NEWSDAY TUESDAY ...

Okay, so it's nearly Wednesday. We brought our new puppy (as opposed to "old puppy?") home today, so I've been writing this between other things as well as helping with trips to the appointed piddle spot and throwing treat parties when Digby succeeds doing his business. 

(Digby's the cute one on the far left.)

IN OTHER (far more relevant) NEWS:

In case you haven't heard, we've added a new agent to our rolls here at MacGregor Literary. Amanda Luedeke made her conference debut this past week with us here at the Oregon Christian Writers Conference. All signs are pointing to her potentially having signed her first author already! 

Our fabulous friend and local author Hillary Manton Lodge simply couldn't take it anymore. While at the conference last week she took professional quality photos and headshots for all of us - keep your eye out soon for new photos of us all -- even if I am doing "that funny thing with my head" I'm sure our new pics will help us all appear far more professional.

 LIST AND REVIEW NEWS:

Gina Holmes' CROSSING OCEANS, her novel published by Tyndale, is on the August CBA bestseller list.
John Wilson, the editor of Books & Culture magazine (an online publication of Christianity Today) gave J. Mark Bertrand's BACK ON MURDER high marks.
http://www.booksandculture.com/articles/webexclusives/2010/august/wilson081010.html

UPCOMING RELEASES:

Susan Meissner's next novel, LADY IN WAITING, is releasing this week with Waterbrook. It weaves the story of a contemporary couple with that of Lady Jane Grey, and has been very much anticipated by those who enjoyed THE SHAPE OF MERCY and WHITE PICKET FENCES.

Chad Gibbs' GOD AND FOOTBALL is releasing this week from Zondervan. It's his look at the both faith and fanaticism with people who follow SEC football.

Keep an eye out for Serena Miller's historical Amish tale, LOVE FINDS YOU IN SUGARCREEK, OHIO.

Julie Cannon is busy at work on her next title, a contemporary southern novel, TWANG, which will be coming out from Abingdon Press.

AUTHOR EVENTS:

Jim Rubart went on a national book tour for his novel ROOMS, published by B&H. The tour took a small group of suspense novelists around the country, ending in New York for "Thrillerfest."

Carla Stewart is participating in this year's Books Alive 2010 Conference in Jefferson Texas on November 12-14th. This conference is hosted by Beauty and the Book - The Only Hair Salon/Bookstore in the World and headquarters of the Pulpwood Queens and Timber Guys Book Clubs founded by Kathy L. Patrick, Author of " The Pulpwood Queens' Tiara Wearing, Book Sharing Guide to Life". Interestingly, Ms. Patrick has recently taken over facilitation of A GOOD BLOG IS HARD TO FIND, a fun and informative blog to which MacGregor Literary author Julie Cannon is a regular contributor.

NEW DEALS:

Michael Hingson, who is blind and was high up in the World Trade Center on 9/11, will tell his personal story of being led down more than 70 flights to safety by his guide dog. He's just signed to do a book with Thomas Nelson. He's working with writer Susy Flory.

Pastor Mel Lawrenz, the longtime executive at Elmbrook Church in Wisconsin, is writing a new book on "spiritual leadership" for Zondervan.

Melanie Dobson will be writing her next book with Summerside Press.

JUST FOR FUN:

Some great descriptions of common maladies which plague writers on  Nathan Bransford's blog today. You may never again regard stilted dialogue so casually. http://blog.nathanbransford.com/

Comments

[Chris Taylor]

Hey, nice picture, but shouldn't you have blacked out the license plate??? :)

[Kay]

Nice dogs. Check out the dogs. I like the one with the sparkle in his eye.

[Sandra]

No worries about the license plate, Chris. Good question though. I secured permission from the owner before posting the photo.

Didn't mean to distract from our news with all this cuteness. Our authors do have some interesting things going on...

[Laura Droege]

I think I may have read John Wilson's comments about J. Mark Bertrand's book. Was the short review in Christianity Today, too?

I'm excited for Amanda at (hopefully) signing her first client. I'm sure she'll be a great agent for some very fortunate authors. Congratulations!

Of course, I have to add a comment about the puppies: they're adorable and I want to take them all home with me. (If only I wasn't allergic...sigh.)

[Bethany]

Love the picture and the puppy's name!

Thank you for your sidebar books on writing. It helped me make several decisions about what to order and read next. I'm always looking for good writing books.

Enjoyed looking around on the blog!