Weaving a Tale or Two

Orem's Center for Story

2012-03-02T15:24:00.002-07:00

The construction of the Center for Story is being funded with CARE tax revenues and donations. It is an extension of the existing library for programs the library is already putting on.

Now, there will simply be room for those who wish to attend.

Vacation . . . Again. Oh, and Self-Editing

2012-03-01T01:00:00.000-07:00

Yep, I'm headed to paradise again.

I know. Rough life.

Robin Weeks posted an LTUE class update about self-editing. (I know! I've been a serious slacker/loser in this area myself, but repentance is coming. Someday). But it's an awesome recap of a class taught by the amazing Tristi Pinkston (author and editor). It's definitely worth your time to check it out.

When I find posts like this, I copy them and post the information in a document (with a link back to the original post), so I won't lose it. How do you keep track of useful information you find online?

CassaFirE Launch Day and Blog Party

2012-02-28T01:00:00.000-07:00

Today is the Catch Fire Blog Party, celebrating the release of CassaFire by Alex J. Cavanaugh! The goal is to help CassaFire “catch fire” on the best seller charts and achieve the success of the first book, CassaStar. There’s also a special package of prizes being given away at the author’s blog (copies of CassaFire, CassaStar, tote bag, mug, and bookmarks) as well as book giveaways during his two-week blog tour.

CassaFire is the sequel to Cavanaugh’s first book, CassaStar, an Amazon Top Ten Best Seller:
“…calls to mind the youthful focus of Robert Heinlein’s early military sf, as well as the excitement of space opera epitomized by the many Star Wars novels. Fast-paced military action and a youthful protagonist make this a good choice for both young adult and adult fans of space wars.” - Library Journal

CassaFire

by Alex J. Cavanaugh

CassaStar was just the beginning…

The Vindicarn War is a distant memory and Byron’s days of piloting Cosbolt fighters are over. He has kept the promise he made to his fallen mentor and friend - to probe space on an exploration vessel. Shuttle work is dull, but it’s a free and solitary existence. The senior officer is content with his life aboard the Rennather.

The detection of alien ruins sends the exploration ship to the distant planet of Tgren. If their scientists can decipher the language, they can unlock the secrets of this device. Is it a key to the Tgren’s civilization or a weapon of unimaginable power? Tensions mount as their new allies are suspicious of the Cassan’s technology and strange mental abilities.

To complicate matters, the Tgrens are showing signs of mental powers themselves; the strongest of which belongs to a pilot named Athee, a woman whose skills rival Byron’s unique abilities. Forced to train her mind and further develop her flying aptitude, he finds his patience strained. Add a reluctant friendship with a young scientist, and he feels invaded on every level. All Byron wanted was his privacy…

I got CassaStaR for hubby for Christmas, and we read it together--and enjoyed it. We can't wait to read CassaFirE.

So head on over to Alex's place. Besides being one of the nicest guys on the blogosphere, he writes a fun book!

Fire! Fire!

2012-02-27T09:35:00.001-07:00

Just a heads up to check back tomorrow!

Review - "Rising, Book 1 Resistance" by Laura Josephsen

2012-02-24T01:00:00.000-07:00

Check It Out

Book Description:
All Alphonse wants is a quiet summer at home before his final months at university. What he gets is a half-dead stranger on his doorstep and the task of delivering a package to the leader of his home country. Not long after he boards a train toward the capital, he's attacked by knights, elite soldiers of the neighboring king.

Alphonse is temporarily rescued by Mairwyn, a mechanic with a haunted past and a deep hatred of knights. Together, they attempt to carry out Alphonse's urgent errand, only to learn that if they fail, countless people will die.

And even if they succeed, they may not be able to prevent the war that lurks on the horizon.

I guess I'm a sucker for geeky guys. Not that I'm suggesting my hubby is a geek--I can almost guarantee he'd be offended. But I do embrace my inner geek (Harry Potter helped me with that), so perhaps it's a bit of kindred spirit sort of thing.

In some ways Alphonse--who is so happy to be buried in a book--reminds me of Elend in Brandon Sanderson's Mistborn series. Elend was a bit more proactive than Laura Josephsen's character, but Alphonse finally quits kicking against the pricks, so to speak, and finally accepts that he's one of few people in a position to stop something terrible from happening.

Genocide.

I found the character of Mairwyn to be endearing and intriguing. She's so stubborn and impatient, yet you can tell there's something else going on with her. As her personal history slowly unfolds, you realize why she's the way she is, and your heart breaks for her.

There's plenty of intrigue, suspense, and action in this story. I can vouch for how vile the villains are. While this is the first in a two-part series, the second book will be from the point of view of different characters as they continue to fight the psycho bad guys.

Querying Update and Building Your Platform

2012-02-23T01:00:00.000-07:00

Querying Update

I got my very first rejection -- a form rejection.

Phew. I've truly been initiated ! I'm really a writer now.

One down, nine to go and I take hubby out to dinner.

Building Your Platform

You've all heard it. In today's publishing world, if you want an agent and/or publisher to consider your book, you'd best have an online presence.

So, you sign up for Twitter, Facebook, Goodreads, Google+, and whatever else out there strikes your fancy. You begin to stalk agents and other writers/authors to see what they're up to.

You begin blogging about your writing journey and start following loads of other writers, hoping they will follow you in return. You sign up for bloghops and contests. You're starting to get some regular followers who consistently comment. And, of course, you have to visit all their blogs and comment back. That's what it's all about, right? Networking?

And you find that you're having so much fun. The Internet has introduced you to hundreds if not thousands of interesting, entertaining people--and you've connected to many of them. You can't wait to read their next posts.

Then it starts to happen. You wake up in the middle of the night, wondering if you remembered to schedule your next post. Or worse, you wake up in the middle of the night because you can't think what to write for your next post.

The pressure mounts. What if your post is stupid? What if the people who've been commenting find other blogs they like better?

Your hands begin to shake when you haven't had your daily Internet fix. You're dying to know what everyone's up to, what things might inspire you in your blog posts.

And your writing?

When's the last time you actually sat down to write? Or when you did, your hand moved to the icon for your web browser? You didn't even realize it was moving of its own volition. Suddenly, a hour's gone by. Or two. Hours of precious time that you promised you'd spend on your book.

Because the whole point of all that platform building has been in preparation for your book.

Right?

So, what do you do

to keep social media

from taking over

your life?

That Other Blog ...

2012-02-21T16:42:00.001-07:00

If you're interested, you can check out my post on That Other Blog I post at on occasion.

Book Review - "Venom" by K.C. Grant

2012-02-20T01:00:00.000-07:00

Book Description:
Samantha Evans is determined to make a name for herself in the cutthroat world of advertising. Newly hired by a prestigious ad agency, she volunteers to work on location in Mexico City as a personal assistant to the beautiful and driven creative director Katrina Edwards. At first the association seems promising. But Ms. Edwards seems preoccupied in a way that makes Samantha increasingly uneasy. In fact, many in the group seem like they are not being completely open about the project, including David Ayala, the mysterious and moody photographer for whose attention the two women find themselves competing. After several strange accidents and numerous appearances by an unknown man, Samantha discovers the truth: not everyone on the team is in Mexico to create a stellar advertising pitch. When her sleuthing leads to her abduction, she is brought to the pyramids of Teotihuacan and comes face-to-face with the venomous evil of the South American crime boss known as The Serpent. Now Samantha must not only fight for her life, but she must also discover if she can trust the man she's come to love.

Samantha learns some important things about herself in this story, including whether or not she's got the disposition (or venomous lack of scruples--pun intended) to succeed in her chosen field. Her natural curiosity and interest in people lead her to notice things going on around her, and she discovers that something's not quite right. While she struggles to find her place in the group--with a boss determined to put her down at every opportunity--she also deals with news about her father's cancer diagnosis and surgery.

If you've never traveled around the Mexico City area and wondered about some great places to visit, this book will help you make a list. Should I ever get to make a trip to Mexico, I would love to visit the sites in the book and compare them with Samantha's experiences. I would hope my trip would turn out less eventful, since Samantha's was full of mystery and intrigue, to say nothing of a fight for her life.

And a dang cute guy.

Tag!

2012-02-18T01:00:00.000-07:00

Source

I thought I was better at ducking, but perhaps this cold has slowed me down--it can't be my advanced years!

Anyway, Eve Gaal over at The Desert Rocks got me.

The Tag rules:
1. You must post the rules!
2. Answer the questions and then create eleven new questions to ask the people you’ve tagged.
3. Tag ~~eleven~~ seven (because it's a magical number) people and link to them.
4. Let them know you’ve tagged them.

Eve's Questions - My Answers
1. Have you written a book?

Yes. I've got two completed books and two partials. One of the completed manuscripts I'm currently querying, and the other (that needs to be edited still) replaced one of the partials when it morphed from MG to YA. The other partial really needs to be told in more than one book, and I'll be outlining it as a trilogy later this year.

2. Were you a participant in the famous Underwear Challenge of 2010?

No. But I did get sucked into it in 2011.

3. What is your favorite children’s book?

Charlotte's Web

4. Tell us about the last time you went to the library. Alone or with someone else?

Last week, when I met some friends there. I work for my city and the library is attached to my building. I LOVE my library.

5. Do you prefer the internet for research?

I love doing research using the Internet. I let my fingers do the walking.

6. What’s your favorite flower?

I love the smell of carnations.

7. Do have a distaste for used cook books?

No, I just don't use them much anymore.

8. Have you ever used a book to repair a bed or to hold up the leg of a table?

Nope. I have a very handy hubby.

9. If you could enter a certain scene in a book, which one would it be?

It would so be when Kaladin saves Dalinar in The Way of Kings by Brandon Sanderson. Those two men ROCK!

10. What book is on your nightstand now?

Become by Ali Cross.

11. Do you read to your pet?

Nope. My little doggy died last summer, but I didn't read to her anyway. Now, ask me about reading to my grandkids . . .

Okay, here are my questions:

If Abe Lincoln and George Washington got into a fight who’d win--and why?
What was your favorite book in 2011?
If you had a magical snail that could grant wishes, what would you ask for?
What would your last meal be if you were on death row?
Who is your favorite, Bill or Ted? Why?
What will your weapon of choice be for the coming zombie apocalypse? Why?
Who is your favorite literary stalker?
If people were thrown in jail for bad habits, what would you be thrown in jail for?
What is the most distant place you've visited or lived?
If a spaceship were to land outside your house right now, would you get in it? If yes, where would you ask it to take you--and it could be anywhere you wanted to go.
Who is your favorite author?

And these are the ~~poor suckers~~ lucky people who get to answer them--go visit the blogs and check our their answers--though they may answer this at a time that best fits their schedules:

Laura Josephsen
Robin Weeks
Suzie F.
Far Away Eyes
Nancy Thompson
JeffO
Shelly Brown

LTUE

2012-02-16T01:00:00.000-07:00

So, things are nuts, and I'm sick. This post will just have some pictures from the event. I took tons of notes and will rehash some of that information in subsequent posts.

Panel on Marketing

Authors Bree Despain, Lynn Hardy, Jenn Johansson, and Elana Johnson

Panel on Queries and Pitches

Lisa Mangum (author and acquisitions editor), Chris Schoebinger (Shadow Mountain), J Scott Savage (author), Kirk Lovell Shaw (Covenant Publishing), Donna Milakovic (moderator)

Panel on Making a Book Trailer

Heather Monson, Angela Corbett, Paul Genesse, Lani Woodland, Dan Wells

Author Michael Young on Avoiding Cliche

Author Andrea Pearson on Indie Publishing

Writing Excuses

Howard Tayler, Dan Wells, Larry Correia, Brandon's brother Jordy, Mary Robinette Kowal, Brandon Sanderson

Panel on Why We Love Horror

Nathan Shumate, Michael Brent Collings, Michael Collings, Robin Weeks (moderator), Jenn Johansson

Panel on What I Wish I'd Done Differently

Mette Ivie Harrison, Author Andrea Pearson, Brad R. Torgersen and Elana Johnson.

