I’ve dipped my toes into the lake of book reviews and am now ankle deep. Let me share some thoughts.
For starters, there are some excellent writers putting out some excellent books. I’ve said this before, but if you haven’t tried Christian fiction for several years, you may want to do some investigating. If you are concerned about finances, see what’s available at your public library. Many libraries have a budget for new books and will buy requested books, or they will do an inner library loan and borrow it from another library. Most authors would love to have you request their book(s) at the library.
I always try to slant my reviews on a positive note but some of the books I’ve read I wouldn’t have finished because they just weren’t my cup of tea. Amazon lets me rate a book 1-5, with 5 being the best. I’ve read many 4.5’s but only give them 4 because 5, to me is as close to perfect as it gets. I would probably not review a 2 on Amazon because I would struggle with finding redeeming things to say.
My taste differs considerably from many of you. Powerful writing, the kind that paints pictures and draws me to a wistful state makes me weak in the knees. Humor is huge for me, if I laugh, I can overlook other smaller issues, and clever or twisted humor is the very best (go figure). Pain also grabs my heart, as does suspense when it forces my heart into my throat. I like to learn but not with long pages of technical or historical facts but with the characters by experiencing what they encounter.
In general, sweet romance novels make me gag. But if it’s twisty, funny or edgy I can fall in love with romance. Sci-fi is not on the top of the list of books I like to read. Comic-book style writing, where the action is so non-stop that I never get to know the character or care that an assassin approaches, leaves me cold. Christian platitudes tossed in, or use of dialogue to explain things to the reader by using characters who wouldn’t have that conversation in real life bugs me. Anything that becomes author intrusion like a repeated pet phrase, or telling, or passive writing pulls me out of the story.
Peace Like a River sucked me in and drove me to the next word, thought, phrase and page. It didn’t let go of my heart until the story finished and I released a satisfied sigh. I compare other books to that reading experience. If I put a book down with wistfulness at the ending of a poignant read, the book is a 4+ working toward a 5. If the story is good, but I find myself distracted by mechanics I’m going to give it a 3+ working toward a 4.
High points are awarded for quirk. With a healthy dose of humor I will overlook several author mechanical issues or negatives because the novel becomes so fun to read.
Now you know a little bit more about the way my mind works. Scared?
Tuesday, January 16, 2007
Monday, January 15, 2007
Serials and Scenarios - Authors Inside Out - Expounded
Now that I’ve bothered several authors for interviews I see a pattern.
You, my dear readers, may give me a hearty “Duh!” but has that ever stopped me from being transparent, real or ditzy? I think not.
What I've discovered is that the voice of the author seems to come through loud, clear and unique in the little exercise of answering my random questions.
I find this cool on several levels.
Level one - a sentence isn't just a noun and verb combo in the hands of a writer. Give a writer a sentence or three nouns to include and expand into a paragraph and you are going to get everything from artistic prose that sums life up in a nutshell and leaves behind wisps of longing, to a sci-fi blend of weirdness that might leave your hair standing on end, and/or a hearty guffaw.
Level two - you get a feel for what kind of prose you'll read if you pick up the book written by said author. With Ray Blackston we got a whole lot of quirk, an area in which he excels. In the next few weeks I'll introduce Robert Liparulo and his paragraph. Whew. Light on the quirk, heavy on the "Oh my!"
Level three - the authors are unique individuals with specific gifts and talents with information that they communicate on such an intimate level that some people are going to get them, love them and devour their books. Others are going to suppress yawns and move on and connect elsewhere. This excites me because it's a reminder that we are fearfully and wonderfully made and that we are one-of-a-kind.
Level four - authors are humans. Most aren't arrogant and unapproachable, just the opposite. They want to hear that their words (which cost them sweat and maybe even some tears) touched other people's lives.
Level five - each of the authors I've "spoken" to are very, very nice. And I think the common denominator might just be Jesus. I love getting to know other believers. It's so good for us to mingle.
