ACFW Featured Author

Thanks to Dineen, Mary and ACFW for giving me a spot on the ACFW Featured Author page this week.

Welcome my friend Jill Elizabeth Nelson

I'm happy today to feature Jill's latest release! Welcome, friend.

Calculated Revenge by Jill Elizabeth Nelson
Steeple Hill Romantic Suspense(c) 2010

ABOUT THE BOOK:

It’s been eighteen years since Laney Thompson’s sister was abducted and killed, but the pain Laney feels has never faded. And now the murderer is back, taunting Laney with mementos of her sister and threatening Laney’s young daughter. School principal Noah Ryder is her best hope for protecting her daughter—if she can convince the former investigator to take the case. As the threats accelerate, a string of clues leads Laney to uncover old secrets. Unless Noah steps in with his expertise, how can she piece together the puzzle before her child—like her sister—is lost to a killer’s revenge?

READER REVIEWS:
I just finished your book. I love Christian Suspense books and this one is the best one I have read in a while. I never figured out the solution until it was evident to all. Wonderful suspense weaving throughout the book. Thanks, I will look for more books by you. I could not put it down once I got started.
Excellent, excellent book! It caught my attention from the first page and was so hard to put down! Keep on sharing God's love and gospel thru your writing - it is important to those who need encouragement as well as need to know our precious Savior!

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

Jill Elizabeth Nelson is an award-winning author of mystery and suspense. She writes what she likes to read—tales of adventure seasoned with romance, humor, and faith, earning her the tagline: Endless Adventure, Timeless Truth. Jill speaks at conferences, writer’s groups, library associations, and civic and church groups. She and her husband live in rural Minnesota where they raised four children and are currently enjoying their first grandchild.

Visit Jill Elizabeth Nelson’s website at http://www.jillelizabethnelson.com for excerpts, book giveaways, and contests.

You can order this book directly from your local bookstore, retail stores such as Walmart, or online here:

Real thank you speech

Caught in a swirl of busyness between teaching a continuing ed class at ACFW and leading worship, I didn't think much about the Book of the Year Award. Probably, a bit of that on purpose so I wouldn't focus on winning or losing.

Saturday night, I wasn't prepared to hear my name and book called. I'd not prepared a speech, nor had I really thought much about what I would say or who I would thank should I win.

I blush now at my lack of preparedness. So, here's what I would've done and said HAD I been wise enough to prepare.

First, walk in stage singing Sweet Caroline and get the audience to sing, "bump, bump, bump." All together now. . . Sweet Caroline, bump, bump, bump... good times never seemed so good.

Then, I would have said:

On the Sunday before the book was due on Thursday, I was up at four a.m. trying to come up with a subplot. I'd been told the book "lacked" something and a subplot would be just the ticket.

But it's impossible to come up with a subplot at 4:00 a.m. I went to church a zombie, convinced my career was over. Thomas Nelson would see the light and cut me loose before they embarrassed themselves with any more of my drivel.

I might have called my editor or agent to talk it out, but I was sure they'd confirm my lack of talent and well, why not just put the bad new off as long as possible? I had four days to salvage my writing reputation.

I sat in the chairs during worship, begging God to down load a story to me, or just snatch me up to Heaven and allow me to borrow from the library there in order to fix poor Caroline's story.

I begged people to pray for me. One well meaning friend said, "Maybe this won't be your best book." Ahhhhh, don't say that! My conviction is I should always improve, producer better stories with each book. Why? God lives in me!

Exhausted and restless, I called Susie Warren. "Help." My dear friend, on her own deadline, took my first chapter and rewrote it for me. What a life saver. She gave me hope, pointed me in the right direction, and prayed for me. Thank you so much! I rewrote her rewrite and finally, Caroline came alive to me.

Christine Lynxwiler provided constant support during the writing of Sweet Caroline.

But Tuesday when my editor emailed and said they'd extended my deadline, I knew God had heard me and answered my prayer!

I rewrote the book and with Leslie Peterson's wise insight, Sweet Caroline became a book I could be proud of. Thanks to Ami McConnell who believed in me and trust me all along. She was out on maternity leave those rewrite months, but I felt her heart.

Thanks to Kristin Billerbeck who inspired me to write chick lit. To Colleen Coble who cheered me on in my early writing days. Thank you so very much.

Thank you to Karen Solem who agented Sweet Caroline and encouraged me. And to Chip MacGregor who knows how to play the glockenspiel.

To my husband who puts up with deadline craziness. To Jesus, who gave me the desire of my heart and leads me in paths of righteousness!

And to ACFW for opening so many doors!

