American Book Fest is an online publication providing coverage for books from mainstream and independent publishers to the world online community.  Each year, they sponsor the "Best Book Awards" competition.  I was feeling optimistic and hopeful... so I entered!
     Alas, I did not win :-(.  However, The Heart of Everything will have a 5-month listing on their website, so that counts for something!  Congratulations to those who did win and best of luck to all those who enter for next year!  Be sure to visit their website to check out all the different books in the competition, as well as to see my listing (you'll find it under "Cross-genre"). :-)
http://www.americanbookfest.com/generalfiction/crossgenre.html

     Thank you to everyone who attended my first book reading!  It wasn't a huge crowd, but hey, we have to start somewhere!  The reading itself went well and there were a lot of great questions/ discussion from the audience.  I hope to see more of you at future events! ;-)

    Library address is 302 N Main St, Victoria, TX 77901.
    Thank you to Jeremiah Fox for the custom-made flyer :-).  Any and all coastal Texas folks, be sure to attend if you can!!!  I'll be reading chapters 1 & 2, so if you're still not sure if my book is for you, come and find out! :-D

     The Goodreads giveaway ended just last night, and the winners have already been chosen!  Congratulations to Megan from North Dakota and Shaylee from Texas!!! WHOO-HOO!!!  A signed first-edition copy with commemorative wooden bookmark will soon be on its way to each of you!  I promise I will get them in the mail soon... thank goodness Amazon boxes come in so many sizes and are reusable! XD
       Fun fact about this giveaway: there were OVER 1600 PARTICIPANTS!!!  Wow!  That just blows my mind.  Thank you so much to everyone who entered - it's great to see such interest being generated for my book :-).  Those who didn't win, be sure to buy a copy instead - you know you still want to read it!!!
        Stay tuned for more upcoming events and as always, keep reading!

     Great news!  I'm doing a giveaway through Goodreads starting this coming Monday, July 22nd!  Two lucky winners will receive a signed, first-edition copy of The Heart of Everything, plus a commemorative bookmark!  The giveaway ends August 21st, so be sure to enter before then!

     Howdy y'all!
     I realize it's been a bit slow around here for the past several months, but never fear!  Events featuring the book or me (or both :-P) are up-and-coming!
     First of all, I've already started the wheels turning on doing a book reading (or some sort of book event) at the Victoria Public Library this coming fall.  I'm also hoping to arrange a book signing or two at Barnes & Noble sometime in the future :-D.
     Second, I'd like to do some book giveaways online through Goodreads and Amazon!  If you don't have your copy yet or would like one for a friend, be on the lookout for those in the next couple of months!
     Third, there is the possibility that maybe - just maybe - another book could come out next year O_o.  That depends on a lot of factors though, so I'm not making any promises just yet... but one of those factors is how well the current book sells.  In other words, spread the word!  The better this first book does, the easier it will be to convince my publisher to print a second one ;-P.
     Last, thank you for your continued support and as always, keep reading :-).  Stay tuned for more details!
     

     I'd like to use this update post as an opportunity to say thank-you to my publisher, Covenant Books :-).  Without them, I'm not sure I would have gotten the chance to share my stories with you, and that would have been a very sad thing!
      Covenant Books is a small publisher when compared with the major players in the book world (Penguin, Random House, etc), but they do publish anything and everything.  One of the reasons I submitted my novel to them was because they are accepting of works containing religious material, and I wanted to be sure that I could share my stories just the way they are - just the way God gave them to me ;-) - without having to cut out what is probably the more important elements of the story.  They have been extremely helpful and supportive throughout the entire publishing process (a big thank-you to my publication assistant, Robert, who made sure I didn't get lost or overwhelmed!), and I would highly recommend them to anyone seeking to publish a book of their own.  For more information about Covenant Books, visit their website here (covenantbooks.com).  You can also visit their New Releases page to see what other great books they've published!
     In particular, visit my book page on Covenant's website!  This page has links for all major buying options: Amazon, Barnes & Noble, iTunes (you'll also find a link on the Books page of my website).  While you're there, watch the promotional video they created just for The Heart of Everything, which you can also view here on YouTube.
     Last but not least, Covenant Books recently featured me in their blog of new books!  You can check it out here :-).
     Again, thank you to my awesome publisher and a great publishing experience!  Here's to many more in the future! :-D
     Stay tuned for more updates on The Heart of Everything ​as well as other author stuff!

