up, totally google-eyed, and saw there was a big world out there. And it was almost the fourth! Agh, I hadn't even done the store run yet.

After a great holiday we came back to California yesterday. Today through Wednesday I'm in my California office, then Thursday it's off to the ChiLibris novelist's retreat and ICRS--the annual publishing convention. In Orlando. In July. I shall not be taking jackets.

As with most authors at ICRS I'll have meetings with my agent, my publisher, interviews here and there, plus a signing on the floor. I will be signing with Michael Snyder of clairvoyant dog fame. We ought to have a great time. He'll be signing copies of My Name is Russel Fink, and I'll be signing Amber Morn. Now what kind of appropriate stunt do you think we should pull? Maybe he could bring a dog, and I'll take it hostage? I'm listening to any ideas you might have.

Christian Fiction Online Magazine

Kudos to the Christian Fiction Blog Alliance for its brand-new periodical (Michelle Sutton, editor). It's a very nice-looking piece of work. Lots of articles for readers and writers. Check out Christian Fiction Online Magazine.

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Exposure update:

Wrote 16 hours Monday, 14 yesterday. TYPED THE LAST WORD OF MY MANUSCRIPT YESTERDAY! Today I am going through the whole thing for one final edit.

I'm tired but happy.

Tomorrow I'm goin' shoppin'.