Market Monday with Cindy Thomson

Good morning, everyone. Today launches a new schedule for Favorite PASTimes. If you missed last Saturday's announcement, please scroll down to read it. We think the new schedule will help you, our readers, to anticipate what you will find when you visit this blog.

Today is my day. On Mondays I'll be bringing you market news, publishing house news, new releases--whatever I can find. You can help me out by sending any news you come across to cindy @ cindyswriting .com (don't cut and paste; I put spaces in there. And put PASTime news in the subject line, please!)

Today the news will focus on the Christian market because I've just returned from CBA Advance in Indianapolis. For anyone who doesn't know, that's me with Liz Curtis Higgs (great picture of her, not so great of me! Oh, well. I was thrilled to have my picture taken with her.)

What's the state of historical fiction in the Christian market? Well, my knowledge is limited, but what I can tell you is no one told me to forget it. Several editors were interested in my projects. One said, "We haven't published a lot of historical fiction, but we have published some." So writers out there, don't be discouraged. And if you're writing about Ireland, know that EVERYONE seemed to think that's the coming wave. When I first started the editors were saying, "No Celtic themes!" The best advice is to write what's on your heart, but keep readers in mind.

The show was small, smaller than last year I'm told. The exhibitors seemed to have trouble giving books away (with the exception of books by Liz Curtis Higgs, Francine Rivers, and Gary Chapman.) There were two historical movies screened at the convention. I saw one, Amazing Grace. It was wonderful. If you're not familiar with it, check this out. I thought it was well done. There were bits of humor added that were very "British." Without that, however, the movie might have been a little depressing. The descriptions of the slave trade was heart wrenching, as was the performance of Albert Finney as John Newton, the man who wrote the words to Amazing Grace. Historically, I thought they did a great job with the costuming. Wilberforce's wife's lipstick was a bit unlikely, as was the perfectly round and white loaf of bread a cook pulled from a blazing fire. But those are minor things. I urge everyone to see it when it releases Feb. 23. Wilberforce's story is inspiring and motivates us all to never give up on what we know to be the right thing to do.

I missed the screening of The Last Sin Eater, but I did read the book by Francine Rivers. You can watch the trailer here.
It's set in 1850's Appalachia. I'm not sure about those Welsh accents I'm hearing in the trailer, but maybe one of you knows better than I do. I'm thinking Appalachia had by that time morphed the dialect into something more American. I do have Kentucky relatives and I guess I expected to hear more of that twang. But the book was terrific and I'm sure the movie, directed by Michael Landon, Jr., is too. I plan to go see it when it opens this Friday.

New releases:

Borrowed from Brandilynn Collins's Sneak Peak newsletter:

The Reliance by Marylu Tyndall (Barbour)
www.mltyndall.com

Legacy of the King's Pirates #2. Tormented by his wife's apparent demise, Edmund Merrick sails away to drown his sorrows-only to find himself trapped in the dark world of a demented Frenchman. When his mind clears from its rum-induced haze, will Edmund find the will to escape? Seemingly abandoned by her husband, Charlisse is thrown into the clutches of the vengeful pirate Kent. Will she be swept away by the undertow of treachery and despair? Can Edmund and Charlisse steer their way to the faith-filled haven they so desperately seek, or will they ultimately lose their love and lives to the sea?

From the Historical Novel Society:

THE GENTLE WIND'S CARESS by Anne Whitfield

Robert Hale Ltd
ISBN 0709082282
February 28th

1870s Hebden Bridge, West Yorkshire.
Isabelle Gibson escapes a life of drudgery in a workhouse and marries a moorland farmer she has never met, but not all goes to plan.


One last thing I wanted to tell you is that I received an advance copy of Jane Kirkpatrick's A Clearing in the Wild. Here's a teaser from her Web site: Jane Kirkpatrick discovered the grain of the story when she read that in 1853 Emma Giesy was the only woman in a party of ten Missouri scouts sent to find an Oregon site for their communal society. That got Kirkpatrick considering why a woman had the courage to make such a journey 150 years ago.

There are readers for these historicals out there. So the genre is alive and well!

Remember, if you have news, please send it to me as described above. Until next week, happy reading!

Cindy
Author of Brigid of Ireland