Serials and Scenarios - The Watchers

Before I head off to the land of Vikings, and most excellent coffee, let me leave you with thoughts on a new book release.


Yes, I'm visiting Michelle, my French Press mentor and separated-at-birth twin. Yes, there is another person like me out there. You northerners might want to watch out.

Michelle tends to play the straight man, unless bent over double, laughing at my latest stupid human trick. She's the one who drew everyone's attention to my body smashed against the revolving door at the writer's conference in September.

But, she makes great coffee, and is pretty good at killing fictional characters. She's signed us up for a self-defense class Friday night. If you hear any loud crashes from the northern corner of the United States, it's probably us.

Mark Andrew Olsen, Christy Award nominated author of "The Assignment" has written a new supernatural suspense novel. Go to the Amazon buzz page:
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0764228188

My review of "The Watchers."

If you like globetrotting spiritual warfare novels, you're going to want to check out "The Watchers."

With a different twist on the standard warfare, "The Watchers" tackles some intriguing church history, and some tragic realities about the current state of religion. Crossing cultural and racial boundaries, Mark Andrew Olsen writes of an age-old demonic plan, and the way it could play out in our age of technology.

Some segments are truly creepy and will give the Big Honkin Chicken Club members a shudder or two. The novel reads very much like a screenplay and would be an action-packed movie. Christian themes of prayer and submission are well handled. The Gospel is present, obvious and not overdone.

Though written in omniscient POV, my least favorite, and though the main characters are not always believable, I found this an enjoyable read. My character issue likely stems from the omniscient POV. Dylan ended up being a little stereotypically alpha-male. But in a thriller genre, a reader generally isn't looking for depth of characterization.

Overall, Mark Andrew Olsen tells a great story with compelling writing.

Fans of Dekker, Peretti, Mapes and Mackel will find this a satisfying power-packed read.

Scribbles and Scrambles - The Closet - Final Installment

It occurred to me, around midnight last night, that a live-in carpenter is a lovely thing.

Prior to that thought, my carpenter and I had gone out on the town.

Our date-night involved a 45 minute wait at our local seafood restaurant with which we killed time at one of the many available guy stores. This particular guy store had some components for my unfinished closet. A simple hint, and $40.00 later they were mine.

I thought I’d find a nice corner for them, maybe incorporate them into the décor, which still includes several tools and unfinished bits and pieces mixed in with the pretty places.

Imagine my surprise as I headed upstairs after putting a load of clothes in the washing machine to find my eldest daughter waiting for me.

“Should I be concerned that Dad is wearing his pajamas, and carrying a drill?”

Didn’t seem at all odd to me. I shrugged.

But then I heard the lovely sound of drilling, from the very back of the house, near the center of my closet.

Carefully, so as not to break any spells, I tiptoed to my bedroom. There, on my bed, lay the rest of my closet, except for the piece in his hand.

All this to tell you….drum roll please….my closet is done. Whoo-hoo.

Oh my, what does that do to my excuse for not being unpacked?

Scribbles and Scrambles - Abby Ormal-Nay

Once again, I come to you, bare my soul in cyberspace…am I abby normal?

I used to think those in their forties and even older thirties had their acts to-geth-er.

I also thought I’d get there eventually.

Maybe I’m on the remedial track to wisdom and respectability. Somehow I’ve missed the “refined and tasteful” yacht, and avoided the “mature” express. Instead I’m on the perpetual Ferris Wheel of goofiness. No, not Merry-Go-Round, far too centered.

This moment of angst, which isn’t angst at all, is brought on by an early morning comment from my husband. I say it’s not angst because a small -- or large depending on the speed and velocity of the Ferris Wheel -- part of me loves being twisted.

Anyhoo, on the way to work this morning, I chattered. Hubby is not always a morning person, so sometimes our rides are quiet. Today, I chattered. For some odd reason I began to talk in Pig Latin. I’ve never blogged in Pig Latin. It’s not my language of first choice. Frankly, you all know I have enough trouble with English.

I rambled on, about pretty much nothing at all, laughing, enjoying the trip to the office.

He chuckled. “You know, I really love the way you entertain yourself.”

“Moi?” Or maybe I said Oi-May.

