10 Reasons Readers Rave About Seekerville

with Keli Gwyn and reader friends of Seekerville.

Seekerville offers oodles of posts aimed primarily at writers, but readers love to visit too. I invited some faithful Seekervillagers to tell me why they feel at home here.

These dear ladies might not call themselves writers, but they wrote LOTS. I wish I could share every single thing they said. Alas, I’ve exceeded my word count as it is. (Thanks for extending me grace, Tina.)

Here are ten reasons these wonderful readers think Seekerville rocks.

Accountability & Acceptance

The Seekers practice gentle tough love for writers. They’re generous with their time, offering fledgling writers encouragement, critiques and a kick in the pants when needed, followed by hugs and chocolate! They’re non-judgmental, accepting writers and readers for who they are and where they are in the journey. ~ Kav Rees

Becoming Better Readers

I love visiting Seekerville because it makes me a better reader! While the authors are learning more about utilizing their craft, I'm learning how to appreciate it better as I read and post reviews on my blog. Becoming aware of specific reasons WHY a book was so good has helped me articulate my feelings into more thoughtful reviews. ~ Heidi Robbins

Book Discoveries

Books have been my passion since my Daddy read them to me, and I imagine they’ll be my passion until I no longer breathe. I’m always eager to learn about the newest books by favorite authors and those getting started in their writing careers. ~ Connie Saunders

The prizes that are offered, which often include books, could be a great way to find a new author whose work you could love or a new genre that you've never read before. ~ Dawn Leonard

Camaraderie

I enjoy interacting with the authors and fellow bookish friends in Seekerville. It’s like hanging out with friends in my favorite bookstore. ~ Caryl Kane

I love visiting Seekerville because there’s such positive camaraderie there, full of encouragement, support, and HUMOR. I always feel welcome and valued. The kind words of the Seekers and others are appreciated! I often find myself smiling as I read the posts and comments, which are more like several conversations going on at once! ~ Heidi

I feel loved and accepted and as if my opinion is important. When I’m missing, I’m welcomed back, and I know it’s genuine. At times when my health has been bad, I know they’ll pray for me. We’re family rather than just people who post on a blog. When I leave a comment on a Seekerville post, I know I’ll be acknowledged. ~ Jenny Blake

I found Seekerville after years of feeling like a book-loving reader oddball. No one I knew read as much Christian Fiction as I did, so when I landed at Seekerville, I felt like I’d found “my people.” I found a connection so strong among the Seekers that I didn't have to explain myself or my book love. They get me. That's one of the best feelings ever, to be understood, to feel like you’ve found your place among friends. Seekerville feels like Home Sweet Home! ~ Tracey Hagwood

I’ve been part of Seekerville for about two years. The first time I commented, I said something to the effect of “I’m just a reader, not a writer.” It was either Tina or Ruthy who replied, “Don’t say you’re just a reader.” She went on to encourage me that I was just as valuable to the blog as anyone else. I felt so loved and like I was engulfed into what I now consider my cyber family. It took me a bit to feel comfortable commenting because I don’t make friends easy, but I soon felt like what I had to say was important. I found myself joking and laughing, as well as talking about the more serious topics of faith. I feel I can share anything now, and the support has been wonderful! ~ Trixi Oberembt

Encouragement

I appreciate each and every Seeker and am thankful that I’ve been allowed to join the sorority because Seekers are the ultimate cheerleaders! ~ Connie

Giveaways

I discovered Seekerville two years ago when I saw that an author would be visiting and giving away a copy of her latest book. Giveaway—Free book—Favorite author—Nothing to lose! I didn't win that specific book, but I became a winner in so many other ways. I’ve won a few giveaways since then, which is a boost to the budget of this librarian who no longer draws a paycheck. ~ Connie

Books are pretty much my favorite thing ever, so winning one on Seekerville feels like winning the lottery! With much less risk and way higher chances. 😉 Over the years, I’ve also won a scarf, a water bottle, a library tote bag, and a library pouch, which have been so fun to use! Thank you for your generosity. ~ Heidi

