Hi Valerie:

Yes, you're right about most travel writing not paying well these days. When I started out as a travel writer, I owned the copyright on my books and was able to negotiate a good advance--no more! Most travel publishers only want work-for-hire, and will pay as little as possible since so many people are willing to write for free.

Hey Valerie! What 'cha know good? :)

Hi Val,

I really enjoyed the book, so much so, I'm thinking I'm going to do a review of it on my blog, or pitch a dual review of your book and Marjorie's about themes of the New South to a literary journal. Stay tuned for more about that...

Also, while I was away in another state reading your book, I almost got attacked by an unleashed dog. It was VERY scary--you captured this experience true to life in your book!!!

Thanks bunches for the friend invite! I'm honored! :) I've added Blood Clay to my list. I remember getting a tweet about it sometime ago and knew I would be adding it. Please let me know if you'll be in Richmond! I'd love to say hello! ~Tonya

Hello Valerie, Welcome to the Southern Writers Group. We're very pleased to have you join us. With the level of your work I know you will be a wonderful addition to the group and I look forward to your participation. Zetta Brown and I are the admins and we encourage people to jump into discussions. Role Call is a good place to start or say hello or the page. Best, Nicky

Ha, I wish! That picture was taken in Tulum, Mexico — a very creatively inspiring place! I say we establish a She Writes bureau there ASAP!

Dear Book Lover:

You may not know me or my work, but I am the national bestselling, award winning novelist of six critically acclaimed novels who has been twice nominated for the Pulitzer Prize in Fiction.

On Jan 9th, 2010 my debut novel, SUGAR will celebrate its 10th anniversary and in order to commemorate this milestone I am campaigning to sell 10,000 copies between now and that date.

“Bernice L. McFadden's first novel begins with the brief, poetic description of a crime so startling that the reader is helplessly drawn in, as if a bright red door stood ajar on a bleak and forbidding house. Pearl Taylor's daughter, Jude, has been found murdered and mutilated near a field at the edge of town. "The murder had white man written all over it," writes McFadden. "But no one would say it above a whisper. It was 1940. It was Bigelow, Arkansas. It was a black child. Need any more be said?" In the years that follow, Pearl catches sight of Jude in so many strangers that when Sugar Lacey comes to town and sets up her unwholesome "business" in the house next door, she doesn't know whether to believe what she sees in Sugar's face: a striking similarity to Jude, dead 15 years. In her sedate but supple prose--rising at times to a light, unforced lyricism in the description of landscape or character--the author perfectly renders the closed and protective society of a small Southern town, the superstitions, gossip, and prying.”


I’m asking that you purchase a copy of SUGAR for yourself, a friend or family member. And yes, KINDLE purchases count.

If you could help spread the word by blogging, twittering ad Face-booking my campaign, it would mean the world to me.


Peace & Light,

Bernice L. McFadden
www.bernicemcfadden.com
www.firstborngirl.blogspot.com
www.amazon.com
www.B&N.com