GREAT FUN at the Humonginormous Book signing

Okay. I had so much fun at the Mall of America in Minneapolis, Minnesota book signing. I met tons of great people, and just being a part of this record-breaking event gives me giggling goosebumps. The pic above is a huge digital screen that was above one of the two stages that hosted a panel of authors. You should have seen me trying to get that picture. It scrolled alphabetically. When I got there, it was on the H's. I turned on my camera, zoomed in, got ready, and waited. I waited through Hake, Harter, Hauck, Henke, Hickey, Hill, Hinck, Hochstetler, Hunt, Hunter, Johnson, Jones, Kinnard, Klassen. . .and then. . .MY CAMERA SHUT DOWN! I fumbled with the on button, squeezed the zoom lever, pointed and clicked--all in two seconds. It was a miracle that I got it so clear!

This is my table. I'm giving a $25 gift certificate to Barnes & Noble for the closest person to guess how many seashells are in my jar. Clever, huh? That's colorful salt water taffy in the basket. Can you guess my theme? (Of course you can! My readers are smart!) I had 42 people guess my seashells, and I feel I made at least 50 friends as I talked to people walking by. BTW, I heard that the Mall of America had a record attendance that day. It looked like Christmas! And I'm sure it was because of the publicity that went out locally. What a testament to those shoppers that day!

And, here I am. Author Harry Kraus took this picture with my camera. He was to my right, and we tag teamed to draw people near. He had a basket full of chocolate. . .the good kind. Reeses, KitKats, fun candy! He would tell passersby that if they came to talk to him, they could have some candy. I only got worried when he said that to four teenage girls walking by. Yeah. They kept walking. But most people talked to him, then scooted over to me, or vice-versa. It was great!

Aside from the fun of getting to be a part of this event, I felt it a privilege to be light in a dark world with so many like-minded authors. I pray that we not only introduced Christian fiction to those who didn't know we existed, but that there were some who were introduced to our Jesus that day.

HUMONGINORMOUS BOOK SIGNING!

Following is an ACFW press release:

HUNDREDS OF NOVELISTS COMING TO MINNEAPOLIS
Booksigning by 100+ novelists at Mall of America September 20
(MINNEAPOLIS, MINN.) Hundreds of authors and aspiring authors will attend the annual
American Christian Fiction Writers conference at the Sheraton Bloomington Hotel September
18-21, 2008. They’ll study the craft of writing from a Christian worldview, get the word out
about their books, and meet with editors from nearly every major publishing house in their industry.
They’re also coming to get signed books. On Saturday, September 20, 1:00-3:00pm in the Best
Buy® Rotunda and Bloomingdale’s Court of the Mall of America, over 100 bestselling and
award-winning authors such as Angela Hunt, James Scott Bell, Rene Gutteridge, Deborah Raney,
Tamera Alexander, Judith Miller, Nancy Moser, and Brandt Dodson will sign copies of
their books for conference attendees and the public.
"ACFW is very excited to partner with the Mall of America in hosting a booksigning of such
magnitude,” said ACFW President Robin Miller. “As a reader myself, I'm thrilled at the opportunity
to meet so many authors and have my books autographed. I intend to do much of my
Christmas shopping at the booksigning."
For more information regarding the signing or conference, please contact Cara Putman at (765)
418-3427 or pr@acfw.com. To learn more about ACFW, visit www.acfw.com.


Kathy here:

This conference just keeps getting better. I always look forward to learning, connecting, and fellowshipping. Okay, also general clowning around because I'm soooo happy to be away from my home responsibilities and have meals cooked for me and beds made magically while I'm out of my room. Oh yeah, baby!

What's new this year is that instead of our book signing being held in the hotel in which we are staying, Barnes & Noble will be hosting it at the Mall of America. OVER 100 CHRISTIAN FICTION WRITERS will be signing books at the Mall of America. Yowza! What an impact that will have on the general shopping population! I pray it will be a deep one.

I will be signing Florida Weddings, but I also have a contest. If you're in the area, please stop by, (whether you're buying my book or not,) and guess the number of seashells in my jar. The winner will be mailed a Barnes & Noble gift card for $25.

