I'm getting a present!

Okay... so I have been having so much trouble being productive on my book. A lot of it is pain related.

Some of you may not know - but I have fibromyalgia. It's not so bad, but I just cannot sit in my chair for very long before I am just in terrible pain. I have to get up and wander. I can't walk long either - so I end up on our love seat - where I can shift position often and I have back support and all that. It's the most comfortable place for me.

However, it doesn't help me write when my computer is in the office.

My hubby surprised me and volunteered to get me one of those mini laptops - so I could use it for my writing. It won't be for anything else - and I know they have their limitations... but to use to write... it will be wonderful! I will be able to get so much more done!

You all may see that book yet. lol

Anyway, it won't get here until mid Oct probably (we ordered a Dell) but I am on cloud nine. :o)

Mailbox Monday

I am without my computer... (borrowing hubby's for this post). So this will be a little bland as I won't be adding the pics to go with the titles. Bear with me.

I finally got in my box from Library & Educational Services today (I hope that counts). In any case, if you all don't know about them, they sell books at a great discount for special... qualifiers. Like I qualify as a homeschooler, pastors qualify... I don't know all the other groups that do - but I could check it out. They send out some paper mailings and e-mail specials. Their books lean towards the educational and Christian.

They do not accept credit cards - only checks and possibly PayPal... I can't remember.

In any case if you want more info, you can ask me about it or look them up.

The books I got today were:

A Bride in the Bargain by Deeanne Gist 8.25 (amazon 10.19)
No Place for a Lady by Maggie Brendan 8.35 (amazon 11.19)
Montana Rose by Mary Connealy 6.48 (amazon 7.89)
That Certain Spark by Cathy Marie Hake 8.25 (amazon (10.05)
The Bachelor's Bargain by Catherine Palmer 8.18 (amazon 10.39)
Green (Hardcover) by Ted Dekker 15.85 (amazon 15.20 - and they lowered it after I bought it here)

I also got 20% off my order and so I saved an additional 11.07. That made it even cheaper to buy from them.

I am thrilled and ready to get started reading!

Two for the Price of One

Title: The Jewel of His Heart

Author: Maggie Brendan

ISBN: 978-0-8007-3350-6

From the back cover:

Juliana Brady is alone in an 1890s Montana mining town, with few prospects for making a living. But she is determined not to be dependent on the charity of others.

Josh McBride is trying to scrape up a living from his sheep herd while he builds his ranch. But when he discovers some rare stones on his property, he’s tempted by the prospect of fast money.

When their paths cross, Juliana and Josh must make a choice—the world’s riches and promises, or the eternal value of love.
~~~~~~

I really do despise reading a series out of order; and I am currently expecting book one in the mail… But I got this first and had nothing else new to read but boring old writing books. {wink} I just couldn’t wait. I finished it in less than a day.

I identified with this book and the characters on many levels. Juliana didn’t want to be dependent on others—a charity case. I have felt the same way with the limitations my health has placed on me. There is also the whole idea of how people associate or identify with you and how your personality is… perceived by others. Sometimes they can be mistaken. I have experienced that firsthand as well. I dabble in jewelry ~ and sapphires are my birthstone, so the whole history of the Yogo Sapphire was fascinating.

In fact, I found a wonderful pic that shows the color range of Yogos to share with you. Unlike other stones, they are not heated or treated in any way – and are said to be just as beautiful in artificial light as they are in sunlight. I would love to see one in real life one day.

The characters all interacted in a natural way that was at once heartening and challenging. The author did such good work on all her characters that I expected even the smaller ones to walk into the room and sit down on the couch beside me. The love story between Josh and Juliana was beautiful, passionate and touching. I think Maggie has done a beautiful job and I can’t wait to read the rest of the series.

PS ~ On a personal note, my leady lady and hero have names that start with the same letter as well. I was told that can be off-putting to some editors. My own editor never mentioned it to me, and neither did any of my readers. I was happy to say I never even noticed it until I went to write the review for these two and realized that in some ways the names starting the same was another bond for them… a way to make them seem connected. Saying their names together “sounds” good. That’s my opinion – what’s yours?

