CFBA Tour: To Dance in the Desert

Most of us think of the desert as a dry and barren place. Kathleen Popa's lyrical prose reveals the desert to be a place of beauty and wonder where God whispers his love to us, if we only have ears to hear. To Dance in the Desert (RiverOak) offers hope and encouragement to anyone who has experienced desert times through the story of Dara Murphy Brogan, who has fled to a home in the desert to escape her broken past. But through some wonderful characters she learns to trust and love again, and find the healing and peace that only come from God.

I couldn't put this book down -- not because of the plot so much as because I fell in love with Dara and her new friends. The story is fairly straightforward, with the plot revolving around turns of character more than turns of events (though certainly there is drama and conflict to propel the story). Dara learns first to accept, then love, her new friend Jane (best described as a hippie missionary earth mother). And from Jane, Dara learns to listen to the voice of God telling her he loves her and calling her to follow him, even though she can't imagine anyone loving her or wanting her around, so damaged is her view of herself. But once you let one person into your life, a whole host of others will soon follow, and so it is for Dara. She takes a job in the restaurant owned by Jane's brother, Tom (a widower); she is beguiled by Tom's little daughter, Clemmie; she is drawn into the life of a mysterious stranger, Sophie; and she begins to find answers to questions that have haunted her all her life.

This book moved me to laughter and to tears and I thoroughly enjoyed it. It's a beautiful story that shows how God's grace is at work around us. Kathleen has done a wonderful job of writing about faith in a natural way, with characters who live in the same fallen world we all do and have the same kind of struggles we all know, and ask the same kind of questions we all ask -- and choose to trust the Lord.

I know I tend to wax enthusiastic about a book I really enjoy, but I don't think you'll be disappointed if you pick up a copy of To Dance in the Desert.


ABOUT THE AUTHOR:
Raised in the American Southwest, Kathleen began her love affair with the desert as a child. Before becoming a writer she, among other jobs, worked in both the juvenile facility fro incarcerated girls and a home for emotionally disturved children. Mother of two, she lives in Northern California with her husband and youngest son. Visit her blog, Reading, Writing, and What Else is There? She is a member of the CFBA, too! Give her a holler!

Blog Tour: Shred of Truth

(This is a very book heavy week!)

This is the first book of Eric Wilson's I've read and after reading it, I want to go back and read some of the others, especially the first Aramis Black story. I enjoyed A Shred of Truth. Wilson does an especially good job of portraying an interesting, complex character who is still learning what it means to walk with Christ.

Aramis Black is trying to make a new, more peaceful, life for himself in Nashville. But his past keeps coming back to haunt him. In this novel, just as his brother is on the verge of breaking out as a country star, he ends up tied to a statue with the initials AX carved into his shoulder.

Aramis can't ignore the attack, or the threatening e-mails he starts receiving. Nor can he ignore the evidence that seems to be saying someone he long thought dead is really alive. Aramis struggles to determine the truth without returning to the violent habits of his past.

There's a little something here for everyone -- fans of suspense thrillers will enjoy the fast pace, those who prefer character-driven tales will enjoy the complexity of not only Aramis, but many of the other characters. It's a good mix and a good read.

Eric Wilson is the author of Dark to Mortal Eyes, Expiration Date, and the first book in the Aramis Black series, The Best of Evil. He lives with his wife, Carolyn Rose, and their two daughters in Nashville, Tennessee. Visit him at wilsonwriter.com

CSFF Tour: Fearless

I blogged about Fearless by Robin Parrish a couple of weeks ago, for the other blog tour, but I don't want to let an opportunity pass to remind you what a good read it is. If you don't want to take my word for it, check out the buzz at some of the fine blogs listed below.

Trish Anderson
Brandon Barr
Wayne Thomas Batson
Jim Black
Justin Boyer
Grace Bridges
Amy Browning
Jackie Castle
Valerie Comer
Karri Compton
Frank Creed
Lisa Cromwell
CSFF Blog Tour
Gene Curtis
D. G. D. Davidson
Merrie Destefano
Jeff Draper
April Erwin
Linda Gilmore
Beth Goddard
Marcus Goodyear
Andrea Graham
Russell Griffith
Jill Hart
Katie Hart
Sherrie Hibbs
Christopher Hopper
Jason Joyner
Karen
Dawn King
Tina Kulesa
Lost Genre Guild
Terri Main
Rachel Marks
Rebecca LuElla Miller
Eve Nielsen
John W. Otte
John Ottinger
Robin Parrish
Lyn Perry
Rachelle
Cheryl Russel
Hanna Sandvig
Chawna Schroeder
Mirtika Schultz
James Somers
Steve Trower
Speculative Faith
Jason Waguespac
Daniel I. Weaver

A few more thoughts ...

No, this isn't going to become all Harry Potter all the time. But The Deathly Hallows is a big book and there's a lot to digest. One thing that's sure to come up (because it always does) is whether or not the series is Christian, or at least is suitable for Christians. I found a good perspective in Bob Smietana's review for Christianity Today. Christ 'whispers' into the story, sometime pretty loudly it seems to me. But maybe not to you. Because that's one thing to remember about stories -- you can't leave the reader out of the equation. I got the scripture references on the tombs in Godric's Hollow and I've loved how, all along, the stories hint that death is not the end. There is a worse fate than physical death and Voldemort is a perfect illustration of that. (Just remembered -- in The Lord of the Rings the ancient Numenorians feared death, too, and it was their downfall.) But just remember that these are stories, after all, and you do a disservice to the story when you try to force it to do something it was never intended for.

Fantasy, maybe more than any other kind of story, is metaphor. But the metaphors work best when you don't strain too hard to look for them. They work best when you let the story sink in and simply be what it is.

I have read it ...

... and it is good. So very good. I wondered how she would do it -- end the story in such a way as to satisfy fans of the books and yet follow through on the heroic tale she seemed to be telling. Without giving anything away, I can say that J.K. Rowling accomplished it all -- not perfectly, but satisfyingly.

I bought the book Saturday afternoon, went home and started reading about 3:30 p.m. I quit at 11:30 to go to bed, then picked it up again after church yesterday and finished in about 3 hours. (And while I slept, Sam read it -- he's a very fast reader. Joel has it now, Bob and Tim are chomping at the bit.) My brain is still a big boggled by trying to absorb so much in a short time, but I really couldn't put it down. Rowling may not be a great literary stylist, but she knows how to tell a story. I was completely absorbed in the tale and sorry to see it end. For me at least, one mark of an author's skill is the ability to weave a world in such a way that you hate to leave. But the great thing about books is that I can revisit the world anytime I want. And I will want to return to the Harry Potter's world again.

Really, I can stop anytime I want to ...

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^{(thanks Brad)}

CFBA Tour: One Step Over the Border

This one sounds like fun -- I'll let you know more after I finish it. In the meantime ...

This week, theChristian Fiction Blog Alliance

is introducing

ONE STEP OVER THE BORDER(Center Street June 12, 2007)
by

Stephen Bly

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

Stephen Bly is a pastor, a mayor, an antique Winchester gun collector and a writer.

