The Secret Life of Bees Tenth Anniversary
Ten Book Giveaway Contest



To celebrate the 10th Anniversary of The Secret Life of Bees, Sue Monk Kidd will give away 10 signed copies of a new, keepsake edition, to be published November 23, 2011. This special edition contains a first-time Introduction by the author. Each book will have a book plate personally signed by the author.

The contest is easy! Go to Twitter and submit any question related to The Secret Life of Bees. Do you want to know where the inspiration for the bees in the wall came from? Was there a real drive-through funeral home? Ten questions will be randomly chosen, which Sue will answer and post on www.suemonkkidd.com.

To enter, submit your question (one per participant) on Twitter (@suemonkkidd) between now and November 5, 2011. Use the hash tag #TSLOB10, for easy tracking. Contest is open to U.S. residents only.

Winners will be announced on Twitter on or about November 10, 2011. The winners will be required to provide via email an address with name and phone number for where the book should be mailed, using the subject header: The Secret Life of Bees 10th Anniversary Contest. The information will not be used for any other purpose.

Sue’s answers to the winning questions will appear on her website. Sue’s Twitter followers will be notified, with a link to the Q&A.

Don’t miss the chance to win a signed commemorative book!

Tenth Anniversary Edition of The Secret Life of Bees

To mark the tenth anniversary of The Secret Life Bees, Penguin is bringing out a special, keepsake edition on November 23, 2011. Packaged in an elegant envelope cover, the edition features a first-time Introduction by Sue, in which she reflects on conceiving and writing the novel, the movie adaptation, and the effect the book and its vast community of readers has had on her life. Read more about BEES and it’s remarkable milestones over the last decade and about the new edition.

New Novel in Progress

Sue is at work on a new novel, titled The Invention of Wings. Set in the early part of the nineteenth century, during the ferment of abolition and the dawn of women’s rights, the book-in-progress follows the lives and sisterhood of three women from Charleston, SC and their struggle for freedom, belonging, and a voice of their own. Follow Sue (@suemonkkidd) on Twitter for periodic progress reports on The Invention of Wings.

Sue on Twitter

Sue will forge a new connection with readers in the coming weeks by launching her official Twitter account, @suemonkkidd. Follow Sue for thoughts on her work, writing, and creativity, as well as for book recommendations, quotes, appearances, updates, reader/author Q & A's, and other relevant news. Coming soon: a series of tweets about The Secret Life of Bees to mark it's upcoming 10th anniversary.

Moonlight on Linoleum

Terry Helwig's exceptional memoir, Moonlight on Linoleum will be published October 4, 2011. Sue wrote the foreword for the book, which can be read at www.terryhelwig.com, along with other info about the book and the author.

Find Sue in Sashay Magazine

Sue's writing life is profiled in a cover story for the 2011 Spring issue of Sashay Magazine. Titled “The Female Odyssey” the article focuses on Sue's personal creative journey, as well as some of her thoughts on women, writing, and creative risk. Sashay is a eco-minded magazine for the "Rugged, Real, and Refined 21st Century Woman."

www.sashaymagazine.com

Below are tidbits from Sashay's interview with Sue:

  • “It's a very intimate experience, to write. It can be terrifying to put your work out there...”
  • “I became a novelist by jumping in over my head...”
  • “It is now largely recognized that women are the largest untapped resource on the planet.”
  • “Understanding one's particular genius, one's particular purpose in the community, is going to be perhaps the most indispensable ethic in the years ahead.”

Sue Monk Kidd Inducted into the SC Academy of Authors

Each year the South Carolina Academy of Authors recognizes the state's distinguished writers by selecting new inductees for inclusion in the South Carolina Literary Hall of Fame. Inductees are chosen whose work has been judged culturally important and/or has earned notable scholarly attention. In a March 18 ceremony at the University of South Carolina- Aiken, Sue joined past Academy inductees, Pat Conroy, John Jakes, and others. www.scacademyofauthors.org
Sue (right) with board members, Oliver Bowman and Libby Bernardin