I am so happy to announce (and I did on Facebook a few days ago) that Finding My Place: One Girl’s Strength at Vicksburg (my middle-grade historical fiction novel set in the United States Civil War during the Siege of Vicksburg in 1863) won the Eloquent Quill Award from the Literary Classics International Book Awards.

Here’s a bit about the Eloquent Quill Award from their website:

“The Eloquent Quill Top Honors Book Award was created to recognize distinguished fiction for a youth audience. One book will be honored annually through Literary Classics.”

I am very honored to be the first book chosen to ever receive this award. I will be spotlighted on their website when I can get the time to answer their thought-provoking questions, and I will receive stickers to put on my books.

What this really means is that I am honored that someone else besides my friends and family think the book is good. I am thankful for all my friends and family who have bought, read, and supported the book. It means the world to me. This award is just an extra added bonus.

I’d like to thank the Academy. ..

If you haven’t had a chance to read FINDING MY PLACE yet, go here on my blog for all the ways you can purchase the book, including your very own autographed copy. Francis Howell School District in St. Peters, MO is considering adding it to their reading list. Don’t forget, I’m also available to do school visits–I just did some at Fairmount Elementary School in St. Peters, and I talked to the kids about the writing process with a special emphasis in fourth and fifth grade on historical fiction and the Civil War.

As always, let me know what’s going on with you or anyway I can help you.

Cheers and happy writing!

Today I welcome, Sheila Deeth, who has written six books in a series for kids called: Five Minute Bible Story (TM) Series. Her latest book is perfect for the holiday season that’s about to come upon us–read in her own words below how this book (and the others) are perfect for parents and grandparents to read at bedtime or Sunday School teachers to use in class! What a great resource.

Margo: Thanks for stopping by Read These Books and Use Them. Tell us about Bethlehem’s Baby.

Sheila: Bethlehem’s Baby is the first New Testament entry in my Five Minute Bible Story (TM) Series. It contains forty five-minute, read-aloud children’s stories based on characters who might have been around at the time of the first Christmas. You’ll meet the Emperor Augustus’s rather nervous advisors, a studious research student who works out what the star means only to have wise men claim the credit, an elderly shepherd who’s constantly annoyed by his grandson making too much noise—then angels start singing, and a boy in the temple who wonders if God told the priest to hush.

Margo: I absolutely love this idea. It is perfect to start reading to kids at bedtime in November/December! Who is the perfect audience for this book?

Sheila: I imagine a ten-year-old curled up on the sofa with book in hand, or a mother sitting on her younger child’s bed, offering a bed-time story, or a Sunday school teacher at the front of church, telling the children a story before they go off to their own service.

Margo: Great ideas! How can private school teachers, parents, home schoolers, and Sunday School teachers use this book with children?

Sheila: Each story includes a Bible reference, so Sunday school teachers could begin by reading the reference to the children and asking what it makes them think about. That way, the kids would be engaged and ready to hear something new. Short prayers at the end of each story would provide a good start for bedtime devotions at home. And the author’s notes at the back of the book might help home schoolers see the Bible story in the context of world history, geography, and even science.

Margo: Excellent ideas. I can see my readers nodding right along with us! What has driven you to write this five-minute Bible story series?

Sheila: Partly, I just love telling stories. I used to tell Bible stories for children’s sermons in church, and we were limited to five minutes—hence the title of the series. But the length feels pretty good for a child’s attention span—or for the parents in church. I like researching around Bible events too and imagining how they might have appeared to real people in the real world of the time—I have a pretty serious background in math and science that feeds into that. And I feel it’s important for children to see the Bible as something big enough to swallow all their questions, to recognize as they grow older that it’s more than just their culture’s fairytales, and miracles aren’t just magic. In the end, I think that’s what drives me to keep writing these stories, and I’ll keep adding those author’s notes, so kids will know it’s okay to wonder and ask questions.

Margo: What other books do you have in the series?

Sheila: Genesis People, Exodus Tales and Joshua’s Journey cover the first six books in the Bible. Two more books in the series are inspired by the Psalms—Psalm Stories and More Psalm Stories. I hope to continue with the Old Testament eventually, but my publisher thought it was time I wrote some New Testament tales, too, so I’m currently working on Nazareth Neighbors, Galilee’s Gift and Jerusalem Journey—coming soon I hope!