If you're able to join us, the authors participating are:
Tamera Alexander
Jennifer AlLee
A.K. Arenz
Diane Ashley
Karen Ball
Janet Lee Barton
James Scott Bell
Joseph Bentz
Terri Blackstock
Robin Caroll
Patricia PacJac Carroll
Jeanie Smith Cash
Eleanor Clark
Debra Clopton
Gloria Clover
Brandilyn Collins
Mary Connealy
Lyn Cote
Kathryn Cushman
Margaret Daley
KM Daughters
Susan Page Davis
Mary Davis
Janet Dean
Megan DiMaria
Brandt Dodson
Lena Nelson Dooley
Cecelia Dowdy
Sharon Dunn
Wanda Dyson
Lynette Eason
Meredith Efken
Leanna Ellis
Sharon Ewell Foster
Miralee Ferrell
Tina Ann Forkner
Darlene Franklin
Jonathan Friesen
Rhonda Gibson
Terri Gillespie
Debby Giusti
Beth Goddard
Cathy Gohlke
Rene Gutteridge
Cathy Marie Hake
Kelly Eileen Hake
Karen Harter
Rachel Hauck
Roxanne Henke
Cynthia Hickey
Patti Hill
Sharon Hinck
Joan Hochstetler
Steven Hunt
Angela Hunt
Denise Hunter
Jennifer Johnson
Jenny B. Jones
Golden Keyes Parsons
Deb Kinnard
Julie Klassen
Kathleen Kovach
Harry Kraus
Harry Kraus
Patti Lacy
Maureen Lang
Jeanne Marie Leach
Tosca Lee
Julie Lessman
Michelle Levigne
Sherri L. Lewis
Elizabeth Ludwig
Christine Lynxwiler
Richard L. Mabry
Sharlene MacLaren
Gail Martin
Debby Mayne
Vickie McDonough
Andrew McGuire
Susan Meissner
Becky Melby
Dana Mentink
Amber Miller
Judith Miller
Sara Mills
Siri Mitchell
Nancy Moser
Janelle Mowery
Elizabeth Musser
Mark Mynheir
Jill Nelson
Mae Nunn
John Olson
Donita K. Paul
Trish Perry
Marta Perry
Allie Pleiter
Cara Putman
Deborah Raney
Sandra Robbins
Paul Robertson
John Robinson
Martha Rogers
Cynthia Ruchti
Gail Sattler
Kim Vogel Sawyer
Shelley Shephard Gray
Virginia Smith
Lynette Sowell
Candice Speare
Kathryn Springer
Denice Stewart
Sarah Anne Sumpolec
Michelle Sutton
Camy Tang
Donn Taylor
Janice Thompson
Cindy Thomson
Missy Tippens
Carrie Turansky
ML Tyndall
Amy Wallace
Susan May Warren
Linda Wichman
Beth Wiseman
Cheryl Wyatt
Kathleen Y'Barbo

If you can't make it, please consider praying. We've never done anything on this scale before in the general public. I pray that seeds are planted, and that at the very least, people will consider Christian fiction as a viable avenue to share God's word.

Choose Your Words Carefully

Dear Lord," the preacher began with arms extended and a rapturous look
on his upturned face, "without you we are but dust..."

He would have continued, but at that moment one very obedient little girl (who was listening carefully) leaned over to her mother and asked quite audibly in her shrill little girl voice, "Mommy, WHAT is butt dust?"

Church was pretty much over at that point...

First Fish - July 27

My husband and I both love to fish, so we were thrilled to get the chance to take our grandchildren fishing this month for their first time. Sophia, the five-year-old, was able to fish with a hook, but we didn't try that with the other two. Sabella, the almost four-year-old, fished with the plastic crown "lure" that came with her Disney princess pole and was perfectly content with that until Sophia caught her first fish during our second trip of the month. Then, I had to put a bobber and hook on hers, but told her I would throw it out, then let her reel it in when it drifted too close to shore.

Below is a picture of Sabella trying to catch fish with her plastic crown at Lake Estes in Estes Park, CO. I'm sure the fish were confused, but if there'd been a frog prince in that lake, she may have had a taker!

And this is almost two-year-old Adrian. He set down his pole and had a blast throwing rocks in the water, which may be why we didn't catch any fish that day.

Grieving for a Woman I Never Knew

I'm grieving right now. I just heard that Kristy Dykes has passed on. She had been diagnosed mere months ago with brain cancer. We briefly spoke at the American Christian Fiction Writers conference two years ago, when we found out we'd both be in the compilation, Florida Weddings. Her's is the story in the middle, Heart of the Matter. I knew of Kristy, but had never spoken to her until then. When she learned I was living in Colorado, her spunkiness came out and she asked how I was qualified to write a story in Florida. Not mean-spirited, but definitely on fire for her beloved state. Kristy always started her posts, "Greetings from sunny Florida." After I assured her that I had lived there for ten years, she seemed satisfied, and I found myself excited to be associated with her in this project.

Kristy, Lynn Coleman, the first author in the compilation, and I had talked about doing a booksigning when Florida Weddings came out. Even though it would have taken some major money for me to fly out there for a week of book blitzing, I was looking forward to getting to know Kristy better.

Then came her diagnosis.

I never got to talk to her about this exciting project. I never even got to celebrate with her. I never got to sit at a book table with her and soak in the Kristy that I've been reading about on her blog. A dynamic woman passionately in love with her Lord. Her husband, Milton, has been writing posts about this journey. At times, it was too painful for me to check in on it. Other times, I poured over every word, wishing I could see her again, happy, whole, and healthy.

Here is her blog link. http://www.christianlovestories.blogspot.com/. Even if you have no idea who I'm talking about, you will be blessed to read even a portion of the posts Milton wrote.

Good bye, Kristy. We'll talk later.