He's mayor of a town of 308 in the mountains of Idaho, on the Nez Perce Indian Reservation. In his spare time, he pursues the three R's of ridin', ropin' and rodeo...and construction of Broken Arrow Crossing, a false-front western village near his home.

That keeps him very western. And he collect old Winchester rifles, which reflects his love of historical accuracy. He's also a fan of Jimmy Buffet music.

Stephen says about his writing, "I write about the West (historic or modern) from the inside. Born and raised on western ranches, I have both the heart and mind to describe things as they really were...and are. There are those who think the frontier has long passed and with it the ‘code of the west.’ The truth is, both are still around...and it’s fun to show that in a contemporary story. The West is so big, so diverse, so enchanting it’s a thrill to write about it in any era."

Stephen is the author of ninety-five books and hundreds of articles.

ABOUT THE BOOK:

It’s a romp...
A road adventure...
It’s a buddy story with romantic comedy!!

Some call it CowboyLit. Rodeo cowboy Hap Bowman’s on a search for Juanita, the gal of his dreams, whom he hasn’t seen in 18 years. He seems stuck on 12-years-old and the enchanting girl he met then.

"An idiot obsession," his roping partner, Laramie Majors, chides.

But Laramie agrees to a final summer’s trek along the Rio Grande. If they don’t find Juanita during those months, Hap promises to drop the idea of the hunt for the mystery senorita. But if they find her, will she feel the same as Hap does about their years ago interlude?

In One Step Over The Border the time tested values of cowboys rub up against contemporary mores. It’s a crazy story that becomes more logical as the reader delves deeper into it. It will make you laugh and shed a tear or two.

Getting back to Hap’s pursuit . . . don’t we all have someone in the past, that we knew for only a short while, that we wish we could have known better, longer? Stephen Bly has!. So when Hap and Laramie ventured out on a quest for Hap’s Juanita, Stephen decided to invite others to go along too. Folks have been e-mailing Hap hapandlaramie@yahoo.com and asking for their own “Juanita Search Kits.”

They get a bumper sticker, magnet, bookmark, stickers, flyers, etc. It’s a whole packet of material that will equip anyone to join the fun of finding the Juanita with “the mark of God.” If they send Hap a picture of the places where they stuck their Juanita signs, they’ll receive a free copy of the book. It’s all there on the website at http://www.onestepovertheborder.com/

And there’s a very special feature on http://www.amazon.com/...some more adventures about Hap and Laramie that did NOT appear in the book, can be found on AmazonShorts in the story entitled, Aim Low, Shoot High.

CFBA Tour: Fearless -- a review of sorts

Book Two of the Dominion Trilogy:

The world changed after that terrible day when the sky burned, and now every heart is gripped by fear...

And into the breach stride Grant Borrows and his team of heroes -- superheroes. As they use their powers to help a world experiencing one catastrophic disaster after another, Grant continues to grapple with destiny. Has he truly been able to choose a different path than the one planned by the Secretum? Or is he the reason the world seems to be falling apart? By the end of the book, you'll have discovered more about the mysterious organization called the Secretum, but more questions will remain, including the resolution to a cliffhanger ending that will absolutely guarantee you will want to read the third book, coming next summer -- Merciless.

In Fearless, Robin Parrish has crafted an exciting sequel to his debut novel, Relentless. And like Relentless, the pace never slows. I read the whole book last Saturday -- I couldn't put it down. Robin does a good job of pulling you into the world he has created -- a world like ours, but gripped by civil unrest and natural disasters on a scale that make the LA riots in 1992 or Hurricane Katrina seem like the good old days. But even as Grant and his fellow ringwearers use their powers to bring order and save lives, more challenges arise. They must deal with constant media coverage, as well as increasing suspicion from the government. When Grant and some of the others go to London seeking clues about the Secretum, events spin out of control and the team will never be the same again.

One of the pitfalls of a fast-paced story is a lack of emotional resonance. Fearless moves along so fast the characters hardly have time to breathe, let alone reflect on what's happening to them. And neither does the reader. Still, there's a certain reality to that -- when the world is falling apart all around us, most of us don't have time to process emotionally. But I think a little breathing -- and thinking -- room would have helped the story without slowing it down too much. Which is not to say that the characters are simply cardboard cutouts -- Grant and his sister and several of the other characters (especially Morgan, Payton, Lisa, Daniel and Alex) are distinct and do wrestle with what's going on. It's just that those moments of reflection feel hurried and a bit perfunctory. I don't mean to criticize the book for not being something it was never intended to be -- I just tend to like spending time in the characters' heads.

Fearless avoids the wheel-spinning that often slows down the second book of a trilogy. (Anybody besides me get bogged down in The Two Towers?) The plot developments are significant and set the stage for the final book. Robin has a journalist's eye for detail, so many of the scenes are vivid and gripping. He's not afraid to kill off (or at least appear to kill off) important characters, either. These deaths are significant to the story development and the ramifications will be felt throughout the third book, I'm sure.

Overall, I really enjoyed the book. When I finished it, I had to remind myself which world I lived in, which says something about Robin's ability to pull the reader in. Once again, he has managed to introduce ideas and raise questions in the reader's mind without preaching. If you enjoyed Relentless, you're going to want to read Fearless. And if you haven't read Relentless yet, then do so and then read Fearless. And then, as I said before, you're going to have a hard time waiting until next summer for the final installment.

CFBA Tour: Fearless

Today I'm posting the canned stuff about Robin and the picture of the book. Tomorrow, I'll tell you why I can't wait for Book 3 (Merciless)!

Christian Fiction Blog Alliance

is introducing

FEARLESS
(Bethany House, July 1, 2007)
by

Robin Parrish

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

Robin Parrish had two great ambitions in his life: to have a family, and to be a published novelist.

In March of 2005, he proposed to his future wife the same week he signed his first book contract.

Born Michael Robin Parrish on October 13, 1975, Robin's earliest writing efforts took place on a plastic, toy typewriter, and resulted in several "books" (most between 10 and 30 pages long) and even a few magazines.

By the age of thirteen, he had begun winning local writing awards and became a regular in his high school's literary magazine. In college, he garnered acclaim from his English professors and fellow students while maturing and honing his skills.

After college, he entered the writing profession through a "side door" -- the Internet. He has spent more than ten years writing for various Web sites, including About.com, CMCentral.com, and his current project Infuze Magazine, which is a unique intersection between art and faith which he also conceived of and created.

One of his more "high concept" ideas for Infuze was to return to his love for storytelling and create a serialized tale that would play out every two weeks, telling a complete, compelling story over the course of nine months. That serialized story eventually came to the attention of several publishers, who saw it as a potential debut novel for Robin Parrish.

In 2005, Bethany House Publishers brought Robin full circle by contracting him for the rights to not only that first book, Relentless -- but two sequels. A trilogy, to unfold in the consecutive summers of 2006, 2007, and 2008. One massive tale -- of which that first, original story would form only the foundational first volume of the three -- spread across three books.

