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Remembering the Eastland Disaster on its Anniversary

Mon, 2023-07-24 11:32 -- Jocelyn Green
Today is the 108th anniversary of the Eastland Disaster, which was the historical event my novel Drawn by the Current revolves around. (For those unfamiliar: on July 24, 1915, the steamship SS Eastland tipped over in the Chicago River while still tied to the docks. It held 2500 passengers, most of them Western Electric employees on their way to a picnic across the southern tip of Lake Michigan, in Michigan City, Indiana. 844 of them lost their lives.) Some of you may remember my visit to Michigan City in May, searching for the Eastland Disaster Memorial. Last week, I altered my route home from the Columbus Book Festival so I could spend more time in Michigan City. I was too early for their remembrance service by five days, but I held my own in my heart. I knew the Old Lighthouse Museum Michigan City Historical Society had added a hard surface walkway beneath the complete length of the anchor chain memorial, so I went there to see it.   What I didn't expect was to see the benches behind the lighthouse. Look at the inscription on the one dedicated to the memory of Anna Kubiak. This young woman died on the Eastland, four days after her 17th birthday. Oh, my heart. Hers is just one story, represented by just one link in that memorial anchor chain of 844 links. I look at that empty park bench engraved with Anna's name and imagine an empty bench for all 844 victims, and the magnitude of loss represented by all that emptiness staggers me. Just as it should. After visiting the lighthouse, I walked to Washington Park and the beach, the intended destinations of the Eastland and other ships carrying Western Electric picnic-goers. They didn't make it here in 1915, but they had in years past. So I took off my shoes and walked where they had walked, and where they had intended to be. I plopped down in the sand and listened to the waves and seagulls. I watched the sun set over the lake and thought of Chicago on the other side of it. But mostly, I remembered the Eastland, the victims and survivors. The temperature dropped quickly on the beach after sunset. I brushed off my feet, put my shoes back on and headed back to where my car was parked. By now, the lighthouse was illuminated, a beacon against the dark. This, too, felt meaningful to me. There is a whole lot of dark and sorrow in this world, but there is also light and hope. And the Light shines brighter because of it. I'm back home now, and thinking of my friends at the Eastland Disaster Historical Society. There are no Eastland Disaster memorials here in Cedar Falls, Iowa. But I still remember, and I am still drawn to, and so thankful for, the Light.

In Search of the Eastland Disaster Memorial

Mon, 2023-05-22 13:35 -- Jocelyn Green
On Saturday, I stopped in Michigan City, Indiana, on my way home from the Fiction Readers Summit. I pulled up to the parking attendant at Washington Park Beach. “I’m looking for any kind of Eastland Disaster memorial,” I told him. I had read it was around here somewhere. “I have no idea what you’re talking about,” he said. So I told him what many of you already know if you’ve read my novel, Drawn by the Current. On July 24, 1915, the SS Eastland tipped over in the Chicago River while still tied to the dock. 844 people lost their lives. Their destination had been Washington Park Beach in Michigan City, Indiana for their annual picnic with fellow Western Electric employees. “Huh,” said the parking attendant as he took my money and waved me through. The weather was in the 50s, with a wind that cut right through my clothes. Not many others were around. I found myself thinking of this empty beach and the empty park behind it as it must have been on July 24, 1915. More than 7000 employees had been slated to fill these spaces that day. There were going to be picnics, foot-races, ice cream, baseball, swimming, dancing. It would have been the highlight of their year. But the Eastland and other chartered ships never came. I was really cold by Lake Michigan. I did what I normally do in this weather—I walked fast. Then I told myself to slow down. To stop, even though my ears hurt from the cold and the wind pulled my hair in all directions. Remembering tragedy isn’t supposed to be comfortable. So I remembered, and it hurt, and that is exactly as it should be. After my visit to the beach, I found the Old Lighthouse Museum nearly within spitting distance behind it. That’s where I found the memorial to the Eastland Disaster.   The memorial chain referenced in the previous photo can be seen on the left. Inside the museum, there was a display on the Eastland Disaster. Visiting the beach, park, and lighthouse was such a meaningful experience for me. I wrote about those who died and those who survived in Drawn by the Current. The novel won an award, I’ve released another novel, and I’m about to turn in another one. But even though the wheels of the publishing industry keep on turning, I don’t think I’ll ever move on from the Eastland Disaster. It will always hold a special place in my heart, and I'll always be grateful for the continuing work of the Old Lighthouse Museum Michigan City Historical Society and the Eastland Disaster Historical Society. Pics taken inside the Lantern Room at the top of the Old Lighthouse Museum P.S. If you would like to visit this area, park at the Old Lighthouse Museum Michigan City Historical Society, and enjoy their displays for the $5 fee. It's well worth it. The museum is packed with information that I didn't include here. Then walk to the beach and park instead of paying a separate parking fee. Have you ever gone in search of a site that was important in a novel you read? Tell us about it. *Please note that I moderate comments in order to weed out spam. I'll approve your comment as soon as I can.

