Cover Reveal: Christ's Gifts to Women

I’m extremely excited to post the cover of Christ’s Gifts to Women. (Cover Art by Howard Lyon) Like all books, this one has been in the making for awhile. It's almost exactly a year to the day when I was first approached by Angela Eschler about co-writing this book. I wish I could show you the interior since it is probably the most gorgeous interiors I have seen. There are 25 paintings inside. But you'll have to wait until release date, March 2012.

Below, I’ve included a rundown of the project and how it all came to be:

On September 25, 2010, Angela Eschler emailed me about a project she’d been working on for awhile. She’d already pitched it to her publisher (which was also my publisher), but because she’d had a baby and was running a home business, she was having a hard time completing the project.

I had great respect for Angela, and we’d actually worked together on one of my books before—she was my editor for a short time—but I had recently turned down other co-author projects because they weren’t a good fit for me. So I wanted to make sure it was a project I could be passionate about and not do it because I was flattered by the invitation.

I agreed to look at what Angela had done so far, and by the time I finished reading it, I knew 2 things. I could help her, and I was excited about the project. The focus was on the women who knew and/or interacted with Christ during His lifetime and had received special gifts from Him. Then the book would answer the questions of how those gifts can be embraced by women today.

We decided to organize the book into two portions. Angela focused on the Intro and the first two chapters, and I focused on the last three chapters. The book wouldn’t be long, only about 35 pages of text. We foresaw it as a gift book for women, something that would make a good Mother’s Day book.

The New Testament “year” was just around the corner as well. We thought it was probably too late to make an early 2011 release, even though the book was short, and even though the publisher was expecting the full manuscript soon. And of course we didn’t want to wait until 2015 (the next NT year). The solution we came up with was that it didn’t need a “New Testament year” push, but would focus on the women who knew Christ (who happen to be in the New Testament), and how their experiences could be applied to ours.

Right away, Angela and I started working on our chapters, trading emails and quotes back and forth. We worked together pretty quickly, and I was surprised that I did have some things to say about my assigned “gifts.” We finished the first working draft in October and sent to three readers to gain feedback. Overall, we were told the book was a great concept, and we just had to work out some of the nitty gritty details.

By the first of November, we were happy with our manuscript. We put together a cover letter explaining the book concept (of illustrations, singling out certain quotes, and how this book can now be a general release).

Below is the general outline of the book’s process (slow but steady):

November 2, 2010: Submitted to publisher, Covenant Communications

January 18, 2011: Committee requested revisions before contract can be offered

January 26: Submitted request to the LDS Church’s Intellectual Property Reserve for permission to use Church General Authority quotes

February 3: Submitted revision

March 24: Official acceptance; release date assigned: March 2012 (one whole year away!)

June: Final editing/copy editing with publisher

July 12: Permissions to quote Church General Authorities granted

September 27: Cover finished; interior ready for final proof

Where I was on September 11, 2001

It doesn't seem like it has been 10 years, but in fact, my third child was only 1 yrs old in Sept 2001, and now she's a budding pre-teen.

On Sept 11, 2001, I had three little kids, 5 and under, and was mostly preoccupied with keeping my head above water and staying sane. I had committed to an early morning workout routine and when I'd arrive home, I'd usually find my 1 year old snuggled up with my husband, watching TeleTubbies or Barney.

I had just started my "first" novel that summer, and with the arrival of fall and the advent of a kindergartener and a preschooler, I hoped to get that novel actually finished during my baby's nap time.

It was early morning, probably 6:30 a.m. - 7:00 a.m. from what I remember, and I was driving home. The sun had just come up and it was a beautiful pre-fall morning. I turned on the radio and heard the news that a plane had hit one of the twin towers. I thought it must have been a small plane that lost some functionality. I worried about the pilot and maybe a passenger or two, and wondered if they were able to bail out. Here in Utah we have frequent small plane crashes. In my county, there is a training facility and a school for small plane pilots. When we hear about a crash, many times there aren't any fatalities. So that's where my mind was at when I got home.