Tomorrow, I think I'll talk about book reviews in general. I'll see what falls out when I shake my head, hopefully it will manage to be coherent.
Have a Happy Monday
You, my dear readers, may give me a hearty “Duh!” but has that ever stopped me from being transparent, real or ditzy? I think not.
What I've discovered is that the voice of the author seems to come through loud, clear and unique in the little exercise of answering my random questions.
I find this cool on several levels.
Level one - a sentence isn't just a noun and verb combo in the hands of a writer. Give a writer a sentence or three nouns to include and expand into a paragraph and you are going to get everything from artistic prose that sums life up in a nutshell and leaves behind wisps of longing, to a sci-fi blend of weirdness that might leave your hair standing on end, and/or a hearty guffaw.
Level two - you get a feel for what kind of prose you'll read if you pick up the book written by said author. With Ray Blackston we got a whole lot of quirk, an area in which he excels. In the next few weeks I'll introduce Robert Liparulo and his paragraph. Whew. Light on the quirk, heavy on the "Oh my!"
Level three - the authors are unique individuals with specific gifts and talents with information that they communicate on such an intimate level that some people are going to get them, love them and devour their books. Others are going to suppress yawns and move on and connect elsewhere. This excites me because it's a reminder that we are fearfully and wonderfully made and that we are one-of-a-kind.
Level four - authors are humans. Most aren't arrogant and unapproachable, just the opposite. They want to hear that their words (which cost them sweat and maybe even some tears) touched other people's lives.
Level five - each of the authors I've "spoken" to are very, very nice. And I think the common denominator might just be Jesus. I love getting to know other believers. It's so good for us to mingle.
Tomorrow, I think I'll talk about book reviews in general. I'll see what falls out when I shake my head, hopefully it will manage to be coherent.
Have a Happy Monday
Friday, January 12, 2007
Serials and Scenarios - A Peek Into the Mind of Ray Blackston
Here you go, guys. I know you've been waiting for this. Ray came through, big-time. A peek inside the mind that created "A Pagan's Nightmare."
As per usual - Red = Q's, Blue = A's.
Thanks for taking time out of your busy schedule, Ray.
What would you write if there were no rules or barriers? (epic novels about characters in the Bible, poetry, greeting cards, plays, movies, instruction manuals, etc.)
Ah, great question. I would love to try my hand at screenplays, possibly an adaptation of either my latest novel, A Pagan’s Nightmare, or my first, Flabbergasted, which is a comic look at singleness in the South.
What makes you feel alive?
Falling in love, hiking in the Outback, having a personal relationship with God, and using my creativity to entertain people are the first four that come to mind. Oh, and a well-struck golf shot.
I’m getting hooked on the sport.
How does something worm its way into your heart? Through tears, truth, humor or other?
All of the above. The teary kind are the probably the most vivid and memorable, the truthful kind more character-building, and the humorous kind the most likely to be included in my novels.
What period of history intrigues you the most?
The period when Jesus walked the earth ranks highest—being there to witness God in the flesh, not to mention all those miracles, would have intrigued me to the nth degree. (I was going to say the early 1900’s, but the cheesy dialogue in Titanic ruined it for me.)
Favorite turn of phrase or word picture, in literature or movie.
In a movie:
Most any line from Forrest Gump!
Book, music, person, food you would take with you on a very long trip.
Rand McNally Road Atlas, 80’s Hits, Chris, and dark chocolate.
Pick one…Pink iguana, purple cow, periwinkle giraffe. Which one and why?
Purple cow—ever since childhood I’ve craved a cold glass of grape-flavored milk.
Favorite book setting. Why?
Probably the last eighty pages of Flabbergasted, when Jay and Allie are down in the Ecuadorian jungle and working in the orphanage. That rainforest setting, coupled with the budding romance, has a kind of resonance for me.
Which compliment related to your writing has meant the most and why?
