KIDS SAY THE DARNEDEST THINGS

I was invited to speak at the Young Writer's Conference at Northwest Rankin High School in Brandon, MS, last week. So was John Floyd, and a writer from The Clarion Ledger. Since I was told I would be speaking to a group of about a dozen rising 7th graders, I thought they'd enjoy hearing from my son, John, whose e-book (The Legend of Roger) was published about a year ago. He isn't much older than those kids, and I hoped they would think it was pretty cool that he was an author.

Didn't take long to determine that nearly all those kids enjoy series! Harry Potter? Yep, a whole bunch of those kids had read most (or all) of the books and seen the movies. Diary of a Wimpy Kid? Oh, yes. The kids all laughed when I told them that when my wife and I drove our son to school to start the new year, we were going to roll down the window after he was out of the car and yell, "BYE, SWEETIE!" to him. Several of the kids have read The Hunger Games and the two novels from Suzanne Collins that followed, and others have enjoyed the Percy Jackson series.

John and I had a blast with these kids and their teacher, Cindy Christian! Back row: Cindy, John, and me.

We talked about suspense in writing, too. John talked about how much he enjoyed ending chapters of his novel with cliffhangers, and the kids and I made up a tense situation on the fly: a kid has something in a jar or box that's going to blow up (i.e. a firecracker), and that kid plans to have the firecracker go off and scare someone as a joke. But then a friend of the person who put the box there walks by and is about to open the box...just as the firecracker is about to go off...and could get hurt!!! Then, I told the kids, not only does the scene end--creating the cliffhanger--but we go to another scene with different people. That way we're reading the next chapter while wondering what's going to happen to the person about to open the box with the firecracker. Will that person get hurt? Or is the firecracker a dud and doesn't go off?

What's on the menu in the cafeteria? Corn dogs? Tater tots?

I spoke to the Friends of the Library in Tupelo, MS, on June 26 and really enjoyed meeting Friends president Margaret Gratz and the nice folks that keep that group running. I stopped at The Book Mart in Starkville on my way home and ran into Starkville children's author Laurie Parker, someone I've admired for years. Store manager Carolyn Abadie was kind enough to get a picture of us:

Laurie looks great. The picture of me is slightly better than my new driver's license photo.

And here's a picture of me at Cajun Fest, my church's annual fundraiser, from late May. One thing I've learned over the years about selling books: not everyone comes to the initial launch of a book. There are lots of folks who enjoy buying a book and meeting or visiting with an author at a place that's comfortable for them...and that's absolutely fine with me!

Do you want me to sign my name, or forge the name of another author?

Upcoming author appearances:

John Floyd: the Pearl public library on July 26 at noon
John Floyd: the Mississippi Writer's Guild conference in Meridian on August 3-4
Valerie Winn has several Coast-area signings in August and September
Joe Lee will speak at the Starkville public library on September 12 at noon
Valerie, Joe, and John will be at the Mary C. O'Keefe Cultural Center in Ocean Springs on October 12
John will be at Main Street Books in Hattiesburg on December 2 at 4pm
Joe and John will speak and sign books at the Belzoni public library on December 5 at 6:30pm

It's summertime...looking for something to read on your Kindle while poolside or at the beach? Here are some great ideas!!!

VALERIE WINN - Forsaking Mimosa
JOHN FLOYD - Deception
JOHN FLOYD - Clockwork
JOE LEE - The Magnolia Triangle
JOE LEE - The Long Road Home
JOE LEE - Last Chance Texaco
JOHN LEE - The Legend of Roger

If you're interested in having any of the Dogwood Press authors speak to your group, answer an email, or sign an autographed book, give us a shout by visiting www.dogwoodpress.com. See you soon!!!

BACK THE TRUCK UP TO THE DOOR

Know what's very exciting and a little bit scary? Watching the ginormous delivery truck pull up with a shipment of books Dogwood Press is publishing. The trucking company almost always sends a polite driver who expertly unloads the palettes of books from the truck. Those pallets, which are shrink-wrapped and contain as many as 40 cartons of books, are always labeled with DO NOT STACK. Yes, that would seem to be a no-brainer. But I had a really bad moment a few years ago when a pair of (inexperienced/clueless) guys tried to bring two stacked pallets off the truck.

They got as far as the lift gate when the top pallet began to lean...

