Book Clubs and me

What a blast I had this week. Sorry to have been quiet in the blog world -I know y'all missed me, now - but I was in Atlanta visiting 3 book clubs.

Monday and Tuesday I visited a book club in Buford, just north of Atlanta. Nora, you are such a great book club coordinator and host. Thank you for having me.

Wednesday, I drove down to Buckhead to check out the area for a book setting. Paid $6.00 plus tip for a medium size chocolate milk shake. Kid you not.

Thursday night I spoke at the North Metro church book club. Thank you Sheryl and Crystie. I felt very welcomed. You all are a great group of readers.

All three book clubs were thriving and vibrant and I thought, "Hey, why not start one of my own?" So, I just might.

On Thursday, I also visited my aunt and uncle in Duhlanega. They have a great little place there and it was my first visit. My uncle recounted his salvation experience with such heart he had my aunt and I in tears. God is so tender, patient and good.

Special thanks to fellow writers and ACFW friends Ane Mulligan and Amy Wallace, and their families, for hosting me this week. I so appreciate you ladies!

Final word on "Love Starts With Elle?" Fabulous. Of course, of course.

Merry Christmas

It's Christmas Eve, a lovely, breezy day in central, coastal Florida. This is my favorite time of year. The beautify of Christmas lights, the traditions and familiarity of songs and movies. The good will and cheer in the hearts of so many.

I'm blessed by you all and want to wish you a very, merry Christmas. I've been slow on blogging this fall, but I'm a blogger at heart and will do better in the New Year.

When I submitted the rewrites Monday morning for the first book I'm doing with a country music artist, I literally had no energy, words or emotion left. That book took it all. But my editor and I are very pleased with it. She more than me, so I'm thrilled. A writer is too close to their work by the the final version.

Artist has been a gracious and fun partner.

As we end this year with uncertainty in our financial market, going into a New Year with a new president of whom who know so little, I'm comforted to know God is not surprised or caught off guard. He's well aware and even better, in control.

We cannot judge our future successes or opportunities by the world, but by Him. He can make a road way in the wilderness, a river in the desert. Keep your heart and mind on Him, and be comforted by His peace.

As people fear the world and it's economy, we have such a great opportunity to touch them with the Light within us, the hope we have in a living, loving Lord.

I recently had a non Christian reader tell me she felt such hope after reading "Love Starts With Elle." How great to spread the love and fragrance of Jesus across the country to a woman I've never met.

God has a plan and destiny for all of us. In Matthew 16, Jesus said to Peter, "I give you the keys to the Kingdom." Wow! Jesus HAS GIVEN us the keys to His Kingdom. He's given us His robes of righteousness. What are we doing in pauper clothes? Worry, doubt, fear, pain from the past, hopelessness.

Let's put on Jesus and His righteousness. He has such great love and desire for us, not only to fellowship face to face, but to walk out the destiny He's had in mind since the foundation of the world.

Think of when you held your first child. Didn't you dream? She's going to be a prima ballerina, or a prize winning scientist. Or, he's going to be the next Babe Ruth, or a best selling author.

Jesus has those same dreams and plans for us. Better yet, He is able to bring them about! I'm not talking about digging around our own souls and presenting to Him a product of our selfish ambition. I'm talking about standing before him, arms wide, head back, eyes closed, heart toward Him and saying, "You are so good, so good, I can trust you with my life and destiny. What do you have for me to do. I'll do it."

He'll hear you, answer and launch you on an amazing journey.

Don't be afraid of being hidden, or to be seated at a table in the back. Jesus cannot resist a humble, unoffended heart.

Let's commit to seek Him wholeheartedly in '09. Be unoffended by friends, family, church, government. But seek Him.

Merry Christmas!

At rachelhauck.com, everyone is a winner!

Thanks so much to all the bloggers of the "Love Starts With Elle" blog tour. Applause, applause.

And a big thanks to all who signed up to win a free copy here at rachelhauck.com.

With so many entering, I just couldn't pick two so I went to Thomas Nelson with an idea and they heartily agreed.

EVERYONE IS A WINNER AT RACHELHAUCK.COM!

They are graciously supplying the needed books for the 63 who sighed up for the drawing!

Please send your name and address with "LSWE Winner" in the subject line to rachelhauck@gmail.com and I'll get those books mailed out to you in the next few weeks.

Congratulations everyone!

Healing well

Thanks to all the kind comments about my cold-thing. I'm feeling better. Still vocally weak and raspy, but the throat swelling and pain is gone.

TMI? Moving on, right...

Worked on my new book today. I have this cool program, Scrivener, a true author tool for Macs. I've never found author tools to be much help, but this one makes organizing thoughts and plotting easy. You can color code and label index cards per point of view, or whatever. You can even write the book in Scrivener then export to Word.

So, I'm having fun.

I really wanted a cool opening line. I've become particular about them. They should, IMHO, reflect the theme or some point of the story. And, thanks to Jesus, i did come up with a great opening line. That was enough to get me going through the opening scenes.

Yesterday I outlined as much of the books as possible - beginning, middle and end - but we shall see if I have enough or too much story. I never know until I get into the book if I need to more research or character development.

Love Starts With Elle is doing well, I think. That's to all who blogged and/or reviewed. It just came out and is already in a second printing!

Look on my home page to see the book trailer.

More later!

I am...

... listening to Christmas music.

I'm such a sap. ;)

In other news, my summer release from Thomas Nelson, Love Starts With Elle, is Romantic Times Book Club Reviews, TOP PICK for July. Well, one of three. I'm stoked. It's my first Top Pick.

All glory goes to Jesus! I really was worried about this book because I wrote it in third person which is not my favorite voice. But I learned a lot writing in first person, so I tried to add the close, personal voice to the third person narrative.

Here's the review:

Hauck is quickly making a name for herself as an insightful and thoughtful
author. It's great to catch up with characters from previous novels as well
as meet new ones. Elle is vulnerable, yet wise, and the romantic angle will
leave you sighing with delight.

Summary: Elle Garvey is eager to get married, so when her pastor boyfriend
of two months pops the question, she doesn't hesitate to accept. Although it
means moving to Dallas from South Carolina, Elle knows she can operate an
art gallery anywhere. But things don't exactly happen according to plan, and
when Elle meets Heath, her heart is tugged in different directions. Can she
trust God to show her the path to choose?

Sweet Caroline is almost here!

Sweet Caroline, my next Thomas Nelson book debuts February 12. I'm so excited.

Romantic Times Book Club wrote:

Hauck's adorable novel contains the multi-layered characters readers have come to expect from her books. The enjoyable story and unpredictable ending entertains and offers much to think about.

- 4.5 Stars, Melissa Parcel, Romantic Times Book Club

I'm so busy finishing Love Starts With Elle I haven't thought much about promoing Caroline's story, so I thought next week I'd write a "Behind The Scenes With Caroline Sweeney" blog series and talk a little about this book and why you want to buy it. :)

Isn't it funny, so much of the time we just see the book cover and blurb and it's hard to know, "Why do I want to invest my time to read this book?"

So next week I'll talk about why I invested seven months writing this book (besides having a deadline) and why it might be fun for y'all to read.

But today, I'm back to work on Elle. This story will be more straight up romance with a small subplot. But, it's a great story!