Seekerville Welcomes Guest Blogger Barbara Vey!

Debby Giusti here!

Monday is the start of a new week, and what better way to start this week than by welcoming Barbara Vey back to Seekerville. If you don’t know Barbara, read on. You’ll quickly learn about a wonderful woman who loves books and readers and writers and who does everything in her power—and she wields a lot of power—to match the right reader with the right writer’s books.

After a happenstance encounter on a cruise ship with a top echelon executive for Publishers Weekly, Barbara landed a job as the voice of Publishers Weekly’s online romance blog, Beyond Her Book. Barbara just celebrated her birthday so let’s welcome her back to Seekerville with a chorus of “Happy Birthday to you” and lots of hugs!

We’re kicking up our heels today with a Fall Fling. Main Street has been cordoned off. No cars allowed. We’ll be dancing in the street, celebrating our new Seekerville home with cotton candy and funnel cake, clog dancing, face painting for the kids, helium balloons, and clowns. Maybe Captain Jack Sparrow will stop by if, on the count of three, we all say, “Pretty, please.”Grab a cup of coffee and line up for the breakfast buffet as we chat with Barbara

Thanks for having me back to Seekersville and Happy Birthday! This is quite the party you have going on here.


Today I thought I'd tell everyone the story of how the WW Ladies got started. The WW Ladies are a group of readers who read some of the books sent to me and then write blurbs about them for my Beyond Her Book blog. They also include a couple of sentences about what they liked about the book.



When I first started writing my blog, I would go to the library and check out a book, read it and write a little something about it. Since I never really liked doing reviews, I decided to just write about the story and how I felt reading it. After I attended my first conference, I discovered that publishers and authors would send me their books to read. I never realized what a floodgate I was opening.

Books started pouring into my house. There were so many that I had to get a post office box so my poor mailman didn't end up with a back injury. I read as fast as I could, but couldn't make a dent in the TBR piles. Finally I packed up a box of books and took them to my Weight Watchers meeting and asked some of the women to help me read and write about the books. That was the day the WW Ladies were born.


Since that day I have met librarians, booksellers, students and avid readers who have joined the ranks of reading the books and writing the blurbs for my blog. The one thing they all have in common is their love for books and respect for the authors who write them. (Photo left: WW Lady Joysann, librarian)

Many live in my area, so they come to my house with empty book bags, but after perusing the 3 book rooms I have, leave with many choices including audio books. The only rule I have is that they can choose an author or a genre they love, but the also have to take a book that they wouldn’t normally read or a new author. Most of the time, they love the extra book and are surprised by that fact. The usual response is, “I never would have picked up that book and I’m really glad I did because now I want to go back and read everything she’s written.” This also leads to recommending the books and authors to their friends. (Photo left: WW Lady Loretta, 86)

My youngest reader is 10 and the oldest is 86 and they all do a spectacular job of informing other readers about what’s available out there. This is absolutely a winning situation for everyone involved. (Photo left: Youngest reader Alex, 10)

Thanks, Barbara, for fostering reading and for hooking readers up with writers and vice versa. Everyone who leaves a comment will be entered in 5 drawings held throughout the day. A total of 25 books will be given away so be sure to tell us what you think about book reviews? Do they help you select a new read? Are you more apt to choose a book because of comments made on a blog or review site or is word of mouth the selling factor for you? What is the most important thing you want to know about a book before you buy it. (Photo left: Debby, Barbara and Janet, RWA 2011)


Breakfast is served…pancakes, waffles, scramble eggs, bacon, home fries, an assortment of muffins and berries, juice and coffee. Naturally, grits are included!

The big giveaway this week is a $25 gift card to buy books--Seeker books, of course--and a $25 gift card to Starbucks! Thanks, Myra and Cara, for the great prize. And it includes Myra and Cara's books as well. Check it out here.

And remember...we're giving away a Toshiba Netbook (loaded with Microsoft Office) at the end of the month from a random drawing of all our visitors. Your name is added in the randomizer EVERY time you comment.