A Nashville friend of mine and fellow author, Leisa A. Hammett, has just published a book that I want to share with you.  It’s called from Heartache to Hope.  And it’s a beautiful, coffee table-styled book featuring stunning black-and-white photography and the moving stories of 18 Middle Tennessee families living with autism.

You can order on-line at http://www.fromheartachetohope.org. And all the money raised from the sale of the book supports on-going research.

Originally published at Susan Gregg Gilmore. Please leave any comments there.

Whenever the subject of banned books arises, I always feel my stomach turn a little.  As a writer and a reader, I am thankful to live in a country founded on free speech.  And yet at the same time, I am surprised that we can, at times, be so afraid of the written word, so intimated by an idea.

My great dream was not to have written a book but to imagine a thought so provocative, so novel that it would cause others to shout or stomp or scream.  And if the dream does come true, then never, please never, ban the words!

Celebrate the last few days of Banned Book Week by reading one of your favorites.  Mine, To Kill A Mockingbird. Yours???

Originally published at Susan Gregg Gilmore. Please leave any comments there.

Readers ask me all the time if Looking for Salvation at the Dairy Queen is autobiographical.  I’ve always said “no.”  And even though I’ve come to believe it is more so than I once thought, I was surprised the other day when my 22-year-old daughter gave me her opinion of the book.  And I quote . . .

Seems like Catherine Grace Cline and her longing for the bigger world is a reflection of your own personal aspirations.  In writing this book, you were finally able to break free, like Catherine Grace, and make something big of yourself.  Up until that point, you kept chugging along — writing articles, raising children, etc. But all these things led to your big break just like Catherine Grace found hers.  She kept her eye on the prize, saving money every summer, etc. etc., and so did you.

You rock, Mama!

Hmm, I thought, she may be on to something.

But whether it’s autobiographical or not is not really the point.  I just love that a thousand different people can read the same thing and find a thousand different messages.  Intended or not, these deeper meanings are embedded in a writer’s story like treasures waiting to be found on a scavenger hunt.

I used to get so irritated with English teachers wanting to endlessly dissect a novel that I had enjoyed reading. Funny, now as an author, I’m finding that the hunt for the hidden treasures is one of the wonderful, unexpected pleasures of sharing your story.

My and My Baby Girl

Originally published at Susan Gregg Gilmore. Please leave any comments there.

On Sunday, I rolled into Nashville late in the afternoon having spent the weekend in Paola and Garnett, Kansas.  The trip was a success — if you consider all the requirements necessary for a successful road trip — remembered my luggage, involved in no accidents, sat in no traffic, sold a lot of books, and most importantly, met some absolutely amazing people.  (Yes, Helen Norman, I specifically mean you!)

The trip to Kansas concluded what I have come to call my Summer Salvation Book Tour.  And with 8,000 miles now logged on my car’s odometer, I am very happy to be at home.

The girls are starting school this week, and the routine of writing every morning is within my grasp. Time in the chair, time in the chair — that has always been my mantra after all — the key to success for any writer, I think.  And the people in my head, well, they’re calling, shouting really, anxious for me to tell their story.  They’ve been patient, but they’re growing very restless.  It’s time I give them my full attention.  So if you need me in the near future, I’ll be sitting in my chair.

Susan with Helen and Mike Norman of the Garnett, KS, Dairy Queen

Originally published at Susan Gregg Gilmore. Please leave any comments there.

I wanted to share this comment with you sent by a reader who was responding to my blog post entitled THE BIG RED MACHINE.  As a writer, it’s always your hope that you’re going to stir a memory, trigger a thought, a feeling — maybe even encourage an act of kindness.  And it’s always very humbling to know your words have touched someone.  Thank you, Charlie, for taking the time to send me your memory.

This post stirred a lot of memories, thoughts and a couple of wishes for events that never happened. My father played catch with me, taught me to swing a bat, coached my Little League team, ironed letters on all the team caps for the league, and watched every game he could, but we never watched a big league game together.

I got to see one exhibition game with him in Mobile. Chicago White Sox against the Cleveland Indians, just a a couple of days before Rocky Colavito was traded to Detroit. I still have the lineup sheet–it was a single piece of paper with the teams listed on opposite sides and the wrong date–and a baseball with Colavito’s autograph.