Robin is the Editor in Chief and creator of Infuze Magazine. He and his wife Karen reside in High Point, North Carolina. Karen works for High Point's First Wesleyan Church, where Robin and Karen are members and Small Group leaders.

Book Two of the Dominion Trilogy:

The world changed after that terrible day when the sky burned, and now every heart is gripped by fear...

And what about the book? Stay tuned ...

Friday goodies

Here's some good music: a new ep by Andrew Osenga (currently of Caedmon's Call) -- Letters to the Editor, Vol. 1. The music is wonderful -- acoustic and vocals, very simple. (Christian Music Today did a review.) He has a new fan. Would you like to have the cd? He's offering it as a free download from his Web site, though you can help out if you want. I like the way he went about writing the songs -- he asked people to send him pictures and stories and this is the result. The download includes a booklet with lyrics and more about how the songs came about. I think it's a neat look into the creative process.

Does the world need another group blog about writing? Well, The Misfits think so, and I say good idea. Check it out.

Random thoughts on a happy milestone

So here I am, sitting in my daughter's house checking e-mail when her cat Franklin starts to eat the packing tape. Yes, you read that right. Franklin eats tape. Julia and Mike warned me that he would if I left it out. He's a crazy cat. Sometimes he doesn't like me and hisses at me. When he does that the other cat, Winston, comes to my defense. Yay Winston!

So why am I at Julia's house with packing tape? Because I'm helping her pack. Julia and Mike have bought a house on the other side of town and since they are both working, I'm helping pack. This is very fun, especially since the main reason they have joined the ranks of the mortgage-encumbered is because they are expecting my first grandchild. Needless to say (but I'll say it anyway) I am VERY EXCITED.

I've had this news for a while (since Mother's Day weekend, in fact) but I didn't want to talk about it too soon. But they've heard the heartbeat now and so I feel there is an official baby to talk about. So I'm talking. It somehow seems fitting that in my 50th year (though by the time the baby comes I'll have passed my birthday) I should be anticipating grandmotherhood. So far, everyone I know who is a grandparent says it's wonderful. I have yet to have anyone tell me that being a grandparent is not all it's cracked up to be. So that's good -- not that I was worried or anything.

I guess I should get back to work before Franklin eats all the tape.

Just to whet your appetite a bit ...

for Harry Potter and Deathly Hallows, that is, (you're not going to be seeing recipes here anytime soon) -- here's an article by Alan Jacobs for Books & Culture. I do not spend much time browsing Harry Potter fan sites -- that could be a full-time job in itself -- but I am looking forward to the final book in the series. (Maybe someday I'll write a post about why I like Harry Potter, but not today.)

Books, books and more books

I go through seasons of reading. Sometimes I hardly read anything, then I read a lot. I think I'm getting into a "reading a lot" mode right now, which is good because I'm looking forward to some books and I have some at home I want to read.

Last night I finished reading About a Boy, by Nick Hornby. I've been a fan of Hornby's nonfiction, and I love the movie of About a Boy, so I wanted to read the book. I enjoyed it, but it's different than the movie in some significant ways. The movie takes some of the edge off, which is understandable, I guess. Adapting a book for film is always a challenge, especially if you're hoping for mass appeal. Which is not to say I like the movie less after reading the book, or that I like the movie better (or the book better). In some ways, they're almost separate entities that just happen to have some of the same characters and incidents. Hornby is a very good writer -- sometimes even brilliant. The book has wonderfully drawn characters, snappy and witty dialogue, humor, and real insight into the human condition. A lot of people reading might even say it's uplifting in its outlook -- it does have a reasonably happy ending (though the movie did the ending much differently, but still happy). But to me, the book is also a perfect picture of what it means to live without Christ. I'm sure that was not Hornby's intent, but that's what struck me, and as such it's a bit depressing. Near the end, Will thinks he might have to try to talk Fiona out of committing suicide and realizes there's no point to life -- at least none that he can think of. He just goes along from day to day, waiting to see what happens next. For a lot of us, even Christians, I'm afraid that's how we live -- very passively. Anyway, I didn't mean to get all philosophical and deep here. I did enjoy About a Boy and I think I need my own copy (I had checked it out of the library) because Nick Hornby really is a very good writer and I want to reread the brilliant bits.

As implied by the title of this post, I have more books to talk about. Yesterday the mail carrier brought me a lovely book -- To Dance in the Desert, by Kathleen Popa. It really is a lovely book to look at and I'm looking forward to reading it. I read the first chapter quite a while ago and I've been anticipating the rest of it ever since. It's up for a blog tour soon, so I'll be telling more then.

Another book I'm looking forward to, and will be featuring in a blog tour this summer I think, is the new novel from T.L. Hines: The Dead Whisper On. I enjoyed immensely Tony's debut novel, Waking Lazarus, and I don't expect to be disappointed with this one. Here's a link to an excerpt. Tony has also been blogging about his present journey with lymphoma -- my prayers are with you, Tony.

There are a couple more books I'm looking forward to, but I think I'll save them for another day. That way I won't have trouble coming up with a blog topic. :)

Happy Birthday!

The young man standing in the middle of this handsome trio (I could be partial, though) is my fourth child, Sam. Today he is 21. (On the left is Tim, 19, and on the right is Joel, 17. It does not seem possible that they are that old, but if Sam is 21, then they are definitely that old.)

Once upon a time we called these three -- because they were the three youngest and were all boys -- the little boys. The three oldest were "the big kids." Original, I know. But Sam, Tim and Joel ceased to be "little" boys a long time ago. Joel is now the biggest of them all, even. But Sam was always the ringleader. And he still is -- he is better at most video games, he reads the fastest and he still wields the power: the Legos are still in his room and Tim and Joel and all their friends still automatically ask for permission before entering said room. They listen to him and seek his opinion about matters great and small.

We don't know what Sam will end up doing with his life -- he's not sure himself -- but we love him lots. He's smart and funny and cooks a mean chicken and rice casserole. Happy Birthday, Sam!

Operators are standing by ...

Coach's Midnight Diner is now available for pre-sales. Whoo-hoo! It will also be available on Amazon, but it will be cheaper if you order it through Relief, so don't dally. I'm excited about this -- and not only because I have a story in it. I haven't read any of the stories yet (except my own, of course) but I know the writing of some of the authors and I don't think you'll be disappointed in the quality. It's got a great mix of stories and I guarantee you won't find another anthology quite like this one.

CSFF Blog Tour: The Restorer

I was at a professional conference earlier this week and the week before that I was busy getting ready for it, so I've been rather absent from blogging. As it is, I'm a day late for the CSFF tour, but I wanted to post the links -- Christian science fiction and fantasy needs all the attention it can get.

The featured book this month is The Restorer by Sharon Hinck. This is the first book in a series, The Sword of Lyric, in which a soccer mom finds herself in a parallel world still waiting for its deliverance. I haven't read it, but the story sounds intriguing. You can find out more by visiting Sharon's Web site or some of the blogs listed below.