Panel on Plots, Subplots, and Foreshadowing

Brandon Sanderson, Stacy Whitman (editor), James A. Owen, J Scott Savage and Bree Despain

Panel on Urban Fantasy

Natalie Whipple, Bree Despain, Kasie West and James Dashner

Lotsa Peeps

Elizabeth Mueller, ?, Kasie West

The Schmidts

Leigh Covington, Brenda Sills, Me

Melony Pulley, Kenzie Pulley, Amy White, Me, Stephanie Kelly

Lotsa People

Peggy Eddleton, Leigh Covington, David Powers King

Heather Cole, Betsy Love, Theresa Sneed, Kari Pike

There were tons more classes and people. These were just a few of the ones I was able to attend or connect with.

February 14th

2012-02-14T10:36:00.001-07:00

Happy Valentines Day!

Source

Or Not.

Source

Grammar Thursday and Life, the Universe and Everything

2012-02-09T01:00:00.000-07:00

Ever get confused about which to use--who or whom? It's not as complicated as you might think. Ask yourself a simple question:

Who is doing what to whom?

The one doing the action is the subject: who. The one being acted upon is the object: whom.

This is where I am for three days. I'll chat about it in future posts.

In the meantime, have a great weekend!

And the Winner Is . . .

2012-02-06T01:00:00.000-07:00

The winner of the ebook is Bonnie!

Anybody going to Life, the Universe and Everything (LTUE) this week? It's a killer deal at $30 for three days.

Here's my post from last year's event.

What Are You Doing When You Think You're Writing . . . and a Book Giveaway

2012-02-02T01:00:00.000-07:00

Article

Valerie Ipson shared this fun post by Dan Berstein on The Barnes & Noble Review about what you're really doing when you think you're sitting down to write.

It's worth the read and should give you a guilty smile.

Book Giveaway

I won a couple of kewl prizes over at Laura Josephsen's blog for the Favorite Character Blogfest (it was random rather than competitive). The first was a ten-page critique by Melanie Billings at Whiskey Creek Press, so I'm excited.

I also won an ebook copy of Laura's book Confessions from the Realm of the Underworld (Also Known as High School). You can read what I thought of this book here. Hint: I LOVED it!

Since I already own the paper copy, I'm going to give away my ebook prize to one of you. All you have to do is be a follower of my blog and note in your comment below that you're interested in being part of the drawing. I'll announce the winner on Monday.

However, you might also want to note that Laura's getting ready to launch her next book, Rising (Part 1 Resistance). I'm reading this book right now and loving it.

Don't forget to post a comment with your email address if you'd like to have your name put in for the drawing.

Book Review - Queen in Exile . . . Plus Awards & Querying

2012-01-30T01:00:00.000-07:00

I've got a guest blogger today. Her name is Bobbie Staley, and she's one of my clerks at my day job. She's not an author or an aspiring author. She's one of those people we're all hoping to bring into our camps

She's a Reader.

All right. So am I. So are you. But you know what I mean.

She's highlighting Queen in Exile by Donna Hatch.

Isn't this a great cover?

Book Description:
Rumors of War hang over Princess Jeniah's peaceful country of Arden, a land that shuns both magic and warfare. Following a lifelong dream, Jeniah forms a telepahtic bond with a revered creature called a chayim, who is prophesied to save her kingdom. But when a Darborian knight comes upon Jeniah with her chayim, he sees only a vicious monster about to devour a maiden, and he slays the beast.

Devastated by the loss of her chayim, and fearing that her own magic is evil, Jeniah doubts her destiny. When an enemy invades Arden City, they slaughter the people, storm the castle, and execute the entire royal family except the princess. Rescued by the knight who slew her chayim, Jeniah is now heir to the throne of Arden and the only hope for freeing her people from tyranny.

On the run and hunted by enemy soldiers, Jeniah must place her life and the fate of her kingdom in the hands of this trained killer. Torn between embracing her destiny as queen af Arden, and her love for a mere knight, she must ultimately rely on her magic to save herself and her people from death and tyranny.

What does Bobbie think?

As I began to read yet another book about magic I was skeptical since I have read a few lately. I was pleasantly surprised to find this one caught my attention right away with the bond that Jeniah has with her Sacred animal.

I was taken with the tale of trials and love and anger and tears and oh-my-gosh moments that kept me wanting to read till the weee hours of the night. I love this book, and I would recommend it to all ages. I am going to have my 13-year-old read it because I know she would love this book.

Awards

I want to acknowledge the kind ladies who gave me a couple of awards this week:

Robin Weeks granted me the Kreative Blogger Award.
April Plumber over at If This Doesn't Scare You gave me a different Versatile Blogger Award.

You can check out the charmers here.

Querying

I hope you all had a great weekend. On Saturday I clicked the "send" button for the second time. It was harder in some ways because this one was unsolicited. I'm surprisingly calm about everything.

Hubby and I are going to go out to dinner every time I hit 10 rejections. I got my inspiration from author James Dashner as he mentioned in LTUE last year that that's what he did. The hard part will be those unofficial rejections because the agency has a "no reply" policy. You just tick off the time, and when you haven't heard anything just assume it's a "not interested".

*Rubs hands together*

Where shall we go out to eat?

Tip

2012-01-27T14:41:00.000-07:00

Be cautious of using words like "begin" and "start". Just have your characters DO it.

Ernestly Seeking . . .

2012-01-26T01:00:00.000-07:00

*takes a deep breath*

Okay. I put the last touches on the manuscript. It's time to send in that full.

Source

My goal was to begin querying by February 1st. Looks like I'm a little ahead of schedule. I'm a member of Querytracker, and I've read tons of blog posts with suggestions about querying.

Everyone talks about researching agents to make sure you're aware of their individual submission requirements and getting to know their personalities--if something wonderful happens, you want to know you want work with this person. I've heard rumors of agent stalking on Twitter and Facebook to help glean some of that insight.

What do you look for in an agent?

Or, if you already have your dream agent, what is it about him/her that you think is the most important in your working relationship?

Release Day--Everneath by Brodi Ashton

2012-01-24T01:00:00.000-07:00

After much waiting, Everneath by Brodi Ashton is finally out. And you guys have a chance to find out what I did (and posted about here) last July, when I had a chance to read the ARC.

Book Description:

Last spring, Nikki Beckett vanished, sucked into an underworld known as the Everneath. Now she’s returned—to her old life, her family, her boyfriend—before she’s banished back to the underworld . . . this time forever. She has six months before the Everneath comes to claim her, six months for good-byes she can’t find the words for, six months to find redemption, if it exists.

Nikki longs to spend these precious months forgetting the Everneath and trying to reconnect with her boyfriend, Jack, the person most devastated by her disappearance—and the one person she loves more than anything. But there’s just one problem: Cole, the smoldering immortal who enticed her to the Everneath in the first place, has followed Nikki home. Cole wants to take over the throne in the underworld and is convinced Nikki is the key to making it happen. And he’ll do whatever it takes to bring her back, this time as his queen.

As Nikki’s time on the Surface draws to a close and her relationships begin slipping from her grasp, she is forced to make the hardest decision of her life: find a way to cheat fate and remain on the Surface with Jack or return to the Everneath and become Cole’s queen.

I loved the way the countdown of Nikki's six months and required return to the Everneath added to the tension, while other chapters flashed back to show us what led up to her decision to follow Cole. Because, you see, Nikki chose to go.

It got to where I almost had a love/hate relationship with chapter breaks. I wanted to know what was going to happen next, but at the same time I wanted to know what led up to her being in that situation--I wanted it all. NOW. Brodi does a wonderful job of feeding the information to the reader, letting out little bits of information to help us feel for Nikki and sympathize with her since you know exactly where it's leading her.

And Jack rocks!

If you follow Brodi's blog (she's hilarious--love her!), you will find the tone in this book very different from her blog. This book totally sucked me in. And made cry.

If you're looking for my Favorite Character Blogfest post (it goes through the 25th), you can find it here.

Favorite Character Blogfest

2012-01-23T01:00:00.000-07:00

Look at the little ball. This post is a figment of your imagination.

I signed up for the Favorite Character Blogfest hosted by the absolutely awesome Laura Josephsen.

So, let me tell you a little bit about the character I'm highlighting. His name is Jori Virtanen (that's pronounced Yo-ree). He's a 24-year-old model who hates his job and dreams of being an artist. He's been through some tough times in his adolescence--things that continue to haunt him into adulthood. His friendships with the main character and her love interest change his life.

He wasn't in the first draft of the book. I created him to help with a plotline I thought wasn't quite working. After input from my critique group, I realized he didn't fulfill his intended purpose. I considered writing him out again.

Essentially, killing him.

Refusing to allow him to exist.

I couldn't do it.

The little stinker had weaseled his way into my heart. In fact, he's going to be the main character in the sequel I'm planning for my NaNo project this year. My tale used to have an epilogue, but once I realized Jori needed to have his story told, too, I've since removed the epilogue. It gave away too much about what happens to him.

Here's my main character's first introduction to Jori. It begins on a ship, docked in Seattle, preparing to embark on a 28-day cruise to New Zealand.

... I sighed, standing in the warmth of the sunlight and imagining a run on the treadmill with nothing but the Pacific Ocean before me.

“Nice, yes?” asked a deep voice behind me.

I spun around and couldn’t help a soft gasp. Before me stood the most beautiful human being I’d ever seen. He was a little taller than me, probably close to my age, and must have been a direct descendent of some Scandinavian god with his pale blond hair and light gray eyes.

He raised his hands. “I didn’t mean to startle you.” His voice had just a hint of an accent I couldn’t place.

I searched his shirt for a ship logo. “Do you work here?”

“Me?” His eyebrows rose. “No, I’m a passenger. My name is Jori. Jori Virtanen.”

“Nice to meet you, Jori.” I shook the hand he extended. “I’m Lyn North. Where are you from?”

“Seattle.”

I blinked. “Seattle? Your accent . . .”

“Ah, yes.” Jori’s smile made him even more beautiful, and I had to squeeze my jaw shut to keep it from falling open. “My family emigrated from Finland about nine years ago.” He glanced at the wall of windows and said, almost to himself, “It will be interesting to do some sketching in here.”

I followed his gaze to the view of the dock outside. “Are you an artist?”

He hesitated. “I hope to be someday.”

I eyed him, curious. In my experience, beautiful people tended to be self-absorbed. Yet he seemed . . . humble. “Are you going to sketch the scenery in New Zealand? Wouldn’t it be faster to fly?”

Jori chuckled. “I do plan to do some drawing there.” A group of people who’d gathered at the salon registration desk outside the gym drew his attention. “I like to sketch people.” He turned back to me. “What better place than a cruise ship for people?”

Remembering what I’d come to the gym for, I asked, “Have you seen any of the staff around?”

“I noticed someone here just before you came.” Jori’s eyes did a quick scan from my head to my feet, and I felt a surge of irritation. After the pain of the last year I wasn’t ready to enter the meat market in spite of what Elle thought. He asked, “Are you interested in some of the classes?”

“I want to see if it’s okay to use that open area by the door.” I nodded to indicate the location, taking a step toward the exit.

One of his eyebrows rose. “Are you a dancer?”

“No, I want it for karate practice.”

“Karate?”

At that moment a man entered the gym, and I pointed, “Is that the staff guy?”

Jori nodded.

“Well, it was nice meeting you.” I raised my hand in farewell. “I need to go talk with him and then meet my friend.”

Jori glanced at my left hand. “Your boyfriend?”

“No.” I edged away. “A girl friend, like a sister.”

“Are you going to the departure party?” he asked before I could get away.

“Uh, yes. For a little while.”

His pale eyes glittered. “Then I will look for you.” He did a little bow and left.

With a frown, I watched him leave. That incredible specimen of male perfection couldn’t have just been coming on to me. I rubbed my temple. No way was I telling Elle about the encounter.

Have you ever had a character take over a story?

Please check out the posts of these other blogs:

1.	Angie Lofthouse	5.	Gyran Gymble	9.	K. Writerly
2.	Tracey Joseph	6.	tara tyler	10.	Morgan Feldman
3.	Christine Rains	7.	Charity Bradford
4.	Donna K. Weaver	8.	Julie Daines

Coming Home and Awards . . . and Stress

2012-01-20T01:00:00.000-07:00

I'm en route back to the mainland after a delightful trip. We had some beautiful days and some horribly rainy ones--I mean flash flood heavy rains on Tuesday. We watched as the lawns outside and across the street became little rivers. Reminded me of the monsoons when I lived in the Philippines as a girl--one year we had 29 inches of rain--in September alone.

