Bullard's Joan "Jonikay" Pace will hold a book signing for her first novel, "Voices from the Heart" at Lady Jane's Antique and Photography Mall, 202 E. Woodrow in Jacksonville Saturday, Dec. 6.

Pace, the founding editor of the Bullard Weekly News, will do a book signing from 1 p.m. until 3 p.m. during Lady Jane's Antique and Photography Mall annual Christmas Open House. Refreshments will be served and there will be sales and discounts throughout the mall.

"Please come visit the open house and say hello," Pace said. "I'll have plenty of copies on hand and be happy to autograph one for everyone."

"Voices from the Heart" is a tale about teenagers, Clara Grace Sheppard and her brother, Hank, who flee their East Texas home in fear of their murderous father. After going their separate ways, for their own safety, Clara finds herself 20 years older and alone. Grief-stricken, she begins to hear the voices of loved ones from her past who give her comfort and guidance that she is now willing to heed. Clara and Hank are at last reunited and return to their childhood home where they hope to learn the truth of their mother's death and their father's part in it, but the visit could cost them their lives.

The book is available for order at comfortpublishing. com, amazon.com and barnesandnoble.com. Additionally, bookstores may order "Voices from the Heart" through Ingram's. Media copies are available by request for review.

Pace married her high school sweetheart Joe Pace in 1958. She graduated from Henderson County Junior College in Athens and the University of Texas at Tyler. She taught high school English until 1996 when she and her youngest daughter Cyndi Reed founded the Bullard Weekly News. The paper was awarded numerous statewide awards including the Alafair Hammet Award for excellence in public school coverage. In 2005, the paper was sold and Pace retired to write stories of all kinds of families and the people in them.