Trish Anderson
Brandon Barr
Jim Black
Justin Boyer
Grace Bridges
Amy Browning
Jackie Castle
Valerie Comer
Karri Compton
Frank Creed
Lisa Cromwell
CSFF Blog Tour
Gene Curtis
D. G. D. Davidson
Chris Deanne
Jeff Draper
April Erwin
Linda Gilmore
Beth Goddard
Marcus Goodyear
Andrea Graham
Russell Griffith
Jill Hart
Katie Hart
Sherrie Hibbs
Heather R. Hunt
Becca Johnson
Jason Joyner
Kait
Karen
Dawn King
Tina Kulesa
Lost Genre Guild
Rachel Marks
Rebecca LuElla Miller
Eve Nielsen
John W. Otte
John Ottinger
Robin Parrish
Rachelle
Cheryl Russel
Hanna Sandvig
Chawna Schroeder
Mirtika Schultz
Steve Trower
Speculative Faith
Jason Waguespac
Daniel I. Weaver

Passages, part 1

This year I turn 50. I like Jeanne's approach -- she's calling it her Jubilee year. But, anyway, I find myself reflecting on things a lot. So, from time to time, I'll be sharing some of those. Today, I was reminded of my children's teenage years by this article at the New York Times. I haven't joined Facebook, but I understand the dynamic at work.

My kids were saddled with a mom who liked the same music they did -- I don't think that bothered them too much. But in many other ways, my presence was enough to induce lots of eye-rolls and hissed admonitions to avoid calling attention to myself. An example: We were in a mall and one of my daughters was about 13. I said "There's the food court," and indicated this by pointing. My daughter immediately grabbed my arm and said "Don't point!" I think I responded with an equally embarrassing gesture with my head and said something like "How else am I supposed to show you where it is?" I came to realize that the very fact of my existence was an embarrassment so I might as well embrace it. Somehow, my children have survived, though probably not unscathed.

Another reminder of the passage of time: USA Today is celebrating its 25th anniversary with lists. Today's list is about things that have disappeared in the last 25 years. Definitely a trip down memory lane.

Sometimes I don't want to be nice

Most of the time I'm a nice person. On personality tests I always come out as the one who wants everyone to get along. I'm the "golden retriever" and my true color is blue. And that's OK.

But I also have a contrarian streak. For example -- about 5th or 6th grade, all the girls in my class got really into cheerleading. They spent every recess practicing cheers and trying to do cartwheels and splits. I failed to see the appeal of this. Deep in my heart, I knew I'd never be a cheerleader, and I didn't want to be, anyway.

Or, when the show "Here Come the Brides" was popular (I'm showing my age here, I know) and every other girl in junior high was swooning over Bobby Sherman, I liked David Soul.

When everyone else was into Motown, I was discovering Led Zeppelin.

In college, I didn't take History of the Pentateuch (a course most sophomores at my small Bible college had to take) because I thought it was pointless to outline the book of Deuteronomy. Since it took me so long to finish my bachelor's degree, I never did have to take it -- they changed the curriculum. I took Hebrew, instead, to fulfill my Old Testament requirement. Lest you think I would have been better off outlining Deuteronomy I will tell you that I like languages and enjoyed Hebrew (though I was a better student of Greek).

Do you see a pattern emerging here? I don't want to make a virtue out of being obstinate -- my point is that this contrarian tendency is part of who I am.

So it makes me wonder if I'll ever come up with a novel idea that will have any appeal to a publisher. I'm just not likely to write a book cleverly tied to a popular hobby, or any other current theme in women's fiction. (Here's an idea: The Rock-n-roll Knitting Circle. No, I don't think so.) I'm not denigrating anybody who successfully pitches such a book. Obviously this appeals to thousands of women.

It just has me wondering if I have anything to say to a large enough group of readers to be worth publishing.

Friday fun

I'll blame Randall for this: Is this your name?
Here's some tidbits about my name:

1) My first name is ...
Origin: Spanish
Meaning: Pretty One
(It was also much more popular in the 1940s and '50s -- you hardly ever hear of someone naming a new baby Linda.)

2) Backwards, my name is Adnil Eromlig. Interesting.

3) According to the US Census Bureau°, 1.035% of US residents have the first name 'Linda' and 0.022% have the surname 'Gilmore'. The US has around 300 million residents, so the guesstimate is there are 683 'Linda Gilmore's.

I have come across some of these other women with my name. At least a couple of them are scientists who have published extensively in the fields of educational psychology and biology. (If you Google "Linda Gilmore" you'll find them.) And for some reason, there's a Linda Gilmore on the East Coast who has used an e-mail address similar to my personal one. I've gotten e-mail for her a couple of times by mistake. I made sure the sender realized it had gone to the wrong person and I even got a thank you from the intended Linda Gilmore.

If you're looking for a way to waste some time this Friday afternoon, check out your name.

FIRST Tour: Prints Charming

This month's feature is:

Rebeca Seitz

and her book:

PRINTS CHARMING

(Thomas Nelson Publishers, March 15, 2007)

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

Rebeca Seitz is Founder and President of Glass Road Public Relations. An author for several years, Rebeca cut her publicity teeth as the first dedicated publicist for the fiction division of Thomas Nelson Publishers. In 2005, Rebeca resigned from WestBow and opened the doors of GRPR, the only publicity firm of its kind in the country dedicated solely to representing novelists writing from a Christian worldview. Rebeca has worked with such esteemed authors as Robin Jones Gunn, Ted Dekker, Frank Peretti, Walter Wangerin, Jr., DiAnn Mills, Brandilyn Collins, Colleen Coble, Melody Carlson, and numerous others. She has secured coverage for novelists in a variety of media outlets, including The Today Show, USA Today, Chicago Sun-Times, Atlanta Journal-Constitution, Publishers Weekly, Christian Retailing, Aspiring Retail, Southern Living, Daystar Television, HarvestTV, WAY-FM, K-LOVE, and others. Rebeca makes her home in Kentucky with her husband, Charles, and their son, Anderson.

AND NOW...THE FIRST CHAPTER:

Chapter One

"Girl, where are you?" Lydia tightened her grip on the cell phone as she wondered anew how any woman could be late to every single thing in her life. She had thought Jane might’ve changed in the two years they’d been apart, but Jane was evidently still living up to her old high school nickname of Late Jane. The woman would get to her own funeral about an hour after they started the music.

"I’m coming, I’m coming." Jane kept one hand on the steering wheel while frantically sifting through the things in the passenger seat of her Blazer. There was a brush somewhere, she just knew it, but finding anything at seven in the morning was difficult at best. Why in the world she’d allowed herself to be talked into attending a sale that started at seven a.m. was beyond her ability to fathom. Finding her shoes had been a reason for cheering. A brush might just be asking too much.