2023 Reading Goals!

Wed, 2023-01-11 20:10 -- Jocelyn Green
Do you give yourself reading goals for the year? Lately I've heard about one that I am totally up for: to read 23 backlist titles in 2023. If you're unfamiliar with the term, "backlist" refers to a published book that is not a new release. I love this idea because it helps me focus on catching up on a variety of wonderful books I haven't been able to keep up with. I already had a list in mind, but I asked readers for ideas on my author Facebook page, and they delivered! I'll share with you my list of 23 in a moment. But first, I have to tell you that I have enjoyed a winning reading (and listening) streak over the Christmas break, and finished four 5-star books! They are: 1. Count the Night by Stars by Michelle Shocklee 2. The Rose and the Thistle by Laura Frantz 3. Within These Walls of Sorrow by Amanda Barratt 4. Yours is the Night by Amanda Dykes (Audiobook lovers, rejoice! This is in the top 3 audiobook productions I have ever experienced.) Feel free to follow me on Instagram for more book recommendations! Also, I've decided that "backlist" will mean that it was published more than two months ago. That leaves me with a whole stack of releases from December and January that I'd love to read, in addition to the backlist beauties. These include: 1. The Blackout Book Club by Amy Lynn Green 2. In Love's Time by Kate Breslin 3. The Sisters of Sea View by Julie Klassen 4. All the Lost Places by Amanda Dykes 5. Hearts of Steel by Elizabeth Camden 6. Yesterday's Tides by Roseanna White 7. The Sound of Light by Sarah Sundin And those are just the very most recent releases! Is it any wonder I can't keep up? There are more releasing in 2023 that I can't wait to get my hands on, and I expect the same is true for you. Speaking of which, did you know there is a list on Goodreads of the Most Anticipated Christian Fiction of 2023? You can take a look at the books and vote for as many as you'd like! The Metropolitan Affair by yours truly is on the list somewhere... feel free to give it some love by voting for it or marking as "Want to Read"--or both! Pre-order now! The top tier of my TBR cart! (Editor's note: Gasp! I just noticed that in this short stackof books pictured above, no less than four of them have the word "lost" in the title! Did you catch that? What are the odds?) And now, without further ado, here are 23 backlist titles I'd like to read in 2023, about half of which were recommended to me by my readers. In no particular order: 1. Hope Between the Pages by Pepper Basham 2. The Curse of Morton Abbey by Clarissa Harwood 3. Tacos for Two by Betsy St. Amant 4. The Amory Ames series and A Peculiar Combination by Ashley Weaver 5. Every Wicked Man by Steven James 6. Elysium Tide by James Hannibal 7. To Dwell Among Cedars by Connilynn Cossette 8. Mist O'er the Voyageur by Naomi Musch 9. The Unselected Journals of Emma M. Lion by Beth Brower 10. The Winter Rose by Melanie Dobson 11. June Bug by Chris Fabry 12. The Bookshop of Secrets by Mollie Rushmeyer 13. Beyond the Lavender Fields by Arlem Hawks 14. The Souls of Lost Lake by Jaime Jo Wright 15. The Lady of Galway Manor by Jennifer Diebel 16. The Lost Melody by Joanna Davidson Politano 17. The Lost Lieutenant by Erica Vetsch 18. The Italian Ballerina by Kristy Cambron 19. The Letter from Briarton Park by Sarah E. Ladd 20. Night Bird Calling by Cathy Gohlke 21. Secrets of a Charmed Life by Susan Meissner 22. My Cousin Rachel by Daphne du Maurier 23. Long Way Home by Lynn Austin This is not an exhaustive list, but it's a great start. Feel free to ask me on the last day of the year how this plan went. What about you? What backlist or new books are you looking forward to reading in 2023? (*FYI, I moderate the comments to keep out spammers, so if you don't see your comment show up right away, never fear. I will approve it soon!)