But that's okay. We played a variety of board and video games. And the weather the day before (Monday)--when we went to a local luau--was very pleasant. The Smith Family Luau was so much fun. Beautiful grounds, great food, and a fun show. Just a few sprinkles--the lull before the storm.

This is us with the family of one of my son-in-law's coworkers.

Having received some awards lately, I figured it was time to acknowledge the wonderful givers.

I've received the Great Commenter Award twice, once each from Nancy Thompson, Leigh Covington, and J.A. Bennett.

Earlier this week Kelley over at Between the Bookends gave me the two awards below, and Sara at Live to Write...Edit When Necessary gave me the Versatile Blogger. J.A. Bennett gave me the Versatile Blogger, too.

I'm supposed to provide trivia about myself, but I've bored everyone stupid with tidbits about myself in previous posts so I'll pass this time.

I wish I had the time to track down a list of some bodacious bloggers out there who deserve these. However, things are crazy right now, so I'm merely going to acknowledge the awesome ladies who were kind enough to think of me. I invite you to visit their blogs and encourage you to follow them if you aren't already.

Seriously, speaking of crazy. How the heck did I end up on the boards of three different writing associations? I have eight years before I can retire, so I work full-time (plus).

Don't misunderstand. These really are wonderful networking opportunities, and I love the people I'm working with. But when am I going to have time to write?

Do you find yourself getting in deeper than you probably should, making commitments you worry you won't be able to fulfill? I hate doing things halfway.

At what point do you have to step back from some things?

Oh, My Freakin' Heck!

2012-01-19T09:45:00.001-07:00

Check this out--my hands are still shaking!

I just barely got the manuscript back from Laura Josephsen, and haven't made the corrections/changes yet.

Define "Real"

2012-01-16T01:00:00.000-07:00

Okay, first thing--I really love this video of an animated bookshop. The very last statement at the end, though, gave me pause. I'd like you to watch it if you can afford the time and then come back and comment on my question later in this post.

"There's nothing quite like a real book."

For me, this begs the question: what counts as a real book?

Is it only the beloved paper tomes we were raised with? How about the audiobook that includes all the words but with some interpretation provided by the narrator(s)? What about ebooks or even the new enhanced ebooks?

Is one format more real than another?

On an aside, someone once told one my children who is not a fast reader (and yet is an avid reader via audiobooks) that listening to a book doesn't count as having read the book.

Really? Try explaining that to someone who's visually impaired.

My day job includes working with municipal records, and all the time I deal with my state's sunshine laws (what we call GRAMA for government records access and management act). In fact, I'm my city's records officer. As such, I receive requests from residents and attorneys all the time wanting information/records that the city collects.

One thing that's a bit of an issue now is text messaging. Frequently, when people are angry at a decision the city council has made, they want to know what the city councilmembers are talking about relating to it. As I worked with our archivist at the state, he reminded me that the format is not relevant.

It's the content that determines if something meets the state's definition of a "record".

Velveteen Rabbit (source)

So, as I prepare to begin the querying process (and consider self-publishing if things don't work out), I suggest that regardless of the format, my ebook would be just as real as it would be in a paper or an audiobook format.

It will still be my story, my words, my hard work and sweat (figuratively) that went into its creation.

What about you? What does it take for a book to be real to you?

Kaua'i

2012-01-13T01:00:00.000-07:00

One of my granddaughters tiptoeing on Shipwreck Beach.

Hubby, daughter, son-in-Law, and two granddaughters.

View of the beach.

Three generations build a sandcastle at Shipwreck Beach.

Spouting Horn

Mt. Kipu on Wednesday. It was stormy most of the day.

Here's another view of Mt. Kipu on Thursday when the weather was much nicer.

At the Fishing Pond with Mt. Kipu in the distance.


A friend recommended that we try Puka Dogs, so we did. Yum!

Winter Workshop - iWriteNetwork . . . And Books I've Read

2012-01-11T09:55:00.001-07:00

iWriteNetwork is excited to announce their first Winter Workshop, being held on Saturday, January 21st, in Provo, Utah. The classes are:

Killer Hooks by author Greg Park
Head Hunting for POV by Canda Mortensen
I Have a Feeling - Writing Emotion and Making It Stick by author Tristi Pinkston
Taxes and You - Figuring it Out by author Rebecca Shelley
Savvy about Story Structure by author Cindy Hogan

The conference begins at 9:00 and goes until 2:00, with a break for lunch (provided). The cost for the day is $30. Register by clicking here.

Now here's something fun ... if you are one of the first 25 to register, you will be entered in a drawing for a free manuscript evaluation* by Tristi Pinkston Author Services (250 pages maximum). There are only a few slots left for the contest, so if you're in the area and would like to attend, you'll need to hurry and register.

Lunch is included in the cost of registration.

Books I've been reading

CassaStaR by Alex J. Cavanaugh

Book Description

To pilot the fleet’s finest ship… Few options remain forByron. A talented but stubborn young man with a troubled past and rebelliousattitude, his cockpit skills are his only hope. Slated to train as a Cosboltfighter pilot, Byron is determined to prove his worth and begin a new life ashe sets off for the moon base of Guaard. Much to Byron’s chagrin the toughestinstructor in the fleet takes notice of the young pilot. Haunted by a pasttragedy, Bassa eventually sees through Byron's tough exterior and insolence.When a secret talent is revealed during training, Bassa feels compelled to helpByron achieve his full potential. As war brews on the edge of space, time isrunning short. Byron requires a navigator of exceptional quality to survive,and Bassa must make a decision that could well decide the fate of both men.Will their skills be enough as they embark on a mission that may stretch theirabilities to the limit? “…calls to mind the youthful focus of Robert Heinlein’searly military sf, as well as the excitement of space opera epitomized by themany Star Wars novels. Fast-paced military action and a youthful protagonistmake this a good choice for both young adult and adult fans of space wars.” -Library Journal

Got this for hubby for Christmas, and we read it together. We very much enjoyed it and look forward to the release of CassaFirE next month.

Bound by C.K. Bryant

Book Description

When a photo shoot ends in tragedy, Kira discovers her best friend, Lydia, has been keeping a secret. Knowing the truth, and accepting it, will change Kira’s life forever and thrust her into a world of ancient curses, magical objects, and savage enemies. What happens next will challenge everything Kira knows about her world, herself and the shape-shifting warrior she’s falling in love with. No longer the timid mouse her mother accused her of being, but a woman who finds the mental and physical strength to endure and survive.

BOUND is a heroic tale of true friendship, infinite sacrifice and untamed love.

I've had this book on my to-read stack for a while now and was happy when I finally had a chance to start reading it. Really enjoyed it, though I was a bit dismayed when I found out it's a series . . . and we're left hanging. Grrr. I'm glad the next book is due out in March.

Outer Edge of Heaven by Jaclyn M. Hawkes

Book Description

Montana truly is heavenly. Especially those handsome cowboys.

Filled with colorful characters of all shapes, sizes and species, including an orphaned baby pig, most of the Langston family put the fun in dysfunctional, give or take a couple of black sheep. There's one in every family, isn't there? Add to that glorious scenery, a horse of her own, and one extremely attractive cousin rancher, Luke Lanston, and it makes for a summer Charlie will never forget. Which might not be a good thing. She has the time of her life, but her heart may never recover.

I really enjoyed this book. It made me laugh out loud several times with the images Hawkes paints as Charlie works with the little children. Those baby pigs . . .

To say nothing of Luke.

Identity by Betsy Love

Book Description

While vacationing in Mexico, two similar-looking young women find themselves caught in a chain reaction of mistaken identities. Amelia is a wealthy heiress and business owner, and Savannah is a sweet Mormon girl deciding whether or not to serve a mission. When they end up on the same flight to Phoenix, Savannah and Amelia unravel the sequence of events that wreaked havoc on their trips, and they make plans to resolve the subsequent misunderstandings. But their flight is cut short when the plane crashes, killing one of the young women and plunging the other into a world of intrigue and deceit where identity means everything.

I read this on the plane while flying to Hawaii--so glad it was a long flight because I didn't want to put this book down. I was totally hooked and felt so bad as I realized what was going to happen.

Inheritance by Christopher Paolini

Book Description

Not so very long ago, Eragon—Shadeslayer, Dragon Rider—was nothing more than a poor farm boy, and his dragon, Saphira, only a blue stone in the forest. Now the fate of an entire civilization rests on their shoulders.

Long months of training and battle have brought victories and hope, but they have also brought heartbreaking loss. And still, the real battle lies ahead: they must confront Galbatorix. When they do, they will have to be strong enough to defeat him. And if they cannot, no one can. There will be no second chances.

The Rider and his dragon have come further than anyone dared to hope. But can they topple the evil king and restore justice to Alagaësia? And if so, at what cost?

I generally enjoyed the first three books in this series, but I'm really having a hard time getting into this last book. I think I may have to put it aside and try listening to it again later. It discourages me that this final book that was supposed to wrap up the series is so dang long--four audible downloads.

Stealing Mercy by Kristy Tate

Book Description

After a night of terror, Mercy Faye flees New York.Disguised as a boy, she sets sail for a new life in Seattle, but her nightmare,Mr. Steele, follows close behind. Armed with only her chocolates, laced tartsand wits, Mercy sets out to destroy Mr. Steele and his Lucky Island brothel.

Trent Michaels is searching for his missing cousin. He can'tafford complications - or romance - yet, at every turn he finds Mercy Faye. Thenight before the Great Seattle Fire of 1889, flames spark between Mercy andTrent leaving the life they know and the city they love in ashes.

Their story reaches forward through time to Bette Michaels,a genealogist, struggling with grief after the sudden death of her husband.Although generations apart, as Bette unravels Mercy's story, she learns that alife can be rebuilt - even after everything is lost.

Through Mercy, Bette discovers that sometimes the only wayto find happiness is to steal it.

I just started reading this one a couple of nights, and I'm intrigued by the double stories. It reminds me a little of The Forgotten Garden that had multiple times and points of view.

Have you read anything good lately?

Vacation

2012-01-09T01:00:00.000-07:00

Today, I'm heading to the lovely island of Kaua'i to visit my daughter and her family. I'll be popping in here once in a while with pictures and some other bloggerly business (like book reviews and blog award acknowledgements).

These are a few pictures from my trip in June of 2010 and February 2011.

Napali Coast 2010

My grandson said he still loves the Utah mountains, but he likes these better. Personally, I think it's the beach.

Don't you love the laid back atmosphere? This is from one of the most popular Shave Ice shacks. And it really isn't open all the time. If you drive by and it's open, you'd best grab some.

Book Review - The Ember Gods by Andrea Pearson

2012-01-07T01:00:00.000-07:00

From the back of the book:
Jacob Clark has just returned from the world of Eklaron, where he frustrated the evil plans of the Lorkon and returned the magical Key of Kilenya to its rightful owners. His quest is far from over, though—Aloren is trapped in Maivoryl City by the Ember Gods, and Jacob can't return to save her until he receives the potion that will protect his team from the corrosive influence of the Lorkon.

Balancing between this new world and his own proves tricky. Not only has he started his first year of high school, but his magical abilities are bringing him too much attention. He feels pulled by both sides, hoping he'll figure out his special powers to save Aloren in time.

Poor Jacob. He thought things were challenging in book 1, The Key of Kilenya.

There's only a break of a couple of weeks between the end of Key and The Ember Gods, but he's got even more to deal with. Still carrying the burden of the friend left behind at the end of the first book, he's got to juggle things he didn't in his last story, when he was able to focus all his attentions on his quest.

Now he must learn patience. He has to wait on others to put things in order for a rescue mission. Real-life obligations now that school has started must be balanced with his responsibilities in Eklaron being that he's the only one able to use the power of the Key. Amidst homework, self-defense training, trying to be noticed by the basketball coach, searching for potion ingredients, the unwanted attention of a girl at school, and staying out of the way of the creepy, power-seeking Lorkon, Jacob's getting less and less sleep. It's taking its toll.

And don't forget the secrets Jacob didn't know were being kept from him.

Grammar Friday . . . Commas

2012-01-06T01:00:00.000-07:00

The issue of commas can be a bit Harry.

But siriusly, commas can save lives.

For example:

Let's eat, Grandma!

source

Let's eat Grandma!

source

Have you ever had

an embarrassing experience

with a misplaced comma?

For a Laugh

2012-01-04T11:21:00.000-07:00

Humor. It's all around us if we take the time to notice it.

