Best Moments of 2009

What a year!

I've been reflecting on 2009 lately - a year end tradition for many of us, I'm sure. There is so much to be thankful for - here is my short list of fab moments:

January: Blog Novel Matters goes live. As life-changing relationships go, my friendship with these five authors is right near the top. The blog enriches my life, educates me, challenges me as a writer. The friendships of Sharon K. Souza, Kathleen Popa, Latayne C. Scott, Patti Hill, and Debbie Fuller Thomas are answers to prayer.

February: Party month: Heather turned six, Ben turned eight, Steve turned forty-six, and we partied like crazy.

March: Your Best You: Discovering and Developing the Strengths God Gave You releases. To celebrate, I hold a one day seminar in Saskatoon - a life-changing event for all of us. It was a privilege to be in the room and witness the things God was doing in the lives of the women present.

April: Travel to California to attend the career track at Mount Hermon. All six Novel Matters women attended. We inhabited two cabins, held nightly late night chats and readings (I LOVED listening to the authors read from their current works. Amazing!), and reveled in each other's company. Pure joy from start to finish.

May: Advance copies of Talking to the Dead arrive at my home. I hold a copy of my first novel and feel at a loss for words (always a problem for a writer). The words, "Thank you, God" are spoken often.

June: Talking to the Dead releases. Interviews, blog tours, radio, signings - a flurry of activity and fun. Reviews pile up - I'm overwhelmed with gratitude by the positive response to the novel. It had the joy of spending time with my amazing publisher Don Pape, and my editor, Nicci Jordan Hubert. We hung out in Ontario, ate great food, laughed, dreamed a little, laughed some more. Definitely a highlight!

Later that month Steve is ordained in a ceremony in Calgary - I kiss The Reverend.

July: Promotion for Talking to the Dead takes over life and limb - it is fun and fantastic. It is also the coldest July EVER and gaffers nearly freeze at swimming lessons at outdoor pool. Proud Mom moment: Ben learns to ride a two wheeler in one long (sometimes tearful) day. Way to go, Ben!

August: Talking to the Dead goes into third printing. New ideas/proposals for novels make their way to the page as I work on the outline for my next novel (coming 2010!). Hubby celebrates my birthday by giving me a framed cover of Talking to the Dead with a card signed by everyone at David C. Cook.

September: Heather starts grade one (Ben grade three) and I suddenly have full days in which to work! We take a road trip to Alberta where I teach at a writer's conference and present a two day seminar for Your Best You.

Talking to the Dead is chosen as a winter pick for She Reads - my introductory post spurs a heartfelt host of comments - 170 comments by the time we are done!

October: A Saskatchewan Your Best You seminar and the start of a seven week Your Best You small group helps women make a fresh start. Plans to take Your Best You to the inner city develop (we start Your Best You in the downtown core of Saskatoon January 29th!).

November: My first royalty cheque arrives! Much blinking and blinking, and thankfulness to everyone who bought a copy of Talking to the Dead. I'm amazed, humbled, and grateful to each of you!

Complete manuscript for new novel - Title? Time and Time Again (details to come early 2010)

Novel Matters and She Reads announce a partnership between blogs that will knit together the communities of writers and readers.

December: Ten thousand Christmas concerts/dinners/recitals for gaffers. They sing, dance, play piano, wear sparkly tinsel, memorize lines - and perform with aplomb (Mommy watches it all with teary eyes and a heart bursting with joy and pride). Talking to the Dead is listed in Rachelle Gardner's Favorite Fiction in 2009.

Yes, it's been an amazing, and sometimes exhausting year. You have been a huge part of making 2009 fantastic!

I bid you Merry Christmas, and good writing!

Connect with Bonnie - Live and Online

Couple of cool things I wanted you to know about - and hope to hear from you!

Live in Alberta? On Monday, July 20 9:3o AM, I'll be chatting it up with Annette Jennings on 88.9 Shine FM. Annette loves books and hosts a book club spot on her show. The interview is in conjunction with Blessings Christian Stores - where Talking to the Dead is the July Book of the Month. If you live in Edmonton, Calgary, or Langley, BC, hop on over to Blessings and pick up a copy of Talking to the Dead. Can't make it out? You can get it through their website .

Love Twitter? Books & Such agency (my agent, Wendy Lawton is an agent with this company) is hosting "Writers' Night Out" on Twitter!
Log on to Twitter on July 22, between 7-9 CST

hash tag is #wno

You could win books (including copies of Talking to the Dead and my non-fiction, Your Best You: Discovering and Developing the Strengths God Gave You. And LOTS of other books by amazing writers (You can even win free copies of Sally Stuart's Christian Writer's Market, and How to Get Published books!), critiques (award winning authors offering to read your ms!), coaching (award winning authors chatting with you about your writing, your hopes, and how to make it happen!) & MORE!

