Magical Ink

~*~Hey, everyone, to explain--my annual Book of the Year choice doesn't necessarily mean that the book was published in the year I write about it. It just means that I considered it the best book I'd read all year. Hope you guys pick it up and enjoy it as much as I did!~*~

Storyline: Anna Bailey is not her real name, and California is not her real home. She moved from Pennsylvania following a tragedy within the Amish community she lived close to. She hoped to never go back.

But her brother has disappeared, and his wife frantically calls Anna, unsure of who else to turn to. Anna finds herself embroiled in a tangle of DNA experiments, family secrets, and the loving arms of God's mercy as she fights for her life.

My Thoughts: Wow! Mindy Starns Clark may have had typos and grammatical errors in this book, but for the most part I easily overlooked them.

Four words: This. Book. Was. Amazing.

Yes, there were a few things in it I didn't like—one scene is a teen party involving underage drinking and marijuana among other things—however, there were drastic consequences for these actions and they are part of Anna's part that she regrets, which makes her redemption that much more moving.

The tense scenes where Anna tries to figure out what happened to her brother, plus all the interesting facts about DNA research and the Amish community, make this an enthralling read. It's not just a thrilling mystery, it's a science and history book too! Plus the twists she throws in it really knocked me for a loop!

Do yourself a favor—if you want to read a compelling, fast-paced read that is well-written, read this book. I can't recommend it enough!

Rating: Five out of five stars (I just bought it two days ago!)

Also by Mindy Starns Clark: Penny For Your Thoughts, Don't Take Any Wooden Nickels, Dime A Dozen, and The Buck Stops Here (The Million Dollar Mysteries); The Trouble With Tulip, Blind Dates Can Be Murder, and Elementary, My Dear Watkins (The Smart Chick Mysteries); Whispers of the Bayou and Under the Cajun Moon (stand-alones); and The House That Cleans Itself (housekeeping).

Posted by Heather at 12:09 AM | 0 comments  

Labels: reviews

Hey everyone, I hope you're having an awesome Christmas season! I am! We had Christmas at my family's on Saturday and Christmas on Sunday with the Tituses. Lots of craziness! I've gotten about 5 pairs of fuzzy or otherwise fun socks--more "writing" socks! I think the best part of Christmas was watching Justin as he opened a gift at my house--one slipper. :0) (He got the other one the next day at Tituses.) I just couldn't resist!

Also, today's been a wonderful day because it's been one year since Justin and I started courting!!! It's been a good one-year anniversary today--and a good, wonderful, crazy year! I can't wait for March, because then it's going to be a good, wonderful, crazy life with Justin! I'm so thankful that it's only a couple more months! :0D

Livie's doing good, she had to get platelets today because her counts are so low. Please keep praying, her counts are pretty much zero and this is the most dangerous time for her right now. I'll keep everyone updated.

And finally...

~*~An angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified. But the angel said to them, "Do not be afraid. I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. Today in the town of David a Svior has been born to you; he is Christ the Lord. This will be a sign to you: you will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger."

Suddenly a great company of the heavenly host appeared with the angel, praising God and saying, "Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace to men on whom his favor rests."~*~

I think that it's amazing that the shepherds told everyone they met about Jesus, who hadn't even died for our sins yet. That's faith! I hope to never get caught up in the wrong reasons for Christmas and to always remember what special event it signifies. As Linus says on A Charlie Brown Christmas, "And that's what Christmas is all about, Charlie Brown."

MERRY CHRISTMAS!!

Posted by Heather at 7:55 PM | 3 comments  

...For Miss Olivia! Thank the Lord, she's done with chemo!!!

Olivia finished with her final chemo round yesterday afternoon and has been at home since! Yes!! I'm so glad for the Tituses. I'm so happy that after a hard, tough year, Olivia can finally be at home, rest, and enjoy being with her family. I'm glad that Tammy doesn't have to try to sleep in between nurses' rounds.

Please continue praying for them as Livie's immunity will go down--that they don't have any infections or sicknesses. Also, she has a bone marrow test in January that will check for luekemic cells, and if it comes back OK, then--Livie is done with cancer!!

Thanks so much for all your prayers this year!