Margo: I love those titles, and how you are making the Bible accessible to kids–either with adult guidance or on their own. This reminds me of my Sunday School days!  Where can people purchase Bethlehem’s Baby and other books in the series?

Sheila: The first five books are all available on Amazon Kindle. You can find them on my Amazon page, or on the publisher’s website: http://capearagopress.com/Five-Minute.html. Bethlehem’s Baby is available on Smashwords too, so people can read it on other e-readers besides the Kindle.

Margo: Anything else you want to add?

Sheila: I hope you’ll like the books, and I hope your kids and grandkids will like them. Readers can find out more about me at http://about.me/sheiladeeth and connect with me via the various links. And I do thank you for welcoming me to your blog, Margo. You’ve been so generous and encouraging.

Margo: Thank you!

Find Bethlehem’s Baby at: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00EY172MA/

Sheila’s blog: http://sheiladeeth.blogspot.com

Fan page: https://www.facebook.com/SheilaDeethAuthor

Twitter: https://twitter.com/sheiladeeth

*Young adult novel, contemporary

*Freshman in college girl is the main character

*Rating: I enjoyed Twigs immensely. I thought the novel was a real page-turner, and I loved the detail Alison Ashley Formento put into her characters–especially Twigs and Helen!

Short, short summary: The novel opens with Twigs at work in a drug store, and a crazy customer, Helen, is throwing hair dye around because her husband cheated on her with a blonde. The first chapter is hysterical, and I wasn’t quite sure where the author was going with everything, but I enjoyed the writing, so I sat back and let her take me for a ride. We soon enter into Twigs’s life (this is a nickname by the way): her brother Matt is in Iraq and missing; her mom is dating after her alcoholic dad left two years ago; her younger sister is dating too; Twigs’s boyfriend is away at college & not calling as much as she thought he would; and she is getting ready to start college, too–at the community college. The author does a great job of keeping these plotlines moving and keeping the tension up as Twigs gets involved in some unusual situations, especially as she befriends Helen who is the definition of “a woman scorned.” In the middle of the book, things really get going when Dad shows up and news about Matt comes in. I’ll stop here–don’t want to spoil the ending. But anyone who enjoys contemporary YA and dramedy will enjoy TWIGS!

Buy TWIGS from Indiebound.org!

So, what do I do with this book?

1. Twigs brings up a topic that many families are dealing with today–a family member in Iraq. At one point, Twigs mentions that she doesn’t watch the news any more because she doesn’t want to hear about news from Iraq. This is a common thing among families with overseas military personnel. Teachers, parents, librarians–if you know someone who loves to read and has a family member overseas, this is a great book to hand her to read–feelings will surface or she can discuss how Twigs handles it. How did they deal with it? What was the communication like?

2. The same is true for drug and alcohol addiction–it’s a huge theme/plot point in this book that can be used to start journal entries and important discussions with teens.

3. Twigs is a character driven novel–although a lot of stuff happens to her. What are Twigs’s physical characteristics? How does her size help her? How does it cause problems for her? Why is her name so important to her? How does she grow and change throughout the novel? When does the change really start? Why does it start? These are all questions you can use to study this character.

Each fall, millions of parents in the United States face The Goodbye Year. This is the year one of their children is a high school senior, the last year when life stays the same for mothers before one of their babies (or only baby or oldest baby) will leave the nest and fly off to college, a job, or maybe the military. For many mothers, this is a hard year because for eighteen years, a mother’s identity can be tied into her child’s. She is “Johnny’s mother,” where a great amount of her time is spent doing things for Johnny, including cooking, laundry, and errands.

When author Toni Piccinini faced her daughter Page’s senior year, she felt anxiety and sadness. Page was the oldest of her three children and the only girl. This year would be full of many “lasts” for Piccinini—they would no longer be a family of five once Page graduated and went to college. The author also realized that she had no idea whom she was besides being a mother. Before she had children, she loved to cook. She and her husband had opened their own restaurant, and she still cooked elaborate meals for her family on a daily basis.