Did you hear or see anything funny today?

Why I Write

2012-01-02T01:00:00.000-07:00

I'm reprinting a post I did nearly a year ago because it talks about why I write (with some updated editorial comments in brackets). With the new year starting and 2012 being a year I'm actually going to put myself out there, I needed this reminder.

First off, I'm not looking for a new career. I have one that I like just fine, and I'll retire in ten years anyway. I'm learning to write because I want to learn to write. And not just business letters or minutes (booooring!).

I want to be published as a kind of validation for having reached a certain level, being good enough. Graduating, if you will.[However, I also realize I'm getting a pretty late start to this and traditional publishing may not work for me, so I'm preparing for the possibility of self-publishing.]

I'm getting older, and I love to learn new things. I don't want to be one of those senior citizens who sees the world through a very narrow filter, unwilling to consider new things. I want to always be teachable. I want to be creative and make something that brings me (and hopefully others) pleasure.

I've worried that as I've been spending hours and hours on it (not just on the writing itself, but on reading blogs about writing by authors or aspiring authors, listening to podcasts about writing, reading articles about things writers should and shouldn't do, attending writing conferences, etc.), that it's taking over my life.

And for what?

I'm very much a person who needs to have something to show for the time I've spent working on it. Even if it's just for me.

So it was interesting today to read a blog post by a guest writer for Natalie Whipple. Adam Heine talks here about a writer's education. He hits the nail on the head. I especially love this part:

... But what kind of job demands years of uncompensated service before giving you even a chance at wages?

All of them, it turns out. It's called college.

College is 4+ years of work that pays nothing and (these days) doesn't even guarantee a job at the end. That's exactly what we're doing when we sit at our computer, typing a story nobody may ever buy.

It's better than college, because it's free. Better because it's easier to hold a job while writing than studying. Better because if we don't get a job with our first degree (i.e. novel), we can write another and learn more...

So long as you live life, working to get published is as valid an education as any other.

Keep writing. It's your education.

Nice, Adam. Well said.

So, why do you write?

Blog Critique by Ali Cross

2011-12-31T23:52:00.000-07:00

And what better time to do some redecorating?

The amazing Ali Cross, author of Become, is also the tekkie person for a writing group I belong to. She offered to do some blog critiques, and I jumped at the chance.Over the last year, as I've read blogs all over the place and attended classes at conferences, I've picked up a few things, but I knew I could do much better.

Here's what she had to say (with my comments in blue):

FIRST IMPRESSIONS:

What worked:

loaded fast
pretty, bright and cheery
nice layout
good content
comment form pops up and doesn't use captcha - good [At a writing conference I took a class by the awesome Elana Johnson. She said that since checking people's blogs can be time consuming, we need to make this as easy on our visitors as possible. I haven't had problems getting spammed since I took off that protection. Blogger's spam filter does a wonderful job--sometimes too good. The longer it takes to comment the fewer blogs you'll have time to visit.
nice friendly picture of you :)

What could be improved:

could use a header, incorporating both your blog name and your name [I've been working with one of my artist sons on this, and he's drawn a preliminary header, but it's not "there" yet, and I'm not sure it would fit the template I was considering at the time.]
tab titles are obscure and don't immediately tell me what I might find there
could consolidate like information together, instead of having it spread out. Use your sidebars wisely, by keeping "general" info in one column and "follow/about me" information on the other:
LEFT SIDEBAR:

site visitor map isn't important and, if you choose to keep it (I wouldn't), you could move it to the bottom of one of your sidebars [I moved this to the bottom right away. I love my little map]
don't need to title the blogfest, let the button do the talking for you

RIGHT SIDEBAR:

the EVERNEATH and CATCHING FIRE buttons should move to the left sidebar
nuke pageviews (they are really only interesting to you, same with the visitor map)
I'm personally not a fan of the "share it" widget you have. I'd much prefer info on how to follow YOU, not your content. [Oooo . . . good observation here. Something I never considered.] However, this is personal opinion only. If you want to keep it, move it up to beneath your iWrite badge, so all your social networking items are grouped together. So maybe you'd have ABOUT ME --> FOLLOWERS --> NETWORKED BLOGS --> iWRITE --> SHARE IT --> TWITTER WIDGET
reduce the number of updates on your Twitter widget [I also did this right away]
you need to add an easy way for readers to follow you in all your places (FB/Twitter/g+ buttons, etc buttons

COMMENTS:

you could personalize your comment form with a message from you to your followers

PAGES:

Awards:

If you're going to have this page, make it the last one [I added this page because I've received so many kind awards that it was too much to keep on the main page]
either link each award to the post in which you acknowledged the receipt of the award, or (preferably), add a caption with the giver's name, linked to their blog

Writing Associations:

this info would be more interesting in context with YOU [True]
add it to an About Me page & don't forget to include your iWrite badge [Duh!]

Are You Talking to Me?:

add these as a widget in your sidebar as mentioned above - then you could nuke this page

An Alternate Reality:

should be on your About Me page with a description of what it is. That way people can choose if they want to click it or not.

I'm hoping Ali's critique may give you something to think about in regards to your own blog. I have a feeling I may be tweaking things here and there.

She also talked about the issue of branding. But that's a topic for another day . . .

A New Year . . . and Resolutions

2011-12-30T09:38:00.000-07:00

I'm going to the iWriteNetwork Workshop on January 21st.

Anybody else coming?

It's that time of year to first look back and then ahead.

Definitions
resolution - A firm decision to do or not to do something
goal - The result or achievement toward which effort is directed; aim; end.

I know a lot of people hate the idea of New Years resolutions. I don't have a problem with them. I'm a goal-setting person and a list checker offer. I love the list I made for myself for the last part of December and the feeling of focus and accomplishment I felt as I've been marking things off.

I'm also realistic. No way will I always be able to achieve the goals I set. But if I don't strive for something--and keep a reminder of it in front of me--I'm guaranteed to do nothing.

And the "keep it in front of you" is important. One year on New Year's Day, I wrote a list of goals for myself for the year in my journal. One included writing in my journal every day.

Um . . . the following year on New Year's Day I opened that journal again for the first first time in a year and saw those goals again.

Epic fail!

Whether I call them resolutions or goals, these are mine for 2012:

Query A Change of Plans
Make changes suggested by editor
Go to Kaua'i for 10 days in January -- I know, this is a tough one, but I gotta visit the grandkids! *sigh* It's such a terrible sacrifice. NOT!
Finalize the cover for A Change of Plans in case I self-publish
In February attend Life, the Universe, and Everything (LTUE)
In March go back to Kaua'i for grandson's baptism
In May attend Storymaker
Finish my 2011 NaNo project in time to give the published book to my granddaughter for her birthday in July (she's the main character).
Work through issues with my SciFi project, including doing a simple outline for turning it into a trilogy
Attend League of Utah Writers Roundup
Get a basic outline for my 2012 NaNo project (sequel to A Change of Plans)
Attend the Authors Incognito retreat for NaNo
Be glad it's not an election year . . . for me.

What about you? Are you a resolution / goal person? Do you have some things you'd like to accomplish in 2012?

Book Review - "Transcendent"

2011-12-26T06:02:00.001-07:00

I recently finished Transcendent, Tales of the Paranormal by

1.	Rita J Webb	2.	Melanie Marks
3.	Lani Woodland	4.	Wendy Swore
5.	Melonie Piper	6.	Heather McCubbin

...and Evan Joseph.

From the back cover:
Discover the secrets of a siren, fly with a hawk girl over the mountains of Montana, and flee supernatural party-crashers as the décor comes to life in this magical journey through paranormal stories.

Along the way, watch for ghosts in a haunted house, or ride through the moonlight with a stranger. Save a comatose boy who has lost his soul, and don’t forget to bring your garlic and wolfsbane—you never know when the shadows will snag you.

Transcendent includes eight stories of magic, love, death, and choice by some of the newest names in young adult fiction.

It's been a long time since I've read an anthology, and I'd forgotten how much I enjoy them. In fact, it was through an anthology that I discovered one of my favorite authors of all time, Anne McCaffrey, and her amazing Dragonriders of Pern world.

One of the great things about an anthology is you get to taste the writing of a variety of different writers. You can experience their writing styles, world building, imagination, and characterizations. It's can be tough to do a good job of that in a short story, so my hat goes off to everyone who succeeds.

Transcendent reminded me a little of Stephen Spielberg's TV show Amazing Stories from the 1980s. My family loved most of the episodes and even recorded them on tape. Here's a clip from one of our favorites called Mummy Daddy. Seriously, it's hilarious!

Well, I could see the various short stories in Transcendent being made in a TV series. Some of the stories would start out quite normal and turn into the bizarre, and I'd be turning the pages to see what happened next. Other times I knew right from the beginning that something was afoot.

The story of the hawk girl is written with almost hauntingly beautiful language, and the party that goes awry due to the décor is hilarious and creepy all at the same time. I think perhaps my favorite was the story of the boy who gets struck by lightening and ends up trapped in his iPod.

A couple of asides . . .
1. A couple of weeks ago, the charming Ali Cross, author of Become, did a blog critique for me. On New Years Day, I'm going to post her comments and redecorate. She had some great suggestions that some of you may be interested in, so I hope you'll drop by.

2. I met my goal to finish the latest edit of WIP #1, and the full manuscript is in the hands of an editor. My oldest son is working on a book cover should I decide to self-publish.

I'm not the least bit excited.

(And if you believe that, I've got this bridge I'd like to sell you . . .)

Season of Celebration

2011-12-24T01:00:00.000-07:00


Whether you celebrate this as I do.

This.

Or this.

Or even if you're just happy to be here.

During this special time of year, whatever special occasion you celebrate, I'd like to wish you all the best and thank you for stopping by. I appreciate the friends I've made in 2011 and how much you've all enriched my life. I'm off until January 1, 2012 (except for a book review post next week).

Has it really been that long since everyone was so excited about the Y2K issues?

So,

Merry Christmas,

Happy Hanukkah,

Happy Kwanzaa, and

Party on Dudes!

Happy New Year!

Book Review - Two Souls Are Better Than One

2011-12-23T01:00:00.000-07:00

Two Souls Are Better Than One (The Misadventures of a Teenage Wizard) is a hoot!

From the back of the book:

Barely thirteen, Jeremy James Johansen has had more than his share of trouble. His father disappeared without a trace and the police believe he murdered his lab assistant, though his son knows it isn’t true. His dad can’t even handle a knife, let alone a bow and arrow.

A year later Jeremy stumbles across a portal to another world and gets pulled through—but not as himself. Somehow he swaps bodies with the man on the other side before the portal disappears.

Captured by a dragon and a man in black who insists on calling him father, he tries to escape, only to plummet to his death. He awakens in his own bed, believing it was all a bad dream. The problem is there are holes in his memory he can’t fill.

In time, he discovers that the portal holds the answers not only to his forgotten memories, but most importantly, points him down the path to finding his father.

Poor JJ. He's already having a tough time. His father went missing after his lab assistant was murdered (shot by an arrow, no less). How's that for your social standing in school? JJ's mother is grieving while trying to cope. His twin sister is as irritating as ever while dealing with her own issues. And then the school bullies beat JJ up and when he fights back he gets suspended. Yet this is nothing compared to begin sucked through a portal and into the body of really old guy with a really long beard who has problems of his own. Like people trying to kill him.

And that's just the start.

Karen Hoover does a wonderful job with JJ's youthful sense of humor and wonder when faced with the unbelievable. I felt his grief over his father and his sympathy for his mother. He moans and groans just like a boy his age would but he also finds himself having to stretch, to do more than just look out for himself. JJ learns rather quickly that his problems could have a devastating impact on our world and things seem to spiral out of control.

The book must be the beginning of a series because things are not quite right in the world at the end.

Have you read any good middle grade or early YA books lately? What would be your favorite this year?

The Hobbit

2011-12-22T01:00:00.000-07:00

Um, can I say EXCITED!?!?

What about you?

And the Winner Is . . .

2011-12-21T19:09:00.001-07:00

The winner of the audiobook

Mistborn: The Alloy of Law

Brandon Sanderson

and

donated

Macmillan Audio

is:

Kathleen Speir

Audiobook Giveaway

2011-12-18T01:00:00.016-07:00

You might not have noticed, but I talk a lot about listening to books. I got into audiobooks when I was making a long commute via bus. I talked a little about it in my blog post here back in January of this year. Even though my commute is now five minutes, I still love listening to audiobooks.

