Dan's Books

Starting the New Year with a Stabbing

2012-01-16T13:29:00.000-05:00

I'm writing this, laying on the couch, the victim of 4 stab wounds.

I'm guessing that starting off this post with this sentence peaks your curiosity more than if I said, "I'm recovering from surgery." Because that's what really happened. But my doctor actually used the "stab wounds" description to adjust my expectations for the recovery. This past Tuesday, I had my left adrenal gland removed lathroscopically. It's an amazing procedure (though I'd probably faint if I saw it done for real).

In the past, the surgeons would have had to make a major incision that would take months to heal. Now they stab you in 4 places to get what they're after, and you're left with very little scarring and a recovery that's more like 2 weeks. Although, he wasn't kidding about being a stab victim. I don't write murder mysteries but feel like I could really write a crime scene now from the victim's perspective pretty easily.

I'm hoping to get back on my writing schedule by the end of the week. Might be a little longer before I can start tackling any house chores.

A Bona fide Bestseller Now

A few days before going in for the surgery, God gave me a wonderful gift. He allowed me to see my 4th novel, Remembering Christmas, make the ECPA's Bestseller List for Jan 2012. For those who don't know, ECPA stands for "Evangelical Christian Publisher's Association." It's kind of like the New York Times bestsellers list for Christian authors (although, if your book makes it to the NY Times list, it's doing even better).

Most fiction writers have a similar Bucket List, when it comes to their writing hopes and dreams. It would look something like this:

Write the best novel you can and get it ready for publication.
Land a great literary agent (one with lots of clout, experience and connections).
Get a book deal from a major publisher (one that pays advances & royalties and works hard to promote your book).
Hold your first novel in your hands, then actually see it on bookstore shelves.
Read great reviews about your book in major publications.
See one of your books win a Book-of-the-Year award.
Get a mufti-book deal with your publisher (big enough to write fulltime).
See one of your books make the bestseller list.


Click on the pic to see it bigger

To my utter amazement, since the summer of 2007 when I checked Item #1 off my list (The Unfinished Gift), God has allowed me to check every other item off in fairly quick succession. Including--as of this month--Item #8. Unlike the movie, Bucket List, I could certainly die a happy man without experiencing all these things, but I'm humbled and extremely grateful to God for allowing me these wonderful opportunities.

And I'm also grateful to all of you who've purchased my books and told others about them. You're a big reason why all this has happened, too.

Some Early Reviews for The Discovery

The publicity effort for my 5th novel with Revell, The Discovery, is already underway. It's release is now only 10 weeks away. My wife, Cindi, thinks this is my best book yet. It's hard for me to say (like picking out your favorite child). But I've received some very encouraging early reviews (hoping they're a sign of more to come).

"Thrilling, romantic, and intriguing. In The Discovery, Dan Walsh takes a fascinating sidebar of World War II history and crafts a suspenseful, beautifully written, and deeply satisfying story. This is his best novel yet!"

-- Sarah Sundin, award-winning author of the
Wings of Glory series

"The Discovery is an immensely enjoyable read. Mr. Walsh fashions two stories that come together perfectly to form a satisfying conclusion. The story centers on Gerard Warner, a hugely successful novelist, who dies and leaves his Charleston estate to his grandchildren. One of them, Michael, longs to follow in his grandfather’s footsteps. His grandfather was well aware of Michael’s talent and planted certain clues in the mansion he left to Michael and his wife, Jenn...The Discovery is a masterful bit of storytelling. It is, above all else, a love story for the ages, one of sacrifice and devotion that will leave readers with a renewed passion for their loved ones. As I neared the end of the book I let out a huge sigh and experienced a wonderful sense of wellbeing and happiness. Dan Walsh did it again: He touched my heart."

--The New York Review of Books

The reviewer, John M. Wills, is himself an accomplished author of crime thrillers (and a retired FBI agent). I can't wait for the book to release, scheduled for April 1st.

Some More Christmas Updates

2011-12-17T11:00:00.003-05:00

Christmas is just one week away now, but it almost feels like Christmas came early for me. Some wonderful things have been happening for my newest novel, Remembering Christmas.

It's been 2 weeks since my last blog update, mainly because I've been so busy. Besides, writing the book I'm working on now (the first one with Gary Smalley), I've been doing blog and radio interviews promoting Remembering Christmas, as well as a little traveling. I finished the final edits on The Discovery (the book coming out in April) and I'm almost done with the rewrites for The Reunion (the book that comes out next Sept).

After posting this update today, I'm taking the rest of the day off to take Cindi out, so we can finish our Christmas shopping. It will be our first Christmas buying gifts for our new grandson. We can't wait!

Here's what's been going on:

A Great Review on Crosswalk.com

Many of you would know about this site. It's the largest Christian website on the Internet. Hundreds of thousands of people visit Crosswalk.com or one of the many sister-sites connected to it. Which is why we were so thrilled to read the excellent review written by Susan Ellingburg, a contributing writer in their "Culture" department.

The review is too long to reproduce here, but here are a few excerpts. First, she does a really good job summarizing the story, without giving too much away. Then she adds her comments:

The author’s deceptively simple style allows events to unfold without forcing the characters into far-fetched situations or over-the-top emotions. The result is a story that’s completely believable, even (maybe especially) the truly poignant sections. All the characters (even the quirky ones) ring true and their actions are true to form. Reading this book feels like listening to a friend give his testimony—assuming that friend is a gifted storyteller, of course.

Dan Walsh also deserves high praise for perfectly capturing the eighties vibe. Everything from early stars of contemporary Christian music (Keith Green, the Pat Terry Group, and more) to TV shows (“Who shot JR?”) to the price of gasoline (over—gasp—$1 a gallon!) brings the Reagan era to life. So many authors skip over these things but it’s the little touches that make all the difference. This attention to detail spills over into every aspect of the story, making Remembering Christmas a tale that readers will enjoy any season of the year.

To read the full review, Click Here.

An Amazing Giveaway Sponsored by Revell

Over the last 2 weeks, and running until Dec 21st (so there's still time to enter), my publisher, Revell, has been doing a wonderful giveaway to promote Remembering Christmas.

They are offering a $250 Visa gift card to the winner, PLUS an additional $250 gift card for the winner to give away to a caring friend (someone who reminds them of Art and Leanne Bell, the owners of The Book Nook in Remembering Christmas). The 2nd Prize winner gets a beautiful Nativity set (like the one that keeps selling out at The Book Nook).

If you're reading this before Dec 21st and would like to enter, it's easy. Just Click Here. You don't even need to buy a copy of the book.

Still a Bestseller on Amazon!

I mentioned 2 weeks ago that Remembering Christmas had spent over a week at #1 on Amazon in 3 different categories. Well...it continued between #1 and #3 for the last 2 weeks in those same categories and, although it's dropped a little, it's still in the top 10 right now. My other 3 novels did well, but I've never seen numbers like these before. It's been pretty exciting.

And on top of this, there are now 65 customer reviews, averaging 4.5 Stars. Amazon now lists this as one of the 3 Top-rated Christmas books (right next to Glenn Beck's mega bestseller, The Snow Angel). I have to admit, reading what everyone is saying doesn't hurt. I remember back to the lonely hours, over weeks and months, writing this book, wondering about its future. So satisfying now to see how it's affecting readers.

Click Here if you'd like to view it on Amazon.

Local Success in My Hometown

I've also seen some encouraging things in Daytona Beach, where Cindi and I have lived since we were in grade school (both of us moved down here from up north when our fathers began working on the Apollo space program).

For two Sundays in a row, Remembering Christmas was featured in the Daytona Beach Sunday News Journal, and once in their "GO386" online entertainment guide.

Also, the Halifax Historical Museum, our local museum, bought 10 copies of Remembering Christmas to sell there. I got to know the staff a bit when I researched The Discovery, my next book. They gave me some excellent help turning up historical details for the book. Much of it is set in Daytona Beach during WW2.

If you're ever in town, watching a NASCAR race or enjoying the beach, make sure you take some time to tour the historic downtown area on Beach Street, right along the Halifax River. And stop in to visit the folks at the museum. It's housed in what used to be a very classy looking bank near the corner of Orange Ave. It's filled with wonderful exhibits about the history of the area. Here's a link to their website, Click Here.

Above is a picture Cindi took. I'm standing next to the rack in the museum holding copies of Remembering Christmas. She took it last week when we attended there annual Christmas party.

Merry Christmas everyone!

Fun December Updates - Remembering Christmas #1 on Amazon

2011-12-05T09:55:00.001-05:00

This last week has been kind of a whirlwind of activity with my newest book Remembering Christmas. And all this coming on top of 3 writing assignments happening at the same time. First, my main task is writing the book I'm co-authoring with Gary Smalley (just finished chapter 13). Then my beloved editor, Andrea, sends me the edits for The Reunion, the book that comes out next Spring (the edits are due before Christmas). Then the copy editor, Kristin, sends me the final proofs for The Discovery, the book coming out in April (due in less than 2 weeks). Yikes.

But for a writer, these are good challenges. Great even. I remind myself of this when I'm tempted to complain. Here are some of the fun updates to share about my latest book, Remembering Christmas:

#1 on Amazon!

For pretty much all of last week, my new novel, Remembering Christmas, has been ranking at #1 or #2 on Amazon's bestsellers list in 3 categories: Christian Fiction, Christian Romance and Christmas books. It had been ranking between #10 and #15 before (and I was thrilled with that).

But it jumped right up there and stayed there a while. It was actually ahead of mega bestselling author Karen Kingsbury's new book, Longing. I couldn't believe it. And in the Christmas category, it pulled ahead of Glen Beck's huge bestseller, The Snow Angel.

Not sure how long the book will stay in this "zone," but it's a first for me to see these numbers. At one point, my third novel, The Deepest Waters, was ranking at #4 in Christian fiction. So for a few days, I had 2 books in the top 5.

At the moment, there are 55 customer reviews on Amazon for Remembering Christmas, 49 of them are either 4-5 Stars.

#10 on ECPA's Weekly Bestseller's List

Early last week someone sent me a link about an article written in Christian Retailing magazine. It talked about the impact Christmas novels were having on sales in bookstores nationwide. In fact, four of the top 10 bestsellers that week (the week before Thanksgiving) were Christmas novels. And my book, Remembering Christmas, was #10. Two fellow Revell authors' Christmas books were also in the top 10. Suzanne Woods Fisher's A Lancaster County Christmas, and Melody Carlson's Christmas Shoppe.

It was so encouraging to read this, because this list is a broader reflection of sales nationwide, since it includes the retail bookstores. To read the full article, Click Here.

On the Radio

I also had 3 radio interviews this past week. I've done radio interviews for my other books before but never 3 in one week.

The first was for ReachFM. We did some taped interviews with Anitra Parmele who has a daily radio show hosted from Calvary Chapel church in Fort Lauderdale (I'll actually be down there visiting Anitra and doing some special events this weekend in the area). The radio spots will be running all this week, and Revell has donated 10 of my books to give to listeners (5 each of The Unfinished Gift and Remembering Christmas).

Then I was interviewed by Andy Farmer on Author's Corner with KNEO radio, station in Neosho, Missouri. And finally on blog radio on the G Zone with host Giovanni Gelati. Giovanni had read the book, loved it, and we chatted for almost 45 minutes, not just about the new book but a whole bunch of behind-the-scenes things. You can hear this interview by clicking here.

Well, I better get back to my writing assignments, so I can keep my head above water. Thanks to all of you for buying and downloading copies of the book. Don't worry about me. I can handle the excitement.

Christmas Season Begins!

2011-11-26T09:55:00.001-05:00

It's now officially okay to start listening to Christmas music! For me, I mean. Not that anyone else needs my permission. The Thanksgiving weekend is when something happens inside, and I now get "in the mood" for all things Christmas. I want to hear the music, see decorations everywhere, drink egg nog (in moderation), watch Christmas movies...the whole bit.

And a whole lot is happening this week with my newest novel, Remembering Christmas. Starting today. Cindi and I will be driving an hour south for a booksigning at the Calvary Chapel bookstore in Melbourne, FL. They're doing all kinds of special events at the store today. This will be my 3rd time there. The first two were to visit the Book Club that meets at the church.

Other Book Club News

Speaking of Book Clubs, I'll be calling into one that meets in Niceville, FL this Thursday evening. This is a way for me to spend time with people when it's too far to drive. I've visited Book Clubs this way in many different states. A Book Club selects one of my books to read that month and someone sets up a speakerphone in the middle of the room. I call in while they're meeting so they can ask questions and we can chat a while. If you're Book Club would like to do this, just email me at dwalsh@danwalshbooks.com.

But I'm doing an even bigger Book Club thing that starts on Thursday, December 1st. I hope you'll join me online at The Book Club Network (TCBN) this week. I'll be featured on their main page, and we'll be giving away 5 copies of my new book, Remembering Christmas.

If you love fiction, this is a site you have to join. TCBN connects Book Clubs together from all over the country with the authors who write the books they love to read. Even if no book club meets in your area, there are many online clubs you can join at this site. Fred and Nora St. Laurent coordinate all this activity and they're such gracious and friendly hosts. Hope to see you there this week. Click Here to check out TCBN.

Join Me at Suzanne Woods Fisher's Blog


Suzanne Woods Fisher

This Friday, bestselling Amish author Suzanne Woods Fisher will be interviewing me on her blog. If you leave a comment or ask a question, you'll have a chance to win a signed copy of Remembering Christmas.

Suzanne is a fellow author at Revell, and she has a great Christmas book out also now, called A Lancaster County Christmas. My wife Cindi loved it (I'm reading it now). She has a huge following of devoted fans and writes both fiction and non-fiction books about Amish life and culture. She also hosts a weekly radio show called Amish Wisdom.

We got to spend some time together this past September at the ACFW conference, and learned she and my wife Cindi have something in common, they are both dog lovers and love to work with dogs. Cindi is a dog trainer who works with shelter dogs and Suzanne raises puppies for Guide Dogs for the Blind.

To visit Suzanne's Blog, Click Here.

A Major Award...Details Coming!

Plans are underway with Revell, my publisher, for a HUGE CONTEST to help get the word out about Remembering Christmas. Details will be firmed up and announced THIS WEEK. The contest will have some serious prizes, much bigger than anything I've been involved in before. And much nicer than that old "Leg Lamp" won by the Dad on Christmas Story.

I'll put up a separate post about it this week once I get the full story. But the plan is to offer prizes that connect to the storyline in the book, centered on Art and Leanne Bell, the owners of The Book Nook.

Friday Updates - The Blog Tour

2011-11-18T08:51:00.001-05:00

My publisher, Revell, put together a blog tour that's been running all this week for my newest novel Remembering Christmas. For those who don't know what that is, it's one of the marvels of the internet. My book goes on tour without me. And it has, throughout the US and Canada, with 62 bloggers participating. They each get a copy of the book and agree to read and review it in the same week.

Before I go further, I want to thank all of you who participated this week (even the handful of you who didn't care for the book...which I'll get to later). It's a busy season of life and I appreciate the time you invested in my work.

I haven't read all the reviews yet, and more will be coming in over the weekend, but I've read quite a few. Most have blown me away, far exceeding what any author could hope for from a review. I'll paste a sampling below. Just excerpts, though; space won't allow reprinting the entire review (I'll create a link with each blog name, so you can click on it and read the whole review if you want).

As I said, though most of the reviews have been extremely encouraging, there are a few that "go the other way." Admittedly, I'd like every one who reads the book to love it. That's not gonna happen, this I know. As of this post, for example, there are 37 reviews on Amazon. 27 are 5-Stars, another 4 have given the book 4-Stars. That's 31 out of 37 reviews that are very positive. But we've got a couple of 3's and even a couple of 2's in there. I imagine for the potential reader, it might be confusing to read some of the negative reviews compared to the rest.

At first, it confused me. It seemed almost like these folks were reading a different book. Some of the things that deeply and positively affected the majority, didn't move these people in the least. It goes to show that no one can write a book that makes everyone happy, and there are a variety of "taste buds" at play when someone picks up a book to read (or clicks a button on their E-reader).