Disaster was thankfully averted that day, although I was immediately on the phone with the company that shipped and told them I would be having nightmares about a half ton (literally) of books tipping over and landing in the driveway. That led to DO NOT STACK labels being affixed to all shipments.

But busting open the first carton of books is always a little spooky, too. Sure, it's a big thrill, whether it's the debut by one of my authors or one of my own novels. Until we've eyeballed an actual hard copy and held it in our hands, we don't know for sure that it turned out okay. Do the colors pop off the cover like they're supposed to? Any pages printed upside down? Is the copyright page information correct? Is the author's name (and book title) spelled correctly? There are all kinds of stupid mistakes we can make on this end, and there are a variety of problems that can take place where the books are being printed.

I'm happy to report, though, that John Floyd's DECEPTION turned out great, and we had a barn-burner of a launch at Lemuria on May 1!!!

John has some of the most loyal fans anywhere! 

Not pictured: truly nasty weather conditions, making the great attendance all the more remarkable!

This young Floyd fan can't wait to dig into DECEPTION after a heaping spoonful of Gerber!



 

Meantime, I was invited to be part of PITCH FEST at the 2013 Oxford Creative Non Fiction Writers Conference & Workshops this past Saturday. This was an event where prospective authors pitched their works to literary agents, magazine editors, and publishers. Each writer had four minutes to pitch his or her work, and it was truly fascinating to hear the different ideas out there. I talked to 15-16 writers and thoroughly enjoyed it. My thanks to author/publisher Neil White, who worked very hard to put on a very thorough four-day conference and assembled a LOT of talent--anyone who attended all four days received an education you just can't get in a textbook.

That's me with Neil White. In addition to writing the fantastic memoir IN THE SANCTUARY OF OUTCASTS, he runs Nautilus Publishing Company from Oxford and has released a variety of successful titles in recent years.




Listening to a pitch from an author at PITCH FEST...

 



...and pitching books at the Hattiesburg Books A Million. That's old friend Lauren Amburgey Shurden.

Several events this weekend: I'll sign my Oakdale novels at Books A Million of Meridian this Saturday at noon; John will sign DECEPTION at Books A Million of Hattiesburg this Saturday at noon; Valerie Winn will sign FORSAKING MIMOSA in Pascagoula this Saturday at the Live Oak Arts Festival. Come say hello and pick up a signed book! They make great gifts for Mother's Day, Father's Day, graduation presents, and birthdays!

And DECEPTION will be available for Amazon Kindle users in several days. Here's our list of Dogwood Press titles you can grab if you own a Kindle:

JOHN M. FLOYD - DECEPTION (available the week of May 6)
JOHN M. FLOYD - CLOCKWORK
VALERIE WINN - FORSAKING MIMOSA
JOE LEE - THE MAGNOLIA TRIANGLE
JOE LEE - THE LONG ROAD HOME
JOE LEE - LAST CHANCE TEXACO
JOHN LEE - THE LEGEND OF ROGER

While all that's going on, we're knee-deep in our preparations to release the Michael Hewes novel, WATERMARK, in October. Really excited about this one, and here's a sneak peek at the cover.

In addition, John, Valerie, and I will join Michael for a really cool seminar at the Mary C. O'Keefe Cultural Center in Ocean Springs on October 12. It's a 10am event that will last about 90 minutes. We'll all discuss different aspects of what we do, take questions, and sign books. WATERMARK will be brand-spanking-new at the time and a REALLY hot item on the Coast!!!

Coming to a bookstore near you this fall!




 

PREPARE TO BE DECEIVED...

Gosh, I'm excited about the new John M. Floyd collection of stories, Deception. Talk about a cool cover...

Deception, the latest from the Derringer-Award winning short story master, is loaded with 30 tales of mystery, suspense, intrigue, and...yes...deception. There's police procedural, sci-fi/fantasy, Western, nostalgia, romance, and more...all with a jaw-dropping twist at the end. You know what I mean; you read right down to the very end and there's almost an adrenaline rush because you are CERTAIN something totally unexpected is going to happen. Make a note of the title story, as well as John's story "Redemption." Both are outstanding, but every story in the book is top quality. And what else would you expect from John?