I’ve won at least two dozen prizes through Seekerville over the last five years, which has resulted in “claim your prize” email exchanges with Tina, administrator extraordinaire. She always makes me feel like I’m important and shows interest in what’s going on in my world. On a recent blog post, she made us tell five things about ourselves to describe why we are amazing. It made a lot of us uncomfortable, but there’s nothing like a good friend who encourages you to see yourself in a positive light. That’s our Tina! ~ Tracey

Posts

The authors who visit Seekerville share their love of the written word with readers like me, and I learn something every day. Writing tips—Life skills—How to develop a closer relationship with God. ~ Connie

Always different topics but meaningful ones. One day you could learn how to write something, the next about researching, and the next about an author's life. You can read a post, comment on it, comment on someone's comment, or do nothing. On Friday, there's a blast from the past. Each weekend, just like in real life, you have the chance to catch up on what you missed and plan for the week ahead. Tina does an AWESOME job managing everything. ~ Dawn

The Seekers

The Seekers are the rock stars of Christian Fiction. Someone pass out the boas and sparkly sunglasses! ~ Kav

As I’ve gotten to know our authors through Seekerville, I’ve learned the various personalities of each one and how we all fit together like a perfect puzzle. I love Ruthy and Tina’s energy, how they jump right in to encourage, motivate and cheer for those who are newly published or not yet. Whenever anyone is feeling down, they’re right there to lift them up. Julie Lessman brings her unique vibe to the group. You can count on a few exclamation points and BOLDED words to stand out among the others. She always has something fun to say…even if she has too much caffeine in her system. Lol! Sandra Leesmith brings her quiet strength and smiling face. You can count on her to say just the right thing. Myra Johnson—when she leaves Grammar Queen in the closet—is a sweetheart and always has something nice to say too! There are many more, of course, but I don’t want to take up the entire post. Just know you gals are special to me in your own unique ways! Love you to pieces! ~ Trixi

Support

If I had to pick one word to describe Seekerville, that would be SUPPORT. It has to be spelled in capital letters because there's so much of it. Everyone builds up everyone else in a positive, genuine way, not in an “I'm writing this nice thing because I have to” way.  Writing contest winners are congratulated—and they're not just Seekers. They're newly published authors and new writers. ~ Dawn

Virtual Treats

Virtual treats are mentioned almost daily, and this often inspires me to “get to baking.” ~ Connie

Who can resist virtual treats??? Oh my, these ladies know how to cook up a storm!! You’ll have your fill of coffee, tea, hot chocolate or other drinks, along with sweet pastries or any number of desserts…homemade to boot! I love how they bring seasonal treats as well. Pumpkin spice anyone? ~ Trixi

A Question for You

You’ve heard why these wonderful ladies love Seekerville and how the site benefits readers as well as writers. Now it’s your turn. What do you like best about this great place, and why?

Leave a comment today for an opportunity to win an early Christmas giveaway!

Keli Gwyn is giving away three copies of Their Mistletoe Matchmakers. Each of the three winners will also receive a "Seeker” mini notepad.  





And to another winner, this lovely and elegant family themed locket, from Origami Owl, valued at $88. 

To thank Keli for all the work she put into this AMAZING post (and all the others she has contributed over the years), Seekerville will add three ecopies of Their Mistletoe Matchmakers. So if you are an international reader please raise your hand! We're sending Keli off to retirement with a BANG! 

Their Mistletoe Matchmakers

A Christmas Match 

The best Christmas possible—that's what Lavinia Crowne intends to provide before taking her orphaned nieces and nephew home to Philadelphia. But carrying out her plan may be harder than she expects, with their handsome, stubborn uncle, Henry Hawthorn, insisting on raising the children in rough-and-tumble Sutter Creek, California. Lavinia can't bear to lose her late sister's children, though, or go against her father's demand to bring them home. 

Henry believes his nieces and nephew need affection and security more than a lavish lifestyle. But as the children conspire to bring their aunt and uncle together, a new vision fills his head—of future Christmases spent with sweet, determined Lavinia and their growing family. Can three little matchmakers, and the spirit of the season, bring the gift of a very happy beginning?

Read more about the research behind the book on Keli's webpage here.

