Every year, I still find myself being surprised that May, June, and July are so hectic! While I have found time each day to relax on our back deck, just as often I am looking at my calendar, wondering what else I’ve forgotten to do. It’s a busy time around here, for sure.

This week, I said goodbye to my brother as he went back to Arizona, wished my husband a good trip as he flew to California for the week, and have been getting my daughter’s room ready for her visit this weekend.  I’ve also been writing a lot, and making lots of plans!

Next weekend, I’m off to Chicago for a girls’ weekend/research trip. My Chicago historical, Worthington House, is written, but now it’s time to add all the details that is needed to make the novel feel like it really is set in 1893 Chicago. I’m very excited to go on a tour of historic sites, visit museums, and even go to a play with my girlfriend and critique partner Julie.

Next month, I’ll be heading to Atlanta for the RWA National Convention, then getting ready for book signings and another conference in September when the last book of the Days of Redemption series, Eventide, is published.

All this running around made me really smile when my son sent me his latest photo of Rudy. I’ve been teasing Arthur, saying that Rudy would rather be with me than in college with him.  We both know that’s not true, though. That dog loves his boy…and the picture below proves it!

Obviously, Rudy has found the perfect spot to relax and enjoy his summer!

 Thank you for dropping by! With blessings to you. Shelley

Today, however, he’s hard at work. My brother is extremely handy at home improvements, so today’s he’s putting in a stone backsplash in our basement. All my efforts to “help” only mess things up, so I’ve been watching him work.

Tomorrow, he’ll fly home and I’ll be back in my office. For now, though, I think I better go get him another Diet Coke. And make him a good dinner, too! (Or at least make dinner reservations…)

Thank you for stopping by,

Shelley

I love weekends like that-busy, filled with fun things to do and lots of family and friends.

This weekend my brother is coming into town. We’re excited to see him, and already have lots of things planned-including a little home project. We’re (Gary) going to put a tile back splash on the bar that we had installed in our basement last year. My brother is super-handy, so when he’s here, I always give him a project. (That’s what big brothers are for, right?)

When I haven’t been visiting with friends and family, I’ve been hard at work this week on my historical novel for Zondervan. The working title is Worthington House, and it’s set during the 1893 World’s Fair. Working on something different is a good thing for me. It’s a nice break from my Amish novels…and it also rejuvenates me. Just last night I was thinking how eager I was to begin Thankful, the second book in my Return to Sugarcreek series.

Below is a photo of my sister and brother-in-law, Tom, and me at our restaurant in Cleveland.

This coming weekend, Tom and I will be fleeing to the Cleve, too. He has some business in Canton, and I’ve got two fun events planned for Saturday!

The first is a speaking engagement at the NorthEast Ohio Romance Writers of America chapter. (NEORWA). At 11:00 am on Saturday, June 1, I’ll be speaking to this group at the Highland Library. The title of my talk is kind of a mouthful: “The Writing Journey of a National Bestseller in the Inspirational Marketplace.”  Basically, I’ll be chatting about how I got started writing and my jump into Inspirational fiction. I’ll also be offering a few tips on career planning for writers. I’ve been published for about 12 years now and have published over 40 novels. You don’t have to be a member of NEORWA to attend. If you’re interested, please visit:   http://neorwa.com/index.php/Events/MonthlyMeetings. for more information.

After that, I’ll be running over to Hudson, Ohio, and the Learned Owl Bookstore. I’ll be signing copies of Ray of Light and Daybreak there from 1:00 to 3:00 pm. All the info about the Learned Owl can be found at www.learnedowl.com 

Tom and I are also excited to see some good friends, go to an Indians game, stay in downtown Cleveland, and visit with family, too!

Last Saturday, I signed books with my good friend Cathy Liggett at our local Barnes and Noble. Cathy took a photo of the two of us, almost in matching outfits! It was fun to meet Cathy’s readers, visit with some readers I’ve met over the years, and, of course, do a little book shopping myself!