The official kickoff is at Lemuria in Jackson, Mississippi, on Wednesday, May 1. He'll sign books at 5:00, with the reading to follow at 5:30. Put that on your calendar and plan on joining us. If you're in John's stomping grounds of Attala County, Mississippi, put April 24 on your calendar (exactly a week before Lemuria) for a book talk and signing at the Attala County Public Library at noon in Kosciusko. In addition, John's visit to Purvis, Mississippi in January was rescheduled for Thursday, May 23 at 5:30. Many more events involving Deception are to follow. Finally, John will teach at the Gulf Coast Writer's Association event on Saturday, February 23 and sell copies of Rainbow's End, Midnight, and Clockwork.

And now for an observation, as I traveled, spoke, and signed copies of Last Chance Texaco in late 2012:

                PEOPLE WITH DYED BLUE HAIR ARE NOT RELIABLE BOOK BUYERS

Okay, all I have is anecdotal evidence. But based on my random sampling over the past decade, the number of books I've sold to potential customers with hair they've dyed blue is...wait for it...none. Zip, zero, nada. I encountered my most recent addition to this category at Books A Million in Hattiesburg, Mississippi. At least she didn't ask if the books were free!!! (Nor did she hang around long enough for me to document the, uh, colorful hair.)

Speaking of Hattiesburg, one of my favorite events each year is the annual Christmas Extravaganza multi-author event at Main Street Books, which is hosted by proprietors Jerry and Diane Shepherd. It was great to visit with author/publisher Neil White and nationally syndicated cartoonist and good friend Marshall Ramsey. The economy may be struggling overall, but it was roaring like a warm Christmas fire for one chilly afternoon in early December in Hattiesburg.

Ellen Brumfield (author Valerie Winn's mother in law) and me with Marshall at Main Street Books.

Valerie and I signed books together at the Bay/Waveland Yacht Club the last day of November, and we made separate appearances at Bay Books in Bay St. Louis. Jeremy Burke, who owns the store with his wife, Kristen Tusa, is one of the more creative book biz types I've met. He's also a big believer in social media and was very interested when I told him that one of my own Facebook posts brought Christine Cuicchi to the store from nearby Diamondhead...we continue to get results from Facebook!




Ho ho ho!



Christine Cuicchi is the daughter of my high school physics teacher, Paul Cuicchi. It was an honor to sign books for both of them. Just so you'll know, neither Mississippi State University nor Starkville High School have named any buildings or scholarships for me.



That's Michael Hewes with Valerie and me. Next year at this time he'll hoist his own book!


And with Christmas in the air, it was neat to see some of the different book displays at our events. I gave talks at public libraries in Florence and Richland in December and really enjoyed bantering with the folks who asked questions about everything from plotting a story to marketing one's book. As always, I tell them to ask any questions they want...I'm a fiction writer, and if I don't know the answer to something, I'll gladly make it up!



At Persnickety, on Main Street in Madison, Mississippi



At the Richland Public Library in Richland, Mississippi.

2013 is going to be a BUSY year for Dogwood Press! In addition to John Floyd's Deception, we'll release the Michael Hewes thriller, Watermark, in October. Can't wait for that one, too!

Remember, the Dogwood Press authors love giving book talks, and email addresses for John, Valerie, and me are on the author pages on the DP web site, which is www.dogwoodpress.com. Drop any of us a note, and let's talk about getting one (or more) of us in front of your book club, civic organization, to your arts/crafts festival, or into your store!

Finally, if Santa brought you a Kindle for Christmas, here's the list of Dogwood Press titles available for download through Amazon.com:

JOE LEE - The Magnolia Triangle
JOE LEE - The Long Road Home
JOE LEE - Last Chance Texaco
VALERIE WINN - Forsaking Mimosa
JOHN M. FLOYD - Clockwork
JOHN LEE - The Legend of Roger

As they say, order now and start reading in less than a minute. Both Deception and Watermark will be released through Kindle, too. Never forget, though, that an author can't sign your download...just a book!!!

TIS THE SEASON!

I made one of my favorite book trips yesterday: to Starkville, Mississippi, for the annual Christmas Open House at The Book Mart. It's my hometown bookstore and managed by my friend Carolyn Abadie, and this year there were over a dozen authors in the store. Merchants all up and down Main Street had their doors open, and Christmas music was playing on loudspeakers and shoppers were darting in and out of the stores hunting for bargains and one-of-a-kind items you just can't find anywhere else!

