Pamela Bauer Mueller's Blog

Oh My!  How can this be?  My first BLOG entry in 2012???  I guess that’s what a full life will do to you!
We’ve been constantly on the road introducing our South Carolinian book, “Water To My Soul: The Story of Eliza Lucas Pinckney.”  She’s an incredible colonial woman, and I have wanted to give her due time and energy.  I even postponed the research of my next novel for about eight months, but now I’m ready to move on.  However, we continue to do book tours for Eliza, and are so proud to announce that she’s already won two national awards. Normally, we do not submit our books for awards until the year after they are launched.  But we sent “Water To My Soul: The Story of Eliza Lucas Pinckney” in for consideration to two competitions on the west coast that accepted early 2012 releases.  Much to our surprise and delight, we placed in both of them.  “Water To My Soul” was the WINNER in the Wild Card category for the national Green Book Awards.   The same title won HONORABLE MENTION in the San Francisco Book Awards.   What a huge blessing for our Eliza Lucas Pinckney in her first few months out of the chute!
OUR EXCITING NEWS: We've just sold the Japanese language translation rights for "Hello, Goodbye, I Love You" to Sanyo Shuppan in Tokyo. This was due, in part, to our friendship with Michael Hingson, author of “Thunder Dog,” about his journey coming down from the 78th floor of the World Trade Center after the explosion.  His guide dog, Roselle, led him to safety.  Michael had asked me to write his story, but we decided that we didn’t have the time to do it properly in his time frame.  Still, he attributed our title “Hello, Goodbye, I Love You” at the end of his book as an amazing story.  The Japanese publishers read it and offered us a contract.  Very exciting for our independent micro-press!  Thank you Michael Hingson!
Most authors do not like to discuss upcoming research or book subjects.  Some think it’s bad luck; others don’t want writers to “steal” ideas.  I subscribe to neither of these theories, but don’t always make the final decision until I’m deep into my research.  So let me tease you with this.  The subject I’ve tentatively chosen (with the working title of “Unveiled”) grew up in the northeast.  I’ve just spoken on the phone with the great-great-great-great-nephew of her husband.  He is 82 and has information that would truly help me in my research, including pictures of the home in the 1700’s.  By the way, this man lives in the house where this Revolutionary War hero was born!  Guesses, anyone?
Be well.  Enjoy your summer!  Stay cool.  More news in the fall!  Or sooner, if I can get to it!
Blessings,Pamela
 

MERRY CHRISTMAS to each one of you!  Michael and I feel so blessed to approach this loving season with good health and hearts overflowing with joy.  He is the Reason for the season.
We've spent a great deal of the year traveling for book promotions, but our favorite trip was going "Down Under" to visit youngest daughter Ticiana and her family.  They live in Melbourne, Australia and so we added on a week's trip to Tasmania just for fun!  What an amazing place: we saw all the unusual animals that dwell down there, including the Tasmanian Devil.  If you would like pictures, just email us and we'll send them off.
We will not be sending out a Christmas letter (again) this year, but we hope you will follow us through our BLOGS to keep up with our busy lives.  Our newest child: Water To My Soul: The Story of Eliza Lucas Pinckney, has just been released, and has been well-received through early reviews and book sales!

