Need an excellent holiday read? Check out Drop Dead Ornaments by Lois Winston. Kirkus Reviews dubbed her critically acclaimed Anastasia Pollack Crafting Mystery series, “North Jersey’s more mature answer to Stephanie Plum.” We are also very excited to have Lois with us as a presenter at our upcoming 10th Anniversary conference. For those interested in self-publishing, Lois is presenting a workshop on Creating Compelling Back Cover Copy. For readers Lois has a fun hour of coloring and conversation about your favorite books. Leave with your very own handmade greeting card to send to a loved one as well as some titles of books you might want to add to your TBR pile. For more information on Lois, please visit www.loiswinston.com. For more information on the conference, please visit www.lsfwriters.com.

Congratulations to Paula Chaffee Scardamalia on her new release! Paula is one of the many wonderful presenters at the upcoming Liberty States Fiction Writers Conference. Paula will be teaching a writing workshop on “Conquering the Sirens of Distraction” and a reader workshop on “Journaling from Story.” To check out what other workshops will be at the conference, please visit http://bit.ly/2o27zeP. #amwriting #amreading #reader #writer #conference #newrelease #bookbirthday #writingconference #newjersey #fiction #novel

On October 23 we lost Founding Member Anne Frazier Walradt after a brief illness. Anne was our Grammar Goddess as well as a mentor and a friend. She was a bright light that could make anyone feel welcome and special and her wit, intelligence, and special spirit will truly be missed by the organization, her many friends, and family.

On a personal level, Anne was a touchstone who I knew I could go to for advice on anything from the troublesome bunions we both shared to suggestions about what to do about our organization. I knew that anything I shared with Anne would be kept in the strictest confidence but more importantly, I knew that she would be calm and steady in the face of any storm that might be chasing me to her door. There was a many a time that I sat with her to discuss a problem and waited anxiously for her advice which always began with a very patient and peaceful, “Well, Charity . . . “

At her memorial service the minister mentioned that Anne was like stardust, a distant star surrounded by a cloud of what appeared to be dust. I found another definition for stardust at the Free Dictionary: “Minute particles of matter that fall to Earth from the stars.”

Anne was far from minute to me with my challenged vertical stature, but it was about more than just height. It was about Anne’s regal bearing, her charm, and her passion for so many things, from grammar to writing to her church to genealogy and so much more. When thinking of Anne and stardust, it is probably more accurate to say that Anne was a supernova who came to Earth to share her brilliance with us.

Anne will be truly missed. May God bless her and open his arms to her very special spirit.

Caridad (Charity) Pineiro
President
Liberty States Fiction Writers

Frank Andriuli was recently featured at The Authors Show where he chatted about his latest release The People Factory. To listen to the podcast, please visit http://bit.ly/2Op2VQ9.

Snow Falling the tie-in historical romance to the critically acclaimed television show, Jane the Virgin, has been selected as the December book club choice by the Las Comadres organization. The ghost writer of the novel, NY Times and USA Today Bestseller Caridad Piñeiro will be taking part in a teleconference on December 17 at 8 pm EST to chat about the creation of the book. For more information, please visit http://lascomadres.com/lco/.

Caridad’s One Summer Night and More than a Mission were chosen by Book Riot as two of the 50 Must Read Romance novels by Latinas. For more information, please visit http://bit.ly/2Ol5UJj.