Later, though, we didn’t talk that m! uch about baseball. It would have been great to see a couple of regular season games with him, but I’m grateful for the time.

I also remember the Big Red Machine, and I think their World Series against the A’s in 1972 may be the best ever, although it doesn’t get in the highlight reels.

Thanks for reminding me of all this.

Charlie

(Originally posted at Susan Gregg Gilmore. Please leave any comments there.)

I wanted to share this review with you by guest blogger, 11 year-old Ireland Stuart.  Ireland’s dad bought a copy of my book back in June when I was signing at the Borders at Baltimore-Washington International Airport.

Of course, I was thrilled that Ireland loved my book (always nice to hear!) but I was even more touched that she took the time to write such a thoughtful review — I think this may be the beginning of her career as a great literary critic!

Looking for Salvation at the Dairy Queen

A novel by: Susan Gregg Gilmore

The book Looking for Salvation at the Dairy Queen was a great book to read! One of the reasons I liked the book was because at times there was so much suspense, I couldn’t put it down!

Another reason why I liked the book was because I liked how there was times when I could really understand how Catherine Grace and Martha Ann felt. Those were reasons why I liked the book, Looking for Salvation at the Dairy Queen.

I had two favorite parts in the book. One of my favorite parts in the book was when Catherine Grace finally earns enough money from her jam making business to escape Ringgold and leave for Atlanta, Georgia.

My other favorite part in the book was when Catherine Grace and Martha Ann find out they have a mother. Martha Ann was bursting with happiness but Catherine Grace was upset that her mother ran away from her family. So much suspense!! I was overjoyed when Catherine Grace figured out that Lena Mae was her mom and she loved her.

That was my review for the book, Looking for Salvation at the Dairy Queen.

-Ireland Stuart

(Originally posted at Susan Gregg Gilmore. Please leave any comments there.)

Everybody who knows me knows I love tomatoes.  I was raised on them.  More than that, I was raised hunting for the perfect tomato. It was as much sport as it was mission in my family, as competitive as SEC football.  And my dad was the coach, the master of the hunt.

We grew them, of course.  But we would also drive miles to some small make-shift stand by the side of some unmarked country road because my father had heard talk of the size, color and quality of some farmer’s tomatoes.

I never knew a time when my father didn’t have several red Beefsteaks lined up in his kitchen windowsill waiting for that very moment when one of them would be ready to slice.  He ate them with every meal, every day.

So no wonder Catherine Grace Cline, the young and witty heroine of my first book, believed that “the tomato was the symbol of a person’s God-fearing commitment to biblical and civic values.”  Her devotion to the tomato was in her blood, as it is in mine.

And even now, as a very grown woman, when the weather turns hot and the tomatoes start to ripen on the vine, I think of my daddy and the search for tomato perfection!

Some of my favorite heirlooms -- Valencia, Cherokee Purple and Pineapple.

Let me know where you find the perfect tomato!!!

(Originally posted at Susan Gregg Gilmore. Please leave any comments there.)

A couple of days ago my book tour took me Cincinnati.  I was at Joseph-Beth Booksellers for a reading and then a radio interview with Barbara Gray who hosts the wonderfully intelligent program Around Cincinnati on  WVXU 91.7.  The reading and interview both went really well.  And it would have been a perfect trip had I remembered my suitcase which was left sitting in my living room in Nashville.  Oh well, minor setback.

But truthfully, the highlight of this trip for me was the time I spent at the Great American Ballpark on the banks of the Ohio River.  My dad and I spent a lot of hours watching Cincinnati Reds’ baseball on television when I was little girl.  Bench, Rose, Concepion, Morgan, Geronimo — they were my heroes. My dad and I never went to a game together, and he passed away three years ago now.  So it felt like I was making a pilgrimage of sorts, for both of us.

I ate hot dogs, Cracker Jacks, ice cream, peanuts — all part of the journey — and the Reds won.  And my dad, well, he was there with me.

(p.s. Looking for the ballpark with the best food??  Let me know what you think!)

