“How often I have tried to tell writing students that the first thing a writer must do is love the reader and wish the reader well. The writer must trust the reader to be at least as intelligent as he is. Only in such well wishing and trust, only when the writer feels he is writing a letter to a good friend, only then will the magic happen.” - from Falling Through Space by Ellen Gilchrist

Welcome. And thanks for coming.

Writers at their best are in dialogue with their readers; without the imagination, art, attention, and heart that readers bring to books, our characters would languish, our stories would never be heard.

I do think about you. I do wish you well. And in these pages I'll try my best to write as though we're sitting across from each other, engaged in a lively chat over cups of tea, glasses of wine, or double-tall-two-pump-sugar-free-hazelnut-soy lattes.

Again, thank you for coming, and for your willingness to be part of the conversation. Stay as long as you like. Come back often. The door is always open.

Entertainment Weekly has chosen Sing Them Home as one of the 10 Best Books of 2009!

Film rights to Broken for You have been optioned by award-winning Seattle screenwriter Lisa Halpern. Lisa can be reached at: lisa@thirdeyeproductions.org.

Book clubs: Yes, I skype. If you'd like to schedule a long-distance book club visit with the author, please contact stevie@stephaniekallos.com to set up an appearance.

IndieBound has put Sing Them Home on their Wish List! Visit www.indiebound.org for more recommendations. And whever possible, be sure to BUY LOCAL from your favorite independent bookstore! Our indie bookseller buddies need our support now more than ever.

If you'd like to give personalized, signed copies of Broken for You or Sing Them Home to friends and family, please contact Steve Winter at Third Place Books in Lake Forest Park, Washington: swinter@thirdplacebooks.com.

In an article about this year's National Book Award nominees, Entertainment Weekly journalist Tina Jordan gives Sing Them Home a shout-out: The National Book Awards - What Gives?

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