From Viola Shipman, Author of The Charm Bracelet, The Hope Chest, The Recipe Box, The Summer Cottage, The Heirloom Garden and now The Clover Girls

SPRING 2021 ISSUE

Happy Spring!

I’m beyond thrilled that my new summer novel, The Clover Girls – an ode to forever friends – publishes next Tuesday, May 18th! I’m deeply proud of this beautiful story of friendship and forgiveness, and I know it will resonate in your soul and make you pick up the phone to call your BFF.

I would be remiss, however, to not first address the surreal blur the last year has been. Like you, I’ve been isolated, heartbroken, scared, panicked, and desperately missing family and friends. And yet, amidst a dark year, there have been silver linings.

We’ve all been forced to reinvent how we reclaim the deeply human thing the pandemic stole from us --- the ability to connect. The chance to hug. The chance to look one in another in the eye, face-to-face, and say, “I missed and love you.” We’ve learned that on the fly.

Over a year ago now, I started "Wine & Words with Wade," my weekly Literary Happy Hour, and in that time I’ve been able to connect with readers more deeply and personally than I ever imagined.

I’ve also met virtually with book clubs and readers all around the world, and I believe I’ve been able to spend more quality time with you doing this. Instead of racing around on tour for a couple of weeks, I have had the opportunity to have extended conversations with a much larger number of readers.

Another silver lining has been the way authors have stepped up to support one another. Publishing in a pandemic is challenging, but authors have buoyed one another in ways that have made me pause with gratitude. The connections and friendships that I’ve made have sustained me. And you get to meet so many fascinating authors and publishing insiders. Mary Kay Andrews, Mary Alice Monroe and Kristin Harmel are just a few of the authors joining me this spring and summer for "Wine & Words"!

Now let me share more about my new novel.

The Clover Girls is about four very different girls who become best friends at summer camp in the 1980s until life and adulthood – as it too often does – makes them lose touch. The Clover Girls is about forgiveness – not only others but also ourselves – and about how our friends guide us through life's ups and downs, and help us rediscover who we were and who we still can be. A lot of love stories have been written, but I wanted to write a love story about friendship.

It's an ode to our forever friends and our childhood dreams, how each changes our lives, and why we too often let those fade. It's about how our friends love, support and complete us.

If you loved Firefly Lane or Sweet Magnolias, The Clover Girls will speak to your heart.

And if you are a child of the '80s, the book will speak to your soul (remember jelly bracelets, friendship pins, Madonna, Michael, Wham! and John Hughes movies?).  I guarantee you won't let anyone "bogart" your copy of this book.

If you have a BFF who knows more about you than anyone else in the world, The Clover Girls is the PERFECT book for you --- and the perfect book to share with your best friend, be it your bestie from childhood, high school or college; your mom; your sister; your neighbor; your co-worker; your book club friends; or even that friend you want to reconnect with because they once meant so much to you!

XO,
Viola

Here is what The Clover Girls is all about … 

Bestselling author Viola Shipman is at her absolute best with The Clover Girls. Readers of all ages and backgrounds will love its powerful, redemptive nature and empowering message.

Elizabeth, Veronica, Rachel and Emily met at Camp Birchwood as girls in 1985, where over four summers they were the Clover Girls – inseparable for those magical few weeks of freedom – until the last summer that pulled them apart. Now approaching middle age, the women are facing challenges they never imagined as teens, struggles with their marriages, children and careers, and wondering who it is they see when they look in the mirror.

Then Liz, V and Rachel each receive a letter from Emily with devastating news. She implores the girls who were once her best friends to reunite at Camp Birchwood one last time, to spend a week together revisiting the dreams they'd put aside and repair the relationships they'd allowed to sour. But the women are not the same idealistic, confident girls who once ruled Camp Birchwood, and perhaps some friendships aren't meant to last forever...

An On-Air Sneak Preview

I loved giving readers a preview of The Clover Girls and the story behind it on Fox 17’s “The Morning Mix”. I hope you enjoy the interview!

Here's Me Reading Some of The Clover Girls

Praise from Library Journal 

"A blissful summer read for fans of Elin Hilderbrand and Kristin Hannah"

Enthusiastic Endorsements from Some Favorite Authors!

I’ve been humbled by the early praise for The Clover Girls from some of my favorite authors; they have influenced and inspired me in ways they will never know, and I’m grateful for their enthusiasm, support and friendship.

"Like a true friendship, The Clover Girls is a novel you will forever savor and treasure." Mary Alice Monroe, New York Times bestselling author

"Reading Viola Shipman's novels is like talking with your best friend, and wanting never to hang up the phone. The Clover Girls is her most beautiful novel yet, and her most important." Nancy Thayer, New York Times bestselling author

"Viola Shipman has written a love song to long-lost friends, an ode to the summers that make us who we are. The minute I finished The Clover Girls, I ordered copies for all my friends. It's that good." Kristy Woodson Harvey, USA Today bestselling author

Wine & Words with Wade

I recently celebrated the one-year anniversary of this weekly online literary happy hour, and the audience for the show continues to grow in leaps and bounds.