Keli Gwyn fell in love with Seekerville nine years ago when Tina went searching for her in cyberspace and invited her to guest post. Keli, a florescent-green newbie writer at the time, didn’t even know what a blog was, let alone how to comment on one. She quickly learned that the Seekers are known for being helpful since they coached her through that daunting experience. They’ve taught her a great deal since then, teased her a bit (waving at Ruthy!), encouraged her and celebrated with her. She’ll be forever in their debt.

Keli’s writing career has included the publication of six novels—five of them with Love Inspired Historical—one novella and one short story. She’s thrilled to have lived her lifelong dream of being a published author, but she’s chosen to retire from writing so she can spend more time with her great guy. She’ll still be hanging out online, but like the wonderful Seekervillagers who contributed to this post, she’ll be proudly boasting the title “reader.”

And a birthday video too!

Birthday greetings from Nebraska:

 Yvonne Weers, Kathy Anderson, Sherri Shackelford, 

Mary Connealy and Diane Kenyon.

Using Readers for Story Inspiration

with guest Karen Witemeyer.

Writing is a solitary endeavor. We sit alone with our computers, locked away from reality for hours on end crafting (and re-crafting, and tossing out, then crafting again) page-turning, award-winning prose. We instruct our children not to disturb us unless there's blood. We plead with our husbands to pick up pizza because we just need five more minutes (okay, forty-five minutes) to finish our chapter. We become experts at pushing people out of our writing world, at least I do.

On the other hand, anyone who has published a book can tell you that creating a saleable product takes an entire team of people working together. Editors, cover designers, marketing specialists, sales directors, retailers, and most important of all, readers. Out of necessity, professional authors learn how to allow numerous cooks into their kitchen during the production stage, but like a chef whipping up a batch of secret sauce, we tend to shut the door on outsiders while we're perfecting the recipe of our manuscript.

The control freak in me resists letting anyone else in on my creative process. I'm not one of those authors that have dozens of ideas floating around in their heads or stored in their filing cabinets. I'm a rather odd duck. I search for one viable idea then grab on with both hands, not letting go until the manuscript is finished. I'm very quick to throw ideas out and very slow to commit to the one. (Hmm… sounds like some romance heroes I know.) So brainstorming is hard for me. However, when tight deadlines offer little wiggle room, and my current creative well is running dangerously low, I don't have time to sit around and wait for a flash flood of creativity. I have to woman up and ask for help.

That's what happened to me with this latest novella. I had already completed the manuscript for the first book in the Ladies of Harper's Station series, No Other Will Do, and I needed to get rolling on the sequel novella. 

Worth the Wait $1.99 for Kindle.

 I knew the characters: Shopkeeper Victoria Adams – single mother and determined never to let a man close; Freighter Benjamin Porter – has delivered Tori's supplies to the women's colony for a year and sells their goods to outside vendors. He's determined to woo the shopkeeper into a partnership that goes beyond business.

I knew the starting plot point – Tori and Ben start up a new business delivering goods directly to area farmers and ranchers. They set out on a day-long run to drum up business for their new venture.

What I didn't know was what was going to happen on this trip to draw them together. Everything idea I had, I'd used before. I needed something fresh. Different. But I had nothing.

It also happened to be time for me to write a blog post for Inspired by Life and Fiction, a group Christian fiction blog I'm a part of, and I had nothing to write for that, either. Pitiful.

You know how your mama always told you that two wrongs don't make a right? Well, this time she was WRONG! I threw those two wrongs together and came up with something exactly right. I wrote a blog post asking readers to help me plot my next story. I gave them the bare bones of what I knew then begged them for help. The result was better than I could have hoped.

Comments poured in. So many ideas. Some I liked, some that weren't quite right, but all of them stirred my creative juices and got them flowing in new and exciting directions. Four in particular made a meaningful enough impact on me that by the end of the day, I pretty much had my entire story plotted.

Those four readers saved my bacon, and in appreciation, I dedicated my novella to them. Be sure to look for their names if you download a copy of Worth the Wait.

Readers have help me out before. One day we were chatting about character names on Facebook and one lady mentioned that she'd recently had a daughter and named her Charlotte because it was such a beautiful, old-fashioned name and suggested I consider it when naming my next heroine. I did, and a new Charlotte was born – Charlotte Atherton, my heroine from A Worthy Pursuit, the novel that won the ACFW Carol Award this past year.

