Another November, Another Novel

Once again, November is nearly upon us and that means it's time for another National Novel Writing Month contest (http://www.nanowrimo.org/). I have my idea and I'm raring to go! Here's to writing 50,000 words in 30 days.

Until next time,

Sarah

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Chicken Soup for a Rainy Day, or a Shameless Plug

So it’s a cold, rainy day, the third consecutive such day, and the children have been going a little stir crazy. It seems like the sunny days, they don’t want to play outside (not that they have a choice) and on the rainy days, all they want to do is play outside. Ah, the fickleness of children.

But all this rain has made me crave a cup of hot tea, a bowl of steaming chicken noodle soup, and a good book to curl up with, perferrably with one of my cats to warm my lap. Currently, I’m reading Charlotte Bronte’s The Professor for my next book club meeting.

If you’re looking for a little light reading, the Chicken Soup for the Soul series has two new books coming out this fall that feature a story from yours truly. Chicken Soup for the Soul: All in the Family (Oct. 20 release date) has heartwarming and humorous stories about families, while Chicken Soup for the Soul: Count Your Blessings (Nov. 3 release date) has stories about thankfulness in the face of adversity.

My family story centered around my experiences as a foster sister to the many foster children my parents took in over the years. I also shared our thankfulness for God’s provision after a huge tree nearly bisected our house during Hurricane Isabel.

So pull up a chair, pick up your favorite book, and sit back to enjoy a nice rainy day.

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Death of a Book

I just received news from my publisher that they will not be reprinting Hired @ Home, which essentially means the book will officially go out of print and not be available for purchasing online or in bookstores.

Naturally, this news is very distressing to me, as writing a book is akin to giving birth. We plant the words on the page and water them sometimes with our tears, sometimes with our sweat. We carefully craft the flow of the book and send it off to the publisher to be transformed into something magical. We await with eager expectation the arrival of the book in printed form with high hopes that it will find its place in the world, that it will make many friends and find a good home in many lives. We follow its progress through the outside world. Will it find an audience? Will it succeed? Will those who read it find it inspiring and worthwhile?

Then the crushing news that, a mere 15 months after its arrival into the published world, the book is dead, a victim of rapid changes in Christian publishing and the retail world (according to the publisher). And you as the author are left with a choice: purchase the inventory and hope to somehow sell the copies yourself or let it pass into obscurity.

As of this post, I have no answers. I cherish the readers who have contacted me to say the book has made a difference in their lives. I still believe in Hired @ Home, but am mourning its death, at least as far as my publisher is concerned.

So I'm left with passing along the sad news to family and friends.

Until next time,

Sarah

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