When I decided to offer fifteen copies of Iron Lace (along with a king cake and phone interview) to raise money for diabetes research, I made my decision with the full knowledge that Iron Lace is one of my most popular novels for book discussion groups.

Later I went back to my own website to see just what kind of questions I had already suggested on my website for readers to consider as they read the book.

First, did you know that every one of the novels listed on my website’s book page has reader questions available?  That’s right.  I love the idea of people considering different aspects of my books when they think about them later or discuss them.  So I create questions to get readers started.

Here are the questions I developed for Iron Lace:

1. African-American journalist Phillip Benedict wonders why white society matriarch Aurore Gerritsen has chosen him to write her memoirs.  After all, it’s 1965 and Louisiana is, for the most part, still segregated.  As Aurore’s story unfolds, at what point did you begin to suspect her reason for choosing Phillip?
2. South Louisiana has a rich heritage, made richer by traditions and cultures of a diversity of ethnic and racial groups.  Did you come to appreciate the difference between Creoles and Cajuns and the cultural importance of African-Americans in Louisiana history?
3. Racism was and still is a fact of life worldwide.  Did the struggle of the characters of all backgrounds seem real to you?
4. Aurore and Rafe are star-crossed lovers.  What decisions did each of them make that doomed their love?  What decision did each make that enriched it?
5. Aurore and Henry Gerritsen’s marriage was not made in heaven.  Considering the times they lived in and the culture surrounding them, was it believable to you that Aurore would stay with Henry, even when she realized the mistake she had made?  Was the marriage payback for her own need for revenge?
6. Despite their many flaws, did you find Aurore and Rafe sympathetic?  Or did you feel they had sealed their own fates by the mistakes they made?

Do you like having questions provided?  Does it help you think more clearly or deeply about the story you’ve read?

If you think your book group might like to explore the questions in Iron Lace, then bid now while you can to win the books and king cake and help support finding a cure for diabetes at the same time.

While you’re thinking about it, why not check my other discussion questions, too.  You’ll also find I add a recipe from each book, a short overview of the story, and my inspiration for each one, just to make reading more fun.

You’ll find all this on my Books page at my website.

Author Brenda Novak’s annual auction to raise money for diabetes research in now in full swing.

This year I’ve donated 15 autographed copies of Iron Lace for your favorite book club to read and discuss, a new Orleans King Cake to eat during the discussion–shipped directly to you from a New Orleans bakery–and a phone call with me to answer questions your group might like to ask.

You can make your bid right here.  But don’t stop with my donation.  Look at everything else that’s being offered, too.

This is a fabulous auction.  Brenda and the many participants have raised 1.6 million dollars through the years, all because Brenda believed in this cause and was willing to work tirelessly to make this happen.

So let’s all be like Brenda.  Let’s believe we can make a difference and take advantage of the great things to bid on, everything from coffee mugs to MacBook Airs, once-in-a-lifetime vacations, tickets to a Meet and Greet with Celine Dion, and so much more.  Check it out.

If you’re reading this on  my blog or my Facebook page, and you prefer a mixture of books for a smaller book club–Iron Lace and Rising Tides to total 15 books–then let me know.  We’ll see if we can work that out, too.

If you’ve been keeping up with the saga of my Shenandoah Album novels, you know that Endless Chain is being re-released today, this time in a lovely trade paper version, at a bargain price.  Right now the book is $8.99 at Amazon.  And it won’t be more than $9.99 anywhere else.

To celebrate the re-release of the first three books of the series, I’m giving away four matching quilt pattern books for each novel.  I’ve given away five already, including one Quilt Along with Emilie Richards: Endless Chain. Details here.

You may have noticed there’s been quite a progression of covers.

First the original hardcover:

Then the mass market paperback:

And even the Lithuanian version:

Now the lovely trade paperback, on sale beginning today.  Do you have a favorite?

I know my readers are always curious why I choose certain subjects, characters and settings for my novels. Well, me, too.  I can never say why exactly but my influences are  always different.

In the case of Endless Chain, I had already introduced Sam, the minister of the church that Helen–a character who reappears in every Shenandoah Album book–attended in Wedding Ring.  Sam interested me.  What brought a young man with a fabulous education, an “up and comer” from a large Atlanta church to a small country church in Virginia?  Was this his choice?  Or had he been forced in a different direction on his career path?

About the same time I was driving through the Toms Brook area and noticed all the signs in Spanish.  What had brought these immigrants to the Valley and how were they being accepted?  The Valley was settled by Pennsylvania Dutch and by Scots-Irish, so Spanish speakers from Latin America were plowing a brand new furrow in the rich Valley soil.

