Tuesday, July 29, 2008

What makes you LAUGH?



Today is romantic comedy day at Petticoats and Pistols.
We're talking about what makes you laugh to celebrate the re-release of my book Golden Days, in an anthology called Alaska Brides.
Stop by and tell me your favorite romantic comedy movie, TV show or novel.
I'd love to hear about a new, funny book.

Thursday, July 24, 2008

Motherhood at age 65

With all the new technology regarding fertility recently,
a 65-year-old friend of mine was able to give birth.
When she was discharged from the hospital and went home, I went to visit.
'May I see the new baby?' I asked.
'Not yet,' She said 'I'll make coffee and we can visit for a while first.'
Thirty minutes had passed, and I asked, 'May I see the new baby now?'
'No, not yet,' She said.
After another few minutes had elapsed, I asked again, 'May I see the baby now?'
'No, not yet,' replied my friend.
Growing very impatient, I asked, 'Well, when can I see the baby?'
'WHEN HE CRIES!' she told me.
'WHEN HE CRIES?' I demanded. 'Why do I have to wait until he CRIES?'
'BECAUSE I FORGOT WHERE I PUT HIM, O.K.?!!'

Wednesday, July 23, 2008

Diet of Worms~No, not a recipe book!

I'm posting today on Petticoats and Pistols. About Radicals and Gutenberg Bibles and The Diet of Worms and Louis L'Amour. Stop by: http://petticoatsandpistols.com/

Monday, July 21, 2008

CBD Pick of the Week!



CBD, Christian Book Distributors, has selected Calico Canyon as it's Fiction Pick of the Week.

http://www.christianbook.com/Christian/Books/cms_sp?sp=1001

And here's a link that will take you
to a feature on CBD about the
ACFW Book of the Year finalists.

Thursday, July 17, 2008

ACFW's Book of the Year-Petticoat Ranch is nominated!


ACFW's 2008 Book of the Year Finalists:
Debut Author
Bayou Justice (Robin Miller writing as Robin Caroll)
In Between (Jenny B. Jones)
Sushi for One? (Camy Tang)
My Soul Cries Out (Sherri Lewis)
Petticoat Ranch (Mary Connealy)

Contemporary Novella (*six finalists due to a tie)
A Cloud Mountain Christmas (Robin Lee Hatcher)
Finally Home (Deb Raney in Missouri Memories anthology)
Mississippi Mud (DiAnn Mills in Sugar And Grits Anthology)
Moonlight & Mistletoe (Carrie Turansky in Big Apple Christmas anthology)
Remaking of Moe McKenna (Gloria Clover in the Race to the Altar anthology)
Sweet Dreams Drive (Robin Lee Hatcher)

Historical Novella
Beyond the Memories (DiAnn Mills in Mississippi Memories anthology)
Finishing Touches (Kelly Hake in Missouri Memories anthology)
Love Notes (Mary Davis in Love Letters anthology)
The Spinster & The Cowboy (Lena Nelson Dooley in Spinster Brides of Cactus Corner anthology)
The Spinster & The Tycoon (Vickie McDonough in Spinster Brides of Cactus Corner anthology)

Lits (*six finalists due to a tie)
Around the World in 80 Dates (Christa Banister)
One Little Secret (Bottke, Allison)
Renovating Becky Miller (Sharon Hinck)
Splitting Harriet (Tamara Leigh)
Sushi for One? (Camy Tang)
The Book of Jane (Dayton/Vanderbilt)
Long contemporaryAutumn Blue (Karen Harter)
Like Always (Robert Elmer)
Taming Rafe (Susan May Warren)
When the Nile Runs Red (DiAnn Mills)
Within This Circle (Deb Raney)