But as many mothers know, personal hobbies and passions can become less important as mothering consumes their lives. This is how the book, The Goodbye Year: Wisdom and Culinary Therapy to Survive Your Child’s Senior Year of High School (and Reclaim the You of You), was born.

Keep reading for the rest of my review of The Goodbye Year and at the bottom, enter to win this memoir/cookbook/self-help/humor book with the Rafflecopter form below. Thank you to WOW! Women On Writing for inviting me to participate in this tour!

While facing Page’s senior year full of angst, Piccinini also decided to begin teaching cooking classes to  reclaim an activity for herself and make it through the “empty nest syndrome,” before she even had an empty nest.

Piccinini’s book is not just a memoir, which is why it is so lovely. It’s full of humor—the author has the wonderful quality of being able to laugh at herself and her family, while also sharing touching moments and honest emotions. Plus, it’s also a cookbook and self-help manual.

The Goodbye Year is divided into 12 chapters to represent the months of the calendar. Each chapter tells a personal story from Piccinini’s life as a mother while she also shares about her life growing up with what she refers to as one of the first ever “Tiger” moms. Then she inclues a recipe to fit that month and what’s going on in the reader’s life. Some of these recipes are simple; others are more complex. They range from a dish with rabbit (but you can substitute chicken) to a fruit torte.

After each recipe, Piccinini also suggests an activity to help readers figure out whom they want to be once their children have graduated and moved on with their own lives. These range from joining a new group to creating memory boxes for children to helping out at a homeless shelter.

Piccinini currently works as an assistant editor for Narrative magazine. At one time, she owned a “Top 100” restaurant in San Francisco. She now lives in Marin County, California, with her husband, and occasionally she has children back home filling up the space she and her husband have converted to an office and man cave. 

Although I’m far from the goodbye year since my stepson is only 12 and daughter 3 at the end of this month, I found Piccinini’s book to be charming and full of great advice. It is especially targeted to readers with high school age children; but if you enjoy memoirs or annotated cookbooks, you will love The Goodbye Year.

A review similar to this also appeared in The News-Gazette: http://www.news-gazette.com.

Enter to win a copy on the Rafflecopter form below!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Okay, it’s been fall for a few weeks, but it didn’t feel like fall in St. Louis until Sunday. Here are a couple photos to celebrate fall–my daughter at the pumpkin patch on Saturday (where it was really super muggy and not fall-like at all).

I have a couple of announcements, too:

• Donna Volkennant, who is one of the nicest people, writers, and bloggers I know, won the cookbook by Cynthia Briggs: Pork Chops and Applesauce: A Collection of Recipes and Reflections! Congratulations, Donna!
• My book, Finding My Place: One Girl’s Strength at Vicksburg is a finalist for the 2013 Eloquent Quill Award (Literary Classics International Book Awards), and I will find out if I was the ONE WINNER on October 15. I will try not to hold my breath until then.
• You can still register for the Missouri SCBWI Annual conference where authors, editors, and agents will be attending before October 15. It’s being held on November 2 and 3 at Lindenwood University in St. Charles, MO. Go here to register and see the line-up of speakers: http://www.moscbwi.org/Fall_Conference/Index.html

Finally, here’s a favorite FALL/HALLOWEEN book at our house:

Clifford’s Halloween by Norman Bridwell

This is a simple book about the lovable big, red dog, whom my daughter LOVES, and his owner Emily Elizabeth. What is Clifford going to dress up for this Halloween? My daughter doesn’t like a lot of Halloween stuff because it is too scary for her–even if the cover of a Halloween book is a little spooky–she wants no part of it. So, that’s why this is a favorite of hers. (And I don’t mind reading it a thousand times either.)

Buy Clifford’s Halloween for your house!

A Wilder Rose: Rose Wilder Lane, Laura Ingalls Wilder, and their Little Houses by Susan Wittig Albert is a historical fiction novel, well-researched and full of new and “controversial” discoveries about Laura Ingalls Wilder and her daughter, Rose. The “controversial” part comes in that Albert is claiming, through her research, that Laura wasn’t the true mastermind behind the Little House books. It was actually–ROSE–her daughter. I have to say when I started this book, I didn’t want to like it. I LOVE Laura Ingalls Wilder, and how could she be deceiving us all along?

