THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO PRISSY has just received the IPPY Award for Best Book in Regional Fiction. The issues and conflicts I address in this story are complex, as are the characters. But in the end, I think you will be glad you read it and be left with a sense of joyful inspiration.

I hope to hear from you in the weeks ahead.

Barbara

VIRTUAL BOOK TOUR

5/20/2013 MeganJohnsInvites
5/21/2013 Lisa Haselton’s Reviews and Interviews
5/22/2013 Margay Leah Justice
5/23/2013 It’s Raining Books
5/24/2013 My Devotional Thoughts
5/27/2013 Novel Moments
5/28/2013 Christy McKee Writes for Women in the Sweet Spot of Life
5/29/2013 Tinasbookreviews
5/30/2013 Nickie’s Views and Interviews
5/30/2013 SECOND STOP Fiction Writing and Other Oddities
5/31/2013 Deal Sharing Aunt
6/3/2013 The Life (and lies) of an inanimate flying object
6/4/2013 Illustrious Illusions
6/5/2013 Book ‘Em North Carolina
6/6/2013 Hope Dreams. Life… Love
6/6/2013 SECOND STOP Stitch Read Cook
6/7/2013 Straight from the Library
6/10/2013 Read Your Writes Book Reviews
6/11/2013 4 the LUV of SANITY
6/12/2013 The Ink Spot
6/13/2013 United By Books
6/14/2013 Welcome to My World of Dreams

Launched in 1996, the “IPPY” Awards were conceived as a broad-based, unaffiliated awards program open to all members of the independent publishing industry, and are open to authors and publishers worldwide who produce books written in English and intended for the North American market. Now in its seventeenth year, the Independent Publisher Book Awards are presented annually to honor the year’s best independently published titles.

As in all of my novels, THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO PRISSY deals with several themes driven by strong characters. Spousal abuse, teenage crime, women’s prisons, our military veterans trying to get acclimated back into society, and children who are born “special”—either physically or mentally. Prissy is one such child, born with the “gift of prophecy,” and the ability to apply that gift to whatever problems she is confronted with. Prissy was first conceived in my imagination from a beautiful oil painting of a little girl I discovered in an art museum in Madrid, Spain. She was kneeling in the grass examining something fascinating–a bug, a pretty flower, a shiny rock.  What I most noticed, though, was the look of rapture and total wonderment on her face–a look that expresses something that only an innocent child can experience. My heart was touched deeply by her. If you get a chance to read THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO PRISSY, I hope your heart will be touched as well.

Barbara

Barbara

Briefly, in The Gospel According to Prissy ..

Three Army veteran misfits, a college dropout, an unmotivated high school graduate accused of murder, a controversial warden of a women’s prison, and a little girl with the gift of prophesy – these are the people 31-year-old Lara Kruger invites into her life after suffering a miscarriage, a divorce from an abusive husband, and unemployment.

What is a blog hop? Basically, it’s a way for readers to discover authors new to them. I hope you’ll find new-to-you authors whose works you enjoy. On this stop on the blog hop, you’ll find a bit of information on me and one of my books and links to four other authors you can explore! My gratitude to fellow author John DeDakis for inviting me to participate in this event. You can click the following link to learn more about John and his work. Website: http://www.johndedakis.com/. In this blog hop, I and my fellow authors, in their respective blogs, have answered ten questions about our book or work-in–progress (giving you a sneak peek). We’ve also included some behind-the-scenes information about how and why we write what we write–the characters, inspirations, plotting and other choices we make. I hope you enjoy it!

Please feel free to comment and share your thoughts and questions. Here is my Next Big Thing!

1: What is the title of your book?
THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO PRISSY

2: Where did the idea come from for the book?

I used to live in Rocky Mount, North Carolina, many years ago, and I loved that it was so rural. I found that the people who are from that area are very provincial, yet they possess the wonderful Southern charm and culture that can only be learned and passed on through the generations. I chose that area as the setting for my story, but Prissy and all of the other characters are right out of my imagination.

3. What genre does your book come under?

It is a contemporary adult novel that will appeal to readers of suspense and mystery, inspirational, and romance.

4: Which actors would you choose to play your characters in a movie rendition?

There is such a wonderfully diverse group of characters in this book, all of various ages, from an elderly snuff-dipping grandmother to little four-year-old Prissy. But there are two strong female roles in particular: Miriam Temple, the controversial warden of a prison for women, and Lara Kruger, a younger woman who eventually becomes Prissy’s adoptive mother. I would love to see Meryl Streep play the warden, and Julia Roberts play Lara.