But I wanted to speak to one thing I picked up as I read a couple of the more negative reviews. Some didn't like the main character, Rick. They felt like he was a selfish, self-absorbed young man who didn't treat his parents or those around him very well (this is true, Rick does start off that way). It didn't seem to matter that by the book's end, that all changes.

As I read their comments, I realized some people don't like to read books with characters who have a "dark side" at Christmastime. They prefer their Christmas books to be light and cheery all the way through. That's okay. I'm not here to mock that. Thankfully, there are plenty of Christmas books out there like that to be read and enjoyed. But my novels are not like that. Certainly, not my Christmas books. I prefer to write tales more in the Dickens tradition. Take Scrooge for example. Not a nice guy, really for most of the book. But considering how the story goes, and where things end up....would we really want Ebeneezer to start off any other way?

Well, enough analysis. Here are excerpts from the 4-5 Star reviews that came in this week (and thank you every one for reading the book, getting what I was aiming for, and taking the time to write about it).

Blog Tour Samples:

“Dan Walsh writes beautiful storiesfull of tender moments, and just as each of his previous three books did, RememberingChristmas touched my heart…Walsh does a masterful job of showing how hurtsand childhood perceptions can impact our lives as adults and the impact thatunconditional love makes in a life, even years after the seeds are sown. Thisis a wonderful book to read for the holidays. It's definitely one for my keepershelf, and I suspect reading it may become an annual tradition.”

-- Mocha With Linda

“Remembering Christmas by Dan Walsh is the best Christmas book I’veread this year. In this book you really find out what Christmas is reallyabout…A very beautiful, tender story full of love, forgiveness and hope. Ihighly recommend this for a fantastic book to add to your Christmas shelf. Fivestars for sure!”

-- Trinity's Rose Garden

“Remembering Christmas by Dan Walsh is abeautiful story about a man who remembers the Christmas that changed his life…Ivery highly recommend this book! If you haven’t read a book by Dan Walshbefore, then you need to. He is a brilliant story teller, and his stories areemotional and powerful. This story is deeply moving, and packs a powerfulmessage. It’s sure to get you into the Christmas spirit. Be sure to check outhis other books: The Unfinished Gift,The Homecoming (which is a follow-upto The Unfinished Gift), and TheDeepest Waters. He has become one of my favorite Christian fiction authorsand I have come to look forward to his Christmas stories.”

-- Life in Review by Michelle Vasquez

“Dan Walsh is easily one of my newfavorite authors, and I told him that last time I read one of his books. I havecompared him to Nicholas Sparks for the Christian book enthusiast. I have beenreading a lot of Nicholas Sparks' novels lately, and have to admit I preferDan's books to his. I know when I read one of Dan's books that it will be kept‘clean’ while still holding the mystery and romance that I enjoy in novels.”

-- Melinda Joy

“Fans of Nicholas Sparks will finda new author to love in Dan Walsh...for me, he writes circles around any NewYork Times best-selling author. His books are filled with engaging characters,rich story, and deep faith in our unchanging God…Once again, Dan createsmemorable characters that pull up a chair in your imagination and settle in fora good, long while. From J.D., the homeless man who looks forward to his dailyMcMuffin to the sassy co-worker that keeps putting Rick in his place, you'lllove each and every person you meet. Be prepared for a surprise or two alongthe way.”

-- A Peek at My Bookshelf

"Remembering Christmasby Dan Walsh is a good book to read this holiday season. Likeother novels written by Walsh, this book jumps right into the life of the maincharacters… It’s the third book I’ve read by this author and Dan Walsh’swriting style reminds me of Nicholas Sparks. My hope is someday his books willbe published into a movie for all to enjoy…If you need a good Christmas giftidea for someone who enjoys reading, I’d recommend putting together these threebooks - Remembering Christmas, The Unfinished Gift, TheHomecoming.”

-- Women's Bible Cafe

What more could I add to this but...God bless us, everyone.

Friday Updates...On Saturday

2011-11-12T09:15:00.001-05:00

I can't even start a trend that lasts a week. If you take a look, you'll notice my blog posts are pretty sporadic. Last week, I thought I might at least post once a week...on Friday. Even called it "Friday Updates" as if this was going to be the new routine. Well, it's Saturday. Yesterday, just didn't work. But thankfully, good stuff is happening, even if I'm sharing it a day late.

Dr. Gary Smalley

My Book With Gary Smalley

I finished Week 1 of my new book with Gary Smalley on schedule. Wrote the first 4 chapters. I'll be writing the actual book, drawing from materials from Gary's books on family and relationships, then sending him 2 or 3 chapters at a time for review. He'll make comments and suggestions, then send them back to me. By and by, a few months from now, and Book 1 will be finished.

I've already written a synopsis of the storyline, which I'll follow as I write. But I love this stage of things, as the characters start to come alive on the page. Eventually, they will take over and I'll just be the scribe, recording the things they do and say (that's how it starts to feel anyway).

My Guidepost Novel Arrived

A few days ago, a box of books arrived on my doorstep. They contained my author copies for my 6th novel, called Autumn Light. I wrote it last spring for Guideposts for their new series "Miracles of Marble Cove." My novel is Book 5 in the series. Even though this is the 6th book I've written, it's only my 5th book in print (all my other novels have been written for Revell; they have a longer "pipeline" from the time a book is written than when it appears on the shelves).

Well, saying "on the shelves" isn't quite accurate for Autumn Light. Initially, Guideposts doesn't make these books available in retail stores. But you can get them online at their website by Clicking Here. They are $13.95 each and will be sent to your home for a 30-day preview. If you like the first book, you send in the money and every 4-6 weeks, the next book in the series will come. I think it's an excellent value, especially when you consider the books are hardbacks.

Here's what it says about the series on the back of each book: "Come to a place known for flip-flops, lobster pots and porch swings. It's a place to relax, a place to feel at home. Take a walk along the rocky coastline, and gaze out at the boats bringing in their daily catch. Meet four different yet unforgettable friends who are mysteriously drawn together by events too amazing to be coincidence. Follow their miraculous adventures as they face life's challenges, hold each other up in faith, and experience God's amazing grace."

And you have to admit...these books come with such great covers. Don't you just want to walk right into that store on the corner (click on the pic to see a bigger version)?

Book Clubs!


Me (on the right) at a Book Club last Sept

I LOVE visiting book clubs. It's fair to say, way more than doing book signings in stores (unless the store managers are very enthusiastic about your visit...to me, they make all the difference). But when you visit a book club, the members have already bought and read your book and are looking forward to meeting with you to discuss it (at least, so far they have...hope it stays that way).

If the Book Clubs aren't too far away, I'll drive there. But I also "visit" with clubs by speaker-phone. I'll be meeting this way with 2 Book Clubs the first week of December to discuss my newest book, Remembering Christmas. One in Perry, FL and one in Niceville, FL. I've also been invited to visit a book club in my town in January (the Daytona Beach area). They will be reading my first novel, The Unfinished Gift, in December (it's also a story set at Christmastime).

And here's something exciting, I'll be visiting a wonderful online website totally devoted to Book Clubs all week long, the first week of December. If you haven't been there yet, you need to check it out. It's called The Book Club Network (TCBN). Click Here to visit. We'll also be discussing my book, Remembering Christmas, and giving away free copies.

If you have a Book Club you'd like me to visit, you can email me at www.danwalshbooks.com by clicking on the Contact Me button.

The Deepest Waters - Only $2.99!

Finally, I want to mention, you can get my novel The Deepest Waters, released last Spring, for only $2.99 on Kindle for the whole month of November. It received some great magazine reviews and has an average of 4.5 Stars on Amazon after 44 customer reviews. Click here if you'd like find out a little more about it.

Even if you don't own a Kindle, you can download an app from Amazon to read the book electronically on your laptop, Ipad or phone. If you have read it and liked it, please tell your friends. I don't mind selling it a this low price (will give them a low-risk chance to see if they enjoy my books).

Right now, it's ranking #462 in Amazon's Kindle Store overall (out of over 1,000,000 Kindle books), and #23 in Historical Romance. Check it out!

A Writer's Life - Friday updates

2011-11-04T10:02:00.005-04:00

It's been a few weeks since I've blogged. Health issues have continued to dominate my life since then. Really, since about mid-Sept. Before you feel "stuck" listening to me go on and on about my aches and pains, I promise to keep this part of the update brief. Believe me...I have no desire to talk about all this again. You know how it is, people who've heard you haven't been well, either through genuine concern or obligation, ask, "So how do you feel?" And you repeat the story again and again.

Apparently, something is wrong with my adrenal gland. This finely crafted little organ has been with me, lo these 54 years, but I've never give him the time of day. Now he's getting plenty of attention. My blood pressure began spiking back in mid-Sept, and my potassium began plummeting. The doctors have found a benign growth on my adrenal gland and say this is the cause. Unfortunately, they are not in agreement as to whether to fix this with surgery or medication. My vote is for surgery, believe it or not. I'm having to take a ridiculous amount of medication every day just to keep my system from exploding, and it makes me very tired.

We should know something soon. Would appreciate your prayers. At least, they've found a combo of meds that allow me to get back to writing, which I've done only sporadically during this time. Hard to write when you're mind is too cloudy to think.

Onto some more exciting stuff...

Our Local Historical Society
Cindi and I visited the Halifax Historical Society in downtown Daytona Beach this week (The Daytona area is known locally as the "Halifax area" due to a river by that name that runs throughout the city). The curator was very helpful a few months ago as I researched my 5th novel, The Discovery, which comes out in April. I brought her 2 signed copies of Remembering Christmas (one for her, one for the museum library). She was thrilled and instantly asked me to bring back 10 copies to sell in the museum store. Also, she asked if I'd do a booksigning for The Discovery there at the museum when it releases in April. I was thrilled (this is something I was working up the nerve to ask her about).

Click here to visit the museum's website.

Best Inspirational Novels of 2011

James Rubart, a bestselling author and good friend, sent me an email this week letting me know that my newest novel, Remembering Christmas, was named as one of the finalists in RT Book Review magazines "Best Inspirational Novels of 2011." His novel, Book of Days, made the list, too (I loved this book and my endorsement appeared on Jim's cover).

RT Reviews is the largest book review magazine in the country. They review hundreds of new books every month in every category and genre. Back in Sept, when my book came out, they gave it a 4.5 Stars/Top Pick rating (Click here, if you'd like to read their review). As you can imagine this was quite an honor and, after reading the other finalists on this list, I'm keeping some excellent company.

Celebration Florida

Yesterday, I felt strong enough to get out of the house, so Cindi and I drove just over an hour to visit the little storybook town of Celebration, Florida. It's located 15 minutes from Disneyworld and was actually created by the Disney corporation back in the early 90's. Since then they've turned it over to others, but Disney fingerprints are all over the place (imagine a small town built by Disney, and you get the idea).

There are over 7500 permanent residents now, divided up into little villages filled with some of the most charming (and often expensive) homes. The little downtown is just amazing. If you get to Disney, it's worth taking at least a half-day to check this place out.

The reason for our visit? I've decided to base my 4-book series with Gary Smalley in a fictionalized version of this town. I'm starting the book next week and wanted to get a number of videos and pics I could use to help me as I write.

What Other Authors are Saying about Remembering Christmas

2011-10-21T10:09:00.004-04:00

I love reading encouraging reviews from readers, whether sent by email or posted to sites like Amazon or Christianbook.com. But it's a special treat when other published authors take the time to read your book and write about it online.

Here are a few excerpts from recent author reviews about my newest novel, Remembering Christmas:

"Dan Walsh has crafted a wonderful, well-paced story of a family in crisis. Remembering Christmas has something for everybody: drama, humor, a painful backstory, love, romance, and redemption...Definitely a book on my list to buy for friends and family this Christmas."

--Suzanne Woods Fisher, bestselling Amish author

"In Remembering Christmas, Dan Walsh writes with humor and a fun bit of attitude - and still writes a heartwarming tale. The story delighted me, and one twist completely surprised me. Realistic and lovable characters - even shallow Rick - and the refreshing Florida beach town setting make this a memorable Christmas story. I loved Dan's previous novels, The Unfinished Gift, The Homecoming, and The Deepest Waters. Remembering Christmas is sure to please his fans and to enthrall new readers as well. I highly recommend this novel."

--Sarah Sundin, award-winning author
of WW2 romance novels

"One of the best things about this novel is the fact that, despite much conflict--a life-threatening health emergency, strained relations between the hero and his stepfather, a tenacious homeless man planted outside the Book Nook, a single mom struggling to make ends meet--the book just makes you feel good...Walsh subtly draws the reader in, avoids predictability, and provides a satisfying, believable ending. I can see this book being enjoyed time and again during the Christmas season."

--Trish Perry, award-winning author of
contemporary and historical fiction

Thanks Suzanne, Sarah and Trish!

Lessons Learned when, "He makes me lie down..."

2011-09-30T08:26:00.004-04:00

I haven't posted to my blog this past month, largely due to being somewhat setback by health concerns. These began during an extremely busy time and have ended with me having to stop and rest completely (not by choice). This kind of thing has happened to me in the past, and it's made me recall a wonderful verse from an oft-quoted passage, Psalm 23.

"The Lord is my Shepherd, I shall not want. He makes me lie down in green pastures. He leads me beside quiet waters. He restores my soul."

As in the past, the Lord uses such times to show me things in my life I need to see, or hear things I've been unable or unwilling to hear. The most recent trial began with a health crisis my wife experienced over the Labor Day weekend. It lingered for the next 10 days as they put her through a barrage of tests. I was worried sick about her the entire time, but kept an outward posture of calm and care. Thankfully, the tests all came back normal, and the crisis has passed. She does have a health issue we're more aware of now but thankfully, it is not life threatening.

But after the storm passed, my blood pressure began to spike dangerously high. I've been taking meds for blood pressure for years, which normally keep it under control. But I was having the hardest time getting my system to calm down, and had to take another medication to help get it under control. It was even happening during my recent trip to the ACFW conference in St. Louis, causing me to miss out on several workshops I planned to attend. It continued to happen once I got home, and I've finally had to go on several days of bed rest to help it stabilize (I'm actually still resting for a few more days).

During this trial, I've had lots of time to wait on the Lord, and He's been very kind to show me some things I now clearly see have contributed to my blood pressure problem. It's about the way I think. I've realized I'm not yet in the habit of daily "setting my mind on the Spirit" (Rom 8:6), or even blocking the unhealthy, destructive thoughts of the enemy (the "fiery darts" as Paul calls them in Eph 6:16).

I'm already in the habit of having a pretty decent quiet time each morning. But in idle moments of the day, my mind often drifts into thinking about negative "what if" questions about the future and, occasionally, equally negative "if only" reflections of the past. The one breeds worry and fear, the other sadness and regret. These are destructive, unhealthy emotions. They don't lead to the abundant life Jesus died to give me. The Lord has made me realize I must do a better job of putting the "full armor of God" on each day, and then keeping my mind "stayed on Him" throughout the day (Isa 26:3).

As I pondered these things in my quiet time this morning, I opened a devotional I often read (and heartily recommend), Jesus Calling by Sarah Young. The entry for today was so timely, it felt almost as if the Lord was speaking it audibly to me. I won't repeat the entire thing here (not sure I can with copyright concerns), but I'll share one part that I found so helpful. Sarah writes as if the Lord were speaking first-person:

"I want you to live this day abundantly, seeing all there is to see, doing all there is to do. Don't be distracted by future concerns. Leave them to Me. Each day is a glorious gift, but so few people know how to live within the confines of today. Much of their energy for abundant living spills over the time line into tomorrow's worries or past regrets. Their remaining energy is sufficient only for limping through the day, not living it to the full."

And, I've discovered during this time when the Lord has "made me lie down," failing to grasp this kind offer to let the Lord be our Keeper and Good Shepherd can actually be hazardous to your health.

Some Great Early Reviews for Remembering Christmas

2011-09-01T09:55:00.004-04:00

My 4th novel, Remembering Christmas, is barely out of the gate, and I've already read four 5-star reviews on Amazon. Definitely off to a good start. Living in Florida, it's a little early for me to "get in a Christmas mood" in September (we're still hitting the mid-90's in the afternoon). But I'm so grateful to those willing to read this book this far out from Christmas. Especially touched by those who've said they think it's a book worth reading year-round.