But I did like A Wilder Rose. It is a fascinating read–not only because it uncovers this big secret, but also being a writer myself, it was interesting to read about Rose supporting her family on a writing income back in the first part of the 20th century, even after the stock market crash. Albert is a good writer, and she tells the story through fiction techniques of dialogue, scenes, internal thought, humor, tragedy, and more.

Here’s an interesting summary I found on Albert’s website: http://www.awilderrosethenovel.com 

“In 1928, Rose Wilder Lane—world traveler, journalist, much-published magazine writer—returned from an Albanian sojourn to her parents’ Ozark farm. Almanzo Wilder was 71, Laura 61, and Rose felt obligated to stay and help. To make life easier, she built them a new home, while she and Helen Boylston transformed the farmhouse into a rural writing retreat and filled it with visiting New Yorkers. Rose sold magazine stories to pay the bills for both households, and despite the subterranean tension between mother and daughter, life seemed good.

Then came the Crash. Rose’s money vanished, the magazine market dried up, and the Depression darkened the nation. That’s when Laura wrote her autobiography, “Pioneer Girl,” the story of growing up in the Big Woods of Wisconsin, on the Kansas prairie, and by the shores of Silver Lake. The rest—the eight remarkable books that followed—is literary history.

But it isn’t the history we thought we knew. For the surprising truth is that Laura’s stories were publishable only with Rose’s expert rewriting. Based on Rose’s unpublished diaries and Laura’s letters, A Wilder Rose tells the true story of the decade-long, intensive, and often troubled collaboration that produced the Little House books—the collaboration that Rose and Laura deliberately hid from their agent, editors, reviewers, and readers.

Why did the two women conceal their writing partnership? What made them commit what amounts to one of the longest-running deceptions in American literature? And what happened in those years to change Rose from a left-leaning liberal to a passionate Libertarian?”

This book is fascinating, and I think that book clubs would have a lot to discuss about A Wilder Rose. As a matter of fact, Albert has a guide for book clubs on the website above.

Have you ever heard this theory before? Have you done much research into the Wilders? I would love to hear from you, and don’t forget to check out this book today!

Buy signed copies of A WILDER ROSE here: http://www.abouthyme.com/orderform.php

*Picture book for preschool through first grade, topic: farm life

*Hens as main characters

*Rating: Pip’s Trip is a cute, humorous picture book for young children who love farm animals and silliness. It’s part of THE LOOPY COOP HENS series.

Short, short summary: Midge, Pip, and Dot are hens, and they are wondering where that farmer’s truck is always going. He seems to be going places, and they do not! They decide that it would be fun to go places in the back of the truck. So Pip gets in the back of the truck by herself, expecting Midge and Dot to follow. But they “chicken out”, and so Pip is alone. During this time, the truck starts making noise because the farmer is working on the engine, but Pip believes she is going places and ALONE! She hides, deciding that maybe she doesn’t want to see the world after all. When the truck is quiet again, she sees the “wide world” looking just like the farm! Midge and Dot inform her that she didn’t really go anywhere, and she was brave for even getting in the truck. But then they decide that maybe going places would be better in a wheelbarrow. . .

Buy Pip’s Trip here!

So, what do I do with this book?

1. For a fun example of a personal narrative, after you read the book to children, together write a personal narrative as if you were Pip. So, Pip would tell about her adventure of getting in the back of the truck. This is a good example of a personal narrative because it’s one event in Pip’s life and is a good length for a primary student’s personal narrative.

2. This is a great book to use with any farm-themed unit in preschool–you can do rhyming words, animals on the farm, a farmer’s role on the farm, rural area, and more. The illustrations will add to whatever you are doing, and the children will get a kick out of these three silly hens!

3.  Courage is a topic you can discuss with children after reading Pip’s Trip. Why do the other hens think Pip is brave even though the truck never moved? What is courage or bravery? How do children exhibit this trait in their own lives?

I’m very happy to host Cynthia Briggs on her WOW! Women On Writing blog tour for her cook book, full of essays and recipes, titled PORK CHOPS AND APPLESAUCE: A COLLECTION OF RECIPES AND REFLECTIONS. Cynthia not only is a cookbook author, but she also has some great ideas and recipes that you can use with kids. (Four recipes to use with kids follow her post. . .)