"Do I need to grab anything for you? This stuff is going fast." Lydia watched a woman stretch for the last package of Times-style foam alphabet letters and readjusted her own heavy shopping basket. In the five minutes she’d been in the store, it had already begun biting into the skin on her arm.

"Nope, I don’t think so. I’ll be there in about two minutes," Jane said, still searching for the brush while trying not to drop the cell phone from her shoulder.

"Okay, but hurry. I’ll be over in the baby girl section. I need to find something for Olivia’s first bath pages and get ribbon for Mac."

"Got it. Baby girl. Be there in a flash."

***

Jane snapped the phone together and slammed to a stop at the red light. Turning her attention to her still searching hand, she finally grasped the elusive hairbrush and quickly raked it through her long black hair. She had been looking forward to this sale all week but, of course, Mr. Wonderful had chosen to make his appearance a mere thirty minutes before she walked out the door. They had fought over Wilson. Again. When would the man get it through his head that Wilson was in her life forever?

She pushed thoughts of her soon-to-be ex-husband out of her mind as the green arrow finally appeared. Squealing her tires, she tore into the parking lot of The Savvy Scrapper. Tossing the hairbrush back into the passenger seat, she threw the car into Park, grabbed her purse, and flung open the door.

"Ouch!"

Jane looked up just as her door collided with the midsection of one very tall man.

"Ohmigosh. I am so, so sorry. I’m just in a rush. The sale is happening and I’m late and—"

"It’s okay."
Mr. Tall held his hands up as if to ward off any other car doors she might be hiding somewhere and she noticed the coffee cup in one hand and bagel bag in the other. Bagels would be so heavenly right now.

"I’m fine, really." He set the bag down on the ground and brushed the dust off of his olive-green sweater, then looked at her. "I know how women can be when there’s a sale involved." He grinned as he knelt to pick the bag back up.

She tried hard to ignore his sexist statement and not remind him of how many guys camp out at golf stores before a sale or sleep in the parking lot to get tickets to a concert.

"Are you sure you’re okay? I mean, I have insurance and we can call somebody." Jane forcefully tucked her hair behind her ears, willing herself to focus on the problem at hand rather than the sale happening about ten yards away or the way her stomach was now grumbling for coffee and a bagel.

"Really, go ahead. I’m fine."

"Okay, thanks." She turned and made her way around the back of the car. "Really, I appreciate this. It’s just that this only happens once a year and my friend is waiting . . ." She stopped on the far side of the car and looked at him. He could sue if he was really hurt and her luck with men right now meant he would definitely sue and she would surely lose. "You’re absolutely fine?"

"Go." He made a shooing motion with the bag. "Happy shopping."

Her mother always said to never look a gift horse in the mouth and this was one time Jane would be obeying Elizabeth rather than giving in to her own desire to argue. She practically sprinted to the front door of The Savvy Scrapper, yanked it open, and burst inside.

***

"Jane!" Lydia was in the front corner of the store, surrounded by pink, yellow, blue, lilac, and pale green. She waved a die-cut of a bathtub and bubbles above her head. "I found the perfect stuff for Olivia and Oliver’s First Bath page."

"Great." Jane joined her, looking a bit frazzled but otherwise okay.

"Okay, here’s the deal." Lydia turned toward the back of the store and pointed. "All the Times letters are gone, the vellum is quickly going, and the dog section is getting riffled through as we speak. Where do you want to start?"

"Dog section, definitely." Jane stuffed her keys into her purse. "I took great pictures of the ex this morning picking up Wilson’s poop while stepping in another pile."

"You are so gross. What was he doing there?"

"Trying to get me to give him Wilson again." Jane scanned the rest of the store, making a quick plan to get the most stuff. "He’ll get the picture one day, just not today. He’s insane if he thinks I’m letting my puppy come live with him while he’s spending all hours online with his e-mistress."

"Okay, that still sounds so weird." Lydia’s eyebrows rose as she gave Jane a disbelieving look. "E-mistress? Really? That’s what we’re calling her?"

"E-mistress is the only thing I could think of that’s fit for public consumption." Jane grimaced. "Anyway, forget her and him. I’m here to shop, honey."

"Right. Go on over to the dog section. I’ll come over there when I’m finished here. Can you grab me that new paper with the red stripes and dark-brown bones? I’ve got some pictures of Otis with Olivia and Oliver from last week."

"Dale let that pug get near his precious twins? I thought you said the only thing he cared more about than SportsCenter was those babies."

"Dale hasn’t seen the pictures yet. He never comes in my scrapbook studio. Says it’s my workspace and that I spend too much money on all this junk as it is." Lydia waved her hand to encompass the store. "He’s probably right."

"Oh, please. Men are never right," Jane said and turned toward the dog section. "Dogs, on the other hand, are absolutely wonderful companions who never cheat and can’t even turn a computer on."

Lydia laughed and turned back to the wall of baby-themed paper in front of her, leaving Jane to take care of the dog paper. Stripes or flowers? She didn’t want to make the scrapbook too babyish, but she also didn’t want it to look too grownup. The papers were all on sale, so maybe she would just get both. Dale would never know since he didn’t come into her studio anyway, and she could give some of it to Mac for Kesa’s baby book. She took two sheets of the pink-and-lime-green-striped paper, then two of the blue rosebud ones.

"Men are never right," she muttered under her breath. Maybe Jane had a good point.

Prints CharmingRebeca SeitzCopyright © 2006 by Rebeca Seitz.

Restless

(Warning: Long Post Ahead)
I was listening to This American Life's podcast for this week -- about road trips -- and in one of the stories this couple talked about a feeling of malaise they experienced at one time in their relationship. That's a good word, malaise. I think it describes something I've been feeling lately. Here's how the dictionary defines malaise: a general feeling of discomfort, illness, or uneasiness whose exact cause is difficult to identify.

Now before you suggest I consider medication, let me say that there's nothing majorly wrong with me. I'm generally happy, functional and no weirder than usual. But I've felt somewhat unsettled and restless lately and I'm not sure why. Because, as I just said, I'm fine. Life is no more stressful than usual and I even have had several kinds of good things happen: John graduated from college, I have a story coming in Coach's Midnight Diner, I finished another story and submitted it to another magazine, and there's been another bit of good news that is not writing related that I might blog about in a few weeks.

I also happen to think that these unsettled times can be worthwhile -- most of the time I'm not motivated to make changes when everything is going smoothly and I feel that all is right and settled in the world. Sometimes the unsettled feeling is God nudging me, sometimes not. I'm not sure which this is right now. I am inclined to think that this feeling is related to a need for more creativity in my life -- specifically writing. Yes, I just said I finished a story and submitted it somewhere this week, but it's a story I've been working on since before Christmas and I had it mostly finished several weeks ago.

Then there's the whole what-genre-do-I-write issue. I've written mysteries and fantasy and science-fiction -- whatever genre, though, they're all character-driven. But I wonder if I need to focus my efforts in one direction. I think I have a dread of being pigeonholed into one type of story. Or, maybe I just over-analyze everything.