Why?

Because anymore I have very little time to actually sit down and "read" a book. But I can listen to an audiobook anywhere! Well, not at church, though I'll freely admit there are times I'm sorely tempted during those late city council meetings.

Audiobooks are great when doing yard work, laundry, housework, grocery shopping--even while doing mindless projects at my day job. And long trips? Fabulous!

So, what's my point?

Earlier this week I posted a book review here for Brandon Sanderson's new book Mistborn: The Alloy of Law. I forgot to mention that I didn't read the paper book. I listened to the audiobook.

And it was freaktastic!

Michael Kramer, who reads all the books in Brandon Sanderson's The Mistborn series and The Way of Kings is well known to me. He and his wife, Kate Reading, are the narrators for the Wheel of Time series. I love their performances. I was thrilled when I downloaded the audiobook for The Host by Stephenie Meyer (which I liked more than the Twilight series) and found out that Kate was the narrator.

I know. I use the word "love" a lot. I think Michael is one of the best readers out there.

In association with the gracious people at Macmillan Audio, I'm doing an audiobook giveaway--just in time for Christmas! If you've been wondering if you'd like audiobooks, here's your chance to try one out. It would also make a great gift.

It's simple and painless to have your name thrown into the contest mix:

Be a follower of my blog
Add a comment to this post, telling me you want your name entered and include your email address.

At 7 p.m. MST on December 21st I'll let random.org select a winner. I will forward your information to Macmillan Audio, and you will have the choice between a downloaded file or CDs (obviously you won't get the CDs in time for Christmas).

Following is a snippet from The Alloy of Law to give you a taste.

A Query Critque and the Deja Vu Blogfest

2011-12-16T01:00:00.022-07:00

I suggest that you stop over at Matt's place at The Quintessentially Questionable Query Experiment.
He's critiquing my query today.

Click here to check out the other participants.

Today I'm participating in the Deja Vu Blogfest. It's where participants are supposed to look back over our previous posts and repost one of our favorites. It could be one that was particularly brilliant or that got missed because of others things going on.

Or, in this case, it could be one that might make you smile. It's been a hard week for me, and I needed a laugh on this Friday.

So here is my Nonsense Post from August 8, 2011

I got tagged by the lovely Nancy S. Thompson for this meme. I debated whether or not to take it up, and decided there was some potential for humor here. You can decide if I succeeded or not.

1. What do you call your drawers?
Drawers
Do you have any commonly used nicknames for them?

I think that is the nickname.

source

2. Have you ever had that supposedly common dream of being in a crowded place in only your bloomers?

No, but as a child I would sometimes dream
I had absolutely nothing on.
However, in the typical way of childhood, that didn't trouble me.
Now? At my age it's best to cover up as much as possible.

source

3. What is the worst thing you can think of to make long johns out of?

Wool. Absolutely wool. It would itch like crazy.

source

4. If you were a pair of small clothes, what color would you be, and WHY?

Green. Definitely green. It's my favorite color.
But I must admit these pirate long johns are quite stylish.

source

5. Have you ever thrown your bloomers at a rock star or other celebrity? If so, which one(s)? If not, which one(s) WOULD you throw your bloomers at, given the opportunity?

Please! Such a waste of fabric! It costs so much to sew anymore.
To say nothing about being vulgar and unrefined.

source

6. You’re out of clean drawers. What do you do?

Um, wash them. Duh!

source

7. Are you old enough to remember Underoos? If so, did you have any? Which ones?

Ah, yes, Underoos. My older children wore them.

source

8. If you could have any message printed on your long johns, what would it be?

These days, the options are endless. Eve Gaal over at The Desert Rocks and I emailed about this since she got tagged, too, and I like what her brother suggested:

Save Your Soul

Source

9. How many bloggers does it take to put small clothes on a goat?

Zero, since we're in the cybersphere rather than real life.

source

I close with the lyrics that I used for Week 6 of Poetry Summer here
from a song we sang at Girl Scout Camp in the Philippines.

Long Johns

author unknown

sung to the tune of Bye Bye Blackbird (corrected from original post)

I have lost my underwear.

I don't care; I'll go bare.

Bye bye, long johns.

They were very close to me

Tickle me. He he he.

Bye bye, long johns

If you see them you'll know where to find me

With my bare bum stickin' out behind me.

I have lost my underwear.

I don't care; I'll go bare.

Long johns, bye bye.

Like cyberchocolate that has no fat and no calories, it also has no taste. Just like this meme.

Now I'm supposed to share the wealth, so to speak, and have others give their thoughts about their unmentionables.

Hmmm ... who don't I like?

Just kidding! I won't be the least bit offended if any of you don't take this up.

Donea Lee over at The Queen of Procrastination

Margo Lerwill over at Urban Psychopomp

Jess over at Falling Leaflets

Melanie over at Feather Pens, Tartan Dreams

Robin Weeks

So, did I make you smile? Or just roll your eyes and shake your head?

Hey, I titled it Nonsense Post. You were warned.

The Winner is . . .

2011-12-15T14:22:00.001-07:00

The winner of the book King's Envoy

by Cas Peace is Diana!

Query Critique

2011-12-15T05:39:00.000-07:00

You might want to stop over at Matt's place at The Quintessentially Questionable Query Experiment. He's posting my query today and will critique it tomorrow.

I can't begin to tell you how nervous this makes me.

When my daughter was in 6th grade she'd just moved to a new school and decided to run for class president. She told me if she didn't run, there's be no chance she could win. And she wanted the chance.

There's nothing like having an 11-year-old teach you a life lesson.

She won, by the way. I expect this to be a winning experience from what I learn. There really is benefit in finding out what you're not doing right or could do better.

Book Review - Mistborn: The Alloy of Law

2011-12-14T06:56:00.002-07:00

Brandon Sanderson's done it again. And that's why he's become one of my favorite authors. You can find an article on the Tor blog here where Brandon wonders if his 14-year-old self would approve of what he did in this fantasy book.

Well, I loved what he did.

Here's a synopsis:

Three hundred years after the events of the Mistborn trilogy, Scadrial is on the verge of modernity, with railroads to supplement the canals, electric lighting in the streets and the homes of the wealthy, and the first steel-framed skyscrapers racing for the clouds.

Kelsier, Vin, Elend, Sazed, Spook, and the rest are now part of history—or religion. Yet even as science and technology are reaching new heights, the old magics of Allomancy and Feruchemy continue to play a role in this reborn world. Out in the frontier lands known as the Roughs, they are crucial tools for the brave men and women attempting to establish order and justice.

One such is Waxillium Ladrian, a rare Twinborn who can Push on metals with his Allomancy and use Feruchemy to become lighter or heavier at will. After twenty years in the Roughs, Wax has been forced by family tragedy to return to the metropolis of Elendel. Now he must reluctantly put away his guns and assume the duties and dignity incumbent upon the head of a noble house. Or so he thinks, until he learns the hard way that the mansions and elegant tree-lined streets of the city can be even more dangerous than the dusty plains of the Roughs.

I'm good with some fight scenes in books. If they drag on too long I find myself getting bored and will skim ahead to see what the outcome is. What's surprising is how much I enjoyed the Mistborn trilogy's fight scenes using the unique magics of the world, both for the Allomancers (people who can "burn" metals and get power from it) and the Feruchemists (people who can store things like health, weight, strength, etc. into "metalminds" on their bodies).

I love what Sanderson's done in this new society where the main character can do both Allomancy and Feruchemy. Oh, my, the things he can do with it. In Brandon's article above, he spoke about the introduction of guns into this world. Adding this element to the already clever and exciting fight was brilliant. I grew up in a day when westerns were big on TV and in the movies. I remember Clint Eastwood before he became famous in the Spaghetti Westerns like The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly back when he was on Rawhide. The feel that Sanderson brought to the book matched well with my memories but, as always, with his own fascinating twist.

Brandon did a great job blending of our turn-of-the-century-type (the one before) technology with trains, horseless carriages, skyscrapers into the culture and political system we were familiar with in the earlier series. I loved what he's done with the place, so to speak.

And the characters. Brandon writes characters I love. I love their flaws (oh, my gosh, Wayne just makes me smile!), their strengths, their humor, and their interactions with each other. In the character Waxillium, you've got a brilliant mind mixed with amazing physical skills all set inside a man who's dealing with a terrible emotional burden. A man with a powerful sense of justice and a need to do something to make things better. Kind of a "saving people thing" that Harry Potter had--only Wax is no kid.

I'm glad this is the start of a new series. As always, Sanderson throws in some great twists that will keep you on your toes. I highly recommend this book.

Tomorrow is the last chance to enter to win The King's Envoy in The Give Books for Christmas Giveaway Hop.
Click here to sign up. I'm choosing the winner at noon.

Also tomorrow, you might want to stop over at Matt's place at The Quintessentially Questionable Query Experiment. He's going to post my query and critique it on Friday.

Celebration!

2011-12-12T20:32:00.002-07:00

Author Wendy Swore is my 500th follower!

(check out her blog and find out about her new book!)

It's time to Par-tay!

Hmmm . . . maybe not like this . . .

We'll start with a chocolate Hogwarts.

Gotta have some frosted chocolate brownies.

Don't forget the yummy beverage


And other random chocolate goodness and we're good to go!	Enjoy!

ETA: What the heck. I've lost a follower, and now I'm under 500 again. Should we cancel the party?

Nah!

What's With That?

2011-12-11T10:30:00.001-07:00

The Give Books for Christmas Giveaway Hop is still going on.
Click here to remember the details.

Have you seen this article in the Huffington Post about Amazon's new Kindle Direct Publishing (KDP)? It's been getting a lot of talk among folks in my writing organizations.

The implications are huge.Whether you've ever considered self-publishing or not, this is something to watch.

Is this a good thing for publishing? What do you think?

Grammar Friday - Capitalization (Plus Other Stuff)

2011-12-09T01:00:00.042-07:00

Capitalization at a Glance

Source

Days of the week: Monday, Tuesday

Months: May, June

Holidays, holy days: Christmas, Easter

Periods, events in history: Renaissance, Middle Ages

Special Events: Battle of Gettysburg
( Gettysburg? A special event? Seems like an understatement to me)

Official Documents: Constitution

Trade Names : Kleenex tissues, Honda Pilot
(Gotta pay attention to these in your writing. Like Jeep vs a jeep.

Formal epithets: Attila the Hun

Geographical names
Planets, heavenly bodies: Mars, Pluto, the Milky Way

Continents: Australia, Africa

Streets, roads, highways: Fifth Avenue, Route 66

Sections of a country, of a continent: the Northwest, the Far East

Landforms: Mohave Desert, Blue Ridge Mountains

Bodies of water: Lake Powell, Amazon River

Public areas: Yellow Stone National Park

Things you don't capitalize:
Seasons, a.m. or p.m., or compass points.

Give Books for Christmas Giveaway Hop

Click here to remember the details.

WIP Update

I sent the first 50 pages of WIP #1 to an editor.
Should I squeee? Or should I cringe?

Fine--You Win, Kings, and Hallelujah

2011-12-05T21:26:00.001-07:00

Fine--you guys win. I'll do it and let you know when.

Don't forget you can sign up painlessly to participate in the Give Books Blog Hop and get a book for Christmas (or other applicable gift-giving celebration this time of year). The Hop runs through December 15th, but I'll be cutting it off at noon that day so I have time to contact the winner. I'm supposed to get the book in the mail on the 16th. Click here for details and check out the others books you could win by visiting the following blogs.

Give Books for Christmas Giveaway Hop

1.	Inksplasher (US)	7.	Maria Hoagland (US)	13.	Jennifer K. Clark (US)
2.	Jennifer Hurst (INT)	8.	The Last Word (US)	14.	Publish Novels or Bust (US)
3.	FALL (INT)	9.	Tristi Pinkston	15.	Heidi Murphy (US)
4.	Geek Girl (INT)	10.	LDS Publisher (INT)	16.	Nichole Giles
5.	Heart on a Chain (INT)	11.	Carolyn Frank (INT)
6.	Immortal Mine (INT)	12.	K.C. Grant Writer's Corner (US)

Since many of us are recovering from NaNo, and now we're in the throes of one of the busiest times of the year, here's a little something to lighten your mood. These kids just make me smile.