Among the authors was Michael Kardos, who (along with his wife) heads up the MSU Creative Writing Department these days. He's also the author of THE THREE DAY AFFAIR, a very impressive suspense fiction novel and his major label debut. A nice guy, and it was great to share a signing table with him. In addition, Sid Salter, who penned the excellent Jack Cristal biography a year ago, and television broadcast legend Walt Grayson were also there and visited with lots of folks. I've admired both men for years, and it was great to visit with both of them.

Mississippi newspaper legend Sid Salter and TV broadcast great Walt Grayson were kind enough to let me be photoshopped into their photo!!!

Michael Kardos is a nice guy and a good writer.

Valerie Winn continues to sell lots of copies of FORSAKING MIMOSA, which makes an oustanding Christmas gift if you haven't given her book a try yet. Congratulations to Valerie for being named the Literary Arts Director for the Mary O'Keefe Cultural Center in Ocean Springs, Mississippi! The Mary C. recently hosted a concert for Mississippi music legend Marty Stuart, and one of the folks in attendance was Mississippi publisher and author Neil White, the author of IN THE SANCTUARY OF OUTCASTS. Neil's a real nice guy, and Valerie and I both look forward to seeing him at the annual Main Street Books Christmas Extravaganza in Hattiesburg, which will have at least two dozen authors, and takes place Monday, December 3 from 4pm-7pm.

Two of the hardest-working people in show business!

While running all over the place in the Bookmobile to support the launch of LAST CHANCE TEXACO, I've also been training for a half marathon! I joined a group that runs together to get ready for the Mississippi Blues Marathon (and Half Marathon) in January, and I've made a bunch of nice friends while pounding the pavement the last three months. Brad Brady and Virginia Morris were kind enough to drop in on me at The Bookshelf in Ridgeland, Mississippi, and it's always great to see lots of old friends at libraries all over Mississippi!

I just try to stay in the same zip code when running with these REAL runners!

At the Webster County Library in Eupora, Mississippi, in front of the Friends group.

Lots going on as we near the end of 2012...John Floyd, whose next mystery suspense short story collection, DECEPTION, is coming in April, will sign at Mississippi Books A Million stores in Meridian, Hattiesburg, and Jackson in December. If you haven't read John's stories, take it from a fan as well as his publisher: they are really, really good. All three previous collections (RAINBOW'S END, MIDNIGHT, and CLOCKWORK) are loaded with stories of all kinds (police procedural, Western, sci-fi/fantasy, humor), and all have a classic Hitchcock-type ending that will amaze you...I'm talking about the very last sentence of most stories having a surprise you didn't see coming. So pick one up (or all of them!!!) and be ready for DECEPTION this spring.

By the way, Happy Thanksgiving, and please plan on dropping by and saying hello the day after Thanksgiving at Books A Million of Columbus, Mississippi, where I'll begin signing books on Friday, November 23 at 11am. I'll visit Bay St. Louis, Mississippi on Friday, November 30 and sign books with Valerie at the Bay/Waveland Yacht Club from 12pm-4pm. I'll sign at Bay Books in BSL that afternoon
from 4pm-6pm, and Valerie will sign there the following day (Saturday, December 1) from 11am-1pm.
The full Dogwood Press author schedule can be viewed at www.dogwoodpress.com.

Happy reading! See you soon!

FILL 'ER UP!

I launched my new Oakdale suspense novel, Last Chance Texaco, at The Book Mart in Starkville, Mississippi, on September 27 and at Lemuria in Jackson on October 6. Had a great time at both and saw lots of old friends. The Lemuria signing was on a Saturday afternoon, and being the football fan that I am, I should have known that many of my friends would be at the games or parked in front of their TV sets. But nearly everyone who couldn't make it has gotten a book since then or pledged to attend another signing down the road. Reviews of the new book have been very kind, and there was a neat question/answer interview conducted by Susan O'Bryan that ran in The Clarion Ledger on September 30.


That's my friend Regina Fowler proudly wearing her Mississippi State colors and even came to Lemuria during the football game! She generously buys books for herself, her mother, and her mother-in law.



My old friend (and college professor) Dr. Bob Anderson. As I remind him often, Mississippi State University has yet to name any academic scholarships or buildings after me. But it's always good to see him.



My friend Dave Berry and me. He, along with Noraine Moree, co-authored the excellent non-fiction book, White Shirts, earlier this year. It was great to see both of them at Lemuria.

