Not me, exactly.

I received a letter in the mail today from an editor at Grand Central Publishing informing me that they had an overstock situation with the hardcover version of The Amen Sisters.  I think this is code for the hardcover is being taken out of print, but don’t quote me.

Anyway, given the overstock situation, I’ve been given the opportunity to buy copies of The Amen SIsters for $2.00 plus $0.50 shipping for a total of $2.50.  Pretty good deal, huh?  Well, it depends.

Guess how many copies I get to purchase from this excess inventory?  You’ll never guess, so I’ll tell you — 8.  Yes, 8.  I had to do a double-take myself.  They must not have had much of an overstock, huh?

I guess I’ll go ahead and buy the 8 but it hardly seems worth it.  I may make a call tomorrow to make sure the 8 wasn’t a typo or something.

Last week (September 3-5) I participated in my first Christian Fiction Blog Alliance (CFBA) Blog Tour.  My publisher, HarperCollins, provided copies of Up Pops the Devil to somewhere around 50 - 60 CFBA reviewers who, in return, were to participate in the blog tour.  CFBA reviewers may post the generic review provided by CFBA or they can write their own personal review.  As of today, 62 CFBA reviewers have participated in the tour, with 14 of those reviewers providing personal reviews of Up Pops the Devil.

I would like to thank the reviewers who requested Up Pops the Devil for review.  A special thanks goes to the 62 who participated in the tour and my deep appreciation to the 14 who took the time to read Up Pops the Devil and provide a personal review. I apologize to those reviewers who haven’t yet received their copy of Up Pops the Devil or who received it too late to post a review during the tour.

In addition to getting Up Pops the Devil into the hands of readers who had never read me before, this tour also allowed me to get to know some new blogs and bloggers.  It’s been a great experience.  I’ve provided the list here so that you can check some of them out for yourself.  I’ll be updating the list over the coming weeks as new reviews of Up Pops the Devil are posted.

Enjoy!

50 Reviewers from CFBA List

Alexis at Ramblings From Life

Amy at My Life (with review)

Andie at frommipov

Angela at One Baby, Seven Dogs, and a Mommy

April at Projecting A (with review)

April at Living In A State Of Constant Kansas

Bonnie at Bonnie Writes

Caleb at Reviews Plus+

Camy at Camy Tang

Carol at Blogging With Carol (with review)

Carolyn at Serenity

CeeCee at Book Splurge (with review)

Cheryl at Writing Remnants (with review)

Dave at Dave Rhoades

Dave at Novel Spotlight

Deanna at Deannna’s Corner (with review)

Debra at Soul Reflections

Deena at A Peek At My Bookshelf (with review)

Delia at Gatorskunkz And Mudcats

Erin at Life Around Here

Janis at The Nearsighted Bookworm

Janna at Cornhusker Academy (with review)

Jeni at Allen Family Circus

Jennifer at So Many Books…So Little Time

Karen at Mommy of Three (up, review coming later)

Karla at Ramblin’ Roads To Everywhere (not up yet)

Kelly at A Disciple’s Steps

Kelly at Scrambled Dregs (with review and interview)

Kim at Window To My World (with review)

Kristi at Stamped With Grace

Kristinia at Loving Heart Mommy

Kristy at I Need To Read

LaShaunda at See Ya On The Net

Leah at Ponderings From My Heart

Margaret at Creative Madness (up, review may be coming)

Marilynn at Rhythms of Grace (not up yet)

Michelle at Edgy Inspirational Author (up, review coming later)

Michelle at Just A Minute (up, in the sidebar)

Michelle at Michelle’s Great Blogs

Nora at Finding Hope Through Christian Fiction

Pam at Pam’s Private Reflections (up, review coming later)

Pam at Daysong Reflections (with review)

Rachelle at Stifled Squeal

Rel at Relz Reviewz

Rulan at Fiction Showcase

Sean at Bookmark Cafe

Tabitha at 123pizza’s Weblog

Takiela at Beauty 4 Ashes

Tara at Tara’s View Of The World (with review)

Ty at CB Reviews (with review)

14 Additional CFBA Reviewers I Found

Jill at Christian Work at Home Moms

Marcia at Writer-lee

Todd at A Place Called Fiction

Diane at Spunk on a Stick’s Tip

Jenny at My Buckling Bookshelf

Ashley at Ashley - A Daughter of the King

Laura at Laura Williams’ Musings

Patricia at Readin N Writin with Patricia (with review)

Georgiana at Georgiana Daniels

Trish at Books and Book Reviews

AmyAnne at Sprightly

Carolina Chritian Writers Blog

Christy at Split Ends

Brandy at Brandy Bruce

Yes, I’m joining about 50 other bloggers and hosting myself on the CFBA Tour.  You can host me, too.  All you have to do is create a post that links to Up Pops the Devil on Amazon.com.   Here’s the link.   If you’ve read Up Pops the Devil, then you can include your review in the post.

To make this post totally about me, I’ll include a link to a interview that I did  tonight with Tifany Jones of Sistah Confessions.  I think somebody’s gonna muzzle me pretty soon.

To all my girlfriends who listen to this interview, I was NOT talking about you.  I was talking about generic girlfriends. 

Okay, the reader mail for Up Pops the Devil has started to pour in.  It seems some of you see a sequel in the future.  So tell me your idea for a sequel.  Which characters and/or storylines would you like to see again?

Those of you who haven’t read Up Pops the Devil might want to stay away from the Comments to this post.  They may contain spoilers.

For those of you in the Charlotte, NC area, I’ll be in your stomping ground on Saturday, August 30 at 1p at Joseph-Beth Booksellers in (or near) the SouthPark Mall.  Come by and visit with me if you have some time. I’d love to see you.