5: What is the one-sentence synopsis of your book?

Three Army veteran misfits, a college dropout, an unmotivated high school graduate accused of murder, a controversial warden of a women’s prison, and a little girl with the gift of prophesy – these are the people 31-year-old Lara Kruger invites into her life after suffering a miscarriage, a divorce from an abusive husband, and unemployment.

6: Is your book self-published, published by an independent publisher, or represented by an agency?

Since I am a literary agent, I represent myself. Strategic Media Books, a fast-growing independent publisher, is publishing The Gospel According to Prissy. I was fortunate to have placed the work of three of my clients with Strategic Media Books, so I was thrilled when I received their offer of a contract for my own book. Ron Chepesiak, the publisher, has been a joy to work with. And, in addition to my book being available through the traditional outlets like Ingram’s and Baker and Taylor, and Internet sites such as Amazon.com and BarnesandNoble.com, Strategic Media Books also works with an international distribution company that will help me promote my book. We have been working on marketing strategies since I first signed the contract.

7: How long did it take you to write the first draft of your manuscript?

Usually I develop the idea for a book in my mind, laying out the beginning, the ending, and several key points in between before I ever actually start to write it all down. For that reason, it doesn’t take me long to actually do the writing. The first draft of Prissy took me about two months; the final draft was ready in about eight months.

8: What other books have you written?

The first two books I ever wrote were middle-grade/young adult novels, Leilani Zan and Grandma Jock and Christabelle, and they were both nominated for awards of excellence by the SCBWI Golden Kite Award, the National Association of University Women Literary Award and the Sir Walter Raleigh Literary Award.  After that I started writing adult fiction. Shyla’s Initiative, a contemporary adult novel (occult romance/mystery), received a 2003 Independent Publisher’s Book Award and also an award of special literary recognition by the Palm Beach County Cultural Council.  The Coach’s Wife, also a novel for adults (contemporary/mystery), was semi-finalist for the 2005 Dana Award for Outstanding Novel and listed on the Publisher’s Best Seller List.  The House of Kane, released in 2007, was considered for a Pulitzer nomination.  Another contemporary novel for adults, Just Like Family, was released at Christmas 2009 when it received “Special Recognition from the 7-Eleven Corporation.”  Most recently, another young adult novel, The Cadence of Gypsies, was released in March 2011 and reviewed by the Smithsonian for its List of Most Notable Books.  All of my books deal with mystery and romance, but also things that can’t be easily explained and yet are part of life. The Gospel According to Prissy is unique in that it deals with so many different societal and cultural elements, and yet readers will be able to identify with the characters.  It offers a strong dose of reality, yet it appeals to anyone who likes the “unexplained.”  

 9: Who or what inspired you to write this book?

As a writer, I love to create stories…I love the process.  Once I start with an idea—sometimes it is triggered by a line of poetry, or a newspaper article, or a song lyric—then I just let my imagination run with it. With Prissy, it started with a painting I saw in an art gallery of a little girl dressed in faded coveralls.

10: What else about your book might pique the reader’s interest?

The publisher’s release date is set for March 1, 2013.  If anyone is interested, they can buy it directly from Strategic Media Books (www.strategicmediabooks.com) at a discounted price.  It is also now available for pre-order through Amazon.com and BarnesandNoble.com.

Also, and this is a biggy, Warner Bros. Studios has expressed interest in it.

11: Why are you so much better-looking in person than in your photo?

Did my husband tell you to ask that?

Who’s next on the NEXT BIG THING BLOG HOP?
So glad you asked!
Below you will find three gifted authors who will be joining me by blog, next Wednesday. Do be sure to bookmark and add them to your calendars for updates on Works in Progress and New Releases! Happy Writing and Reading!

p.m. terrell’s blog: [http://pmterrell.blogspot.com/]
Karen Dove Barr’s blog: [www.karendovebarr.com]
Patricia Daly-Lipe’s blog:[www.literarylady.com]

Hope to hear from you then.

Barbara

Book Description

BLOOD AND GOLD, the third book in the Craige Ingram Mystery Series written by my client Hawk MacKinney, was released at the beginning of 2012. The next book in the series, LADY OF CORPSEWOOD MANOR, is scheduled for release early 2013. In addition, Hawk’s science fiction series was picked up by Sage Words Publishing. The first book in that series, THE CAIRNS OF SAINCTUARIE: THE BLEIKOVAT EVENT, will be released this fall. The cover has just been finalized, and it is spectacular!

