Welcome! Happy Facebook-Author-Hopping....oh and the contest too...

Welcome to Words of Encouragement, a blog of inspiration from me, Jane Kirkpatrick.  I'm so glad you are here.  If you have been one of my faithful followers for years, or today is your first visit, I hope you will grab a cup of coffee, tea, or your drink of choice & relax in your favorite chair.

This week is all about getting to know each other as I hope you learn about me and I, you!

Depending on what day you are reading this post, you may have been introduced to me from another author (Thank you for being here!).  So, I wanted to share just a few quick things about myself. 

My previous books have been historical fiction.  I take pride in doing massive research to know my landscape and story before writing it.  Sometimes it may even be about my family.  However, this time I decided to dabble in something a little different...contemporary fiction.  For those of you who have enjoyed reading about a woman character with sa trong personality & persistent to pursue their passion with fervor, that will remain true in my new story Barcelona Calling.

What keeps me going each and every day?  My loving husband, two dogs (Bo & Caesar), and you, my readers.

So, without further adieu...The rules for the contest are just a click away.  See the "current contest tab" at the top of the page?  Just click on that and then come back here...we will wait for you!  Simply put....every day on Facebook you will be sent to visit a new author's page to check out and "like".  Then come back to the blog and leave a comment based on that question for each day.  Participants who comment as such on each post will be entered into the drawing...

I introduced a little of me above, but I thought I would allow someone else to tell you a bit more about me & Barcelona Calling.  Here is an article from the September 2011 newsletter from Deon Stonehouse at Sunriver Books & Music:

Jane is well known and beloved for her historical fiction, books that tell the story of real women who made contributions to history. Her books inform, entertain, and keep alive the stories of women. Sunriver had a fabulous quilt show in August, so let’s mention a related book, Aurora is a non-fiction account of the quilts hanging on the museum wall and the women who created these works of art, because surely quilting is a work of art. The Emma Giesy trilogy, A Clearing in the Wild, A Tendering in the Storm, and A Mending at the Edge gives a good example of Jane’s passion for telling the stories of strong women. Emma traveled west from Missouri, the only woman in a band of scouts, made tragic choices in Willapa Washington, and eventually took part in settling Aurora Oregon. Jane has written of women doing many extraordinary things from running a wagon train to becoming a photographer in the early days of photography. But this time Jane has written something entirely different.


Barcelona Calling had a working title of Oprah Doesn’t Know My Name. Trademark issues required a different title, but the talk show maven is still a presence in the book. Annie Shaw is an author being published by a romance publisher. Understandably her publisher expects the books to follow the program, boy meets girl, boy gets girl (or vice-versa). Annie’s books don’t adhere to the format; they tell stories of people facing conflict and the choices they make in overcoming the obstacles in their lives. They are warm stories full of humanity but lacking in the girl gets boy department. As Barcelona Calling opens, Annie is sort of celebrating the completion of her latest manuscript with her sister and closest friends. But Annie is worried. She is on book 4 of a 4 book contract and sales of the last two have not been brisk. To make matters worse, her advocate in the publishing firm, her editor, is gone and she is interacting with a new editor. Annie is afraid she will be dropped, a very unsettling fate for an author.


Her friends start brainstorming on ways to raise Annie’s work to the top of the best seller’s charts. It doesn’t take them long to hit on a scheme, if they can only get Oprah to mention Annie, her worries (or at least her publishing worries) will be over. Thus begins a series of humorous escapades aimed at bringing Annie to Oprah’s notice. They are entertaining. Let me just give you one of the earlier attempts as an example. Annie has long been a cat lover, but Oprah is known to favor the canine crowd. The girls decide Annie will adopt a dog then take it to the dog salon Oprah frequents. Oprah being an ardent animal lover will no doubt be charmed by Annie and her pooch. It is a doomed quest. First of all, Annie having no knowledge of dogs selects a Jack Russell Terrier. The cute animal is sleeping peacefully in his cage at the shelter. Annie is blissfully unaware that for the Jack Russell there are only 3 speeds, sleep, cuddle, and full tilt boogie, with the last being the prevailing speed. Let’s just say that you could interpose terrorist for terrier and you would have an idea of the outcome of the dog salon scheme. No worries though, Jane Kirkpatrick, like Oprah, is an animal lover. So the terrier/terrorist is going to be okay.


Annie’s latest book is inspired by events in her personal life. She accompanied her sister to Barcelona where her sister, a cop, was competing in the International Police and Fireman’s Games. Riding a bus Annie is saved from a near robbery by a Spanish cop, sparks fly and a romance begins. But Annie leaves Jamie behind to return to her life in the states. He doesn’t want to give her up. When her agent and publisher discover the book has a real life love story, they want to exploit it for publicity.


As the schemes for becoming famous multiply Annie starts to lose sight of what made her write and of how she wants to live her life. Like all Jane Kirkpatrick books, Annie’s story has her facing challenges and learning. But this story is very funny too! Jane has written a modern story suffused with humor and warmth. Please come out and support this author as she stretches into new territory and does just fine.

Thanks Deon for a fabulous interview, and the opportunity to be introduced to you readers/listeners/shoppers again!

Participating in the contest? Here is your question:  Do you read books because you like the author, the genre, or recommended by someone? (if you want to comment as anonymous, please leave your name and first initial of your last name in your comment so you can be tracked each day)

Tweet about the contest!

Barcelona Calling is already available for purchase.  Ready to order a copy?  Visit my publisher's site to for the links to all online retailers for purchase.

Would you consider writing a review at one of the online retail sites? Feedback is the greatest compliment, and all are welcome...be honest!  Thanks again for being here and good luck with the contest!