A Worthy Pursuit

A year and a half ago, I had the honor of doing a book tour with my Dutch publisher in The Netherlands. So many of the readers there jokingly asked me to write a story with a Dutch hero. A few random ideas started percolating, and by the end of the trip, I had decided I would do just that. The Ladies of Harper's Station series alternates between two novels and two shorter novellas. The last novella, which I turned in a couple months ago, will feature that Dutch hero. In America, of course, coming to Harper's Station, TX. It took a little finagling to get him there, but I had already introduced a runaway mail order bride in the first book who was Irish, so it didn't take too long to piece together a way for these two immigrants to have known each other back east.

The best inspiration I receive from readers, though, are the notes they write. Hearing how my stories touched them, made them laugh, or helped them get through a hard time makes all the work worthwhile. Without readers, I would have no reason to write. So I look for ways to honor them whenever I can. 

No Other Will Do

Question for you:

• If you were to give me a plot point to use in my next book, what would you suggest? The only parameter is that it must fit into a late 1800's time frame. Other than that, anything goes. Have fun! The crazier the better.  

One lucky commenter will win an autographed copy of the book that started the Ladies of Harper's Station series – No Other Will Do.  Winner announced in the Weekend Edition.

Men are optional. That's the credo Emma Chandler's suffragette aunts preached and why she started a successful women's colony in Harper's Station, Texas. But when an unknown assailant tries repeatedly to drive them out, Emma admits they might need a man after all. A man who can fight--and she knows just the one.

Malachi Shaw finally earned the respect he craved by becoming an explosives expert for the railroad. Yet when Emma's plea arrives, he bolts to Harper's Station to repay the girl who once saved his life. Only she's not a girl any longer. She's a woman with a mind of her own and a smile that makes a man imagine a future he doesn't deserve.


As the danger intensifies, old feelings grow and deepen, but Emma and Mal will need more than love to survive.

Christy Award finalist and winner of the ACFW Carol Award, National Reader's Choice Award, HOLT Medallion, and Inspirational Reader's Choice Award, CBA bestselling author Karen Witemeyer writes Christian historical romance for Bethany House, believing the world needs more happily-ever-afters. She is an avid cross-stitcher and makes her home in Abilene, TX with her husband and three children.

The Beauty of the Reader

with guest blogger Rachel Hauck.

Hey Seekervillians! I’m so thrilled to be here again. Thanks to Tina and the amazing bloggers here for welcoming me in.

And to all you readers! 

I blog a lot about craft and the writer’s life, but I’ve never focused much on the most important part of books—the readers! The life-blood of the writer’s life! 

I mean, where would we be without readers? Readers are the reason books exist.

Or maybe it’s a catch twenty-two: readers exist because there are writers.

I love readers. I love being a reader. Reading inspires our hearts in a way television, movies and music can’t because books allow us to imagine ourselves right into the story.

When I’m writing, I try to “leave space” for the reader to become a part of the story. I don’t have to fill in every little detail, overwrite, over tell, even over show because the reader’s imagination can take the smallest description and turn it into what ever he or she wants.

I imagine if the Holy Spirit is writing through me, helping me tell the story then maybe He’s helping the readers. 

Reading is the only sport in which the “consumer” can become a participant. Where elements of their own heart or experience can become part of the story.

Now that can be good or bad… It might inspire the reader to something good, giving them hope. Or it might stir up old memories, pain or fear. 

When writing How To Catch A Prince, I encountered an unexpected physical issue. 

I write pretty close to deadline but this time, the book wasn’t working and six weeks before the book was due, I found myself starting over. 

Then wham! An expected physical set back. I felt very cracked and broken as I stumbled up to my office every day after a sleepless night to hammer out 5000 words. 

By the grace of God, the book came together. But it always felt kind of incomplete to me. Like it had cracks. A few months later I was preparing for worship one Sunday morning and had an impression that God would fill the cracks in my story with His own message for the reader.

That moment expanded my understanding of what a book could be.

Sometimes readers don’t know why they really love, or really hate, a book. That’s the beauty of reading, and of being readers.

Sometimes God speaks to or hearts through fictional characters. All we have to do is pause and ask.