(Originally posted at Susan Gregg Gilmore. Please leave any comments there.)

My attempts at staying in touch while on the road, although well intentioned, obviously became a bit more impractical as one day rolled into the next or should I say one mile rolled into the next and Internet access, aka Panera Bread, became harder to find.  Now with 6500 miles behind me, I can honestly admit that I’m tired!  That is not to say that I didn’t enjoy myself — because I did.  The best part, as always, is meeting other readers who love books as much as I do.  

Near the end of my trip I landed in Lititz, Pennsylvania, a small, picturesque town in Central PA.  I had a yummy dinner with the owner of Aaron’s Books (and the wonderful mother of sweet little Aaron himself) and then a post-reading visit with the BOOKING MAMA and her very own mama!

And then my own 80-year-old mother surprised me and drove down from New Jersey to spend the night with me in Lititz.  She was getting worried about her little girl (I love the fact that she still thinks of me as her little girl!) who had been on the road for weeks by this time.

So there we all were — a group of readers, mothers, friends — enjoying a cool summer night talking about our kids, our lives, and of course, our favorite books.  I think it was, quite truthfully, the perfect ending to a very long road trip.

Sam (left/owner) and Julie (Booking Mama) with me at Aaron's Books in Lititz, PA

P.S.  Heading back out next week.  Will be at Joseph-Beth in Cincinnati on Thursday the 16th at 7 pm.

(Originally posted at Susan Gregg Gilmore. Please leave any comments there.)

More than 3500 miles into this book tour, and I woke up to read this wonderful review from BOOKING MAMA.  With about 3500 more miles to go, it sure was a nice pick-me-up!

Enjoy.

(Originally posted at Susan Gregg Gilmore. Please leave any comments there.)

Carl Sandburg's Home, Connemara, in Flat Rock, North Carolina

I arrived in Asheville on Friday night, just in time for a reading at the new Battery Park Book Exchange, probably the hippest used book store you could ever hope to find, complete with champagne bar.  The next night on to City Lights Bookstore in Sylva, North Carolina, a tiny mountain town with a big love of books. 

But when I had time, I toured Thomas Wolfe’s home in Asheville and then Carl Sandburg’s in Flat Rock, NC.  Thomas Wolfe lived in town, in a boarding house, run by his mother.  Apparently he didn’t even have a room of his own because his mother would rent every room in the house when and if she could.

Carl Sandburg’s home, on the other hand, sits on 200+ acres in the beautiful North Carolina mountains.  And the house, well, it’s as if the Sandburgs have just run to the store and will be back any minute.  Everything is just as it was when the couple lived there.  Apparently after Sandburg died, his wife packed up her clothes and a few personal belongings and left the house fully furnished, down to a box of Kleenex by a living room chair.  

The setting is so peaceful — words were meant to be born there.

(Originally posted at Susan Gregg Gilmore. Please leave any comments there.)

We finally made it to Atlanta after 16 hours in the car!  And it was worth every long, tiring, back-aching minute.  I visited my good friends at FOXTALE BOOK SHOPPE, twice, once for a reading and then a writers’ workshop.  Also made some new friends at A NOVEL EXPERIENCE in Zebulon, Georgia, HORTON’S BOOKS AND GIFTS in Carrollton, Georgia, and THE BLUE ELEPHANT in Decatur, Georgia – three great independent bookstores.

And FYI:

Horton’s is the oldest bookstore in Georgia.

A Novel Experience shows foreign films every other Friday night and is located right down the road from the University of Georgia’s Agricultural Experiment Station where they invented the science of freezing foods — not sure why I find that so fascinating — but I do!

The Blue Elephant wraps their books in brown paper and ties them up with a string — love it — as these are a few of my favorite things.  Sorry, raised performing The Sound of Music at home.  (I was always Gretel.)

And FOXTALE sales the best t-shirt EVER!  

I’ve enjoyed a few days at home, just enough time to pet the doggies, wash some clothes and dust the house.  Off again, on Friday when I’ll be heading to Asheville for a little champagne sipping and book signing — details to follow shortly.

See you on the road.

