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Fall 2006
Hi All
I can’t
believe it is October already! And boy what a
summer.
Absolutely,
the most exciting thing that happened was two
weeks ago when my phone rang on a Saturday night
and it was Brandilyn Collins calling me from
Dallas, Texas.
The Winds of
Sonoma
won the American Christian Fiction Writers Book
of the Year award for women’s fiction. It was
announced at the Dallas convention. The
acquisition editors from many big Christian
publishing houses were sitting in the audience.
And this happened the very week that my agent
was pitching my next series to those very same
people. God's timing is always perfect.
The final book
of my Regalo Grande series, The Fragrance of
Roses, was released.
I’ve done
several book signings. I even met Wanda
Brustetter in August in Kennewick, Washington
and we did one together.
CBA
bestselling author Wanda Brunstetter with Nikki
at a book signing in Kennewick, Washington. We
had a great time.
The Fragrance
of Roses is about a ten-year-old boy with Down
syndrome who is fighting leukemia. I partnered
with Special Olympics and did a book signing in
September, with all profits going to them. Below
is a picture with Laurie LaFollette, the CEO of
Special Olympics Idaho, and two of their
outstanding athletes. Kirk Grogan, standing next
to me, is such an exceptional young man. You
should see his resume. He travels all over the
world speaking for Special Olympics. I hope to
do more with this organization.
I turned in
my fourth book to Revell in July. And they've
approved it as written. No changes. Hooray. It
will be out next summer. The title is As I
Have Loved You. It’s a departure from my
series. This book is a stand alone, about a
single mom and her college age son who gets
mixed up with the wrong girl. I’m working with
the art department on the cover now.
Also, my
publicist, B&B Media, arranged for numerous
radio interviews in August. I was featured all
across the country. Colorado, Missouri, Texas,
Florida, and many other states. I spoke on
current trends in Inspirational fiction. Many of
these interviews were live. Yikes. Between
fifteen and thirty minutes. (wipes sweat from
brow). I was glad to get the experience. By the
time I did the last one I was starting to enjoy
them. (grins)
As many of
you know, I had a prominent scientist who helped
me with the blood matching aspects of my third
book. He was an awesome man. And he was a
Muslim. The first one I have ever known. He
worked with me for ten months on the book and I
couldn’t have written it without him. Well, he
was such a wonderful man; I became interested in
Muslims in general. Especially in light of
recent world events. I decided to learn about
them and write a book about them.
Well, that
idea soon blossomed into another series, called
The Spirit of God. I wrote a synopsis and
four chapters of the first book. My agent is now
negotiating with publishers about taking it to
publication. It will be about three people God
calls to reach out to the Muslim Community in
Sacramento, California. The working title of
book one is Chosen. In book two, those
three young people realize that when Muslims
convert to Christianity (then they are called
Muslim Background Believers) Christians do
little to support them spiritually, socially, or
in any other way. Many lose their families,
homes, jobs . . . some are even killed. The book
is about how these characters decide to set up
safe houses across the country for these MBBs.
That working title is Called. I haven’t
decided on book three yet. Because of this
series I’m planning a trip to Detroit, Michigan
where there is a huge Muslim community, next
March. I’m working with the Center for Ministry
to Muslims on this project. They have assigned a
staff person to me to help me. I’m going to stop
and meet him when I’m back there. He’s in
Springfield, Missouri.
Well, that
about brings you up-to-date. I’d love to hear
from you.
Warmest
Regards,
Nikki
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