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Showing posts from September, 2010

Winner of A Hope Undaunted, and other Books I've been Reading

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And the winner is... Molly!! Congrats! Shoot me an e-mail with your mailing info and we'll get your copy out to you. :-) I've read a few books lately that I've loved. A lady from work lent this book to me and I really enjoyed it. The genre and voice was a little different from my normal reads but guess what? The girl still gets the guy. :-) You'll have to read to find out which guy she gets! Besides the wonderful hero and romantic love of the story, there are some other great nuggets of wisdom in this read. I'd definitely recommend it. I flew through this book. I felt like I had to know what happened next. I think what made this story so powerful was the characterization. From the first page you know you're dealing with a heroine who is both ruthless and incredibly loyal. These qualities really made the story compelling. That and the high level of personal stakes involved for the heroine. I've been disappointed with most of Dekker's latest offerings b...

Book Review and Giveaway!!! A Hope Undaunted By Julie Lessman

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Reading Julie Lessman's books is like sitting down for my favorite soap for an hour of guilty pleasure. Her books pack a powerful spiritual punch though, and unlike a soap opera, her characters actually learn from their mistakes and repent. Her latest release is A Hope Undaunted . Below are some things she graciously shared with me. 1. Are there any scenes in AHU modeled after your own life? As a matter of fact, there are two things I pulled directly from my own life. The first is mentioned in the opening scene where we find out that Katie O’Connor was made fun of in kindergarten because of skin condition she had, which consequently molds her into a champion for the underdog and women’s rights. In that scene, an elderly nun asks Katie if she has leprosy in front of the whole class, and that kicks off a barrage of ridicule from her classmates, which is exactly what happened to me in the 2nd grade. You see, when I was in half-day kindergarten, I attended all day because my sisters an...

Quirky is Awesome

I love quirky characters, but they're hard to write. Quirky can quickly turn into annoying. I've always loved Amanda Quick's heroines because they leap off the page. An awesomely quirky character is someone you remember years later. You think about the character and smile. My absolutely favorite quirky character is Kate (played by Meg Ryan) in the movie French Kiss. Do you like quirky characters? Do you write them? If someone wrote your autobiography, would you be awesomely quirky?

Finding Rivers

Remember that movie Finding Forrester? Here's the trailer: What writer would you want to discover lurking next door? Would you let that author mark your work with a red pen? What do you think that writer could teach you?

When One Lays Dying

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It happens all the time, across the world. Intellectually, I know there are people who starve to death. But I've never seen their hollowed cheeks, never heard their groans or smelled their fear. I've never held a starving person in my arms, her dry skin warm against mine, and prayed she'd live. Renee has. Nabakoza Betty I found the story of Nabakoza and Betty on the blog Kisses From Katie . They're the last two August 2010 posts. From there I've learned that Renee, who is a missionary with Serving His Children, is in need of transportation. If you're interested in learning how you can help, this is their website: http://www.servinghischildren.org/ Learning about Betty and Nabakoza ripped my heart a little. I want the tears to stay, to hurt and to remind me. How do you feel about ministries like this? Do you support any? Is your main character involved with a mission or charity?