Novel Novel Review

Yeah, I'm way behind on my reviews so I'm interrupting the regularly scheduled blog post to do this first.

It's that time again. Here's a quick reminder of my rating system

A+--I thoroughly enjoyed and highly recommend this book. In most cases, I passed it on to my child/teen.

A--I enjoyed this book and I might pass it on to my child/teen.

B--I liked this book, but probably won't pass it on to my child/teen.

C--I thought it was okay, but I won't pass it on to my child/teen.

D--I didn't like this book, and won't allow my child/teen to read it.

F--I hope I never have to go here. =D

If you have any questions, please feel free to ask. If you find your book here, don't panic if I rate it below an A. These are my personal preferences and I'm only one small person in a large market.

Okay, here we go.

 

Paris Pan Takes The Dare by Cynthea Liu

Rating: A+++ (and a few more too) Yeah, I really enjoyed it. Not only did I pass it on to my teen, but I passed it on to my younger daughter, my mother, my sister, my nieces, and my cousin!

Age Recommendation: 9+

Twelve-year-old Paris Pan has just moved to a new town. With a crazy home life, friends who make better enemies, and the boy Paris has a crush on being considered a dork, this move isn't going well.

When, Paris learns a girl mysteriously died near her new house while taking the Dare (a seventh grade rite of passage), she's completely freaked out. And now strange noises are coming from the shed. Could the missing girl be trying to make contact?

Paris and her friends dig into the past in search of answers. The answers lead them down a path they may not want to go, and Paris becomes a reluctant participant in the Dare. This is the night that will forever change her life, uncover the truth of the missing girl, and reveal who her true friends are.

PARIS PAN TAKES THE DARE draws you in and won't let you go until the end. I couldn't get enough of this story! Liu does such a great job of creating believable characters and realistic scenes that I had no trouble completely immersing myself in Paris's world. I have to admit, some of it even freaked me out a little bit.

Don't let this one pass you by. I DARE you to read it.

Write on!

Stirring up some Wednesday goodness

I ditched school (shhh) because I'm tired and not feeling my best (that monthly thing). Since I'm being naughty, I figured I may as well ruin my waistline while I'm at it.

And besides, kimberleylittle finished her proofreading on her book so I HAD to make brownies to celebrate on her behalf.

Yeah, I'm trying to make up excuses, but the fact is, I WANTED brownies!

Unfortunately, I didn't have any brownie mix and didn't feel like going all the way back into town to go to the store (a super long five miles away). So, I rummaged through my cupboards and found the necessary ingredients to make brownies from scratch.

I used a recipe I've never tried before so we'll see how it turns out . . . I doubled it (I like thick, chewy, evil brownies), so I'm kind of worried.

The oven is on, the brownies are baking, and I'm going to go back to whipping my manuscript into shape.

Hope everyone has a good day.

Write on.

Novel Novel Review Blog Tour version

It's that time again, but this time I'm taking part in a blog tour as well as telling you about a great book. I feel honored and I'm happy to be doing this for Joyce. So, let's get to it. =)

Here's a quick reminder of my rating system

A+--I thoroughly enjoyed and highly recommend this book. In most cases, I passed it on to my child/teen.

A--I enjoyed this book and I might pass it on to my child/teen.

B--I liked this book, but probably won't pass it on to my child/teen.

C--I thought it was okay, but I won't pass it on to my child/teen.

D--I didn't like this book, and won't allow my child/teen to read it.

F--I hope I never have to go here. =D

I will give reasons for my rating in my review, but if you have any questions, please feel free to ask. If you find your book here, don't panic if I rate it below an A. These are my personal preferences and I'm only one small person in a large market. =D

If you'll remember, I also did a review of another book by Joyce, LOYALTY'S WEB, so I was thrilled with the opportunity to read this one as well.

Okay, now here we go.

Illuminations of the Heart by Joyce DiPastena

Rating: A+ I didn't pass it on to my teen (he wasn't interested), but I did pass it on to my mother and sisters who also loved it.

Category: Historical

After the deaths of her husband and brother, Siriol de Calendri is directed by her brother's will to travel to France and live under the guardianship of her brother's friend, Sir Triston de Brielle. Unfortunately, Siri is nearly identical to Triston's late wife, Clothilde, and to make matters worse, her brother's will requested that Triston find a husband for Siri.