Below are several reviews.  You will find more on our home page: www.pinatapub.com.
Not only is it rich in dialogue that carries the story along, it is also an engaging "period piece" of our colonial history. This fascinating true-life drama, wonderfully fluid in its pace and written with warm and sensitive intelligence and attention to detail, draws us into Eliza's personal journey in southern colonial America. As I came to the last pages of Water to My Soul , I felt appreciation for the sheer pleasure of reading it.  I highly recommend Pamela Bauer Mueller's Water To My Soul .  Meg Cunningham
Your new book is so wonderful!  I have read many books, notes, etc. speaking of Eliza Lucas Pinckney but yours has captured her entire life in such a beautiful manner.  Johnie Rivers/historian  Water To My Soul is your best ever!  I LOVE it!  This book should really put you in another category as an historical novelist.  You amaze me that with your west coast origin via Mexico & Canada that you are able to capture the history & feelings of the south. Louise HooperEliza helps me have perspective on my own life. Her many loses remind me of my many blessings. Your writing has captured her beauty!  Kim Belt  I loved the triumphs and stories of Eliza's life. I marvel at how well she dealt with all of life's challenges and how she provides a wonderful perspective for how we should view our lives. Your knowledge and detail for that time in our country's history is amazing.  Cassandra Coveney
I am truly enjoying the new book, Water to My Soul.  I really appreciate your including her prayers: so heartfelt, human and loving.  Patricia Duke
Eliza had to be a remarkable woman to pursue her dream and become interwoven in the fabric of our country's history.  God has truly gifted you in your writing.  Your word pictures about His lovely world speak volumes about who you are and WHOSE you are!  Eleanor Miller
Have a beautiful Christmas and a blessed New Year!
Gratefully,
Pamela Bauer Mueller

Summer is streaming away, and I'm 2 months behind on my BLOG.  Ay yi yi!!  At least they've been two fun-filled, enjoyable months.  Trips to San Diego, Florida and South Carolina, a week visit from our 12 year old granddaughter, a presentation at the Historical Novel Society Convention, where we met some great writers and made new friends, and adding the final touches to Water To My Soul: The Story of Eliza Lucas Pinckney: my new historical novel  soon to be launched, just took up more time than I expected! 
As all writers know, the birthing of a book is a very traumatic experience.  Is it good enough?   Will people like it as much as my other titles?  Are there any mistakes that my various editors missed?  And finally, did I do the best job I could to tell my protagonist's story?
Yet once we hold our new baby in our hands, we breathe a sigh of relief and the joy returns.  Water To My Soul is my ninth baby, and we're ready for her arrival! 
Eliza Lucas Pinckney was an incredible Renaissance woman who lived in South Carolina during the colonial period.  She was born in the West Indies, schooled in finishing schools in London, and then brought by her military father to Charles Town, South Carolina when she was just fifteen, where they settled on one of the three plantations her father had inherited.  After only  two years, he was called back to military service to fight against the Spanish.  Leaving Eliza to care for her invalid mother, younger sister and to run the three plantations, he impressed on her the need to find a cash crop to cultivate in order to help out Mother England as well as free their lands from mortgage. 
She chose indigo: against all odds.  She was told it would never grow in the New World.  Yet with true grit and strong will she proved everyone wrong.  This book tells the story of how she made a better future for herself, her family, her society and our fledgling democracy.
My good friend Buddy Sullivan, an award winning Coastal Georgia Historian, penned these words for me as his endorsement.
"Once again, with keenness of insight and perception previously unrevealed in historical novels of this period, Pamela Bauer Mueller provides us with an enlightening glimpse into the world of an exceptional woman in colonial America. Eliza Lucas Pinckney's story offers an illuminating awareness of the unique culture of indigo planting, while also presenting an intimate perspective of everyday life in colonial Charles Town and its low country environs. Not only is this an educational story of a remarkable 18th century woman with extraordinary courage, skill and grit, but it is also an absolute delight to read!"
I think with that, dear readers, you will be excited and eager to delve into this new historical novel, which we are expecting to make its appearance around the end of the year.  Stay tuned! 
Pamela

