I Heart Holland!

Just learned that Standing Still has enjoyed energetic sales in Holland, thanks to book clubs and a great publishing partner. Since my father discovered the shock of his life years ago in a Salt Lake City library that our background is Dutch, not English (Simmons was originally Simonson/sen?) this makes me beyond happy. I want to go to there! Maybe for the next book, The Bird House?

Writers Mini- Workshop: From Plot To Published

Live in the Philadelphia area? The Liars Club and I are putting on a FREE mini writer's workshop at the Oak Lane Library, 6-8 pm, June 22nd. Friend me on Facebook, or visit www.liarsclubphilly.com to learn more.

BEA: full of doo-doo?

The Liars Club was happy to restock the Jacob Javits Center with not only books from Dennis Tafoya and Jonathan Maberry, but, ahem, supplies last week. We're blogging this week on the topic of "Best Writing Book I Ever Read". Check it out.

BEA & Book Blogger Convention

Book Expo America kicks off this week, followed by the Book Blogger Convention. I'm attending with no agenda other than to meet people and soak up marketing ideas for when The Bird House comes out in February. The Liars Club has some mischief planned as well--more on that later. In the meantime, check out our Liars posts on "The Best Writing Advice Anyone Has Ever Given Me" here. I'm posting again tomorrow morning.

More Tips for New Authors

The Liars Club blog series continues with "One Tip for A New Author."
My post it up today at the Liars Club site.

Tips for Energizing your Book Club

I've visited close to 200 book clubs to promote Standing Still. They're all populated with interesting, lively women who I'd love to know better -- but every once in a while, one stands out. Last night, I traveled to a charming B&B in New Hope, PA to meet with a book group from Bethlehem on their annual retreat. Yep, a book club with an annual retreat. You gotta love that! Here's how it works -- They contribute a small amount of money at every meeting to help fund an annual getaway in late Spring. They all bring food for the weekend, and everyone drives and brings their bikes. Then they choose a local author to visit by talking to the knowledgable, local independent bookstore owner (Farley's). Like many clubs, they have a name-- but they also have a great looking logo, and t-shirts, sweatshirts, and hats sporting it. They keep a journal and ratings on every book they've read -- which is something lots of clubs do, either by hand or online. But they take it a step further -- creating homemade laminated bookmarks that list a years worth of books and authors. So when their friends ask for book recos, they simply give them a bookmark. Genius!

Does your club do something unusual? I'd love to hear about it!