(On Fridays, I occasionally post some book news or related stuff… )Monday morning my husband and I are flying to Ft. Lauderdale to tape an interview about Contingency for The Balancing Act on Lifetime network. The opportunity is amazing, the potential is huge so the stress level has been just a tick or two above normal this week. If you are the praying type, I have a few requests.
- Safe traveling
- Smooth sailing for the kids back home. A very good friend is staying with them (pray for her, too!), but their routines will be a little different, and they'll be taking on additional responsibilities.
- A good night's sleep Tuesday evening before the interview.
- Clarity of speech and recall during the interview (without excessive use of my hands to talk 😉 )
- Connection with the viewers. I think Contingency has a great message of hope and redemption. Pray that it captures the attention of folks watching.
I have been humbly amazed at the doors God has opened for me and this little story. As He continues to open doors, I'll keep walking through them. Thank you so much for being part of it all. Writers desperately need readers. Every word I hear from readers, every comment, every Facebook post or tweet touches me deeply and blesses me to a level I never dreamed possible.
As of this writing, I have almost three days of National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo) in the bag. So far so good. I'm averaging around 2000 a day, which is better than the 1667 I'll need to make the 50K goal. I need a cushion because I'm pretty sure I won't be writing as much this weekend. (Sleepover with 6 11 year old boys + LSU at Alabama… Enough said.)
Each day I am humbled by the response to Contingency & Indemnity, especially the emotional connection readers have with the characters and their struggles with the God they cling to. This week we contracted to produce three more books. This is a scary prospect. What if the first ones were a fluke? What if these aren't as good? What if they don't engage readers? What if they aren't as deep, or though-provoking or genuine? (You see, being a writer is a lot like mental illness…)
I approved BOTH the wraparound cover (front and back) and the interior design. All that's left is to approve the author copy. 
One of the toughest things in the writing process is distilling the novel down to a few sentences. I agonized over the back cover copy for days trying to get the most out of every word. Here are the paragraph, 3-sentence and one-sentence summaries. The one-sentence became the text for my online ads. (I tried to keep it to Twitter-friendly minimum of 140 characters.).jpg?resize=275%2C202)
Coming up with a title for Contingency was a challenge, but when it clicked, it fit the story perfectly. The dictionary defines it as a possibility, an event that isn't entirely unforeseen. Phil Shannon explains to Chuck, “An extramarital affair was a contingency you never considered, so there was no protection in your marriage against it. I want us to fix that.” 
