Take a walk over to Novel Journey to read my interview by Jessica.
Post a comment for a chance to win a copy of Rain Song.
Author Alice J. Wisler's Patchwork Quilt Blog ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~* A little of that, a lot of this. All welcome. ~*~*~*~
Sunday, October 26, 2008
Thursday, October 23, 2008
Sunday, October 19, 2008
Rain Song in The Durham Herald-Sun!
The actual article starts on page one of the Sunday edition of The Herald-Sun and carries over to the Books and Leisure Section and spans to the next page.
The article comes with a large, full color photo of me and Rain Song's cover, as well as a listing of upcoming book events. Of course, being able to see, feel, and breathe in the full newspaper affect adds to the excitement I feel for this piece.
Author's newest story an outlet for her grief
By Dawn Baumgartner Vaughan : The Herald-Sun
dvaughan@heraldsun.com
Oct 19, 2008
"Rain Song"
By Alice J. Wisler(Bethany House, trade paperback, 304 pages, $13.99)
Alice J. Wisler was passing through Mount Olive, N.C., one time and stopped to eat at a restaurant there. The town -- home to the pickle company and annual pickle festival -- became the setting for her debut novel, "Rain Song."
Wisler, who has lived in Durham for 20 years, has previously self-published cookbooks and ran a small cake decorating business. Food is a popular topic for discussion among the "Rain Song" characters as they plan the annual family reunion. And they make and eat a good deal of pineapple chutney. Main character Nicole enjoys her grandmother, great aunts and other quirky extended family.
But it is Nicole's immediate family relationships that cause her pain. Nicole was born in Japan to missionaries. Her mother was killed in a house fire when Nicole was just a toddler. It left a longing and unanswered questions in Nicole and led to a distant relationship with her father. So Nicole takes comfort in her familiar surroundings in Mount Olive, her contributions to the Pretty Fishy Web site and her job as a middle school teacher. Until she connects with a man who has fish too, but more importantly lives in Japan and holds the key to Nicole's understanding of her young life there. As she learns about her past, her comfortable world is shaken.
Like her character, Wisler is also the daughter of missionaries and lived in Japan as a child. She has also dealt with the loss of a close loved one. Wisler's son died at age four. Over the past dozen years she has used writing to deal with grief and showed others how to do so, too. Writing is something she has always done, though she put it on the back burner as she raised her children. She is also mom to a freshman at East Carolina University and two middle school students. After her son died, she was writing for survival.
"It took on a whole new course," Wisler said. "My writing became a lot more realistic. Now it's not so happily ever after."
The ending of "Rain Song" leaves the readers an opportunity to continue the story in their own imagination. Wisler actually finished the novel without the final chapter, which her publisher asked her to write to provide some closure. She doesn't plan to write a sequel, but she does have another novel coming out next year. Her publisher, Bethany House, which publishes Christian fiction, signed her to a two-book contract. "Rain Song" includes church and religious references as part of the daily lives of the characters in the small Southern community.
"I wanted to add the Christian influences but didn't want it to be overly saturated with it. I wanted it to be entertaining, not a sermon," she said. Wisler attends Blacknall Presbyterian Church in Durham.
Her next novel, "How Sweet It Is," takes place in Bryson City, on the edge of the Smoky Mountains. It features a woman from Georgia who moves to a cabin there and teaches cooking at a church-run foster children's program. Wisler has worked with foster children and studied social work in college at Eastern Mennonite University in Harrisonburg, Va.
She has been part of a writing group in Cary for eight years. Wisler said she had been rejected many times before, and had just three chapters of "Rain Song" completed in 2007 for her soon-to-be agent. The agent asked for the entire book, and Wisler frantically wrote her final draft while her children slept or were at school. She already has a third book in a draft stage -- another novel -- which does not have a publisher yet.
"I want to have one ready," Wisler said.
Copyright 2008
All rights reserved
The article comes with a large, full color photo of me and Rain Song's cover, as well as a listing of upcoming book events. Of course, being able to see, feel, and breathe in the full newspaper affect adds to the excitement I feel for this piece.
Author's newest story an outlet for her grief
By Dawn Baumgartner Vaughan : The Herald-Sun
dvaughan@heraldsun.com
Oct 19, 2008
"Rain Song"
By Alice J. Wisler(Bethany House, trade paperback, 304 pages, $13.99)
Alice J. Wisler was passing through Mount Olive, N.C., one time and stopped to eat at a restaurant there. The town -- home to the pickle company and annual pickle festival -- became the setting for her debut novel, "Rain Song."
Wisler, who has lived in Durham for 20 years, has previously self-published cookbooks and ran a small cake decorating business. Food is a popular topic for discussion among the "Rain Song" characters as they plan the annual family reunion. And they make and eat a good deal of pineapple chutney. Main character Nicole enjoys her grandmother, great aunts and other quirky extended family.
