My best Christmas Gift? Well, the iGuy case to protect my oh-fish-ul U2 Special Edition iPod was pretty cool.

But it was still a distant second compared to the package I received from Bethany House Publishers. On Christmas morn, my lovely wife opened our front door to retrieve the newspaper. "Hey," she said, "there's a package from Bethany House out here." A package from my publisher? On Christmas Day? (Okay, so it had obviously had been delivered the day before, but I didn't see the thing until Christmas Day.)

I sat down with the padded envelope and tore it open. Inside, I found a handsome black binder with a hauntingly-familiar book cover in the front display pocket. Inside, a letter from my editor introduced my to my very own author binder for "Waking Lazarus," complete with sections for Editorial, Marketing, Publicity, Sales, and Ads & Reviews. Added bonus: some "Local Author" shelf-talkers for me to cart around to a few local bookstores.

Hey, this is cool, I thought. I sat down and read the outline of the marketing plan, then flipped to the publicity section and found a helpful "Author Timeline" and "Publicity FAQ." Hey, this is cool, I again said to myself. I'm glad publishers do this kind of thing.

I e-mailed a friend who has been published my a major New York publishing house, and mentioned I'd received the author binder. She emailed back, asking about the binder. Then it struck me: the binder isn't SOP in the world of publishing; it's something Bethany House does for its own authors.

Once again, I'm reminded why I signed a contract with these fine folks.

We're still several months away from the official street date for Waking Lazarus, but I'm offering a special deal if you pre-order the book right now on my site.

First, Waking Lazarus will retail for $18.99, which is a pretty great price on a hardcover title. But if you pre-order now, I'll give you 20% off that: $15.19.

Second, I'll personalize your book, then send it out on the earliest possible ship date. Tell me what you want the book inscription to say (there's a message space on the order form); I'll sign your book, then send it to you as soon as I get my shipment--about a month ahead of the official street date.

Third, I'll include a surprise gift with your book, as a fun little way of saying "thanks" for pre-ordering. What is the gift? Hey, it's a surprise. I'll say this, though: only folks who pre-order the book here will get the gift.

Buy early. Buy often. (Once an ad guy, always an ad guy.)

Author RK Mortenson's first book, Landon Snow and the Auctor's Riddle, has hit the stores--and I'm sure it's going to be a hit with its intended 9-12 year-old audience, as well.

The cover and size of the book are rather ingenious in their appeal to kids of this age. A fun illustration, gilded scrollwork, and an illustrated "lock" give the book the feel of an ancient diary--when a child holds the book, she's likely to feel there's something "secret" and wonderful inside.

And indeed, there is. Young Landon Snow finds himself falling into a book, and transported to a magical place. While it's a wonderful tale, what I enjoy most are the underlying messages: books are depicted as wonderful and transformational, as Landon embarks on an adventure by--literally--immersing himself in a book.

I read this book myself ahead of time, and have now begun to read it aloud to my seven-year-old daughter. (All great books should be read aloud, should they not?) While a wee bit young for the targeted demo, she's loving it, Each night, after I read a chapter, she invariably says, "Ah, dad. Keep going--it's in a good part."

I can think of no higher compliment for author RK Mortenson.

Since signing my contract with the fine folks at Bethany House Publishers, I've been holding my breath. Just a bit. You know, listening to that dark voice as it whispers that something's going to go wrong, that someone at the publisher is going to wake up and say, "WHAT IN THE HECK WERE WE THINKING? LET'S PULL THE PLUG ON THIS TL HINES BOOK."

(Sidenote to pre-published authors reading this: See? That voice inside never really goes away. When you're trying to sell your stuff, you tell yourself you'll be more confident about your writing when you actually have a contract. You won't. So be prepared. And if you try to tell me you have no such internal voice of doubt, well, I know better. Every writer has one.)

Thankfully, in the last week, Bethany House sent me their fine looking printed catalog (as I blogged about before); now, they've also created a page on their own web site: marketing copy, cover image, even a chance to order the book for a bargain price of $15.19. Fifteen bucks for a hardback book? Get outta here. (Crass commercial message: Pre-order the book right now, and I'll send you a signed copy, plus a free gift. End of crass commercial message.)

So, I guess Bethany House has to publish the book now; it's in their printed catalogs and on their web site.

Take that, evil voice of doubt.

(But what if nobody likes it?)

Shut up.

As you may have noticed, the palatial headquarters of tlhines.com have undergone a facelift. At the same time, I actually upgraded to Movable Type 3.2 for blogging--so, I revamped the web site and upgraded the blogging software at the same time.

Q: What was I thinking?
A: I wasn't.

So, I've been dealing with a few "issues." For starters, I noticed no one seemed to be leaving comments. "Man," I thought, "People must really hate my last few posts." (Remember, I'm neurotic, which is at least partly why I'm also a writer.) This morning, I finally discovered a number of legitimate comments in my moderated/junk folder. So now, those comments have been released to wander freely, and I'm training the system to "learn" commenters as they drop by. It'll take a while, but I think I'll end up actually liking the anti-spam features of MT 3.2.

