Day 15 - Myrtle Beach, SC

We are having problems uploading photos today so I will add those when we get home. Home! We fly out tomorrow and will be back in Indy by 3:00 pm!! Can't wait to get home and sleep in my own bed.

Tonight we are headed to the Myrtle Beach Books-A-Million store for a signing from 6:00-8:oo pm. I've heard it is a really busy store so it should be a good signing event! Julie, my publicist will be there and I'm very excited to see her again.

Funny story - last night Tony and I drove in to Myrtle Beach and arrived at 11:45 pm. We rushed to get unloaded and then walked out across the sand and waded in the water. It was dark and a little scary but fun. Anyway, we realized that we hadn't eaten all day and were hungry. But when we got back to the room everything was closed. We didn't want to lose our parking spot so we ate dinner from the vending machines! LOL! I had popcorn and salt and vinegar chips and Tony had Cheetos, pretzels and TGI Friday's Taters. Yum!

Day 14 - Columbia SC

Well, we're on day 14 of the tour and got a call from home saying our 12 year old cat, Tigger, was really sick. My mom and boys took him to the vet . . . we ended up having to put him to sleep. Tony and I are trying to hold it together as we drive to the BAM stores in the area to do drive by signings. Good bye sweet Tigger :-(

Day 13 - Albany GA - Columbia SC

The Last Long Haul

Today we drove from Albany, GA to Columbia, South Carolina. Whew, I'm feeling a bit low. I'm missing my family (my boys!) my friends and neighbors and my mom and sister!! I called and 3-way talked to my sister, Jen and my mom last night. It was great! I can't imagine not having them in my life. I also miss Indianapolis!! I LOVE Indy and didn't realize how much until being gone from there for so long. I always thought I was a gypsie at heart but I think I'm getting older and love my roots now too. Tony is toast - ready to go home.

BUT - the Lord is giving us strength and grace when we walk through those doors to sign books. I believe He still has some amazing moments in store here in South Carolina. I AM TOTALLY looking forward to seeing Myrtle Beach. What a great way to end this wonderful adventure.

Here are some pics of Georgia back country (the Garmin took us on the back roads today). This land has a nostalgic feel about it of the old south. We saw cotton fields and old looking, must have been in their day, plantations. There were some small towns that looked hundreds of years old. And the trees here! They grow them in rows, like a field of oaks or maples, leading up to the plantation house. I've got to reread Gone With The Wind when I get home :-).

Met a French woman at the Albany booksigning and she bought Love's First Light (I told her not to in case I had messed up the French history - lol!). So, in her honer I will sign off now.

Chow, ya'all.

Jamie

Day 12 - Albany GA

Albany Georgia Books-A-Million Store Manager - Jeff

Thanks LifeWay for placing my book on the LifeWay Recommends section.

Such a lovely setup by LifeWay Store Manager - Mike

Norma

Sandra

Debbie

The Albany Georgia LifeWay crew - Mike, Heather, Mary, and Jodi

LifeWay Store Manager - Mike

Day 11 - Macon GA

Up at 4:00am to do a TV interview with the local NBC affiliate, WMGT-TV 41. You can catch the interview here. I am so not a morning person!

The Lamb’s Well Christian Bookstore Signing

Please Help! - We misplaced the card where we listed all the names for this event. If you see your photo, email me and I'll be glad to add it.

At the Lamb's Well we met some really great people. The weather was heating up and I was kicking myself for wearing black pants, but the signing turned out to be very enlightening - lol!

Hector

The Lamb’s Well Christian Bookstore Team

Another BAM store manager - Sharon. Thanks for letting me do a "drive by" signing!

The Macon Georgia LifeWay Team - Samantha, Terri, Angie, Elise and Rebecca. Thanks for making me feel so welcome! Angie was such a great help and so kind. A big thanks to Kevin (hope you get those windows done soon:) God's blessing to you all.

Gloria came out from the back of the store later. She is a real sweetheart!

Newlyweds Fred and Evelyn - they were just glowing! Congratulations!

David - Books-A-Million Store Manager and so funny! He was making me crack up the whole time I was there.