Have you got your shopping done?

Should I or Shouldn't I?

2011-12-04T10:15:00.002-07:00

Don't forget you can sign up painlessly to participate in the Give Books Blog Hop and get a book for Christmas (or other applicable gift-giving celebration this time of year). The Hop runs through December 15th, and I'll be getting the book out on the 16th. Click here for details and check out the others books you could win by visiting the following blogs.

Give Books for Christmas Giveaway Hop

1.	Inksplasher (US)	7.	Maria Hoagland (US)	13.	K.C. Grant Writer's Corner (US)
2.	Jennifer Hurst (INT)	8.	The Last Word (US)	14.	Jennifer K. Clark (US)
3.	FALL (INT)	9.	Weaving a Tale or Two (US)	15.	Publish Novels or Bust (US)
4.	Geek Girl (INT)	10.	Tristi Pinkston	16.	Heidi Murphy (US)
5.	Heart on a Chain (INT)	11.	LDS Publisher (INT)
6.	Immortal Mine (INT)	12.	Carolyn Frank (INT)

*sigh*

Yes, that's a really big sigh.

My goal this month is to finish the edit for WIP #1 and send the first fifty pages off to an editor. AND I need to finish my query. Well, it's finished. The dang thing's just not right yet. ETA for clarification: This query has been critiqued by both my online and in-person critique groups. It's been critiqued by some other writerly friends and in its essential form given a thumbs up from the author I won the query critique from. But everyone--and I mean every who hasn't read the book--thinks a critical thing referenced in the query (and which is the hook) is a major plot-line. But it's really just a catalyst and sets into motion what happens in the rest of the book.

I've thought of submitting to Matt over at The Quintessentially Questionable Query Experiment, and he said he'd be willing to look at it. Alex and Nancy have both said I should.

I just have this little problem about bearing myself in public, so to speak, and subjecting myself to ridicule. I'm good at my day job, and I work very hard to make sure I'm knowledgeable and up to date with my skills. I have to be because if I screw up I can get sued. Don't even mess with someone's bid to public office, believe me.

But I think the thing that really turns me into a quivering mess is the genre bias I talked about in this post. I'm not worried about Matt's comments. He a consummate professional and tactful besides. When I had one of my sons who's got a bright, creative mind (I love to bounce ideas off him) read an earlier version, his tone dripped with sarcastic cheese.

So, my adventure romance book's query could be said to have a melodramatic tone. If you read it the way my son did. Writing is so subjective I'm sure people will pick up on the cheese factor. And I'm so not into this:

Please note that my son made fun of the version approved by the author I won a query critique from.

It could just be him. Or it could be that the tone is there but fits the genre. The bottom line is that I'm at my wit's end over this thing. So I'm going to let you folks help me decide. On the right sidebar is a poll. Please comment here and tell me why you voted the way you did.

In the meantime, I'm going to be doing this:

Grammar Friday - Emphasis & Give Books Blog Hop

2011-12-02T01:00:00.009-07:00

Don't forget you can sign up painlessly to participate in the Give Books Blog Hop and get a book for Christmas (or other applicable gift-giving celebration this time of year). Click here.

Give Books for Christmas Giveaway Hop

1.	Inksplasher (US)	7.	Maria Hoagland (US)	13.	K.C. Grant Writer's Corner (US)
2.	Jennifer Hurst (INT)	8.	The Last Word (US)	14.	Jennifer K. Clark (US)
3.	FALL (INT)	9.	Weaving a Tale or Two (US)	15.	Publish Novels or Bust (US)
4.	Geek Girl (INT)	10.	Tristi Pinkston	16.	Heidi Murphy (US)
5.	Heart on a Chain (INT)	11.	LDS Publisher (INT)
6.	Immortal Mine (INT)	12.	Carolyn Frank (INT)

Emphasis

Following are three sentences using commas, parentheses, or em-dashes to set off a portion of the sentence.

The supporters of the trade bill need the votes of three or more senators, the most likely ones to be won over are Smith, Jones, and White, if they are to get approval of the legislation.

The supporters of the trade bill need the votes of three or more senators (the most likely ones to be won over are Smith, Jones, and White) if they are to get approval of the legislation.

The supporters of the trade bill need the votes of three or more senators—the most likely ones to be won over are Smith, Jones, and White—if they are to get approval of the legislation.

Which is correct?

Source

They're all grammatically correct. As to which you should use depends upon your intent for the sentence and what you want to emphasize in it.

If you don't want to draw attention to the aside, commas would be a good option. Using the parentheses draws a little more attention.

Visually, if you really want to draw the reader's attention to the aside, you'd use the em dash because it really makes it stand out.

Bonus Question

And for that matter, what is an en dash or an em dash? Well, and en dash is basically the width of an "n" and and em dash is the width of an "m". Isn't it nice to know there really is some logic in all this? If you're interested in some nice examples of when and how to use dashes, there's a nice article here.

I have to confess that I interrupt myself all the time with asides, so they have a tendency to want to take over in my writing. Do you use dashes? Or are you a dash hater?

Give Books Giveaway Hop

2011-12-01T01:00:00.003-07:00

I'm participating in the Give Books Giveaway Hop hosted by Karlene over at InkSplasher. It runs from December 1-15th. Because of extra shipping costs, I'm going to have to limit possible winners to the continental United States.

The book ARC you have a chance to win is King's Envoy by Cas Peace (it's the first book in the Artesans of Albia trilogy). Here's what the back of the book says:

Taran Elijah's quest for knowledge uncovers a plot that threatens the world. In Albia, the fourth realm, the precious Artesan gift is dying. Although born to the craft, Taran is struggling to achieve his potential. Against his friends' advice, he embarks on a foolhardy plan to acquire the teaching he craves. Alone, he crosses into Andaryon, the fifth realm, but instead of finding a mentor, he stumbles upon a treacherous plot. In the wake of Taran's actions, Albia suffers a series of vicious raids. Major Sullyan of the High King's forces is sent to oppose them. But a dark and treacherous force is moving through the realms and both Taran and Sullyan will feel its power. Their craft, the lives of their friends, the very existence of their realm are under threat unless they expose and oppose the evil.

And if you'd like to read an excerpt you can check it out here.

So, what do you have to do to enter?

Be a follower of my blog.
Comment below that you're interested in winning the book.
Include your email address in the body of your comment. It ends on the 15th, and I'm supposed to get the book in the mail to the winner on December 16th, so I'll need to be able to contact you ASAP to get your mailing address.

It must be Christmas or something

Give Books for Christmas Giveaway Hop

1.	Inksplasher (US)	7.	Maria Hoagland (US)	13.	K.C. Grant Writer's Corner (US)
2.	Jennifer Hurst (INT)	8.	The Last Word (US)	14.	Jennifer K. Clark (US)
3.	FALL (INT)	9.	Weaving a Tale or Two (US)	15.	Publish Novels or Bust (US)
4.	Geek Girl (INT)	10.	Tristi Pinkston	16.	Heidi Murphy (US)
5.	Heart on a Chain (INT)	11.	LDS Publisher (INT)
6.	Immortal Mine (INT)	12.	Carolyn Frank (INT)

Reflections on NaNoWriMo 2011

2011-11-28T16:28:00.007-07:00

After my epic fail attempt at NaNo last year I wrote this post. At that time I did not expect to try NaNo again.

Um, I so did NaNo this year and whupped its sorry arse. Can't tell I'm proud of myself, can you?

So, what was the difference between last year and this?

I joined an online critique group full of some pretty amazing people with lots of insight. They've taught me a lot.
I've attended writing conferences and critique bootcamps (LTUE, Storymaker, UVU Book Academy).
I've joined associations for writers (iWriteNetwork, ANWA, Authors Incognito, LUW)
Through blogging and conference attendance, I've met and become friends with lots of other writers, many of whom I've met in real life.
After attending my second critique bootcamp, some of us formed a local in-person critique group. We range in age from a 15-year-old boy (he's amazing, btw) to grandmothers older even than I am.
I learned how to use sprint writing and the pomodoro technique to help me focus and really crank out the words. I love using their timer and will continue to do so when writing and editing.
I forced myself to keep writing even when I wasn't sure where to take the story, knowing it was going to change some in the editing process anyway.

When I did NaNo last year, I was very much alone. I had no cheerleader or people with whom to bounce ideas off (except for my sons, who are wonderful but not writers). This year, if I ran into a snag I had three different sprint writing locations and social groups via Facebook and Yahoo Groups I could go and there'd be writers I could bounce ideas off or get ideas from.

I hear often that writing is a solitary business. It can be, as it was for my first year. But methinks times they are achangin'. I know that not all writers/authors are made of sweetness and light, and I realize many find themselves on different sides of the debate about where the future of publishing will end.

Overall, however, I've found this community to be full of helpful, giving people who are happy to share from their experience. Rather than feeling threatened by potential rivals they are out there cheering us on and more than willing to give us a helping hand.

I think that's why NaNo was such a different experience for me this year. Next year? Real life will determine that but I'm hopeful. I had a tight schedule what with putting on a municipal election that I won't have to worry about next year (I'll be able to attend the writing retreat--squeee!).

What about you? Have you found the writing community to be as friendly as I have? Did you attempt NaNo this year? If so, how are you doing?

And a humorous note, I stole this from Stina Lindenblatt over at Seeing Creative. It made me laugh.

NaNoWriMo Update

2011-11-26T23:01:00.000-07:00

Submitted and verified.

And the Winners Are . . .

2011-11-25T21:03:00.001-07:00

The winners of my two copies of

Variant

by Robinson Wells

are

Abby Fowers

Something to Write About

and

Robin Weeks

If you ladies will email me at donnakweaver(at)gmail(dot) com

and send me your mailing addresses, I'll get these off to you.

Congrats.

I have everyone confidence you'll enjoy this read.

NaNo Update

I did it! As of this posting I have 51,434 words and the end of the book is in sight.

Last Day for Book Giveaway

2011-11-25T08:00:00.001-07:00

I've still got those two copies of Variant by Robison Wells.

Click here for details.

This book would make a great gift, and it won't even cost you anything.

Farewell, Anne McCaffrey

2011-11-23T10:16:00.009-07:00

I just heard that author Anne McCaffrey has moved on to her next great adventure. This woman is one of my favorite authors of all times, having created worlds and characters that will forever be a part of my life. Her use of language has always amazed me, and as a writer I would love to have a fraction of her talent.

I discovered her when I purchased an anthology of Hugo winning short stories. That's when I was first introduced to the world of Pern and met the amazing Lessa and F'lar, Ramoth and Mnementh, their friends (and enemies), and the wonderful Masterharper Robinton (see picture at the end).

The short story captivated me, and I wanted more. After a few years and having read the story several times I decided to see if Anne had written anything else. Low and behold, she had expanded the story into a full novel, and there were even three books so far in the series!

I felt liked I'd died and gone to heaven. There are many more books now than three, and I read (or listen) to the series every couple of years.

But Anne didn't stick with just Pern and the people's battle to save their world from thread (and each other). She created the wonderful world where people whose bodies cannot support them but whose minds are fully functional (shell people) can still have a full life by taking on the body of a ship as in The Ship Who Sang or cities in The City Who Fought (the brain) and pairing them with an ambulatory partner (the brawn).

She tapped into the power of the mind with the Talents in the Rowan series where people who can do telekinesis, telepathy, empathy, etc. were employed in all parts of society. Imagine space travel, not in a space ship with fuel, but in a pod that is thrown mentally by one Talent (or teams of less powerful Talents) and caught on a different planet by another Talent.

Her worlds included one where Earth is taken over by others and our people sent out in the universe as slaves. On one world where a variety of species, including humans, are planted to colonize it, the groups work together in what becomes the beginning of a plot to take Earth back in the Freedom's Landing series. The first book is this series is one of a handful of books that, when I finished it, I flipped it over and read it again.

Her creations included the world of crystal communications and crystal miners in The Crystal Singer series. One of my favorite stories is the second book in that series.

She created the Petaybee universe with a sentient planet, the dinosaur series, the unicorn girl (Acorna) series, and the list goes on. She has scores of titles she wrote alone but a long list of collaborative efforts as well.

Someone bought the rights to make a movie of Dragonflight, the first of the Pern books. I'm sorry that Anne didn't live to see it made. I hope whoever holds the rights will do more than sit on it and--more importantly--will do it right.

