From Kathy’s Heart...
Summer 2008
"Do not store up for yourselves treasure on earth, where moth and rust destroy,
and where thieves break in and steal. But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven,
where moth and rust do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal.
For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also." Matthew 6:19-21
Sometimes I cringe at the selfishness and greed that seems to have afflicted our society. So much time, thought, and money is spent on how to "get" instead of how to "give." We are barraged on all sides with the latest everything—right down to designer undergarments that are shamelessly advertised and modeled on primetime TV. We can hardly keep up with the glut of new phones and electronics and the notion that we are somehow inferior if we don’t own the latest gizmo. Without even meaning to, we are swept up in the tide of greed by owning far more than we need. Our packed out closets and garages have a wealth of items we aren’t using but are still very usable to those who have little. And yet we keep buying more things and packing those closets more tightly.
I'm often humbled when my husband and I get letters from the children we’ve adopted through Compassion International. These children are from third world countries and have an entirely different set of priorities. More often than not, they take the birthday or Christmas gift money they receive from us and buy a pig or a hen for the family. They seem ecstatic to receive the simplest of necessities. They revel in being able to sing in the choir and go to school and have enough to eat—something they don’t take for granted.
It's touching to see how joyful they are, simply by having their physical needs met and being exposed to God’s Word. Thirty-two dollars a month turns their world around. Oh that we were that easy to satisfy. Our American culture pressures us to spend and own. There’s always another sale. Another timesaving invention. Another must-have gadget. And if you can’t shop in person, there’s always a convenient catalog or online shopping. I admit I have a ways to go before my treasure and my heart are where they should be. But I’m definitely going to clean out my closet.
The Latest On My Books
The Phantom Hollow Series is going strong, and the reader feedback is wonderful and often touching. Readers seem to love the twists and turns and surprises in all three books in the series. Each will stand alone, but since each book also builds on the one that precedes it, you’ll get even more out of the stories if you read them in order.
I finished The Real Enemy, the first book in the Sophie Trace Trilogy and am currently working through the final edit.
I’m so excited. My editor and my publisher think it’s my best work yet, and their praise for this first book helped me to jumpstart the second book, and I’ve already written six chapters. I really think you’re going to enjoy my lady police chief, Brill Jessup and the mind-boggling "whodunits" in my fictional town of Sophie Trace, Tennessee.
There are nearly a quarter of a million Kathy Herman books in the hands of readers around the globe, and my publisher is planning a big launch for the Sophie Trace Series in March 2009.
Recent Events
On May 17, LifeWay Christian Stores held a nationwide fiction day, and I was invited to participate by doing a book signing at the LifeWay store in Longview, Texas and also at LifeWay in Tyler, Texas. It was so much fun meeting fans from all over East Texas and introducing my books to many who had not yet read them. I also had a chance to meet some fans who had emailed me through my website. How fun putting faces to the names!
I recently did a book signing at the "Tyler Women’s Night Out" and met ladies from all walks of life, some who started reading my books after meeting me at this event last year, and others who were introduced to my novels for the first time. What a fun evening. This event drew nearly three thousand women from all over the East Texas region.
I’ve been doing numerous interviews with radio stations from around the country since the mid-April release of The Grand Scheme and have had great opportunities to promote all three Phantom Hollow Books since the series is now complete.
What’s Coming?
In mid-July, my husband Paul and I will be driving to Orlando, Florida for the International Christian Retail Show (ICRS), where I’ll have the opportunity to meet the retailers who sell my books, spend time with my publisher and my agent, and promote the Sophie Trace Series, which releases in March 2009.
Prior to ICRS, Paul and I can hardly wait to attend a working retreat with other Christian novelists. We get together every year just before ICRS and share ideas through interactive workshops and some fun nights out. We pray together, laugh together, and get energized. It’s something we look forward to months ahead of time.
After ICRS, Paul and I will drive to Ft. Myers, Florida and enjoy a little R & R with my mother. On the way home, we’re planning to do some birding at St. Mark's Wildlife Refuge and enjoy the scenery along the gulf coast.
In Closing…
You have no idea how often I think of you and pray for you. I so appreciate the emails I get from fans. I read and answer each one personally, and I feel connected to those of you who read my stories.
I want to especially thank my online prayer team for your faithful prayer support month after month. I feel those prayers and appreciate you so much!
Have a safe and relaxing summer. And if you haven't read the Phantom Hollow novels, this is a great time to curl up in a hammock with a big glass of lemonade and let the suspense begin…
In Him,
www.kathyherman.com
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