I'm not comfortable talking about having a "calling" to write. I believe God gave me a talent and I should use it for him. I'm happy when I write, I have stories I want to tell -- maybe they're even stories other people might want to read. But if I'm going to do this, I need to develop some discipline and that's always a hard thing for me. Coach Culbertson (of Coach's Midnight Diner and the Relief Writer's Network) is doing something called NaNo Spring Training in a couple of weeks -- 10,000 words in 7 days. This seems like a good way to kick off a summer of writing. And maybe a summer of writing will be a good start to more disciplined writing in the future.

In time for the first weekend of summer ...

Here's my Notes from the Windowsill Column for June: What I Learned from Summer Vacations

Happy Birthday, Jim!

Today is my youngest brother's birthday. (Jim is the one on the left. My other brother, Tim is on the right and I'm in the middle, though I am actually the oldest.) He's a worship pastor and dad and fellow Tolkien nut. He's also been a bit of a surrogate dad (or at least a really cool uncle) for my daughter Megan, who has lived within an hour of him for the last six years.

I could probably tell some embarrassing stories about now, but he has three sons, so I will just point out that what goes around comes around.

So, happy birthday Jim! Have a great day.

CSFF Blog Tour: The Sword Review

The May feature for the CSFF tour is The Sword Review, one of the most popular Christian Science Fiction and Fantasy sites. Not only do they publish fiction and poetry, they also include essays, art and reviews. Be sure to visit and see for yourself.

And by visiting the fine blogs listed below, you can find out even more.

Brandon Barr
Jim Black
Amy Browning
Jackie Castle
Valerie Comer
Karri Compton
Frank Creed
CSFF Blog Tour
Gene Curtis
D. G. D. Davidson
Chris Deanne
April Erwin
Kameron M. Franklin
Linda Gilmore
Beth Goddard
Marcus Goodyear
Andrea Graham
Russell Griffith
Jill Hart
Katie Hart
Sherrie Hibbs
Holly
Heather R. Hunt
Becca Johnson
Jason Joyner
Kait
Karen
Dawn King
Tina Kulesa
Lost Genre Guild
Kevin Lucia and The Bookshelf Reviews 2.0 - The Compendium
Terri Main
Rachel Marks
Rebecca LuElla Miller
Eve Nielsen
John W. Otte
John Ottinger
Robin Parrish
Cheryl Russel
Hanna Sandvig
Chawna Schroeder
Mirtika Schultz
James Somers
Steve Trower
Speculative Faith
Jason Waguespac
Daniel I. Weaver

Commendable linkage

Absent thoughts of my own, let me share some of the excellent thoughts of others:

Blogger extraordinaire Scot McKnight has some good advice for would-be (and current) bloggers. What's even better, he practices what he preaches.

Folks at Faith in Fiction are still discussing the Daily Sacrament contest. I didn't enter because I just couldn't seem to come up with a story that didn't feel forced. But some excellent writers did enter. The winner and runner-up stories (by Don Hoesel and Angie Poole) will be published in Relief, Issue 3. But as a taste of what was submitted, Dave Long published (April 27) a few "stories of merit" at Faith in Fiction and now at least one person has also posted the story she submitted: Jeanne Damoff posted her beautiful story "What's Left of Destiny" at The Master's Artist today. If this is representative of the quality of stories that didn't win, I wouldn't have stood a chance, anyway.

I've been playing around with the blog again. On the right you'll see a set of links to my most recent bookmarks in del.icio.us. I don't know if I'll leave it that way or not, but it's one way of seeing what I'm currently impressed by. (Be sure and check out the Internet Monk post, Grace is as Dangerous as Ever. Awesome.) What I really need is 3 columns, but I haven't figured out how to get that, yet. I have no CSS skills whatsoever.

A special FIRST post: Tribulation House

Chris Well is founder of FIRST. He is an acclaimed novelist and award–winning magazine editor and has previously written the “laugh–out–loud Christian thrillers” Deliver Us from Evelyn and Forgiving Solomon Long(one of Booklist’s Top 10 Christian Novels of 2005). He has also contributed to 7ball, Infuze, and Alfred Hitchcock’s Mystery Magazine. Chris and his wife live in Tennessee, where he is hard at work on his next novel.

AND NOW...THE FIRST CHAPTER:

~1~

I might as well just tell you right now, I killed Reverend Daniel Glory. Back there at the church, in his study.

But this is my story. Don't let anyone tell you different. My dad always said we all write our own story. Of course, I guess that's why it worked out so well for him.

Why did I kill Reverend Daniel Glory? Sure, it was an accident. More or less. At least, I think it was.

I don't know, we were arguing about the Rapture and it kind of got out of hand and then I just --

Wait. Wait. I'm getting ahead of myself. Let me back up.

This all started about three months ago, when Reverend Daniel Glory told us we needed to do our Tribulation House earlier than --

Oh. Wait.

Okay, I guess this actually started last year when Marvin Dobbs left the church. Our church. The Last Church of God's Imminent Will.

A year ago last summer, Marvin left with some of the other families to start a new church, and he took his Armageddon House" multimedia show with him.

You do know about Armageddon House, right? Every Halloween for the past three or four years, Marvin and our team put together a special multimedia presentation explaining the Great Tribulation, which ends with the Battle of Armageddon.

Wait -- you don't know about the Great Tribulation? It's that seven-year period between the Rapture and the Triumphant Return of Jesus Christ, as described in the prophecies of Daniel and Ezekiel and the Apostles Paul and John. After the Lord Jesus takes His Bride home, there are going to be seven years of horrible judgment inflicted on those who are left b --

What? The murder of Reverend Glory? I'm getting to that.

Well, anyway, when Marvin left to form his little offshoot splinter group, we discovered he had actually trademarked the name "Armageddon House." Imagine that.

When the board at church met to discuss the matter, we considered doing Armageddon House anyway without him. Just reconstruct it from memory and copy or use materials from previous years. Use the same name, business as usual. Just ignore the cease-and-desist letter, let God and His angels work that out.

But we decided we didn't want to be associated with Armageddon House anymore. I mean, if Marvin and his new "fellowship" planned to stage their own Armageddon House, the risk of confusion in the marketplace was enough to rebuild ours as a brand-new event.

Which is how we ended up with Tribulation House. It was an opportunity for a new beginning. We went through a whole list of potential names -- I came up with Kingdom Come, but was voted down -- before we settled on Tribulation House.

We sat down and worked through the whole grid. Instead of imagining how to simply explain or show a picture of each bowl of wrath and each trumpet of judgment, we created an entire theatrical event.

Yeah, we could have set up the charts and graphs and the overhead projector. But today's audience, this last generation, they're kind of jaded about flannel graph presentations, know what I mean?

These kids today, with their Spongebob Squarepants and their American Bandstand and their Buffy The Vampire Slayer, they need the bells and whistles and the like.

The kids don't need a lot of explanation. They need a demonstration.

