Grace-filled Tuesdays (Book Club "Meeting" #13): Reader Feedback, with Some Spoilers

The book club met today, over at my flagship blog, to talk about Finding Grace.  I received a lovely email from an 8th grade reader, a young lady whose class I visited in January; I couldn't help but share some of what she had to say with club members in hopes of starting a lively discussion.

Head on over to String of Pearls, if you'd like to read more.  (But be warned: if you haven't read Finding Grace and you plan to, there are some spoilers in the second half of the post.)

Dreams Really Do Come True!

Yesterday, I boxed up three copies of Finding Grace and five copies of Erin's Ring, to fulfill a new order I'd gotten, and then I headed to the post office to mail them to a bookstore.  You know, not a virtual bookstore (like Amazon), but an actual bookstore--with shelves and displays and cash registers and everything.

But the bookstore that put in this order wasn't any old bookstore, no-sir-ee!  It was the Hammes Bookstore at the University of Notre Dame!

That's right!  My books are going to be for sale at Our Lady's university out in South Bend, IN.  I am so excited about this that I'm tempted to hop on a plane to see it with my own eyes (it would be, as Rudy's father said when he saw the football stadium for the first time in the movie Rudy, "the most beautiful sight these eyes have ever seen!").  But I think I'll just try to get one of my two nephews, who are currently students out there, to snap some cell phone pics and forward them to me once the books make it onto the shelves.

Back when Finding Grace first came out in 2012, I contacted the ND bookstore to see if they would be willing to carry it.  (After all, Notre Dame plays a part in that story--and there is even a great scene at the Grotto.)  When nothing came of that, I thought, "Well, I tried."  I'd always known it was a long shot, and I had no plans to try again.

Then last fall, the whole Pearl clan was out at Notre Dame for a football weekend, and when one of my Pearl sisters-in-law and I were in the bookstore together, we passed a table filled with Irish-themed books.  "Your books belong here," she said.  I told her I'd looked into that years ago, but she countered with, "Yeah, but that was before you were an award winner!"  (My Pearl sisters-in-law are the best cheerleaders in all the land, they truly are.)

Bolstered by my sister-in-law's confidence in me, I decided I didn't have anything to lose; and this time I struck gold (or blue and gold).  It took a while to take care of the business end of things, but the books are now on their way out to the Midwest.  And I am left here in NH, pinching myself, and realizing that sometimes, dreams really do come true!

Grace-filled Tuesdays (Book Club "Meeting" #12)

Today I had a "meeting" of the book club over at String of Pearls.  In that post, I tell you about the December 2015 issue of Catholic Library World, and how it featured some Catholic publishing houses.  Among the publishers mentioned was Cheryl Dickow's Bezalel Books, the publisher of Finding Grace and Erin's Ring.  And Erin's Ring got a nice shout-out on page 106!

If you want to read the full post, click on over and join the club!

Should I, or Shouldn't I?

Write a sequel to Erin's Ring, that is.

These Chicago fourth-graders have answered with an enthusiastic "YES!"

As much as I'd like to please these darling students who gave me such a warm welcome when I visited their classroom last May, I'm just not sure if I should write another book.  I've been mulling it over, and playing around with the idea...

Well, I did blog about this whole can of worms over at String of Pearls today.  If you're interested in reading it, here's the link to that post.  (If you do read it, let me know what you think.)

Book Talk

It's been a while since I posted here at The Write Stuff.  More than a month, in fact.  (String of Pearls is still my favorite child, I guess.  It's not okay to have them as a mother, but I think it's okay to have them as a blogger.)

Today I published a new post called "Bookishness," with some news about my Catholic YA novels, Erin's Ring and Finding Grace.  In it, I copied and pasted the latest Amazon review of ER, a five-star endorsement that made my heart sing.

I also posted a few pictures of my 8th-grade niece's school project, which was all about FG.

There's some talk about book promotion in the post, too, and how blogs can help a whole lot with that process...

Hey, instead of giving you tidbits, why don't I just give you a link to the post in full?  Yeah, that's it; that's what I'll do.

So just click on over, if you're interested in hearing more book talk.

Winners of Erin's Ring Giveaway

Head on over to String of Pearls to find out who won the two signed copies of Erin's Ring, my award-winning Catholic YA novel.  (I was only going to give away one copy; but I changed my mind at the last minute!  Because you guys are the best.)

I'm Giving Away a Not-Kindle Copy of Erin's Ring!

I'm still running a giveaway over at String of Pearls.

Leave me a message in my combox over there at my flagship blog by Oct. 31, and you could win a free signed paperback copy of Erin's Ring.

In the future, Erin's Ring (my second YA Catholic novel, published by Bezalel Books) will most likely be available in Kindle format; but for now, it's being offered in the paperback version only.  Although there are probably many "eReaders" who won't purchase the book until it's available for digital download, I love that it's an honest-to-goodness, old-school, ink-and-paper book.  I love real books.  I have a Kindle and I do use it occasionally; but I much prefer the real deal. 

If you'd like to read more about why I prefer actual books to virtual ones, here's the full post today at String of Pearls.