A World's Fair Christmas Weekend!

Tue, 2022-12-13 10:51 -- Jocelyn Green
I hosted 20 wonderful readers in the great city of Chicago for a World's Fair Christmas weekend Dec. 8-11. The weekend centered around the 1893 World's Fair as the setting for my novel, Shadows of the White City. My husband Rob (pictured at left) came with me this time to act as my right-hand man, although he preferred the term "henchman." His help allowed me to feel like I could be in two places at once, but of course we always like to be in the same place, too! Readers came from Florida, California, Colorado, Tennessee, and places in between. Here's what one participant had to say at the end of our weekend together: As a person who grew up in the suburbs of Chicago, I have been to the city many, many times, but even so, I enjoyed the atmosphere of being in the Loop at Christmas with all the beautiful decorations and lights. I am amazed how much I learned about the city, the World's Fair, Marshall Field's store, and the Palmer family, and I visited places I had never been to before, such as the Glessner House, the Marquette Building, Prairie Avenue, and the Midway. It wasn't necessary to have read the book in order to enjoy the weekend, but because I had read the book, I had a better understanding of the history that was shared in our tours and by the interpreters. For me it was both a learning experience and a nostalgic visit to familiar and loved places. ~Marcia Here's another perspective from a reader in our group: The Chicago World’s Fair Christmas exceeded my expectations!  I love history and historical fiction, so it was a natural fit for me, but my husband, who is primarily an action/adventure reader really enjoyed the trip too.  He read Shadows of the White City before the trip, but I think that anyone who enjoys learning about history, or the history of a city would enjoy this trip.  Many of our excursions had tie-ins to Jocelyn’s book, but visiting and learning about Chicago’s beautiful and historical buildings and dwellings would be of general interest to non-readers too.  I’ve visited Chicago before and seen several of the main tourist attractions, but everything on this tour (except Macy’s) was new to me.  The Jane Addams and Bertha Palmer historical interpretors were very informative and taught me a lot about those ladies’ lives and contributions as well as more about the history of Chicago.  Bill, our Glessner House guide, and Kevin of Wild Onion Walks were both very knowledgeable in their areas of expertise and kept us informed and entertained.  This trip was a visual feast with the many beautiful buildings and their amazing architecture and artwork, and Christmas decorations on top of that!  Chicago has a dangerous reputation, but most of our time was spent in and around the Palmer House and other historic areas accompanied by our group and drivers/guides, and I never felt uneasy.  I also appreciated having some free time to either rest or spend time in areas of personal interest.  All in all, a very enjoyable experience and we would go again. ~Elaine The pictures below are just a few of the highlights from our trip. We had a wonderful time! We stayed at the historic Palmer House hotel, which is featured in Shadows of the White City. It's always a treat to stay here, but it's extra special during the holiday season! In fact, we happened to arrive on National Brownie Day (Dec. 8) which the hotel celebrated since the brownie was invented in the Palmer House kitchen in 1893! Just inside the Monroe Street entrance Palmer House hotel lobby After our welcome meeting in the hotel, we hopped on a shuttle which took us to the Praire Avenue historic district. There, we enjoyed a one-hour private tour of the Glessner House, one of Chicago's gilded age mansions. Bill Tyre, executive director, shares with our group in the front hall. The library is one of my favorite rooms in the house. After our tour of the mansion, we enjoyed a hot buffet in the conservatory! There was plenty of food, and it was all so good. During coffee and dessert, I shared a little bit about the World's Fair. Every table had sets of laminated cards to flip through while I spoke.  Friday morning began with a Bring Your Own Coffee Book Club in one of the meeting rooms in the hotel. It flew by! I love having the chance to chat with readers and answer questions in person. After book club, we had a visit with Jane Addams! Actress Betsey Means of WomanLore gave our group a private performance which I don't think any of us will forget. A highlight of the weekend. My first photo with a Nobel Peace Prize winner! :)  Next, we walked over to Macy's with Kevin of Wild Onion Walks for a historic tour of the department store that was Marshall Field's for so long. Truly a Chicago institution. The tour ended on the seventh floor, where we enjoyed lunch in the Walnut Room. The tree is suspended from the ceiling with a cable/wire, so the weight doesn't damage the Tiffany ceiling from beneath the floor. Christy and Lynn at the Walnut Room After lunch was free time for the rest of the day! Christkindlmarket in Daley Plaza is only about a block away from Macy's, so that was a popular stop for several in our group. In the evening, some attended A Christmas Carol at the Goodman Theatre about half a mile from our hotel.  Saturday was another eventful day! It began with a city tour led by Kevin again. Our first stop was The Marquette Building, completed in 1895. Marquette was a French missionary and explorer, the first European to discover the Chicago River.  The outside of the building tells a story in four panels. Only the first two are pictured here. Inside, gorgeous Tiffany mosaic murals depict Chicago's early history. Another important visit was 2nd Presbyterian Church, which has National Landmark status for the nine Tiffany windows in its sanctuary.     Bill Tyre, who gave us a tour of the Glessner House, is also on the board at 2nd Presbyterian and explained what we were seeing in the church, as well. The chancel was being restored during our visit, but it didn't affect our ability to see the windows.  Those chandeliers were designed to look like crowns. At the end of our morning tour, some were dropped off to visit the Museum of Science and Industry, which is one of only two buildings still here that were built for the 1893 World's Fair. The rest of us scattered for a variety of activities! Some went for deep-dish pizza, and some went to Portillo's for a Chicago hot dog or Italian beef sandwich, pictured below. After lunch, everyone did whatever they wanted for the afternoon! Several visited the Driehaus Museum on the north side. Spectacular place! Several from our group attended the Nutcracker, which was set at the 1893 World's Fair! After everyone found dinner on their own from a wealth of options, we met again at the hotel for our final event. In the Crystal Room, we had a private performance by Dr. Leslie Goddard, who portrayed for us Bertha Palmer, wife of the man who built the Palmer House hotel. Both Mr. and Mrs. Palmer did much more than operate the hotel, though, and we enjoyed learning all about it. The performance was set as though we were in the year 1893. Our group of intrepid travelers, with Bertha Palmer in the middle of the back row!  For more pics, see my Facebook album here. This was the second tour I've led in Chicago. The first one, held in April, covered all three books in The Windy City Saga, including historic milestones in the city's history such as the Great Fire of 1871, the 1893 World's Fair, and the 1915 Eastland Disaster. (See my report on that trip here.) This December weekend was so much fun, I'm optimistic I'll offer another Christmas trip in the future. But if you're more of a warm weather traveler, save these dates! The next Windy City Saga Tour will be August 31 - Sept. 3, 2023! These weekends are such unique experiences. I'm looking forward to the next one already! Have you been to any of the places mentioned in this blog post? Or, which of these places or experiences do you think you would enjoy?

