I'm Back from Recent Public Speaking

I loved meeting and speaking to the Women's Book Club of the First Baptist Church of Roanoke, VA. They put on a luncheon fit for a queen, and were the friendliest, sweetest bunch of ladies you could ever want to meet. What fun it is to be an author!

I spoke about the Faith of Jane Austen and Every Woman's Search for Romance, and we had a really fun time. They asked lots of wonderful questions about my writing and both Before the Season Ends, and The House in Grosvenor Square.

I signed books and spoke to the fun-loving ladies of the Lifeway Christian Store Book Club in Atlanta, GA. This group is run by Nora St. Laurent, who let me "listen in" while she and her girls spoke candidly about my books. I discovered that some of the ladies had really strong feelings about some of my characters, particularly Mr. O'Brien, who one woman called, "a weasel!" They also admired Mr. Mornay to my heart's content, and told how they adored Ariana. I felt like they were talking about my own children. It was SO enjoyable! Having dinner with Nora was also wonderful, as it was to meet my friends Sandi Andrews and Vickie in Virginia the week earlier. One of the most gratifying experiences for me (aside from letters from readers) is having made some wonderful friends like Sandi, Vickie and Nora.

Another new friend I've made is Mimi Pearson. She runs the WildCard Blog Tours for excellent Christian fiction, and after touring two of my books, we were ready to meet for real. We got to swim together, visit the Linville Caverns and take a small hike to the Linville waterfalls. What a treat.

In August, I'll be teaching two workshops at the FaithWriters Annual Conference in Michigan. Check it out!

I'm hoping to post more pictures of me with my other new friends this week, so stay tuned.

Hugs,

Linore