You'll also be able to chat with authors, agents, and just have a fun time. I'll be there Tweeting and I hope to hear from you!

Until then - I bid you good writing.

Book Give Away! Your Best You

Hey, hey! It's a book give-away!

To Celebrate the release of my non-fiction Your Best You I'm giving away a copy of the book!

How can you win a copy of Your Best You? Easy - leave a comment between now and March 31 and you will be entered into a draw for the book. (All names will be tossed in a hat and the winner will be drawn at random).

The more times you comment, the more chances you have to win!

Here is the blurb:

Have you ever tried to change something about yourself but had a hard time making it stick? If so, Bonnie Grove knows how you feel. The problem, she explains, is that when it comes to self-improvement, most of us start by asking ourselves the wrong questions.Instead of, What are my weaknesses? How can I fix them? we should be asking, What are my strengths? How can I build on them?

This book is not a one-size-fits-all approach to lifestyle change. It doesn’t offer a ten-step formula or a one-minute prayer that guarantees success in 30 days.This book is about you. It’s about discovering and developing what you do well, what you love, and what brings you joy so you can see yourself the way God sees you and begin to truly receive His best for your life.

Unlike some self-improvement books, you won’t be asked to:

spend time digging around in the past
put your problems under a microscope
try and fix everything that’s “broken” in your life
improve on things you’re not very good at

Instead, the author gives you tools and resources to help you:

discover what you’re good at—not what you think you should be good at
develop your strengths and use them to offset your weaknesses
learn to recognize your true goals
create a personalized map to follow as you begin your journey to becoming your best you
*******

The book is the product of my years in program development where I developed strength based programs for families at risk.

The book is the journey of you - Your Best You - discovered, celebrated, and beloved.

I hope to hear from you this month!

Cool Stuff about my OTHER book

Our local newspaper, The Star Phoenix, has a wonderful article about a conference I am giving next week in Saskatoon.

There is still time to register!

It's going to be a wonderful time of laughter, celebrating our true selves, and dwelling on the best parts of ourselves and using them to change our lives for the better.

First things first

Someone once told me the difference between writers and authors; Writers write, authors promote.

I like this proverb, it encapsulates some larger truths about the writing life. For me, at this moment, I'm looking at the issues of balance.

I'd love to tell you there is a formula we can all follow that will allow for maximized time with family and friends, ideal promotional efforts of our work, planning and crafting workshops, AND give us ample time to work on our next project. I suppose there could be such a formula, but I fear it would entail omitting sleep, food, and, perhaps, bathing. Anyway, I'm sure we are all done chasing that particular rainbow.

Once a book releases (as my non-fiction has just done) there is a fantastic opportunity to run around like a crazed chicken pecking at this task, pecking at that one, fretting over this idea, running to solve that problem, and tearing in circles self-promoting. But, as I'm learning, it's only a temptation. It doesn't have to be a reality.

The reality is that while I have a great responsibility not only in producing novels and non-fiction, but in working to promote and market the books, I also have two very important things going for me. 1) I have a team. A publisher is much more than a company who prints books. A publisher is a network of highly talented, skilled, professional people who can do things I have not even begun to think about. And they have a marketing department! They know the ins and outs of the business of promoting books. I can lean on them. They develop campaigns so deep and innovative they make my head spin with happiness. They offer advice, they help me know which steps to take and which may be a waste of time. It is very much like having a mentor/friend/champion in the industry. While it is very true that I have equal responsibility in promoting my books, I know I could never accomplish alone what can be done in cooperation with my publishers.

2) I have God. With Christ comes peace. Crazy peace that defies understanding. Whole peace. The tendrils of worry probe my whole life. I may be concerned about a primary issue (I have a book due June 1, for example), but that main concern creeps through my entire life, leaving a path of increasing anxiety. But by connecting with God on a moment to moment basis, I am given crazy Jesus peace - the kind that replaces worry with the calm knowledge that God is in control. The peace that says, first things first, Bonnie. Just do what is in front of you - do with your whole heart, do it for Me, and all these things will fall into place.

When I look down at the full plate in front of me, I am humbled and terrified at the same time. But when I look up to the giver of all good things, I am once again His child - assured of His tender care in all things.

I bid you good writing.

Goodbye 2008 - A Look Back, and Ahead

2008 brought radical change in the publishing industry. Brick and mortar stores closed, distributors went bankrupt, publishing houses laid off staff and some even put a freeze on new books. I've heard from several authors in the past months who heard from their publisher, "Sorry, your book has been cancelled." All of this on top of the questions surrounding the nature of the book business and how consumers will be buying books in the future - online, e-books, audio books, etc.

Add to that the economic situation - globally - and many people are feeling downright gloomy.