9+ Books to Take Me Back to England

Thu, 2022-09-08 18:28 -- Jocelyn Green
At the end of August, my family took a trip to England. It was a whirlwind of a trip (notice I don’t use the word “vacation”) and we saw so much in just a short amount of time! Even though we were exhausted upon returning, I wasn’t ready to stop thinking about and spending time in that great country. Books are a wonderful way to travel! Thankfully, I have many at home that can whisk me back across the sea. Just in case you’d like to go, too, here are a few books for each of the main places we visited. My intrepid teens and me! Not pictured: dear husband. London There are seriously too many books set in this magnificent city to name in this post. You're very smart. I know you can think of some off the top of your head already.  Here are the first ones I came to on my bookshelf: For a rip-roaring romp through Victorian London, The Thief of Blackfriars Lane and its sequel, The Bride of Blackfriars Lane by Michelle Griep. For Regency London with sophistication and mystery: The Debutante’s Code and Millstone of Doubt by Erica Vetsch. World War 1 intrigue? The Codebreakers series by Roseanna M. White will keep you turning the pages, starting with The Number of Love. (I cannot get started on World War 2 novels set in London. The list is nearly endless. You understand.)  Oxford The Chronicles of Narnia by C.S. Lewis, of course! Also, many readers will immediately think of Becoming Mrs. Lewis by Patti Callahan. Even more than that, I enjoyed Callahan’s Once Upon a Wardrobe. For captivating memoir, check out Surprised by Oxford by Carolyn Weber for her journey from atheism to Christianity while a student of literature at Oxford. The one I picked up as soon as I got back from our trip, however was the nonfiction book, A Hobbit, a Wardrobe, and a Great War: How J.R.R. Tolkien and C.S. Lewis Rediscovered Faith, Friendship, and Heroism in the Cataclysm of 1914-18 by Joseph Loconte. It gave me a whole new perspective on these classic works. Side note: We did go to The Eagle & Child pub where Lewis, Tolkien, and the other Inklings frequented, but it has been closed since 2020. So sad! Stratford-Upon-Avon This is Shakespeare’s birthplace, so help yourself to anything he wrote. Or, for a story set firmly in this location, Hamnet by Maggie O’Farrell is the story about Shakespeare’s son. This is a general market book. The Cotswolds We were fortunate enough to visit some smaller villages in the Cotswolds, too, which were so charming, and would be even more so if it were not for tourists like us overtaking them. (I’m sorry, Bourton-on-the-Water! We’ll leave you alone with your traditional artisan Cotswolds ice cream now.) For a series set in an English village, I’m going to reach for Julie Klassen’s Ivy Hill books, starting with The Innkeeper of Ivy Hill. Another village we visited was Bampton, which was used in the filming of Downton Abbey. For an upstairs-downstairs drama vibe within Christian fiction, I'll read the Edwardian Brides series by Carrie Turansky, starting with The Governess of Highland Hall.  *You may be wondering why this list doesn’t mention Jane Austen, the Brontes, Winston Graham, or James Herriot. Simple! I didn’t visit those areas of England represented so well by those authors. At least not on this trip. But I sure know what to read if I want to go there vicariously.  Did any of the books in this post catch your eye? Where do you enjoy visiting through fiction? Let me know in the comments! (Please note: I will "approve" your comments individually to make sure no spam gets through. So if you don't see your comment appear right away, rest assured, I'll get to it soon. Thanks!)

Scrapbook: Novel-Tea Evening with the Authors

Fri, 2022-05-06 10:49 -- Jocelyn Green
What a joy it was to be joined by four other authors and a few dozen readers on April 23 for the Novel-Tea Evening with the Authors! We held this event at the Palmer House hotel in Chicago, since I was already there hosting a weekend-long Windy City Saga Tour. (Read more about that here.) After a few years of barely any in-person events due to the pandemic, it was even sweeter to be able to gather in one room and talk about books and writing over tea. Every attendee was given a gift plus a program which included all kinds of fun extras related to our novel-tea theme. You can download this as a PDF and take a look at it yourself here. Enjoy some pictures from the evening below, taken by Chicago Corporate Photography and Video!  Susie Finkbeiner, Sarah Ladd, Kristy Cambron, Katherine Reay, and Jocelyn Green In the photo above, we authors are standing in front of the Palmer House lobby. But I bet you want to get a really good look at the lobby right? I don't blame you. Here you go: Our event was in the Crystal Room on the third floor of the hotel. First things first: fix a cup of hot tea. The centerpieces for each table was made of vintage books, lanterns, and teacups with fresh roses. We had a lovely group that night! Checking out the program! You can view the program as a PDF here. We had such a beautiful space! What did Susie say to make us all laugh? I cannot remember. I just remember she was hilarious. The best part was seeing our reading friends enjoying themselves so much! After our panel ended, it was time for book sales and signings! It was such a treat to meet so many readers! Wish you were here! The Novel-Tea Evening with the Authors is a wrap, but I'm still smiling about it!  (If you want to see more pics from the evening, see my Facebook album here.)

The Windy City Saga Tour Report!

