Fun Fiction Event Day at LifeWay

I had a nice time book signing at LifeWay today for their National Fiction Event. They have a wonderful staff and delicious cookies and lemonade was served to their customers. Depite the cloudy skies the store was busy and one of my sweet fans drove up from LaGrange, GA for me to autograph her copy of my book. This is Lori and me in the photo. She's become quite the blogger and reviewer of Christian novels. You can check it out here:
http://sugarandgrits.blogspot.com/.

I was very flattered that she and her mom, Gwen (Gwendlyn), would drive that far to my book signing. Thank you both. It was nice getting to know you more.

I also met new readers and Marc Amason, the manager, took a photo of a gentleman who also bought bought my books. So I hope he'll send me a copy. It's not everyday that men will purchase romance books, but I have to tell you, my list of male readers has grown. I'm really happy about that.

Wednesday night I'll be siging at The Bookmark, my church bookstore at Johnson Ferry Baptist Church in Marietta and I'm looking forward to that. My dear friend Dottie runs the bookstore there. My church and choir buddies have really supported my writing dream.

Before I sign off, I have a new post up today at www.bustlesandspurs.com. It's a short article on my recent trip out West. I'll be posting more about some of the lights of my research soon.
So stay tuned and have a wonderful Lord's Day tomorrow.

LIFEWAY BOOK SIGNING THIS SATURDAY

This Saturday, I'll be signing at LifeWay Christian Bookstore on Barrett Pkwy. in Kennesaw, GA at their National Fiction Book Event. My new book was just released and I'm looking forward to signing there. I'll be there from 11-1 pm. I hope if you're in the greater Atlanta area that you'll drop by. I love to meet my readers. This is what others are saying about The Jewel of His Heart...

Romantic Times Magazine-4 Star Review-The second book in the Heart of the West series, this is a witty, tender love story with a few adventures added to the mix. The characters are down to earth, funny, caring and have incredibly strong faith in God.

"Maggie Brendan is adept at weaving a sweet love story, and The Jewel of His Heart showcases her penchanct for capturing the Old West in authentic dialogue, in vivid descriptions, and in the struggle of two hearts destined to become one. Within these pages indeed lies a jewel."

Tamera Alexander, bestselling author of From a Distance, Beyond ThisMoment, and The Inheritance


"With its tender love story and vivid imagery of a time gone by, Maggie Brendan's gentle style of prairie romance is reminiscent of Janette Oke, capturing the heart of both the Old West and the reader with romance that will make you sigh."

Julie Lessman, author of the Daughters of Boston series

"For an action-filled historical romance, look no further than The Jewel of His Heart. Maggie Brendan blends colorful characters, lively dialogue, and intriguing historical details to create a memorable story of love and faith in the Old West."

Amanda Cabot, author of Paper Roses

"Maggie Brendan gives readers an authentic look into the past, painting a tapestry with words that draws us into Montana in the 1890's. This story has enough surprises to keep readers turning the pages, and the characters live on in our hearts long after we've finished reading the book."

Lena Nelso Dooley, award-winning author of Wild Pairie Roses, Wild West Christmas, and Love Finds You in Golden, New Mexico

LIFE CHANGING PRAISE EVENT

Join me this Sunday morning for a great choral presentation by the Johnson Ferry Santuary Choir and Orchestra, in Marietta, GA. We perform at all 3 worship services and you don't want to miss it if you live in the area. Information below.

http://www.johnsonferry.org/NewsEvents/tabid/102/ctl/Details/Mid/728/ItemID/445/Default.aspx?selecteddate=10/4/2009

I wanted to upload the picture but for some reason blogger won't cooperate tonight.
Hope you can attend.

BOOK GIVEAWAY

Here's your chance to win the first give away for my new book, The Jewel of His Heart. Nora Stlaurent, Our ACFW Book Club Assistant has an fun interview of me on her blog today.

All you need to do is post a comment to be entered in the drawing.

http://www.psalm516.blogspot.com/.

Atlanta is having awesome weather today after all the flooding again yesterday. Hope you're having a beautiful Sunday afternoon where you are.

THE JEWEL OF HIS HEART HAS ARRIVED!

My copies of The Jewel of His Heart arrived yesterday! What a great cover Revell created. The model is perfect for my heroine. I even took time to sit down and start reading it myself--it always reads better than my loose paper version :) I've been so honored to have Julie Lessman, winner of the Book of the Year for ACFW conference in Denver last Saturday night and Tamera Alexander, a Christy award winning author endorsed this book.

Drop by http://bustlesandspurs.com this morning for my latest blog post on MT and my newest release. I have two book signings in October so far and I'll post the time on my blog later.

Atlanta has a bit of sunshine today and I'm grateful after all the recent flooding we've just had. My prayers & heart goes out to those who've lost loved ones and their homes...

FROM ENDING TO BEGINNING

I thought you might like to see what three novels look like before galleys and before they're made into page proofs. I usually start out with a small notebook, the 3 ring binder kind. Once I get further along, I print out each chapter with tabs for each one. I have a divider for history proof and research. Another section I have is for a couple of correspondence from my editor or agent and maybe marketing. Last, but not least, I have a section for my support, and I have so many and I’m so lucky to have them. Notice that I don't have art work for the cover yet for A Love of Her Own.