Posted by Heather at 5:42 PM | 1 comments  

To me, there are several tings that really enhance the Christmas season. One would be snow, of course, but we don't get a white Christmas very often in southwest Missouri. Maybe next year! (Although in Michigan, they consider it a "brown Christmas" if it's not snowing on Christmas Day.)

Another thing that makes me think of Christmas is curling up somewhere warm (preferably a fire) with a snuggly blanket, a mug of mint hot chocolate or chai tea, and a book--preferably an old book, with thick, yellow pages and that wonderful, musty smell. If you're like me, you wish that they made a perfume called "Old Book" or something! ;0)

So, to celebrate Christmas, every year I'm going to list some books that I enjoy and are my personal list of "classics". Some them really are considered classics, some (probably most) aren't, and some of them might not even fall into the "old books" category.

Enjoy!

The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe by C.S. Lewis

Lilith by George MacDonald

When a Man's a Man by Harold Bell Wright

Shepherd of the Hills by Harold Bell Wright

Brewster's Millions by George Barr McCutcheon

Penrod by Booth Tarkington

A Common Life by Jan Karon

I encourage you to check out some of these books. Harold Bell Wright is little known, but some of his books are amazing!! And McCutcheon and Tarkington's books are both hilarious.

(As a side note, we got our Christmas tree up, finally! Yay!)

Merry Christmas everyone!

Posted by Heather at 10:56 AM | 2 comments  

Labels: classics

Hey everyone, sorry for not posing as usual on Monday. Our internet was having issues, as well as I was gone all day doing something very exciting--wedding gown shopping!!

I actually already found the one I'd wanted online (Beautifully Modest is an excellent site) but the closest store that carried those was in St Louis. So, my wonderful, sweet family made a day of it. We all got up bout 6 and packed everything but the kitchen sink into the Suburban and trundled up to St Louis.

Of course, Mom, Hannah, and I were close to squealing as I tried my dress on and Hannah tried on some bridesmaids dresses. Dad and Josh were slightly bored, especially since after my dress fitting and lunch, us girls decided to do--what else?--more shopping!! Not that we really found much...grr. Do designers have something against wearable long-sleeved shirts for a girl who doesn't like the misses styles but who can't wear juniors?!? Oh well...I guess it's back to layering and hoodies. :0)

So, I got to bring home my wedding dress and it's safely ensconced in a closet. I'd tell y'all more about it but Justin reads my blog. :0) I'm sooo excited!!!!! That makes it so very real to me that we do, indeed, have a set-in-stone date!

Other news: Olivia started chemo again today--the Final Round!!!! Who-hoo! As of this morning she's doing pretty good. Please keep praying fo her during this last round--just a little bit longer until Miss O doesn't have to go through this anymore!

And lastly, I'm so glad it's Christmastime! Finally, a chance to blast Christmas music to my heart's content without someone complaining! I love the Christmas season, I really do. Everything about it is wonderful, and I am so thankful that God gave us a beautiful reason to celebrate.

Merry Christmas!!

Posted by Heather at 2:15 PM | 2 comments  

Labels: Miss Olivia, my life

Bonus book review, everyone! Next month, I'll be focusing on Christmas, so enjoy the last 2009 installment of my reviews.

Storyline: Renny Jacobson is a bored young Southern lawyer who dreams of enough money to fulfill his (many) wants. When his father dies, he leaves Renny a chest of papers, a post office box in Charlotte, and inheritance in an organization called the Covenant List.

Before long, Renny receives a letter in his post office box calling him to a meeting of the Covenant List. On his way, he meets a another person with interest in the List—a young woman whose father recently died, named Jo Johnson. Renny is immediately attracted to her, but when they meet with the others members of the List, they discover a problem. The Covenant List, formed in the late years of the Civil War, has only been passed from father to eldest son. No women are allowed to inherit their share in the List—which happens to be a Swiss bank account of substantial numbers.

Renny is ecstatic, but Jo cautions him to thoroughly look into the List before joining. Renny ignores her and signs his name into the ledger book of the List. But before too long, he has reason to suspect that the List is more than just a group hiding money. When Jo falls ill, Renny delves into the background of the List—and discovers a centuries old evil waiting to be unleashed.