Which is why I'm launching a new interview series beginning January 5 - The Tenacity Interviews. Twice a week (Monday and Thursday) I'll host a different author here on Fiction Matters to talk about how their tenacity in the face of difficult circumstances, distraction, and even rejection helped them accomplish their dream of becoming a published author. I promise you, you'll be encouraged and inspired to press on toward your dream, whatever it may be.

This series will feature authors like DiAnn Mills, Mary DeMuth, Sharon K. Souza, Virgina Smith, and Debbie Fuller Thomas - and many, many more. All have found their way to the dream of being a published fiction author and they are thrilled to share with you words of hope and encouragement, as well as practical advice for the journey.




On another note, 2008 has been quiet a year for me, as a writer. I entered the year with a contract from Beacon Hill Press for my non-fiction book, Your Best You: Discovering and Developing the Strengths God Gave You. I'm thrilled to tell you that this book is available for pre-order anywhere you buy books online - and will be in bookstores March 1, 2009.

Obviously, I don't talk about this book on here, as the focus of this blog is fiction - but I hope you will forgive me just this once for jumping the fence to gaze fondly at fiction's second cousin, just for a moment. Here is a bit about the book:

Have you ever tried to change something about yourself but had a hard time making it stick? If so, Bonnie Grove knows how you feel. The problem, she explains, is that when it comes to self-improvement, most of us start by asking ourselves the wrong questions. Instead of, What are my weaknesses? How can I fix them? we should be asking, What are my strengths? How can I build on them?

This book is not a one-size-fits-all approach to lifestyle change. It doesn’t offer a
ten-step formula or a one-minute prayer that guarantees success in 30 days. This
book is about you. It’s about discovering and developing what you do well, what you
love, and what brings you joy so you can see yourself the way God sees you
and begin to truly receive His best for your life.

Unlike some self-improvement books, you won’t be asked to:

• spend time digging around in the past
• put your problems under a microscope
• try and fix everything that’s “broken” in your life
• improve on things you’re not very good at

Instead, the author gives you tools and resources to help you:

• discover what you’re good at—not what you think you
  should be good at
• develop your strengths and use them to offset your
  weaknesses
• learn to recognize your true goals
• create a personalized map to follow as you begin your
  journey to becoming your best you

If you are interested in pre-ordering you can do so anywhere you like to buy books online - oddly, the cover on the site may be different than the one I have posted here. Originally, Beacon Hill went with a different cover, but after some discussion and thought, made changes I believe are for the better. So don't be thrown if you find the book with a completely different cover - just look for my name and you'll get the correct book (and cover!)
I'll be launching a new blog for the book in just a few days (yep, DAYS). I'll post all the info about the new blog - including where to find it, as soon as possible.

2008 was also the year I was blessed and privileged to break into the world of fiction. In the spring I signed with literary agent Wendy Lawton who made my head spin by how quickly she was able to sell my debut novel Talking to the Dead - coming June 1, 2009 from David C. Cook. You can take a look Cook's summer 2009 online catalogue here.

Pretty exciting stuff. So, what has been my favorite part of 2008? Honestly, the answer to that is: you.
Since I launched this blog it has been my absolute pleasure to get to know you, chat with you about writing and dreams, and finding our way. I've learned so much from you. More, I've enjoyed your company, enjoyed getting to know you, enjoyed hearing your ideas and perspectives. They say writing is a solitary pursuit, and it is, but because of you, I've never felt alone. I've felt encouraged, befriended, and cared about. Thank you for being the best part of 2008 - I'm looking forward to spending time with you in 2009.

I bid you good writing.

I'm For Sale Online!

Forgive my newbie enthusiasm - it's just that this is my first book (a non-fiction), and I'm all happy in the face to see I'm available for pre-order! Well, not ME - you can't click a few buttons and I show up at your house a few days later,but, well, you understand.


I know, I know - what is she talking about? This is a blog all about FICTION. Bonnie writes FICTION (I do, I really, really do!)

But I also write non-fiction - I write about your strengths (the things you're good at, that you love doing, that bring you joy) and how you can use them to change your life, connect with God, and be happy. You can learn all about the book (and read some deeply cool endorsements) on my website: www.bonniegrove.com. Click on "non-fiction"

AND

If you're in the mood go to:
http://christian-book-store.christiansunite.com/124394/Your-Best-You:-Discovering-and-Developing-the-Strengths-God-Gave-You.shtml
(Wow, that’s long), and you can ooooo and ahhhh with me.

Okay, okay - where's the book cover??

Um... my dog ate it.

It's coming! The fab folks at Beacon Hill Press are working their fingers to the bone bring us fine books and book covers! The moment it is available for your lovely peepers to peep it, I'll let ya know!

Okay, now I must dash! I'm off to the mountains with my hubby for a few days.

I bid you good writing.