Here's a sampling of what they said:

Remembering Christmas would make a good movie - "I would give this book more stars if I could. This is not just a Christmas book but a family love story.It is a beautiful told story of how a family can still come together after years of wrong assumptons, misunderstandings & secrets.It also shows the power of prayer & love...This is a book I will give as gifts & recommend to my family & friends."

-- Wilma Metcalf, Tennessee

A Heart Stir of a Christmas Story - "Another Walsh Christmas book. More historical drama, but this time in 1980. The same compelling need to read through to the end, which is always a satisfying finale with this author...It's a modern prodigal parable with those signature Dan Walsh twists...What begins as a typical cozy Christmas historical fiction romance suddenly takes the typical Walsh author twist surprising the reader. It caught me blindside (I like that!). This Christian author offers a literature ministry--but not preachy. His stories (including all 3 previous books) are a blessing. They are life-like; so believable."

-- Harold Wolf "Doc" - Wells, Indiana

Rich, Satisfying and Full of Hope - "This is a great read and not just for the holidays. Though it's a serious look at family relations and growing up long after we become adults, there are many light moments in this book. It's a story of a young man who comes home to help his mother when his stepfather becomes ill, and the pages are full of details from a time not so long ago. A fast pace with well-drawn characters, I was charmed. Walsh helps you to see your family, and even strangers, in a different light. Remembering Christmas is rich, satisfying, and full of hope."

-- Vannetta Chapman, Amish Fiction author

Stirring Story Year-Round - "Don't be fooled by the slow development of Dan Walsh's latest novel. The realistic individuals peopling this powerful book work their way into readers' hearts, and they'll soon be caught up in the unfolding drama. Remembering Christmas is a stirring story of love's transforming power, a touching tale for any time of year...Readers will be able to identify with these issues, which mirror modern life in our frenetic world. Remembering Christmas can help us slow down and savor the important things. Enjoy the story and its unexpected twist, but never forget its message."

--Mary Ann Hake - Author, Editor,
President of Oregon Christian Writers

I gotta say...it doesn't hurt reading things like this. I know as the book gets out there, not all the reviews will read like this. But I'm grateful to God for encouragement like this coming so soon.

August Updates

2011-08-24T06:52:00.008-04:00

It's been a very active month. I finished the final edits for the Guidepost novel I wrote this year for their new series, Miracles of Marble Cove. Mine is Book 5 and will be called Autumn Light. I'm told it should come out in November. But that's really for those who sign up now (Books 1 & 2 are already being sent out). The way Guideposts has structured the series, the books really do need to be read in order (reads something like a mini-series). So when someone signs up, they start them off with Book 1. Then every 4-6 weeks, mail them the next book in the series. Click here if you'd like to check it out.

I'm almost finished with my 6th novel for Revell. The current working title is "If Only In My Dreams." I say, "working title" because titles often change between when I turn the manuscript in and when the book shows up on the shelves. This one is due out this time next year. It's not a Christmas book, per say, although it does take place in the Fall, and Thanksgiving and Christmas are background characters in the story. If you recognize the title, it's the last line in that romantic Christmas classic, "I'll Be Home For Christmas." The book is about a Vietnam vet who's given a chance to reunite with a family he'd thought he lost forever, and a totally unexpected romance.

The Series With Gary Smalley

Over the summer, I've been developing the storyline for Book 1 of my new 4-book series with Dr. Gary Smalley, as well as roughing out some ideas for Books 2-4. Cindi and I are getting excited about this. The plan is to send what I have to Gary by the end of this month. Then he'll review it and come up with any additional thoughts and ideas he might have. Then on Sept 20th, we'll fly in to St. Louis, Missouri, rent a car, and drive to Branson where Gary lives with his wife, Norma. We'll spend a few days finalizing our book plans, then Cindi and I will drive back to St. Louis to attend the ACFW conference. There, I'll meet with our editor and go over everything. Hopefully, she'll love it, and I'll return at the end of September to begin writing the first book.

Some Great Early Reviews for Remembering Christmas

My 4th novel, Remembering Christmas, is just about to release in a week or so. We've already received some great reviews. RT Book Reviews, the largest magazine in the country totally devoted to reviewing new novels, gave it a 4.5 Stars/Top Pick rating in the Inspirational Category. This is their highest ranking. The reviewer, Leslie L. McKee said:

"Walsh crafts the perfect holiday page-turner. Few people ever get the opportunity to know how a seemingly minor act can affect another’s life. With his gift for words, Walsh brings that experience to life, all the while making the reader feel like a dear old friend."

I have to say, reading that didn't hurt.

Then Library Journal magazine weighed in. This publication is read by librarians all across the country. After doing a nice job summarizing the story, they said:

"...This bittersweet tale of families abandoned and rediscovered should appeal to fans of Richard Paul Evans."

This is a prized recommendation. Richard Paul Evans has written some of the finest and bestselling Christmas novels of all time, like The Christmas Box and The Christmas List. It would be wonderful if a fraction of his fans discovered my books.

It's been a fine summer so far (now...if we can just make it through Sept with no hurricanes).

Reviewing a Great WW2 Love Story

2011-08-03T10:51:00.004-04:00

My friend and fellow Revell author, Sarah Sundin's newest novel releases this week. It's called Blue Skies Tomorrow, the third and final edition to her Wings of Glory series. If you like great love stories, especially ones set in the 1940's, you won't want to miss this book.

Sarah captures the era perfectly. Whether we're talking life on the homefront or battles in the skies over Germany, she doesn't miss a thing. This is true with her other two novels in the series, but especially true with Blue Skies Tomorrow. In one sense, I hesitate to refer to this book as a great love story, because it's much more. As the romance of Lt. Ray Novak and Helen Carlisle simmers and sputters through a series of almost impossible obstacles, Sarah pulls back the curtain on a number of weighty social issues. Taboo topics at the time, such as spousal abuse and racism in the military. But she handles them very well, weaving them seamlessly into the plot.

I know guys are often unwilling to read love stories, especially books written by a woman (thankfully women are not the same about similar books written by a man). But guys, I'm telling you...Sarah has written a great action story here, too. I've read dozens of WW2 books over the years. I love this era and know it well. Sarah nails it on the action/suspense front. She had me right there with Ray Novak, at times holding my breath as he sneaks around a secret Nazi airbase at night. Many chapters in this book read like pages from a thriller novel.

I don't want to give the ending away. Let's just say, very satisfying. I'm so glad Revell has signed her to write another series set in WW2. Well done, Sarah. Your best work yet! I can easily and eagerly recommend Blue Skies Tomorrow.

Click here to check out her website and blog.

Revell Signs Gary Smalley and Me to Write 4 Book Series

2011-07-12T11:40:00.009-04:00

This is probably the biggest book news I've posted on this blog to date.

It's a major book deal that's been brewing for several months. So glad I can finally talk about it freely. This is a press release from "Rush To Press," a news publication for the Evangelical Christian Publisher's Association (ECPA). It explains the details.

Revell Signs Smalley, Walsh for New Fiction Series
Four Book Fiction Series Set to Debut in Spring 2013

(Grand Rapids, MI, July 8, 2011) Revell, a division of Baker Publishing Group, has signed Gary Smalley and Dan Walsh for a series of four new fiction books, with the first set to debut in spring 2013. The new novels will follow a family through a series of defining life events, challenges, and triumphs that readers will relate to in their own lives.

“When I first got involved in fiction, I thought it would be a fun way to try something new as an author,” Smalley said. “But I never dreamed that the Redemption series would be among those most often cited by my fans as having ‘changed their lives.’ That experience taught me how much power exists in story to transform lives and marriages.” Smalley’s Redemption series, co-authored with Karen Kingsbury, has sold over 1.5 million copies.

Over the Christmas holidays, Smalley and his wife Norma read Walsh’s first two novels and fell in love with his writing, drawn to his strong characters and relationally-driven storylines.

“Gary’s sense of relationship and Dan’s ability to write in a way that brings characters and their joys and heartaches alive for the reader makes this a wonderful partnership,” said Jennifer Leep, Editorial Director for Revell. “This partnership really exemplifies the kind of synergy that makes a real impact on the hearts of readers.”

Gary Smalley is one of the country's best known authors and speakers on family relationships. He is the author and co-author of 16 best-selling, award-winning books along with several popular films and videos. He has spent over 30 years learning, teaching, and counseling. In the last 30 years, Smalley has spoken to over 2 million people in live conferences. Smalley has appeared on national television programs such as Oprah, Larry King Live, Extra, and The Today Show, as well as numerous national radio programs. Gary and his wife, Norma, have been married for 40 years and live in Branson, Missouri. They have three children and six grandchildren.

Dan Walsh is the award-winning author of The Unfinished Gift, The Homecoming, and The Deepest Waters. A member of American Christian Fiction Writers, Dan served as a pastor for 25 years. Dan is a rising star who’s been hailed as a born storyteller with a style similar to Nicholas Sparks and Richard Paul Evans. The rich characterizations and stirring romance in his stories are quickly winning him a loyal fan base. Dan and his wife, Cindi, have been married for 34 years. They have two grown children and two grandchildren and live in the Daytona Beach area, where he's busy researching and writing his next novel.

Revell, a division of Baker Publishing Group, offers practical books that bring the Christian faith to everyday life. They have published three recent New York Times bestsellers.

Baker Publishing Group publishes high-quality writings that represent historic Christianity and serve the diverse interests and concerns of evangelical readers. Founded in 1939, today Baker Publishing Group is composed of six divisions, each reflecting a unique segment of Christian publishing. These divisions are Bethany House Publishers, Revell, Baker Books, Baker Academic, Chosen Books, and Brazos Press. Baker Publishing Group is also the exclusive publisher of God’s Word® Translation (GW). Based in Grand Rapids, Michigan, Baker Publishing Group is one of the world's largest publishers of Christian books. For more information, please visit www.bakerpublishinggroup.com.

My First Television Interview

2011-07-07T09:10:00.007-04:00

Yesterday, we confirmed the dates, so now it's official.

Since my first novel, The Unfinished Gift, released in September 2009, I've done dozens of blog interviews, magazine interviews and even quite a few radio interviews. Now for the first time, I'm being interviewed for TV.

The hosts of a It's A New Day, a 1-hour daily television show in Canada, have asked to tape a series of interviews with me for the upcoming Christmas season. We'll be flying up to Canada to talk about my first novel, which is set during Christmastime in 1943, as well as my next release, Remembering Christmas, which releases on September 1st (the interviews will be taped in mid-October, so this book will be out by then).

Another exciting aspect to this is that my wife, Cindi, is coming with me. They may even include her in the interviews (I've mentioned how involved she is, behind-the-scenes, in my writing). Another very cool thing, we'll be taping these interviews just a few days after we celebrate our 35th anniversary.

Unfortunately, we don't get It's A New Day in Florida where we live, but their program is available and can be viewed online. Here's a little bit about the television show and its hosts:

Now in our 30th year of television, It's a New Day broadcasts on various stations throughout Canada, via satellite in the U.S. and Europe, and is streamed online throughout the world. Featuring leading authors, theologians, pastors, and teachers from Canada, the United States, and other international countries, this one-hour daily program provides solid content in a range of Christian teaching, testimony and music.

Hosts Willard and Betty Thiessen (far left and far right) and Bob and Audrey Meisner (in the center) are excited about communicating the Christian message in an understandable and relevant way. They desire to bring hope and healing to Canadians and connect people to the love of Jesus Christ.

Needless to say, we are SO excited! To find out more about the program, Click Here.

Writing for an Audience of One

2011-07-03T17:29:00.003-04:00

I'm aware that a number of people who read my blog are writers, some published, some who are not. I share the following hopefully to encourage fellow writers, especially those struggling through a season of discouragement.

I’d like to offer a reminder that there is One who sees all we do and all that we write, and this One has a different way of measuring its value. I remember a worship song a few years back titled, "Audience of One.” I loved it immediately because it reminded me of what Jesus said was the first and greatest commandment.

“And one of the scribes came up and heard them disputing with one another, and seeing that he answered them well, asked him, "Which commandment is the most important of all?"Jesus answered, "The most important is, 'Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.” (Mark 12:28-30)

The idea here is to also love the Lord our God “with all we write.”

I’ve been a published novelist for two years now (under contract for four). I’ve seen a snag in writing that can sometimes trip us up, cause us to lose sight about writing for that “Audience of One.” Once this shift occurs, we can become prone to discouragement. If it goes on long enough, we may be tempted to give up altogether.

The snag is our target audience. Unless you’re writing a worship song or a devotional prayer, it’s likely your target audience is people, not God. You may even be writing about God, but not to God. So your mindset as you write is connecting well with people, hopefully having your work reach them in some published format.

Over the past week, I attended two Word Weaver groups. The first was my local chapter. At the second I was a guest speaker. If you haven’t heard of Word Weavers, they’re a wonderful group of Christian writers who gather together in various chapters to support each other, primarily in critique groups. Here's a link if you'd like to find out more about them: Word Weavers Online. At the beginning of each meeting, they go around the room and share any bit of encouraging news or progress they have made in their writing over the past month.

For me, this is often a challenging moment (probably should explain why).

Many of the writers I’ve talked with in these groups have two things in common: a) they hope to one day become a published author of a full-length book (fiction or non-fiction), and b) so far that hasn’t happened. Certainly, some attending these groups don’t share that goal, but it seems fair to say the majority do.

The things typically shared during this part of the meeting are more often things like an article someone had published in a small magazine or local newspaper, something they had written on someone else’s blog, or perhaps a rejection letter from an agent that offered a ray of hope (vs a standard form letter).

After hearing these things, I’m hesitant to share my updates.

The reason? For some unexplained reason, God has poured out a great measure of success in my writing life in a fairly short time. In the last two years, I’ve had 3 novels published by a major publisher (Revell). All 3 books have received rave reviews. A 4th novel is coming out in September and a 5th in the spring. This past month, Revell signed me to write 7 more novels over the next three-and-a-half years. Oh, I almost forgot, they emailed me this week because a major Christian television show wants to fly me out to tape a series of interviews.

But as I listened to what others shared at these meetings, I was struck by how meaningful and important these “smaller” success stories were, especially when you consider God's perspective. I’ve talked with some of these writers; they have important things to say, and I’m glad others are getting to read their work in these “lesser” formats (meaning less than a full-length book). My desire is to encourage them not to view these other writing opportunities as small or insignificant. It can be an easy snare to fall into, especially if our eyes are locked onto that over-arching goal of getting our dream book published.

God doesn’t see or measure things that way.

Jesus saw a lone woman at a well. He saw a much-hated tax collector named Zacchaeus sitting alone in a tree. He felt the touch of a single woman in a large crowd, afflicted for years by a terrible disease.

He sees you there, writing alone. Every time you write.

He sees the people on the other end, who need to read what you’ve written. He is glorified and pleased when others are encouraged and stirred by things you’ve written. Whether that audience is large or small, whether you’ve been paid much or little, or nothing at all.

I’m reminded of these encouraging words from Paul: “Therefore, my beloved brothers, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that in the Lord your labor is not in vain.” (1 Cor. 15:58)

It is not in vain because the One who matters most is always watching and always ready to commend and encourage. Allow your hearts to be refreshed as you write by God’s assessment of things.

Reset your gaze and write once again for that Audience of One.

June Updates

2011-06-17T17:50:00.008-04:00

Sorry I've had so few updates lately. Been a very busy month. I've just sent in my final rewrites for my Guidepost book, so I'll take a little breather before I jump back in to my new book for Revell. Here's what's been going on.

The BIGGEST thing happened at the beginning of June, my son Isaac got married. We love our new daughter-in-law, Stephanie. She already feels like a part of the family, and she and my wife Cindi are good friends. Isaac and Steph are high school sweethearts and have been going together since they were 16 years old (he just turned 21 last month). He works fulltime as a medical coder for the county's ambulance service and Steph just received her bachelor's degree in May (she's hoping to become a school teacher this Fall).

I love this pic someone sent us, looks kind of old-timey. They were just leaving the reception to go on their honeymoon. If you click on it, it gets a little bigger (those are bubbles floating around).