Siri wants to put her training in illumination to good use and earn her living in an illuminator's shop, and besides, she has no desire to marry anyone else; she's in love with Triston. But can he get past her resemblance to his first wife and learn to love her for herself?

Using some of the characters introduced in LOYALTY'S WEB, DiPastena paints a tale of sweet romance in twelfth century France. In the classic romance format, the characters lives are entwined and twisted together with difficulties at every turn until the reader isn't sure they'll be unraveled in the end.

It was my pleasure to be drawn in by ILLUMINATIONS OF THE HEART and once I started Siri's journey, I couldn't put it down until I reached the last page . . . and then I still wanted more. While this is an adult title, I believe it's appropriate for teens as well.

As part of the blog tour, if you leave a comment, you'll be entered in a drawing for an autographed copy of ILLUMINATIONS OF THE HEART. You can comment on more than one review (on other blogs) and be entered multiple times.

Here are some blog links you can check out for further information on the contest and the book:

Walnut Springs Press's blog

Joyce's blog

Buy the book at Amazon.com

Write on!

Searching . . .

I put out a call on Verla's message board. I've had some response and may have found a crit partner, but I'm still open to at least one more crit buddy.

Here's the low down:

I'm taking a leaf out of Maggie's book (or off her tree or whatever) and searching for crit partners her way. Maggie's the Queen and one can't go wrong following her, right?

Anyone looking for a crit partner?  If so, let's exchange some critiquing and if we like what we see, we'll keep going, if not, we say thanks for the critique and move on.

I will read and critique the first chapter of anyone's novel if they will do the same for me.

This means, you send me a chapter, I send you a chapter, we critique and if we like what we see, we take it to the next level. If we don't like each other's style, writing, critiquing, etc. we say thanks but no thanks and move on NO QUESTIONS asked.

I write MG and YA (though mostly YA right now) fantasy (though not high fantasy) and the occasional PB. I don't have an agent and I'm unpublished, but I won't hold it against you have an agent or are published.  =)

I'm looking for someone who can give and take an honest critique. While my writing leans more toward fantasy, I have experience in reading and critiquing other genres as well.

I like hearing what works in my MS, but I'm mostly interested in knowing what I need to change to make things better. I'm blunt but not mean and can give a thorough critique.

If you think we might be a good crit match, send an email with your info to justjoan @ officeliveusers.com (without the spaces).

 

Write on.

Fun with art

Today I decided to flex my artistic muscles. Some of you know I do a bit of sketching and those who didn't know .  . . now you do.

Many moons ago I used to oil paint, water color, acrylic paint, but once I had kids, I set these art mediums aside (no time). The one medium I kept was my pencil sketching.

Lately, I've felt the desire to get back into that side of my life, but I didn't know what medium to try. Oil paints are expensive, watercolor and acrylic can also be on the expensive side (brushes, paint, canvas/watercolor paper, etc.).

Last Saturday, I went to a local art gallery to get a piece of glass for a picture frame. I didn't get a piece of glass, but I did buy this:

It's a little wooden box with a rose. Carole Snyder is the artist. The picture doesn't do it justice. I couldn't take my eyes off it. I love roses, but there was something more to it. I couldn't figure out what medium had been used so I asked one of the people in the gallery. It happened to be the artist, herself!

Carole told me she had done it on scratchboard then colored it with ink used for coloring scratch art.

I asked her what the heck scratchboard was and she explained it's a piece of either cardboard or, in the case of the box, claybord covered with black india ink. The image is created by scratching away the black ink. In the case of the rose, Carole then went back with ink and colored the image.

I did some research and discovered it's a relatively inexpensive medium (I found I can get a good start with tools and three 5x7 scratchboards for around $20). I ordered a kit from Amazon.com. It's a picture of a squid attacking a boat. The picture is pre-inked onto the cardboard and a tool is included to scratch away the colored ink, thus revealing the image.

Anyway, the kit included a small square of scratchboard to use for practice (to get the hang of using the tool). I opted not to practice but dove right into the squid picture. After doing it for a bit, I decided it was fairly simple and figured I could use the small "practice" square to do my own art.

