DawnSinger Finaled in WalMart’s Get-on-the-Shelf Contest! 

A surprise awaited me upon my return home from the retreat. My husband had entered the book trailer for DawnSinger, Tales of Faeraven 1, in WalMart’s Get On The Shelf Contest for a chance to sell my book in WalMart stores, and it finaled!
What you can do to help.

If you would like to see more wholesome fantasy on WalMart’s shelves, here’s your chance to weigh in. You can watch the book trailer and also vote for DawnSinger once a day from now until September 2nd by clicking this link:

https://getontheshelf.walmart.com/product/13f2/Dawnsinger

Reading Adventures

I’m reading a book by one of my agency sisters at Wordserve Literary for possible endorsement.  How Sweet the Sound is the debut novel of Amy K. Sorrells. I should finish the story in the next day or so and ring in just in time to meet the endorsement deadline, because I’m going to endorse this amazing book. This bittersweet coming-of-age story has already made me cry several times. This is strong writing, and I predict a bestseller. How Sweet the Sound will release with David C. Cook March 1, 2014, so mark your calendars.  It’ll be worth the wait.

At the library I picked up a copy of Deliciously Organic by Carrie Vitt. With a garden full of vegetables reaching harvest stage, I wanted a book with recipes that will help me use them. Deliciously Organic fills the bill and contains recipes my family will actually eat. Some of the recipes are Roasted Beet, Goat Chees, and Sweet Pecan Salad; Sauteed Summer Vegetables; Southwestern Grilled Chicken; and Chocolate Mousse. The companion website at http://deliciouslyorganic.net has recipes, meal plans, and a healthy pantry list. I’m looking forward to checking it out and thought you might like it, too.

Upcoming  Travel Adventures

In October I’ll travel to Missoula for the Montana Festival of the Book, where I’ll be speaking, signing books, and participating with my dear friend, Angela Breidenbach in a discussion panel featuring Tracie Peterson, Janet Chester Bly, and more of my favorite authors. As part of the same trip I’ll research some of the locations in the Montana Gold series my agent is shopping around. I’m looking forward to visiting these locations, and of course I’ll update you about the trip in an author journal through my Creative Worlds of Janalyn Voigt newsletter, and in a travel journal and bucket list update for Creative Worlds of Beauty, which publishes as part of my Creative Worlds blog.

My original plans to go on a research trip to Montana in July fell through, but that turned out to be a good thing because that month a flash flood damaged much of Bannack ghost town, one of the main stops on my research trip. If I had tried to visit it in July, I’d have been turned away. Restoration efforts at Bannack have been vigorous and conscientous, so I’m hopeful that when I visit Montana in October, Bannack State Park will once more be open to the public. I’ll write more about Bannack, the setting for Hills of Nevermore, the first title in my Montana Gold series in future updates and (hopefully) post my own pictures, but for now I hope you enjoy the links I’ve provided.