Joshilyn Jackson

Do you love Joshilyn Jackson, bestselling author of GODS IN ALABAMA and BETWEEN, GEORGIA? I do. In addition to being a writer of prodigious gifts, Joshilyn is generous and wise and funny.

Unfortunately, she's feeling under the weather these days, and is leaving the Girlfriends Cyber Circuit, our little blog group. It really is quite a bit of work to keep up with these entries, so I understand. She'll be missed, for sure, but I appreciate that she spent so much time in the group. She truly gave and gave.

The good news is that Joshilyn is coming out with a new book in March, and it looks every bit as captivating and emotionally haunting as her previous novels. It's called THE GIRL WHO STOPPED SWIMMING.




Here's a description:

Laurel Gray Hawthorne needs to make things pretty, whether she's helping her mother make sure the literal family skeleton stays in the closet or turning scraps of fabric into nationally acclaimed art quilts.Her estranged sister Thalia, an impoverished Actress with a capital A, is her polar opposite, priding herself on exposing the lurid truth lurking behind middle class niceties. While Laurel's life seems neatly on track--a passionate marriage, a treasured daughter, and a lovely home in suburban Victorianna--everything she holds dear is suddenly thrown into question the night she is visited by the ghost of a her 13-year old neighbor Molly Dufresne.The ghost leads Laurel to the real Molly floating lifelessly in the Hawthorne's backyard pool.Molly's death is inexplicable--an unseemly mystery Laurel knows no one in her whitewashed neighborhood is up to solving.Only her wayward, unpredictable sister is right for the task, but calling in a favor from Thalia is like walking straight into a frying pan protected only by Crisco. Enlisting Thalia's help, Laurel sets out on a life-altering journey that triggers startling revelations about her family's guarded past, the true state of her marriage, and the girl who stopped swimming.Richer and more rewarding than any story Joshilyn Jackson has yet written, yet still packed with Jackson's trademarked outrageous characters, sparkling dialogue, and defiantly twisting plotting, THE GIRL WHO STOPPED SWIMMING is destined both to delight Jackson's loyal fans and capture a whole new audience.

I'm so reading this book as soon as it comes out.

But back to Joshilyn. She's always been very good to her readers, and continues that tradition with a giveaway tied to this book. Two lucky readers will win a drawing for the these beautiful hand-crafted postcard quilts, which were specially-made as companion pieces to the book. I think they're knockouts (click images for larger view):

For more information on the drawing, visit joshilynjackson.com or follow this link.

Meanwhile, please join me in sending healing energy Joshilyn's way. A speedy recovery, Joss!