BOOK CLUBS

I absolutely can't overstate the importance of in-person book clubs. Nearly every Dogwood Press author has been invited to one or more clubs over the years, and there is no better feeling for an author than when a group of 10-20 readers has read your work and invites you to discuss it. In addition to the copies sold, the tremendous word-of-mouth that stems from such events is incalculable. Book club appearances are very similar to well-attended events at public libraries in that way.

The Bonfire Book Club in south Mississippi recently hosted Randy Pierce for a presentation about Missy, which most all of the members had read by the time Randy arrived several weeks ago. The attendees raved, and I'm thrilled that they've since booked Valerie Winn for the month of August and Candace Cox Wheeler for October. What's interesting is that the club selected Valerie's first book, Forsaking Mimosa. That one celebrates its tenth anniversary this year and will be in a third printing by the time Valerie visits in August, and it just goes to show how timeless a good book really is.

Also, Candace Cox Wheeler visits the Langley Point and Friends Book Club on Saturday, August 13 to discuss Squall in the Gulf and Cradle in the Oak.

Many thanks to our new friends at the Bonfire Book Club!

Dogwood Press rolls out two new titles in August, the Candace Cox Wheeler thriller Squall in the Gulf and my new Oakdale series mystery, Resting Place. See if you've heard this before: We are hopeful that we've seen the last of the pandemic and that in-person gatherings later this year -- especially the Mississippi Book Festival on August 20 in Jackson -- will take place as planned. Ever the optimist, I am scheduling events for the Dogwood Press team as if things will unfold just like we hope.

Hmm ... wonder what's down there ...

Featuring an appearance by lovable Al Capone! 

Valerie Winn recently put on a writing workshop that touched on the many elements of creating good fiction: plot development, character development, sense of time and place, good dialogue, and point of view. I keep up carefully with these events because a name you'll recognize in this blog -- Candace Cox Wheeler -- attended one of Valerie's workshops before submitting the Cradle in the Oak manuscript to me in 2019. Good luck to all of you who just finished Valerie's workshop several weeks ago. I have no doubt you learned a lot!

A future bestseller in this group? Don't rule it out!

A big congratulations to John Floyd for winning a 2022 Derringer Award in the Flash Fiction category for "Tourist Trap", and the hits just keep on coming: he has a story entitled "The Dollhouse" in the May/June issue of Alfred Hitchcock's Mystery Magazine and a selection in the upcoming 2022 Bouchercon anthology. As I've said before in this space, if you've never read short fiction, John is a true master. And you'll have no trouble finding his work: in addition to eight books of his short fiction published by Dogwood Press, visit any bookstore and consult the magazine section. His short stories are in most of them and add a lot to those publications.

Be sure to read John's Sleuth Sayers blog each Saturday on Facebook!

There are graduation gifts and Father's Day presents to be purchased, and we can take care of you with one quick visit to dogwoodpress.com. You'll receive signed, first edition copies when you order, and you'll have them in just a couple of days. If reading on a device is your preference, most of our catalogue is available for download via Amazon Kindle.

Thanks so much for your time. We hope to see you soon.