As far as layouts and such go, you'll be seeing some tweaks--the blog section will probably take the longest as I slog my way through template changes. Bear with me.

Oh, yeah, by the way, have I said before: I have a novel releasing Summer of 2006?

This is the time of year, of course, when catalogs flood my mailbox--everything from Archie McPhee's punching nuns to Eddie Bauer's cable knit sweaters.

But today, the mailbox held a different kind of catalog. A very special kind of catalog: the Bethany House Summer 2006 catalog.

As eagerly as Ralphie tore open his package holding the Little Orphan Annie Secret Decoder Pen, I tore open the package holding my catalog. And there it was, on pages 28 & 29: a two-page spread (two pages!) devoted to Waking Lazarus.

After ten seconds, I finally took a breath. Once more, after telling myself I'm getting used to the whole idea of being a published fiction author, I find myself positively giddy with another development. Hey, look! I want to yell to everyone. I'm in this catalog!

"Supernatural Suspense with a Jaw-Dropping Twist," the headline at the top of the spread says, and the bulleted copy tells me "T.L. Hines here establishes himself as a riveting storyteller readers won't be able to predict." Jaw-dropping twists and riveting storytelling. And they're saying that not just about any book, by my book.

And over there, on the side, is my ISBN number! My very own ISBN number! And an endcap merchandising kit! And a shelf-talker! And did I say before: a two-page spread in the catalog?

Robin Parrish, founder of InFuze Magazine and a first-time novelist himself, occupies pages 30 and 31 of the same catalog--and, I see, is just as excited to see himself listed there. (Robin's book, Relentless, and Waking Lazarus will be merchandised together--how cool is that?)

You won't get this cheddar-eatin' grin off my face for months.

Ms. Gina Holmes tagged me to play seven sevens, which is, well, what it sounds like. And since a few of the sevens are more interesting than your standard meme fare, I'm playing along.

Seven Things to Do Before I Die
1. Live.
2. Visit Germany.
3. Learn how to play a musical instrument. Any instrument.
4. Have a novel published. (Hey, I can check this one off next July.)
5. Help my lovely wife and lovely daughter with their own "Seven Things To Do Before I Die."
6. Retire from the evil empire of advertising.
7. Have the letter "k" stricken from the English language.

Seven Things I Cannot Do
1. Ski
2. Watch reality television. I get too nervous/embarrassed for the participants.
3. Swim. Yes, really.
4. The Dew
5. The Twist
6. Read music (See #3 on "Seven Things to Do Before I Die")
7. That Voodoo that You Do So Well

Seven Things that Attract Me to My Wife [husband, romantic interest, best friend, whomever]
1. She's beautiful outside--and inside.
2. She's completely supportive of everything I do.
3. She's funny. Ha-ha funny, not weird funny.
4. She's a light wherever she goes: people always love to talk to her.
5. She's the world's best mother.
6. She's put up with me for 12 years.
7. She makes a mean pan of Rice Krispy Treats.

Seven Things I Say Most Often
1. "Ostensibly." (A former employee pointed this out. When I denied it, I caught myself saying it about 10 times in the week after.)
2. "I'm not too horribly concerned." (A current employee just pointed this out. It's usually said in response to some stressful event, and most often means "I'm concerned.")
3. "No big whoop." (Used in the same situations as #2. Most often means "Big whoop.")
4. "Why don't you jump down, turn around and pick a bale of cotton?" (Thank you, Fletch. Okay, it was actually Fletch Lives.)
5. "I was to be a ham." (Thank you, Harper Lee.)
6. "I could use some more cowbell." (Thank you, Saturday Night Live)
7. "Huh?" (I'm not the world's best listener if I'm otherwise preoccupied.)

Seven Books (or Series) I Love
1. Peace Like A River - Leif Enger
2. It - Stephen King. Okay, pretty much anything by Stephen King. Except Cujo.
3. In the Moon of Red Ponies - James Lee Burke. Okay, pretty much anything by James Lee Burke.
4. Stick - Elmore Leonard. Okay, pretty much anything by Elmore Leonard.
5. The Tomb - F. Paul Wilson. Okay, pretty much any of Wilson's "Repairman Jack" novels.
6. Geek Love - Katherine Dunn
7. The Bible

Seven Movies I Would Watch Over and Over Again
1. The Shawshank Redemption
2. North by Northwest
3. Gattaca
4. Monty Python and the Holy Grail
5. Blazing Saddles
6. A Christmas Story
7. Grosse Pointe Blank

Seven People I Want to Join in Too
1. Ms. Deeanne Gist
2. Ms. Shelley Snyder
3. Mr. Michael Snyder
4. Ms. Dee Stewart
5. Mr. Chris Well
6. Ms. Michelle Pendergrass
7. Ms. Mimi Pearson

Man, that was harder than I thought it was going to be. I really had to put on the old thinking cap for some of those answers.