I am very pleased to welcome two novelists today, Nicole Baart & Amy Hatvany. Please help me welcome them both!
Introducing Nicole Baart
Nicole Baart lives in a small town in Iowa and is the mother of three young sons and awaiting the homecoming of a five-year-old daughter. After the adoption of her second son from Ethiopia, Nicole discovered a deep passion for global issues and co-founded a non-profit organization, One Body One Hope, that works alongside a church and orphanage in Monrovia, Liberia. An accomplished novelist, she was a 2009 Christy Award finalist for fiction. Her upcoming release, SLEEPING IN EDEN, is a Midwest Connections pick for May. Visit her website at http://www.nicolebaart.com.
Learn about Sleeping in Eden, Simon & Schuster/Howard Books, May 21, 2013
She knew what he wrote . . .
One little word that made her feel both cheated and beloved.
One word that changed everything.
MINE.
On a chilly morning in the Northwest Iowa town of Blackhawk, Dr. Lucas Hudson is filling in for the vacationing coroner on a seemingly open-and-shut suicide case. His own life is crumbling around him, but when he unearths the body of a woman buried in the barn floor beneath the hanging corpse, he realizes this terrible discovery could change everything. . . .
Years before Lucas ever set foot in Blackhawk, Meg Painter met Dylan Reid. It was the summer before high school and the two quickly became inseparable. Although Meg’s older neighbor, Jess, was the safe choice, she couldn’t let go of Dylan no matter how hard she tried.
Caught in a web of jealousy and deceit that spiraled out of control, Meg’s choices in the past ultimately collide with Lucas’s discovery in the present, weaving together a taut story of unspoken secrets and the raw, complex passions of innocence lost.
See reviews of Sleeping In Eden LINK
I asked Nicole three questions about our giveaway’s theme topic, self-expression:
1. Is self-expression an important part of your life today, why or why not?
My world is a cacophony symphony of self-expression. As the mother of three sons ages 9, 6, and 2, it sometimes seems like the sole purpose of my existence is to admire, encourage, and strive to shape my sons’ fumbling attempts at self-expression. My nine-year-old is an avid hockey player, a sweet, free-spirited soul who wears his hair long enough to flow out the back of his hockey helmet. It hangs in his eyes and more often than not is kinked off the side of his head in little blond whorls and horns that make him look like a homeless child. It doesn’t help that I fear he’s colorblind and can’t put together a matching outfit to save his life. But I love his crazy, misguided, wacky sense of style. It is so distinctly him, and I love it that he feels free enough to express himself through the way that he looks. My two-year-old, on the other hand, is nuts about “nudie time.” What? You don’t have nudie time at your house? Let me enlighten you… It’s the five minutes between changing from pajamas to clothes in the morning and clothes to pajamas at night that my toddler is free to run around the house in his birthday suit. If we let him have his way, he’d exist in this au naturel state 24/7. His stab at self-expression? Slightly less appropriate for public consumption than my nine-year-old’s. As for me, I try to walk that fine line between self-expression that is relevant, edifying, and meaningful to a larger audience (my readers) and the sort of self-expression that is distinctly intimate and should probably be reserved for close family and friends. Sometimes it’s difficult to see the distinction, and because I want to be true to myself and yet honor to the people around me, it’s something I’m constantly wrestling with.
2. What does self-expression mean to you and how do you do it in the world?
Self-expression to me is all about communication. We want people to know who we are and how we feel and why we see the world the way that we do… And so we engage in a dialogue (sometimes conscious, sometimes subconscious) that begs people to react and respond to what we are presenting. My art is obviously writing, but I have more than one form of it. At my heart, I am and always will be, a poet. But my poetry is raw and wild, more often than not ripped from my soul in moments of great and devastating emotion. I don’t share my poetry with anyone. It’s my own personal composition, a place for me to look in the mirror to admire and mourn the things that I love and hate in myself and the world around me. But then I take those expressions and I weave them into the books that I write, carefully choosing where I soften and blend and where I allow unvarnished candor to shock and surprise. I know there are some people who would consider me a fraud because I carefully sift the things I want to say. But I believe I express myself better when I consider my audience and allow them to see the parts of me (and the parts of my worldview) that will be the most significant and meaningful to them. Who am I to assume that people need to see and appreciate every form of my self-expression? Isn’t their journey about them? And isn’t it my prerogative to unveil myself in varying degrees? For example, I’m a wicked good dancer. Really, I am. But the only person who knows that about me is my husband. I dance for him, and no one else. And I’m okay with that.