Next, we did a little traveling. Had the best time visiting the Christian Ladies Book Club in Perry, FL on Thursday, June 9th. Drove all the way across the state to a part of Florida neither my wife or I had ever seen. Pretty area, not far from the famous Suwanee River. Most of the ladies had read all 3 of my books, but we spent the most time discussing my latest novel, The Deepest Waters. They even asked me to bring all the books I'd used in my research.

Talk about Southern hospitality...they put us up for 2 nights on a beautiful house that sits right on the Steinhatchee River. We ate some great food, took some wonderful walks, got a lot of pictures (do not be surprised if this area doesn't show up as a setting in a future book). That's Beverly Parker on the left, who leads the group and her good friend Juliet Horner (Juliet's 13-year-old son came, too; a promising young writer). And the 2nd picture is a view off the deck during my quiet time the morning after (click on them to see a bigger view).

There's one more significant thing I'd like to mention. I've already mentioned I just finished my rewrites for my Guidepost book. It's Book #5 in a series called Miracles of Marble Cove. My book should come out around November of this year (called "Morning Glory"). But Book #1 is hot off the press and set to release sometime in early July (that's a few weeks away). You can only get these books through Guideposts website (they come in the mail, one about every 4-6 weeks). If you'd like to check it out, click here. On the website, you can get a preview of the first couple of books, and order book #1 if you'd like.

It was a wonderful and somewhat challenging experience writing a novel as part of a team, with each book moving the story further, developing the friendships between the main characters, as well as the unfolding mysterious goings-on at the lighthouse.

This coming week, I jump back into my 6th novel for Revell, which I'll be writing throughout the rest of the summer.

3 Big Things as the Month of May begins

2011-05-06T15:04:00.008-04:00

I've got 3 pretty big things to blog about. They're big enough that they almost deserve their own blog entry. In fact, this time last year, I'm sure that's how I'd have presented them. But so much more is happening now, and happening faster than I can keep up with.

I'll just share them in the order they came to my attention.

Big Thing # 1 - Feature interview in Family Fiction's May/June issue.

I don't know how many of you have discovered this gem, but if you love fiction, especially Christian fiction, you need to be reading this magazine. It's available for free online, and actually reads like a print issue magazine, with lots of articles, reviews, book news and interviews. And of course, lots of pictures. Chris Well, the editor, asked me to do an interview about my new book, The Deepest Waters, and it appears on page 54, near the end. My advice would be not to skip to page 54 but read all the good things on the way there.

Click here to see the new issue (then you can navigate to page 54 from there).

Big Thing # 2 - The Deepest Waters received a great review from Crosswalk.com

I've had many wonderful reviews for The Deepest Waters already, including a Blog Tour with over 55 bloggers reading and reviewing the book (posted twice about this below). What makes this review a "Big Thing" is its location...Crosswalk.com. It's the largest Christian website on the internet. And it was a really good review. It was obvious, Kelley Matthews, the woman who wrote it, put a lot of thought into her words, citing in specific ways the things she liked and why. Although mostly very positive, not all of it was. She compared me to bestselling author Nicholas Sparks and said,"Walsh has not perfected the art of romantic fiction like Sparks has, but he holds definite promise." Her last line in the review was nice: "Yes, men really can write romance...."

Here's a larger excerpt of her review:

Dan Walsh takes readers through a tense, suspenseful series of events, asking us to consider more than “Will John survive?” He requires us to consider deeper issues than mere life and death—such as, how does a survivor move on? Or, what roles do forgiveness and hope play in our relationships? What about honor and honesty? The character of believers becomes a central theme.

Due to the plotline—in which John is lost at sea almost from the beginning—Laura becomes the main character for the majority of the story. We learn about their relationship and recent marriage through a series of flashbacks. Punctuating the present action—Laura’s rescue and subsequent journey to New York—these flashbacks also serve to prolong the drama and increase tension. An effective technique...the national tension over slavery plays out on a personal level, with Laura befriending Micah, the slave on her rescue ship who cares for the survivors. The prickly issue of Christians owning fellow Christians becomes an interesting and fulfilling subplot. In fact, Micah’s role increases steadily until readers care as much about his welfare as they do about Laura’s future.

--Crosswalk.com,

Kelley Matthews, reviewer

Click here to read the full review.

Big Thing # 3 - The Cover for my 4th Novel has just been Released!

The Deepest Waters released 5 weeks ago and Revell has already made my 4th novel available for pre-order on Amazon and Barnes & Noble. It's called Remembering Christmas. Obviously, it's a Christmas story. And like my first novel, The Unfinished Gift, it will be released as a hardback (I love hardbacks).

Releasing the cover for Remembering Christmas now is a good thing, a great thing even. It's partly due to the fact I'm writing fulltime now. My new contract with Revell calls for two books a year, and that thrills me. Click on the cover to the right, and it will open much larger in a new window (tell me you wouldn't like to be sitting in that chair...well, when it gets cold again). Click here to head over to Amazon. If you scroll down a bit, you can read a little about the storyline.

The Deepest Waters - Blog Tour Part 2

2011-04-21T08:36:00.004-04:00

As last week ended, the blog tour for The Deepest Waters wrapped up, as well. My publisher sent me a list of all the bloggers who participated. They said 5 or 6 more might come in a little late. I realized as I looked over the list, I hadn't seen many of them before. I'm guessing something is amiss with Google Alerts.

For my first 2 books, I'd set a Google Alert to flag me any time someone wrote about the books, mainly so I could visit these blogs in a timely way. With the other two blog tours, I was getting sometimes 5 or 10 alerts a day. This time, maybe 1 or 2 (and some of those were about scuba diving off "the deepest waters" near some reef). But I was able to visit them over the last few days and, once again, was overwhelmed by the responses to the book.

Here are a number of excerpts. Click on the blog name, if you'd like to read the full review:

“I loved everything about this book. It has so much packed within its pages from historical fiction and romance to suspense and some action…If you have not had the chance to read any of Dan’s books, I would suggest reading them ALL. They are that good!”

-- Café Lily

“This week MiscMayzee is featuring a blog tour for an absolutely wonderful volume, The Deepest Waters by Dan Walsh. This Christian fiction novel features so many solid plot elements that it is difficult to pick one place to start.”

-- MiscMayzee

“This was a captivating epic love story! It’s an honest story that touches your heart and soul…This was a moving, larger-than-life story. I was inspired as I read about these characters holding out for God’s best for them, whatever that may be. This novel would make a great movie.”

-- Nora St. Laurent – Finding Hope Through Fiction

“I read this book in two days. If it weren't for the fact I had to sleep, it would have been done in one! I just could not put it down. I had to know what happened.”

-- Passionate Perseverance Blog

“I’ve not had the pleasure of reading Dan Walsh’s previous books, but that’s about to change. Thank you, Dan Walsh and Revell Books, for providing such a riveting, hold-your-breath read.”

-- Peg Phifer’s Blog

“Dan Walsh knew a good story when he heard about this particular bit of history and he was right. But for him to take that and turn it into an absolutely amazing tale that kept me glued to the book - fantastic! I totally loved this book. Probably my favorite of the year as of right now.”

-- Cornhusker Academy Blog

“The Deepest Waters is an inspiring and uplifting story that has left me feeling so happy and satisfied. This is a delightful story that has enough action and adventure to appeal to a male audience, but at the same time there is enough tenderness and love to appeal to any woman reading this book. Dan is very good at having that warm and tender quality in his books that makes me as a reader really happy to have invested my time. I highly recommend The Deepest Waters. I guarantee no reader will be disappointed.”

-- Carlybird’s Home

These are just a few of the dozens of reviews I read, and only a few sentences from each one. Thanks to all the others who participated that I didn't mention here. And a special thanks to Donna Hausler at Revell, for all her hard work putting this blog tour together.

The Deepest Waters Goes On Tour

2011-04-14T09:09:00.007-04:00

Starting this past Sunday, my 3rd novel, The Deepest Waters, has been on tour. A blog tour, that is. My publisher, Revell, launched the tour with fifty-five bloggers throughout the country. Each received review copies of The Deepest Waters several weeks ago, giving them time to read it before the tour began. Some will also be doing interviews with me and giving away free copies of the book.

I'm writing this on Thursday. Already dozens of bloggers have responded, and I've been overwhelmed by their reaction. I couldn't cite them all, but here's a sampling of what I've been reading this week. I've put the links after the quotes, if you'd like to read the entire review.

"This is Dan Walsh's third book, and I have been fortunate to have reviewed all three. And like the other two he wrote, this is an excellent piece of fiction...I started reading this book this evening, and as often with a great book, got pulled into it and could not put it down."

-- Thoughts of a Sojourner Blog

“Dan Walsh has become one of those authors that whatever he writes I will read. This is a great book!”

--Lori's Book Reviews (Rating: 5 Stars)

“This is the third book Dan Walsh has written and in my opinion it is his best yet… I highly recommend this book and will keep it for my private collection.”

--Trinity's Rose Garden

“In my opinion, Dan can officially be dubbed, ‘The Nicholas Sparks of Christian fiction.’ If you love romance―particularly historical romance―you won't want to miss out on this book.”

-- Lynda Schab – On the Write Track

“This is one of those books that will grab you at the first page and not let you go until the last… I am writing this review with droopy eyes since I could not put the story down and read all night from cover to cover!”

--Lulu – Knits and Reads

"I loved the writing style, the tone of the story, the setting. I loved all of it. The spiritual thread was well done, too...This book is making my favorites list!"

-- Michelle Sutton, Edgy Inspirational Author Blog

"Ever since I read The Homecoming by Dan Walsh I have been a huge fan of his. His books instantly capture my interest and attention, which was the case with this book as well...His book made me cry, but in the best possible way. I cannot wait to read Dan Walsh's next novel in the Fall!"

-- Melinda Joy Blogspot

I wish I had the time and space to include excerpts from all of them. Thanks to each of you for taking the time to read my book and let others know about it. It's a humbling thing to read such things, makes me want to get right back to my keyboard and start hammering away.

More Great Reviews for The Deepest Waters In

2011-04-03T09:03:00.007-04:00

This week my 3rd novel, The Deepest Waters, officially released. I say "officially" because it began showing up in online stores, and even some retail outlets a week ago. Some wonderful reviews have come in this past week. Some are too long to re-post here, so I'll share some excerpts.

Except this first one, from 3-time Christy-award winning author, Athol Dickson (author of books such as River Rising and Lost Mission). Click on his name to view his website. This is the entire quote:

"I stayed up all night to finish The Deepest Waters, which is something I have not done in years. It has everything: action, romance, tearful partings, desperate situations, beautiful and terrifying natural settings, history, characters I hated and characters I loved, and plenty of unexpected twists, all wrapped up in eloquent and straightforward prose. It's a wonderful read, with a compelling message about the healing power of faith."

--Athol Dickson

"The depths of characterization and the emotions evoked make this powerful story a true winner. Dan Walsh’s detailed account takes readers onboard and keeps them eagerly sailing throughout the journey, despite the uncertain outcome. I appreciate his style and writing ability and want to read every book he pens. Don’t miss the adventure in The Deepest Waters! (The title forms a parallel between the ocean setting and the abiding love explored within the novel’s pages). This book was inspired by an actual event and some of the extraordinary happenings 150 years ago."

--Mary Hake, President,
Oregon Christian Writers

"Usually not a big fan of historical fiction, I find myself enjoying reading it when Walsh writes. His ability to take the reader back in time is magical, while simultaneously teaching us about that particular time and place in history...The Deepest Waters, like his first two novels, is first-rate. Walsh is a new author who transcends many genres and will appeal to both men and women. He writes books that refresh our spirit and give us hope that all is not lost in a world filled with danger and threats of destruction. His ability to weave romance throughout his work will attract many readers who enjoy wholesome stories with a redeeming theme. His stories will bring tears to your eyes as he reaches into the hearts of his characters, allowing them to emote passion and sincerity. He had me searching for a tissue on more than one occasion..."

--NY Journal of Books,
John M. Wills, reviewer

It does wonderful things for my soul reading things like this. I loved every part of researching and writing this book. So satisfying to see it affecting others the same way. And I'm so grateful for the things God did back in 1857, the true events that inspired it (apologize for all the italics, can't shut them off for some reason).

Great Magazine Reviews for The Deepest Waters

2011-03-18T16:09:00.011-04:00

Not sure why this is so (though I'll take it happily) but a number of national magazines, some who passed on my first two novels, are reviewing my 3rd book, The Deepest Waters, which releases in less than 2 weeks on April 1st. The reviews have been very positive.

Here's an excerpt from several I've received in the last week or so (this first one actually did give great reviews to my other novels):

4 Stars - "Walsh provides a story inspired by real events that reveals hope, true love, and faith in God. But it will also keep readers on the edge of their seats as they learn the fate of John and Laura. The story grabs you and carries you all the way through to the end..."

-- RT Book Reviews Magazine (has millions of subscribers and in bookstores everywhere)

"...Fans of faith-based historical fiction will find Walsh’s latest novel to be a compelling tale of hope and fortitude, while inspirational-romance readers are certain to go through a box of Kleenex waiting to see if Laura and John really do get their richly deserved happily-ever-after ending."

--Booklist Magazine (goes out to 90,000 librarians across the US)

"Inspired by real life events from 1857, where God did bring about one miracle after another, The Deepest Waters reminds the reader that even in hopeless situations, God is still at work. Walsh's emotional work matches the compelling storytelling of bestselling romance author Nicholas Sparks."

-- Christian Retailing Magazine (distributes monthly magazine to every retailer in the US who sells Christian material, over 10,000).

Needless to say, I'm very grateful that a book I labored on for almost a year is off to such an encouraging start.

Excerpts from Publisher's Weekly

2011-02-28T15:41:00.008-05:00

If you've been following my blog, you know we've been expecting a writeup in Publisher's Weekly (PW), regarding my upcoming novel, The Deepest Waters. A few weeks ago, they contacted me for a phone interview and said they'd be reviewing the book, as well. For those who don't about PW, it is to publishing what the Wall Street Journal is to finance. It's been running continuously for 138 years and read by almost everyone in the publishing industry.

Well they ran both the interview and review today. Here's an excerpt from the interview:

"I'm a writer who became a pastor; back in 11th grade I got bit by the bug," says Walsh, who dedicated his first book, The Unfinished Gift, to Mrs. Connie Longnecker, his high school English teacher. So after a 25-year pastorate at a church in Florida, Walsh is returning to a love of writing he developed when Mrs. Longnecker took him aside and inspired him.

As a pastor, he wrote 6,000–8,000 words a week for his sermons, so he had plenty of practice before 2010, when he stepped down as a full-time pastor and became a full-time writer. "My blood pressure is doing much better as a writer. Writing has been really a relaxing thing for me, very calming," Walsh says.

The Unfinished Gift (2009) and The Homecoming (2010) were both set during WWII, but The Deepest Waters is set in the 19th century. "The first two are more like Hallmark movies, but The Deepest Waters is more like Masterpiece Theater," Walsh says. [Note from me here...didn't mean they deserve to be on Hallmark and Masterpiece Theater; he'd asked me how this book differed from the first two].

With The Deepest Waters, Walsh establishes himself as the writer he started out to be before taking a 25-year detour into ministry: a writer of character-driven historical fiction, crafted by a man who's been telling stories to a live audience for a quarter of a century.

Here's an excerpt from the PW review of The Deepest Waters:

"Walsh, a pastor turned full-time writer, surprises with a swashbuckling tale of a sunken pre–Civil War era steamship and its cargo of gold--and a newlywed couple who must make a harrowing decision. When a steamship heads directly into a hurricane on the Atlantic coast, John and Laura Foster must choose to stay together or be separated when women and children are evacuated to another ship. What makes the story more than romantic fluff is its basis in a true event, the sinking of the SS Central America and its payload of gold, and a dramatic subplot of Micah, a slave who longs to be free along with his family...With this novel Walsh establishes himself as a Christian historical fiction writer who crafts credible character-driven stories." -- Publishers Weekly

I can't wait for the book's release, now just one month away.

A Major Book Club picks The Deepest Waters

2011-02-18T12:41:00.009-05:00

My publisher just informed me of some exciting news. Crossings Book Club has decided to make The Deepest Waters (my 3rd novel releasing April 1st) available to their book club members. Crossings is one of the largest book clubs and the largest Christian book club in the country, with 400,000 members.