BAM

Day 10 - Macon GA

Books-A-One Store Signing

Day 9 - Columbus GA

The Second Half of Our Journey Begins

Today I had a signing at the LifeWay in Columbus, Georgia. The manager, Kevin, and his staff were once again, beyond friendly and welcoming!! Lots of ladies came in with their books that they had already read and bought a copy of LFL (my shorthand for Love's First Light). It's always such a fun jolt to meet women who have read my books - I'm still in that zone where I think I have to lure people to my table with bookmarks and then pitch my stories in my most engaging manner. But when I see a Snow Angel in hand or a Duchess, wow! I have readers!

The highlight of today was an interview with Kim Ford of Window to my World blog. Kim wrote my all time fav review of Wind Dancer so I was really excited to meet her in person. She will post the interview on her blog in the next few days. Thanks so much Kim! You are a jewel in God's kingdom!!!

Patti

Kelly

Margaret, Jo, and Jo's sister-n-law

Mary Catherine

Sheila

The LifeWay Crew - Minnie, Kevin, Pam, Dana, and Kevin

Kim Ford

Day 8 - Columbus GA

On the road again...

1,500 miles and slap happy

Day 7 - Hunstville and Decatur Alabama

WYAM-TV Interview

Suzie Wiley

Just returned from an interview with Suzie Wiley at WYAM-TV in Decatur, AL. She is a hoot, as we say in Indiana and made the interview so much fun!! I'm still laughing thinking about the conversation we had. That's what it was like, more of a conversation with your hilarious friend than an interview. I will post the interview here as soon as we recieve it. Can't wait to see it myself!!

Next stop, booksigning at LifeWay Christian from 5:00-7:00. The manager, Scott, and the employees were super! I met Betty, an avid reader of my books and she said she had come in earlier today to get a copy of Love's First Light thinking I would have such a long line that she might miss out. I laughed at that and signed all the books she brought from home. Maybe one day I will have a line out the door, Betty!

The highlight of the day was seeing Sandy and her son Jesse and Jesse's children (see pic below). Jeff (sorry you had a business trip and we didn't get to see you too!) and Sandy were my parents friends back in our Vincennes days. It was so great to see them again!!

After the signing Tony and I drove to two BAM stores for drive-by signings. I was able to sign all the stock in both stores which was so cool. And I got to meet Joy and Shenika at the big BAM store (they were kind enough to take a quick photo with me:). Thanks girls!

A big thanks to everyone who turned out today. May God bless you!!!

Betty

Keely, Jesse, Sandy, and Lex Biggs - Old friends from home!

Teresa

The Hunstville LieWay Gang - Tamela, Jessica, Melanie, and Gayle

Books-A-Million - Joy and Shenika

Day 6 - Huntsville, Alabama

Driving.... Driving... Driving...

Whew, you would think a day of driving would feel like a break but Tony and I are ready for some major zzzzz's. :-) After checking into our hotel in Huntsville, which is a gorgeous city btw, we drove to Fayetteville, TN to meet my agent for dinner. Wes is always a calming presence for me. Tony and I have said many times that he is the coolest Christian we know! Cool in the Jesus sense if that makes sense - lol! He is working on his own book and while I'm not a big non-fiction reader, I am looking forward to his insights on men and relationships. I'll be sure and blog on that one after I read it.

I have a 30 minute TV interview tomorrow morning (eeck! that's a long one) and am praying it goes well and the Holy Spirit is leading what comes out of my mouth!!!

Here are a few pics of Wes and Fayetteville.

Tony got really excited. Something about seeing an SR71 or something like that. Men...

Downtown Fayetteville TN

We felt like we stepped back in time in the quaint downtown area.

Cahoots used to be and old jail and certainly looked like it from the outside. The food was fried and yummy.

My dear agent Wes. God sure blessed me with great one! Ditto on the hubby :)

Day 5 - Dothan Alabama

Day 5 is a blur!