You see, that was the challenge, wasn't it? It's one thing to say "the moon was blackened" or "the waters turned to blood" or "men were stung by enormous flying scorpions" -- but how do you make it happen right here, right before their eyes?

In the end, we created Tribulation House: A full-sensory immersive interactive dramatic theatrical evangelistic event that simulates what it will actually be like to live through the events of the Great Tribulation. An entire full-service prophetic experience.

You'd be surprised how much of it we accomplished with sound and light. We developed the various rooms throughout the church basement. Some college kids created soundscapes for each event. We wrote up a full script for the actors; they played everything from people caught up in the events, to the world armies fighting the Most Holy, to the father of lies himself, bound and thrown into the pit for a millennium.

The murder of Reverend Daniel Glory? I'm getting to that.

So we were working out the blueprints for creating Tribulation House as a major theatrical evangelistic full-sensory ministry outreach. We had debated the merits of various slogans for the event -- the leading contenders were WE'LL SCARE THE HELL OUT OF YOU; GET RIGHT OR GET LEFT; and THE TIME IS CLOSER THAN YOU THINK. While the first slogan was a favorite of several board members, for its bracing, truthful stance, in the end we worried that the neighbors would misunderstand. So we went with the second slogan, for its simple, instructional message.

And I remember that our chief carpenter, Bill Broadstreet, was giving us his estimate for the physical construction to be done on the project. Suddenly, Reverend Daniel Glory burst in with some news.

"Friends!" There was a glow on the Reverend's face unlike we had seen before. The man stood there in the doorway to the church basement, leaning against the doorframe, wheezing to catch his breath. "Jesus is coming back!"

The room was silent. We all stared. At first, we wondered why he was saying this right then. After all, he preached on this topic every week. But then he dropped this bomb: "And I know when!"

Okay, that was a new one. Collectively, everyone in the room gasped. One of us, I don't even remember who it was, asked, "When, Reverend?"

"October 17."

Five months.

"5:51 a.m." Reverend Daniel Glory waved the papers clutched in his hand. Later, I would wonder what he was waving at us. His Bible study? His calculations? All I know is he grinned ear to ear and said, "The Rapture is going to happen at 5:51 a.m. on October 17."

Everyone around the meeting table reacted differently. Some were stunned into silence, others screamed with joy. One noisy woman loudly sobbed and clapped.

Reverend Daniel Glory came into room, face aglow with thrill and exhaustion, and dragged a chair from the wall over to our table. He sat, waiting until everyone was silent again. "I now have incontrovertible proof that the Rapture takes place this coming October."

I'm sure I grinned bigger than anyone in the room. "What reason do you have to say that?"

Reverend Daniel Glory looked at me and winked. "Why stop with one reason, boy? I got one hundred and seven of 'em!"

Of course, you know what this meant. We were going to have to step up the production of Tribulation House.

(I still can't believe it's not Kingdom Come.)

Chris Well’s laugh–out–loud Christian thrillers appeal to the millions of readers who gobble up the rollicking crime fiction of Janet Evanovich and Elmore Leonard. TRIBULATION HOUSE does not disappoint!

Coach's Midnight Diner announces authors

I've been sitting on this news for a couple of days, waiting for the official announcement, but now I can tell:

I'm in Coach's Midnight Diner! Whoo-hoo!

If I seem excited, it's because I am. The list includes some really good writers and I'm pleased to be part of it. The Diner is coming from the folks who publish Relief and it will be out in July, I think. Yes, this will be an actual printed publication. Very cool.

And big congrats to Chris, who was one of the category winners (Jesus vs. Cthulu).

CFBA Tour: Tribulation House

This week's featured book is one I've been eagerly awaiting: Tribulation House, by Chris Well. I enjoyed his previous books (Forgiving Solomon Long and Deliver Us From Evelyn) and so far I'm not disappointed. (I haven't had a chance to finish it yet, but I'll post more about it then.) But what's it about?

IT’S NOT THE END OF THE WORLD—WHICH COULD BE A PROBLEM...

Mark Hogan has it all. The job. The family. A position on the board at church. All he’s missing is a boat. Not just any boat—a 2008 Bayliner 192.

When Reverend Daniel Glory announces that the Rapture is taking place on October 17 at 5:51am, Hogan realizes his boat–buying days are numbered. So he does what any man in his situation would do—he borrows a load of money from the mob.

Not that there’s any risk involved: After all, when the Rapture comes, Hogan will be long gone. The mob will never find him.

But when Jesus fails to come back on schedule, Mark Hogan finds the mob is in no mood to discuss the finer points of end–times theology...

Chris Well’s laugh–out–loud Christian thrillers appeal to the millions of readers who gobble up the rollicking crime fiction of Janet Evanovich and Elmore Leonard. TRIBULATION HOUSE does not disappoint!

Comic-book loving Detective Charlie Pasch is back, as is Detective Tom Griggs. And the story is once again populated with a bunch of quirky, neurotic crooks who are just trying to do their jobs.

If you like fast-paced, sharp crime fiction, give this a read.

If you love Jesus, leave a comment ... or not

I feel a rant coming on ...

I am often the recipient of e-mails that include some clever (though simplistic) statement of faith or conservative values that then request me to forward this to a select number (or all) of my friends and relatives as proof that I love Jesus or am willing to take a stand for my faith or whatever. Even when these things aren't theologically questionable, they feel like little more than electronic-age chain letters.

I got the following from a friend this morning:

RECIPROCATE PLEASE!

God determines who walks into your life....it's up to you to decide
who you let walk away, who you let stay, and who you refuse to let
go.

I need this back. If you'll do this for me, I'll do it for
you....When there is nothing left but God, that is when you find
out that God is all you need.

Take 60 seconds and give this a shot! All you do is simply say the
following small prayer for the person who sent you this.

Father, God bless all my friends in whatever it is that You know
they may need this day! And may their life be full of your peace
prosperity and power as he/she seeks to have a closer relationship
with you.
Amen.

There's nothing wrong with praying for people and lots of times I do that as God prompts me throughout the day. But besides the health/wealth gospel undertone to this, there's the whole putting-God-in-a-box aspect (do this and God will be sure to respond the way you want him to), and there's a rather disturbing element of "I'll pray for you if you pray for me." Yeah, the more I think about it, the more this one bugs me. But the person who sent it to me is a sweet, Godly lady and sometimes I wonder if I'm just being a spoil sport.

But here's another example: A week or so ago I got an e-mail (from the same person, who apparently forwards everything she receives) about where was God in the midst of school tragedies. I don't want to quote the whole thing, but it asked God where he was when ... and then it listed all the mass school killings in the last 10 years or so. The kicker, of course, is God's supposed reply -- he's not allowed in schools. There was more to it, all about how our liberal, godless society has stopped prayer in schools and our kids are morally bankrupt and so what do we expect. But the part that really jolted me was the part at the beginning, which is just so wrong theologically in so many ways. These kind of simplistic, knee-jerk responses to tragedy sound so trite and self-righteous. I'm sure that lots of people were praying at Virginia Tech on April 16 -- God was there. But we live in a world that still groans from the fall and is waiting for God's justice to be made manifest. There is evil in the world and as Christians we are called to respond in redemptive, grace-filled ways. Somehow, forwarding an e-mail like this doesn't seem like that kind of response.