Ya know, sometimes reviewers just “get it,” and they write blurbs that really help
an author’s confidence. This was the case in 2003, when Flabbergasted released. Two of these blurbs stand out, so I’ll include both here:
“Blackston’s imaginative first novel is sometimes brutally honest but always refreshingly funny.”
— Library Journal in naming Flabbergasted to its Best Fiction List for 2003
“If you only read one novel this summer, let this be it!”
— Crossings Book Club, which featured Flabbergasted as a main selection
What criticism has cut the deepest and why?
Ya know, sometimes reviewers just don’t get it, and one of them told a lie about my third novel (third book in the Flabbergasted trilogy) which is titled Lost in Rooville. I’m fine with honest critique, but to bend the truth to make a point does not sit well with me. Especially when the reviewer is supposedly a Christian.
What would you do today if you knew you had only a week to live?
Hug my family, kiss my girlfriend, and write my “one week memoir,” tentatively titled Moonwalking on Streets of Gold.
A man and woman sit at a table in an upscale restaurant. They each have a cell phone to their ear. What are you overhearing?
All night she had avoided eye contact with her boyfriend. She reached for the appetizer -- which were coconut-glazed shrimp--but hesitated. She eyed the shrimp with suspicion. “Honey,” she said, with a bat of her lashes, “were these shrimp grown in a shrimp farm, or were did they die a tortuous death in some fisherman’s net?”
He gulped three of the morsels and shrugged. “Who cares? And since when do you sympathize about the particulars of a shrimp’s life?”
Summoning courage, she wiped her mouth and blurted, “Since I met Jacques, the French environmentalist.”
And with that she stood and bolted out of the restaurant.
As per usual - Red = Q's, Blue = A's.
Thanks for taking time out of your busy schedule, Ray.
What would you write if there were no rules or barriers? (epic novels about characters in the Bible, poetry, greeting cards, plays, movies, instruction manuals, etc.)
Ah, great question. I would love to try my hand at screenplays, possibly an adaptation of either my latest novel, A Pagan’s Nightmare, or my first, Flabbergasted, which is a comic look at singleness in the South.
What makes you feel alive?
Falling in love, hiking in the Outback, having a personal relationship with God, and using my creativity to entertain people are the first four that come to mind. Oh, and a well-struck golf shot.
I’m getting hooked on the sport.
How does something worm its way into your heart? Through tears, truth, humor or other?
All of the above. The teary kind are the probably the most vivid and memorable, the truthful kind more character-building, and the humorous kind the most likely to be included in my novels.
What period of history intrigues you the most?
The period when Jesus walked the earth ranks highest—being there to witness God in the flesh, not to mention all those miracles, would have intrigued me to the nth degree. (I was going to say the early 1900’s, but the cheesy dialogue in Titanic ruined it for me.)
Favorite turn of phrase or word picture, in literature or movie.
In a movie:
Most any line from Forrest Gump!
Book, music, person, food you would take with you on a very long trip.
Rand McNally Road Atlas, 80’s Hits, Chris, and dark chocolate.
Pick one…Pink iguana, purple cow, periwinkle giraffe. Which one and why?
Purple cow—ever since childhood I’ve craved a cold glass of grape-flavored milk.
Favorite book setting. Why?
Probably the last eighty pages of Flabbergasted, when Jay and Allie are down in the Ecuadorian jungle and working in the orphanage. That rainforest setting, coupled with the budding romance, has a kind of resonance for me.
Which compliment related to your writing has meant the most and why?
Ya know, sometimes reviewers just “get it,” and they write blurbs that really help
an author’s confidence. This was the case in 2003, when Flabbergasted released. Two of these blurbs stand out, so I’ll include both here:
“Blackston’s imaginative first novel is sometimes brutally honest but always refreshingly funny.”
— Library Journal in naming Flabbergasted to its Best Fiction List for 2003
“If you only read one novel this summer, let this be it!”
— Crossings Book Club, which featured Flabbergasted as a main selection
What criticism has cut the deepest and why?
