Welcome to the Viola Shipman Heirloom Newsletter!
My new novel The Page Turner (about how books save us) is out TUESDAY & was featured in PEOPLE! Preorder now & enter my $1,100 Sweepstakes! See me on tour & check out our new spring gift/clothing line
SPRING (& BOOK LAUNCH) ISSUE!
THE PAGE TURNER IS OUT APRIL 8!
And it was just featured in PEOPLE!
Check out the exclusive article & excerpt HERE!
YEAH!!! You can preorder it now from the following link (other links follow below!):
My new novel — my first book in two years! — publishes Tuesday, April 8. It’s a novel about how books and reading not only change us but often save our lives, as they did mine growing up. It’s a tribute to family, sisters and friendship as well as to finding the strength to rediscover the unique voice God gave us — the one we too often hide or diminish to fit in — to change the world for the better. It’s an ode to pen names and my grandmother, and it pulls back the curtain on what it’s like to be an author today.
Memories of my grandmother and the books we read together sparked writing this book. Here’s a short video about why I wrote The Page Turner and why this story means to much to me:
And here’s the book’s synopsis! I hope you love it!
“A tasty, dishy inside look at the world of publishing. Readers will be begging for a sequel!”—Mary Kay Andrews, New York Times bestselling author of Summers at the Saint
A young romance writer makes a discovery that throws her elitist family into chaos in this sharp, witty and entirely delightful family drama for fans of Jennifer Weiner.
Emma Page grew up the black sheep in a bookish household, raised to believe that fine literature is the only worthy type of fiction. Her parents, self-proclaimed “serious” authors who run their own vanity press, The Mighty Pages, mingle in highbrow social circles that look down on anything too popular or mainstream, while her sister, Jess, is a powerful social media influencer whose stylish reviews can make or break a novel.
Hiding her own romance manuscript from her disapproving parents, Emma finds inspiration at the family cottage among the “fluff” they despise: the juicy summer romances that belonged to her late grandmother. But a chance discovery unearthed from her Gigi’s belongings reveals a secret that has the power to ruin her parents’ business and destroy their reputation in the industry—a secret that has already fallen into the hands of an unscrupulous publishing insider with a grudge to settle. Now Emma must decide—as much as she’s dreamed of the day when her parents are forced to confront their own egos, can she really just sit back and watch The Mighty Pages be exposed and their legacy destroyed?
From the wealthy enclaves of the Hamptons to the sparkling shores of Lake Michigan, The Page Turner is a delectable glimpse inside the world of publishing, and Viola Shipman’s most glittering achievement yet!
The Movie Trailer for The Page Turner! I hope you love it!
PREORDER NOW TO ENTER OUR $1,100 MEGA PAGE TURNER GIVEAWAY!
Wanna a chance to win $1,100 in cash & prizes simply for preordering The Page Turner? To enter, pre-order The Page Turner and submit a jpg copy of your receipt in the entry form below by April 7, 2025 11:59PM EDT. The more copies you order, the better your odds (just use a different email address with each receipt)!
CLICK THIS LINK NOW TO ENTER!
One lucky winner will take home:
• A Coach Leather Blueberry Print Rowan Handbag & Wallet Set
• A $250 Visa Gift Card
• Viola Shipman 40 oz. stainless steel hot & cold tumbler
• Viola Shipman leatherette journal
• Urban Vine, "A Novel Tea" - hand crafted for The Page Turner
One winner will be randomly chosen and announced on Saturday, April 12th at 7:00 p.m. ET during a Special Wine and Words with Wade on the Viola Shipman Facebook page (virtual). Open to USA residents only.
Preorder Links Follow! Or order from your fav bookstore!
Good luck! XOXO!
COME SEE ME ON TOUR!
I will be visiting 9 states in two weeks, followed by countless events across Michigan this spring & summer. Come see me in Texas, Georgia, North & South Carolina, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Ohio, Missouri & Michigan!
For my appearances, see the graphics or click the link below for more information:
THE PAGE TURNER BOOK TOUR!
INTRODUCING VIOLA’S “PAGE TURNING” NEW SPRING, BOOK & EASTER CLOTHING/GIFT LINE FEATURING MERCH THAT I CAN SIGN ON TOUR!
BIG NEWS, PEEPS! Our Spring, Easter & PAGE TURNER clothing line is now LIVE!
CLICK HERE TO SHOP CLOTHING LINE NOW!
CLICK HERE TO SHOP GIFT LINE NOW!
We are so proud of our new gift & clothing line — run by small, women-owned businesses in Michigan with proceeds supporting adults on the spectrum by providing them jobs plus a purpose, place and passion.