LUCKILY!!! I also have a copy of Pork Chops & Applesauce to giveaway. Fill out the Rafflecopter form below to enter to win the contest. To read a description of the cookbook and an interview with the author, check out this post on WOW!’s blog: The Muffin.

And now, here’s Cynthia:

“For Kids Only”
by Cynthia Briggs

“Grandma, send me the recipes from the cooking class; I want to make them with my friends at home!” Arianna said as she disappeared into the jet-way adjusting her “rad” shades with one hand while the flight attendant held the other. Our 8 year-old granddaughter was set for her flight back to Seattle with a Fun Dip candy packet tucked in her pocket and a new “ultra-cool” Power Puff Girls CD holder dangling from her shoulder.

She’d just spent 8 days with us, Grandma Cindy and Grandpa Ed, in the desert town of Carlsbad, New Mexico. To help keep her busy, I enrolled her in a “For Kids Only” cooking class I was teaching at the community college. Swimming every day after class was a given for our water baby as temperatures had reached triple digits. In addition, Arianna had our dachshund, Leon, to play with and take on walks.

Arianna was enthusiastic about the cooking class, and took special pride in her grandmother being the teacher. After the first day of class I asked her if the other kids liked the Ice Cream Snowballs as much as she did. She rolled her big brown eyes and smacked her lips, “They l-o-v-e-d the Ice Cream Snowballs, but Grandma, don’t you think it’s time to go swimming?” That it was, so off we went for a refreshing dip in the pool.

The next day at the movie, Arianna introduced us to Sweet-tart candy worms and Atlantis cookies. Then on Saturday, at Ed’s company picnic, she careened through 10 kiddy carnival games before Ed and I had popped the tops off our sodas. She also introduced us to “Fun Dip” candy, which we learned is the color and texture of turquoise sand. That evening we were charmed into trying a place called Sonic Drive-in, where we discovered fantastic bacon cheeseburgers, onion rings, and cherry lime slushies.

Indeed, there’s nothing like a grandchild to light-up our life, wear us to a frazzle and lead us down a slippery slope toward Snicker’s Ice Cream Bars, Rugrats cereal, Atlantis cookies, Sweet-tart worms, Mickey D’s McNuggets, Baskin Robbins Ice Cream and Sonic Drive-in cheeseburgers.

My feet throbbed for three days after Arianna got on the airplane to go back home. Leon, who incidentally had been renamed Buddy, enjoyed a long and well-deserved nap. Ed said he felt “energized by Arianna’s visit.” Somehow, I think he’ll be smiling on the other side of his face when he bolsters the courage to step onto the scales.

Buy Porkchops and Applesauce here!

Ice Cream Snowballs
1/2 cup chocolate-flavored crisp rice cereal
1/4 cup toasted coconut or colored sprinkles or stars
1/4 cup lightly toasted nuts, chopped fine
1 pint ice cream (any flavor)
4 ice cream cones

Combine the cereal, coconut and nuts in a medium-sized mixing bowl. Scoop out 4 balls of ice cream, using an ice cream scoop. Working with one scoop at a time, drop the rounded scoop into the cereal mixture. Roll the ice cream ball around until it’s well-coated. Work quickly so the ice cream doesn’t melt. Place the Snowballs on a baking sheet; place in the freezer for 15 minutes or until serving time. Serve Snowballs in ice cream cones or dessert dishes. Yield: 4 servings

Shaggy Dogs, a.k.a. Bad Boy Bulldogs or Mangy Mutts
1 1/3 cups semi-sweet chocolate chips
1 to 2 teaspoon shortening (not butter, margarine, milk, cream or water)
30 large marshmallows
30 toothpicks
3 cups shredded coconut or 2 cups chopped peanuts, or 2 cups finely crushed graham cracker crumbs, or chocolate sprinkles

Melt chips with shortening in top of double boiler over water or in microwave (careful, chocolate burns very easily). Add more shortening if necessary to get a good dipping consistency. Remove melted chocolate from the heat; stir slightly. Place a toothpick in center of each marshmallow; dip each marshmallow into melted chocolate, covering completely, then roll in coconut. Place on waxed paper, remove toothpicks and allow Shaggy Dog to set-up for 5-15 minutes before serving. Yield: 30 shaggy dogs

