Novelist's Retreat in Denver

Pics of a few attendees at the retreat. Last night we were just gathering, eating and hanging out. Meetings begin today. (All names are hyperlinked to author's web site.)

Mindy Clark

Lori Copeland


Colleen Coble, Randy Ingermanson


Angela Hunt, Harry Kraus

Mark Mynheir, Brad Whittington

Tamera Alexander, Sunni Jeffers

June Bestseller Lists

Both the ECPA and CBA bestseller lists are now in, reflecting sales in the month of June. The ECPA list is always titled one month later than the sales month, so it's called the July list. The CBA list is always titled two months later, so this is its August list. (Confusing, I know.) The data are crunched a little differently, hence you'll see some differences on the two lists. Those books appearing on one list only are highlighted in blue.

Both CBA and ECPA also have their own Top Fifty lists, which include both nonfiction and fiction sold within the Christian market.

CBA (Numbers in parentheses reflect placement on the CBA Top Fifty list)
　
1. (2) The Shack, William P. Young, Windblown Media
2. (5) Take Two, Karen Kingsbury, Zondervan
3. (8) Take One, Karen Kingsbury, Zondervan
4. (23) A Bride in the Bargain, Deeanne Gist, Bethany House (Baker)
5. (25) Double Minds,Terri Blackstock, Zondervan
6. (29) The Secret, Beverly Lewis, Bethany House (Baker)
7. (31) Fireproof, Eric Wilson & Alex Kendrick, Thomas Nelson
8. (32) A Dream to Call My Own, Tracie Peterson, Bethany House (Baker)
9. (34) BoneMan’s Daughters, Ted Dekker, Center Street (Hachette)
10. (37) Redeeming Love, Francine Rivers, Multnomah (WaterBrook)
11. (46) Circle Trilogy, Ted Dekker, Thomas Nelson
12. Higher Hope, Robert Whitlow, Thomas Nelson
13. Kiss, Ted Dekker, Thomas Nelson
14. A Gift of Grace, Amy Clipston, Zondervan
15. Deeper Water, Robert Whitlow, Thomas Nelson
16. Exposure, Brandilyn Collins, Zondervan
17. A Love to Last Forever, Tracie Peterson, Bethany House (Baker)
18. A Cousin’s Promise, Wanda Brunstetter, Barbour
19. The Inheritance, Tamera Alexander, Thomas Nelson
20. A Widow’s Hope, Mary Ellis, Harvest House

ECPA (Numbers in parentheses reflect placement on ECPA's Top Fifty list)

1. (2) The Shack, William P. Young, Windblown Media
2. (5) Take One, Karen Kingsbury, Zondervan
3. (16) The Secret, Beverly Lewis, Bethany House (Baker)
4. (17) Fireproof, Eric Wilson & Alex Kendrick, Thomas
5. (19) A Bride in the Bargain, Deeanne Gist, Bethany House (Baker)
6. (21) Higher Hope, Robert Whitlow, Thomas Nelson
7. (24) Circle Trilogy, Ted Dekker, Thomas Nelson
8. (25) BoneMan’s Daughters, Ted Dekker, Center Street (Hachette)
9. (27) A Dream to Call My Own, Tracie Peterson, Bethany House (Baker)
10. (30) Redeeming Love, Francine Rivers, Multnomah (WaterBrook)
11. (33) Plain Pursuit, Beth Wiseman, Thomas Nelson
12. (34) Double Minds,Terri Blackstock, Zondervan
13. (36) Lunatic, Ted Dekker, Thomas Nelson
14. (37) By Reason of Insanity, Randy Singer, Tyndale
15. (45) Exposure, Brandilyn Collins, Zondervan
16. (47) A Gift of Grace, Amy Clipston
17. (49) Elyon, Ted Dekker/Kaci Hill, Thomas Nelson
18. (50) A Widow’s Hope, Mary Ellis, Harvest House
19. Plain Perfect, Beth Wiseman, Thomas Nelson
20. A Cousin's Promise, Wanda Brunstetter, Barbour

Wretched Writers Welcome--Bulwer-Lytton 2009 Winners

The Bulwer-Lytton contest--"where www means wretched writers welcome."