I’ll be signing copies of Ray of Light this Saturday, May 25 at 2:00 pm.

Barnes & Noble

9891 Waterstone Blvd. (Near Fields Ertel)

Cincinnati, OH 45249

If you live in the Cleveland Area, I’ll be signing Ray of Light on Saturday, June 1 at 1:00 pm

The Learned Owl Book Shop

204 N. Main Street

Hudson, OH 44236

Today is ON-SALE DAY for RAY OF LIGHT, the next book in this year’s Days of Redemption series. The book follows Roman Keim as he travels to the Amish snowbird community of Pinecraft, Florida and meets lovely Amanda. It also continues the emotional journey of Roman’s grandparents, Lovina and Aaron Keim as they work to uncover the last of their secrets. It was a fun book to write because part of it takes place in Florida. I spent many enjoyable days pretending I was walking on the beach!

Today is special to me for another reason. I finally finished HOPEFUL, the first book in next year’s Return To Sugarcreek series. Some books just don’t come together very easily, and HOPEFUL didn’t for me! For the last two weeks, I’ve done little except write, delete pages, edit, and revise. Luckily, when I went to sleep last night, all I had left to do was look over the last chapter. I did that this morning, spent another hour skimming chapters, and finally sent it off to my editor. Finishing this book feels like a real milestone for me. It’s my 20th novel to write for Harper Collins. I have all of you to thank for that. Thank you and thank you again for giving my books a try, for telling your friends and family about them, and encouraging your local librarians to put them on their bookshelves. I’m very grateful for you all!

I hope all of you have been enjoying your May, and that you had a fabulous Mother’s Day. This year my son and husband took me out to dinner. It was a nice, easy day, which I love.

Thank you for stopping by, and I’m looking forward to blogging quite a bit more now that I’ve got a bit of time before my next book is due.

I hope you all enjoy your Tuesday. And if you happen to see RAY OF LIGHT in the stores when you’re out and about, please let me know where you’ve seen it! I’m going to stop by Walmart and Barnes & Noble today to take a peek!

Blessings,

Shelley

Carla Winebarger

Debra Bearden

If you are Carla or Debra, CONGRATULATIONS! Please contact me privately with your mailing address. I’ll be so delighted to send you your copy of Ray of Light.

If you didn’t win a book, I do believe we’ll be having some more promotions over the next few weeks. I’ll be a guest on some blogs, and we’ll be doing the very fun FaceBook Share contest, too.  If you haven’t ‘liked’ by FB Page yet, please do! I post almost every day there, and all the folks who chime in are just wonderful.

This week, I’ve been trying my best to finish up the first draft of HOPEFUL, book 1 of Next year’s RETURN TO SUGARCREEK series.  I’m planning to work hard today and tomorrow and then take Sunday off.

It’s finally much warmer here, and because of that, I’ve been able to spend the afternoons writing on our back deck. My husband bought me a huge bag of birdseed and fills it for our cardinals. But every afternoon, I’ve also had some company~our pair of ducks! Just yesterday they waddled out of the creek to the bird feeder-just to see what all the fuss was about. We quickly snapped a picture.

I hope you have a lovely weekend, and thank you so much for your interest in my books!

Blessings, Shelley

Ray of Light goes on sale in two weeks, May 14. Already the reviews have started coming in and I’m so pleased that the book has been so well received. If you’re the type who likes to preorder books, I hope you will preorder Ray of Light. 

I also wanted to remind everyone that the e-book version of Daybreak is still on sale for $1.99.

If you’ve already won a copy of Ray of Light, Congratulations! If your name hasn’t been drawn yet, please leave a comment, either for Mary or me. I’ll draw a name on Friday.

