My book club tackled “The Life of Pi” by Yann Martel for December, and it was quite the experience. We’ve read a novel where children were killed (“The Hunger Games”) and yet, “The Life of Pi” was disturbing in a whole new way. The brutality of the animal kingdom comes through these pages, as a 15-year-old boy is stranded on a large lifeboat with a 450-pound Bengal tiger. At first, there are a few other animals on the boat, which the tiger picks off one at a time. While the gory descriptions and detail didn’t bother me, it made me sad and my book club and I were surprised to...
The Challenge
In Michael Hyatt’s blog post on Wednesday (Thomas Nelson), he wrote something that really resonated with me: “Embrace the challenge. Getting published is not easy. Instant success is not the norm. And even if you got it, it wouldn’t be good for your character development. What happens to you in the process is as important as what ultimately happens to your book. You will need this same tenacity again and again.” This is so true and something I’ve come to realize in the past year. I’ve never been afraid of a challenge. I’ve loved to ride the more temperamental, unpredictable horses and learned so much in doing so. In college,...
Review: Thicker than Blood
Synopsis: Christy Williams finally has her life on track. She’s putting her past behind her and working hard to build a career as an antiquarian book buyer. But things begin to unravel when a stolen Hemingway first edition is found in her possession, framing her for a crime she didn’t commit. With no one to turn to, she yearns for her estranged younger sister, May, whom she abandoned after their parents’ untimely deaths. Soon, Christy’s fleeing from her shattered dreams, her ex-boyfriend, and God. Could May’s Triple Cross Ranch be the safe haven she’s searching for? Will the sisters realize that each possesses what the other desperately needs before it’s...
Goal-Setting: Bring on 2010!
As I look back at 2009 and all it held for me as a writer, I’m reasonably pleased. I joined American Christian Fiction Writers and Oregon Christian Writers, joined a critique group, attended my first writers conference, endured a handful of manuscript rejections, delighted in one agent’s ms request, started up my website and bi-weekly blog, wrote an entire 78,000 word novel in six weeks, re-edited my original work in progress. Phew. Before 2009, I hadn’t taken on writing as a serious priority. I’d written dozens of short stories, outlines and drafts of other projects and re-written In Dawn’s Shadows several times. But with college, job searching and getting married,...
Book Review: Paper Roses
In Paper Roses, by Amanda Cabot (Revell, 2009), Sarah Dobbs replies to a man in Texas, agreeing to be his bride after a tragedy pushes her to leave Philadelphia. When she arrives in Texas, her husband-to-be, Austin, is dead and his brother, Clay, is determined to find the killer. She struggles to make a home for herself and her young sister in this Texas town. In the process, she learns the true meaning of forgiveness and love. Paper Roses is an uplifting, heartwarming tale set in the 1800s. The main character, Sarah, is a determined, strong character with compassion. She instantly connects with the reader and her situation is realistic....