Hello Reading Friends!

With June News we’re on a two month count down to the release of MERIDIAN! I’m so excited to finally have it out to the patient and not so patient among you! You may have seen it on sites and blogs—many people are buzzing about it—and I’m in the process of finalizing details with many reader websites to giveaway signed copies and do interviews in August, so keep your eyes peeled. As a special thank you to fans who subscribe to the newsletter, there will be an extra special giveaway in August—so tell your friends to subscribe now so they can get in on the action!

June is one of my favorite times of year in the garden—the peonies are in bloom, my roses are starting to pop and the baby birds are hanging out on the deck. I swear their parents drop them off for birdie day care. So we have flutter-budgets chirping, yelling and calling on the deck railing most of the day. The owls are talking up a storm and the Mallards who visit every day for corn are right on schedule to be bringing teenage ducklings with them soon. I’ve had the privilege of having a few fluttery unexpecteds this week. A Cinnabar moth which looks like Big Red Gum meets a Sharpie accident has been hanging out—very bright, but small in stature. And several pairs of Western Swallowtail Butterflies are driving the cats nuts with the weaving and bobbing.  

I’m finishing up several quilts and playing in fabric always brings a smile to my face. I can’t draw, or paint (although I do paint a mean wall!), but I always feel artistic surrounded by scads of colorful scraps waiting to become a quilt.

I just turned in a proposal for my next book. I’m really enthusiastic about this story and want to share it, but you’ll just have to wait for details until it’s written! I’m one of those superstitious writers who doesn’t talk about the current work in progress. I just can’t waste the mojo until it’s on paper. I’m sure you understand.

MeridianSozu.com is up and running and you can find the first three chapters of the book to scroll through! Yes, I said it, that’s more than you will find posted anywhere else on the web—so check it out and let me know what you think! And there’s a chance to win an ARC of MERIDIAN for before it’s out in August.

And one last note about author mail. I got an email last week from a reader who apologized for writing and bugging me, but she wanted me to know how much she liked my book. I don’t know any authors who feel bugged or annoyed by fan mail. Really. Even the really huge ones. I don’t think it ever gets old hearing that your work touched someone in some way. So please—if you love a book let the author know. We are very solitary in our work and the reminder that readers are out there is always welcome. It doesn’t have to be much—just a sentence or two. And you never know—you might hear back!

Until next time. Take it one at a time,

Amber