It airs every Thursday at 6:30 p.m. ET on the Viola Shipman Facebook page and has become a part of my – and so many of your – weekly routines. I recently worked with a wonderful audio/visual company on a video introduction for the show (they also did the introduction for the amazing "Friends & Fiction Fab Five"), and I am so proud of the result. Tune in to give it a look. 

Here's our upcoming lineup: 

May 13 - New York Times bestselling author Patti Callahan discussing Surviving Savannah

May 20 - New York Times bestselling author Mary Kay Andrews (Launch Week for The Clover Girls) discussing her latest novel, The Newcomer

May 27 - New York Times bestselling author Mary Alice Monroe discussing her new novel, The Summer of Lost and Found

The Clover Girls Book Tour!

I have a full lineup of virtual events coming your way (too many to list here, but this link will take you to all of them.

Below are the launch week events for The Clover Girls. We have so many wonderful events and authors scheduled. I hope you will join us for the fun and festivities.

LAUNCH WEEK - THE CLOVER GIRLS

MONDAY, MAY 17th
Fox 17 Morning Mix (Grand Rapids, Mich) - 9:10 am ET
https://www.fox17online.com/morning-mix

TUESDAY, MAY 18th: CG LAUNCH!
BookClubbish - All Day Takeover!
Follow along on FB here: https://www.facebook.com/BookClubbish
eightWest - WoodTV8 (Grand Rapids, Mich.)
11am-Noon ET
https://www.woodtv.com/eightwest/

Clover Girls Telethon - A Day of Friendship!
3:30-7:30 pm ET (LIVE!)

Viola Shipman Facebook Live!
Watch here! https://www.facebook.com/authorviolashipman/

3:30 PM ET
Join me for a special reading and discussion of The Clover Girls!

4:30 pm ET
I will discuss The Clover Girls with one of my favorite independent bookstores, Saturn Booksellers. There will be tons of games and giveaways. 

5:30 pm ET
New York Times bestselling author Nancy Thayer will join me live to discuss The Clover Girls and how we became friends (friendship is a main theme of my novel).

6:30 pm ET
New York Times bestselling author Brenda Novak will join us with her BFF to discuss The Clover Girls, friendship and her June Book Box, which will feature The Clover Girls.

WEDNESDAY, MAY 19th
7:00 pm ET: Special Ticketed Event! In conversation with New York Times bestselling author RaeAnne Thayne
https://www.crowdcast.io/e/pfdc2yt8/register

This will be my only ticketed event for The Clover Girls, meaning a book must be purchased to receive the link to the event and conversation. You will receive a link to the online event prior to the event start. All copies will include a signed bookplate.

Tickets may be purchased from one of the three amazing indie bookstores who have partnered for the event:
FoxTale Book Shoppe in Georgia
Bethany Beach Books in Delaware
Page 158 Books in North Carolina

THURSDAY, MAY 20th
6:30 pm ET  Wine & Words with Wade-NYT Bestselling author Mary Kay Andrews
Watch here! https://www.facebook.com/authorviolashipman/

FRIDAY, MAY 21st
7 pm ET
Beyond the Book Jacket Series with Ron Block and the Cuyahoga County Public Library
Zoom Happy Hour discussion of The Clover Girls
In conversation with NYT bestselling author Kristin Harmel and Series Creator Ron Block
Register for free here: https://www.beyondbookjackets.com/shipman

FRIDAY, JUNE 4th
4 pm ET
A Mighty Blaze - Friday Frontliner interview with New York Times bestselling author Caroline Leavitt
Watch here: https://www.facebook.com/amightyblaze

Signed Bookplates

I’m hoping that you will consider ordering the book NOW from your favorite bookseller or bookstore. IF YOU DO, I will send you a personalized, autographed bookplate for your book! (Just email your name, address and the person to whom you want the bookplate addressed to: gary@violashipman.com).

Pre-Order The Clover Girls
at the Following Retailers
or at Your Local Bookseller

What's Next....Another Book in 2021!

But the shiniest silver lining has been the opportunity to continue to write books that inspire hope and remind us what matters most in the world: The simplest of things, like my grandmother always taught me: Family, friends, our health, a sunrise and a sunset... each other. In fact, I have been writing A LOT of books for you. I have THREE books publishing this year, and THREE books next year. I am excited about them all, including my very first holiday novel, The Secret of Snow, coming on October 26th.

A Closing Note

The losses of the past year caused me to consider the fragility of life. My Grandma Shipman (my pen name) always said, “Life is as short as one blink of God’s eye, and we too often forget what’s most important during that blink.” Friends were top of that list to her.

My friends ARE my life. Aren't yours? 

Here’s to all of you, my book BFFs! And here’s to your forever friends! I hope The Clover Girls reminds you of what’s most important in the world: Each other!

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