One of the nicest aspects of this deal for me (and for the Crossings club members), is having this beautiful cover available in a hardback edition. I love all kinds of books, even ebooks, but hardbacks are still my favorites.

When the art department first sent me this cover, I was so taken with it. It is by far, my favorite one yet. I remember thinking as soon as I saw it, this is a cover that deserves to be a hardback (click on the cover to see it bigger). I hope thousands of Crossings club members are drawn to it, buy it, and love reading the story as much as I enjoyed writing it.

The Wonder of Looking at Him

2011-02-17T10:36:00.004-05:00

There are certain things in life that catch us by surprise. Things we see that are so captivating they possess the power to instantly stop us from giving our attention to whatever had preoccupied us so thoroughly just a moment before. Wonders. When we see such wonders, we can’t help but stare. Seeing them is enough, it becomes a thing to do all by itself.

An amazing sunrise, a breathtaking sunset. A ferocious thunderstorm. Roaring waterfalls. A full moon. You turn a corner traveling through some treacherous mountain pass and it opens to a majestic mountain scene, a panoramic vista that not only takes your fears away, but your breath as well. We must pull over and take it in.

I remember my wife and I once drove through Sedona, Arizona at sunset. For us, it was just a place on a map, a route to get us from Flagstaff to Phoenix. We had no idea we would be traveling through one of the most beautiful places on earth. There are no words to describe the scenes we saw that day, no pictures could ever do justice to the pictures in our minds, created by our own eyes that day.

Wonders.

I’ve been having moments like these over the past several days holding my first grandchild. I can’t stop staring at him. I held him and rocked him for almost two hours the other day. Went by like five minutes. Staring at wonders will do that, alter the space/time continuum. He makes me smile. He doesn’t have to do a thing to earn it. It just happens. He produces joy in me simply by being there. That’s the affect wonders have on us.

They transcend the fixed boundaries of our lives, interrupt the schedule, compel us to take notice. They are, as someone eloquently said, the “fingerprints of God.” He is the author of these moments, delighting to give us brief foretastes of glory divine. The Creator, revealing aspects of His nature and personality through wonders, big and small. These aren’t times for analysis or debate. Words are poor judges in moments like these. The thing is…to just sit or stand there and take it in.

Thank you God, for allowing me to gaze at Your wonders. For allowing them to exist in this dark and difficult age, reminding me of a time yet to come, when I will need a brand new body to behold even more amazing things than these.

I Don't Do Snow

2011-02-09T21:19:00.005-05:00

I'm from Florida. I've spent one wintry week in Texas. I've come to the conclusion...I don't do snow.

Don't get me wrong, it's lovely...in pictures or looking out the window (from a well-heated room). I suppose if I grew up in it, I'd think differently. Think of all the fun I'm missing. Breaking my legs skiing or breaking my neck ice skating.

Well, I don't have to break my neck skating; I can do that just walking through a parking lot (pick one). I'll admit, for one morning, one blessed morning, the snow looked nice. I'd go so far to say, beautiful even. We took pictures. "Look, it's snowing."

Then it stopped being nice for 4 days. Cars slid off the road driving 20mph. Snow in the street morphed into slush, the slush morphed into something resembling black fungus. Wouldn't you know it, 4 days later, all the snow had melted except these chunks of black fungus.

Drove past a good number of snowy fields (slowly). Didn't see a single horse-drawn carriage ridden by cheerful people singing wintry wonderland songs. It does make a great scene for a holiday card. Who'd want to buy a card of a shopper falling on his butt at Wal-Mart, as he slipped on a chunk of snowy black fungus.

Okay, snow lovers...let me have it.

Word Weavers 2011

2011-02-05T10:36:00.008-05:00

Last weekend I had a wonderful time at the Word Weavers retreat in Fruitland Park, FL. If you've been following my blog, you know it was the first time I've done any public speaking about writing (I was a pastor for 25 years, so speaking in public wasn't a challenge). Seemed to go well. No one threw anything at me, nor did anyone get up and leave while I spoke. I consider both of these things a plus.

Larry Leech, the President of Word Weavers, served as host and emcee. Did a great job, made it a lot of fun. "Media Circus" was the theme (if you've seen any of the pictures, explains the circus motif). Revell author Eva Marie Everson and Cheri Cowell, both VP's of Word Weavers, did a workshop on social networking. Gave me some great ideas. Eva also gave an encouraging word from Ezekiel 36:26-28. She actually did a word study, elaborating on what all the Hebrew words meant in the passage.

I did a workshop on what it looks like transitioning to writing fulltime, shared my writing journey, and talked about keeping our eye on what matters most along the way. The WW chapter volunteers did a great job organizing everything. The whole weekend went smoothly (they had an incredible snack table). Even the food in the cafeteria was good.

But I think all there would agree, the highpoint was a surprise visit from Jerry Jenkins, the President of the Christian Writers Guild, who recently acquired Word Weavers, to serve as their model for establishing critique groups for writers throughout the US. Jerry is the NY Times bestselling co-author of the Left Behind series, as well as dozens of other books (a total of 70 million in print).

I found him to be humble, warm, funny and big-hearted. He gave each of us free signed copies of two of his books. Actually changed the cover of one in honor of the occasion, and the other was Riven, his favorite novel. He answered questions, told some great stories and shared his vision for how Word Weavers will work together with Christian Writer's Guild to make a difference in the writing community.

In the group pic, L-R: Jerry Jenkins, Eva Marie Everson, me, Cheri Cowell and Larry Leech.

Great News on Two Fronts

2011-01-26T08:47:00.005-05:00

Yesterday, I became a grandpa.

Our daughter, Rebekah, gave birth to our first grandchild: Caden Alexander Mosier (sounds like it could be the name of a great author). He was born just a little after the noon hour, EST, weighing in at 8 lbs even, and 20 inches long. She had to give birth by C-section, so no conehead here. Caden's got a perfectly little, hairless round head.

My wife, Cindi, was there in TX where they live (Ft Worth area). I'm not scheduled to go out till Tuesday, because of the Word Weaver's retreat I'll be speaking at this weekend. Of course, Caden wasn't due until Feb 9th, so it seemed like a good idea when we hatched the plan. But seeing as he came out weighing 8 lbs, I guess he was ready now. We're so grateful to God, both mother and son are healthy and well.

On top of my great news yesterday about our grandson, I got a call from my publicist at Revell, Karen Wiley. Publisher's Weekly (PW) wants to set up a call for an interview in their magazine about The Deepest Waters, my next release, coming out in April. PW is to Publishing what the Wall Street Journal is to Finance. It's been running continuously for 138 years, read by almost everyone in the publishing industry.

It's a great opportunity and hopefully will help the book reach a whole new block of readers.

Busy, Busy

2011-01-20T10:45:00.005-05:00

2011 has begun with a bang. Way busier than I thought I'd be, but that's a good thing. Just glad I didn't make any New Year Resolutions.

I found out just before Christmas I'd been awarded a contract for a new book with Guideposts, for a new series they've started called Miracles of Marble Cove. About 4 friends living in this charming seaside town in Maine. The thing is, I needed to start working on it in January, get the plot all figured out and a detailed outline put together by Jan 19th. An additional challenge, and a first for me, is I'd be writing as part of a team. My book would actually be the 5th book in the series, so I needed to find out everything that had already happened in the 4 books before mine.

Well, I got it all done and the outline turned in 2 days early (awaiting approval so I can start writing the book itself, which is due in May). One top of this, I'm still finishing Book 5 for Revell, which is due in April. Another first for me, writing 2 books at the same time.

On the business side, we made the decision (under the advice of a CPA) to incorporate, so we've had to set all this up this month, too. Tons of details. And this week, we're packing up to fly my wife, Cindi, out to Texas to be with our daughter, who's expecting our first grandson any day now.

Yesterday was Cindi's last day at her job at Hobby Lobby. It was a sad/happy time. She really enjoyed the people she worked with, but is very excited to be working at home again. After a month in Texas, she'll take care of the books for "Dan Walsh Books, Inc," as well as function as my "first editor" again (I don't send anything in Cindi doesn't like). She's also hoping to do something she's wanted to do for as long as I've known her...take a dog training course and work with dogs, maybe even start a side business doing this.

This big change for Cindi has been made possible by the Guidepost contract and some new book deals in the works. Actually, some good things are brewing there (thank God). Hope to share more details about it very soon.

And that's not all, the last weekend of this month I'll be the keynote speaker at the Word Weaver's writing retreat in Florida, as well as teaching a workshop there. I'm really looking forward to it, but it's another first for me. Preparing messages and speaking about Writing.

Busy, busy. But I'm not complaining. For a writer, busy is good.

Novels I've Read & Recommend from 2010

2011-01-01T17:10:00.011-05:00

It's been a busy year for me. The year ahead looks to be fuller still. But there's always time (or should be) to read a good book. Here are a few of the books I've read and really enjoyed this past year. This isn't a Top 10 kind of list. The order is just from most recently read till earlier in the year.

The Cross Gardener - by Jason F. Wright. A great book by one seriously talented writer. He's the NY Times bestselling author of The Wednesday Letters and The Christmas Jars. I became aware of Jason this past year because Amazon kept linking our books together. Well, I guess our readers connected us together, because the same ones were buying both of our books. So I decided to find out why. Now I'm a fan and plan to make my way through all of his books in 2011.

The Book of Days - by James L. Rubart. This is Jim's 2nd novel, following on the footsteps of his successful debut novel, Rooms. It's a brand new release. I liked Rooms, but I liked this one even better. Jim has also become a good friend this past year, and I was honored when he asked me to read and endorse it. Then relieved, when I liked it so much. Here's what I said: “James Rubart is officially now one of my favorite writers. He takes grand concepts, weaves them together with mystery, suspense, some mischievous fun and a serious thread of hope. Book of Days is a great read, why people buy novels.”

Lost Mission - by Athol Dickson. This novel won the Christy Award in 2010 in the suspense category. Winning awards is nothing new for Athol. He's won many Christy's and other awards for his books. Lost Mission is certainly suspenseful, but it also depicts fascinating characters, meaningful and relevant themes, and a complex multi-layered plot which Athol weaves together in masterful fashion to a satisfying climax.

A Distant Melody - by Sarah Sundin. This is the first book in Sarah's Wings of Glory series. Sarah is a fellow Revell author and a fellow WW2 history buff. When it comes to WW2, Sarah really knows her stuff. A Distant Melody is a wonderful WW2 love story, set mostly on the homefront. But it also has plenty of action and suspense. Fans of my first 2 novels should definitely read this book and check out the other Wings of Glory novels. The second book, A Memory Between Us, came out in September (on my reading list) and the third comes out this coming August.

I may add a few more to the list but, right now, I have to run out and buy the pizza (not kidding).

Happy New Year everyone!

Merry Christmas!

2010-12-24T17:03:00.004-05:00

Just wanted to take a moment and wish all my family, friends and fans (and anyone else who might read this) a Merry Christmas 2010.

Listen to what the prophets foretold, centuries before that first Christmas Day:

"Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign. Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel." Isaiah 7:14

"For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given; and the government shall be upon his shoulder, and his name shall be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace." Isaiah 9:6

"But you, O Bethlehem, Ephrathah, who are too little to be among the clans of Judah, from you shall come forth for me one who is to be ruler in Israel, whose coming forth is from of old, from ancient days." Micah 5:2

Merry Christmas, everyone!

Dan

Writing a New Book for Guideposts

2010-12-22T10:47:00.004-05:00

Here's an exciting development, and a nice Christmas present for Cindi and me as we look to the New Year. I've been asked to be part of a writing team for Guideposts publishing, for a new book series coming out, called Miracles of Marble Cove.

I'll be writing Book 5 in the series, called Mystery of the Mill. Although the word "mystery" appears in the title, and the series certainly has some elements of mystery, it's not a mystery novel, per say. The series is set in the present in Maine, in a fictitious seaside town called Marble Cove. The book cover to the right is not part of the series. I picked it because it looks like the rocky coast of Maine, and a lighthouse is central to the storyline.

The town is charming, almost like a character itself. Four friends have been brought together in Marble Cove and all have this in common: their lives have been miraculously spared by God. They are drawn into a series of events where they, too, are being used in seemingly miraculous ways to affect the lives of others. Central to the story is the historic Orleans Point lighthouse, which is unoccupied and has been decommissioned for years. But the friends keep seeing mysterious lights coming from the lighthouse and, just after they do, wonderful things seem to happen.

The books will only be available directly through Guideposts, not in retail stores. But I loved the storylines the moment I read them and I'm thrilled to be a part of this writing team, which include bestselling authors Melody Carlson and Anne Marie Rodgers. When the books do become available, you can probably purchase them by clicking here.

Speaking at Word Weavers Retreat

2010-12-16T16:31:00.004-05:00

I've been invited to be the keynote speaker next month at Word Weaver's 8th Annual writer's retreat. It's Friday through Sunday, Jan 28th -30th at The Enrichment Center in Fruitland Park, FL (near Leesburg). The keynote message will be Saturday evening, but I've also been asked to do a workshop that afternoon. Fellow Revell author Eva Marie Everson will also be speaking.

This will actually be a first for me.

Not speaking in public. As a pastor I've done that for 25 years. This will be the first time I'll be speaking about writing or to an audience of writers. I'm looking forward to it, and trusting God that my hosts will be glad they invited me in when it's over.

Word Weavers describe themselves as a "Christian Writers critique group" who "welcome writers of all levels and ability." The first chapter formed in 1997. They now have 7 chapters, mostly in Florida, in cities like: Orlando, Gainesville, St. Augustine and Tampa. But they also have one chapter all the way up in Rochester, New York.

If you'd like to find out more about this retreat or about Word Weavers, click here.

Unfinished Gift in National Woman's Magazine!

2010-12-05T17:10:00.003-05:00

I'm going to do something here I don't do very often. I'm going to recommend you all go out and buy a certain Woman's magazine, the Christmas issue of FIRST for Women. It's on checkout stands all over the country (I've seen it at our local Wal-Mart and Publix). The magazine has a 1.25 million circulation.

Here's a pic of the cover, and here's why you should get one:

You will learn how to trim 17 lbs of unwanted fat by Christmas.
There are $102.30 in coupons.
4 pages on "Your Most Beautiful Holiday Hair Ever."
Some crazy-good recipes for holiday desserts.
A super tip on using mint tea bags to keep your toilet bowl fresh.
And on page 110, my novel The Unfinished Gift was selected as 1 of 6 books recommended as "First Picks" for your holiday reading list.

Come to think of it, that last item alone was enough for us to pick up 3 copies.

Honestly, it was quite an amazing thing to see my book there. Even though The Unfinished Gift came out last Christmas, it seems to be reaching even more people this year. I love all the emails I'm getting every week, from people who've been touched by the story.

The Unfinished Gift for Sale...in German!

2010-11-22T19:52:00.003-05:00

Don't you like getting packages in the mail? Especially ones you didn't expect?

Today I opened a box sent from my publisher. Staring back at me were three little hardback books with my name on the cover, the only words I understood. Here's a picture of the cover, taken from Amazon's German counterpart.

If you'd like to see the page, click here (you can get it for a mere 12,95 Euros).

I was told last year a German publisher had purchased the rights to translate it into German, with plans to market it online and in retail stores in Germany, Austria and Switzerland. But I thought it wasn't happening until next year. So this is a pleasant surprise. Guess it's on shelves in those countries right now.

You might notice the little wooden horse on the cover. An interesting story here. The German editor sent me a nice email last year, asking permission to change the story, just a little. If you've read the book, you know Patrick's grandfather had begun to carve a wooden soldier for his son, but never finished it (where the title comes from). They wondered if I'd be open to them changing this soldier into a little wooden horse.

She explained in Germany, ever since World War II, their culture has downplayed the idea of children playing with war toys. It was an easy concession to make, since the nature of the toy itself isn't really central to the story. I think it makes for a really nice cover. My wife said she'd buy it in a heartbeat, if she saw it on the shelf (and could read German).