Sun, 2022-05-01 10:40 -- Jocelyn Green
From April 21-24, 2022, I had the absolute pleasure of leading a group of twenty+ readers through Chicago to see the sites from all three novels in The Windy City Saga! This covered sites seen in Veiled in Smoke (Great Fire of 1871), Shadows of the White City (World's Fair of 1893), and Drawn by the Current (Eastland Disaster of 1915). Thank you to Bethany House Publishers, Revell Books, Credo Communications, Kregel Publications, the Eastland Disaster Historical Society, and our other sponsors and donors as listed on the Sponsors Page. During our tour, I had help from fabulous guides who specialized in the Prairie Avenue Historic District, the Loop and Lincoln Park, and the Chicago Cultural Center. We also had the distinct privilege of being joined for dinner at the Walnut Room in Macy's by Ted and Barb Wachholz of the Eastland Disaster Historical Society. After working with the EDHS for more than a year while researching and writing Drawn by the Current, this was definitely a highlight for me personally, and I could tell it was a highlight for the group, as well. For more information about some of the highlights, you can view a PDF of the program here. The program's itinerary does not include the pre-weekend activities we had on Thursday, which was a walking tour of the Prairie Avenue Historic District, including guided tours of Second Presbyterian Church and the Glessner House. Here are just a few of the hundreds of snapshots taken over the course of the weekend. From left to right, top to bottom: The lobby of the historic Palmer House, which was our hotel; outside the Chicago History Museum; dinner in the Walnut Room at Macy's (formerly Marshall Field's); outside a house I used as inspiration for Hiram Sloane's house in Veiled in Smoke; the Chicago River between LaSalle and Clark Street bridges (the site of the Eastland Disaster); the Tiffany mosaic ceiling inside Macy's. Our driving/walking tour guide, Kevin Doerksen of Wild Onion Walks, did a fantastic job of showing us several important sites on our way to the Chicago History Museum. Among other things, we saw the courthouse; the Conway Building where Olive works in Drawn by the Current (now the Burnham Center); and some rare survivors of the Great Fire, such as St. James Cathedral, the Water Tower, etc. Pictured below, we're outside the Chicago History Museum, and he's telling us about this molten blob that was a hardware store that had melted down during the 1871 fire. One of the things I loved most about the weekend was how the members of the group used their free time to see whatever interested them most. Pictured below, left to right, top to bottom: I'm with Susie Finkbeiner at the Chicago Cultural Center (this was actually a group tour); Rana Boykin and Michael Morris at Millenium Park; Jessica Nikkel, Beth Hagberg, and Stacy Regennitter at Navy Pier; Bettina and Rob Dowell on a boat cruise where the river meets Lake Michigan. Other activities tour members enjoyed on their own included attending the symphony, visiting Jane Addams' Hull House Museum, touring the Driehaus Museum, and shopping on the Magnificent Mile. For more pictures from the 2022 Windy City Saga Tour, see my album on my Author Facebook page here. Our weekend's grand finale was A Novel-Tea Evening with the Authors, but that event has its own separate blog post here! For more information about our weekend, see the subsite here. Have you been to any of these sites? Which one(s) would you like to see? 

What is a Release Day Like for an Author?

