Sally has graciously offered to give away TWO hard copies of "The Happy Hour Choir"to TWO lucky people! In order to be entered,go to the Rafflecopter box at the bottom of this post. You must enter by May 31 to take part in the drawing. If you are chosen, I will contact you to get your mailing address to pass along to Sally.
Before sharing my review, here's a bit of information from Sally
A Word from Sally...
Hi, I’m Sally. (Hi, Sally) And I sometimes like to have a
glass of wine while I peruse the next Sunday School lesson I’m going to
teach. That sort of duality is part of
what inspired my novel, The Happy Hour
Choir.
Beulah Land came to me first. I imagined her as the daughter
of a preacher, a girl who’d been saddled with an impossible name. I mean, who
can ever live up to being heavenly? Then I thought about taking an old hymn I
knew well, “Dwelling in Beulah Land,” and flipping it on its ear by having her
make it her signature song . . . in a bar. She would do this, of course,
because she couldn’t escape her name, but she could rebel. Ginger, Beulah’s old
piano teacher and rescuer, came to me next, one of those no-nonsense older
ladies who has some secrets of her own. Finally, Luke entered the scene, my
preacher man who knew parental pressure and had the humility and compassion of
someone who also knew what it was like to make mistakes.
From there all sorts of characters walked into The Fountain,
the bar where Beulah plays. I wanted to show them all as real people. Too often
I think books with religious themes don’t allow their characters to mess up. To
me, that goes against everything I believe because life is messy and so are we.
Maybe The Happy Hour Choir was my way
of saying we’re all good and bad, but
if we try hard enough, the good will always win out in the end.
Writing Beulah’s story was such a leap of faith. I can’t
tell you how many times contest feedback or agents or even editors said things
like, “I like your writing, but this has too much religion for a mainstream/too
much sinning for an inspirational/too much humor for such angst/too much angst
for such humor.” I struggled because *I*
was a good little girl who grew up in a little town and went to an
equally little church. Maybe writing this book taught me how to bend a few
rules. I should probably send Beulah a thank you note.
And thank you so
much for having me here on your blog today, Leslie. Your kind words definitely
helped make getting this book published well worth the wait.
My Review…
Beulah Land plays piano at the
local bar, The Fountain. She unwillingly agrees to take over as pianist at
County Line Methodist Church to fulfill the dying wish of her closest friend
Ginger Belmont. Unfortunately, some of the current choir members do not believe
Beulah is an appropriate choice, which causes Beulah to create her own Happy
Hour Choir comprised of patrons from The Fountain. As Beulah and Ginger take in
a pregnant teen, Beulah is forced to deal with her own secrets. And then
there’s Luke Daniels, the new reverend in town. Can they come together to build
up the church, and remind Beulah that she is loveable and not defined by her
past?
It is hard to believe that this is Kilpatrick’s debut novel! The
characters are real, honest, lively, and heartfelt. Beulah may be a snarky
character, but she deals with a number of challenges that will be identifiable
for many. Even though Beulah is the main character, Ginger is truly the heart
of the book. No character is wasted, and they remind the reader that anything
worth having is not easy. This novel is written in the first-person point of
view, which may be a bit unusual for some readers. A good takeaway reminder is
that family is what we create, not restricted to bloodlines. It is an inspiring
tale of faith, hope, forgiveness, and second chances. Kilpatrick mixes loss and
devastation with hope, and a little bit of southern charm. She will leave the
reader laughing through tears. This is an incredible start from a promising
storyteller. Some yummy recipes are included, too.
About Sally…
Sally Kilpatrick lives in Marietta, Georgia with her husband, Ryan, and her two children. We shall call these precious and precocious children The Hobbit and Her Majesty.
Her debut novel, The Happy Hour Choir, won the Duel on the Delta, finaled in the Maggie Awards for Excellence, and was a 2012 Golden Heart finalist. Silly has two other novels coming down the pike— think Shakespeare with cows (Bittersweet Creek) and "It's a Wonderful Life" in a funeral home (Better Get to Livin', a 2013 Maggie finalist).
A former Spanish teacher — because that's what you do with an English major — Sally took an extended sabbatical when her husband gave her an application to Kennesaw State University's Master of Arts in Professional Writing Program for Christmas 2007. (Best Christmas Present Ever!)
Sally is also the current president of Georgia Romance Writers.
For fun, Sally likes to read, write, run, and — you guessed it — sing in her church choir.
You can find Sally online at:
http://www.sallykilpatrick.com/
https://www.facebook.com/SuperWriterMom
https://twitter.com/SuperWriterMom
https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/6906076.Sally_Kilpatrick