Ya know, sometimes reviewers just don’t get it, and one of them told a lie about my third novel (third book in the Flabbergasted trilogy) which is titled Lost in Rooville. I’m fine with honest critique, but to bend the truth to make a point does not sit well with me. Especially when the reviewer is supposedly a Christian.
What would you do today if you knew you had only a week to live?
Hug my family, kiss my girlfriend, and write my “one week memoir,” tentatively titled Moonwalking on Streets of Gold.
A man and woman sit at a table in an upscale restaurant. They each have a cell phone to their ear. What are you overhearing?
All night she had avoided eye contact with her boyfriend. She reached for the appetizer -- which were coconut-glazed shrimp--but hesitated. She eyed the shrimp with suspicion. “Honey,” she said, with a bat of her lashes, “were these shrimp grown in a shrimp farm, or were did they die a tortuous death in some fisherman’s net?”
He gulped three of the morsels and shrugged. “Who cares? And since when do you sympathize about the particulars of a shrimp’s life?”
Summoning courage, she wiped her mouth and blurted, “Since I met Jacques, the French environmentalist.”
And with that she stood and bolted out of the restaurant.
Thursday, January 11, 2007
Scribbles and Scrambles - Flinging Checkers
Wouldn't Flinging Checkers be a great band name?
On Monday I brought up some melancholy thoughts about change, especially the sadness of missing faces within the church and broken relationships. Janet blogged about this http://janetswritingplanet.blogspot.com/2007/01/going-through-pictures.html on Wednesday and I realize I have a few more things to say.
We are born with the notion that the world revolves around us. When I open my eyes or make a noise there’d better be someone there to meet my needs. Life has to beat reality into us and selfishness out. Some find gentle adults who teach the truth…that we are simply one of six billion…important but no more so than the others. Others have adults who brutalize and lie, bringing confusion into the mix of pain and selfishness. The rest, most of us, fall into some degree of the middling.
We plant our learned lessons deep and impart them through the filters of our dysfunction.
It’s a miracle that any of us connect with one another on any level.
Assuming that you are a believer and follower of Jesus—read on and ponder.
We need to stop and remember that God created unique DNA for all six billion earth inhabitants and the billions who’ve walked before us. We need to look to the God who creates one-of-a-kind snowflakes. Then let’s put that information into our quirk-o-meters and decide that none of us is going to be identical to the others. I can’t read your mind, nor should I expect you to read mind. I’ll love movies, music, books, colors and food that you may detest. One will prefer worship served formal, another prefers worship with dance. God reached my soul with a question, Martin Luther’s with a scripture, one of my favorite Bible study teacher’s with an event, and thousands of others with thousands of different and unique ways.
Of course we won’t all agree on the wall colors in the church or the Biblical length of hems. A church is made up of clueless, lucky-to-have-found-the-truth “accidents” with in-your-face stinking baggage through mature scholars who’ve repacked their baggage into appropriate church attending attaches, and everything in between.
We all have something to teach and much to learn.
What would happen in our churches if the believers in Jesus Christ actually embraced Gal 2:20 – (my paraphrase) I’m dead and I’ve given Christ my body to complete His tasks and goals? Or if we realized that crawling on the altar (Romans 12:1-2) meant not operating out of our needs/wants but considering others needs/wants as equal and God’s wants as paramount. Am I suggesting that we let go of God’s call to holiness? Nope. Am I saying that anything goes; anything can be taught as truth? No. Of course not. But why can’t we hang onto the truth with our whole heart, soul, mind and strength and yet love our neighbors as ourselves?
Consider others as more important than yourself and don’t injure the one for whom Christ died (more paraphrases - Phip 2:3, Rom 14:15, 1 Cor 8:11.) When you stop to evaluate how you’ve been let down, mistreated or ignored, run to Him with those issues and then obey Him.
Are you considering bowing out of a relationship because the other person won’t meet your needs or read your mind? Are you a spiritual checker flinger? You know, like when you were a kid and were playing checkers with someone and they asked a question you didn’t like or said something you didn’t want to hear, or cheated, did you rip the checker board off the table, scatter checkers as evidence of your ire, pack it up and take it home?