Finally as I began to research problems in Latin America that influence emigration from a variety of countries I became particularly fascinated with the political struggles in Guatemala.

From all this comes the story.

Sam Kinkade: A talented young man trying to find his way back into ministry and a better relationship with his creator.

Elisa Martinez: A young woman hiding her true identity and occupation out of fear of reprisal.

A community of Latin American immigrants tentatively beginning to bond with long-time residents with deep roots in Virginia.

A group of quilters and a church who opens its arms to them.

A story in the making.

It’s rare for me to research a novel AFTER its been published.  But after Endless Chain was released I was given the opportunity to visit Guatemala on a social justice trip. I was pleasantly surprised to see that I’d gotten so much right, although I couldn’t and didn’t begin to convey the difficulties of the Mayan population living there.  I’m not sure words can ever convey what these people have lived through and are still undergoing.

I’ll be sharing some photos from that trip next week.  Although the novel takes place in Virginia, stop by to see where Elisa comes from, a country of great natural beauty, generous people, and breathtaking crafts.  Let me share a bit of what I found there.

Today was a “Ready, Set, Go” day. You know the kind. You jump out of bed and you start to run. As the day progresses, you run faster and farther, until by day’s end, you’re too tired to do anything except fall back into that same bed you jumped out of hours before.

Tonight even the book I’m reading  about becoming invisible (and no, not the Harry Potter invisibility cloak kind of invisible) won’t keep me awake past ten. I’ll have to stay visible awhile longer for lack of information, or rather my character will, because, of course, the book is research.

A novelist’s day is never done until she closes her eyes. And then she dreams.

I did take a lunch break. Between appointments I wandered over to Panera Bread, chose the salad with the least number of calories, and sat in a corner to watch plainly visible people.

You can learn a lot at Panera. People are not shy about what they say in public. Writers love to eavesdrop, and we love to stare. We also love to spin stories from other people’s utterances, or odd things they do, or the sadness in their eyes. In fact if you’re trying to hide out, don’t sit near a writer, because we’ll be paying attention. My friend Diane Chamberlain frequently blogs or comments on Facebook about things she sees at Starbucks, where she writes portions of her novels.  In fact, a recent novel began with something she saw there and reimagined. (more…)

Mercury isn’t even in retrograde. I just checked, because despite my skepticism about all things astrological, I want to blame my techie failures in the past twenty-four hours on the alignment of the stars. No such luck, though. Even astrology has failed me. I’m stuck with my own mistakes, me and the increasingly complicated life we all lead these days.

The problems began yesterday as I was driving our new car. The car is fabulous, the nicest one we’ve ever owned because these days we’ll be bisecting the US at least twice a year and probably more. We needed something more comfy than our old, reliable but noisy/bouncy RAV4. So we bought a more luxurious and larger version with more bells and whistles than New Years Eve.

So far so good. Then yesterday on my first solo drive, I decided to call home. That should be easy, right? After all if I could drive this car into my kitchen, it could probably whip up a souffle out of whatever I have in my refrigerator. Having synced it with my iPhone, I thought I was all set.

I told the car to call home. Instead it called my Virginia landscaper, a guy named Mo. No matter how many times I told it not to call him, it ignored me.

Mo, I’m sorry. That crazy phone call from Florida? That’s your former client over on 25th Rd. Say hi to your mom for me, okay? I miss your whole family. (more…)

I love the approach of a book launch, even when the book was well and truly launched almost nine years ago. Now Wedding Ring, the first book of the Shenandoah Album series, is about to be re-launched on March 26th,  in a new format and with a brand new cover.

Recently I blogged about the way Wedding Ring and eventually, the entire Shenandoah Album series came about. When I began, I had no idea that a series would be born, or that Leisure Arts, a leading craft publisher, would be interested in creating pattern books based on the quilts mentioned in each of  the novels in the series.

I was skeptical when I heard about the offer. Leisure Arts likes to call their books “leaflets” and I had a vision of a page that opened like a map, with a few diagrams and a list of materials. Little did I know that they would be creating a softcover book, with quotes from my novels, breathtaking original and traditional patterns to match my descriptions, and beautifully rendered photographs. I was so thrilled when I saw the finished product. May I say that authors are NOT always thrilled with finished products, but this time, I certainly was.

Now Mira Books, my publisher, is reissuing Wedding Ring, and to celebrate I’ll be doing a pattern book giveaway to go with it. Read on.

