Are you busy the morning of Saturday, August 19? Plans had already made for the Dogwood Press tent to be set up at the Mississippi Book Festival, and I swiftly said yes when offered an opportunity to serve as moderator for a Dogwood Press panel that will take place at 9:30 that morning in Room 204 inside the AIR-CONDITIONED (yes, that's very important) Mississippi capitol building.
I can't tell you how excited I am!
Joining me will be Dogwood Press authors John Floyd, Valerie Winn, Candace Cox Wheeler, and J. Stephen Beam. If you're already coming to the festival, please stop in and enjoy the discussion. It will be fun, lively, and give you something you won't get anywhere else at the festival: the story of how a home-grown, traditional publishing house has slowly but surely assembled a team of very talented fiction writers. And the four authors you'll meet that morning (as well as Randy Pierce, who'll join us at the Dogwood Press tent following the panel) are truly fine people as well.
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Please invite a friend to join you!
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The very first J. Stephen Beam book tour gets underway this week with appearances to promote The Death Letter at Except 4 Grace in Sumrall, Mississippi, on Thursday at 5 p.m. and in Hattiesburg at the Author Shoppe on Saturday at 11 a.m. Stephen also visits Lemuria Books in Jackson next Tuesday, August 8 at 5 p.m. and he'll travel to northeast Mississippi on August 17 for an 11 a.m. stop at the Itawamba County-Pratt Memorial Library. And that's only the beginning!
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Coming soon to a bookstore, library, or festival near you!
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We're also just weeks from the launch of the very first Sunrise Press title. Sunrise Press is a division of Dogwood Press and was created this year to publish select fiction and non-fiction faith-based titles. Our debut is a unique Advent devotional by Brandon, Mississippi-based writer Monica Walton. You know how busy you are during December, and often the best-laid plans to commit to a month of daily readings are derailed by everything from holiday travel and visits from relatives to Christmas parties and shopping trips. Advent Reflections for This Day is a WEEKLY devotional, providing all the spiritual nourishment you're looking for in a format that will work nicely with your busy December schedule. Monica will make a number of appearances in October and November in support of the book, so watch for her!
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| A wonderful little book to launch Sunrise Press! |
I am very grateful to Janice Guido at Bay Life Gifts at Century Hall in beautiful Bay St. Louis, Mississippi, for carrying several Dogwood Press titles and providing such a warm welcome for Candace Cox Wheeler a few weeks ago. What a lovely area to shop!
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| Introducing new folks to the magic of Cradle in the Oak and Squall in the Gulf! |
And a shout-out to my friend Nash Nunnery, the veteran newspaper journalist who has authored a very impressive non-fiction work about vintage high school football stadiums in Mississippi. I had the privilege of editing Magnolia Gridiron Cathedrals, and it's truly a coffee table book you'll return to again and again (as opposed to one that looks pretty and sits gathering dust). Nash will be on a sports panel at the Mississippi Book Festival late in the day on August 19, and as he says, if you're school isn't in his book, it could possibly appear in a second volume.
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| Just in time for football season! |
Website orders for The Death Letter are pouring in right now, and we have plenty of signed copies. For that matter, visit dogwoodpress.com for signed copies of any Dogwood Press titles, and please come enjoy the Dogwood Press panel at the book festival. We promise a fun time, and we promise air-conditioning! What more can you ask?