Oh my!  Reading over my last BLOG, I discover it's been three months since I've written!  My excuse is that this has been a busy time of writing and travel. 
After finishing the first draft of "Water To My Soul," I escaped all work involving writing/marketing for a Girls' Weekend (with 20 of my closest friends who shared life with me in Mexico) to Cuernavaca, Mexico: a beautiful weekend resort an hour from Mexico City.  Mimi Mulligan and I met in TX, flew to Acapulco together for a 4 day rest, and joined the others in Cuernavaca for a long weekend, at the hacienda of my dear friend Oliver Araiz.  I hadn't seen some of these ladies in 25 years!  But we picked right back up as if it were yesterday.  Friendships are so precious!
"Splendid Isolation" has garnered another accolade: it is a finalist in the 2010 F oreWord Reviews Book of the Year Finalist in the Fiction-Historical category.  The results will be announced in May at the ALA/BEA convention.  Keeping our fingers crossed…   The new manuscript is in the hands of my New York editor.  Soon I will know what and how many changes she recommends.  I find that the more suggestions of hers that I follow, the better the book.  Amazing, eh?  She truly knows her business.
Michael and I will travel a great deal in the upcoming months for conventions, art shows, and presentations.  One of the highly anticipated events is the 2011 Historical Novel Society Conference  in San Diego, CA on June 17-19, 2011, where I'll be a speaker and panelist.  The best news is that my daughter, Cassandra Coveney, and her family live there, so we'll spend extra days with the grand kids!
You can follow our comings and goings on www.pinatapub.com.  My husband is such an integral part of our publishing business, and I thank God for his love and willing partnership every day.
Stay tuned!  Hopefully, we'll chat before three more months evaporate!
Blessings,
Pamela

New opportunities, new challenges!  I love the beginning of each year!  Ours started out in Cartagena, Colombia, where Mike and I were traveling with my brother and his wife.  We spent two wonderful weeks in Colombia, accompanied most of the time by a local young lady and her family!  Paola Leon had lived in Oregon for a year with my brother Jack as an exchange student, and was now sharing her amazing country with us.  What a perfect way to begin our new year!
Work on the next novel, tentatively titled Water to my Soul, is coming along well.  I feel I'm three-fourths through the initial writing.  I've booked six days away for my "hermit" break at an undisclosed location to write 8-10 hours a day, after which I expect to bring home a nearly-finished "first draft."  I feel another trip to Charleston, S.C. may be helpful to answer any questions I may have.  After the first draft comes the cosmetic surgery on the novel! 
Sales of Splendid Isolation continue to amaze us, for which we give thanks to the Lord.  Kindle sales of the book are rising rapidly, as well as Book Nook purchases.  We understand this is the way of the future, and we embrace it but still love to hold our books in our hands.  I haven't even been tempted yet to buy an e-book reader.  Let's see how long that lasts.        Splendid Isolation has picked up two national awards so far: runner-up in the Wild Card category in the New England Book Festival and a finalist in the 2010 U.S.A. Best Books awards contest in the Biography/History division.  We have entered the book in several other award contests, and are keeping our fingers crossed.  Stay tuned.
Our events have led us to so many interesting places!  The most exciting part of marketing our books is the people we meet.  Please visit our website: www.pinatapub.com to see where we'll be in the upcoming months.  Let us know if we are in your area and we'll try to meet you.
Be blessed, and enjoy your 2011,
Pamela

Where has summer/early autumn gone?  It's almost November and there are so many upcoming activities that it's hard to concentrate on my writing.  For the next 7 weekends, we're participating in art shows, literary conferences or book signings.  And then there's a major election just 3 days away!  Ay Yi Yi!
Piñata Publishing now has a strong E-pub presence.  Mike has placed our titles on Kindle and also on the Barnes & Noble Nook.  We're very pleased about customer sales through that medium.  I, personally, have still not gone that route, but certainly understand why others do.  I just love the feel and smell of physical books.
I'm rolling now on the writing of the Eliza Pinckney story, as yet untitled.  I think perhaps I've written close to one-third of the book.  Of course I'll be re-writing, editing, writing again, etc. but it feels good to finally be inside her head.  I'd love to have more time to spend on just writing, and know that it will come.
Our last title, "Splendid Isolation" was selected as a finalist for the 2010 USA Book News' Best Book Awards in the Biography: Historical division.  We are so happy about being chosen for this award.  It's a national honor where we competed against traditional publishers as well as independents and small presses.  Mike and I are always delighted when small and independent publishers are award winners.  We strongly support them, as we support independent films and bookstores.  
A lot of traveling in our imminent future.  Please check out our Event Calendar on www.pinatapub.com to follow our journeys.  We'd love to visit with you in the venues near your homes.  Enjoy your fall season and the start of winter.  Be safe in your travels.  And have a very blessed holiday season!
Warm wishes,Pamela   