I decided to do a unicorn . . . well, a unicorn head. As I started scratching, I discovered the board underneath the ink wasn't white, but silver. It still turned out okay, though I won't be able to color it. Anyway, here it is:

The picture doesn't show all the detail. It's really kind of cool looking. Anyway, it took me about 20 minutes to do and isn't bad for a first attempt, in my opinion. And most of all, it was fun!

So, I think I've found a new medium.

 

Scratch on!

Friday Fraction

I've decided to quit hiding behind my computer screen and really put myself out there . . . well, put my work out there anyway.

So, every Friday (if I remember). I will be posting a fraction of one of my WIPs. Today's fraction comes from my YA fantasy, DESTROYER'S HOPE.

 

The Wisen disappeared into the tangle of black trunks. Tim stood frozen in place until the rope tugged him forward, forcing him to follow. As he lurched into the blackness of the forest, an icy chill spread through his veins.

It took a while for his eyes to adjust to the gloom. As the trees came into focus, their gnarled, black trunks seemed to contort into sinister shapes. It was difficult to discern where one tree's branches ended and another's began. Coiling together, they slithered toward the sky like snakes.

The thick air of Forgietan wrapped around Tim, squeezing the fresh air out of his lungs. His next breath drew in the musty odor of the forest. He coughed it out, but it was no use. His lungs tightened with each breath of stale air.

Was that a footfall?

He glanced over his shoulder. A never-ending coil of trees twisted in every direction. The hairs rose on the back of his neck. He shuddered. His heart thudded against his ribcage as though it could beat itself out of his chest and escape the forest on its own.

The feeling of being pursued continued to haunt him. He shuffled through the blood red needles that had fallen from the trees and scattered across the earth. The spines beneath his feet appeared to scurry over each other like bloody insects searching for a meal.

Was that a growl?

 

And there you have it folks. Your first Fraction. I hope you enjoyed it.

 

Write on.

Technorati Tags: writing,teaser,fraction,friday

School day

I will not have time for much revising today since I have classes from 11-1:30 and then from 6-8:30.

While this makes me kind of sad, I did a lot of great revising yesterday so I still feel a sense of accomplishment. Knowing I'll have time for more writing tomorrow and Friday afternoons also helps. *grin*

I say afternoon because mornings will be spent at the kids' school. Thursday I will be observing a couple of classrooms (homework for my Education course) and Friday is my volunteer morning.

Early this morning I woke up to read the required textbook chapters for my Children's Literature course. The book is CHILDREN'S LITERATURE, BRIEFLY by Michael O. Tunnell and James S. Jacobs (4th Edition). Though it's for a course that focuses on reading books and learning to adapt them to classroom lessons in many different ways, I found the chapters to be extremely informative as a writer.

The first chapter focuses on "Why read?" and discusses unengaged and engaged reading. This was interesting, but as a writer the next two chapters interested me more.

Chapter two is entitled, "What Is A Good Book?" and discusses thirteen elements used to judge literary quality as opposed to personal taste. These thirteen elements are quality, style and language, character, plot, illustrations, pacing, setting, design and layout, mood, accuracy, tone, point of view, and theme. The book says three of the thirteen provide most of the information used to judge quality of fiction.

Those three elements are style and language, character, and plot. "When a book reveals its story in powerful language, contains memorable characters, and follows a compelling plot, the fiction generally can be said to have quality."

And then there is the question of "Taste." An author can pay attention to the elements of writing fiction and create an "accurate" book but still not win the reader's heart because taste varies.

I believe the reverse is also true. An author can not pay attention to all of the elements that define a "good book", but readers can be drawn to it. I've read some books and wondered how they ever got published (as I'm sure most of you have), but now I know why. The agent/editor liked them despite their faults.

Within these flawed pages, something intrigued and connected on a deep level with those in the publishing world. We may not know what it is, in fact, those who read it may not know what it is, but it is there for them.

I suppose this is why we are instructed to write what we want to write; write the story we want to read. The hard part comes in finding an agent/editor who connects with your book on the same level you do.

Difficult? Maybe. Impossible? Not always.

Write on.