        Many things have happened since my last update!
      For starters, the book finally made it to iTunes!  It is an Apple book, not an audiobook, just so we're all clear.  The easiest way to locate it that I have found is to search for "Lynn Wallace" while in the iTunes store, and then click the "Lynn Wallace > Author" link in the right-hand column.  See my earlier Facebook/ Instagram post on January 5th for details.
     I've also joined several several online communities that add new ways to connect with my readers and share my book!  Among these are Authorgraph, Goodreads, and Amazon Author Central.  Authorgraph is a way for those of you who purchased the digital version of the book to get a signed copy!  Simply search for my book and request a signature!  I'd love to add the Authorgraph tab to my Facebook page to make it even easier, but I need a lot more followers before they will allow that.  Please spread the word and invite your friends to like my page!  For now, you can find a link to Authorgraph on the Books page :-).
        Amazon Author Central and Goodreads provide additional ways to learn about me and stay in touch.  Both provide another way to follow my blog posts, and can potentially host giveaways (such as free copies of the book!).  Stay tuned for future announcements about that ;-P.  Amazon Author Central has links on my page where you can purchase the book through Amazon.com (instead of having to search the main site for it).  Goodreads is an online reading community where you can leave book reviews and ask questions of the author.  Please leave me a review if you are a member so others can see how good the book is!  I have links to my page on both websites under the Contact tab :-).
        Last but not least, the distribution of my novel is completely up and running at this time.  If you are experiencing any difficulty in purchasing or receiving a copy of the book that you previously purchased, please contact Customer Service of the seller (Amazon, Barnes & Noble, etc).  I can say that Ingram, the distributor, is print-on-demand - meaning that once you order the book, they print a copy for you (as opposed to the seller keeping a box of them in stock).  Beyond that, I have no control over the printing and distributing process.  I only write the books, sorry!
        As always, thank you to everyone who has been and continues to support me in this amazing journey :-).  Stay tuned for more exciting developments and (hopefully) future book events!

    My book is officially available!!!  (Inner happy scream)  Can you believe it??? I'm so thrilled it's hard to type straight :D.
     So!  Buying the book - you can purchase digital AND print copies via Amazon and Barnes & Noble at this time (click the store name to follow the link).  Don't panic if the availability seems limited!  The distribution of my book literally JUST STARTED this week - it may take some time to get up and running fully.  Also, don't freak out that there's no cover photo shown for the paperback version on B&N.  That has to do with the way the listing is created - some sort of technical mumbo-jumbo involving meta-data populating fields or whatever (my publisher assures me this is normal).  It does not reflect that the book is incomplete in any way.  The listings will eventually be complete and the book's availability will increase as the distribution continues.  Also, my book will soon be available digitally through Apple/ iTunes (I'll post again when that happens).  Please be patient with me as we wait for all of this!!!  (I know being patient is hard - it is for me, at least, since I've been waiting all year for this!)
    Also, for those of you that like to buy books in an actual store - my book will be coming to brick and mortar locations.  However, I do not have an exact where and when for that.  I do know that it will be available through Barnes & Noble, and potentially wherever books are sold.  Wondering if your local bookstore will carry it?  Just ask them!  My publisher is partnered with Ingram, one of the largest book distribution companies in North America - meaning that if a bookstore uses Ingram to get books on their shelves, then they have the option to stock and sell my book.  Simply talk with your local bookstore about if and when they can have my book available for you :). 
    And, if you do see my book on store shelves, please take a picture!!!  There are no local bookstores where I live :'(, but I would love to see my book in a store!!!  So snap a photo and share it with me via Facebook or Instagram :D.
    That's all for right now, folks!  Thank you for your prayers and patience - the moment we've all been waiting for is finally here!!! 

Oh.  My.  Goodness.

I literally just received the cover design this past weekend...  And it looks absolutely amazing!  There are no words to describe how incredibly gorgeous it is, so I'm just going to show you:

Told you it was amazing :P.

The great news now is that we are on our way to print!!!  It will be a month or so before the book is actually available, but still!  We're so close I can practically taste it!! XD

Thank you for all your prayers and support during this long process, and stay tuned for release notifications!