It’s September 1, and I’m writing my BLOG on time! I think this may be a first! Summer is fading into a cooler fall here in coastal Georgia and we’re so ready for that! Wonderful things have taken place during the summer months as our business and book sales grew proportionately. Three of our books are now being distributed in France by an American/European press. We feel so grateful for our many blessings!

We’re also grateful to be living on Jekyll Island. Found a wonderful song/slideshow that expresses what we feel. Go to http://jekyllislandweather.phanfare.c... and click on slideshow to see what we mean.

Mr. Richard Freeland from Suite 101 wrote an interesting review on Splendid Isolation coining a word I particularly liked in describing the writing style.

“Splendid Isolation weaves a spell centered around the Jekyll Island of the late 1800's and early 1900's. You could call it "faction", a historical novel told from the perspective of the Jekyll Island Club employees, and how they perceived their employers - men like Rockefeller, Goodyear, Pulitzer and Morgan, who met on Jekyll Island every year for some down time from their empires. Their actions while on the island were instrumental in creating history - notably the Federal Reserve. A great read that will open your eyes to how actions from the past impact the future. One of the best Jekyll Island books on the list.”

So would you say a “faction” is historical fiction with action? Or factual historical events? Either way, I like it.

I spent about two weeks over the summer in Charleston, S.C. researching my next book on Eliza Lucas Pinckney. The South Carolina Historical Museum has an amazing library with wonderful people eager to help me find what I needed. I also visited the home where Eliza lived at the end of her life: Hampton Plantation. It was there that she and her daughter Harriott Horry entertained President George Washington for breakfast in 1791. How fascinating to actually stand on the porch where he stood! It gave me goose bumps! I shall include photos of this house in the book.

Next step: begin the writing process. Most of the organization is done, so I’ll take a deep breath and plunge in. This is always a leap of faith for authors. We tend to deliberate too long, rationalize why we are not ready to go but we’re really just scared to get the ball rolling. I’ve decided to go for it.

Wish me well and stay tuned,

Pamela

SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER UPDATE

It’s September 1, and I’m writing my BLOG on time! I think this may be a first! Summer is fading into a cooler fall here in coastal Georgia and we’re so ready for that! Wonderful things have taken place during the summer months as our business and book sales grew proportionately. Three of our books are now being distributed in France by an American/European press. We feel so grateful for our many blessings!

We’re also grateful to be living on Jekyll Island. Found a wonderful song/slideshow   that expresses what we feel. See what we mean and enjoy!

Mr. Richard Freeland from Suite 101 wrote an interesting review on Splendid Isolation coining a word I particularly liked in describing the writing style.

“Splendid Isolation weaves a spell centered around the Jekyll Island of the late 1800's and early 1900's. You could call it "faction", a historical novel told from the perspective of the Jekyll Island Club employees, and how they perceived their employers - men like Rockefeller, Goodyear, Pulitzer and Morgan, who met on Jekyll Island every year for some down time from their empires. Their actions while on the island were instrumental in creating history - notably the Federal Reserve. A great read that will open your eyes to how actions from the past impact the future. One of the best Jekyll Island books on the list.”

So would you say a “faction” is historical fiction with action? Or factual historical events? Either way, I like it.

I spent about two weeks over the summer in Charleston, S.C. researching my next book on Eliza Lucas Pinckney. The South Carolina Historical Museum has an amazing library with wonderful people eager to help me find what I needed. I also visited the home where Eliza lived at the end of her life: Hampton Plantation. It was there that she and her daughter Harriott Horry entertained President George Washington for breakfast in 1791. How fascinating to actually stand on the porch where he stood! It gave me goose bumps! I shall include photos of this house in the book.