Stop, please, and pray before you act. Really pray.
My worst enemy haunted me. Constant anger bubbled inside of me. She controlled me until God reminded me that He loved her too. Letting God take that burden of hatred freed me to follow a much better master, Him. But it hurt that He asked me to stop hating her, that He expected me to be kind, to be the bigger person because she had done nothing but steal from me. Now I’m glad He loves her because she needs Him. I understand that He loves me enough He doesn’t want me to bathe in the acid bath of selfishness and self-pity.
Jesus really does want us all to get along or He wouldn’t have called us to unity. And He doesn’t call us to do what is impossible for Him to do through us. Ask Him how you can help repair the damage you’ve done to relationships you’ve had, and then follow His instructions. What an excellent start to a new year.Tomorrow, I promise to put the quirk back on. Really. Ray’s dropping by…
On Monday I brought up some melancholy thoughts about change, especially the sadness of missing faces within the church and broken relationships. Janet blogged about this http://janetswritingplanet.blogspot.com/2007/01/going-through-pictures.html on Wednesday and I realize I have a few more things to say.
We are born with the notion that the world revolves around us. When I open my eyes or make a noise there’d better be someone there to meet my needs. Life has to beat reality into us and selfishness out. Some find gentle adults who teach the truth…that we are simply one of six billion…important but no more so than the others. Others have adults who brutalize and lie, bringing confusion into the mix of pain and selfishness. The rest, most of us, fall into some degree of the middling.
We plant our learned lessons deep and impart them through the filters of our dysfunction.
It’s a miracle that any of us connect with one another on any level.
Assuming that you are a believer and follower of Jesus—read on and ponder.
We need to stop and remember that God created unique DNA for all six billion earth inhabitants and the billions who’ve walked before us. We need to look to the God who creates one-of-a-kind snowflakes. Then let’s put that information into our quirk-o-meters and decide that none of us is going to be identical to the others. I can’t read your mind, nor should I expect you to read mind. I’ll love movies, music, books, colors and food that you may detest. One will prefer worship served formal, another prefers worship with dance. God reached my soul with a question, Martin Luther’s with a scripture, one of my favorite Bible study teacher’s with an event, and thousands of others with thousands of different and unique ways.
Of course we won’t all agree on the wall colors in the church or the Biblical length of hems. A church is made up of clueless, lucky-to-have-found-the-truth “accidents” with in-your-face stinking baggage through mature scholars who’ve repacked their baggage into appropriate church attending attaches, and everything in between.
We all have something to teach and much to learn.
What would happen in our churches if the believers in Jesus Christ actually embraced Gal 2:20 – (my paraphrase) I’m dead and I’ve given Christ my body to complete His tasks and goals? Or if we realized that crawling on the altar (Romans 12:1-2) meant not operating out of our needs/wants but considering others needs/wants as equal and God’s wants as paramount. Am I suggesting that we let go of God’s call to holiness? Nope. Am I saying that anything goes; anything can be taught as truth? No. Of course not. But why can’t we hang onto the truth with our whole heart, soul, mind and strength and yet love our neighbors as ourselves?
Consider others as more important than yourself and don’t injure the one for whom Christ died (more paraphrases - Phip 2:3, Rom 14:15, 1 Cor 8:11.) When you stop to evaluate how you’ve been let down, mistreated or ignored, run to Him with those issues and then obey Him.
Are you considering bowing out of a relationship because the other person won’t meet your needs or read your mind? Are you a spiritual checker flinger? You know, like when you were a kid and were playing checkers with someone and they asked a question you didn’t like or said something you didn’t want to hear, or cheated, did you rip the checker board off the table, scatter checkers as evidence of your ire, pack it up and take it home?
Stop, please, and pray before you act. Really pray.
