Day 4 - Columbus, Mississippi

New Life Christian Supplies in Columbus was our first stop this morning and oh my! Walked in to such a warm and wonderful reception. Cheri, the owner, sure knows how to run a great store and the other ladies that work there, Millie and Linda were amazing in their excitement to get a book signed. They had read several of my books (Snow Angel and The Duchess and the Dragon were big favorites) and knew my stories as well as I do. It is such a cool, almost indescribable feeling to know people are being blessed by these stories God has given me. I think a couple of women even took off work to come by and get a signed copy! One of the highlights was getting to pray for two, lovely little girls. A big thanks to everyone who came by. I hope you are blessed as much as I was.

Stopped at the BAM store in Columbus on the way out and signed their stock. Love’s First Light is their Faithpoint September Book Club pick so they were happy to have signed copies to sell. Now, we’re off to Pelham and The Amen Corner. Ready for some lunch first. Taco Bell anyone?

Millie and Linda

Betty

Bernice

Pamela and grandchildren

Madison and Caleigh

Robyn

Cheri, Linda and Millie

Pelham, AL

The Amen Corner. Wow, great day so far! The second signing of the day was steady and so much fun! I think the highlight was meeting Erica and her family. Erica reminded me so much of me when I was her age (15) – a fellow bookworm! She had read The Duchess and the Dragon and expressed how much she loved the book. Her face lit up when she saw me which was both humbling and cool as it makes all the hard work and effort, all the times I was stuck while writing something and called out to the Lord to give me that next scene, worth it. Keep writing Erica! God has big plans for your life!! I also met some other teens who are now giving my books a try – such a blessing to minister to that age group. A big thanks to Darrel, Linda and Janet for being so kind and welcoming. Now we’re off to the BAM store in Birmingham.

Meagan and Courtney

Erin and Erica

Linda, Darrel and Janet

Birmingham, Alabama

BAM Signing in Birmingham. Well, first of all Birmingham is gorgeous. We found out that the population is about the same as Indianapolis and I must be a real city girl at heart because I felt right at home! The mall where the BAM store is located was in one of the beautiful outdoor malls like our Clay Courts in Carmel (I wanted to shop!!) and the store itself was two storied with lots of ambiance. Then Christine and Will hung out with us during the signing and made us very comfortable. They were like old friends! The cool thing was that this store has had lots of book signings and they told us about some of the big name authors like Paula Dean and Nicholas Sparks. There was a guest book where the authors had signed their thanks to the store. It was amazing to think that I was sitting in the same chair and signing that book like those authors. Wow, the Lord really does have plans for us that we never imagine! A big thanks to the guy making coffee too (sorry, I forgot to write down his name and my brain is mush about now). He made sure my iced, vanilla coffee was perfect. The best moment was meeting Stephanie and Michelle from Samford University – great gals! Michelle had read all my books and was picking up a copy of Love’s First Light, I hope she likes it as much as she loved the others.

Wow!

Fun family

Michelle and Stephanie

"More bars in more places" :) - Christine and Will