Revell Blog Tour About to Begin

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

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!!

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

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!

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

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

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.