The release of my 69th book, A Promise Kept, is getting closer and closer. Copies of the printed book have begun their trek across the country to warehouses and bookstores. I received my first copy of the book via UPS from my editor on Tuesday night. Always a thrill to hold a new book in my hands! The ebook special ($4.99) is winding down along with the winding down of this old year.
I need to be writing a ton of words on my late 2014 release, but marketing/publicity efforts for A Promise Kept have kept me busy. The thing is, marketing can’t be shoved aside until later. It demands a prompt answer. I’ve already answered a long questionnaire and been involved in preparing the press kit, plus I’ve written a piece that will be the cover article for an online magazine. This week, I’ve written twelve different blog posts/articles for various outlets. Naturally, everybody wants unique content and writing 300 to 1000 words of unique content takes time, even if all I’m doing is sharing the top ten albums on my writing playlist.
I’ve probably said this before—after all, I’ve been blogging for almost a dozen years—but I don’t have favorites among my books. Each was written because the story captured my imagination at the time.
Still, there are a few books that are special to me because they bubbled forth from a deep corner of my heart. A Promise Kept is one of those books.
The moment when I realized the unexpected, perhaps miraculous, way God had answered a prayer from years before (a prayer I thought had been answered with a “no”), I knew I would one day want to share it with readers through one of my novels. I didn’t know how or when, but I knew it would happen.
And now the release of that book is almost here, and I confess that my heart is in my throat. I have so many hopes for this story. Naturally I hope that my long-time readers will all want to buy it and that many new readers will discover it as well. I hope that everyone who reads it will be blessed and encouraged, as well as entertained for a few hours. I would love for both the novel and my “story behind the story” to help others hold onto God’s promises and to trust in His love and sovereignty, especially when it comes to the difficult circumstances in their lives.
Countdown to A Promise Kept:
[ujicountdown id=”Countdown to…” expire=”2014/01/07 00:00″ hide = “true”]
~robin