Thank you, Anne, for not sitting on your talents. Thank you for putting yourself out there and taking a risk, so the rest of us could enjoy the fruits of your wonderful imagination, awesome imagery, and the characters who became our friends.

Masterharper Robinton by artist Robin Wood

You'll be sorely missed.

Thanksgiving and the Book Giveaway

2011-11-20T20:18:00.002-07:00

Book Giveaway Reminder

It's not too late to get in on my giveaway of two copies of

Robison Wells'

Variant

Click here for details.

A Day of Thanks

It's been a tough three years. As we prepare to celebrate Thanksgiving this week I'd like to take a minute and express my gratitude. My list is hardly all encompassing, but these are a few things I'm thankful for.

Being married (28 years in January) to a wonderful man. When one of my betas told me the epilogue in my adventure romance showed the love interests still too into each other, I had to smile. I hadn't realized I'd based some of my my hero's more romantic characteristics after my hubby.
Six amazing children. Being a mother changed and enriched my life in ways I could not understand until I'd experienced it. There's truth in the trite little saying that motherhood has a way of proving that your heart really can beat outside of your body. For all the anguish these smart and talented individuals gave us while they were growing up, all I can say is: what a ride. And we did it together.
Seven (soon to be eight in December) grandchildren. Oh. My. Heck. Why didn't someone tell me how dang much fun being a grandmother would be? I'd have skipped the parent thing and gone right to Nana right away! All the fun with only a little of the responsibility!
When so many people don't have a job, I do. I'll never be rich working for municipal government but I work with wonderful people, and I like to think what I do makes a difference.
Belief in something bigger than myself.

Do you have any "attitude of gratitude" traditions in your family?

Book Giveaway - "Variant" by Robison Wells

2011-11-17T08:43:00.006-07:00

Last week I participated in the book bomb hosted by author Larry Correia for the book Variant by Robison Wells. It gave me a thrill at the number of my friends who participated as well.

Why?

First, because it was a good cause. But second because I really enjoyed this book. You can read my review here.

Even though I already owned a copy of the audiobook and gave away a paper copy for Rachel Harrie's Campaign, I ordered two more copies, intending to give them away here.

Here's what you have to do to be entered into the drawing for the first copy (chosen randomly):

1. Follow me (if you're not already a follower).
2. Comment in this post that you'd like to be entered.
3. Tweet about this giveaway and encourage others to participate (you'll have to leave a link, sorry).
4. Facebook about this giveaway and encourage others to participate (you'll have to leave a link for this, too).

Since I'm approaching the big 500 follower mark, I've decided to link one of the books to that. I will put the names of everyone who does all the above AND blogs about the giveaway. Please provide me with a link to your post.

On black Friday I will do the drawing for both books.

On a side note, my hubby and I are driving to Wyoming for my uncle's funeral tomorrow, and I'm nervous. Years ago, on my way to visit them for Christmas, I was riding with another college student and we hit a patch of black ice. We nearly went over a cliff, but the driver's quick responses got us into a snow bank instead. I've never been comfortable driving in canyons since and especially not in bad weather.

And, to be honest, hubby's driving scares the crap out of me. His reflexes are great, but he's one of those driving multitaskers. I usually read to him when we drive, so I don't have to watch. It's better for my nerves and definitely better for our relationship.

So if you're prayin' folks, I wouldn't mind being included in yours. If you're not, positive vibes would help.

Have a great weekend.

I hope I'm here.

ETA: No trip to Wyoming. My cousin called to say they were forecasting 100 mph winds in the canyons.

I SO wish I could apparate.

The Next Great Adventure

2011-11-15T01:00:00.001-07:00

I found out yesterday that my uncle died. He was in his early 90s and lived a long full life, but he was also a survivor of not just the bombing of Pearl Harbor but the assault on Iwo Jima. For decades, he wouldn't talk about what he experienced.

He was from a small town in Wyoming, spent twenty years in the Navy, and returned to that same small town in Wyoming where he bought the farm next to his father's.

He was the husband of my beloved aunt, my mother's only sister. In his later years he became rather crotchety, according to his daughter, but I'll never forget how he chased me down after I got my finger embedded in the twines of a music box and was running screaming through his house (we were visiting). My uncle was fond of getting comfortable after work. He'd get down to his skivvies in the summer or his thermals in the winter and was never bothered to greet company however he was dressed.

So many of my childhood memories are tied to these dear people in Wyoming. We spent a couple of summers with them. One was the summer after my mother died. My cousin and I were very close, and my aunt suggested that I stay there for the school year. My father didn't want to split my little sister and I up, so I didn't get to stay. I was brokenhearted at the time, but I can see now my father's wisdom. My poor uncle, though. He liked to put honey in his morning coffee. My little sister thought it was funny to put a bunch of salt in the honey. It only took twice and he was able to convince not to ever do that again.

My sweet cousin, who in so many ways was another sister to me, said it best. He's in a better place now where there's a happy reunion going on with my aunt and their son who went before. She and I are both Harry Potter fans, and I think she'd agree he's gone on to his next, great adventure.

Even so, he leaves a huge hole.

Love you, Uncle Ned.

Tag

2011-11-11T20:54:00.001-07:00

Abby Fowers over at Something to Write About tagged me. Since I needed a break, I've decided to play. Though, perhaps I shouldn't have. You decide. I think you'll know which question made me a little nuts.

If you could go back in time and relive one moment, what would it be?
This one is easy for me. My mom died when I was fourteen. With the arrogance and ignorance of youth, I didn't visit her in the hospital as often as I should have (and would have if I'd realized she wasn't coming home). I'd go back and relive the visit I missed (I'd actually accompanied my father to the hospital--and sat in the car while he visited her because I thought the hospital was creepy).

Now don't worry about me. I don't beat myself up over this. I happen to be one of those people who believe in what Dumbledore called "the next, great adventure". I believe I will see her again, and I don't think she'll hold it against me. But still, I'd have liked to have had another memory to look upon, one that could have helped to get me through those tough times when I was growing up and having to get along without my mom. One more time to tell that I love her.

What movie/TV character do you most resemble in personality?
I'm guessing this means physically. So I went to a celebrity look alike generator.

I submitted this one.

Really? Really?
You should have seen the first picture I used! It was almost all guys.

Shut up!

If you could push one person off a cliff and get away with it, who would you choose?

Um, no one. I have a more eternal view of justice.

*grins evilly*

Name one habit you want to change with yourself?
I bite my nails. Even when I'm not "technically" biting them, I'm worrying them to death.

And after watching that movie Contagion, I so should not bite my nails. Or touch my face. Or touch anything or anyone. Or eat anything that anyone else has touched.

Why do you blog? (Answer in one sentence.)
It began as a way to stay up to date with family members and when I started writing it morphed in making friends and learning tons.

So, who do I pass this on to?

Barbara Jean Byrem over at Far Away Series
Angie Cothran over at Live to Write ...Edit when Necessary
Joanne over at Whole Latte Life

Veterans Day

2011-11-11T01:00:00.008-07:00

On a serious note:

I offer my thanks to the men and women (and their families who support them) who stand or have stood between us and those would relieve us of our freedoms. I'm an Army Veteran, and I come from a family of Veterans. Here's a link to my post from Memorial Day this year.

On a humorous note:

How about you? Have you served or do you have family members or friends who do/have? What branches did they serve in?

For fun, how far do they go back? My great great grandfather fought on the side of the South during the recent troubles or the war of northern aggression. My northern relatives might think them's fightin' words ...

Mother of all Book Bombs

2011-11-10T01:00:00.012-07:00

Author Larry Correia is doing a book bomb today, November 10th. You can read the details on Larry's blog here.

What's a book bomb? Larry explains it:

What is a book bomb? Well, Amazon has its own bestseller list. It is calculated hourly and you are given a sales rank based up on how you stack up against the other six million books on there. It is some sort of strange rolling average algorhythm, but what it comes down to is, the more books that are purchased during that particular time frame, the higher you rank. The higher you rank, the more of their top 50 or top 10 lists you show up on. The more of those you show up on, the higher you go, the more attention you get, the more books you sell.

Who's it for?

Robinson Wells
You can check out his blog here.

What's the book?

This is from my post on October 19th.

But I just finished listening to Robison Well's book Variant. Oh, my freakin' heck! I LOVED it! Kept me right on the edge of my chair all the way through. Crisp writing, lots of action, but it really got me into the characters, which is a big deal to me.

From amazon:
Benson Fisher thought that a scholarship to Maxfield Academy would be the ticket out of his dead-end life.
He was wrong.
Now he’s trapped in a school that’s surrounded by a razor-wire fence. A school where video cameras monitor his every move. Where there are no adults. Where the kids have split into groups in order to survive.
Where breaking the rules equals death.
But when Benson stumbles upon the school’s real secret, he realizes that playing by the rules could spell a fate worse than death, and that escape—his only real hope for survival—may be impossible.
You so have to check out this book.

I'm just sayin'!

This is a great cause and an excellent book to be pushing. One of my sons struggled with anxiety attacks a few years ago. It's a miserable thing to experience.

Amazon link to Variant: http://rcm.amazon.com/e/cm?t=monshuntnati-20&o=1&p=8&l=as1&asins=0062026089&ref=tf_til&fc1=000000&IS2=1&lt1=_blank&m=amazon&lc1=0000FF&bc1=000000&bg1=FFFFFF&f=ifr

I've ordered to more copies that I'll be giving away in the next couple of weeks (continental U.S. only--sorry). I've already purchased the audio and given a hardcover of it as a prize for the Third Campaign.

I've got a favor to ask. If you were thinking of buying this book, I strongly encourage you to do so today. Whether it's for yourself or as a gift for the upcoming gift-giving season. Not only is the purchase for a good cause, it's a great read.

If you're not in the position to make a purchase, I would ask that you tweet, Facebook, email, and whatever else to get the word out about this cause.

Thank you!!

The Other Blog

2011-11-08T09:28:00.001-07:00

I've got a post about perseverance on the iWriteNetwork blog here if you feel like taking a peek.

Oh, and I broke 19,000 words last night.

Just for Fun

2011-11-06T07:43:00.004-07:00

Since I've been so focused on writing since the start of NaNoWriMo (I hit 14,214 words last night, by the way--according to NaNo stats if I keep going at this rate I could hit the 50,000 word mark my November 17th).

Last night I attended my first write-in. It was held at this cute little place called The Chocolate. It's an old home that's been converted into a restaurant. I only knew about it because I attended a book launch there a couple of weeks ago. Holy cow. The place was packed! Since it used to be a home, it's full of lots of small rooms with small, intimate tables.

It was kind of distracting trying to write because real life was going on all around us. Seriously! It was hilarious listening to these young couples who'd come to this dessert cafe. One of the discussions going on next to us made me think about Melanie Jacobson's book Not My Type. The main character gets roped into doing an online series about dating. She's got a snarky, witty edge and many of her dates are disasters. I'll have to ask Melanie where she got her ideas. The Chocolate would have been a great resource.

This morning I needed and wanted something to make me laugh. Someone on Friday suggested that I should go to Google and type in the word askew (no quotes)

Go ahead. Do it yourself.

Did you smile?

Now type in do a barrel roll (no quotes--or words in parentheses).

So do it.

Are you dizzy?

That got me thinking. Dangerous on an early Sunday morning. But I decided to check out what other quirky things those folks at Google have been up to.

Google's Top 10 Hidden Treasures

Google Earth: Top ten fun things to do
I love #3's second option.

Anyway, it's time to get back to work. The general municipal election is Tuesday, so it's going to be a crazy, crazy week. Tuesday I'll be in the office at 6 a.m. and if things go well will be home before midnight.

I used to just ask that people vote (our primary turn out was 7.5%--that means in a city with over 50,000 registered voters, fewer than 4,000 people decided who got to move on to the general election).

It's amazing to me, however, the number of people who vote but do so uninformed. No candidate will ever represent your views on every issue, but do a little research and make sure you're at least on the same continent on issues that mean a lot to you.

Local elections are where the rubber meets the road, by the way. You have the greatest chance at making a difference in those.

Fine. I'll get off my soapbox.

What about you? Do you vote? Or does the ugliness that's so much a part of the national news taint even your local elections?