“Rave Review” Quickie Pizzas
6 English Muffins
1-14 ounce jar pizza Sauce
Topping suggestions:
1 cup pepperoni, sliced thin
1 cup bulk sausage, cooked, drained and crumbled
1 cup fresh mushrooms, chopped fine
1 small can sliced olives, drained
1/2 cup green or red bell pepper, diced
1 small can diced green chiles, drained
2 cups Mozzarella cheese, shredded

Preheat oven to 400 °. Split the English muffins using a fork; spread with 1 to 2 tablespoons pizza sauce; add toppings according to taste ending with Mozzarella cheese. Place pizzas on a lightly greased baking sheet and bake for 8-10 minutes.
Yield: 12 individual Mini-pizzas

Saucepan Spaghetti
1-pound lean ground beef
2 1/2 cups water
15 ounces tomato sauce
1 tablespoon dried minced onion
1 teaspoon dried oregano, crushed
1/2 teaspoon dried basil, crushed
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
6 ounces angel hair or thin spaghetti
1/4 to 1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese

Brown ground beef in a large skillet over medium-high heat, breaking it into pieces as it cooks. When meat is brown, place it in a colander over a mixing bowl to drain excess fat. Return the drained meat to the skillet.

Stir in water, tomato sauce, onion, oregano, basil, salt garlic powder and pepper into the pan with the meat. Cover the pan and turn the burner to medium-high. When the mixture begins to boil, break the spaghetti in half and add to saucepan. Immediately turn the burner to low heat. Place the lid on the pan and simmer for 30 to 40 minutes, stirring frequently. Sprinkle with Parmesan cheese, if desired. Yield: 4 servings

Note: Making the Saucepan Spaghetti obviously requires your child be age appropriate for using a hot stove. Consider having the younger children tear lettuce or butter and garlic the bread to keep them a safe distance from the hot stove.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Mari L. McCarthy, from Create Write Now and the 27-days of Journaling to Health and Happiness, has a new book out that I know women and some men, too, will love! It’s 28 Days Weight Control Journaling , and it helps you get a handle on your eating habits and the reasons for your eating habits, so you can make positive changes in your daily eating routine. She provides guiding and gentle writing prompts for 28 days while you are also writing down EVERYTHING (yes EVERYTHING) you eat for 28 days.

I have had a chance to read through the book and plan to start October 1. I’m going to buy my notebook TODAY at Target! October will be a tricky month for me because I am going to be traveling quite a bit for speaking engagements, my college friends are going to Octoberfest one day (that’s nothing but eating and drinking wine!), and my daughter’s birthday is on the 26th. But I plan to think before I eat and be honest in my journal. If I eat a brownie in the middle of the day while my daughter takes a nap, I’m writing it down!

In Mari’s 28 Days of Weight Control Journaling, you will find great advice–stop the negative self-talk for one! (We all know what she’s talking about–don’t we?) Mari also shares some research that supports journaling for weight loss, and she shows you how to use the book for the greatest success BEFORE the prompts start. During the food journaling part (where you write down everything you eat), she also encourages you to write down when, where, and who you were with, plus how you were feeling–this will help you see a pattern for when you are eating healthier and when you are not.

After the introduction, the 28 days of journaling prompts begin. These are prompts that target your self-image, your beliefs about food and health (including exercise), your values (about everything), your family, and more. Just reading over these prompts gets me excited about doing this challenge! I really feel if you are HONEST about what you eat and about the answers to these prompts that you can change the way you feel about yourself and food!

With the 28 Day Weight Control Loss Journal you are working on your body–yes–but you are also working on yourself, which can lead to a change of lifelong unhealthy habits. Okay, who wants to join me on October 1?

If this sounds great to you, but you are still not sure, you can download a FREE SAMPLE of the book here. And then if you decide to purchase it, you can do that right from Mari’s website.  Let me know if you have any questions, if you want to do the challenge with me, or if you have any difficulties with Mari’s site!

