Dear Faithful Readers,

I set my novels, The Lace Reader and The Map of True Places, in Salem, MA because it is my hometown, one of the places on earth that I know best. As a small city, Salem is rich in history — it has lived through prosperity as a shipping town, through notoriety as the epicenter of witch hunts, and it still enjoys a literary burnish as home to Nathaniel Hawthorne and others.

Now, I invite you to enter The Map of True Places sweepstakes for your chance to win a trip to visit my city. Destination Salem and William Morrow are sponsoring the sweepstakes, and many local shops, restaurants, and museums have stepped forward to build a fun and interesting weekend for you in my town!

So enter the sweepstakes today — and please tell your friends they can enter, too. I hope to see you soon in Salem! In the meantime, head over to my website to download excerpts from The Map of True Places.

Best of luck,

Brunonia Barry

Cover for "The Map of True Places" by Brunonia Barry

Chapters One and Two are now available for download. Just go to www.MapOfTruePlaces.com. The book will be out May 4th. Enjoy!

Brunonia

It’s been such a hectic past few months! The manuscript for the new book went in at the end of December, so I’ve been busy tying up loose ends.

January came in bearing many joys for me. The Lace Reader continues to create awe-inspiring hubbub. The Lace Reader won the General Fiction contest in the New England Book Festival, which was hosted down in Boston a couple weekends ago. It’s also the January Book Club Pick, and was selected in Reading Group Choices 2010. Successes continue to be humbling.

Hope you all had a restful and fulfilling holiday season. A very Happy New Year to you and your families (though at this point, my wishes are a month late). Winter is considered a time of death and hibernation, the time of slumber before spring and the earth is reborn. I continue to work hard for the release of The Map of True Places on May 4th, just in time for spring. You can check out the website via the link, if you haven’t already, to read an excerpt from the book. Spring is, in my opinion, the perfect time for a new book. I am just so excited.

Cover for "The Map of True Places" by Brunonia Barry

Keep an eye on the blog, as well as my Facebook and Twitter pages, as I’ll be posting upcoming events. I’m headed to Florida soon for vacation, but once back, things should be slingshotting into motion again. Always on my mind, those in Haiti. My warmest thoughts go out to them during this horrific trial they must live through.

Dear friends,

Starbucks has enabled their 10,000+ North American stores to receive donations at point of sale that will be given directly to the RED CROSS in support of Haiti relief efforts. WYCLEF JEAN has joined to help, kicking off the campaign with his PSA and announcing STARBUCKS’s $1 Million donation.

Join Wyclef Jean by donating to the Haitian relief effort at participating Starbucks.

With your help, we can make a significant impact on the devastation in Haiti.

Cover for "The Map of True Places" by Brunonia Barry

My new book, The Map of True Places, will be available on May 4th. In the meantime, you can read excerpts from it starting today and in the weeks to come. It’s a story about relationships and family and finding your true place in the world when you have no map to follow. If you’d like to read the first part of the book now, please click here. I’d love to hear your thoughts so feel free to post something on my blog or on Facebook. There’ll be two more excerpts released soon so stay tuned.

I’ll be at the Cary Memorial Library at 7 PM for a reading & signing for The Lace Reader. All are invited.

11/29 Sunday – I’ll be at the Duxbury Free Library in Duxbury, MA from 2 to 4 PM for a reading & signing. You can get more information about the library here and about the event here.

12/1  Tuesday – I’ll be at the Cary Memorial Library in Lexington, MA from 7 to 9 PM for a reading & signing. YOu can get more information about the library here.

Both events are free to the public. I look forward to seeing everyone.

Exeter, NH Public Library – 10AM to 11:30AM. Reading & book signing for The Lace Reader

Groveland, MA Langley-Adams Library – 6:45PM to 8:45PM. Reading & book signing for The Lace Reader

If you can get to either of these locations, please stop by. I’m looking forward to meeting everyone.

Tonight, Tuesday Oct. 27th,  I’ll be appearing at the Hampton Falls Library in Hampton Falls, NH at 7 PM.

On Wednesday, October 28th, I am teaching a writing class at Abbott Public Library in Marblehead, MA at 7 PM.

Also tomorrow, I will be on air live for an hour on Amazing Women radio show on the VoiceAmerica / WorldTalk network. 5PM est. For details, click here.

And on Halloween night, Gary and I will be costume judges at The Witches Ball at the Hawthorne Hotel in Salem, MA.. I hear there are still a few ticket left to the event, so if you’re interested, click here.

Please join me for any and all events.

Brunonia

I’ll be doing a reading and book signing at the Swampscott (MA) Public Library at 7PM on Thursday, Oct. 22nd. The event is free and open to the public. You can get all the details here. I look forward to seeing everyone.