NaNo Update and Award

2011-11-04T01:00:00.019-06:00

I'm not doing too shabby so far. I've got 8,548 words as of end of writing on Thursday night. I can live with that. Especially if I can keep it up.

It's interesting as I'm writing because I'll get hung up on how to do something and then I have a duh moment. You see, this is NaNo. I don't have to get hung up on things like I normally would. I can just leave myself a comment and move on.

Award

Author Marsha Ward was kind enough to give me the One Lovely Blog Award. Because of NaNo I'm going to cheat. For some reason everyone is supposed to forward it on to 15 (yes, that's right, FIFTEEN) other blogs. I don't have time. But since many blog awards are satisfied with 7, and this particular award asks for 7 things about me I'm going to stick with 7. Hey, it's good enough for Voldie Baby, it'll have to work for me.

So if you want to be bored stupid you can check a previous post here for some random person tidbits.

Please check out Marsha's blog and say Howdy (she writes Westerns).

And check out these following awesome peeps:

Donna Hosie at Musings of a Penniless Writer
Kristin Baker Przybyla at Fairies and Pirates, etc.
An Alleged Author
The Desert Rocks
J.A. Bennett at A Book, A Girl, A Journey
Angela Brown
Jess at Write, Skate, Dream

NaNoWriMo, Timing, and Metal

2011-11-01T09:38:00.002-06:00

Just a quick post here since NaNoWriMo started today, and I've been furiously working on a new project. It's a YA fantasy starring ... my granddaughter. This is going to be her book. My hope is to present it to her for her birthday in July when she's no longer a child but an adolescent.

Speaking of NaNo, John Waverly had a fabulous suggestion for mastering your use of time in his blog post here, using the Pomodoro Technique. Even if you're not doing NaNo, you ought to check it out.

Last weekend I downloaded the Focus Booster and practiced with it on some editing I was doing.

Um, can I say THRILLED?

Having that little 25-minute timer sitting at the edge of my monitor really did help me focus. I blew through a ton of pages whereas I'd been struggling prior to that.

I'm so going to kick NaNo's derriere this year.

Just sayin'.

Now, for the metal part of my post. Anyone who's read this blog much knows I'm a huge Brandon Sanderson fan. That's a caps lock HUGE.

Brandon's got a book coming out this month ... one I'm not going to be reading until December because he's part of the reason I was a NaNo Epic Fail last year (he'd released the next to the last Wheel of Time book last November--total sabotage, and I'd have cried foul except I was so engrossed in the book that I forgot).

Satan, get thee behind me! No temptations allowed during NaNo this year.

But really, I'm excited for this book which is set in his Mistborn world. It's called The Alloy of Law. Brandon speaks a bit about what's he's done in this fantasy book and wonders whether his 14-year-old self could approve.

I really liked what he says about our tastes in certain genres:

Perhaps we fantasy readers sometimes mix up correlation and causation in our fantasy novels. In fact, I’m more and more convinced that taste for a specific genre or medium is often built on shaky ground.

An example may help. I have a friend who once claimed he loved anime.

Over the years, he consistently found anime shows superior to what he found on television. But as he started to find more and more anime, he told me that he discovered something. He liked the anime he’d seen at first because these were the shows that were successful and well made, the ones with the quality or broad appeal to make the jump across cultures. He found that he didn’t like all anime—he only liked good anime. Sure, the medium had something important to do with it—but his enjoyment came more from the quality of his sample than the entire medium.

Likewise, I’ve come to find that what I enjoy is a good story. Genre can enhance this—I’m probably going to like a good fantasy more than a good thriller or romance because worldbuilding and magic appeals to me. In the end, however, it isn’t the lack of guns (as my young self assumed) that draws me to fantasy stories. It’s the care for setting, pacing, and character development.

This is actually a correlation/causation fallacy, and I wonder if I’m the only one to have made it. Many of the books in the fantasy section we love (perhaps because of the setting attention or the types of writers attracted to fantasy and SF) have dragons. Do we therefore make the assumption that we only like books with dragons? These two things (the dragons and our enjoyment) are parallel to, but not completely responsible for one another.

You can find the rest of the article on the Tor blog here.

Book Review - Rearview Mirror by Stephanie Black

2011-10-31T01:00:00.003-06:00

I recently finished reading Rearview Mirror by Stephanie Black. I've read one other of her books, Cold As Ice and loved it. It made its way around my office where I'm the resident library. Rearview Mirror is now making the rounds as well. As a disclaimer, the author provided me with a free copy of this book, but it didn't impact my review. I would definitely purchase it.

So what's it about?

On a rainy night eight years ago, Fiona Claridge lost control of her car and crashed, injuring herself and killing her roommate, Mia Hardy. Now, she strives to keep the painful past at bay by staying burrowed beneath the demands of her job as a college professor in a small New England town. But when someone starts leaving her gift-wrapped boxes containing malicious reminders of Mia’s death, Fiona’s guilt and grief come flooding back.

She assumes her stalker is Kimberly Bailey, a disgruntled student, and enlists the help of fellow professor James Hampton. But when Fiona encounters the angry wife of an old flame, it becomes clear her student isn’t the only one with an eye for revenge. Cruel messages escalate to danger, then murder. As past and present become horribly entangled, Fiona struggles to unravel the truth about a determined killer—before she becomes the next victim.

What did I think? I loved it. I really haven't been that much of a mystery/suspense reader, but I'm finding myself being pulled into this genre thanks to Stephanie. My heart went out to poor Fiona who already bears so many scars--both physically and emotionally--from the accident all those years ago.

I thoroughly enjoyed the characters that Stephanie created in this story because they were believably flawed. You're only given a part of each character's story and left to guess the rest. I found myself getting really nervous as the end of the book approached because I was emotionally invested in so many characters ... and I knew one of them was the villain. I kept thinking, "No, it can't be ***; I like *** too much." or "No, it can't be *** because if it is *** then **** will be devastated, and I don't want **** to be hurt."

Stephanie messed with my head so much that toward the end of the book, when things were getting really tense, I had a nightmare where my own romantic interest in the WIP I'm editing right now ended up turning into a villain. O_o Mine is not even a mystery/suspense!

If you're interested in reading the first chapter of Rearview Mirror, you can check it out here.

Well, it's Halloween, and tomorrow is the first day of NaNoWriMo.

I decided to be a Zombie but, man, they're sure a lot more bloodthirsty than when I was a girl. I'm going to be a Vegan Zombie.

Are you dressing up?

Book Review - The Key of Kilenya by Andrea Pearson

2011-10-28T01:00:00.003-06:00

So what's The Key of Kilenya by Andrea Pearson about?

When two vicious wolves chase fourteen-year-old Jacob Clark down a path from our world into another, his life is forever changed. He has no idea they have been sent by the Lorkon--evil, immortal beings who are jealous of powers he doesn't know he possesses--powers they desire to control.
The inhabitants of the new world desperately need Jacob's help in recovering a magical key that was stolen by the Lorkon and is somehow linked to him. If he helps them, his life will be at risk. But if he chooses not to help them, both our world and theirs will be in danger. The Lorkon will stop at nothing to unleash the power of the key--and Jacob's special abilities.

My thoughts
Poor Jacob. He's minding his own business, practicing for what he hopes will be the start of a pathway leading to future basketball stardom and instead he ends up in an alien world with strange peoples and even stranger creatures. And no basketball!

But there is magic, and they tell him can learn to do it, too. Well, he'll need to if he hopes to survive during his quest to find the missing key. The key, he's told, only he can retrieve.

Something I particularly enjoyed was the heading at the beginning of each chapter as they were parts of a journal of someone who'd made a similar journey several years before. These little snippets from the past foretold things that Jacob and his company would also face as followed a similar path.

Not all story lines are tied up at the end, so Jacob's adventure isn't finished yet.

Have you read any good books lately? Want to share?

Oooo ... Where's Your CARMA?

2011-10-25T01:00:00.001-06:00

Shh ... once again, I'm not really posting today, so don't get confused.

November is rapidly approaching and with it, on the significant date of 11/11/11, is the release of five fabulous fables as part of Dark C.A.R.M.A.:

Become by Ali Cross

Sixteen-year old Desolation Black wants nothing more than to stay in Hell where it’s cold and lonely and totally predictable. Instead, she’s sent back to Earth where she must face the evil she despises and the good she always feared.

When Desi is forced to embrace her inner demon, she assumes her choice has been made—that she has no hope of being anything other than what her father, Lucifer, has created her to be. What she doesn’t count on, is finding a reason to change—something she’s never had before—a friend.

Bound by C.K. Bryant

When a photo shoot ends in tragedy, Kira discovers her best friend, Lydia, has been keeping a secret. Knowing the truth, and accepting it, will change Kira’s life forever and thrust her into a world of ancient curses, magical objects, and savage enemies. What happens next will challenge everything Kira knows about her world, herself and the shape-shifting warrior she’s falling in love with. No longer the timid mouse her mother accused her of being, but a woman who finds the mental and physical strength to endure and survive.

BOUND is a heroic tale of true friendship, infinite sacrifice and untamed love.

Breathe by Melanie McCullough

Life’s hard. People make it harder. They tether you to them. Make it difficult to breathe, and damn-near impossible to leave…

Seventeen year-old Abby Rhoades knows this all too well. Born to a mother who could never love her and who vacillates between a sloppy drunk and a suicidal maniac, Abby’s never had it easy. But Abby can swim. And Abby has a plan–win the state championship, earn a free ride to Penn State, and leave her small town and suffocating mother behind.

But then the body of Tom Ford, her mother’s latest boyfriend and a man Abby adored, washes up along the shore of the Susquehanna River. His injuries suggest murder and suspicion quickly falls on Abby then on her best friend Garrett Scott, both of whom saw Tom the night he died.

They both know what happened that night, but neither one is talking. There’s too much at stake and the truth could tear them apart.

Exiled by Rashelle Workman

Stubborn, sixteen-year-old Princess Venus of Kelari wants one thing, to become immortal, that is, until someone exiles her to Earth, kills her irrihunter and takes her family.

Now she wants revenge.

First she’s got to get home. But before she can return to Kelari, the Gods have commanded her to help an arrogant boy named Michael find his soul mate.

Only she doesn’t know the first thing about love.

Pigments of my Imagination by Angela Kulig

From the moment Lucia steps into Bayside Art Academy, she is fed a steady stream of lies, but it’s not until she meets Michael that she begins to question the people she trusts. Unraveling fact from fabrication seems impossible until Lucia finds her first painting, and discovers the dead do not lie–at least not to her.

A dozen lifetimes ago, Lucia started a war. Not a war with armies or guns, but a bloody war nonetheless. The path leading Lucia to the truth is hidden within lovely art that spans the ages. In this life, however, Lucia doesn’t know where to look. Lost, she turns to the one thing she knows with certainty–she is in love with Leo, and has been before.

Grammar Friday - Mr., Mrs., and Ms.

2011-10-21T01:00:00.033-06:00

Or is it Ms?

(Can you see what the difference is?)

Mr. is an abbreviation for Mister.

Mrs. is an abbreviation for Mistress (not an adulterous woman).

Mr. doesn't identify marital status.

Miss identifies an unmarried woman.

Mrs. identifies a married woman or a widow.

Ms. / Ms is not an abbreviation for anything.

So should you use a period at the end or not?

Since it's not an abbreviation you don't have to. However, it is also appropriate to add one if you wish.

The key here is consistency.

Pick one way of doing it and stick with it.

That way people think you know what you're doing.

Do you have a preference? Why?

"Variant" by Robison Wells

2011-10-19T10:55:00.001-06:00

I'm not posting today. Just in case you're confused because it's not Friday.

But I just finished listening to Robison Well's book Variant. Oh, my freakin' heck! I LOVED it! Kept me right on the edge of my chair all the way through. Crisp writing, lots of action, but it really got me into the characters, which is a big deal to me.

From amazon:

Benson Fisher thought that a scholarship to Maxfield Academy would be the ticket out of his dead-end life.

He was wrong.

Now he’s trapped in a school that’s surrounded by a razor-wire fence. A school where video cameras monitor his every move. Where there are no adults. Where the kids have split into groups in order to survive.

Where breaking the rules equals death.

But when Benson stumbles upon the school’s real secret, he realizes that playing by the rules could spell a fate worse than death, and that escape—his only real hope for survival—may be impossible.

You so have to check out this book.

I'm just sayin'!