My worst enemy haunted me. Constant anger bubbled inside of me. She controlled me until God reminded me that He loved her too. Letting God take that burden of hatred freed me to follow a much better master, Him. But it hurt that He asked me to stop hating her, that He expected me to be kind, to be the bigger person because she had done nothing but steal from me. Now I’m glad He loves her because she needs Him. I understand that He loves me enough He doesn’t want me to bathe in the acid bath of selfishness and self-pity.
Jesus really does want us all to get along or He wouldn’t have called us to unity. And He doesn’t call us to do what is impossible for Him to do through us. Ask Him how you can help repair the damage you’ve done to relationships you’ve had, and then follow His instructions. What an excellent start to a new year.Tomorrow, I promise to put the quirk back on. Really. Ray’s dropping by…
Wednesday, January 10, 2007
Serials and Scenarios - A Pagan's Nightmare
A Pagan's Nightmare -
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0446579599
Ray Blackston's Web Abode -
http://www.rayblackston.com/
The Review -
Ray Blackston has crafted a skewed and entertaining novel in "A Pagan's Nightmare."
Some day, I'd like to meet this man -- Ray, not Larry, or Lanny, or Ned. Well, maybe I'd like to meet them, too.
This story within a story is both rich in humor and surprising in it's spiritual depth.
Warning...you may experience deep crunching sensations accompanied by sharp pain in your toes as you read. Ray hits a little too close to home when he paints some unflattering yet realistic pictures of "the sky is falling" theology.
If you like your Christian fiction without pablum or platitude - this is your book. If you want a fun read and you can laugh at yourself or if you are wearing steel-toed boots, give it a shot.
If you want by-the-rules Christian fiction, you may find yourself frustrated, but do try to get beyond that, this is a mind-twistingly good read.
Thanks, Ray.
Interview - Friday.....
Ray is pondering my questions as we speak. Come back Friday for a serving of the inner Ray.
http://www.amazon.com/exec
Ray Blackston's Web Abode -
http://www.rayblackston.com/
The Review -
Ray Blackston has crafted a skewed and entertaining novel in "A Pagan's Nightmare."
Some day, I'd like to meet this man -- Ray, not Larry, or Lanny, or Ned. Well, maybe I'd like to meet them, too.
This story within a story is both rich in humor and surprising in it's spiritual depth.
Warning...you may experience deep crunching sensations accompanied by sharp pain in your toes as you read. Ray hits a little too close to home when he paints some unflattering yet realistic pictures of "the sky is falling" theology.
If you like your Christian fiction without pablum or platitude - this is your book. If you want a fun read and you can laugh at yourself or if you are wearing steel-toed boots, give it a shot.
If you want by-the-rules Christian fiction, you may find yourself frustrated, but do try to get beyond that, this is a mind-twistingly good read.
Thanks, Ray.
Interview - Friday.....
Ray is pondering my questions as we speak. Come back Friday for a serving of the inner Ray.
Monday, January 08, 2007
Scribbles and Scrambles - Insulation and Change
My bio/description says I love change. I do…to an extent.
For example, I two-stepped on the inside (only because I’m too clumsy to master the two-step on the outside) when I spied my newly installed toilet and vanity cabinet in my still not-quite-ready-for-the-troops upstair’s bathroom.
I also willingly changed my plans to help Rob shoot insulation into the attic. This brings me to a bunny trail. Rob tells people he married me because I passed the drywall test. This lovely test requires the testee to stand on a ladder, arms raised, holding a piece of drywall in place for the tester while he nails or screws it to the ceiling. Apparently, Rob was impressed with my quick thinking when I added my head to my hands and made an easier on the arms triangle brace.
I did turn the tables on him, though. I think I’ve mentioned the gales of giggles I succumb to when lifting heavy furniture. That doesn’t happen with drywall, I’m serious and helpful with drywall. Ha. He thought I’d be useful with all heavy lifting.
Shooting insulation was no laughing matter either, unless you like to snork insulation debris into your nostrils. (Which I don’t recommend.) Though I’m sure you could Google for an insulation snorting party near you. Never try it with fiberglass!