Wed, 2022-02-02 11:35 -- Jocelyn Green
Over the course of my writing career, people have often asked me what a release day is like. It really varies. Some years, I’ve had Facebook launch parties with trivia, give-aways, and games. A few times I’ve just done live videos on Facebook. One year I had an actual launch party in person at my favorite local tea shop. That was for A Refuge Assured, and it was probably my favorite launch. Drawn by the Current, my tenth novel (nineteenth book overall) just released on Feb. 1, and is my third consecutive novel to release during a pandemic. You may have picked up on this, but it’s been really hard to plan in-person events for a while now, and I feel like people are getting burned out on zoom things. **However, if you’re not, I did do a 30-minute zoom interview with romantic suspense author Cara Putman last week that was so much fun. You could watch this and pretend it’s a release party with special guest Cara, although it was really Cara’s Book Talk Show with special guest me. Ha.**  So what’s a release day like during a pandemic? Other authors have been doing a much better job. I’ll just tell you about my own release day this year. 5:40am I wake up and realize I didn't put together a newsletter to announce the release of Drawn by the Current. Ha! Time to get busy on that. I have never, no never, forgotten to do this before. 6:30am I am done getting ready for the day and get going on formatting the newsletter.  7:00am I’m ready to send it, but my newsletter provider informs me I’m out of credits and only have enough left to send to half my subscribers. I realize that my monthly billing cycle is scheduled for the first of every month, and today is the first. So at some point today, I’ll be billed automatically, and after that, I can send the newsletter to everyone. OK, fine. 7:05am Time to get the kids up and hustling for school. Breakfast time. 7:40am I take the kids to school, where they take the first two periods of classes. This semester, they are dual-enrolled, which means that they homeschool most of their stuff, but still go to school for art, choir, P.E., etc. 8:04am After dropping the kids off at school, I arrive at Panera Bread, which has become a satellite office for me. I take advantage of their unlimited coffee/tea monthly subscription and almost feel bad about the amount of hot beverages I consume. I am getting way more than my money’s worth. Also, the mayor of our city frequents this place too, and he always says hi, refills my mug for me, and asks if he can treat me to something to eat. I am the only one in the world he does this for.* I open my laptop and start a writing sprint on the book that is due March 15. [Sidenote: it was actually due today, but since I lost a month to covid last fall, my editor was gracious enough to grant me an extension. Hallelujah.] *The mayor is my husband.  9:41am Drive back to school to pick up kids. Find out that my son got a part in the school play (Clue) as Unexpected Cop. He gets to speak a little, I think, and then play a dead body, which sounds like a fairly low-pressure way to make his theatrical debut. I love it. Daughter has a choir concert the same week of the play. Cool. 10am Drop kids off at home and return to Panera (see? satellite office) to meet with a friend and research source for my current work in progress. He’s a special agent of the Iowa Division of Criminal Investigation, and his office is just down the road from the restaurant. NOT PICTURED: I'm getting into an earnest question, but he stops me to let me know I have something on my face. Under my nose. A true friend. But did it just come from my nose? I hope not, I really, really hope not. I vote for lint. But I swipe at it, he assures me it’s gone, and we carry on. He lets me interview him for almost two hours since I have a NYPD detective character in the novel I’m writing now. (He also helped me for Drawn by the Current, since there is some investigative work in that book, too.) Amazing, invaluable meeting. He invites me to his office to see how things are set up for all the cases he’s juggling. So after a quick call to let my kids know they should proceed to feed themselves lunch, off I go for more information and inspiration. The day is a win! 12:30pm I stop at the gas station to fill up my filthy minivan on the way home. Decide to clean the rear and front windshields while I wait for the gas to pump. Somehow, while in the process, disgusting muddy water ends up flinging off that squeegee spongy tool provided by the gas station, and getting ALL OVER the right side of my cream-colored winter coat. Why do I have a coat this color? I have no idea. Probably it was on sale. 12:45pm Toss my coat and mittens in the washing machine, eat lunch, and open the internet for the first time today, except for when I formatted my newsletter that still hasn’t sent. Am reminded that today is a release day by all the kind messages on social media. Thank you! Thank you so much! Thanks! The above images are from various friendly Instagram accounts! Top row, left to right: @books.n.blossoms, @kristycambron, @gwendalyn_books_. Bottom row, left to right: @alittlebitofbrandy, @msdarcyreads, @thebeccafiles.  