Thank you, as always, for stopping by! Shelley

MARY’S INTERVIEW, CONTINUED:

7. After you come up with your design, what happens next? Why might a cover change?

             Once a cover is approved and on its way, it doesn’t often change. But, one time this did happen was for Shelley Shepard Gray’s book The Search. We had a beautiful cover with an image of an Amish man walking through a rich green field of alfalfa under a hazy pale blue sky. It was dramatic and everyone found it very striking. It was ready to go to the printer when data came in suggesting that readers would prefer an Amish woman in a bonnet on the cover. We quickly switched out the Amish man for an Amish woman!

 8. What is your favorite part about designing covers? Are there particular genres that you prefer to work on?

 I fell head over heels when I read The Brownie Scouts At Snow Valley as a child. I still love everything about a well-told story including the trip to the bookstore, checking out all the covers, feeling a book call to me, and the best part: settling down, opening the cover and entering a new place and time.

I don’t have the talent to create a whole world by writing a novel (I have tried), but I feel honored to be a part of the process of bringing a work to life. My biggest thrill is when the author loves the cover. It is very fulfilling to know that I understood and was able to convey, visually, what the author worked so hard to create.

 9. Can you speak a bit generally about the design for Daybreak and Ray of Light? Why did you choose the images, colors, etc. that you did?

 The kernel of the idea came from the author. She mentioned a series of covers that she liked the look of which was soft focus and pretty.

It was really the most fun I have ever had working on covers. When I was working in the soft focus, I could concentrate on emotions and ideas that I wanted the reader to be pulled in by. For Daybreak I found an image of a wonderful glowing yellow sunrise over a pasture. I wanted the women of the family walking over their farm, their land, in the glow of a new day. The three are clearly connected and involved and springtime is indicated by the buttercups and the green of the field.

For Ray of Light, the strong midday sun in Florida is indicated by the deep blue sky and the sea to the right of the couple. They walk together, but not closely, to indicate the tentative nature of their relationship. She pauses to think. All of this in soft focus, as if it might be a dream. Will it come true?

They brought out the romantic in me. 

10. Do you feel that these covers are different from others within the genre? What do you try to do differently?

 There are a great many books in this genre, and many approaches have been used. Usually the overriding goal is to indicate that this is a book about the Amish–either by using a buggy or a bonnet. My favorites are images that evoke an emotion or a curiosity about what is going on. I think The Days of Redemption series covers accomplish this goal in a pretty way. My goal was to set the scene and welcome the reader to the world of romance and human struggle that Miss Gray has created.

I used the random number generator and decided to pick two names today. So, if you are a winner, please email me privately with your mailing address.  The interview will continue next week, so there are still more chances to win!

If you live in the Bowling Green, KY area, I wanted to let you know that I’ll be there tomorrow at the Southern Kentucky Book Fest. I’d love to meet you in person!

Okay, here are today’s winners:

Jean Volk

Jeanette Styer

Finally, I just wanted to add that my thoughts and prayers go out to everyone affected by the tragedies in both Boston and in West, Texas. 

With blessings to all of you,

Shelley

Also included in today’s blog is another rejected cover.  What do you think of this one?

Just this morning I received several Ray of Light books…all signed by Mary! Can’t wait to send out the books to our winners. Remember, all you have to do to enter the drawing is comment here. We’ll draw a name on Friday.

Thank you, everyone, for helping to make Mary feel so welcome.

Blessings, Shelley

Mary’s Interview:

5. Mary, do you ever work directly with models?

 Before computer graphics, we always had to shoot from living models and keep our fingers crossed that we would get what we were hoping for, or make the best of it when we didn’t. Now that we have Photoshop, we can make almost any image bend to our will. It is a powerful tool, which I truly enjoy working with. However, sometimes we will still hire models and do a photo shoot, but not as often as we used to.

            That said, we are just getting started on Miss Grey’s next series, Return to Sugarcreek, and it looks like we are going to hire models and stage photo shoots. I will still have Photoshop to help me create unique covers, but this will be a new and exciting look!

 6. How many covers are you usually working on at the same time?

 Our Senior Art Directors can be working on as many as 15 to 20 covers at the same time!