And the Winners Are....

I had the pleasure of participating in two giveaways today. I brought my almost-10-year-old neighbor, Celie, to Park Road Books so she could meet Lisa Kline and see Lisa's new books, Sisters in All Seasons. 


Lisa called on Celie to pick a name out of the bowl to receive a copy of Summer of the Wolves. No one was more surprised than Celie when she drew her own name!

Celie with Lisa Kline

After signing Celie's book, Lisa drew a name for this giveaway.

Donna Earnhardt- you (and your daughters) are the fortunate winners of Wild Horse Spring. We joked that we could hear you shout "YIPEE!" all the way from Concord!


Thanks to everyone who participated the last two weeks. Don't give up though. When the third book in the Sisters in All Seasons comes out this fall, Lisa and I will be giving away a copy of Blue Autumn Cruise. 


Meanwhile, to whet your appetite, check out this fantastic book trailer:

Guest Blogger: Lisa Kline PLUS A GIVEAWAY - Part II

As promised on last week's blog,  Lisa Kline is giving away her second book in the Sisters in All Seasons series. After she shares her process of writing the series you'll find directions how to win a personally autographed copy of Wild Horse Spring. 

Carol: How did you get the idea for four different locations and four different animals?

Lisa: Zondervan bought my novel Summer of the Wolves and asked me to write three more novels with the same characters. Since the novel takes place when the family takes a vacation, I thought, what if all four novels take place during vacations? And I started toying with ideas about places I’d been, places I had memories I could use for the books. And one of the characters, Diana, has a tremendous affinity for animals, and so I thought, what if some type of animal is featured in each book? My husband is a veterinarian, so I knew I could pick his brain! And then I thought, what if each vacation takes place in a different season of the year? And from there my editor and I brainstormed the Sisters in All Seasons title.

Carol: Can you describe the interaction with Zondervan about creating the series?

Lisa: I wrote up my ideas, sent them to my agent, and we had a couple of interactions before I was ready to send the series synopsis to Zondervan. Caryn Wiseman, my agent, was tremendously helpful.

Carol: What are your thoughts on writing a series? Would you recommend it to other writers?

Lisa: This has been a wonderful experience. To be with your characters for an extended time like this has been such a gift. There is time to get to know them layer by layer, so much more deeply. I am also getting to know them over time as well. When the first book takes place, Stephanie and Diana have just completed 7^th grade. By the 4^th book, they are starting high school.

I will admit that I was intimidated at first by having to develop and write three novels in a year and a half. I wasn’t sure I could do it. I did have to be disciplined. I kept myself to a schedule of about two to three pages a day, a minimum of ten pages a week.

Carol: I love how your characters grew up as you wrote the series and you got to know them better with each book. Can you give us a sneak peak into the third and fourth books?

Lisa: Sure! In the third book, Blue Autumn Cruise (due out in October, 2012) they go on a cruise for Stephanie’s grandmother’s 75^th birthday. This venue gave me a chance to introduce members of the girls’ extended family. It was tricky to get an animal on a cruise ship, though – and I won’t give that part away!  The fourth book, Winter's Tide, (release February 15, 2013) takes place in one of my most favorite places in the world – near Beaufort, North Carolina, close to where my grandmother grew up. I just visited the Duke Marine Lab there for research.

Carol: Every writer always thinks into the future. So, what’s next for you? Do you plan to stay in the inspirational market or write another series?

Lisa: I don’t know what is next. I was working on another novel when this one sold, and I might get back to work on that. But working on a series has been great fun and I would absolutely love to do it again. I feel tremendously blessed to have had the opportunity. 

Thank you so much, Lisa for sharing your experiences with my readers. Now, here are directions for winning a copy of Wild Horse Spring. Lisa will also be autographing books this Saturday, June 30, at Park Road Books. She'll find time to pick this giveaway winner! Contest closes at noon on Saturday--so start tweeting, following, and Facebooking now!

DIRECTIONS:

1. Follow this blog (if you are not following yet), or:
2. If you are already a follower--thank you!--then just post a link on your favorite social network site and,
3. Leave me a comment with your email address indicating which you did.

4. If you do more than one thing (follow and post to a social network site, or post on two different sites) I'll enter your name TWICE!!

Margaret Picks The Winner

I thought my mother would enjoy deciding who would win Lisa Kline's book, Summer of the Wolves. 


We put all the names in a hat, 

My mother reached in,





and pulled out,

Esther Wanliss!

And believe it or not, out of the 9 entries I had, Esther and her children, Sophia and Grace, are the only people my mother has met! Honestly, this wasn't rigged--she picked totally at random--although I have to believe, the Lord directed this one for sure!

Sophia & Grace visiting
my mother, Margaret Federlin
last month.

But, for those of you who didn't win, take heart. On next week's blog you'll find out more about Lisa's Sisters in All Seasons  and we'll be giving away a copy of Wild Horse Spring.

And remember.  You can meet Lisa Kline in person at Park Road Books in Charlotte, next Saturday June 30 from 2-4 PM. Hope to see you there!