And, just so you'll know, the worst mass school killing in the U.S. actually happened in an era when prayer was a regular part of the school day: In 1927 a disgruntled school board member blew up the school in Bath, Michigan.

So, I almost never forward anything -- I've broken so many chains I should probably be suffering all kinds of catastrophes. ;) But, I love Jesus, even if I don't forward your e-mail.

Cool stuff

If you hop on over to the Wittenburg Door, and peruse the table of contents for the May/June issue, will see a piece called "Preacher's Kids Anonymous" by yours truly. Alas, it is not available online. I got my copies (and payment) last week and it was very exciting to see my name in the Table of Contents, as well as the actual article itself.

For anyone who reads the Faith in Fiction blog, and maybe even those of you who don't, Dave Long spoke recently at a Christian writer's conference in California. Someone has posted a bit of his talk about "the lonely writer" on YouTube and it's pretty good (but its not the whole talk). Check it out.

Visual DNA

If you want to get me to post something, tag me. Chris did, so here's something fun:

Read my VisualDNA™ Get your own VisualDNA™

If anyone else wants to play, have it. But I do think I'll tag Megan.

Where am I?

It's possible the five people who read this blog are wondering where I am -- this week I'm in Colorado at the Midwest Conference Annual Meeting (of the Evangelical Covenant Church). It's at Crossroads Covenant Church in Loveland, Colorado. I'll be back to regular (or semi-regular) blogging next week.

April CSFF blog tour: Return of the Guardian King

Karen Hancock's Return of the Guardian King is on this month's CSFF blog tour. I'm afraid I can't say a lot but Rebecca Miller has a lot of info over at the CSFF blog. Karen is a Christy Award-winning author of Christian fantasy and blogs here.

Nissa Annakindt
Wayne Thomas Batson
Jim Black
Jackie Castle
Valerie Comer
Karri Compton
Frank Creed
CSFF Blog Tour
Gene Curtis
D. G. D. Davidson
Chris Deanne
Janey DeMeo
April Erwin
Kameron M. Franklin
Linda Gilmore
Beth Goddard
Marcus Goodyear
Rebecca Grabill
Andrea Graham
Jill Hart
Katie Hart
Sherrie Hibbs
Sharon Hinck
Christopher Hopper
Heather R. Hunt
Becca Johnson
Jason Joyner
Karen
Dawn King
Tina Kulesa
Lost Genre Guild
Kevin Lucia and The Bookshelf Reviews 2.0 - The Compendium
Rachel Marks
Rebecca LuElla Miller
Shannon McNear
Caleb Newell
Nicole
Eve Nielsen
John W. Otte
Robin Parrish
Rachelle
Cheryl Russel
Hanna Sandvig
Chawna Schroeder
Mirtika Schultz
James Somers
Tsaba House Authors
Steve Trower
Speculative Faith
Daniel I. Weaver

CFBA Tour: Coral Moon

If you're a fan of mysteries and grip-the-edge-of-your-seat suspense, then you will want to check out this week's featured book: Coral Moon by Brandilyn Collins. This is the second in her newest series of books, all set in the fictional town of Kanner Lake, Idaho. And if you want to get to know the characters and town better, visit the Scenes and Beans blog. (Coral Moon is on my bedside stack of books, but I haven't gotten to it yet.)

This is April?

Ah, spring in Kansas: rain, thunderstorms and a winter storm watch.

Rainy Tuesday

Yes, it's raining and it's about 46 degrees here, on this 10th day of April. We had a hard freeze over the weekend, but my little hyacinths seem to have survived. Welcome to Kansas, where it doesn't really get warm and stay warm until about June, when it becomes hot and stays that way until about October or so (or at least it seems that way).

I haven't done much updating of the exercise and dieting thing, but that doesn't mean I've given up. I'm on a Walk Kansas team and I'm making progress. My cholesterol has dropped back to within the normal range and the proportion of bad to good cholesterol is where it should be, too. And I've lost about 8 pounds. I know, that's not a huge amount, but it's progress and I'm glad.

I saw all my children over Easter weekend -- Megan came home, Julia and Mike came for Easter dinner and then after they left, Bob and I went to see John in Emporia. It was good, though exhausting, day.

I've been rereading Lloyd Alexander's Prydain stories: I finished The Book of Three and now I'm on The Black Cauldron. One thing struck me -- while many people draw comparisons between the Harry Potter books and The Lord of the Rings, they really have more in common with the Prydain Chronicles. With each book, both series go a little deeper and become more serious in tone, which is fitting as both tell the story of a boy becoming a man. As Taran (Alexander's protagonist) gets older, he encounters more challenging situations and must make more difficult choices. He also learns more about himself and learns about his origins (like Harry Potter, he's an orphan). Taran starts out impetuous and impatient, but he does grow up. But it doesn't happen overnight.

This is how J.K. Rowling has handled Harry Potter's coming of age, too. Harry starts out as a child, but by the end, he's almost a grown man. (It will be interesting to see what happens and how Harry handles it in the last book.) He, too, has to forge an identity without having grown up with his parents. One of the complaints I've read about Harry Potter is that he often acts irresponsibly and breaks the rules. But it seems to me that he's acting like a teenager, which is to be expected since that's what he is! But he is growing up and learning from his mistakes, and learning to deal with the consequences of his actions. I, for one, appreciate that Harry is allowed to act like a kid, not a miniature adult.

I'm living on the air in Cincinnati ...

Children, if you want to make your mother very happy for Mother's Day, give her this:
The first season of WKRP in Cincinnati is coming, at last, to DVD.

Good stuff Wednesday

I seem to be managing about one blog post per week these days. 'Fraid it won't get much better for a while. But here's a few good things for today.

April 1 was the day for the FIRST tour and I missed it, but the book is a really good one so I'm going to give you the links a few days late. The book this month is Mary E. Demuth's Wishing on Dandelions. I haven't read it yet, but I did start it and realized it was a book I didn't want to race through. Mary's prose is worth savoring. You can read the first chapter here. You can find out more about Mary's writing -- both fiction and nonfiction -- at her Web site.

My friend Chris has the coolest writing gig in the world (or at least in the religious-satire-loving world) -- he's getting stuff published in the Wittenburg Door Insider (The Door's e-newsletter). Check out his latest contribution.

While I haven't been the submission machine that Chris is, I did get a story submitted for Coach's Midnight Diner, which will be published by the folks at Relief. I wrote a little story about a diner that could be more than it seems. Keep your fingers crossed -- CMD comes out in July, so maybe I'll know something in a month or so.

I've posted my April Notes from the Windowsill Column: Easter People. I hope it will be a reminder of the hope we have, even when all around us seems pretty dark.

Have a blessed Easter.