My husband had the tv on upstairs and my kids were downstairs with cartoons on. I was soon to find out why. Sitting on the edge of my bed, I watched the footage live of the second plane hitting the second tower. It was then I realized that the plane was not a small plane, but a huge passenger plane. With reports of hijacking, I thought that a couple of hijackers had stolen a plane, but then it dawned on me they they had over-taken a plane that was full and probably had at least 200 people in it.

The horror kept escalating with reports of the Pennsylvania crash and the threat to the Pentagon. And then, of course, the worst event ever, when the towers actually fell. By then I knew that hundreds, if not thousands of lives, were ending before my very eyes. I hadn't even considered the daycares going on and all of the rescue teams involved.

It was like watching an end-of-the-world movie. But this was America and this was home. Even though I was very far away in Utah, it was completely surreal. My husband eventually left for work and I got the older kids to school/pre-school.

I'm not a tv watcher, but I couldn't take my eyes away. I didn't even want to get in the shower. The news just kept getting worse in my mind with each passing moment. I didn't even need to have the media expound.

As reports came in across the country about airports being shut down, it was scary to think that the attacks weren't over. I remember going outside a few times and just staring at the sky. I also talked to my mom several times since my dad was in the Middle East. With reports that airports across the world were being shut down, I was very nervous. My mom didn't hear from my dad all day. He was in Oman with a research group, and they were spending time in both Oman and Yemen, out in the deserts.

Reports were coming in that in some countries, Americans were considered unsafe, which, of course, included Yemen, where some people were rejoicing at the news, and it was also the hometown of Bin Laden and one of his wives.

We didn't hear from my dad for what seemed like forever, but was probably only 24 hours. They heard the news late when they returned to their hotel and switched on the television. Airports were already shutting down in Yemen, and in the middle of more than usual hositilities, they were able to catch one of the last flights to Germany. And finally back to NY after many delays.

My uncle was stranded back east with no way of flying back to California. He eventually hired a rental car.

And then my husband found out that one of his co-workers had been on the Philadelphia plane. The next days were sobering as media footage covered the families who were still looking for loved ones. It was incomprehensible that so many had died, and in such awful ways. It was even more sobering to see how the landscape of NYC changed, now missing the 2 towers.

Even though I grew up in the Cold War era and had lived in Jerusalem as a teenager where we went through regular bomb drills, I had never thought that war on American soil could be a reality.

When I took my kids to Jerusalem last year, we went through many many security measures. As we flew into Tel Aviv we weren't allowed to get out of our seats 30 minutes from the airport.

Sept 11 is simply unforgettable and brings a mixture of emotions each time I remember it, the pride of being an American and knowing that our soldiers are continually battling for peace, and the sorrow for a world in which bringing death to innocent people can be considered a badge of honor.

It wasn't hard for me to decide then that if I had a dream to live, now was the time to live it. I finished that first novel, and although it would be 3 years before I'd get a book published, I had no excuses to give up.

General Announcements

Sorry, I've been a bit neglectful. But I promise it's not due to laziness. I have been keeping busy and out of trouble.

Some great news about my Co-Series here: Newport Ladies Book Club

Also, this past weekend, some of my backlist titles were put onto Kindle, including Abinadi, Alma,
Alma the Younger

Which of you are on Twitter? You can follow me at: heatherbmoore
Or you can follow my editing company: pegeditors

And, I was recently a guest on the Appendix Podcast with Marion Jensen & Sarah Eden, where we discuss: Is My Book Garbage?

Upcoming Events:

September 16-17, 2011 - LUW Roundup Writers Conference
Logan, Utah
A great writers conference. My PEG editors and I will be there as instructors.
Registration info on the LUW Website

October 1, 2011 - Ladies Night book signing @ Deseret Book
6:00 p.m. - 8:00 p.m. Fort Union Deseret Book (Utah)