Do not come to the ACFW conference in September

What, Rachel? Don't come to the conference? Why? What are you saying? Hmm? You want all of the editors and agents to yourself? Sit next to Angie Hunt during dinner? Win all the awards? (yeah, right... ) Sit in the first row for Mark Mynheir's police procedure continuing session?

No! Please, I'm soooo over all of those things. I mean, if Angie Hunt asks me to dine with her, I won't say not, but I'm not going to fight anyone for the chair next to her. Though, she is pretty amazing... hmm. I'll have to rethink that one and get back to you.

Nevertheless, I selected my blog title for a reason. Not everyone is ready for conference. It doesn't mean you can't become ready, but there are a few mindsets that can make a conference difficult for people.

Here's my list, and mine alone, of why you might not be ready for conference.

Do not come if you think you have the greatest manuscript, God-breathed and you want to pitch it as if an editor or agent would be crazy to turn it down.

Do not come if you think your manuscript is above change.

Do not come if you think you can surely write better than Rachel Hauck (I'm sure you can, but whatever...) or Susan May Warren or any one of "those Heartsong, Love Inspired authors."

Do not come if you're not prepared. Conference is an expensive way to just to hang out. Even if you're not sure you want to write fiction, come prepared to learn. Meet with an editor and discuss a story idea. Come up with something! If you can't meet with an editor or agent, sit with an author you like to read during dinner and discuss the world of publishing.

Do not come if you want to shop at Mall of America more than attend workshops.

Do not come if your heart is riding on your sleeve. You will be snubbed, ignored, walked away from, left sitting by yourself, feel alone among the crowd, and cry in your room at night. But you've got to get back up, get out there, and say, "Lord, you and me, let's do it."

Do not come if you're expecting people to cater to you. It won't happen. ACFW does an amazing job of welcoming everyone by providing a mentorship program for first time attendees, but ultimately, YOU are responsible for your conference success. Be prepared to walk up to strangers and say, "Hi, I'm so-n-so."

Do not come if you're not willing to hear from a critique session, or editor/agent appointment that your story needs work. Ask what you can do to fix it. Ask what they'd like to see in a story like yours. Think outside the box. My agent told me she loved ACFW's conference last year, but felt so many of the proposals and pitches were the same. Don't be afraid to mix it up a little, okay?

Do not come with attitude, or expectation of being rejected or offended. I've seen this so many times. People are timid, scared, afraid, almost looking for a reason to be offended and by their very 'tude, cause people to reject them. I know the conference can be hard, overwhelming and intimidating, but really go to the Lord if you struggle with rejection or social phobias and ask Him to make a way for you. He will.

Most of you've heard my testimony about the 2003 conference. I was the coordinator along with the amazing and hard-working Allison Wilson and I knew I'd be way too busy to connect with people. I also knew I had the talent of picking the wrong people to smooze. Yes, there is smoozing at a conference. It's fine! Well and good! But I always picked people who just aren't drawn to me. Go figger. So I said Lord, you're my editor, agent and promoter. If you want to connect me with someone, you do it. I'll mess it up if I try." Enter Colleen Coble in my life, God's gift to so many of us!

Even now, published with a great agent and fabulous editor, that is still my prayer. God, you are my editor, agent and promoter!

Come to the conference with expectation. See what God will do. Enjoy the worship times, the keynote speeches, the workshops and fellowship during dinner. Spend a half hour in the prayer room. Go to the late night chats.

Do NOT come to the conference expecting to sleep - oh no my friends - no sleeping!

Come, if God has put it on your heart. Come if you're ready to learn and network. Come if you're ready to have fun. And of course, come if you want to meet me cause I'm a hoot!

See you in September!

Meet my friend, Kathleen Kovach

Hey, Kathy, welcome to rachelhauck.com! For all y'all out there, I've known Kathy for about six years, first meeting in Kansas City at the first ACFW conference in 2002.

While I haven't been an integral part of her writing career, I've watched and cheered from the sidelines! I'm so pleased with her writing success.

So, Kathy, thanks for stopping by. Tell us about this book. I love the cover.

Florida Weddings/Merely Players is about a dolphin trainer who masks her emotions while making her ex-boyfriend now turned A-list actor jump through hoops.


What's the scoop on your hero and heroine?

Bethany Hamilton works with her father, the senior trainer at the Gulfarium in Northwest Florida. She basically doesn't know what to do with her life, so she sticks with the familiar. She grew up at Sea World San Diego, and is comfortable with marine mammals. After shadowing her father, she longs for a career of her own so she becomes involved in dolphin therapy.

Brick Connor, aka Ricky O'Connell, is an A-list movie actor, but feels stuck in playing one role. He also feels he'd like to contribute to society. This involves breaking out of his type-cast role as a Bond-type character and make movies of substance.

