Hard to imagine, but when my first book in the Liv Bergen Mystery Series released September 2010, I chose not to be tempted to jump onto various websites like Amazon, Borders, Barnes & Noble, Books-A-Million, GoodReads (…breathe…), etc. etc. to read posted reviews of In The Belly Of Jonah.   I simply didn’t think I had thick enough skin to read comments about my “babies”.  So FINALLY this Christmas season I decided to read each and every post for my first book and Lot’s Return To Sodom which released June 2011.    

THANK YOU from the bottom of my heart for speaking your mind  about Liv Bergen and for your encouragement in me to keep writing.  I truly enjoy brigning Liv to life for all of you.  I learn from each comment made, good and bad.  Please know I really do appreciate what you’ve done for me  and I’ll work hard to earn your comments on the next book.

And you three book clubs who volunteered to be the beta readers of my first books, THANK YOU for all your advice, comments, and suggestions.  The books are better because of you.  A special thanks to the book club who read Widow’s Might, now in production for relase in August 2012.  Not only didn they NOT shoot me when I hijacked their book club, but they also gave me great advice in final edits before I sent my manuscript to the publisher.  Mwahhhhhh (electronic kiss) to Ruth, Sarah, and friends for being so helpful!

So many blessings this holiday season!!

Keep up the critiques and thank you for maintaining credibility by not being anonymous!!

How appropriate that my first book launch was in the Black Hills of South Dakota, my second in the Smokey Mountains.  Liv Bergen must be guiding me to do these launches at these mountain locations, since her name in Norwegian means “Life as a Mountain Dweller”.  How appropriate!

Thank you all for the wonderful comments about loving Liv even more in book two than you did in book one… although she’s a figment of my imagination, she’s sending you all a big mwahhhhhh!! 

(That’s an air kiss, in case you missed it.)

Enjoy Liv!   Enjoy Life!!  I sure am, thanks to all of you.

A HUGE thank you and BIG HUGS to retired Special Agent Mick Sherer for all his advice and expertise over the years that made this story so real to me, it made ME lose a few nights of sleep.   As always, my goal is to make you, my avid readers, lose a night of sleep or change your plans… then I know I got it right!

When I attended the first annual Bloggers Convention in NYC, I had to keep repeating that to myself because it was so hard to remember, since the bloggers were all being so darned friendly! Everyone was helpful and welcoming to this blogging neophyte and debut author (I learned SO much at that convention through the workshops and casual conversations), it made it hard to resist the natural connections that were happening.

I know in every industry there are “rules” to follow. I don’t know how many times I heard the speakers say that there is a line that should not be crossed, a distance that should exist, between bloggers and authors because of the impartiality and professionalism that must be maintained. I understand that, but let me say, it is hard to stay impartial when I meet so many wonderful people! Bloggers provide an amazing service and networking centerpiece (out of the goodness of their hearts and for our common love of books) for so many readers, the true consumers in the book world, and were so gentle with this bull in a china shop that I THANK YOU for teaching me all about the blogosphere and the power within it! You have helped make my book launch very special, and your questions are so creative and fun to answer.

Blog on!

Great welcome by all of you in Gillette Saturday, Sept 4th at Hastings and to Andrea, you are such a kind soul!  Thank you for hosting my book signing.  To the awesome team at Old Firehouse in Ft. Collins this Saturday, Sept 11th, I appreciate you making me feel so welcome and making me feel like a queen in that comfy chair.  Sold out within 20 minutes of the book signing event official start.  Way to go Susie, Tara, and Keller!  And to Linda for inviting me and Brian and his team at Barnes & Noble in Cheyenne for making me feel so welcome, thank you for spending so much time helping me.  I really felt at home for these book signings and it’s all because o the great people in the mountain states of Colorado and Wyoming!

So grateful to all of you who have been so supportive and spent a few minutes to share your stories with me.  I really appreciate it!  My butterflies have taken flight and now I’m ready to visit the rest of this great USA!!

September 1st is just around the corner and my belly is busting with butterflies.  I didn’t get this nervous before state tournments or while warming up in the UW Fieldhouse, watching my opponents trudge through black dirt in their new high tops.  I wasn’t this anxious when I introduced Governor Bill Owens to the Ft. Collins Chamber of Commerce or when I told my family I was pursuing my hobby as an author.  I haven’t been this excited since they placed my baby in my arms or on the day I eloped with my husband! 

How grateful I am to everyone who encouraged me to take this step and who have helped me throughout this journey!  I just finished my first interview with blogger, Michelle at Red Headed Book Child, who I met in NYC at the Bloggers Convention following BEA.  Two of my industry peers, Rick Markley and Therese Dunphy, have graciously allowed me an interview for their magazines, Rock Products and Aggregate Manager.  They may be competitors, but everyone I know in the industry reads both magazines.  They ROCK!  And I’m about to embark on my book tour.  Thank you to the independent bookstore owners who believe enough in me to reserve precious time and space for a signing and to the managers of Borders and Barnes & Nobles across the country who have booked me for autographs.  

Starting with the amazing Tammy Borrows, manager of my hometown bookstore, Borders in Rapid City, SD, who generously allowed me to celebrate my book launch September 1st from 5:30 pm – 7:30 pm in her store, THANK YOU! 

Come on down and join the fun as we celebrate the graciousness of these amazing people!  And come autograph my book in exchange for an autograph in your copy of In The Belly Of Jonah.

To all you readers, THANK YOU for choosing to invest your time in books rather than the multitude of other forms of entertainment. And a special thank you to all of you who have read the Advanced Reader Copy of In The Belly Of Jonah and have become as excited as I am to find out what happens next to Liv Bergen!

My preferences in reading are similar to my taste in music… quite eclectic like so many of you. But mysteries hold a special place in my heart ever since I picked up my first Encyclopedia Brown as a young girl. When I was in college, I felt a special connection with my father when he shared his collection of John D. MacDonald books with me, introducing me to the memorable protagonist, Travis McGee. And I still share that love for mysteries with my dad, he being my biggest fan and having read all of my rough draft novels in what I hope to be a popular series!!

A little secret about Liv Bergen… her name is of Norwegian origin, Liv meaning life and Bergen meaning mountain dweller. Being a native of the Black Hills of South Dakota and living on the foothills of the Rocky Mountains for ten years, the name indicating ‘life as a mountain dweller’ seemed appropriate.

Thanks for sharing your enthusiasm about Liv Bergen with all your friends who enjoy reading mysteries!!