The BookMobile is gassed up and ready to go...I'll sign at Books A Million in Meridian, Mississippi, this Saturday at 12pm. I'll be on WTOK-TV in that city the previous day (Friday, October 12) on the morning show. The interview should hit around 6:15, and I'll put my hair on and my teeth in and try to sound halfway coherent. On Saturday, October 20, I'll sign at 1pm at Books A Million in Hattiesburg.

And I'll be on the Cyrus Webb "Conversations" radio program at 12pm on Tuesday, October 16. Look up Cyrus on Facebook for the web site and listen to the streaming audio if you're near a computer then.

One cancellation: I was to speak at the library in Raleigh, Mississippi, tonight (October 11), and that was postponed because it was announced that the Raleigh High School Homecoming Parade was not only scheduled for the same night, it was set to start at the exact same time as my talk. Since approximately 100% of the book club members in Raleigh will be at the parade, the librarian and I figured it would be in our best intereste to reschedule!!!

Valerie Winn is still speaking and traveling and signing books. If you haven't read Forsaking Mimosa, you're missing a real treat! She'll sign at the Peter Anderson Festival in Ocean Springs the weekend of November 3-4 and would love to meet you!

 

Nobody dresses up a signing table like Valerie!



Don't forget that the new John M. Floyd short story collection, Deception, is only six months away! John has already been booked to sign copies at his hometown library in Kosciusko, Mississippi, on April 24, 2013, and we will lock in a signing date at Lemuria around that time before long.

And a reminder to download my son's book, The Legend of Roger. If you're looking for something fun for your middle-schooler to read, this is it...lots of action, adventure, and humor, and it's budget-priced at

only $4.99 for Amazon Kindle users! Visit Amazon today and surprise your child with it tonight!



Perfect for the middle-schooler in your life!







WHAT ARE YOU READING?

I was asked yesterday what I was reading. Well, I just finished an old Lee Child novel called Tripwire. It's an early volume of child's fantastic, long-running Jack Reacher series. What else? The memoir by New York Mets pitcher R.A. Dickey, Wherever I Wind Up, and in the on-deck circle (baseball pun intended) is the latest Sarah Booth Delaney novel by Carolyn Haines, The Bonefire of the Vanities.

Which brings me to a great point: How important is a good title? For this reader, the answer is VERY. Oh, sure, if one of my favorite authors (James Lee Burke, Greg Iles, Lee Child, Dennis Lehane, Harlan Coben) comes out with a new novel entitled My Really Good Story, I'd probably chance it on the author's credibility with me. For the rest of us who aren't superstars, the title needs to be something the prospective buyer/reader will remember.

With that said, here's the cover of my forthcoming Oakdale series novel, Last Chance Texaco!



I sincerely hope this intrigues you!

 We'll roll out Last Chance Texaco in my hometown of Starkville, Mississippi, at The Book Mart on Thursday, September 27 (3pm) and in Jackson at Lemuria Books on Saturday, October 6 (1pm). This is volume IV of a suspense series that began with Judgment Day in 2007 and continued with The Magnolia Triangle and The Long Road Home. This book rolls out a new protagonist (Chris Brantley), although you'll find many familiar Oakdale folks from previous volumes as well as the usual stuff in these books: old money, lots of crime for such a small place, and a high concentration of crazy people!

Dogwood Press just published an e-book by my son, John! It's called The Legend of Roger and is a fantasy and adventure novel with a lot of humor. It's great for the middle schoolers in your life and holds together remarkably well, in my humble opinion, for a work written by a kid who was thirteen at the time!
If you have a Kindle, look up John Lee and The Legend of Roger and download it today!

A true Proud Papa moment!

In addition to Last Chance Texaco, Dogwood Press is proud to publish Deception, the fourth collection of John M. Floyd mystery suspense short stories, in April 2013. The last Floyd collection, Clockwork, was released in fall 2010, and I assure you this one is definitely worth the wait. John is the entire package: a great guy and a fantastic, versatile writer whose stories all have a Hitchcock-like twist at the end, not to mention his capacity to write well in genres ranging from police procedural, nostalgia, Western, romance, and more.