As a writer, my reading is hampered by my own ideas of what makes up good fiction, by my understanding of craft, by spending the last 11 years writing full time, swimming in a world of words, plot lines and craft lanes.

But readers… ah beautiful readers… have the ability to see beyond the craft and words and

love the story.

I learned early on that books readers love stories that ring true. Stories that connected with their hearts. 

I love that readers read. I love their embracing, forgiving hearts. I love that they read for the pure enjoyment without being overly critical of well… everything. 

Last year, I discovered a book that completely swept me away.

From the opening line to the last, I was enthralled. I loved everything about this story. The 1930s time line which alternated between 1931 and 1938. The Rhode Island and New York setting. The story line of a young woman in college falling in love. Seeing her life in 1931 and again in 1938. 

There were secrets. Twists. Surprises. A spunky aunt. A handsome hero.

For once I wasn’t a writer reading but a reader reading! 

I loved the story and writing so much I wrote to my editor and said, “I want to write like this!” She, oh sweet Becky Philpott, read the book to see what stirred me so much. She also loved it. 

Now that’s a good sign for a writer—that her editor “gets her.” 

Having that experience made me a reader again. When I need inspiration as a writer, I pick up that book and return to being a reader. 

If I could create the experience I had with A Hundred Summers for my readers, I’d be the happiest writer on earth.

It’s funny how when starting out, most writers are so scared to show their work to anyone. Will anyone like it? Can they take the criticism? What if they're horrible? What if they don’t know how to fix what’s wrong? 

I can’t wait for readers to read my stories. I want to them to join me on the journey. I hope they love the characters, setting and experience as much as I did. 

Then I hope they write to me and remind me why I loved the story in the beginning. 

By the end of the book, most writers are sick of a story. “What kind of mess is this?” Ha! I call it “the weeds.” We’re so bogged down with details like word choice and phrasing we can’t see the beautiful forest of the story. 

I love hearing from readers. I love when they tell me how God spoke to them, or how they felt His presence. Or how the story reminded them of something or someone they love. 

I am so honored to share the world of words with people all over the world. 

Last year I heard from a woman in Poland who thought the Gospels didn’t have anything for her anymore until she read The Wedding Dress. 

A few weeks later I received an email from a teenage girl in Brazil who was so excited Christian romances existed. She wrote, “Tonight I’m going to pray for you.” Had me in tears.

Those moments remind me this writing thing is bigger than me. So thank you readers! You are all beautiful! 


Now let's talk about you.  Share when a line from a book that impacted you as a reader. If you're a writer, what particular line or scene impacted you AS a reader while you were writing. 

Today is release day for The Wedding Chapel. To celebrate, Rachel is giving away a print copy to a commenter. Seekerville wants to join the fun by giving away an ecopy. Winners announced in the Weekend Edition!

A lonely wedding chapel built as a tribute to lost love just might hold the long-awaited secret to hope and reconciliation.

For sixty years, the wedding chapel has stood silent and empty. Retired football hall-of-famer Jimmy “Coach” Westbrook built the chapel by hand, stone by stone, for his beautiful and beloved Collette Greer, whom he lost so many years ago. The chapel is a sanctuary for his memories, a monument to true love, and a testament to his survival of the deepest pain and loss.

Photographer Taylor Branson left her hometown of Heart’s Bend, Tennessee to make a new life for herself in New York. Taylor had lots to run away from, not least of all a family history of broken promises and broken dreams. Love catches Taylor off guard when she falls for Jack Forester, a successful advertising executive, and their whirlwind romance leads to an elopement – and then to second guesses. Jack, in spite of his very real love for Taylor, is battling his own demons and struggles to show her his true self and the depths of his love for her.

When Taylor takes a photography assignment in Heart’s Bend, she is thrown back into her own past and encounters family secrets buried deep beneath the sands of time. And when Taylor and Coach’s journeys collide, they each rediscover the heartbeat of their own dreams as they learn that the love they long to hold is well worth waiting for.


Download a sample chapter here.

Rachel Hauck is a USA Today Best Selling, and award-winning author of critically acclaimed novels such as The Wedding Dress, Love Starts with Elle, and Once Upon A Prince.

