Mimi Johnson headed for Ohio after successful Gathering String tour in Iowa and more good reviews

Recent reviews praise Gathering String for its memorable characters and relevance.

Nathasha wrote the 15th five-star Amazon review (of 21 overall reviews):

Gathering String is a great political journalism thriller, with good character development and pacing. I also enjoyed how the novel makes references to digital and social media and the changing journalism industry. It’s a very relevant and timely novel, and overall great read.  

North Dakota journalist Francis Materi wrote the sixth four-star Amazon review:

This is a book with memorable characters and an engaging story, timely and well told. Finishing “Gathering String” made me want to read another chapter; made me want to know what happens next. That’s about the best compliment I can pay to a work of fiction.

After a successful book tour in Iowa, author Mimi Johnson heads to Dublin, Ohio, this week to discuss Gathering String with a book club.

The Iowa tour also included a book club visit as well as public readings at Beaverdale Books in Des Moines and the Shenandoah Public Library.

If you’d like to schedule a visit to a bookstore, library or book club in the Washington area, you may contact the author at mimi (dot) johnson (at) me (dot) com.

Mimi Johnson discusses Gathering String on KMA radio

Mimi Johnson leaves for Iowa today for a book tour promoting Gathering String. In advance of the tour, she was a guest on KMA radio in Shenandoah, Iowa, Friday. You can listen to the full segment.

One correction: In the lead-in, the hosts refer to Mimi having “worked at” the Washington Post and Omaha World-Herald. She contributed to both publications as a freelance writer, but has not worked as a staff member for either newspaper.

Author Mimi Johnson to discuss Gathering String in Iowa book tour

Mimi Johnson will be discussing her novel Gathering String in three Iowa cities next week.

The Iowa book tour starts with a private appearance in Jefferson on Tuesday, Oct. 2, with a Greene County book club, invited by blogger Carla Offenburger, whose goodreads review is a cover blurb on the Gathering String print edition.

The first public appearance of the tour will be at Beaverdale Books, where Johnson will read from the novel and answer questions Wednesday, Oct. 3, at 6:30 p.m.

She will read again Thursday, Oct. 4, at 6:30 p.m. in the first public event at the renovated auditorium at the Shenandoah Public Library. In advance of that appearance, she will be a guest this Friday at 9:45 Eastern time, 8:45 a.m. Central, on Dean and Don on KMA radio.

Iowa bookstores, libraries or book clubs interested in scheduling other events or journalists interested in interviews may contact the author at mimi (dot) johnson (at) me (dot) com.

Johnson is an Iowa native who grew up in Essex and lived in Des Moines for seven years and Cedar Rapids for two years. Much of Gathering String is set in Iowa and three of the four main characters are Iowans.

The book is available from the Kindle Store (including the Kindle app for iPad, computer or phone) for $5.99 and as a paperback for $16.

 

 

Reviewer calls Gathering String a ‘page turner’

The latest 5-star review on Amazon for Mimi Johnson’ Gathering String, by M. Markham “Merrily”:

A page turner. Did not want it to end.

And, just to be clear, Mimi Johnson has not paid for any reviews of Gathering String. Every review has been done by a genuine reader. The New York Times reported today about reviewers for hire. This author/publisher does not follow that practice.

 

Mimi Johnson planning Iowa book tour for Gathering String

Gathering String author Mimi Johnson is making plans for an Iowa book tour to promote her novel.

Details will come soon, but she has already scheduled her first two Iowa events. She will be in Iowa the week of Oct. 1-6.

This is the ideal time and place for a Gathering String tour. Barely a month before this November’s election, an Iowa native will return to her home state to discuss her novel about the mystery surrounding an Iowa governor’s presidential campaign. Johnson grew up in Essex, Iowa, and has lived in Shenandoah, Des Moines and Cedar Rapids. She was a student at Iowa State University.

Iowa bookstores, libraries, book clubs and journalists can email the author at mimi (dot) johnson (at) me (dot) com to schedule readings, interviews and book signings.

The print edition of Gathering String is available in time for the Iowa book tour. The Kindle edition, published in March, has been downloaded more than 10,000 times. Thirteen of the book’s 18 Amazon reviews have given the book a top rating of five stars.

