From Kathy’s Heart...
Fall 2009

"Why should I fear when evil days come, when wicked deceivers surround me—“
 Psalm 49:5

It would be easy to give in to fear these days. Terrorists threats loom. The U.S. economy is fragile, and our national debt astronomical. Our individual identities are in danger of being stolen. Deadly new diseases are emerging that defy conventional medicine. There seems to be a major shift from capitalism to socialism, from protecting our rights to redefining them. Never has our privacy been so "up for grabs." It’s hard to tell who is watching whom—and why.

More often than not, the nightly news is grim and void of hope. How grateful I am that joy is not dependent on circumstances! I am never without hope because the Prince of Peace will one day take the throne, and the prince of darkness will be forever silenced. God has a plan, and I'm part of it. Every hair on my head is numbered, every heartbeat counted, every good work I've been given to do already assigned. One day, God's kingdom WILL come. It is perpetual expectancy of that great and glorious day that keeps me going in the midst of life's troubling changes and challenges.

How Are My Books Doing?

I am so pleased to report that over 300,000 Kathy Herman books are in print throughout the U.S., Canada, Great Britain, South Africa, Australia, and New Zealand. And over the past year the Seaport Series was printed in Dutch and distributed in Amsterdam. It's exciting to see what God is doing. What a blessing to have reached so many readers with stories I hope they found inspiring and challenging as well as entertaining.

The first Sophie Trace Trilogy book, The Real Enemy, released March 1 of this year and enjoyed the next two months as a national bestseller! I continue to get wonderful feedback from readers.

Book two, The Last Word, is slated to be on the shelves October 1. My editor and publisher think it is my best book to date. You can read the prologue and first chapter on my website:  I look forward to a very busy fall season of promoting The Last Word. I already have a number of online interviews and regional book signings lined up, and I’m being featured in the October issue of Romantic Times.

I recently turned in the manuscript for the third Sophie Trace book, The Right Call.  This final installment to the series will be available in the spring of 2010, so watch my website for updates. I'm very pleased with the way this series came together. And, in case you didn’t know, all three books will be available on audio. Tim Lundeen of Oasis Audio did the reading, and I love the way he captured my characters!

New Series in the Works

Sophie Trace fans will be excited to learn that two key characters from this series will be carried over to my next series, The Langley Manor Trilogy, which is set in the bayou country of Louisiana. I am so looking forward to my husband, Paul, and I taking a car trip to the area and doing our usual "nosing around" and information gathering. I have a lot to learn about Cajun country (though I’m already familiar with the food!) and look forward to creating believable characters that you’ll grow to care about. Fortunately, Louisiana is just next door to East Texas and I won’t have all that far to travel.

For me, the most fun part of starting a new series is deciding on the setting and then going to the area in search of a model for my fictitious town. Usually I incorporate a little of this and a little of that until I can see the fictional setting clearly in my mind. There won’t be a mountain backdrop this time. But I look forward to spending countless hours in my imagination among the cypress trees and the plantation houses as I bring a new cast of characters to life. Watch my website for details in the coming months.

So What Do I Do When I'm Not Writing?

Anyone who knows me well knows that I'm a bird watcher and absolutely fascinated by hummingbirds. We draw a couple dozen of these whirring miracles from July-September, and Paul and I love to interact with them. Hummers have personalities (really) like some of the furry critters, such as squirrels and raccoons.

We placed three nectar feeders just a couple feet outside my window, and I'm able to observe the hummingbirds all day as I write. Almost every evening, just before dinner, I take my camera and sit next to the feeders and photograph the birds. They'll come right to me when I hold the feeders. It's special making "pets" out of these little miracles. I miss them when they leave around the first of October, but know from experience that they'll start coming back, one by one, next March.

Till Next Time…

In closing, I want to say thanks for supporting my work. It is your comments, your input, your sharing how God is using my words in your life that keeps me motivated to continue on this busy and blessed journey.

In Him,

www.kathyherman.com

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