~~~~~~

Title: The Art & Craft of Writing Christian Fiction

Author: Jeff Gerke

ISBN: 978-0-9821049-6-5

I’m going to break away from my normal routine of telling what is on the back cover because this isn’t fiction. Perhaps I should still share it, but I’m making an executive decision here. {wink}

I don’t know if Jeff’s book was the most helpful book I’ve ever read on writing. I do know it was the most fun. It was also the most well-organized. Each area is broken down into manageable chunks that make it easy to go back to a section you want to look up later. I will remember sections and look them up again too—if just for the fun of it. I loved the way he explained things with creative language, references to popular movies and excerpts from his own writing… I felt as if I were talking to someone who was coaching me through the process in a fun, approachable way.

Make no mistake, there is plenty of good information wedged between those softcovers. Each time he added a mistake new writers make, or some horrible manuscript that had crossed his desk, I shuddered to think how he would respond to my manuscript.

Perhaps that and keeping his book placed prominently on my desk will be enough for me to avoid making some of those errors. Maybe I should read it again—just to make sure I’ve crafted my lightsaber properly.

Splash Award

I just received The Splash Award from my friend Lori @ Some of My Favorite Books! Thank you so much, Lori!! I am honored to receive this award. Isn't it beautiful?!?!

The Splash Award is given to alluring, amusing,
bewitching, impressive, and inspiring blogs.

When you receive this award, you must:

- Put the logo on your blog/post.
- Nominate & link up to 9 blogs which allure, amuse, bewitch, impress or inspire you.
- Let them know that they have been splashed by commenting on their blog.
- Remember to link to the person from whom you received your Splash Award.

Now Lori knows I am new to blogging and she knows everyone I know, so it is hard for me to come up with new blogs... but here are a couple:

1. Edgy Inspirational Author Blog
2. Rants and Ramblings on Life as a Literary Agent
3. Woman of Faith

Conflict/Tension ~ Balance

Lori's review the other day got me thinking about conflict & tension in the books we read/write. As a writer I know that every good book needs conflict in order to keep a story moving. We are taught that every character needs a goal, motivation to obtain that goal, and conflict that gets in the way of obtaining the goal.

As a reader we like the tension that conflict in a story provides, even if we don't consciously think about why we like it or what the author is doing to keep us riveted to the page.

I used to attend a women's Bible study led a good friend of mine who taught us all kinds of things from the very Martha (practical) to the very Mary (spiritual). We all agreed that spiritual things are practical ~ so no hate mail. lol The thing I remember most about her sessions is that we would always get around to the principle of "balance."

For example ~

It is good to clean and organize your house, and she shared tips on how to do this more effectively ~ but if you let cleaning your house become your priority instead of your relationship with God and your family... you are out of balance. You have missed what is better.

It is good to want to look pretty for your spouse and there is nothing wrong with "cleaning up" and sprucing up to try and impress him/her ~ but if you become vain and care only about how you look and what kind of impression you make on others... you are out of balance.

You really can do the whole balance idea with just about anything. I remember we would get to that point in the study and one of us would say, "It's the whole balance thing, isn't it?" Everyone would groan and/or smile. Of course it is.

Balance is necessary with conflict too. That's what I meant when I was talking with Lori about conflict with one of the reviews she shared. We need the books we read to engage us and tug at our hearts. We need to want to pull for them. In order to have that need - they have to be going through something... fighting something... overcoming. If not, what's the point? On the other hand.... Let's say this happens...

If an author takes your hero and in scene one you meet him and like him. He's a nice guy with a good job, close relationship to his mother, has a neat cat that does tricks and just met a really pretty girl - and suddenly he's in a terrible car accident with his new girlfriend; you want them to recover, right? You think this book will be about them overcoming and recovering from the car accident. Then - the very next scene a nurse comes in and puts a strange liquid in the IV and your character begins to convulse in the bed... someone has tried to kill him!

Let's say he survives that and the police show up and start and the investigation and post guards at the door. One of the guards has to go to the bathroom and the other falls asleep and yet another attempt is made - this time with a pillow. Your hero fights with the person, scratching their arm... and the police come in and arrest the villain only to find out it's just a hired killer who promptly commits suicide.

Then your hero is released and finds out the new girlfriend died in the crash, his mom died today and his cat ran away. So he has nobody to comfort him. He isn't allowed to travel to the funeral because of the investigation - and his boss fired him because he didn't show up for work - you know, when he was in the hospital because he was hit by a car. The landlord has decided to raise the rent, and without a job, our hero will be out on the streets if he can't come up with the money in two days. He walks down to the ATM to get some cash so he can at least get some dinner and finds that all his accounts have been emptied. Someone accessed his information and took every last penny and now he's worried they may have stolen his identity too.