Oh, back to the topic, change. The kind of change I don’t like is broken relationships. Okay…I know most people don’t ENJOY bad relationships, but I’m talking about the kind that isn’t REALLY bad, but where someone pulls away and floats off into the sunset. This seems to happen a lot in churches.
Sigh. I wish we could all just get along.
I miss the ones who’ve floated away. I think they took a little bit of my heart with them.
Okay – done with change, well, kind of. Thanks for your comments about Marilyn Griffith’s fun interview.
Wednesday through Friday is the blog tour for A Pagan’s Nightmare by Ray Blackston. Ray’s book is quite the adventure, so I’m anxiously awaiting his interview answers. I’ll post my review on Wednesday.
For example, I two-stepped on the inside (only because I’m too clumsy to master the two-step on the outside) when I spied my newly installed toilet and vanity cabinet in my still not-quite-ready-for-the-troops upstair’s bathroom.
I also willingly changed my plans to help Rob shoot insulation into the attic. This brings me to a bunny trail. Rob tells people he married me because I passed the drywall test. This lovely test requires the testee to stand on a ladder, arms raised, holding a piece of drywall in place for the tester while he nails or screws it to the ceiling. Apparently, Rob was impressed with my quick thinking when I added my head to my hands and made an easier on the arms triangle brace.
I did turn the tables on him, though. I think I’ve mentioned the gales of giggles I succumb to when lifting heavy furniture. That doesn’t happen with drywall, I’m serious and helpful with drywall. Ha. He thought I’d be useful with all heavy lifting.
Shooting insulation was no laughing matter either, unless you like to snork insulation debris into your nostrils. (Which I don’t recommend.) Though I’m sure you could Google for an insulation snorting party near you. Never try it with fiberglass!
Oh, back to the topic, change. The kind of change I don’t like is broken relationships. Okay…I know most people don’t ENJOY bad relationships, but I’m talking about the kind that isn’t REALLY bad, but where someone pulls away and floats off into the sunset. This seems to happen a lot in churches.
Sigh. I wish we could all just get along.
I miss the ones who’ve floated away. I think they took a little bit of my heart with them.
Okay – done with change, well, kind of. Thanks for your comments about Marilyn Griffith’s fun interview.
Wednesday through Friday is the blog tour for A Pagan’s Nightmare by Ray Blackston. Ray’s book is quite the adventure, so I’m anxiously awaiting his interview answers. I’ll post my review on Wednesday.
Friday, January 05, 2007
Serials and Scenarios - Marilyn Griffith - Inside Out
Marilyn Griffith dropped by late last night and answered all sorts of questions. Here's a few for your perusal. I'll post the rest later - she has another book coming out soon. If you can't wait, I'm open to bribes.
I think I'll invite Marilyn to my next slumber party. I think we could have all sorts of fun.
My Q's are red, her A's are blue.
Pick one…..
Pink iguana, purple cow, periwinkle giraffe. Which one and why? Can be negative or positive.
Pink iguana. Positve? she's pink. Negative. She's an iguana. "Nough said.
Favorite turn of phrase or word picture, in literature or movie.
"Good morn-ting!" (Madea, Tyler Perry's Family Reunion) I said every morning for about a month after I saw that movie.
What period of history intrigues you the most?
Oh goodie, one I can answer! The period from about 1852 to 1870 would top the list. I read a lot of slave narratives and civil war accounts from both sides of the war. Next after that would probably be the 1020's.
What would you write if there were no rules or barriers? (epic novels about characters in the Bible, poetry, greeting cards, plays, movies, instruction manuals, etc.)
Oh...you are going to get me into so much trouble now! LOL An big, thick, science fiction epic. Yeah, I know. That's why there are rules and barriers.
What makes you feel alive?
Another freebie. My husband's beard against my face, baby toes and kid hugs, good music, great food, friends who love me even when I zone out and forget to call them, pretty flowers... You get the ideas. I'm pretty simple.