Next step: begin the writing process. Most of the organization is done, so I’ll take a deep breath and plunge in. This is always a leap of faith for authors. We tend to deliberate too long, rationalize why we are not ready to go but we’re really just scared to get the ball rolling. Since it IS my birthday month, I’ve decided to go for it.

Wish me well and stay tuned,

Pamela

SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER UPDATE

It's September 1, and I'm writing my BLOG on time! I think this may be a first! Summer is fading into a cooler fall here in coastal Georgia and we're so ready for that! Wonderful things have taken place during the summer months as our business and book sales grew proportionately. Three of our books are now being distributed in France by an American/European press. We feel so grateful for our many blessings!

We're also grateful to be living on Jekyll Island. Found a wonderful song/slideshow   that expresses what we feel. See what we mean and enjoy!

Mr. Richard Freeland from Suite 101 wrote an interesting review on Splendid Isolation coining a word I particularly liked in describing the writing style.

"Splendid Isolation weaves a spell centered around the Jekyll Island of the late 1800's and early 1900's. You could call it "faction", a historical novel told from the perspective of the Jekyll Island Club employees, and how they perceived their employers - men like Rockefeller, Goodyear, Pulitzer and Morgan, who met on Jekyll Island every year for some down time from their empires. Their actions while on the island were instrumental in creating history - notably the Federal Reserve. A great read that will open your eyes to how actions from the past impact the future. One of the best Jekyll Island books on the list."

So would you say a "faction" is historical fiction with action? Or factual historical events? Either way, I like it.

I spent about two weeks over the summer in Charleston, S.C. researching my next book on Eliza Lucas Pinckney. The South Carolina Historical Museum has an amazing library with wonderful people eager to help me find what I needed. I also visited the home where Eliza lived at the end of her life: Hampton Plantation. It was there that she and her daughter Harriott Horry entertained President George Washington for breakfast in 1791. How fascinating to actually stand on the porch where he stood! It gave me goose bumps! I shall include photos of this house in the book.

Next step: begin the writing process. Most of the organization is done, so I'll take a deep breath and plunge in. This is always a leap of faith for authors. We tend to deliberate too long, rationalize why we are not ready to go but we're really just scared to get the ball rolling. Since it IS my birthday month, I've decided to go for it.

Wish me well and stay tuned,

Pamela

WHOA, Nelly! Who ever heard of an independent publisher ordering a second book print three months after the "second" first print??? What? Like you, we find this hard to wrap our brains around. Nevertheless, the Lord has blessed Piñata Publishing with our new book! We're ready to print 5,000 more copies of Splendid Isolation! This has never happened with any of our previous seven books, so we are joyfully giving Him ALL the glory! Much to our delight, this book has been a local favorite since it launched January 2010. We don't really understand it, but we'll gratefully take it! It seems the tourists on Jekyll Island truly have a hunger to read about the history of this island through the novel form, and we've been the fortunate ones to offer it to them!

Book signings, school visits, and conferences have kept us very busy up to the summer months, and now we're finally taking a necessary break to travel and enjoy our time together. Family is extremely important to us, and Mom's 90th Birthday Party in July is a much-anticipated celebration. We'll join the rest of her five kids, all of her grandkids, and most of the great-grandkids on the west coast for this cherished event! By the way, Mom, thank you for being one of my greatest book critics and customers!

I know I said I would be "resting" and "marketing" this year, and would NOT be entertaining ideas for my next book project. However, fate has intervened. My dear friend Betty Smith of Jekyll Island suggested what she thought my next subject should be. And she was correct! Once she told me about Eliza Lucas Pinckney, I was hooked. So I've already begun research on her (an 18th century very independent South Carolinian woman) and am very excited to eventually tell her story. Stay tuned for more details on her life, and thank you Betty!

Stay cool, keep reading, and enjoy your summer! All too soon it will be winter!!! That will be a GOOD THING!

Blessings,

Pamela