Try to send my newsletter again. Failed again. Sigh. I care less this time. I spend an untold amount of time responding to social media messages. This is fun. I realize the local paper didn't bite for the news tip I submitted about this book, even though we have a local resident who has a relative who perished on the Eastland Disaster (the event my novel revolves around). Bummer. At some point, I consider washing the sheets, but lose interest. Instead, I remember to email some other folks who had helped me find information for Drawn by the Current, to let them know the book has released: a chief medical examiner for the state of Iowa, staff at the Chicago Maritime Museum, and a producer of a DVD documentary on the Eastland Disaster. I received help from other people too for the book (see acknowledgments) but all of them already know about the release. Honestly, the next stretch is all a blur. I respond to emails. I update some graphics on my Web site. (See the sidebar on the right! Check out those wonderful sponsors at the top of the page!!) Pay some bills online and then spend too long on hold trying to pay another bill. I try one more time to send my newsletter, to no avail. This time I do not care at all. Tomorrow it is! At some point I decide that I really should change the sheets and rotate the mattress and start another load of laundry. So I do. 3:30pm I leave with my son to take him to his team’s basketball game an hour away. We need to be at the school by 4:45. No problem. My coat is clean and dry. Snacks are packed. (So is my laptop.) I’ve got this. 4:41pm The GPS tells us we have arrived at the school. We most definitely have not arrived at the school. What in the actual heck? Where am I? The middle of nowhere, that’s where. So I drive to a nearby Dollar General, dash inside and open with the charming line, “Excuse me, I’m not from around here . . .” The nice thing about small towns in Iowa is that everyone wants to help you. The cashier and the woman checking out both give me SOLID directions to the school. The Middle of Nowhere 4:44pm We pull in the parking lot. We are on time. I am so good at this. 5:15pm Still waiting for my son’s game to start. Pull out the laptop and start typing up this post. It feels a tiny bit rude, since the JV game is playing right in front of me, so I just look up and keep typing. That’s right, I am watching the JV game at the same time, totally following the ball and players up and down the court. I am a master. I am literally typing and not looking at my laptop right now. If anyone sees me from the shoulders up, they might not even know what I’m doing. I am so impressed with myself. 5:29pm My son’s game is about to start. I’m going to close this laptop and be done. I’ll predict what happens next. We’ll get home between 7:30 and 8pm. I may or may not find fast food for dinner on the way home. I will be exhausted. We’ll probably watch something together as a family and then I will collapse into bed. [Time passes] We did end up watching an episode of All Creatures Great and Small, a darling, favorite show. And then I got a call from my credit union’s fraud detection center asking if I really tried to make a payment to my newsletter service provider. Yes I did. And I have no idea why a $37 payment would be so suspicious, but here we are.] Happy Release Day! How’s that for a day in the life of an author? Epilogue Months ago, I really did have my heart set on an in-person event for some kind of launch party, because Drawn by the Current really is important to me, and so are the first two books in the series, Veiled in Smoke and Shadows of the White City. But there was no way to plan anything for February with any kind of certainty that I wouldn’t have to cancel it. So that’s why I decided to put together a giant weekend tour of Chicago for my readers in late April. The Windy City Saga Tour will be better than the best launch parties for all three books rolled into one. I can’t wait. We have two spots left if you are thinking about coming! Registration deadline is Feb. 15!  

