I’ve kept my eye on the raging debate over the pros and cons of e-readers. I follow many different blogs in the writing community and publishing industry. (Michael Hyatt, president and CEO of Thomas Nelson, has some excellent reviews and thoughts on e-readers.) Literary agent Chip McGregor, one of the most respected voices in the publishing industry, presented a talk about the future of publishing at the Summer Conference for the Oregon Christian Writers and he insisted e-readers will soon be as much a part of our lives as a cell phone. There is talk of instituting e-readers for schools to eliminate the heavy books (and expensive books) that children...
Getting back to the joy of reading
In the craze of that which is life, there are so many demands on our time and it is rare we get to slow down and enjoy something to the fullest. The week of Christmas I was able to do just that—I took a true “vacation” and didn’t check my work emails. I haven’t really done that in years. During that time, I was able to catch up on my towering pile of books to be read. (Thus the slew of book reviews on my blog this past few weeks.) Out of all of those books, the most delightful was one I’d heard about over and over again. Sometimes, I...
Review: The Charlatan’s Boy
Description: As far back as he can remember, the orphan Grady has tramped from village to village in the company of a huckster named Floyd. With his adolescent accomplice, Floyd perpetrates a variety of hoaxes and flimflams on the good citizens of the Corenwald frontier, such as the Ugliest Boy in the World act. It’s a hard way to make a living, made harder by the memory of fatter times when audiences thronged to see young Grady perform as “The Wild Man of the Feechiefen Swamp.” But what can they do? Nobody believes in feechies anymore. My Review: I’ll be perfectly frank here—the main reason I picked this book was...
Looking back, looking ahead
I don’t know about you, but I was grateful to say good-bye to 2010. It was certainly a roller coaster of ups and downs. I treasure every moment and every trial, knowing it is all part of God’s master plan. But a fresh start certainly sounds good right now. I pulled out my notebook of 2010 Goals and looked over them: 1. Edit and polish my 2009 NaNoWriMo manuscript, Beautiful Pretense (check!) 2. Submit Beautiful Pretense to at least one agent and one publisher (check, check) 3. Write and edit miscellaneous newsletters for nonprofit organizations (check) 4. Blog three times a week (mostly…check) 5. Complete another NaNoWriMo novel (check!) 6....
Review: A Suitor for Jenny
Description: When looking for a husband, it’s best to go where the odds are in your favor. And that would be Rocky Creek, Texas, 1880. But Jenny Higgins’s plan to find husbands for her two sisters hits a snag when enthusiastic applicants fail to meet her stringent requirements. Rejecting her sisters’ choices for mates and riding herd on her growing feelings for Marshal Rhett Armstrong, she refuses to give up. Jenny thinks choosing a husband is not a job for the heart. It’ll take one strong and handsome marshal to convince her otherwise. My Review: I’ve never been so delightfully surprised by a novel as I was with A Suitor...