Long Historical (*seven finalists due to TWO ties)
Courting Trouble (Deeanne Gist)
Fancy Pants (Cathy Hake)
Lady of Milkweed Manor (Julie Klassen)
Remember Me (Maureen Lang)
Then Came Hope (Louise Gouge)
Veil of Fire (Marlo Schalesky)
Where Willows Grow (Kim Vogel Sawyer)
MysteryDays And Hours (Susan Meissner)
Death of a Garage Sale Newbie (Sharon Dunn)
Gone With The Groom (Janice Thompson)
Sticks And Stones (Susan Meissner)
Your Chariot Awaits (Lorena McCourtney)

Short Contemporary
Heart of the Family (Margaret Daley)
The Heart of Grace (Linda Goodnight)
The Perfect Blend (Allie Pleiter)
Wedded Bliss (Kathleen Y’Barbo)
When Love Comes Home (Arlene James)

Short Contemporary Suspense (*six finalists due to a tie)
Caught Redhanded (Gayle Roper)
Her Christmas Protector (Terri Reed)
Nowhere to Hide (Debby Giusti)
Pursuit of Justice (Pamela Tracy)
See No Evil (Gayle Roper)
Vanished (Margaret Daley)

Short Historical (*six due to a tie)
A Time to Keep (Kelly Hake)
A Wealth Beyond Riches (Vickie McDonough)
Canteen Dreams (Cara Putman)
Corduroy Road to Love (Lynn Coleman)
Golden Days (Mary Connealy)
To Trust An Outlaw (Rhonda Gibson

Speculative
Demon: A Memoir (Tosca Lee)
DragonFire (Donita Paul)
The Restorer (Sharon Hinck)
The Restorer’s Son (Sharon Hinck)
Isle of Swords (Wayne Thomas Batson)

Suspense
Abomination (Colleen Coble)
Black Ice (Linda Hall)
Coral Moon (Brandilyn Collins)
Crimson Eve (Brandilyn Collins)
Ransomed Dreams (Amy Wallace)

Women’s Fiction
A Promise To Remember (Katie Cushman)
Bygones (Kim Sawyer)
Remember to Forget (Deb Raney)
The Oak Leaves (Maureen Lang)
Watercolored Pearls (Stacy Adams)

Young Adult
In Between (Jenny B. Jones)
On The Loose (Jenny B. Jones)
Sara Jane: Liberty’s Torch (Eleanor Clark)
Sarah’s Long Ride (Susan P Davis)
Saving Sailor (Renee Riva)

Wednesday, July 16, 2008

A Glimpse of ICRS

At ICRS (International Christian Retail Show) beside the stand with Calico Canyon and Petticoat Ranch. Very fun to be there.
It really is international. I signed books for Christian retailers from Nigeria, Capetown, South Africa, England and Ukraine. I got a business card from someone who spoke what sounded like Spanish but I don't know where he was from. I got the idea he handed me the card as if to say, 'Here's where I'm from, and that's why I'm not talking to you."

It was a wonderful feeling to see all these Christians from all over the world and know God is working everywhere in this old world.


And here I am with DiAnn Mills and Julie Lessman,

we're standing in line for Stephanie Grace Whitson's book.

Friday, July 11, 2008

Check out my Slide Show!


Some of my soon-to-be released covers aren't finalized

But they will be very much like what you see here.

Thursday, July 10, 2008

Calico Canyon on Margaret Daley's Blog Today

I was interviewed about
Calico Canyon
by Margaret Daley
Go see what all we talked about.
The title of this post is a link that'll take you there

Wednesday, July 09, 2008

Men are from Earth. Women are from Earth. Deal with it.

-- George Carlin

It's my day on Petticoats and Pistols. Stop by for some fun and to get your name in the drawing for a free signed copy of Calico Canyon. We're talking about GUYS.

Monday, July 07, 2008

Romantic Times give Calico Canyon 4 1/2 Stars


Talking Calico Canyon today on Seekerville

Nicole Hollander: Can you imagine a world without men? No crime and lots of happy fat women.

Mary Poppins: “Though we adore men individually, I agree that as a group they're rather stupid."

Why do they call it PMS? Because mad cow disease was already taken.

