[A joyous welcome to my new friends from Texas and New England who are joining us here today after our events together the past two weeks! And all, please read to the end for the special “insider” code.]
Hands up: How many of you enjoy visual revelations? (No, not the last book of the Bible, compelling as its imagery is.)
I’m thinking of those before-and-after photos online or in the pages of a magazine: individuals who have transformed themselves physically through significant weight loss, or homes that morph from fixer-upper to fabulous. Reality shows feature “the big reveal” when the curtain is pulled back on a smiling, newly svelte woman, or we watch the owners’ gasps of delight when they see their renovated home for the first time.
A box arrived at our home last week, and when Mike and I opened it together it was our “Big Reveal.” I beamed and my husband bawled. (You thought it would be the other way around, didn’t you?)
The contents? The first copies of my first book! This Life We Share: 52 Reflections on Journeying Well with God and Others releases on May 5 from NavPress. The publisher shipped me a few ARCs (advance reader copies) that are used for media purposes, while the final hardcover edition won’t be in stores until this spring. (When the actual book arrives, it will be me bawling when I hold my book baby in my hands - the delivery my mom didn’t live to see.)
As a member of my beloved online community, you shared in our heartbreak last month when we lost not only Mom but much younger members of our extended family as well.
Now I hope you’ll share in my joy that I can at last show you the “face” of my baby. (When you’ve labored with your first at the age of 66, literary birth is an astonishing miracle.)
Here she is: isn’t she gorgeous?!
The very gifted Art Director Jackie Nunez created this cover with our home, Peace Ridge, in mind.
As Jackie wrote me, “The images and title typography are hand-crafted, which makes this cover feel more personal and intimate. The larger image is inviting and shows a peaceful and ‘doable’ journey. The leaves and berries that trail up the left side of the cover represent all different kinds of women and their interconnectedness.”
I am deeply humbled and grateful that longtime friend Beth Moore lent her voice to the cover, and that Nashville singer-songwriter Sandra McCracken has written the Foreword.
And friends, I have a special gift for you: an insider’s code! NavPress has just set up an extra 20% pre-release discount at navpress.com:https://www.navpress.com//p/this-life-we-share/9781641580076! Use the code MAGGIE20 and you’ll get an extra 20% off the already discounted price, giving you a total discount for one copy of 36%. (When you pre-order, it helps the author and the publisher!)
Like every proud mama, I think the face of my book baby is beautiful, and I am so grateful for Jackie and her team who brought her to life.
Pray with us, please, that her birth this coming May will be a blessing to readers who need to know that they are not walking this journey alone. We share this rich and unpredictable life.
Let’s live it together.
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