One last item, there were already two nice reviews on the German Amazon site. My son translated them for me using Google Translator. Here's an excerpt from one, translated literally. I must have read similar comments hundreds of times from English-speaking fans. It was great to see the German translation is having the same effect:

"His book I devoured in a few hours. Maybe he has pressed a little too much given to the tear glands..."

I'm humbled and deeply honored to see others take such an interest in my work. Wouldn't it be wild if the book took off over there and Cindi and I got a chance to do a booksigning tour in Germany, Austria and Switzerland?

Jonathan Edwards on the Excellency of Christ

2010-11-21T07:53:00.006-05:00

My first introduction to the legendary Jonathan Edwards came, oddly enough, in the same class in 11th Grade where I first discovered that I loved writing fiction. I had not yet become a Christian, but I had become a "seeker." Our English teacher led us through a brief study of Edwards' infamous "Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God" sermon. Sadly, this lone sermon for the overwhelming majority of people forms the beginning and end of all they know about this man.

Some three decades later, I had the privilege of reading a wonderful biography of Edwards by a history professor from Notre Dame, George Marsden. It's called, simply: "Jonathan Edwards: A Life." I had already learned by then that there was much more to Jonathan Edwards than this sermon I'd read in 11th grade. I knew, for example, that he loved God with an intense passion and preached about the love of God even more than he did about the fires of hell.

But he most certainly did preach about the reality of hell, in a literary form and style that cast him, even centuries later, as the crown prince of fire and brimstone preachers. But I also learned something in Marsden's book about what motivated Edwards to reflect so often on this "hot topic."

It was love, not anger.

Some of you know, I retired at summer's end from being a pastor after 25 years. I did my fair share of funerals during that time, but rarely for someone who died suddenly in the prime of life. Almost all were for people who'd lived to a ripe old age. But in Edwards' time, he regularly presided over funerals for young men, women and children who died from any number of ailments that today they would have easily survived.

Young mothers died in childbirth. Children died when common colds became pneumonia. Teenagers died from the flu. Think about every one you know who got over something because they took an antibiotic. Now think of them dying instead.

These were the times and challenges Edwards' faced. He didn't feel he could ignore the unpopular subject of hell when so many people he loved faced the possibility of sudden death. You might say, his sermons were aimed at "scaring the hell" out of people, literally. His goal was that no one would face such a horrible fate, when infinite love and eternal paradise was available to them through Christ.

Edwards loved people. He loved his Savior even more. Consider something else Edwards has written, about the Excellencies of Christ. Besides his obvious love for God, he was one incredible writer:

"What is there that you can desire to find in a Savior that is not in Christ? What excellency is missing? What is there that is great or good; that is impressive or winning; what is there that is adorable or endearing; or what can you think of that would be more encouraging, which is not found in the person of Christ? Would you have your Savior to be great and honorable, because you are not willing to be indebted to a mean person? And is not Christ a person honorable enough to be worthy of your dependence; is he not a person high enough to be appointed to a work so honorable as your salvation?

"Would you not only have a Savior of high degree, but would you also have him—notwithstanding his exaltation and dignity—to be made also of low degree, that he might have experience with afflictions and trials, that he might learn by the things that he has suffered, to pity them who suffer and are tempted? And has not Christ been made low enough for you; and has he not suffered enough?

"Would you have your Savior to be one who is near enough to God, so that his ability to mediate might be ever with him? And can you desire him to be nearer to God than Christ is, who is his only-begotten Son, of the same essence with the Father? And would you not only have him near to God, but also near to you, that you may have free access to him? And would you have him nearer to you than to be in the same nature, united to you by a spiritual union, so close as to be fitly represented by the union of the wife to the husband, of the branch to the vine, of the body to the head; yea, so as to be one spirit? For so he will be united to you, if you accept him…

“What is there that is missing, or what would you add if you could, to make him more fit to be your Savior?"

As I reflect on Edward's question, here at the end, my answer is...absolutely nothing.

Lord, Change My Story, However You Will

2010-11-06T09:20:00.006-04:00

In my quiet time this morning, I reflected back on something I had written in a journal a few years ago. I'd forgotten all about it. As I read it, I realized, it carries even more meaning for me at this point in my life than it did back then.

It's really a prayer: Lord, Change My Story, However You Will

Lord, how often have I prayed
that you would have Your way
with me?

I say, 'Let Your will be done on earth
as it is in Heaven'; meaning,
that You should be in charge
of all that happens to me this day.

But then I so quickly set about to write
my own story, my own way.

I cast the characters, and I determine
how they should act and behave,
what I want them to do
and not do.

I develop the plot along the lines
I want it to go.
I even think through
all the twists and turns;
allowing for some adventure
but always within the bounds
of my control.

When I finish creating my story, I sit back
contented that this is how my life
should now unfold.

It is what's best; I am its author.
I imagine it needs no editing or review.

But then You, mercifully, begin inserting Your views.
You edit my plot and change my story;
the characters no longer follow
my carefully devised and appointed roles.
New characters suddenly appear.
Unplanned things begin to happen.
Twists and turns I had not considered.

It seems Your story barely resembles
the one I set out to write.
I realize I am no longer the writer of this tale.
I am instead one of the characters
in a story You are creating.

You are more than an editor of my work
You are the author of my story.

It is, as David said:
"All the days ordained for me
were written in Your book
before one of them came to be."

As I look back on my life, I realize
It has always been this way.
I write my lines,
Then You write Yours
And Your lines become my story.

And what You have written
Always turns out to be
Far better and far beyond anything
I could have imagined.

As I reflect on this, it gives me hope
even a good measure of joy,
for all of the new changes You have just added
to my story
today.

And I find a new prayer in my heart:
Lord, change my story, however You will
not just today, but
every day after that.

Dan Walsh

Some Fun Developments with CBD

2010-11-02T12:50:00.004-04:00

There have been some fun developments this week with Christianbook.com, one of the largest online & catalog retail stores for Christian books.

For the holidays, they created a site called "Author's Christmas Memories." A number of authors were asked to share their favorite Christmas memories. Mine is included. I talked about my last childhood Christmas spent in the snow (the memories of that Christmas actually inspired some of the scenes in my first novel, The Unfinished Gift. You can check these out by clicking here.

Also, I was just informed they posted an interview with me, mainly discussing my next novel, The Deepest Waters, due out in the Spring of 2011. If you'd like to get a preview of that story and what inspired it, click here.

Visiting Book Clubs

2010-10-26T15:42:00.007-04:00

One of the benefits of writing fulltime now is the freedom to respond to more opportunities more easily.

For example, take Book Clubs.

Book Clubs are a wonderful way for book lovers to connect with each other. The idea is the group members read a selected book each month, then meet to discuss it. Some do this online (here's a great site devoted to this very thing, called The Book Club Network).

Other Book Clubs meet in person once a month at a church, a library, a bookstore, a coffee house, a living room, etc. The Book Club leader serves as the scout, previewing books that might interest the group, then selecting a different one each month.

Getting Discussion Questions for your Group:

Publishers now recognize the importance of this rapidly growing trend and actually ask authors to come up with a discussion guide when they finish their books. I do this for everyone of my books now. If you're a Book Club leader interested in using one of my books for your club, you can get one of these discussion guides at Revell's website. Just click here to get to the page with my books, then click on a book to get to its separate page. In the right hand column, there's a place under "Resources" to download a PDF file, with 10-12 discussion questions for each book:

Visiting Book Clubs Live:

I'd love to visit Book Clubs. I can do this in person if not too far from where I live. I don't charge anything (just ask you to cover my expenses). Or we can meet by phone (I could take questions while your group meets by speakerphone). If you're a Book Club leader and you'd like to arrange a visit, go to my website at www.danwalshbooks.com, click on the "Contact Me" button and drop me a line.

I'd love to hear from you.

Writing Fulltime Now!

2010-10-22T11:36:00.004-04:00

Last week, I announced I was now writing 25 hours a week and working part-time for 25 hours at a nearby Hobby Lobby.

Well, this just in...

I went in to Hobby Lobby last Saturday and was laid off at the end of my shift, along with 12 others. I decided not to shoot up the place. In fact, I wasn't even angry. When informed, my wife actually smiled and told me she'd secretly been praying for weeks it would happen (I know...sounds crazy).

My agent, editor and my wife all believe it's time for me to take that leap of faith and write fulltime now. I was the lone holdout. It just seems like such a huge step. And as a rule, I err on the cautious side. With our kids grown, my wife working, the house paid off, we can actually make it on what I'm making with the books (although...being a bestselling author would make it much easier...that's where you all come in :).

So this week, for the first time, I began writing fulltime. One immediate benefit, besides having more time to write, is the freedom to respond to a lot more opportunities. Things I'd probably have to turn down with my Hobby Lobby job, because of conflicting schedules.

And it was kind of the Lord to send me strong confirming evidence that He was the actual instigator of this change. All kinds of writing work came in this week, and I've firmed up a number of opportunities to visit several book clubs over the next month or so.

More on that in my next post.

The Writing Pipeline

2010-10-16T11:23:00.005-04:00

Some of you might already know this, but I retired from being a pastor after 25 years last month. But at 53, I'm not ready to retire altogether (not sure I'll ever do that).

Since I finished my first novel, The Unfinished Gift, in 2007 (which came out last year), I've had a growing desire to devote more time to writing. I'd like to do it fulltime, if possible (as most writers do). Both my first novel and the sequel, The Homecoming, are doing well, and my publisher has contracted me to write 3 more books. But the income is not quite there to do write fulltime yet, so I'm working at a local Hobby Lobby part-time to help close the gap.

But I am able to write about 25 hours a week now, which I'm grateful for. This week, I'm starting to get a real sense of the "writing pipeline." I'm talking about the length of time between an author finishing a novel (or...thinking he has) to when it actually hits the shelves, and the kind of things that usually go on behind-the-scenes during this time.

Let me illustrate by talking about what this past week has been like.

Since my first novel recently won 2 Carol Awards (Book-of-the-Year) from ACFW, it's experiencing a surge of interest and sales (yay!), resulting in a lot of email activity. I've also firmed up a number of visits (by phone or in person) with several book clubs who've selected both of my books in November and December.

My publisher just sent me the galleys for my 3rd book, The Deepest Waters, to edit and get back to her in about 10 days. Galleys are a preliminary version of the book, printed like an old-fashioned manuscript, for the purpose of proofreading. My job is to read it over, check for any possible mistakes or small changes, as well as consider any comments from the copy editor.

I also received from my senior editor at Revell the rewrite edits for my 4th book, a Christmas novel set to come out next year. This is the editing stage just before the galley stage. Thankfully, my editor loved what I sent her and only had a handful of suggested changes. I have to get these done and back to her within 2 weeks.

And finally, I'm hard at work writing my 5th novel in between all the other tasks. It's really starting to hum now (at about the 60 page mark). This stage is the purely creative stage of writing and the most enjoyable. It's hard to pull away from this once I start. I can see why writers dream of breaking away to a nice lakeside cabin at this stage. But I'm also glad I have a pipeline now with so many other things going on at once.

Oh, I forgot one more stage on this pipeline...coming up with new ideas for Books 6 and 7. These books are just gleams in my eye right now, but several things are already stirring.

My Friend Deb Raney on the Cover of CFOM

2010-10-04T11:39:00.007-04:00

Just wanted to draw your attention to a great magazine about Christian fiction, in case you haven't seen it before. It's called (no surprise) Christian Fiction Online Magazine (CFOM). My good friend and award-winning author, Deborah Raney, is on the October cover.

Deb and Colleen Coble really reached out to me when I first got published and helped me find my way around. Deb is a sweet lady and a talented author. She regularly visits the ACFW writer's loop giving great advice and encouragement to newly published and unpublished writer's seeking help. Click here (not on the pic) to read an excellent interview with Deb in this month's edition.

To the right, is a pic of Deb and I in the lobby of the Hyatt Regency in Indianapolis last month, at ACFW's annual conference.

The Unfinished Gift an Editor's Pick for FIRST for Women magazine

2010-09-22T08:53:00.003-04:00

Upon my return from the ACFW conference, I received some incredible news from my publisher. The paperback edition of The Unfinished Gift has been chosen as the "editor's pick" for the Nov 19th issue of FIRST for Women magazine. That's the issue that comes out just before Thanksgiving this year, so this endorsement for the holiday season couldn't have come at a better time.

FIRST is a huge publication, appearing at checkout counters and newsstands all across the country, and has a 1.25 million circulation. It's an amazing opportunity to get my book into the hands of a whole new segment of the population. Not to mention the possibility (hopefully, the likelihood) that those who read the first book will want to go out and buy the sequel, The Homecoming, just released this past June.

Won 2 Carol Awards at ACFW 2010

2010-09-22T07:33:00.010-04:00

Since my last post, some amazing things have happened. I am humbled and honored by all the attention I've received at ACFW's annual conference this past weekend, at the Hyatt Regency in downtown Indianapolis. I went knowing my first novel, The Unfinished Gift, had been named a finalist for the Carol Award in two categories: Debut Author and Short Historical. This alone was an exciting development.

I had no expectation of winning either award (but I confess, being a finalist for two gave me some hope I might have a chance at winning at least one). Even as I practiced what I'd say if I did win, it felt awkward and out-of-place, not like something I would actually say (they asked us to please rehearse, so we could keep our comments to 30 seconds). As it turned out, I hardly said anything I had planned.

The conference itself was amazing and, except for the fact that my wife Cindi couldn't be with me, I was having a wonderful time, learning so much, connecting with good friends and making some new ones. The award banquet was Sunday evening.

Earlier that day, I had the unexpected surprise of having lunch with Carol Johnson and her husband (the woman for whom the Carol Award is named), along with bestselling author James Scott Bell and keynote speaker for the conference, Tim Downs. It wasn't planned; it just worked out that way. I had been talking to Cindi, came into lunch late and sat at one of the only tables available, at the far end of the room. It was a fascinating conversation.

At the banquet, I sat fairly close to the stage with my agent, Karen Solem, and editor Andrea Doering. As the evening progressed, my thoughts alternated between trying to remember what to say if I won, then scolding myself for being so stupid to think I'd be called upon to say anything at all. The evening progressed, as the winners for the ACFW Genesis Contest were announced. Then a number of other awards were given for Editor, Agent and Mentor of the Year, as well as a Member Service award for the most outstanding volunteer.

Finally, the Carol Awards began. Then I saw the names appear for the Short Historical category. My name was mentioned last in the group. "And the winner is..." I couldn't believe it when they said my name. Here's a picture of the big screen, just after they announced I'd won (that's guy standing is me walking up to the stage). I was overwhelmed.

As I walked back and sat down, I had one of those fleeting "Now I can die a happy man" sensations. About ten minutes later, they got to the last category for Debut Author. Based on the quality of the books by other authors on this list, as well as the fact that I'd already won an award, I knew there was no chance of winning.

Then they read my name...again.

I was speechless. I walked to the stage mostly trying to regain my composure. I certainly didn't prepare a second acceptance speech. After fumbling a few moments, I remembered to thank Colleen Coble and Deb Raney, two good friends at ACFW, who've helped me so much since joining ACFW.

In the aftermath, both that evening and later the next day as we all packed up to go home, I was inundated with encouragement from so many people. Needless to say, the airplane ride home was not too shabby. The only glitch was having my luggage singled out and searched, because the metal in the award plaques signaled some kind of alarm.

Other than that, it was a most remarkable trip. The following day, I received even more incredible news from my publisher, which I'll write about in a second post.

Great Review of The Homecoming on Crosswalk.com

2010-09-08T07:54:00.003-04:00

Last week, I discovered my newest book, The Homecoming, received a great review from Kelley Matthews on Crosswalk.com, the largest Christian website on the internet. On Friday, it featured on their homepage, under the Entertainment section.

You can read the review by clicking here.

I knew Crosswalk was a well-traveled site, but did a little checking and was amazed at how many people visit there. It's part of a larger network inter-connected with several other related sites. The network receives 100 million page views each month and has 5 million email subscribers. Don't know how many of these people got a chance to read the review of The Homecoming, but this is clearly the largest site to review the book to date.

My thanks to Kelley Matthews for the great review!