New Video: Books & Brew

Mon, 2021-09-13 11:02 -- Jocelyn Green
Did you know that suspense author Andrew Huff invites guests on his YouTube show to chat about books and drink the guest's favorite brew? For me, that's tea. So come along with us and see what this coffee afficionadeo thought of my favorite fruity tea (among the other things we chat about), Mama's Apple Pie from my local Tea Cellar. And be sure to check out Andrew's Web site and books, too!   

What's a Readers Retreat?

Wed, 2021-08-04 11:51 -- Jocelyn Green
The Mississippi River Readers Retreat was the third readers retreat I’ve participated in. What all readers retreats have in common is a roster of authors from a variety of genres, and a whole lot of excited readers. To be clear, we authors are always excited to be there, too. The purpose is to have a place for readers and authors to get to know each other on a level not possible through social media alone. At MRRR, they fostered interaction in a few different ways: Keynote speakers: Julie Klassen and Cynthia Ruchti each spoke for 25 minutes each. They did a wonderful job! I loved hearing them and I could tell their words greatly blessed everyone who heard them. Cynthia Ruchti and Julie Klassen Author Panels: Twenty authors were divided into four panels with five authors on each one. Joyce and Mandy Heffron, the retreat organizers, asked each panel two or three questions, and each author was able to answer.  L-R: Jocelyn Green, Regina Jennings, Gabrielle Meyer, Stephanie Landsem, Shannon McNear Round Robins: The event was held in a church fellowship hall full of round tables. One or two authors sat at each table and chatted with the readers there for about ten minutes. Then the authors rotated to a different table to visit with other readers. I loved getting to meet so many readers, and I’m only sorry I didn’t make it to every table! In the picture below, I’m with Beverly Snyder and her swag bag. We authors were given silver sharpies to sign anyone’s bag who wanted us too. I must have been tired because when I was signing that particular bag, I was thinking about Beverly, and started signing her name instead of mine! I didn't even know whose bag it was, but thankfully, it happened to be Beverly’s, so I just turned it into a greeting before signing my name. Although, now that I think about it, I could have just signed as “Beverly Lewis” and see if she noticed. I’m not sure my forging skills are that good, though. With Beverly Snyder and her swag bag! (Sidenote: At another table, we sat with Emma Faye, an accomplished audiobook narrator. Julie Klassen was with us, too, and at the request of Emma’s fellow readers at our table, she narrated a sample from Julie’s book, The Maid of Milkweed Manor for us on the spot. She did a phenomenal job, warranting all the applause. What a fun moment.) A bookstore had come into the church and carried about three different titles per author so readers could purchase books there and have us sign them, too. I loved being able to personalize copies of my three most recent releases for readers: Between Two Shores, Veiled in Smoke, and Shadows of the White City.  With 120 people there, the day flew by, and then it was time for a group photo!  Have you been to a readers retreat before? What was a highlight for you? *Note: Comments require moderation, so when yours doesn't appear right away, never fear, it's just waiting for me to approve it.

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