How much do the Shenandoah Album books have to do with quilts, quilting, quilters? If you’re not a fan of any of those things, then the question is relevant. Might you enjoy the series anyway?

First and foremost each of the novels is about women, their lives, their relationships, the issues they confront, their joys and their sorrows. Sound familiar? Yes, they’re like my other novels, only this time wrapped in the comfort and beauty of quilts.

Wedding Ring uses an old tattered quilt as a metaphor for marriage.

In the second book, Endless Chain, a major character is befriended by a church quilt group who teaches her to quilt. The quilt pattern she chooses is symbolic of her own dramatic life story.

In the third, Lover’s Knot, a man inherits a quilt that might reveal the secrets of his family, a family he’s never known, but only if he allows his estranged wife to follow the clues.

The fourth, Touching Stars, is about the single mom proprietor of a B&B who uses star quilts to adorn her inn.

The fifth, Sister’s Choice, features a quilt that was given by one sister to another to help her see her destiny, and a new generation whose own destiny is in question.

Intrigued, quilter or not?  I hope so.

To celebrate the return of the first three novels in the series to print, I’ll be giving away autographed copies of the matching pattern books, four patterns books for each novel, one per week. To qualify for the pattern book giveaway, just comment on this blog or any of the blogs under the category Shenandoah Album Series on the right, and tell us why you like quilts, or what you like about them, or even why you don’t like them.

If you don’t quilt and don’t need the pattern book for yourself, your local quilt guild, museum or charity will be thrilled to have it, as would any friend who quilts or even your local library.

Here are the details:  Only one comment per person will be entered. You must have a North American address to qualify. (Sadly the pattern books are too heavy to send overseas.) Your entry will remain valid for the entire length of the contest or until you win a book. The first pattern book will be given away next Tuesday.

So let us hear from you by commenting. I’m looking forward to it.

What are Muckles and Mickles you say and what in the world do they have to do with Emilie’s novels?

What, have you no Scots blood–as do many people in the Shenandoah Valley?  ”Many a mickle makes a muckle,” means that if you carefully accumulate many little things, you’ll end up with something larger and better.  And truthfully, I found this smile-worthy expression on the internet, not in an old family diary from my distant Ross family ancestors, but do we care?

So what do mickles and muckles have to do with the reissuing of the first three novels in my Shenandoah Album series?  Well, you see, the letters and emails you sent my publisher asking for more books in the series are the mickles, and they seem to have created a muckle (not to be confused with muggles, because I am not J.K. Rowling.).  We haven’t quite achieved lift-off on a new addition to the series, but the fact that the first three books are coming out in new and exciting trade paperback editions is, quite probably, due to all that mail.

Now, nobody’s told me this is why, but that’s not the kind of thing they WOULD tell me.  Publishers keep secrets almost as well as politicians do.  Still, Wedding Ring, Endless Chain, and Lover’s Knot with their lovely new covers, lovelier larger print, and loveliest price yet, ($7.99 at Amazon, for example) are a joy and a step in the right direction.

Do you remember how the Shenandoah Album series got its start?   I was writing all the time and had very little time to quilt.  One day it occurred to me that at the very least, if I couldn’t find time to finish the quilt in progress, at least I could write about quilts, quilters and quilting.  I decided to write a novel that used a vintage Wedding Ring quilt as a way to bring three generations of women together.  And since it was a Wedding Ring quilt, clearly the theme had to be marriage. (more…)

As most of you know, I began my writing career in the romance genre and published dozens of romances before I realized I was writing about many things other than romance that I wanted to explore in more depth.

Slowly, without realizing it, I had moved into a broader “genre,” women’s fiction, which encompasses all the aspects of a woman’s life.  So my books no longer said “romance” on the spine.  Some of my readers followed me into my new books and some didn’t.  Some of my new readers would never have found me otherwise, because they made a point of  never picking up a romance novel.

Let’s fast forward.  Enter the ebook era.  Recently my publishing house informed me that I have the e-rights to my first twenty-nine novels and can publish them myself.

Well, isn’t that good news?

I’ve already begun the process, which will most likely take some time to complete.  The first book I plan to reissue is From Glowing Embers, seen here with its original cover.  I always loved this story, the first of a four book series I called Tales of the Pacific.  My faith in From Glowing Embers was confirmed when a German production company chose to make it into a movie for German Sunday night television a couple of years ago. (more…)

In my quest to tie up knots and organize my in-transition life, lots of odds and ends today.