The Deepest Waters in Baker's Spring Catalog

2010-08-23T21:36:00.006-04:00

Just received a copy of Baker Publishing's Spring 2011 New Releases catalog, which is sent to retailers all over the country. I knew my third novel, The Deepest Waters, would be in there, since it releases in April. But I was elated to find they featured it across two whole pages!

The book cover takes up much of the left page (it really is my favorite of the 3 books so far). They picked an exciting section of the book, just after the shipwreck, as an excerpt that runs beside the cover along the left side. On the right page, are all kinds of highlights and bullet points about the book.

You'd think I'd be used to this kind of thing by now. But I still can't believe God has opened this door for me, and given me such a wonderful publisher (Revell), willing to spend so much money to design such great covers and promote my books this way.

2 Great Reviews of The Homecoming

2010-08-12T21:43:00.004-04:00

Just read two great blog reviews about my newest book, The Homecoming, today. Here's a couple excerpts (click on the name to read the whole review):

"Dan Walsh is a brilliant writer in my opinion. His book The Unfinished Gift was amazing and Homecoming is the sequel to that first book. Often sequels can be less impressive than the original, that is not the case here." -- Random Bits of Shoz

"You really need to have tissue handy when reading this book. It's an emotional, heartwarming, fast paced story full of adventure, love, drama, family, and forgiveness. This beautifully written historical, romance novel is a must read! I'm definitely going to grab a copy of the first book now." -- Crystal at Reading and Reviewing Blog

To me, writing is a joy in itself; all the more when a writer gets to read things like this about your work. Thank you "Shoz" and Crystal, you made my day.

4th Novel On Its Way

2010-08-01T19:46:00.004-04:00

This past Thursday evening, I sent off my 4th of 5 novels under contract with Revell. It's as ready as I can make it. But my editor, Andrea Doering, will see wonderful things I've missed or ways to make it even better. She'll send it back after a while, I'll make some changes, and then it will be ready for print.

Like my first book, The Unfinished Gift, it's a Christmas novel. But this one is set in 1980. It's tentatively titled, The Book Nook, about a nearly enchanted little bookstore owned and run by Art and Leanne Bell. The day after Thanksgiving, Art collapses at the store and is found by a homeless man he's been helping. It's the busiest shopping time of the year, but Leanne needs to stay by Art's side, as he clings to life in the hospital. Her son, Rick, a successful CPA in Charlotte, reluctantly agrees to come home to help out with the store. Over the next few weeks, Rick meets a young woman there he can't stop thinking about. And he gets re-introduced to the mother he's ignored for almost a decade, and the step-father he's rejected completely, as he listens to a host of charming and eccentric characters, whose lives have been forever changed at...The Book Nook.

As with my first three books (the 3rd isn't out yet), Cindi and I both cried numerous times in the last 50 pages. Which is rather odd, if you think about it. You'd think since I made it up in my imagination, I'd be able to know that as I read it back. But I get sucked right in, every time.

I am such a sap.

Official Press Release About the Carol Award Finalists

2010-07-19T12:13:00.007-04:00

ACFW sent out their official Press Release today naming the Finalists for this year's prestigious Carol Award. Click here if you'd like to read it (at the very bottom is some more info about the award itself).

Here's the complete list (for those interested in some great titles for summer reads). My book, The Unfinished Gift, is listed in the first category, Debut Author, and Short Historical (11 categories down). Congratulations to all the Finalists. The winners will be announced in mid-September at ACFW's annual conference, this year in Indianapolis. Cindi and I are both getting to go.

Honoring excellence in Christian fiction of all genres, American Christian Fiction Writers notes these finalists for their Carol Awards (formerly the Book of the Year Awards).

Debut Author

Talking to the Dead - Bonnie Grove (David C. Cook Publishing, Nicci Hubert - Editor)
The Kidnapping of Kenzie Thorn - Liz Johnson (Steeple Hill, Elizabeth Mazer - Editor)
Eternity Falls - Kirk Outerbridge (Marcher Lord Press, Jeff Gerke - Editor)
Michal - Jill Eileen Smith (Revell, Lonnie Hull DuPont - Editor)
The Unfinished Gift - Dan Walsh (Revell, Andrea Doering - Editor)

Contemporary Novella - 6 Finalists due to a tie

One Child - Barbara Cameron (Thomas Nelson, Natalie Hanemann - Editor)
When Winter Comes - Barbara Cameron (Thomas Nelson, Natalie Hanemann - Editor)
A Mule Hollow Match - Debra Clopton (Steeple Hill, Krista Stroever - Editor)
The Great Christmas Bowl - Susan May Warren (Tyndale House, Karen Watson - Editor)
A Change of Heart - Beth Wiseman (Thomas Nelson, Natalie Hanemann - Editor)
A Choice to Forgive - Beth Wiseman (Thomas Nelson, Natalie Hanemann- Editor)

Historical Novella

Home Again - Victoria Bylin (Steeple Hill, Emily Rodmell - Editor)
A Breed Apart - Vickie McDonough (Heartsong Presents, JoAnne Simmons - Editor)
Beloved Enemy - Vickie McDonough (Heartsong Presents, JoAnne Simmons - Editor)
Christmas Bells for Dry Creek - Janet Tronstad (Steeple Hill, Tina James - Editor)
A Shelter in the Storm - Carrie Turansky (Barbour Publishing, Rebecca Germany - Editor)

Long Contemporary - 6 Finalists due to a tie

The Familiar Stranger - Christina Berry (Moody Publishers, Paul Santhouse - Editor)
A Widow's Hope - Mary Ellis (Harvest House Publishers, Betty Fletcher - Editor)
The Prayers of Agnes Sparrow - Joyce Magnin (Abingdon Press, Barbara Scott - Editor)
White Picket Fences - Susan Meissner (Waterbrook Press, Shannon Marchese - Editor)
If Tomorrow Never Comes - Marlo Schalesky (Multnomah, Julee Schwarzburg - Editor)
Nothing But Trouble - Susan May Warren (Tyndale House, Karen Watson - Editor)

Long Contemporary Romance

Critical Care - Candace Calvert (Tyndale House, Jan Stob/Lorie Popp - Editors)
Seaside Letters - Denise Hunter (Thomas Nelson, Ami McConnell/Jessica Alvarez - Editors)
Just Between You and Me - Jenny B. Jones (Thomas Nelson, Natalie Hanemann/Jamie Chavez - Editors)
Plain Promise - Beth Wiseman (Thomas Nelson, Natalie Hanemann - Editor)
The Hope of Refuge - Cindy Woodsmall (Waterbrook Press, Shannon Marchese - Editor)

Mystery

The Case of the Mystified M.D. - A.K. Arenz (Sheaf House, Joan M. Shoup - Editor)
Under the Cajun Moon - Mindy Starns Clark (Harvest House Publishers, Kim Moore - Editor)
A String of Murders - Darlene Franklin (Heartsong Mysteries, Susan Downs - Editor)
Polly Dent Loses Grip - S. Dionne Moore (Heartsong Mysteries, Susan Downs - Editor)
Pushing up Daisies - Janice Thompson writing as Janice Hanna (Heartsong Mysteries, Susan Downs - Editor)

Long Historical

A Bride in the Bargain - Deeanne Gist (Bethany House, David Long/Julie Klassen - Editors)
Fit To Be Tied - Robin Lee Hatcher (Zondervan, Sue Brower/Leslie Peterson - Editors)
Look to the East - Maureen Lang (Tyndale House, Stephanie Broene - Editor)
Love's Pursuit - Siri Mitchell (Bethany House, Dave & Sarah Long - Editors)
Stealing Home - Allison Pittman (Multnomah, Alice Crider - Editor)

Long Historical Romance - 8 Finalists due to a tie

Paper Roses - Amanda Cabot (Revell, Vicki Crumpton - Editor)
Cowboy Christmas - Mary Connealy (Barbour Publishing, Rebecca Germany - Editor)
Montana Rose - Mary Connealy (Barbour Publishing, Rebecca Germany - Editor)
The Frontiersman's Daughter - Laura Frantz (Revell, Andrea Doering - Editor)
The Believer - Ann Gabhart (Revell, Lonnie Hull DuPont - Editor)
A Passion Denied - Julie Lessman (Revell, Lonnie Hall DuPont - Editor)
Love Finds You in Poetry, Texas - Janice Thompson writing as Janice Hanna (Summerside Press, Rachel Meisel - Editor)
The Confidential Life of Eugenia Cooper - Kathleen Y’Barbo (Waterbrook Press, Jessica Barnes - Editor)

Short Contemporary

His Cowgirl Bride - Debra Clopton (Steeple Hill, Krista Stroever - Editor)
Autumn Rains - Myra Johnson (Heartsong Presents, JoAnne Simmons - Editor)
A Wagonload of Trouble - Vickie McDonough (Heartsong Presents, JoAnne Simmons - Editor)
A Texas Ranger's Family - Mae Nunn (Steeple Hill, Melissa Endlich - Editor)
Dreaming of Home - Glynna Sirpless writing as Glynna Kaye (Steeple Hill, Melissa Endlich - Editor)

Short Contemporary Suspense - 6 Finalists due to a tie

Evidence of Murder - Jill Elizabeth Nelson (Steeple Hill, Emily Rodmell - Editor)
Final Warning - Sandra Robbins (Steeple Hill, Tina James - Editor)
Murder at Eagle Summit - Virginia Smith (Steeple Hill, Krista Stroever - Editor)
Scent of Murder - Virginia Smith (Steeple Hill, Krista Stroever/Tina James - Editors)
Double Take - Jenness Walker (Steeple Hill, Emily Rodmell - Editor)
Code of Honor - Lenora Worth (Steeple Hill, Patience Smith/Tina James - Editors)

Short Historical

Her Patchwork Family - Lyn Cote (Steeple Hill, Tina James - Editor)
The Glassblower - Laurie Alice Eakes (Heartsong Presents, JoAnne Simmons - Editor)
The Outlaw's Lady - Laurie Kingery (Steeple Hill, Melissa Endlich - Editor)
All That Glitters - Lynette Sowell (Heartsong Presents, JoAnne Simmons - Editor)
The Unfinished Gift - Dan Walsh (Revell, Andrea Doering)

Speculative (includes Science Fiction, Fantasy, Allegory) - 6 Finalists due to a tie

Eternity Falls - Kirk Outerbridge (Marcher Lord Press, Jeff Gerke - Editor)
The Vanishing Sculptor - Donita K. Paul (Waterbrook Press, Shannon Marchese - Editor)
The Word Reclaimed - Steve Rzasa (Marcher Lord Press, Jeff Gerke - Editor)
Starfire - Stuart Vaughn Stockton (Marcher Lord Press, Jeff Gerke - Editor)
The Muse - Fred Warren (Splashdown Books, Grace Bridges - Editor)
By Darkness Hid - Jill Williamson (Marcher Lord Press, Jeff Gerke - Editor)

Suspense/Thriller

Intervention - Terri Blackstock (Zondervan, Sue Brower/Dave Lambert - Editors)
Lonestar Secrets - Colleen Coble (Thomas Nelson, Ami McConnell - Editor)
Exposure - Brandilyn Collins (Zondervan, Rachelle Gardner/Sue Brower - Editors)
Salty Like Blood - Harry Kraus (Howard/Simon & Schuster, David Lambert - Editor)
Breach of Trust - DiAnn Mills (Tyndale House, Karen Watson - Editor)

Women’s Fiction - 7 Finalists due to a tie

Sweet Waters - Julie Carobini (B&H Publishing, Karen Ball - Editor)
Leaving Yesterday - Kathryn Cushman (Bethany House, Dave Long - Editor)
Sweet By and By - Sara Evans & Rachel Hauck (Thomas Nelson, Ami McConnell - Editor)
Never the Bride - Rene Gutteridge & Cheryl McKay (Waterbrook Press, Shannon Marchese - Editor)
Yesterday's Embers - Deborah Raney (Howard/Simon & Schuster, David Lambert - Editor)
Above All Things - Deborah Raney (Steeple Hill, Krista Stroever - Editor)
The Summer Kitchen - Lisa Wingate (New American Library/Penguin, Ellen Edwards - Editor)

Young Adult

Who Made You a Princess? - Shelley Adina (Hachette FaithWords, Anne Goldsmith Horch - Editor)
Always Watching - Brandilyn & Amberly Collins (Zondervan, Barbara Scott - Editor)
I'm So Sure - Jenny B. Jones (Thomas Nelson, Natalie Hanemann/Jamie Chavez - Editors)
So Not Happening - Jenny B. Jones (Thomas Nelson, Amanda Bostic/Jamie Chavez - Editors)
Unsigned Hype - Booker T. Mattison (Revell, Andrea Doering - Editor)

The Homecoming reviewed by Homecoming Magazine

2010-07-16T16:22:00.005-04:00

My publisher just sent me a nice review for my new novel, The Homecoming, from none other than Homecoming Magazine, a magazine produced by legendary Christian music legends, Bill and Gloria Gaither.

In the magazine, there's a picture of the book cover, then under the heading "Second Chances" is this:

Historical fiction author Dan Walsh returns to bookshelves with The Homecoming (Revell). A reluctant war hero returns home in 1944 and encounters a new chance at love when he hires Katherine Townsend to be his son's nanny. This heartwarming story of tender love and fresh starts is the sequel to Walsh's acclaimed debut, The Unfinished Gift.

So happy the folks at Homecoming magazine enjoyed The Homecoming :)

The Unfinished Gift named a finalist for the Carol Award

2010-07-16T14:12:00.007-04:00

I just received some exciting news...my first novel, The Unfinished Gift, has been named a finalist for American Christian Fiction Writer's (ACFW) prestigious Carol Award in 2 Categories: Debut Novel and Short Historical. This award, until this year, had been ACFW's "Book of the Year" award. It was changed just last month at the ICRS convention in St. Louis, to honor Christian fiction pioneer, Carol Johnson. This award is something like a Grammy for Christian fiction.

Here's a little more information about the Carol Award from ACFW's website (and while I'm talking about ACFW, I'll put in a little plug for their excellent new site, Fiction Finder):

Recently at the International Christian Retailers Show, ACFW announced the organization's intent to honor the bold vision of Bethany Publishing House editor Carol Johnson, by renaming the organization’s prestigious Book of the Year Awards to the Carol Awards.

Cynthia Ruchti, ACFW's president said: “ACFW owes a great debt of gratitude to the pioneers of Christian fiction and to those, like Carol, who helped make Christian fiction the storytelling powerhouse it is today,” Ruchti said. “From this point on, the highest achievement in our award program for published authors will be The Carol Award.”

Join me for a Live Author Chat at Family Fiction

2010-07-12T21:10:00.004-04:00

This post will be relevant for a fairly short period of time. Tomorrow (Tues), between 5-6pm, Eastern time, I've been asked to do a "Live Author Chat" at Family Fiction, a huge Christian Fiction Facebook site, that has over 10,000 fans (the graphic to the right is their current pic on FB). Host Chris Well has set up a site for anyone who'd like to join in.

All you have to do is leave a question or comment to win a free copy of my new book, The Homecoming. Click here and it will take you to the site Chris set up. Only comments left between 5-6pm on Tues will be eligible for the drawing.

Fun stuff.

A Source of Unending Joy

2010-07-01T09:57:00.004-04:00

In my quiet time this morning, I pondered a passage in Jeremiah, that speaks of a source available to all God's people that can provide us with unending joy regardless of our circumstances.

"Blessed is the man who trusts in the Lord, whose trust is in the Lord. He is like a tree planted by water that sends out its roots by the stream, and does not fear when heat comes for its leaves remain green, and is not anxious in the year of drought, for it does not cease to bear fruit." (Jer 17:7-8).

God is such a magnificent writer. What a picture He paints with words. But, unlike me, God does not write fiction. Here He paints a powerful picture filled with real-life promises. He tells of a source of happiness available to all of us, one that is as unending as the provision of water to a tree planted by a stream.

Trees planted away from a stream are dependent on rainfall for water. The upside for the tree is, it's an effortless exchange. The water just falls from the sky. The downside is, the rain comes when it comes; it is not a steady supply. If a tree were a person it would "fear when heat comes," and become extremely anxious "in the year of drought." It's level of joy, even its ability to have joy, is dependent on circumstances over which it has no control.