“Loved this book!” wrote Carla Offenburger, whose Iowa book club is making plans for a visit with Johnson during her Iowa tour. “Every page was worth it,” Offenburger said in her Goodreads review. “I miss the characters and hope I get to see them again in a future sequel. Johnson creates a wonderful story around politics, journalism, love and family. Highly recommend it.”

Others praising Gathering String have been Tim McGuire, former president of the American Society of News Editors and now a journalism professor at the Walter Cronkite School of Journalism, Andrew Beaujon of the Poynter Institute, and authors Don Fry, Buffy Andrews and Richard Hine. Iowans praising the book have included journalists Rae Riebe and Brian Smith.

The tour also could include a stop in Omaha, where Johnson studied creative writing at Creighton University.

Readers have blamed Gathering String for neglected chores, sunburn on the beach and for sitting by an outlet to keep reading after an iPad’s battery ran down. Bring Mimi Johnson to your bookstore, library or book club, so your community can see why readers can’t put this book down.

Gathering String print edition is available

The print edition of Gathering String is now on sale. You can order the book for $16 through Amazon now, and it should be available through normal distribution channels to bookstores in a few weeks. You can also buy the Kindle edition of Gathering String for $5.99. You don’t need a Kindle to read the book. You can read it on the Kindle app for iPad, iPhone or computer. The Kindle and print entries should be synced shortly so the Kindle reviews will show up with the print listing. If you want to read the reviews before deciding whether to buy the print edition, they are all compiled here, 13 five-star reviews out of 18 total reviews. In addition to the reviews, Gathering String continues to draw enthusiastic responses on Twitter:

 

 

 

Two more 5-star reviews for Gathering String

Reviewers continue to praise Mimi Johnson’s Gathering String:

Rae Riebe wrote:

Johnson has an ear for sparkling dialogue and a flair for dramatic pacing. Her dry wit made me smile, and her portrayals of Iowa, small-town life and the nitty-gritty of the news media are spot-on. The action unfolds quickly in the last quarter of the novel. I can’t remember the last time I stayed up most of the night to finish a book. I highly recommend “Gathering String.” It is a good read, and a timely one, too. Not just because this is an election year, but also because the book explores journalism ethics in a 24/7 news cycle.

Ted Schnell wrote:

Mimi Johnson’s “Gathering String” is a finely crafted mystery and an intriguing study of complex relationships that you won’t want to put down until you’ve read it to the end.

Gathering String is $5.99 on the Kindle Store. You can read it on the Kindle app for iPad, iPhone or computer if you don’t have a Kindle. A print edition will be coming out soon.

Gathering String: ‘This ending was perfect,’ ‘nails’ the sex scenes

Gathering String has 10 five-star reviews on Amazon, two-thirds of all its reviews. The latest review, by “SBurke,” says:

This is such a fun, suspenseful, and entertaining book! … When I finished Gathering String, I found myself disappointed that I had come to the end of the story. But a book’s ending can either make it or break it … and this ending was perfect.

BryanC” also reviewed Gathering String, giving it four stars:

I was moved to buy a Kindle just to read Mimi Johnson’s novel, Gathering String because Kobo/Indigo isn’t yet carrying this title (we already own a Kobo). Glad I did. I thoroughly enjoyed the book, especially the twists and turns involving the many interesting, authentic and flawed characters. … This book could also serve as an ethics study in journalism schools because, `tho it is fiction, the heart-wrenching challenges facing the principals mirror real-life in current-day newspaper and online journalism.

Buffy Andrews continued her praise for Gathering String on Twitter last night, bringing some hints from author Mimi Johnson about the sequel she’s working on:

 


 

 

 

 

Gathering String is free today; see what Brian Smith was shouting about

Gathering String is free today at the Kindle Store (the price goes back up to $5.99 Sunday).

Lynn Hicks of the Des Moines Register wrote about Gathering String (second item in the linked roundup), saying the novel was “getting strong reviews from Iowans and journalists around the country.”

Another of those reviews came this week on Amazon, from Iowa journalist Brian Smith:

I don’t know the last time I was this excited to read a book. I was so hooked and found myself rooting for and against different characters. I don’t know the last time I actually yelled out loud while reading a book. I can’t wait for the sequel.