How does something worm its way into your heart? Through tears, truth, humor or other?
All of the above. Those three are my favorite trilogy. I try to infuse some of each into my books. How did you know?
Frizzy hair, purple scarf and a book – make a character.
An exploding eggplant. It's probably what I looked like, but hey, if you can't be a frizzy vegetable every now and again, what's the point in living? And living is important. More important than my currently untamed man. If I don't get this book back into my boss's library before she notices...
"Cherise! Where have you been? And what's wrong with your hair. And that outfit? It's horrid. Warm colors, honey. Warm. Colors. Didn't we have this talk after the electric blue incident?"
Too late. "I had to make a run. An errand--"
The book, a hardback copy of Maya Angelou's I Know why the Caged Bird Sings, slipped out of my bag and hit the floor. I guess I squeezed it too hard and managed to turn it upside down. Did I say that my boss makes me nervous.
My employer's face turned a blotchy red. In spots.
"Tell me that isn't to replace my autographed copy I've been looking for. Tell me..." She slid to the floor in a dead faint.
So much for living...
Man, I got carried away with that one. LOL Thanks for the fun, Kelly!
Thank you, Marilyn. Great insight into the inner you!
In case you missed the links yesterday:
Tangerine- http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0800730429
Marilyn's Website - http://marilynngriffith.typepad.com/rhythmsofgrace/
Happy Weekend!
I think I'll invite Marilyn to my next slumber party. I think we could have all sorts of fun.
My Q's are red, her A's are blue.
Pick one…..
Pink iguana, purple cow, periwinkle giraffe. Which one and why? Can be negative or positive.
Pink iguana. Positve? she's pink. Negative. She's an iguana. "Nough said.
Favorite turn of phrase or word picture, in literature or movie.
"Good morn-ting!" (Madea, Tyler Perry's Family Reunion) I said every morning for about a month after I saw that movie.
What period of history intrigues you the most?
Oh goodie, one I can answer! The period from about 1852 to 1870 would top the list. I read a lot of slave narratives and civil war accounts from both sides of the war. Next after that would probably be the 1020's.
What would you write if there were no rules or barriers? (epic novels about characters in the Bible, poetry, greeting cards, plays, movies, instruction manuals, etc.)
Oh...you are going to get me into so much trouble now! LOL An big, thick, science fiction epic. Yeah, I know. That's why there are rules and barriers.
What makes you feel alive?
Another freebie. My husband's beard against my face, baby toes and kid hugs, good music, great food, friends who love me even when I zone out and forget to call them, pretty flowers... You get the ideas. I'm pretty simple.
How does something worm its way into your heart? Through tears, truth, humor or other?
All of the above. Those three are my favorite trilogy. I try to infuse some of each into my books. How did you know?
Frizzy hair, purple scarf and a book – make a character.
An exploding eggplant. It's probably what I looked like, but hey, if you can't be a frizzy vegetable every now and again, what's the point in living? And living is important. More important than my currently untamed man. If I don't get this book back into my boss's library before she notices...
"Cherise! Where have you been? And what's wrong with your hair. And that outfit? It's horrid. Warm colors, honey. Warm. Colors. Didn't we have this talk after the electric blue incident?"
Too late. "I had to make a run. An errand--"
The book, a hardback copy of Maya Angelou's I Know why the Caged Bird Sings, slipped out of my bag and hit the floor. I guess I squeezed it too hard and managed to turn it upside down. Did I say that my boss makes me nervous.
My employer's face turned a blotchy red. In spots.
"Tell me that isn't to replace my autographed copy I've been looking for. Tell me..." She slid to the floor in a dead faint.
So much for living...
Man, I got carried away with that one. LOL Thanks for the fun, Kelly!
Thank you, Marilyn. Great insight into the inner you!
In case you missed the links yesterday:
Tangerine- http://www.amazon.com/exec
Marilyn's Website - http://marilynngriffith
Happy Weekend!
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