For those of you who haven’t read any of Hawk’s books yet, you are in for a treat. Raised in the coal mining Ozark Mountains of Arkansas, Welsh and Scottish blooded Hawk MacKinney served in the US Navy for over 20 years. While serving as a Navy Commander, he also had a career as a full-time faculty member at several major state medical facilities. He earned two postgraduate degrees with additional studies in foreign languages and history. He has taught postgraduate courses in both the United States and Jerusalem, Israel. In addition to his science fiction and mystery series, Hawk has authored several other works of fiction, including the award-winning historical novel MOCCASIN TRACE.

Client and nonfiction author David Aikman was offered a five figure advance for his work, ONE NATION WITHOUT GOD by Baker Books, the largest religious publisher in the world. Scheduled for release in September, this thought-provoking work will be distributed internationally.

In addition, the Barbara Casey Agency placed David’s latest work of fiction with Strategic Media Books. KIDNAPPED IN GAZA, a political suspense novel, was released this spring and is already in line for a second printing.

Most recently, the Barbara Casey Agency finalized the contract offered by Tyndale Publishing and negotiated a five-figure advance for David’s memoirs.

Some of you might remember David’s much-acclaimed biography on President George W Bush, among other things. An award-winning print and broadcast journalist, a best-selling author, and a foreign affairs commentator, David is based in the Washington, DC area. His wide-ranging professional achievements include a 23-year career at TIME Magazine with reporting spanning the globe of nearly all the major historical events of the time. Since leaving TIME, he has authored over a dozen books, both fiction and nonfiction, with several publishers including Tyndale House, Baker Books, and B&H Publishing Group. With special expertise in China, Russia, the Middle East, Mongolia and religious freedom issues worldwide, David is frequently invited to deliver expert testimony at Congressional hearings and is a popular speaker at conferences, seminars, panels, as well as academic, church and professional groups all over the world. David’s broadcast career includes a two-hour documentary on the Middle East peace process that was aired worldwide on the BBC, and a six-part documentary based on his book GREAT SOULS: Six Who Changed a Century. In addition, David has been a commentator on NBC, ABC, CNN, Fox News, and the BBC and has also been a guest on C-Span, CBN and local television and radio stations around the country.

In March, the Barbara Casey Agency was thrilled to sign award-winning author p. m. terrell. Known internationally for her “Black Swamp Mystery Series,” I will be representing her new mystery/suspense series and other future works, as well as the foreign, film, and television rights for all of her works.

Finally, on a personal note, my latest adult novel, THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO PRISSY, was put under contract by Strategic Media Books at the beginning of the year. It is scheduled for release in March 2013 and will be distributed nationally. The art department at Strategic Media Books is finalizing the cover now, and I must say, they have really captured the essence of my novel. It is beautiful!

Also, Gauthier Publications, the publisher of my young adult novel THE CADENCE OF GYPSIES which was published last spring, contracted two of my short stories for their anthology of horror stories which will be released next month. They also have plans to release THE CADENCE OF GYPSIES early this fall in e-book format for those of you who want to read it in Kindle, Nook, or other electronic readers.

Please visit again soon. I will be telling you about some of my other clients, pending contracts, and new projects the Barbara Casey Agency is working on.

Barbara

Schedule:

Friday: Workshop and dinner at a local venue TBA.

Saturday: Main Conference; Hour and a half workshop with our keynote speaker, 2 book signing times, a panel discussion and your choice of three of six other 50 minute workshops.

Sunday Breakfast and “Open Mike” at Fork In The Road Diner.

Additional information can be found at:

http://www.harrisartscenter.com/

CADENCE OF GYPSIES Summary:
On her 18th birthday Carolina Lovel learned that she was adopted and was given a letter written in an unknown language left to her by her birth mother. After years of research she travels to Italy on a mission to find the truth about her past. Carolina is accompanied by three extremely gifted but mischievous students—the FIGs—from Wood Rose Orphanage and Academy for Young Women. In an effort to help their favorite teacher, the FIGs will have to use their special abilities to decipher the Voynich Manuscript, the most mysterious document in the world and the one thing that is strangely similar to what Carolina was given as a child. Their search will take them into the mystical world of gypsy tradition and magic, more exciting and dangerous than any of them could have imagined.