In news that I’m still trying to get my mind around, Up Pops the Devil has been chosen the November African-American Book Club Pick for Books-A-Million. This is great news as it means Up Pops the Devil will be featured prominently in all Books-A-Million stores from September 1 through November 31.

If you follow this link, you’ll see that Victoria Christopher Murray’s Too Little, Too Late and  ReShonda Tate Billingley’s The Pastor’s Wife have been recent picks.  LIterary great Richard Wright had two picks.

This is the first time one of my books has been chosen for as a book club pick for a chain bookstore so I’m very excited about it.  Be sure to drop by your local Books-A-Million and look for it.

In fact, you can be my eyes and ears.  If you send me a photo of you in a Books-A-Million store next to the book display for Up Pops the Devil as the African-American Book Club Pick, I’ll post the photo on my blog and enter you in a contest to win a $15 Books-A-Million gift card.  Three GRAND PRIZE winners will be selected from the entries.  The contest will continue through September 31 and the winners will be announced on October 15.

You may submit your entry (or entries) via e-mail to me at the address HERE or you may submit via snail mail to Angela Benson, PO Box 868643, Tuscaloosa, AL 35486-0077.

Each entry should include your name (first name or nickname is sufficient) or the name of your group, a photo of you standing near the book display with a book in hand, and the location of the Books-A-Million store where the photo is taken.  All photos become the property of Angela Benson and will be posted on my blog at angelabenson.com.

I’ll probably run the contest again in November so if you don’t win this time, you’ll have another chance in November.

NOTE: This is the second version of this post.  My computer ate the first one and I’m sure it was much better than this one.  Trust me.

Now get to clicking those cameras.  I can’t wait to see your smiling faces on this blog!

Well, not exactly roar.  I did an interview with Radiah Hubbard from Urban Reviews earlier this month. I’m posting it here for your listening pleasure.  You know, sometimes I need a script.  Here’s the link:  Urban Reviews Interview

Radiah also did a review of Up Pops the Devil that you can read HERE.

 

I’m blogging today at FreshFiction.com. The topic is siblings. I originally wrote this piece back in December when I did my blog tour for The Amen Sisters. I’ve revised it a bit to include Up Pops the Devil.

You know, siblings are getting to be standard in my work. Francine and Dawn in The Amen Sisters. Preacher and Loretta and Barnard and Natalie in Up Pops the Devil. The manuscript I’m working on now has siblings, a son born within the marriage and a son and daughter born outside the marriage.

One of the reasons I have so much fun with siblings is that I have such a good relationship with my brother.  It’s a good relationship but not without its bumps.  I was talking to him on the phone the other day and I told him that there were times I had stopped speaking to him, but he hadn’t realized it. He started to laugh, really hard. When he finally piped down, I asked him what the laughter was about. He laughed again before telling me that he had stopped speaking to me, too, but I hadn’t realized it. Isn’t that a kicker? Now it’s your turn to laugh. It’s even funnier when you think that my brother and I talk multiple times a week.

Now that you know about me and my brother, tell me about you and your sibling(s). And don’t be surprised if you find yourself in one of my upcoming books.

It’s time for our final drum roll in the Another Book Giveaway contest.  Ready? 

Drum roll, please.

The winners are:

1)  Angie Poole

2) Ty

3) Rosiland

Congratulations to the winners!  Each will receive an autographed copy of Up Pops the Devil.  Winners, please email your mailing address to me using the address HERE.

New Contests

Now that one contest ends, another THREE begin.  Yes, you read it right, THREE.

Win a Bag of Books

A “Win a Bag of Books” Contest is being run by two different sites as two separate contests, with three winners being selected from each site.  The sites are located at FreshFiction.com (runs through the month of August) and Pageturner.net (runs through August 15).  You’re welcome to enter both contests.

Review Postings and Sightings

The new Review Postings and Sightings Contest will run through August 31.  All you have to do to enter is Comment on this message with the URL of a review, discussion or even a mention of Up Pops the Devil. 

You can also write a review of the book on Amazon.com and post a Comment here that you’ve done so.  If you have some news about Up Pops the Devil that isn’t found online, you can include it as your Comment here and that will serve as your entry.  

FIVE lucky winners each will receive their choice of a $10 Amazon.com gift certificate OR any item(s)  (total value of $15 or less) from my Online Store.

Contest for Book Clubs Only!

If you’re a member of a Book Club, don’t forget the Book Club Contest.  Scroll down until you see Contest #2.

If you haven’t already done so, you can join the For Book Clubs Only mailing list HERE.  Scroll down until you see Mailing List for Book Clubs.

Happy Reading!

This wonderful promo was done for me by Good GIrl Book Club Online!

CONGRATULATIONS!

Three lucky Book Clubs have been selected winners in my FOR BOOK CLUBS ONLY Book Club Contest.  The winning Book Clubs will each receive THREE copies of Up Pops the Devil. 

The winning Book Clubs are:

1) Page Turners Book Club, Cleveland, OH

2) Reading Divas of Birmingham Book Club, Birmingham, AL

3) The Good Book Club, Highlands Ranch, CO

The winning Book Clubs have until August 5, 2008 to get their mailing addresses to me at the address HERE.

All Book Clubs are welcome to join the Book Club mailing list, For Book Clubs Only from Author Angela Benson, on the Contacts page HERE.  Just scroll down to the section for Mailing List for Book Clubs.

Congrats again to the winning Book Clubs!

For all other site visitors, I’m extending the Another Book Giveaway until Friday so that more of you will have an opportunity to participate.  I’m also increasing the number of books awarded from two to three.

Good luck and thanks for celebrating my new release with me!