A little much? See by now I would have already put down the book and reached for the phone number of the nearest suicide hotline. How depressing! Balance, it's important.

Of course ~ I'm new at this whole writing business, and as some have said, "Where am I going wrong with this?" Let me know what you think.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
By the way ~ because I started with a car accident, and talked about tension, I didn't want anyone to think I was talking about The Familiar Stranger. I reviewed that book earlier in my blog and LOVED it. I think Christina Berry did a fabulous job of balancing it all.

Reading Meme

(I found this meme over at Some of My Favorite Things and decided to participate.)

Today's challenge is a Reading Meme. I am encouraged to be creative with this.
Please choose one or two questions to answer or try to answer all the questions in five words or less. Or choose a picture to answer a question! Brevity is the goal of today! I chose to answer the questions in as few words as possible!

Do you snack while you read? If so, favorite reading snack?
Sometimes...Baked Tostitos.

Do you tend to mark your books as you read, or does the idea of writing in books horrify you?
I wouldn't mark my books.

How do you keep your place while reading a book...Bookmark? Dog-ears? Laying the book flat open?
Bookmarks & laying it open (ducks)

Fiction, Non-fiction, or both?
Both

Hard copy or audiobooks?
Hard copy

Are you a person who tends to read to the end of chapters, or are you able to put a book down at any point?
I can can stop anywhere.

If you come across an unfamiliar word, do you stop to look it up right away?
No

What are you currently reading?

What is the last book you bought?

The Edge of Light.

Are you the type of person that only reads one book at a time or can you read more than one at a time?
More than one.

Do you have a favorite time of day and/or place to read?
The couch ~ all the time.

Do you prefer series books or stand alone books?
Stand alone, unless the series is finished.

Is there a specific book or author that you find yourself recommending over and over? I hate to do that because there are too many good ones... Julie Lessman, Sharlene MacLaren, Kaye Dacus...

How do you organize your books? (By genre, title, author’s last name, etc.?) By genre, series, size, author's last name...It depends on what works best for that type of book.

The Familiar Stranger

Title: The Familiar Stranger
Author: Christina Berry
ISBN: 978-0-8024-4731-9



From the back cover:

"Why is Craig so cold and distant? Denise wonders. Is it his job? The family? Or is it me? Though she’s poured her heart into her marriage, years of enduring his long hours, frequent times away, and short temper have left her with a deep sadness.

Then one morning in the middle of church her cell phone rings. Embarrassed, she heads to the lobby takes the call…and is shocked by the news she hears. Craig’s been in an accident.
So begins their fresh start. While keeping vigil by his bedside she wills herself to make their marriage work, whatever the cost. And when Craig finally regains consciousness, he appears to want the same thing—except for one detail. He doesn’t know who she is.

Nor does he remember anything about their life, their children, or why he was parked on the side of the freeway when the accident occurred. As he struggles to recall the past, he also shows a new love for Denise characterized by tender strength and consideration. So what is she to do when ugly betrayals emerge? Is it possible to forgive a man who thoroughly violated her trust? How many more lies and secrets are yet to be discovered?
And then, without warning, his memories come flooding back… "
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Wow! I kept saying that over and over as I read this book. I just couldn’t believe the next surprise~ the next twist… Christina Berry amazed me with the not only the revelations her characters dealt with, and their responses to it – but how believable it all was. I was reading this incredible story and the people in it seemed as flesh and bone as my own sons and husband in the next room.

Denise is not perfect, but she is the kind of woman you want to be. She is brave, forgiving, loves God and her family. Her sons reminded me so much of my own – including their near opposite personalities. I was heartbroken at the hurt and inspired by the healing that happened in the book.

If I had a negative it would only be that the end came too swiftly and I would have loved for that storyline to continue.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
I am always more ... "open" on my blog and tell you all what I was thinking and feeling even more than I share on my website and the reviews I do on Amazon and places like that... I have to tell you that this book caught me totally off guard. I was prepared not to like it. I liked the author's page and her personality seemed wonderful - but when I read the back cover and I thought about the premise of reading about a bad marriage and could she forgive betrayals... well I just don't read stuff that depresses me. I like to be inspired and happy. Call it lazy of me. I am not one of those deep literary types that needs angst to survive. I like my happy endings.

This book did challenge me - and it did inspire me. It gave me so much more than a happy ending. I cannot believe this is her first book. It makes me want to shred my manuscript and start over again. You really should read it. I hope you will and I hope you like it.