Read more at Seekerville.

Saturday, July 05, 2008

Chance to Win Calico Canyon!




Fellow Barbour author Marcia Gruver is talking about Calico Canyon today at http://yieldedquill.blogspot.com/
Stop by and leave a comment
for a chance to win a signed copy of
Calico Canyon


Tuesday, July 01, 2008

ACFW~Where is all began for me~after ten years

I’m going back to ACFW, the place where I believe I found the combination of contests, critiques, community and connections to get published.

I started entering contests almost as soon as I got my first book finished and I credit contests with leading me to publication. It was the Noble Theme Contest sponsored by ACFW that was a huge piece of the puzzle I was trying to assemble.There are a countless number of writer’s contests, did you know that? I did well, placed third in the first contest I entered. I was encouraged and I kept doing better as the years went by. The contests are critiqued by the judges and I learned a lot from those critiques. Also if you are a finalist, you get judged again. This time, by editors and agents. So this is a chance to get your work in front of people who might buy your book or sign you as a client. There came a time when I expected to final in any contest I entered. If you Google Mary Connealy Contest Diva there’s a website with a list of people who’ve won a lot of contests and I’m on it. I kept track for the last two or three years before I got a contract and I’d finalled in eleven contests with five different books. I entered my manuscript Petticoat Ranch in ACFW’s Noble Theme contest in 2004. I was a double finalist, another book of mine, China Doll-now sold and re-titled Montana Rose, was in the running, too. When I heard I was a finalist, I decided to attend the 2004 conference. A member of my online critique group said I could room with her. I had never been on a plane before and I had never gone on vacation without my husband, Ivan, before. I don’t know if you can imagine the guts it took for me to go. Ivan, my husband, was great about it when I told him I wanted to go, spend all that money on my writing.When you think about it. Me, saying to Ivan, “Honey, I want to fly to Denver and spend three days in a hotel with someone I met on the internet…” Well, he was a pretty good sport about it.
Well, I won The Noble Theme contest and also placed third. I got a lot of requests at the conference to send in my book. I also got a really simple request from Cathy Marie Hake an author I didn’t know. She asked me to send her my first three chapters. She just wanted to see how I wrote. I also had an agent looking at my work before this conference. He hadn’t offered to represent me, but he had expressed interest. When I emailed him to tell him I’d won the contest and tell him I received about fifteen requests from agents and editors for maybe five different books, he offered me a contract, so I got an agent, which is almost as hard as getting a book sold. Cathy Marie Hake also kept in touch. She said she thought I was ‘ready’. No editor had yet seen that light, but Cathy’s encouragement kept me hoping. Plus, by this time, I had about twelve books written and I’d had so many rejections I had a hide like a rhino, so submitting work didn’t even faze me. (In the interest of full disclosure I believe I stole the 'hide like a rhino' line from Janet Dean, although it could be another Seeker. We're all tough...most of the time) Okay, well maybe I crawled under my computer desk and sucked my thumb for a day or two every time I got another rejection but other than that I was fine. Just before the next year’s conference, Cathy Marie Hake told me she wanted to pitch my name to write a book as part of a three book series set in historical Alaska. I worked on a proposal and talked on the phone with Cathy a lot before the 2005 conference. Every year at the conference the acquiring editor for Heartsong Presents gives a contract to an unpublished author. I was so hopeful! I knew there was a chance it could be me. The Heartsong editor said someone else’s name and there’s only one, so okay, I’ve been rejected before. I kind of expect it. And then she said, “And this year we’re giving two contracts to first time authors. We’re offering a contract to Mary Connealy.” I get chills saying that! It was a wonderful, thrilling shocking moment. I had to go up and get the contract, in front of 350 other writers, all clapping. A great, great moment in my life. And it happened as a direct result of contests, critiques, community, connections …well, ten years of hard work helped of course..and I gained those through ACFW.
Just a note. Some of these covers aren't finalized so there may be some changes but this is close to the final look they'll have.