Register for the Drawing

Now that more posts have accumulated here on my new blog, I'm afraid they're pushing the "Enter to Win" into and button right off the page.  I'll keep reinserting the big yellow button from time to time, for anyone who hasn't yet signed up, but to find out all the rules and such, look on the sidebar under Blog Archive for the November post called "Huge Book Giveaway and Sale."  You'll find everything you need to know there. Thanks!

Hiding in Plain Sight

My favorite place in the world has always been the Smoky Mountains of North Carolina. I grew up in Louisiana, but my maternal grandparents lived in Hendersonville, NC, and that's where we spent our summers. They had an amazing homestead, about 40 acres of beautiful, rolling farmland with two ponds, lots of trees, and pastures for their horses. Their home sat at the highest point on the property, and from there they had a perfect view of the mountaintops in the distance, including Mt. Pisgah. It wasn't just their place that was great; they were awesome too, simply the best grandparents a kid could ask for.

Fast forward many years, the farm was eventually sold off, the house torn down by the new owners, a bigger fancier house built in its place. We were, of course, so sad to see it go. But I'm happy to say it lives on--in print, at least.

How? Well, that's today's Insider Info: Because I snuck it into A Dime a Dozen. Here's the passage, from the very last chapter of the book:

I didn't know what our destination would be, but finally we slowed and turned into a driveway of shells, crunching along as we pulled through overgrown trees and up a gentle incline. It looked like a farm of sorts. We drove along a white wooden split rail fence, passing a small pond with two ducks floating on the surface. As we climbed, the driveway curved to the right, and up ahead I could see a house lined on one side with giant picture windows. The leaves on a weeping willow tree blue gently in the breeze next to a stone terrace...

A few paragraphs later, once the characters are inside the living room, gazing through the picture windows:

From there we looked out over a long, sweeping lawn, the pond down below, and more mountains visible in the distance. In a side pasture, I spotted several horses grazing among giant oak trees. Tom gave me a tour of the elegantly furnished home, taking me full circle through the entire place and ending on the terrace outside.

The story goes on from there, but you get the idea. Readers often ask if I put real people into my books. My response is, "No, but I do put real buildings sometimes."  Guess that's the power of words, that they can keep such a wonderful place alive forever, even if only in the imagination.

3-year-old Mindy with Grandpa Dickerson in 1963

A friend of my brother's, on a swing built by my grandfather. Note the grape arbor in the lower right, also built by him. Grandpa could make anything!

Mindy at 15 on Sue, our favorite horse

Grandma Dickerson peeking out from behind my mom, down by the pond

So how about you? If you were a writer, is there some place from your past you might memorialize in a story?

Today's Giveaway: A Quarter for a Kiss

Jasmine Augustine. Congrats Jasmine!

Of Nickels and Nutria

Hi friends, here's a video I made just for you.  It's about yesterday's prize, my crazy kids, and a creature known in Louisiana as a swamp rat.  Enjoy!

Would you like a free wooden nickel?

Unfortunately, I had them made when the book first came out back in 2003 and only have a handful left. So here's what I'll do. The first 10 people to watch the video (it's about 3 1/2 minutes long) and respond with a comment and an email will be sent a free wooden nickel in return.

In your comment, answer this question:

What would you do if your grown daughter was living abroad and sending home photos like the ones Emily sent to us?  (Once you see the video, you'll know exactly which pics I'm talking about. They were taken at some sort of tiger habitat in Thailand.)

As for the email, send it to mindy@mindystarnsclark.com, make the subject line "I commented", and in the body of the email provide your name and mailing address so I can send you one of these 10 wooden nickels. Good luck!

And just to clarify, I'd love to hear your comments whether you want a nickel or not. If you want to comment but don't want the nickel, just don't send the email. :)  Thanks!

Today's Giveaway: A Dime a Dozen

Aubrynn Whitted. Congrats Aubrynn!  

Today's Giveaway: Don't Take Any Wooden Nickels

Michaela Strauch.  Congrats, Michaela!

To everyone else who has already signed up for the drawing but hasn't won yet, don't give up hope, there are 23 more books to go!

And if you haven't signed up for the drawing yet, scroll down to a previous post, below, where you can enter and join in the fun.

Today's Giveaway: A Penny For Your Thoughts

See my previous post, below, for how to enter.  If you haven't signed up yet, do! Tomorrow's prize will be Don't Take Any Wooden Nickels.

Today's Insider Info:

The best way to learn to write a novel is…to write a novel. Sounds logical enough, but as an aspiring author, this was one of the most startling tips I ever heard. I remember the moment vividly, sitting in the audience of a panel session at a Philadelphia mystery writers conference back in the mid 90’s. There were four or five authors on the panel, and after communicating this truth, they went down the line and each told how many novels they had written prior to penning the one that had become their first published novel.

As I listened, fireworks began going off in my head. I had already written a novel myself by then, but it had big problems, ones that I’d been trying to fix for several years. Now, suddenly, it was as if I were being given permission to give up on that doomed tome and start fresh. Sounds odd, but I felt utterly liberated!

“My first three books were awful,” one noted author told the audience that day. “But I learned so much from doing each of them, and by my fourth try, I knew I had finally gotten it right.”

So much changed for me after that conference. Back at home, I boxed up my first attempt and shoved it to the back of the closet. Then I started in on my second…and eventually my third.

That third one I decided to call A Penny for Your Thoughts, and as soon as I finished writing it, I knew I had finally penned a manuscript worth submitting.

The rest, as they say, is history.  :)

Speaking of history, thought you might enjoy this flash from the past, a photo from my very first book release party.  (Sorry kids,  I couldn't resist!)

A dream come true: Posing with my husband, John, and our two daughters,
Emily and Lauren, at our Penny book release party in 2002