Book Tour Woodstock, GA from Susan Gregg Gilmore on Vimeo.

(Originally posted at Susan Gregg Gilmore. Please leave any comments there.)

Just a quick hello as we cruise down I-81 to Atlanta.  We had a great event yesterday at Dolphin Books on Long Island.  Thank you Priscilla for  such a lovely evening.

We got up bright and early this morning and sat in traffic!   And now it’s gray and rainy (of course) but we’re inching our way to Atlanta.  Five events in the next two days.  Stay tuned — will write more as soon as I can.

Book Tour from Susan Gregg Gilmore on Vimeo.

P.S.  We made it to Atlanta around midnight!  Now off to Hortons at noon and the Blue Elephant tonight.  Check out my calendar for details.

(Originally posted at Susan Gregg Gilmore. Please leave any comments there.)

Yesterday, the paperback edition of Looking for Salvation at the Dairy Queen was released (yeah) and appropriately celebrated at a Dairy Queen!  And thanks to owner/operator Donnna Albanese of the Plainfield, NJ, Dairy Queen, it was a great success.  We had a lot of fun talking to customers, eating ice cream and even raising a little money for Donna’s favorite charity, NJ Sharing Network, an organization that supports tissue and organ donation.

Next stop, Port Washington, New York, and the Dolphin Book Shop. Can’t wait to get there — last summer the staff at Dolphin named my book as their number one summer reading pick!  How about this summer too?!

Untitled from Susan Gregg Gilmore on Vimeo.

(Originally posted at Susan Gregg Gilmore. Please leave any comments there.)

The first stop on Summer Salvation Book Tour 2009 (my very exaggerated title for this road trip) was great.  My daughter, Alice, and I spent the morning with the Friends of the Library in Crossville, Tennessee.  The people, the setting, the banana pudding were all wonderful!

Then we raced to Knoxville to do a quick spot on an afternoon television program.  Thanks to everybody at WBIR — and finally dinner with old friends from Pasadena.  Getting ready to hit the road again.  Miles to go on I-81!

(Originally posted at Susan Gregg Gilmore. Please leave any comments there.)

Preacher's Strawberry Jam Triffle

Since my first novel was released, I have met some of the most amazing readers, people who passionately care about their books. Many of them are, yes, members of book clubs.  And when a book club invites me to visit, I do whatever I can to be there.  From New Jersey to Arkansas, I have spent time with as many book clubs as possible.

And this is what I’ve learned about these reading groups.  Some are more social than others.  Some serve wine.  Some are single-sex.  Some are for couples only.  Some are for mothers and daughters — and the girls get to pick the books!  Some have a dress code (you come dressed as your favorite character).  Some serve a menu based on foods mentioned in the book.  Some meet in churches, most in homes, some in restaurants.  Some talk about the book.  Some talk about their day.  Some only read books out in paper, no hardcovers allowed.  But all of them READ!

So with the paperback coming out in one week, (Reading Guide included), I wanted to continue the celebration by sharing the ideas of one very creative book club organizer.   The excerpt below is provided by Leigh DeFreitas, facilitator of the Riverdowns Readers of Midlothian, Virginia.  Leigh, you’re amazing!

While browsing in my favorite independent bookstore, CARPE LIBRUM, in Knoxville, Tennessee, I stumbled upon this, then, newly released debut novel.  When I approached the checkout counter, the bookseller exclaimed that I was going to LOVE this book, and no truer words have ever been spoken!

Well, you ask yourself, how does one go about celebrating such a debutante of the literary world?  Did I not already suggest a party??? Read on…

Susan’s book mimics Rachel Ray’s list of recipe ideas for party foods.  Try some of these tasty tidbits of Gilmore lore.

Recipe ideas from Leigh with book reference pages…

Preacher’s Strawberry Jam Trifle served in jelly jars(found at Kroger)p.66

Layer: 

Prepared French vanilla instant jello pudding

Crushed shortbread cookies, graham crackers or GS cookies

Fresh raspberries or strawberries

Extra creamy cool whip (thawed)

Repeat layers and top with cool whip/fresh fruit garnish

PB & Strawberry Star-Shaped Finger Sandwiches p. 60

Spread peanut butter on one slice of bread and strawberry jam on the other piece.