My Thoughts:

The first half of the List was (I thought) somewhat boring. Jo is a Christian, Renny is not, so there are several conversations about God that seem cliché or awkward. Altogether, it seems like a lot of the first half is stilted and uncomfortable. However, towards the middle Whitlow begins to pick it up—and wow!

This book is all about the power of prayer while fighting spiritual evil. While Whitlow doesn't delve into the spiritually creepiness of it all as much as Peretti or Dekker, there's still enough to leave goosebumps crawling over your arms. And although at first, you may think, "Oh yeah right, no way that could happen", the more you read, the more you realize—this is happening today.

Maybe there's not a sinister List infused with the power of darkness, but there are spiritual battles swirling unseen around us. There are people, Christians and non-Christians alike, caught up in this battle. And for us Christians, we are duty-bound to use our prayers like swords for Christ.

Despite the stilted conversations and the slow first half, the powerful message carries this story along. I'd definitely suggest everyone read it.

Rating: four out of five stars

Posted by Heather at 11:15 AM | 1 comments  

Labels: reviews

Hey everyone, Mary and Kyleigh requested that I follow up on my last week's post and post ideas on how to make your opening sentences those eye-grabbing one-liners.

Looking at the broadest picture, the first chapter is one of the most important ones in the entire book. Narrowing it a bit, the first paragraph is the most important part of the first chapter, as Jeannine brought up. But just as the first chapter convinces people to read the entire book; just as the first paragraph hooks people into reading the first chapter; so the first sentence irresistibly yanks your reader into the first paragraph...and the rest is history (as long as you write a good story).

*First off, picture the scene in as much detail in your head as you possibly can. What do you see? A room? A castle? What strikes you about it? Think of some kind of description, dialogue, or action that could be put in that setting.

*Description shouldn't be a description of the mundane. It's a description of what pops out of the mundane. Imagine a beautiful ballroom with gilt wallpaper, golden-upholstered chairs, golden everything! Blegh. Big whoop. Now imagine a tattered piece of old red cloth draped over a chair arm. Huh? Where did that come from and what's its significance? Why is it in the middle of such opulence?

Here's a good example, one that Mary left in the comments last week: The sides of the mist-slicked bridge were chest-high and solid, with no gaps or rails through which someone could fall - or be pushed. (Son of the Shield)

OK, that's a normal bridge and a normal description--until you get to those last three words. Whoa! Why would anyone want to push someone over a bridge? What's going on? Why is that significant?

*Dialogue can be a huge attention grabber. I'll admit, I tend to do it too much. Half of my chapters, not to mention my books start with dialogue (as Mary and I have gotten more and more into Daybreak, she's started calling me the "Dialogue Queen." :0)

But it can be very effective! If your opening scene is populated with people, the dialogue can introduce the character immediately and give a reader some insight into his/her personality. It can convey tension or relaxation or whatever the mood of the scene is, just through word choice.

Example: "Don't you dare touch that!" Carrie shrieked.

Why is she shrieking? Who is Carrie? Why is she telling someone not to touch something, and who is that someone/something?

*Action will drag your reader into the scene. This is another one that I like because it introduces the reader to someone right away, similar to dialogue. It also introduces tension because the reader is suddenly dropped right in the middle of this action, and they have no clue of what's going on.

Example: The man is running, running as fast as he can from a shadowy pursuer. (Daybreak)

Why is he running? Who is pursuing him, and what do they want from him?

And something else to remember: Ground your reader in the scene and try to introduce them to the main character no later than the second paragraph. These days, people want to know who to empathize with as soon as possible. Also, we tend to write closer to our characters' pov (deep third person pov instead of omniscient pov).

If you're stuck with and getting tired of trying to come up with a zinger first line, then move on by all means! The first draft is important for one thing--getting your idea on paper. After that, you can sweat and work to get it just right. Maybe in the course of writing, you'll come up with a perfect first line, or you'll have come to understand your setting and characters much better.

Challenge: Brainstorm your first scene and try to come up with an attention-grabbing first line. Let me know how it goes!!

Posted by Heather at 4:14 PM | 6 comments  

Labels: writing mechanics