3. How does your self-expression impact the world—your family, your friends, your readers, and everyone else?
I think that self-expression is often a bit narcissistic–we are, after all, focusing on ourselves and our own desire to be seen, be known, be understood. And yet, our attempts at self-expression can also serve very unselfish purposes. We encourage one another when we are honest with ourselves. Every time we try something new or discover a passion that we didn’t know existed, we allow everyone around us to consider the potential inside of themselves. Let me give you an example. A couple of years ago a dear friend of mine battled cancer. After she emerged victorious, she gathered a small group of friends together and invited us to join her in training for a marathon. I think to her the idea of reclaiming her body and the latent possibility contained within it was irresistible. And we all caught the fever. I’ve never run a day in my life, and yet, at the end of our training I completed a triathalon–and I didn’t just survive it, I kicked ass. My friend’s self-expression changed my life. I hope to do the same thing when I express myself through my writing, my parenting, my teaching, my non-profit work… I hope that when I fumble my way toward self-expression (when I put pen to paper or wear a t-shirt proclaiming the beauty of adoption or try to explain why I feel the way that I feel) that I empower and encourage the people around me. Isn’t that the point?
Introducing Amy Hatvany
Amy Hatvany graduated with a degree in Sociology only to discover most sociologists are unemployed. Soon followed a variety of jobs – some of which she loved, like decorating wedding cakes; others which she merely tolerated, like receptionist. In 1998, Amy finally decided to sell her car, quit her job, and take a chance on her true love – writing books.
Since then, she has authored five novels, and last year, her book Outside The Lines was selected by Target’s book club and Costco as a Buyer’s pick. Her latest, Heart Like Mine, explores the complicated dynamics within blended families. www.amyhatvany.com
Learn about Heart Like Mine, Atria, March 2013
Thirty-six-year-old Grace McAllister never longed for children. But when she meets Victor Hansen, a handsome, charismatic divorced restaurateur who is father to Max and Ava, Grace decides that, for the right man, she could learn to be an excellent part-time stepmom. After all, the kids live with their mother, Kelli. How hard could it be?
At thirteen, Ava Hansen is mature beyond her years. Since her parents’ divorce, she has been taking care of her emotionally unstable mother and her little brother—she pays the bills, does the laundry, and never complains because she loves her mama more than anyone. And while her father’s new girlfriend is nice enough, Ava still holds out hope that her parents will get back together and that they’ll be a family again. But only days after Victor and Grace get engaged, Kelli dies suddenly under mysterious circumstances—and soon, Grace and Ava discover that there was much more to Kelli’s life than either ever knew.
Narrated by Grace and Ava in the present with flashbacks into Kelli’s troubled past, Heart Like Mine is a poignant, hopeful portrait of womanhood, love, and the challenges and joys of family life.
See reviews of Heart Like Mine, A Novel LINK
I asked Amy three questions about our giveaway’s theme topic, self-expression:
1. Is self-expression an important part of your life today, why or why not?
It’s a huge part of my life. I spent many of my younger years holding my thoughts and feelings inside–I think out of some strange combination of societal expectation and fear of not getting my needs met. But eventually, circumstances put me in a place where expressing myself, showing the very core of me to not only the people in my personal life, but also my readers, became as vital to my survival as taking a breath.
2. What does self-expression mean to you and how do you do it in the world?
For me, self-expression is vulnerability. Opening up those sometimes hard to reach places inside you and sharing them. Writing has always been how I connect with the world; how I express my thoughts and feelings–even the ones I’m not conscious of. I also talk a lot.
3. How does your self-expression impact the world—your family, your friends, your readers, and everyone else?
I hope it impacts them positively. My greatest hope is that something I’ve written helps someone see the world in a new and different way. And even more importantly, makes them feel a little less alone.
As for how it impacts my family, I have to admit, it sometimes causes them to eat more pizza than they probably should, but only when I’m neck deep in a book and simply have to get the rest of it on the page!
And Now, Your Turn…
You remember how this works right?
Please read the complete rules at least once!
I ask you a question.
You answer in the comments for your chance to win a book each day.
Please just respond once, even if you make a typo. 
Answer in the comments in 50-200 words (no less and no more to qualify to win one of today’s books).
What is your favorite color and what does this color make you think of? How is this color connected to who you are?
Ready, set, comment! I will hold the drawing tomorrow and post the results here in my blog.
Thanks for participating in the Writer Mama Every-Day-In-May Book Giveaway!
And thanks for spreading the word. We will be giving away great books by wonderful women authors all month.