Our new gift line features spring soaps and teas, writing journals and gift sets inspired by The Page Turner as well as three candles that smell like my favorite spring flowers: Peonies, lilacs and (lemon) lavender. Direct links to each candle follow:
PEONY: "Peonies-Powder puffs of white & pink that smell like heaven."
https://urban-vine.com/products/peony-candle
LILAC: "Lilacs remind us to breath deeply!"
https://urban-vine.com/products/untitled-mar9_15-18
LEMON LAVENDER: "Read Relax Repeat!"
https://urban-vine.com/products/read-relax-repeat-candle
Our clothing line includes adorable Easter designs as well as Page Turner-inspired clothes plus our new Book Lovers Unite! tees, totes and tumblers! These are inspired by concert T-shirts and are already signed by me … AND are meant for you to wear to book signings so your fav authors can sign them, too (and if you order now, they will arrive in time for my tour, and I can personalize them in person)! New line features:
• Book Lovers Unite! totes & tumblers (to be signed by your fav author!)
• PAGE TURNER inspired T-shirts, sweatshirts & mugs … even inspirational cell phone cases!
(Front says Be The Hero of Your Own Story; Back is book cover)
• Come Home to Viola Shipman totes & journals
• Easter clothes & mugs, including:
* Chillin' with My Peeps & Paperbacks! T-shirt & Mug
* Reading Viola Shipman Makes Me Hoppy! T-shirts
* Somebunny Loves Books mugs & T-shirts (even long sleeve)
Clothes & gifts are customizable by size & color!
Limited edition! These will go away soon! Get yours now!
We hope these make you very, very HOPPY!
A Farewell Tribute to My Beloved BFF, Doris!
It is with a broken - shattered really, but grateful - heart, and tears streaming down my face, that I'm sad to announce the passing of our beloved dog, Doris. So many of you knew Doris through social media and Wine & Words with Wade: She was our ray of light, pure sweetness and joy, an empath, a survivor, and she brightened every day of our lives until her big, ol' heart couldn't go on any longer.
Pets mark important chapters in our lives, and the loss of Doris is a particularly hard one as she was such a stable presence in shepherding me and Gary through such difficult chapters, including the loss of three parents. We only adopt rescues, and I truly believe they rescue us as much as we save them, and Doris certainly did.
Here is the Story of Doris: She came onto our property on a sunny Michigan day, not long we'd adopted Mabel and lost Marge (we have always been a two-dog family), brought to us by a kind woman who was fostering her after Doris had been adopted and returned three times in the first nine months of her life. She strode up to Gary, as if she had waited for this moment, as if the previous rejections were meant to be, wagging, smiling. She was blonde, beautiful and glowed in the sun. Gary looked up at me and smiled. "She's the one." I felt as if God had guided her directly to us.
From the start, I began to joke that Gary and Doris were husband and wife. Doris and I would "tuck each other into bed" every night: She would lay on my pillow, wait for me to come to bed, and I would look her in the eyes, stroke her fur and whisper, "Who wants to go to sleep? Time for bed, my beautiful angel. Let's go to sleep. Time to go to sleep." She would sigh, her eyes sagging, yawn, and then walk across Gary and snuggle into the crook of his arm every night, and the two would spoon.
Doris was so, so gentle and so, so sweet, but she was also a fierce fighter and quiet warrior: She survived a rare, aggressive form of tongue cancer when she was young (a half moon of her tongue was removed, and she was able to eat and drink normally thanks to our great vet), she survived ear cancer (part of her ear was removed), and she survived for a long, long time with congestive heart failure, and never once whined or complained. We fought so hard and so long for her, that the months blurred and the suddenness of losing her feels so raw, too raw, and I am having difficulty getting over this. The losses have accumulated too quickly over the past few years for me and Gary, and the sadness feels like a heavy shroud on my soul. But I shall remember that with loving fully, with all our hearts, the loss is that much greater. And, my goodness, did we love our Doris.
Doris was calm with our aging parents, and would let them love on her until they calmed, too. Doris was calm with me: She saw me through the ups and downs of writing my first novel, a trying time in my career. Doris was my breakfast and lunch companion every single day, and I shared more meals with her than anyone. Doris loved to snuggle while we watched TV, and Gary would hold her like a baby, upside down and cuddle her. We always said her "love tank" could never be filled.
Doris loved everyone, and everyone loved Doris. Doris loved popcorn. She loved her cookies. She loved my Kashi cereal. She loved fish and chicken and ice cream. She loved to yank the squeakers out of any toy. She loved to dress up in holiday costumes (okay, Gary loved to dress her up, but, boy, was she a patient model).
But, most of all, she loved us: We were her entire world. And she was ours.
It is a spring day today, but the world is less sunny without our baby in it. I see her and feel her everywhere. She is gone, but she is not gone. She will live forever in our hearts, and I must believe that she is whole again, no pain, young heart and young at heart, playing with our parents, with Mabel and Marge, and in a little while, when my heart no longer feels like concrete and the tears have slowed, I will look into the sky and see her filling the world with the same bright light she shined on us for nearly thirteen years. That's the hard part: We all want our pets to live forever. And forever always comes too soon.
I love you, Doris Dean! ❤️ Here’s to those we rescue & those who rescue us!
I missed getting this signed book from Brenda Novak book box for May
I preordered your new book but unfortunately when I tried to enter the contest, I couldn’t attach my receipt or take a screenshot of it. It is on my phone, which is all I use. I can furnish my order number and all details but not smart enough to attach the picture 😥
Becky Ridenour