Author Gone, Friends Promote Last Book

by Amy Tracy, Religion BookLine -- Publishers Weekly, 4/11/2007

Members of Chi Libris, a Christian fiction writers online community, and Revell, a division of Baker Publishing Group, are mourning the loss of novelist Jane Orcutt. Diagnosed with leukemia this past December, Orcutt passed away on March 17. She was 47 years old.

Orcutt finished a last book, All the Tea in China (Revell, June) just before she died, and it will not lack for promotion just because the author is gone. Chi Libris will champion the novel through a special Web site devoted to preserving Orcutt's work (janeorcutt.com, live in mid-May); individual writers will blog about the new book; and a vast network of friends and colleagues will spread the word. Their hope is to drive Amazon sales on the book's release date and boost royalties to offset medical expenses incurred by Orcutt's family.

Orcutt was the author and co-author of 15 books, including Dear Baby Girl (Tyndale, 2002). Her first novel, The Fruit of Her Hands (Barbour Books) was published in 1997, inspiring the Heartsong Presents Club (a Christian romance book club) to vote her one of the Top Ten Favorite new authors. In 1998, WaterBrook published The Fugitive Heart and The Hidden Heart; both were finalists for the Romance Writers of America's RITA Award for Best Inspirational Romance. Orcutt was a 1998 finalist for the Romantic Times Reviewers Choice Award.

Orcutt's close friend of 15 years, Sandra Byrd (Let Them Eat Cake; WaterBrook, July) said, "Jane can't be here to promote her book, so we are promoting it as if it were our own." She added, "It was a dream for her to write All the Tea in China. It was God's goodness that she got to write this book to its completion, see Revell's enthusiasm, and get the series launched." The A Rollicking Regency series called for Orcutt to write three books. Revell told RBL that as of now, All the Tea in China will be a stand-alone publication.

"The fact that Chi Libris has rallied around Jane is so touching, but not at all surprising," said Lonnie Hull DuPont, director of acquisitions and Orcutt's editor at Revell. "They're a wonderful group of writers. Jane was a modest woman and she would have been thrilled by their efforts."

"From the get-go, we knew we were lucky to get Jane at Revell," said Hull DuPont. "This is a tremendous loss for all of us, and I personally grieve that I can't call her up again and tell her how amazing she was."  

Orcutt, a lifelong Texan, leaves behind a husband and two sons.