In Hollywood High, Brick and Bethany were boyfriend and girlfriend. Brick had an abusive father, so he sought refuge at Bethany's house, where Christian love wrapped his hurting soul like a quilt. On the first page, we see the end of their senior year. Brick (then Ricky) is excited to tell his girl that he's gotten an agent. At this point he fully expects her to join him in his career. All throughout high school they had been popular in all of the drama productions. However, Bethany must say goodbye.

The story picks up again ten years later, and we find out that they haven't seen each other in a decade. Bethany feels Brick has abandoned her for the big screen. When they meet again through a location shoot at the Gulfarium, Brick remembers his love for this special girl. And moreover, the values her family had taught him. Bethany is obviously wary of this guy, and tries to avoid him, but . . . well, this is a romance, after all.

You mentioned dolphin therapy. Sounds interesting. Can you tell us about more about that?

At the Gulfarium, which is a real place, by the way, Janet Flowers created a program called the JF Dolphin Therapy Project, a program that helps children with disabilities to enhance their treatments by rewarding positive behaviors. In the case of a fictional character—Kevin, a boy with autism—any acknowledgement on his part was cause to celebrate. He eventually comes to a place where he can throw a ring to the dolphin and she loops it on her nose. This causes a small grin which elicits excitement for his parents who had never seen him smile. In Emily's case, a girl with Down Syndrome, they work on her speech. When they get to the point where she can say the "th" sound in Bethany's name, she's allowed into the water with the dolphin as a reward. I ran these scenes past people who had children with disabilities and was given suggestions. In the end, those particular test readers said I had captured their child perfectly.

Have you always loved dolphins?

As a matter of fact, no. Some people are ga-ga over them, but my interest was kindled when I heard about the therapy project at the actual Gulfarium. I had a friend whose children were diagnosed with autism, and even though she'd never used the program, she had researched it. The idea sparked in my writer brain, and after several morphed tries, Merely Players was born.

Really cool! So, I see you have another novella, and great cover. Tell us what what Love Letters is about?

This is a novella collection with Mary Davis, Sally Laity, and Jeri Odell. Each story is connected by generations, the heroines all daughters of the previous story's characters. All stories have to do with unique expressions of love.

Mary's story, "Love Notes," opens in Texas 1910. Her heroine, Laurel, is courted with sheet music by an unseen stranger who is adding words when she's not around.

My story, "Cookie Schemes," opens in San Francisco 1955. My one-sentence blurb is "A traditional fortune cookie maker woos a thoroughly modern woman with scriptural wisdom."

Sally's story, "Posted Dreams," set in 1980 deals with a shy woman, Bethany, who leaves Post-It notes around town, all expressions of her hopes and dreams. One man reads them and is touched, then seeks to learn her identity.

And finally, Jeri's story, "eBay Encounter," taking place in current times, is about Jonica, an inexperienced eBay buyer and antique store owner. She continues to run up prices on items another person wants, and they annoy each other until . . . Well, as I said above, this is a romance, after all

My heroine, Prudie is a recent college graduate in a time when marriage and family were the highest goal women could attain. She wants more. Alex is a traditionalist, and because of his grandfather's will, is seeking a wife to inherit the elder's restaurant—known for it's delectable fortune cookies. Alex copies scripture verses to put in his cookies and uses them more for ministry than for profit. When Prudie goes to work for Alex, their two worlds collide. Alex begins to woo her with cookies, and Prudie, angry at God for allowing a tragedy several years earlier, rejects the scriptures chosen especially for her. Do these two ever resolve their differences? You guessed it, this is a romance, after all.

I found out in my research that fortune cookies were not invented in China and did not originally hold Confucius "wisdom." The first inventor, a Chinese man in Los Angeles, made little cakes and tucked words of encouragement written on slips of paper inside. He then gave those to the homeless. My hero's grandfather picked up that tradition and he, along with his Chinese Christian mentor, created a scrumptious recipe that eventually made their restaurant, Woo With Sweet, a local favorite. A word about the restaurant, the mentor's name was Ho Woo and he wanted to woo his customers with sweet words, thus the scripture filled cookies.

Mary spearheaded this project by asking the ACFW loop if anyone would want to join her. She had the basic idea, so we dialogued with each other until we fine tuned it. This was all done by email. The hardest part was making sure our heroines were either old enough or not too old to have children. Mary kept moving her time frame back (for very good reasons,) making Laurel a really old mom for my Prudie. After some additional research, I realized that during the two world wars, it was common to have two sets of family. Boys would die in war, and their parents would go on to have more children. Prudie is of that second set, having three older brothers and four older sisters.