The new addition to the Dogwood Press team is Gulfport, Mississippi resident Michael Hewes. His novel, Watermark, is a legal thriller with the destruction and heartbreak from Hurricane Katrina as a backdrop. As a publisher, I've received a number of queries over the years from folks who've asked me to consider their Katrina-related projects, and while many were fine works in their own right, Watermark, treats the after-effects of The Storm in just the right way. We'll launch the book in fall 2013.

Mark it down: Watermark is just over a year away!

Upcoming events: Valerie Winn will speak to the Friends of the Library in Moss Point, Mississippi, on Saturday, September 29 at 2pm. Valerie just completed a couple of appearances at Gulf South Art Gallery in her hometown of McComb, and there was a really nice write-up on her in the new edition of Pulse, a quarterly magazine published by the Enterprise-Journal newspaper in McComb.

Valerie made her own poster for her signings. I love the creativity!

Valerie, John, and I will all crisscross the region this fall selling our new books and old. Scheduling updates are always on the Dogwood Press website, which you can visit at www.dogwoodpress.com. We look forward to seeing you! And don't forget to download my son's e-book, The Legend of Roger!

THE PERFECT WRITING ENVIRONMENT

At book talks, I'm often asked when I like to write. Well, there's no set schedule. I typically write each morning, although I've gotten plenty of great work done at night and on weekends. And yes, there are times when I wake up in the middle of the night with what I think is a killer idea and go right to the computer.

As to my preferred writing environment, I have a home office. Back in 2004 when my second novel, Dead Air, was brand new, Gary Pettus of The Clarion Ledger interviewed me and described the office as "...bristling with posters and memorabilia linked to Lee's Muses, including the Three B's: the (Mississippi State University) Bulldogs, the (Atlanta) Braves, and the Beatles."



I had the paper football goalposts up in case interviewer Gary Pettus ran out of questions. Photo taken by Joe Ellis.


I was told once that such an environment was NOT conducive to "good" writing, whatever that is. Well, forget that. My advice: write in a place where you're comfortable. I like my office. There are pictures of my family in here, stuff on the walls I enjoy looking at, and my computer is in here. There are folks who write on their laptops and blackberries and iPhones. Not me. I do my best work at my computer, in my office, with my Bulldogs and Braves and Beatles posters and memorabilia on the walls, as well as other trinkets and artifacts that I've collected over a decade of writing and publishing books.

Our latest addition to the Dogwood Press team, Valerie Winn, has crisscrossed Mississippi in recent weeks and has sold oodles of copies of her fantastic debut, Forsaking Mimosa. In addition to being a quality writer, Valerie is a gifted artist and a talented photographer. She asked if I had any preferences when she went to stores to do book signings, and I always tell our authors to be ready to hand out brochures and bookmarks. As to decorating her workspace, I told her to have fun with it, and she does, as you see here.



Valerie's signing table at Miner's in Ocean Springs, MS, on May 26

We're still getting great mileage from Valerie's interview with Marshall Ramsey on Super Talk 97.3 FM in Jackson on April 3, the day she was in Jackson for her Lemuria event. Super Talk is statewide, and Marshall, in addition to being a fantastic talent himself (he's the award-winning editorial cartoonist for The Clarion Ledger and his work is syndicated in newspapers all over the country), is a really nice guy. That was one of Valerie's very first interviews, and he made her feel at home and did his usual great job.



Testing...one, two, three...is this on?

And we had our usual fun time at Cajun Fest, which takes place each spring at St. Francis of Assisi Catholic Church in Madison, MS. I have the Dogwood Press tent out there each year and always enjoy visiting with folks and selling a few books. The challenge for me is to keep from spilling any of the delicious food on my books!



Of course I'll sign that for you. And if you buy all the books, you get the table free!

 The next Dogwood Press title is my new novel, the suspense thriller Last Chance Texaco. It's Volume IV of my Oakdale series and will be released at the beginning of October. I'm very excited about this one, and we also can't wait for the next John Floyd collection of mystery stories, Deception. Watch for that one in spring 2013.

Finally, I want to recommend a book I edited for a couple of friends of mine. Noraine Moree and Dave Berry have teamed up to write White Shirts, which is a non-fiction account of the tragic Kenneth Tornes workplace shootings which took place at Central Fire Station in Jackson, MS, in April 1996. This book will be available in mid-June and is a very powerful story of tragedy and forgiveness. For signed copies and/or a way to contact the authors about speaking appearances, visit http://www.cannon-ridge-publishing.com/.