But it is Nicole's immediate family relationships that cause her pain. Nicole was born in Japan to missionaries. Her mother was killed in a house fire when Nicole was just a toddler. It left a longing and unanswered questions in Nicole and led to a distant relationship with her father. So Nicole takes comfort in her familiar surroundings in Mount Olive, her contributions to the Pretty Fishy Web site and her job as a middle school teacher. Until she connects with a man who has fish too, but more importantly lives in Japan and holds the key to Nicole's understanding of her young life there. As she learns about her past, her comfortable world is shaken.
Like her character, Wisler is also the daughter of missionaries and lived in Japan as a child. She has also dealt with the loss of a close loved one. Wisler's son died at age four. Over the past dozen years she has used writing to deal with grief and showed others how to do so, too. Writing is something she has always done, though she put it on the back burner as she raised her children. She is also mom to a freshman at East Carolina University and two middle school students. After her son died, she was writing for survival.
"It took on a whole new course," Wisler said. "My writing became a lot more realistic. Now it's not so happily ever after."
The ending of "Rain Song" leaves the readers an opportunity to continue the story in their own imagination. Wisler actually finished the novel without the final chapter, which her publisher asked her to write to provide some closure. She doesn't plan to write a sequel, but she does have another novel coming out next year. Her publisher, Bethany House, which publishes Christian fiction, signed her to a two-book contract. "Rain Song" includes church and religious references as part of the daily lives of the characters in the small Southern community.
"I wanted to add the Christian influences but didn't want it to be overly saturated with it. I wanted it to be entertaining, not a sermon," she said. Wisler attends Blacknall Presbyterian Church in Durham.
Her next novel, "How Sweet It Is," takes place in Bryson City, on the edge of the Smoky Mountains. It features a woman from Georgia who moves to a cabin there and teaches cooking at a church-run foster children's program. Wisler has worked with foster children and studied social work in college at Eastern Mennonite University in Harrisonburg, Va.
She has been part of a writing group in Cary for eight years. Wisler said she had been rejected many times before, and had just three chapters of "Rain Song" completed in 2007 for her soon-to-be agent. The agent asked for the entire book, and Wisler frantically wrote her final draft while her children slept or were at school. She already has a third book in a draft stage -- another novel -- which does not have a publisher yet.
"I want to have one ready," Wisler said.
Copyright 2008
All rights reserved
Friday, October 17, 2008
Rain Song in Dutch -- Regenlied
Well, when I was doing what writer Patricia Fry calls
a fame search, guess what I came across?
Did you guess Rain Song in Dutch? Believe it or not, you are right.
Rain Song, or Regenlied, will have a different cover from the US
cover. The picture is of a little girl in a pink sweater and I think
she looks adorable. The Dutch translation should be out by Christmas.
Okay, so you are curious to see what it looks like?
Head over to this site.
a fame search, guess what I came across?
Did you guess Rain Song in Dutch? Believe it or not, you are right.
Rain Song, or Regenlied, will have a different cover from the US
cover. The picture is of a little girl in a pink sweater and I think
she looks adorable. The Dutch translation should be out by Christmas.
Okay, so you are curious to see what it looks like?
Head over to this site.
Wednesday, October 15, 2008
Gotta love this review of Rain Song
Folks,
Head over to Deena's site, A Peek at My Bookshelf.
What an in-depth and fun review
of Rain Song she posted today.
There is nothing quite like the feeling that
a reader gets your book. Thanks, Deena!
I hope we get to meet one day.
Head over to Deena's site, A Peek at My Bookshelf.
What an in-depth and fun review
of Rain Song she posted today.
There is nothing quite like the feeling that
a reader gets your book. Thanks, Deena!
I hope we get to meet one day.
Thank you, WKCT!
I so enjoyed the interview yesterday afternoon on
Bowling Green, Kentucky's WKCT radio. I only wish
it could have been longer than 10 minutes. I barely
got going and it was time for sports.
Bowling Green, Kentucky's WKCT radio. I only wish
it could have been longer than 10 minutes. I barely
got going and it was time for sports.
Thursday, October 9, 2008
Way to go, Reviewers
This is a special thanks to all who have placed a review on
Amazon's page for Rain Song.
Thank you, thank you, all!
Be sure to add to your calendar the Family Christian Stores book signing held on Saturday, November 8 from noon
to 2 PM at the 6901 Fayetteville Road location.
Amazon's page for Rain Song.
Thank you, thank you, all!
Be sure to add to your calendar the Family Christian Stores book signing held on Saturday, November 8 from noon
to 2 PM at the 6901 Fayetteville Road location.
Thursday, October 2, 2008
Wednesday, October 1, 2008
Por Fin!
At last, Rain Song's official release
date is here! I've sent out my newsletter
Literary Lyrics, emailed a bunch of folk, and
am ready for the sky to light up with fireworks...
Uh, it's now raining. Well, perhaps it will
clear before the day ends. It's 3 AM EST.
I'm off to sleep.
date is here! I've sent out my newsletter
Literary Lyrics, emailed a bunch of folk, and
am ready for the sky to light up with fireworks...
Uh, it's now raining. Well, perhaps it will
clear before the day ends. It's 3 AM EST.
I'm off to sleep.
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