Thank you, Rachel, for giving me the opportunity to talk about my babies. . . er. . . I mean, books. These characters are so real to me, I feel I'm bragging on my children whenever I'm interviewed.

Kathy, it was great to have you! The novellas sound fabulous!

More on Kathy!
Kathleen (known as Kathy by her friends) believes that if they'd done an ultrasound on her mother while she was with child, they'd have found a writing instrument clutched in her tiny hand. After a lifetime of writing short stories, plays, and poems, God finally released Kathy to write as a career in 2002. This happened at the Colorado Christian Writers Conference where she won first place in the unpublished writers contest for her article "If Anyone Hears My Voice." She also met her editors, Jim and Tracie Peterson from Barbour's Heartsong Presents, who became intrigued with her heroine's profession, a dolphin trainer. By 2006, that novel, Merely Players, became published, and then in May of this year it was bundled with two other stories by Lynn Coleman and Kristy Dykes under the title, Florida Weddings. In 2007, Kathy teamed up with Mary Davis, Sally Laity, and Jeri Odell for Love Letters, a Barbour novella collection about unique expressions of love, (hers takes place through fortune cookies.) Heartsong holds a readers poll every year, and in 2008, Kathy placed in the upper five of the Favorite New Author category.

After her contest win at CCWC, Kathy became leader of her local critique group, JOY Writers. She joined a local association, Colorado Writers Fellowship, and also a national organization, American Christian Fiction Writers, www.acfw.com. Her affiliation with ACFW eventually led to a position as the Colorado Coordinator, and she just recently moved up as the Rocky Mountain Zone Director.

Kathy lives in northeast Colorado (out where the buffalo roam) with her husband of 33 years. She has two sons, three grandchildren, and two grandpets - all of whom, at one point or another, have taken advantage of the revolving door on her empty nest.

Please visit her blog at www.kathleenekovach.blogspot.com for a complete list of blog tour stops for Florida Weddings. In addition, her website is www.kathleenekovach.com.

Update on Me Life

Okay, boring, but here's an update on my life since the last time I posted. Riveting reading, trust me.

Friday after Fire Dweller, we met a few people at Friday's for David White (my gee-tar player, worship leader in his own right) birthday. It was late. People we're well into their drinking at the bar. Around 11:30, some dude thought "his purse" (girlfriend's purse actually) was stolen.

He went ballistic! We left but stood out front to watch six of Melbourne's finest coming speeding up, emerging from their cars with flashlights that double as weapons.

After that excitement, we went home. Saturday I got up and went to the gym. Thirty minutes on the treadmill, thirty with weights.

Stopped by the library for a couple of books, came home and finished Tracey Bateman's "You Had Me At Goodbye" ARC. Very fun read. Another winner!

Then, I started "Year of the Dog" by Shelby Hearon. A wonderful dog story that made me tear up at the end.

Now, I'm more than half way through Elizabeth Berg's "Dream When You're Feeling Blue." A fabulous WW2 read. I am captivated by the voice of heroine Kitty, the era, the history tidbits, the wonderful supporting cast in Kitty's family.

This is my first Berg read. And I love it. Between my recent reads and the ones from this weekend, I'm learning so much. I hope I can translate it to my story!

I still have books to read I listed before, but I'm going to buy them at the ACFW conference and get them signed!

Hey, I'm not taking any of my books to the conference. If any of y'all were counting on getting some there, please let me know.

Sunday I lead worship, came home to watch "Barefoot In The Park" with Tony, baked cookies and read most of the afternoon/evening.

Now, I'm about getting to my own WIP.

Grace, grace!

What Are YOU doing this September?

I'm going to the ACFW conference in Dallas!

Listen, if you want to be a fiction author in the CBA market, this conference is THE conference to attend.

Editors from the major and not so major Christian publishing houses will be there. Agents looking for their next new client. Authors who are more than willing to share their experiences and advice, more than willing to cheer your writing journey will be there in droves.

So, what's the hold up? Why haven't you signed up yet?

If you're thinking, "Well, I'm going to RWA in July," that's all well and good, but even RWA cannot give CBA authors what this conference gives. It's not designed to. ACFW is.

Conferencing made all the difference in my writing career. It's where I networked with people who helped me along the way. Gratefully, those people are now my good friends!

ACFW's conference has a family feel, and a genuine presence of God. The speaker, Jim Bell, is a funny, Godly man.

There will be devotionals and worship to up lift. We even staff a prayer room.

You will leave this conference professionally, emotionally and spirituall uplifted.

Do NOT miss it.

See you in September.