Now for The New Beginning…I’ve just signed another contract with Revell for a new series entitled, The Blue Willow Brides. Of course, I’m never sure if they will keep my series title or book titles. Book one is Deeply Devoted, book two, Three Little Words, and the last one, Timeless Perfection. This time I’ll try not to get too attached to the titles but will still fight for them. It will be about three sisters, the eldest committed to her younger sisters welfare. This idea came to me when searching for the next book idea as I wandered into my living room and dining room. I looked fondly at my Blue Willow in my hutch that I have collected and thought about the first time I ever saw Blue Willow. My sweet brother, Sam and his wife Olevia, gave me a Blue Willow tea set when I was in the third grade. Since then I’ve been fascinated with its beauty and have decorated my home with the beautifully designed plates. My brother died in June right after I finished book 3, but Olevia died years before. How precious the thought when it came to me to base my next book around a woman’s only cherished possession besides her Bible.

I’m excited about this new series, but along with that, I feel a touch of anxiety to create the best that I can to make the readers happy. In the long run, I have to make myself happy because I know that not everyone will like them. To which I say--then don’t pick up an inspirational historical. I do strive to write about the West in the truest and most honest form that I can, enjoying all the research that it takes to find that one little tid-bit to make the story come alive.

I’ll be talking about the series as I get the momentum going. I’ve already made up the new notebook and started what will soon become one of the larger ones you see on my desk. I look forward to filling it with adventures of three beautiful heroines from Holland…

MEET MY EDITOR

Recently I had breakfast at the famous Flying Biscuit with my editor, Andrea Doering. It was so good to meet her face to face after communicating through phone calls and emails. Andrea was so easy to talk to and I was glad that we didn't talk about edits or the industry, but spent time talking about our families and later my writing.

It's a special thing when you connect with your editor, not to mention the fact that she enjoys my novels and told me that she always learns something when she reads them. How cool is that? I'll tell you--it makes me want to do my best on the next novel to insure that I find a forgotten but interesting historical piece that will work within my story.

I really appreciate the fact that she took time before her conference in NC to drive down to Marietta to meet me. Breakfast was great and a new frienship was formed that I hope will continue for a long time.

DYED-IN-THE-WOOL

This is my Pendleton Mouse Pad


Hi folks! Hope your week is off to a great start! Just dropping in to tell you that I have a new blog posted on Bustles and Spurs today that you might find interesting. It's all about Pendleton. Check it out. http://www.bustlesandspurs.com/.

ATLANTA CHRISTIAN EXAMINER INTERVIEW

Good morning friends!

I have an interview up on the Atlanta Christian Examiner Online by Tracy Ruckman. I enjoy doing interviews because it allows me to connect with my readers and hopefully they can learn a little something about me as well. Check it out - http://www.examiner.com/x-9177-Christian-Writing-Examiner~y2009m8d3-3x3-Interviews-Maggie-Brendan.

Now back to my regularly scheduled day-completing edtis. :)

FINAL TITLE - IN THE HEART OF THE WEST

I have a title for the last book in my Heart of the West series--the title is--A LOVE OF HER OWN! Though it's not the one I first chose when I was writing it, I do think it's a great title and the marketing team at Revell always work hard to come up with just the right title and cover for their books. In fact they worked closely with me so that we'd all be satisfied with the name, and I am very happy with it.

I think the title works for the storyline, but I won't say much more than that or it'd give the plot away and heaven forbid I do that! Now I can't wait to see what we come up with for a cover. I'm certain it'll be just as wonderful.

I'm really looking forward to the release of book 2-The Jewel Of His Heart October 1st. I'll be participating in LifeWay's Fiction Event Day October 10th in Kennesaw, GA from 11-1 PM. Marc Amason is the manager there and he and his staff are the best! But then again, so is the LifeWay store at the Mall of GA in Buford.

Hope to see you there. Now back to work. :)

Lunch With a Book Club

This past Saturday I was the guest of a local book club. We met at Longhorn's resturant, one of my favorite places for good food. I was impressed with the knowledge that these ladies had of my characters in No Place For a Lady! They knew them very well and even brought a map marked with the route that Crystal took on her long journey from Georgia to Colorado! It's a wonderful feeling for an author to know that what you've written has touched someone's heart. Each one of the ladies said they are looking forward to reading The Jewel of His Heart. I certainly hope they won't be disappointed. The fellowship was sweet and their questions were lively! I'm honored that of all the zillions of books they read, they chose mine.

Lunch ended with a surprise for me with a gift of a memory box from the Willow Tree collection and a Writing Angel Muse. She's hanging from my desk lamp now and is adorable. They didn't know that I have a small collection of Willow Tree angels and a manger scene, so I was thrilled and surprised that they would go to this trouble for me.

The Angel has a quote from James Michener-"I love the swirl & swing of words as they tangle with human emotions." Oh, that's just so perfect for me!

These ladies encouraging words and voracious reading habits make me want to strive to write the best stories that I can and not disappoint them with the integrity of my writing. So thank you ladies, Jennifer, Darlene, Lisa, Anne, Mary and Milli, for the memorable Saturday afternoon and until our paths cross again...Happy Trails.