Today I had two interviews - one on TV with the wonderful Jenna Zibton of WDHN 18 ABC Tri-States Today show. Jenna is a polished professional who made me feel right at home during the interview. Next stop was a Bible bookstore, the Dove Christian Supply. The employees were very kind and welcoming. We rushed back to the hotel for an interview with Laurie McLoughlin for Internet Voices Radio "Today's Women." It was a challenging interview and Ms. McLoughlin asked questions that I hadn't been asked before. Also, she was that kind of person that made me think . . . which I loved. Her take on Love's First Light was a perspective that made me hang on her every word. It was different than mine in some ways, but that is my prayer for every book I write. I ask God to annoint, through the Holy Spirit, within the perspective of the reader (and everyone is different!) the message, the light He wants to shine to that reader. I think that is the very best part of being in the creative arts. What I see and create is just one side to that prism of split light that Christophe knows (hero in Love's First Light). Someone else will have another perspective that is just as beautiful as the color blue to one person is the color red to another. It really blows my mind.

The rest of the day is something of a blur as Tony and I are exhasted. Tomorrow we drive to Huntsville, Alabama. It's a long drive but at the end of that drive I get to see the face of one of my favorite people - my agent, Wes Yoder. I can't wait to see him!

WDHN 18 TV Interview

Segment 1 - http://dothanfirst.com/content/fulltext/?cid=71752
Segment 2 - http://dothanfirst.com/content/fulltext/?cid=71762

Jenna Zibton

Dove Cristian Supply

Retha

Myrtle

Donna and Jesse

LifeWay Store

Cheyenne

Denisha, Hayze, Haddley and Nic

Elizabeth and Kyle

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

Day 3 - Meridian, Mississippi

The Bible Belt has some really friendly people! We are enjoying the south – great food, pretty landscape and people who are so polite! A big thanks to the Books-A-Million store in Meridian, Mississippi for a great signing. We even met a family originally from Indiana – the Srogi family. Rachelle has family in my hometown of Vincennes, Indiana and Tony was even babysat by her great aunt when he was a child. Small world!

Books-A-Million - Meridian Mississippi

Greeting people at the door

Joy

The Srogi Family - Ryan, Rachel, and Mason

Bridgette and Diann

Day 2 - Laurel and Hattiesburg, Mississippi

Today we were in Laurel and Hattisburg, Mississippi. There are some real nice people here.

We did three book signings in seven hours - yes, I'm tired but the folks around here made it fun. Went to the Baptist Bible Book Store, Books-A-Million and a LifeWay Store. Thanks to everyone who came out.

PS - Still working on the Flip video camera issue. Will get video up as soon as I can. :-)

Baptist Bible & Book House - Laurel Mississippi

Greeting people

Signing Postcards at Books-A-Million

Signing at Lifeway in Hattiesburg

Day 1 - New Orleans, Lousiana

Flew in to New Orleans today. I haven't been here since 1987 and from what I remember some things are the same (The French Quarter) and some things are quite different. Of course, Tony and I thought about Hurricane Katrina and all the devestation that happened down here, but the people are wonderfully friendly and the city seems to be recovering.

It's now 12:36 my time and I'm really tired, but I'm so excited about the coming two weeks that I can't sleep. Our new Flip Camera is having problems so we may have to buy another one. In the meantime I will post pics from the digital camera here and on Facebook.

Our new home for the next 2 weeks.

Historic French Quarter

Louis Armstrong

New Orleans Skyline

Local cuisine at Fisherman's Cove. The Swamp Platter (Turtle soup, fried alligator, frog legs, crawfish tails, crawfish soup, and alligtor sausage.) Tony was brave! I just had a bite of the crawfish soup :)

Some Photos

from ICRS in Denver

What a great trip! My hubby, sister and I stayed at Estes Park for two day prior to the convention. The rocky mountains are gorgeous and we lived in the hot tub on the deck of our cabin! At ICRS (International Christian Retail Show) I signed 150 books in about 40 minutes. It was so cool to meet booksellers from all over the world. Then I gave a 3 minute speech at the Heart of an Author Luncheon. Public speaking is a real challenge for me and yes, I shook from head to toe while up on stage. But I think I shared my heart for writing these stories and I hope people were blessed despite my nervousness!

Here are some pics from the trip!

Jennifer on a giant boulder (they were everywhere!)