Happy New Year!

Published January 7, 2014 | By JR

2013 is gone, and 2014 is off to a great start. It’s going to be the best year ever.

December Author Quest was fantastic! We had 19 campers (remember: we keep the December camp quite small ever since the vicious polar bear attack of 2012). Our June and August 2014’s are already about half full, and will most likely fill by March, just like last year’s summer camps. I can’t stress this enough: you want to attend, get your application essay in right away. During the month of May, I am bombarded with letters and requests to get into one of the camps. By then, it’s far too late. Special thanks to Camp Director Ann Rowland, counselors, and staff. Also special thanks to Mrs. Chillers, a.k.a. “The Snack Fairy.” It’s amazing to see everyone pitch in and create a fabulous experience for every young author in attendance.

Fall of 2013 saw numerous book signings, and I appreciate every single person who attended. Thank you so much! And thanks to the many wonderful bookstores who hosted these events. There is a lot of work that goes into a Johnathan Rand book signing, and I’m very grateful for the support of businesses and communities that work hard to make these a success. If your parents drove you to one of these signings, please tell them that I personally said “thank you.” They spent time, gas money, and braved some pretty nasty weather, especially in December. I’m currently working on setting up more signings for 2014, and those events will be posted on the main page of www.americanchillers.com.

I have been home the entire Christmas break (except, of course, for Author Quest) and it’s been great. I have been getting a little writing done, but mostly, I’ve been planning/preparing for 2014. I leave this Sunday, January 12, for Arizona. I’ll be in the Phoenix area until the 22nd, when I travel to Oklahoma for a few days. Home for a week, then it’s off to Las Vegas and California. The entire month of March will see me traveling all across the state of Michigan, back and forth and up and down, then off to Florida, back to Wisconsin, down to Illinois, and back through Michigan. Mostly, these will be school presentations that will not be open to the public, but I’m working on putting together some book signings in the evenings. Again, these will be posted on the main page of my website.

Thanks for checking in!

Best wishes and happy reading,

Johnathan Rand