Not so, God tell us, for the tree planted by a stream. There is some effort involved. The tree must send out its roots by the stream. The parallel for this effort is us deciding to trust in the Lord, to deliberately put our trust in the Lord. But the reward is amazing. The promise is one of constant blessing and provision. A life lived without fear or dominated by anxiety.

So then, it is not our circumstances but where our hearts go in the midst of our circumstances that determines our true measure of happiness in life.

The appeal here, from God to us, is clear. It is God's personal invitation to a life free from fear. "Trust in Me. Put your trust in Me."

The Cover to my 3rd Novel is Out!

2010-06-26T09:37:00.004-04:00

I've just learned, my publisher has posted the cover to my 3rd novel, The Deepest Waters, on Amazon. That means I can display it now, too. I've known about it for 2 months, but had agreed not to show it online until they firmed everything up on their end.

It's a departure from the cover style of my first two novels, The Unfinished Gift and The Homecoming (which has just released on the first of this month). But I love it. It's my favorite of the three so far (click on it and it will get bigger).

It's set for release in April 2011. The Deepest Waters was inspired by a true story. Here's a brief summary of what's in store:

It's September 1857. A couple on their honeymoon is separated by a shipwreck. Their beautiful steamship, the SS Vandervere, has collided with a fierce hurricane and is damaged beyond repair. Just before she goes down, an old wooden ship comes to their rescue. But it only has room to take the women and children aboard. The couple is pulled apart, weeping, certain they will never see each other again. She sails off alone to New York, aboard a ship full of grieving widows and orphans, to face a family she has never met.

The Deepest Waters weaves a tale full of action and suspense, and yet it is also an amazing love story that could only happen if miracles do come true.

A Few More Blog Tour Clips

2010-06-18T19:50:00.005-04:00

I've been busy all week trying to visit many of the blog sites participating in The Homecoming Blog tour. I've lost count of how many have already posted their reviews and/or interviews, but I think we're getting close to the end (maybe a few more on Saturday).

They've been extremely good for the most part. So far, haven't read any that did not like the book. But it's been interesting (if not a little confusing) to read the few that have offered observations of parts they didn't like, or things they would have liked better. I certainly wouldn't expect to ever write a book that made everyone happy.

What's confusing is that for every person who suggested something they didn't like there are four or five who rave about that very thing, say it's one of the things they liked most about the book (Example: the level of romance in the story or the depth of the characters). A few said they probably would have enjoyed it more if they'd been able to read the first book (The Unfinished Gift), while others who hadn't read the first book said it didn't matter; they loved it all by itself.

I guess the answer lies in the wide variety of tastes people have in reading. But I'm very grateful for all those who took the time to read and offer their reviews and suggestions.

Here are a few of my favorite comments:

"The author did a great job of researching this time period and bringing the era to life on the page. The characters are well-drawn, and the story quickly entices the reader, making them eager to find out what happens...Another winner for Dan Walsh!"

Cathy's WordVessel Blog

"The author had obviously done his research and had me solidly grounded in the 1940's while I read this novel...kind of reminded me of 'It's A Wonderful Life' in tone, but minus the Christmas setting."

Michelle Sutton's Edgy Inspirational Author blog

"The Homecoming is a sequel to The Unfinished Gift...I did not read The Unfinished Gift, and I don't think it mattered. However, I want to read it now..."

Judy's Sieze the Book Blogspot

"Folks, Dan Walsh writes stories that I consider 'classic.' The timelessness of family conflict, of loss, love and Christ's faithfulness are all present in a realistic way in his stories...I cared quite a bit about all the characters in The Homecoming, and that, to me, says a lot about Dan Walsh's ability to write a great story. You miss the characters when the story ends."

Window To My World Blog

"Dan Walsh has outdone himself in his new book, The Homecoming...Dan's descriptions of what Shawn, Patrick and Katherine went through in order to survive was riveting. I felt their highs, their lows and the heartbreaking blows of war like I've never experienced before...I can't wait to read another story by this author. His characters and story touched my heart deeply."

Nora St. Laurent's Hope Through Fiction blog

The ACFW Conference - Just 3 Months Away

2010-06-16T21:46:00.004-04:00

Taking a breather from The Homecoming blog tour to tell you about a wonderful writer's conference Cindi and I will be attending in September. I'm not sure how many who read this blog are writers or hope to be some day. If you are, a conference like this is an amazing opportunity.

It's hosted by American Christian Fiction Writers (ACFW), a group I've been an active part of for the last year and a half. It has over 2000 members, most of whom are still unpublished. A strong team of seasoned published authors take time each day to answer questions, share insights and discuss the lastest trends in Christian publishing via an email loop. They also have a fabulous website filled with page after page of encouraging, helpful information (Click here to visit).

I'd say the single strongest word that comes to mind to describe the folks in ACFW is the word "encouragement." They excel at this.

They also host an amazing conference in a different city each year. This year it's Indianapolis, Indiana. Best-selling author James Scott Bell will teach an Early Bird session, and author Tim Downs is the keynote speaker, sharing at all the main sessions. Throughout each day, a wide variety of workshops and seminars are taught by multi-published authors, geared to help you in whatever stage you're at in your writing career.

If you have a novel ready to submit, you can schedule one-on-one appointments with the top agents and editors in the business.

Last year was my first conference. Afterward, Cindi and I immediately decided, if God made a way we'd come back again this year. Well, He has, and we're going again, from Sept 17th - 20th. We couldn't be more excited.

If you'd like to find out more about the conference, click here.

More Blog Tour Clips from Monday

2010-06-15T20:40:00.004-04:00

Another group of bloggers posted their reviews yesterday. Didn't get my Google Alert about them till today. But once again, a lot of strong reviews. Some had already read my first book, The Unfinished Gift; others are starting with The Homecoming.

Which brings up an interesting question...can you/should you read a sequel first? We worked hard to give The Homecoming a life of its own, so that it could be enjoyed as a stand-alone novel. It appears we have succeeded, at least in the minds of some. RT Book Reviews gave it 4.5 Stars and said this in their review: "While this is a sequel to The Unfinished Gift, it could easily be a stand alone novel."

But after reading so many blog reviews, I'd say the consensus is: It does work as a stand-alone, but those who've read both books recommend reading both if you can.

Here's a sampling of the reviews that came in yesterday:

"I think I described The Unfinished Gift like a cup of 'written' chicken soup. If that's the case, then The Homecoming is a bit like a slice of my grandma's chocolate cake - sweet and rich, yet incredibly simple and delicious."

My Scrappy Life blog by Kaylea Huston

"The Homecoming is equal to, and even a bit better, than its predecessor...I've found a new author to love in Dan Walsh, and I look forward to reading more! I'm giving The Homecoming 5 out 5 bookmarks."

Deena's Books Blogspot

Sunday Blog Tour Clips

2010-06-13T21:43:00.005-04:00

It's been humbling to read the reviews that have already started posting from the Blog Tour. I won't be able to post them all here. It will be going on throughout the week with almost 50 bloggers participating. But I wanted to give you at least a sampling of the reviews coming in about The Homecoming. As an author, I'm not sure there's anything more satisfying than reading the kinds of things I've been reading today.

"I fell in love with the characters in the first novel, and that emotional tie was strengthened in this novel. A thoroughly satisfying read. I highly recommend it."

Lena Nelson Dooley's Blog

"Once again, Walsh skillfully brought me back in time and made me feel as though I was there. I laughed, wept and rejoiced with the Collins' family...a story that reveals the horrors of war, mended relationships, childhood innocence, tender romance and new beginnings. The Homecoming deserves a position among the classics."

Pam at Daysong Reflections Blog

"I would very highly recommend this book. The writing is wonderful. The story is beautiful. I was hooked from the start until the end. I enjoyed getting to spend more time with these fabulous characters. They feel so much like people I know now...These books will go on my all-time favorites list."

Life in Review Blog by Michelle

"What a great read! I'd like to see a movie created from this novel...When I turned the final page, I sighed in contentment. This is my kind of book!"

Sally from Book Critiques Blogspot

See what I mean? And this will be going on all week. Of course, there's no guarantee everyone will feel the same way about the book, but it's been a great first day.

Revell Blog Tour About to Begin

2010-06-11T11:19:00.004-04:00

Revell is launching a blog tour for my new book, The Homecoming, starting Monday. Almost 50 bloggers throughout the country will be reviewing the book on their blogs throughout the week. Some will also be doing interviews with me and giving away free copies of the book.

They received review copies of The Homecoming several weeks ago, to give them time to read it before the tour began. Several have already contacted me to share what they plan to say next week. Very encouraging stuff so far.

One of them named Michelle hadn't read the first book yet (The Unfinished Gift). So she read it and posted a very strong review on her blog today (a little Christmas in June). If you'd like to read it, click here.

I've been very busy since The Homecoming released a week ago. Trying to juggle all this activity while polishing up my 4th novel so I can send it in.

Recommending a Good Book

2010-06-04T16:43:00.005-04:00

I don't normally review books on my blog. Certainly not against it, just a time thing. But I wanted to recommend a book I've just finished reading, especially to fans of my first two novels. It's called, A Distant Melody, by a fellow Revell author named Sarah Sundin.

It's a great WW2 story, the first of three she is writing. As you know, both The Unfinished Gift and The Homecoming are set during WW2. Fans of my 2nd book will especially like A Distant Melody, because it's also a love story. Sarah does a great job setting the characters and story in its historical time frame. Lots of period details and atmosphere. Felt at times like I was watching a movie from that era. And she does a great job simmering the romantic tension between the two main characters, Walt and Allie.

I think guys will like this book, too. She has some great battle scenes with Walt flying his B-17 over enemy skies. I've read dozens of WW2 aviation books in my own research. Sarah doesn't miss a lick. Just the right amount of detail to keep the tension high. The dialog between the guys is spot on.

If you like my novels, do yourself a favor and check out, A Distant Melody.

The Homecoming - In Stores Now!!

2010-05-31T16:29:00.005-04:00

My 2nd Novel is finally here. I checked the online stores; they all have it in stock now (Amazon, B&N, Christianbook.com). People have called or emailed me and said it's starting to show up in retail stores. Should be in all of them this week. Not sure when, but it should start showing up at Sam's and Wal-Mart, too.

Times like these, it's hard not to feel overwhelmed. So many people would love to see a novel they've written get published someday. Now I have two. And the third one, The Deepest Waters, is finished, making its way through the publishing pipeline (you should see the cover...the best so far). It's supposed to be out next Spring. This weekend, I've finished my 4th novel, another Christmas story, set in 1980. I'll be polishing and tightening it for the next month or two before sending it in.

Thank you God, and thank you Karen Solem, my agent; Andrea Doering, my editor at Revell, and the whole Revell team for making this possible.

Booksigning at Southern Baptist Convention in Orlando

2010-05-18T21:31:00.005-04:00

Just confirmed with my publisher yesterday, I've been asked to be part of a book signing at the Southern Baptist Convention's Annual Meeting in Orlando next month. The convention will be held at the Orange County Convention Center. Lifeway Christian Stores will be running the conference bookstore.

I'll be there on Monday, June 14th at 11am to sign copies of my novel, The Homecoming (due out June 1st). They may also have a new paperback edition of The Unfinished Gift there also. I'll check and see if anyone can come or just those attending the convention. If it's open to anyone, hope to see some of my Orlando friends there.

If you're attending the convention, hope you'll stop by the bookstore and say hi.

It's a Book, pass the cigars!

2010-05-11T15:37:00.003-04:00

The Fed-X driver dropped off a package about an hour ago. After a year of writing, re-writing, editing, revising, seeking endorsements, reviewing and approving artwork...and a ton of work from my wonderful team at Revell, the first copy of The Homecoming has arrived!

Holding that first copy in your hands, I'd say is the author equivalent of holding your newborn baby for the first time.

It also means thousands of copies are now being shipped to stores all across the country, including I'm told, Sam's and Wal-Mart this time. Officially, it doesn't release till June 1st. But I wouldn't be surprised to see it showing up on shelves a week or two early.

Hope you all enjoy it. If you've read my first book, The Unfinished Gift, I'm sure you will. But even if you haven't...in the words of the reviewer from RT Book Reviews magazine: "While this is a sequel to The Unfinished Gift, it could easily be a stand-alone novel."

Two Great Links for Christian Fiction readers

2010-05-11T15:24:00.005-04:00

Wanted to make my readers and fans aware of 2 great resources for checking out the best Christian fiction has to offer. One is a Facebook site, the other a website.

First, we'll start with the website (the pic to the right is their logo). It's called Fiction Finders, sponsored by ACFW, a large group of Christian fiction writers. You don't have to join. They created it as a resource to help readers find the best of what's out there, be able to read about different authors and see all their various books in one place. The authors themselves update it whenever new books are released. Click here to check it out.

The second is a Facebook site, called "Family Fiction," and moves at a FB pace. Lots of info coming at you...new releases, new reviews, and a chance to interact and leave your own comments. Click here to check it out.

RT Book Reviews gives The Homecoming 4.5 Stars

2010-04-27T13:22:00.005-04:00

Just got word, RT Book Reviews magazine has just given my 2nd novel, The Homecoming, 4.5 Stars and a great review: Here's what they said:

"While this is a sequel to The Unfinished Gift, it could easily be a stand alone novel. The emotional storyline and well-crafted characters will appeal to all. Walsh demonstrates that, like Nicholas Sparks, men are capable of writing romantic fiction."

You've probably heard of Nicholas Sparks. He's the NY Times bestselling author of books like: The Notebook, Message in a Bottle and recently, The Last Song. All his books have been bestsellers and many made into Hollywood movies. To be linked to him in a large publication like this...not too shabby.

They also did a feature in their online magazine of, The Homecoming. It's called "Author in the Spotlight." Click here if you'd like to read it.

For those who've never heard of them, RT Book Reviews is a huge non-religious publication (with several million subscribers). It started out mainly as a review magazine for romance books, but it has branched out to include every fiction category. Mine is in the "inspirational" area.

Take a Sneak Peek at The Homecoming

2010-03-31T12:04:00.004-04:00

Along with the final cover artwork being released, Revell has posted the first few chapters of The Homecoming to the online bookstores like Amazon, B&N and Christianbook.com. Click here if you'd like a sneak peek (you'll only have to wait 2 more months to see what happens next.

Final Cover, Front & Back, for The Homecoming

2010-03-31T11:28:00.005-04:00

We're only 2 months away from the release of my 2nd novel, The Homecoming. The final artwork is completed for the front and back cover. I really like what they did with it. I've posted them here, but it's a little hard to read the text. Click once and it should enlarge in a new window. Click a second time, and it will get even bigger.

Heading to a Sam's or Wal-Mart near you

2010-03-19T19:50:00.004-04:00

Had a nice chat with the Marketing Manager of Revell this week, discussing book cover plans for my 3rd novel, The Deepest Waters. She let me know some exciting news. Both Sam's and Wal-Mart plan to carry my 2nd novel, The Homecoming, on their shelves soon. It releases on June 1st. As you know, they only carry a very limited selection of books, but have a huge volume of customers, so it's quite an opportunity. Click here to check it out on Amazon (scroll down a bit to read the intro paragraph).

Also, the after-Christmas sales for my first novel, The Unfinished Gift, have been very encouraging (sold 400 units on Kindle in Jan-Feb). Most of you know the story is set at Christmastime, and we expected sales to drop dramatically, as most Christmas books due after the holiday. So they've decided to release the paperback version at the same time The Homecoming releases on June 1st.

All in all, some very encouraging news. I'm grateful to God and all of you.

PS The audiobook version of The Unfinished Gift comes out in less than a month.

Listen to a Sample of the Audio Book

2010-03-05T11:39:00.004-05:00

I received an email that the Audio Book edition of The Unfinished Gift is finished, although still only available as a pre-order until April 13th. But you can click on this link at Oasis Audio and here a sample of the first chapter being read (click here). There are 6 CD's. It retails for $25.99, but I've seen it listed on Amazon for $17.15 and Christianbook.com for $17.99.

The actor reading the book is named Robert Mueller. Mueller is a well-known stage and television actor in Chicago. His radio and voiceover credits include the Left Behind series, The Shack and Randy Alcorn's book, Deception.