I’m excited that Jessica Bell is here today to talk to my readers who are also writers! She has edited a book of essays, written by indie authors. I reviewed it here (and loved it by the way) on The Muffin, and then I got to interview Jessica about the book, too. Another great thing about this book is the low cost and the proceeds are donated to charity. Find out more below, including how to buy the book!

Margo: Hi Jessica, it’s so great to have you on my blog today. Tell us a little about: INDIESTRUCTIBLE: INSPIRING STORIES FROM THE PUBLISHING JUNGLE.

Jessica: Indiestructible is an anthology of personal essays from indie authors.

Here’s the blurb:
Need motivation and inspiration to self-publish, or sign that contract with an interested small press? Have you done all the research you can, but still feel ambivalent about the idea? Indiestructible: Inspiring Stories from the Publishing Jungle brings you the experiences of 29 indie authors—their passions, their insights, their successes—to help you make the leap into indie publishing.

This is not a how-to guide. This is the best of the indie tradition of experienced authors paying forward what they’ve learned, giving you information to help you on your journey. The personal essays in this book will leave you itching to get your work into the hands of readers and experience, first-hand, all the rewards indie publishing has to offer.

Margo: It’s an awesome idea! (And it turned out so well!) What made you decide to put this book together?

Jessica: The day I realized I’d been obsessing over my sales figures way too much was the day I closed my eyes and tried to think about the real reason I am an indie author.

Is my primary goal to make money? No. So why do I keep obsessing over my sales stats? I realized it’s because more sales means more people reading my work. What I really really want is to be read. I want to share the one thing in this world I would cut my fingers off for. I know. If I didn’t have any fingers, I wouldn’t be able to physically write, but you know what I mean.

My passion for writing comes with a perpetual replacement button, attached to my side seam, just in case it becomes unraveled, and falls off, after a day gallivanting through the publishing jungle. It can be tough in there, but in the end, being an indie author is OH SO WORTH IT.

This made me wonder … what’s everybody else’s story?

Editor Jessica Bell

Then Indiestructible was born

Margo: What’s a story that stands out in your mind that will particularly help other writers?

Jessica: Gosh, that’s pretty hard to judge. All the stories in this book are fascinating. We’ve got Dawn Ius’s story about how to make decent money doing what you love; we’ve got Kristie Cook’s story about how she dropped everything to open up a small press, and never looked back; we’ve got Alex J. Cavanaugh’s story about how blogging turned him into a bestseller on Amazon; we’ve even got stories by authors who don’t actually make much money, but have found that reader recognition is more than enough to make them happy and feel like a success.

Margo: Thanks for pointing those out! And we all know that I now am a huge fan of Briane Pagel since I read the book. Who would you say is the perfect audience for your book?

Jessica: I think anyone who has published a book regardless of avenue will enjoy this. It’s like sitting at a big roundtable with like-minded authors.

Margo: Tell us about the special price and where the proceeds are going!

Jessica: It’s just $0.99 and 100% of proceeds will be donated to BUILDON.org, a movement which breaks the cycle of poverty, illiteracy, and low expectations through service and education.

Margo: That’s the completely wonderful thing about this book–the price and then even at that low price, readers are helping others! Marvelous idea. Where can readers purchase Indiescrutible?

Jessica: You can find various purchase links for both Kindle and ePub at this link.

Margo: Thanks! Anything else you want to add?

Jessica: Just to check out these amazing contributing authors:

Alex J. Cavanaugh <> Angela Brown <> Anne R. Allen <> Briane Pagel <> C.S. Lakin <> Ciara Knight <> Cindy M. Hogan <> D. Robert Pease <> Dawn Ius <> Emily White <> Greg Metcalf <> Jadie Jones <> Jessica Bell <> Karen Bass <> Karen Walker <> Kristie Cook <> Laura Diamond <> Laura Pauling <> Laurel Garver <> Leigh Talbert Moore <> Lori Robinson <> Melissa Foster <> Michael Offutt <> Michelle Davidson Argyle <> Rick Daley <> Roz Morris <> S.R. Johannes <> Stephen Tremp <> Susan Kaye Quinn

Margo: Thanks, Jessica!

Jessica: Thanks so much for having me today!

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