We found a house!  The house has passed inspection.  So even though we haven’t signed the final check and moved our stuff from storage in Maryland, (that’s where the mover stowed our accumulated junk) things are looking good.

We decided on Osprey, which is just south of Sarasota in Sarasota County and somewhere near Happiness Key.  We walked into the house and saw the most incredible view of a lake and birds and preserve.

Apparently we buy views, because to live there I’ll sacrifice a roomy office. However if I start to feel claustrophobic I can write out by the pool which looks over the VIEW. The rumor is that Danielle Steele is happiest writing in her laundry room.  Maybe she writes by her pool when nobody’s looking?

Next house? That’s right. We’re also in the process of renovating our 1895 summer cottage in New York. It’s misleading to describe our house that way, since the words call up visions of Victorian bric-a-brac, graceful furbelows and fabulous paint.  Our house has no bric-a-brac. In fact this week we learned it actually has no outside walls, just siding over, well, whatever. Beige vinyl siding, too, although I did paint the wood trim on the porch an outrageous purpley-blue, just because I could.

If you’ve been following the house saga, you know we had squirrels in the attic, squirrels in the walls. In case you thought I was exaggerating, enjoy this photo of what was found when the old dishwasher got its eviction notice. Those are hickory nuts among the wood shavings, and the least terrifying of two photos. Now does the renovation make sense?

I knew you’d see it my way.

On the writing front? I’m camped out across Florida thanks to generous friends who are letting my husband, Nemo and me house sit while they’re up north. Right now I’m working on an anthology that will debut around Christmas time 2013. My fellow authors Janice Kay Johnson, Sarah Mayberry and I have had fun coming up with the idea. We’ve never met or even spoken to each other, but I’ve been delighted at how much we think alike. There will be quilts, romance, Christmas. Doesn’t that put you in the holiday spirit way ahead of time?

Finally, I just received a lovely review this week from Publisher’s Weekly for One Mountain Away. True, the review is several months late, but I’m as delighted as I am mystified. The last sentence reads: “Richards creates a heart-wrenching atmosphere that slowly builds to the final pages, and continues to echo after the book is finished.”

Every author likes to think her words “echo after the book is finished.” Thanks PW.

Until next time. . .

Seems to me it’s time to answer a few of the questions I’ve received in my email in recent weeks. Everyone gets personal responses, of course–and yes, that’s really me answering them–but some of the answers might interest the rest of you, too.

1–I just read One Mountain Away, and I loved the book, but did it really have to end that way?  It was so sad.

I understand this response completely, because it’s always hard to let go of a character we’ve grown fond of.  But there are all kinds of happy endings.  To me, the happiest is when the character is able to achieve everything she most desires.  And I think Charlotte does.  Plus she leaves an important legacy, which the other books in the series will explore.  And I promise, Charlotte’s an important part of everything to come.

2–I’ve just read Prospect Street for the second time and I’m hoping there’s a sequel.  Is there?

I’ve always thought that Hope, Faith’s sister (and no, there IS no Charity in the story) needed her own book.  But the opportunity slipped by as other books emerged.  At this point, I think Prospect Street will remain a stand-alone novel.  But I’ve been wrong before.

3–Did I miss the promised sixth novel in the Shenandoah Album series?  And why can’t I get these books any way except as ebooks now?

You didn’t miss Summer Winds because I’ve yet to write it.  But I plan to write it, and promise you’ll know when I do.  How it will be published is up in the air but I do have WONDERFUL  news about the series.  My publisher will be reissuing Wedding Ring, Endless Chain and Lover’s Knot in trade paperback editions with brand new covers next spring!  I just discovered this and I am so excited.  And who knows what will happen if the reissues do well?  Stay tuned for more news on that front as it happens.

4–You’ve mentioned moving in your blogs and on your Facebook Page.  Where are you now?

We are smack in the middle of Indecision, Anyplace.  Since our summer cottage is BADLY in need of renovation, that will start soon and we’re trying to figure out when we’ll be needed here for decisions and when we can start our trek south to find a permanent home.  Since so much’s going to be done to the house, I’ve decided to bore you with before and after photos, my own HGTV style special, here on my blog.  Watch for that soon because I may be asking for advice.  I think I’ll need it.  Right now we’re clearing out all the rooms so the workers can get in.  The neighborhood loves us.  The stuff we can’t use disappears the moment we put it on the curb.  Since some of it came from other people’s curbs, I’m delighted.  The best kind of recycling.

Want a question answered here?  Just let Emilie know.  You can email through her website or you can ask your questions under comments here at the blog.