She also penned the Songbird Novels with multi-platinum recording artist, Sara Evans. Booklist named their novel, Softly and Tenderly, one of 2011 Top Ten Inspirationals.

A graduate of Ohio State University with a degree in Journalism, Rachel worked in the corporate software world before planting her backside in an uncomfortable chair to write full-time in 2004.

She serves on the Executive Board for American Christian Fiction Writers and leads worship at their annual conference. She is a mentor and book therapist at My Book Therapy, and conference speaker.

Photo by Rachel Savage

Rachel lives in central Florida with her husband and pets, and writes from her two-story tower in an exceedingly more comfy chair. She is a huge Buckeyes football fan.

A Writer's Best Friend: The Reader

Hello Seekerville.





Sandra here with a pot of chocolate velvet coffee.


I’m still reeling from the blog tour going on since the 20th.  My publicist and editor, Amber Stokes of Editing Through the Seasons has really put me through the paces. And it has been a blast. If you haven’t checked it out, be sure and do so as there are lots of giveaways and a Rafflecopter contest.  The tour lasts until the 31st. And feel free to read past blogs from the tour. Our hosts did a terrific job.


And I love, love, love hearing from readers who have read my books. Which brings me to my topic this month—the reader—a writer’s best friend.

Readers are the most important factor in the crazy mix we call being an author. For me anyway, it is really special when I meet someone who has read my books. After all, the reason we write and publish a book is so someone can read it.

Our first readers are usually our critique partners. I worked with several locally so of course I had met them.  Below are the critique partners who helped with Current of Love.

Sandy Lagesse, Joan Domning, Barbara Larriva, Nancy Damato, Sandra and Peggy Parsons

My first online critique partner was Seekerville's Ruth Logan Herne. We met through the ACFW critique partner program. We critiqued together for a year or two and finally met in person at our first ACFW conference in Denver, 2005.  It was at that conference that we met other Seeker buddies. Since we had all read each other's work, we were thrilled to finally meet face to face.

I have critiqued with most of the Seekers at one point or another.  What a blessing that has been.

Critique partners and Beta readers give an author great feedback and are usually reading our work while in progress.

Special meeting this summer when Seeker buddy, Glynna Kaye invited me to her house for lunch. 

And speaking of meeting readers at a conference, we have been blessed to meet many of you Seekerville friends at conferences.  

Seeker friends in St. Louis 2011

Seeker friends Debby and I met at RWA Anaheim 2012

I will especially remember meeting Carole Moncado because she brought the most awesome chocolate chip cookies to the ACFW conference in St. Louis 2011.  That is how sweet you Seeker readers are.  You are important to us for many reasons--besides cookies.

Carol Moncado sitting by her TBR pile Seeker books
Now this is a serious reader 

The positive feedback you give us keeps us going during those dark moments we all get when we wonder if the work is worth the effort. There have been several times that our buddy Vince Mooney has posted an encouraging word when I needed it the most. I was all ready to give up on my picture books when he posted reviews on his blog Philosophy of Romance, of the animal series. Now how can I stop writing those after reading those reviews from a reader.

My blog tour hosts are mostly Seeker friends.  Look at what a super job they have been doing.  Not only are they giving me publicity, but their reviews give me feedback that is important  to hear. And it is through Seekerville I have met Amber Stokes, my wonderful editor and publicist who set up the tour. 

Amber

Another joy has been to meet readers from other countries.  Surprisingly, most of my books published by Montlake are selling in the United Kingdom. So international readers are important also.  

Missy and Debby were fortunate to meet our friend Jenny from Australia when she came to the United States.  Missy says, "I absolutely love meeting readers who I've only known online. I got the opportunity recently when Jenny Blake (Ausjenny) came from Australia to visit the United States! We had a marvelous lunch with Patty Smith Hall, Debby Giusti and Patti Jo Moore." Missy sent these photos to share with you.

Jenny and Missy

Patty Smith Hall, Debby Giusti, Patti Jo Moore

I have been blessed to meet international readers also.  Marianne Barkman of Canada has written lovely reviews for my books and she won a basket of books filled with Seeker books and chocolate velvet coffee.  But the best surprise was she brought me a gift also--a pan of her homemade cinnamon rolls. yum

Sandra presenting basket of books to Marianne 

Reader reviews are critical to an authors career. Therefore readers who write reviews are special also. Kav wrote a lovely review of Love's Miracles on her blog Best Reads.  This was great publicity, but the best publicity was the review she wrote on Amazon. Amazon promotes books based on reviews.  My book, Current of Love has been selected by Amazon several times for special promotions and that is because there were so many 5 star reviews.  