Cut the finger sandwiches with a star-shaped cookie cutter.

Mrs. Gulbenk’s Good Housekeeping Tea served in jelly jars/mason jars (found at Kroger)—see p. 88 for the recipe

I served the tea with 12 oz. of hot water & 2 TB of tea mix.

Dilly Bars bought at a local Dairy Queen  p. 8

Finally, for the finishing touches…

Serve your star-shaped finger sandwiches on Strawberry Shortcake children’s character’s plates from Party City, wear the character’s strawberry hat, and dress your dog in her Daisy Mae jean dress with the strawberry design blouse.

Now THAT is a Susan Gregg Gilmore book party!

And…who knows, someone might find salvation as well!

Other ideas: (they keep on comin’)

Bag a few chocolate chip cookies (p.135) and give as a parting gift along with a bottle of nail polish—look for colors like Blossom Pink and Baby Doll Pink

Have party gals bring a bottle of nail polish and present a prize of fresh tomatoes from a local stand for the neatest name of polish.

Have party participants wear hot pink flip flops.

Happy Reading!

Leigh DeFreitas

Thanks Leigh!

P.S. I’m hitting the road this morning so follow me on my blog, Facebook Fan Page (Susan Gregg Gilmore) and Twitter @susangilmore!

(Originally posted at Susan Gregg Gilmore. Please leave any comments there.)

Book Tour Entry #1 from Susan Gregg Gilmore on Vimeo.

Well I was planning on leaving town on Wednesday for Salvation Summer Tour 2009 (my own nickname for this 6-week book tour to celebrate the paperback release of Looking for Salvation at the Dairy Queen).   Unfortunately due to a small family emergency — I say small because everything will be fine — I am going to go ahead and jump in the car today and head on up to Washington, DC.  

But stay tuned because I will be back with more video and more fun.  This is just a little preview of what’s to come!

(Originally posted at Susan Gregg Gilmore. Please leave any comments there.)

Today I am officially announcing my SUMMER GIVEAWAY!
NEVER EAT A CONE ALONE . . . TAKE A FRIEND TO DAIRY QUEEN!

That’s right, you can win a cone for yourself and one for your friend simply by snapping your pic in front of your favorite DQ store. And if you’re one of the first, you might even win a free paperback copy of Looking for Salvation at the Dairy Queen (Three Rivers Press/$14.00)!

Yep, we’re celebrating the June 9th paperback release with some DQ treats. So get your camera out and head on over to the Dairy Queen.

For all the rules and regs, head on back to the Home Page.

And I must thank Nashville writer Randal Patrick for the wonderful slogan. You’re brilliant!!!

(Originally posted at Susan Gregg Gilmore. Please leave any comments there.)

Today I am officially announcing my SUMMER GIVEAWAY!
NEVER EAT A CONE ALONE . . . TAKE A FRIEND TO DAIRY QUEEN!

That’s right, you can win a cone for yourself and one for your friend simply by snapping your pic in front of your favorite DQ store. And if you’re one of the first, you might even win a free paperback copy of Looking for Salvation at the Dairy Queen (Three Rivers Press/$14.00)!

Yep, we’re celebrating the June 9th paperback release with some DQ treats. So get your camera out and head on over to the Dairy Queen.

For all the rules and regs, head on back to the Home Page.

And I must thank Nashville writer Randal Patrick for the wonderful slogan. You’re brilliant!!!

(Originally posted at Susan Gregg Gilmore. Please leave any comments there.)

Three weeks from today the paperback version of Looking for Salvation at the Dairy Queen arrives in a bookstore near you. And in celebration of the day, I wanted to implement a new, easier-to-read website. Wow, this was harder than birthing a baby — and trust me I know what I’m talking about!

But I want to thank Erin Pfister, the designer, and Brooks Harper at McNeely, Piggot and Fox here in Nashville for some last minute scrambling so we could get things up and running today. Everything may not be perfect quite yet, but you get the idea.

I have a lot more to share so come back and visit real soon!

(Originally posted at Susan Gregg Gilmore. Please leave any comments there.)