Haven't heard about this contest to write the worst first line of a novel? Read about it here. As for the 2009 winners, here's an example in all its glory:

Runner-Up

The wind dry-shaved the cracked earth like a dull razor--the double edge kind from the plastic bag that you shouldn't use more than twice, but you do; but Trevor Earp had to face it as he started the second morning of his hopeless search for Drover, the Irish Wolfhound he had found as a pup near death from a fight with a prairie dog and nursed back to health, stolen by a traveling circus so that the monkey would have something to ride.

-- Warren Blair Ashburn, VA

Read the complete list of horribly awful winners here.

ICRS Coming Up

The time has rolled around again. On Thursday I will be flying to Denver for the ChiLibris novelists' retreat, followed by the International Christian Retail Show (ICRS), starting Monday the 13th. In the middle of these two events is the Christy Awards reception on Saturday night. (Go here to see Christy nominees for this year.)

ICRS--and therefore the Christy reception and ChiLibris retreat--is being held in Denver this year. Daughter Amberly and I will be signing copies of Always Watching on the convention floor on Monday at 9:30 a.m. I'll also be signing Exposure at that time. Hey, there's a bargain for the bookstore folks. Stand in one line--get two books.

ICRS has been less and less attended in the past number of years. Of course, in this present economy, everyone's cutting back. I don't know the future of the convention. One large publisher (Thomas Nelson) has stopped attending, and others seem to be putting up smaller booths on the floor than in the past. However my publisher, Zondervan, is hanging in there with gusto. A look at the convention floor map shows Zondervan with the largest booth among publishers.

My blogging will be intermittent during all the travel and meetings. However I'll post as much as I can. Look for pictures from the ChiLibris retreat and the Christy banquet. And the convention floor, too, if I can manage it.

Meanwhile I am happy to say that Exposure has placed at #15 on the ECPA fiction bestseller list for book sales in June, and at #45 for ECPA's Top Fifty list, which includes both fiction and nonfiction within the Christian market. When the CBA list for June releases in a couple weeks, I'll post my usual comparison of the two lists.

For those going to ICRS--hope to see you on the convention floor.

What a Fourth

Two social kids is all you need. They'll invite a bunch of friends--and you've got a hoppin' fourth of July. And of course, they forget to tell you about inviting half of them.

Our Idaho home is a great place to hang out, especially in the glorious summers. The kids (I call them kids--they ranged from 19 to thirties) took over our deck and the kitchen, eating. And eating. And then they all went out on the lake in numerous boats for Saturday and Sunday afternoon.

Saturday night we went down to the water to watch the town fireworks set off from the lake in front of the Coeur d'Alene Resort. And we set off a few of our own.

We had about 27 throughout Saturday. I thought most of them were going home that night. Nope. Twenty-three decided to stay the night. I handed out all the blankets and pillows we had, and blew up air mattresses. Then Mark and I went to bed, saying, "Okay, folks, you figure it out." Sunday morning I went downstairs to find bodies everywhere. All bedrooms had already been taken. That morning every couch, arm chair, deck chair and blow-up mattress was full.

I hadn't counted on 23 for breakfast.

I pulled out all the food we had left. Eggs, sausage, fruit, bread, steaks. Stayed in the kitchen most of the morning feeding people as they staggered up. (They'd had a late night.)

In the middle of all that, on Friday, Saturday and Sunday I managed to sneak in a good bit of writing as the kids went out on the lake.

By Sunday night I was very tired. But happy. Fun weekend.

We'll do it again next year, as always. And next time I'll remember to buy breakfast fixings for a couple dozen people.

Sunday morning: bodies and more bodies

Amberly's Yorkie, Bear, dressed for the occasion