And sometimes there are bad reviews.  I know that I am not going to please every reader.  We all have different tastes. I got a one star review for Price of Victory. The reviewer said it was "cheesy"  Well if they are used to erotica romance and they received one of mine as a freebie, I'm sure they did think it was cheesy.  smile  But those bad reviews do bring down our ratings for promotion and sales.  So we don't like to see those.  Personally when I read a book I don't like, I do what my mother always taught me and that was "If you can't say anything nice, don't say anything at all."  It would be nice if all readers followed that rule. 

Another fun place I've met readers is at autograph signings. Readers really make a signing interesting and fun. 

Sandra meets a reader (Martha) at Amazing Grace Bookstore, Tempe, AZ

 I really enjoy meeting the readers because I know how much I like to meet my favorite authors. The first author I met was Irving Stone. I had gone to a writer's conference and was so excited to meet him. He wrote historical fiction. He had interviewed my great grandmother when he wrote Men To Match My Mountains. When I had him sign my book, we talked and he remembered her. That was truly special.  So when I meet readers who ask for an autograph, it is not only special for me, but for them also.

Book club luncheons are another fun event. It is really interesting to hear what different people have to say about your book. Often they read things into your story that you didn't even realize you wrote about. I figure they draw out experiences from the reader, but also are subtle subconscious elements we don't even realize we've written about. One reader asked me why my heroine was hispanic. To be honest, I really don't know.  I thought Debra was interesting and maybe it was because I had been working with so many hispanic children.

Sandra at a book club luncheon 

Traveling in my RV I've met a lot of people. Often I sell my books at craft fairs in the resorts. This is really fun because then you get to talk to readers after they have read your books.  The other day, I was swimming in the pool and this lady swims up to me and asks, "Aren't you Sandra Leesmith?" When I assured her I was she went on to tell me how much she loved Current of Love and could hardly wait to start Price of Victory.  I can't tell you how that tickled my heart. 

My pickleball friends read my books also. Most of the time they buy my children's books for their families. Grandparents love them. 

Sandra signing books for Susan

Susan is all set for the little ones in her family

My friend Becky buys all of my books. What was really fun was her nephew, Taite came to camp with her. Becky had purchased my animal books for Taite earlier in the year. When he came, he knew I was camping with his Aunt Becky so he brought his books with him so he could meet me and get a photo together.  How special is that?  

Becky and Sandra

Sandra and Taite

WE celebrated Memorial day last weekend. Several of us Seekers donated books to our Seeker friend KC Frantzen who is involved with Wounded Warrior Getaway.  She sent these photos and told me how much it meant for the families to receive our books. Each family had been given one of my animal stories also and she told me how excited the children were. That feedback from readers is awesome. All of us donate books all the time so it is really special when we hear back how much the books meant to the readers. These are the moments that remind us to keep writing when the going gets tough.

Seeker books donated to Wounded Warrior Getaway

Copies of Price of Victory

And there is KC at the event having a blast.

Speaking of Memorial Day Weekend I have to shamelessly brag about how much fun I had at Lake Tahoe with my niece and nephew and their son who is my godson. 

Hubby, J, J, and J

Sandra and Justin

I hope you readers understand how wonderful you are and how important you are to all of us authors. We love your feedback and we love meeting you. Thank you so much for your support, your friendship and your prayers. We Seekers love you to pieces.

Celebrating a holiday made me hungry for pizza. So I have trays of every kind of pizza you could think of.  Even anchovies and pineapple.  Yuk.  But I know some of you love those items on your pizza.  My favorite is sausage, mushrooms, peppers and olives.  Of course they are gooey with cheese.  Enjoy and have a great week.

Prize giveaway today to two winners drawn from those who comment will have their choice of one of my books.  

Don't forget to check out the blog tour. You can enter on Rafflecopter for a wonderful grand prize.