“Yeah, you say something, follow it with a laugh, build on it and then you’re off. Pretty soon you’re totally cracking yourself up. Have you ever noticed that?”

I’m going to be a riot in the nursing home.

Serials and Scenarios - Tricia Goyer - Part 2

I mentioned Part 3 of Tricia Goyer's interview. Consider that something for future reading plasure. I oopsed (new verb - might want to take notice - feel free to use it). This is part 2 of Tricia's interview.

Her answers are bold and my questions are the usual.

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.)

I would LOVE to write the screenplays for my WWII historical novels! always seem them as movies in my head. I've even picked out the characters ... From Dust and Ashes would have Elizabeth Shue, Penelope Cruz, Damian Lewis, and Val Kilmar. (Yes, I have thought of this!)

What makes you feel alive?

Finishing ... finishing a book I'm writing, finishing making dinner for my family, finishing house cleaning, finishing my morning Bible reading and feeling refreshed!


How does something worm its way into your heart? Through tears, truth, humor or other?


Good question. I suppose it would be "seeing." I see a problem, or see a group of people that need encouragement, and I want to write about it. I see hurting people and I want to help. I see my kids and husband and I want to love. I see a story in my mind . . . and before I know it, it's in my heart and I have to get it out.


Which compliment related to your writing has meant the most and why?

I love when people tell me they can't put my book down. It's then I know I've met a need.


What criticism has cut the deepest and why?


Any bad review. It can make me forget the last 100 compliments. It also makes me wonder why I "put myself out there" like that. Yet I can't stop writing!



Story starters: Pick one and shoot us a couple of sentences or paragraphs.

Frizzy hair, purple scarf and a book – make a character.


Chloe Pierson tucked her hair tight under her scarf and hoped the bookstore owner didn't recognize her. It was a bad hair day, to say the least. In fact the dry, mountain air always made her hair frizz. Still, that didn't hinder her enthusiasm as she strolled over to the bookshelf that display the New York Times list. Her book had made the list, but was strangely empty from the shelf. Not that she blamed them.


From the time she was fourteen and had moved to his small, Nevada town she had visited this bookstore every Saturday and dreamed of her own book finding its place here. Yet, she had never dreamed as big as to imagine it on this self. And she never understood that by telling this story that she'd not only be the town's most hated citizen, but also on the run for her life.


Thanks, Tricia. Happy weekend, everyone. And if you are in the blizzard zone keep cozy.

Serials and Scenarios - Valley of Betrayal

I'm bad. I haven't posted since Monday. I had good intentions...but didn't follow through. If it makes you feel any better, I have been punished March's lion roar entrance. I reside in the current blizzard belt (no, not the infamous ice cream Blizzard, the real deal.) I dug out, though, just to bring you the latest from Tricia Goyer. Come back tomorrow for the interview.

The Book: http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0802467679

The Author: http://triciagoyer.blogspot.com/

The Review:

Tricia Goyer has penned a wrenching look at war and the people in the midst of it in "Valley of Betrayal."

Her characters come to life as they struggle with wrong and right and the consequences of their choices. With beautiful words and powerful emotion, Goyer creates locations that come alive in the reader's mind. I struggled with female characters with shallower-than-I-care-for depth in her previous novel, not so with Sophie. Even though Goyer has created many characters with several points of view in "Valley," I don't feel like anyone came across as cardboard or lifeless.

Some of Goyer's descriptions are breathtakingly poetic. The scenes of war and the damage done to people who are attempting to go about living their lives, as they knew them, are heartbreaking. Goyer manages to display the horror of war, but still offers the hope that comes with God, and with each new morning.

The drones of incoming planes, the sadness in the eyes of the broken, the depth of pain, all make this a book for those who crave deep fiction. It's not lighthearted, nor is it a romance. Moments of grit, loss and gore are peppered throughout. The ending leaves a few unanswered questions. I assume the next book will pick up some of those dangling threads.

As a ten year old child I read "The Hiding Place" and faced months of dreams filled with the images it painted. Not that "The Hiding Place" wasn't important or good, just that it changed something inside of me, woke me up to some reality I wasn't ready to face. "Valley" could have this impact on readers. There is an underlying sadness written throughout, an awareness of how ugly and brutal evil is. The history is rich, but before letting a child read it, a parent should screen "Valley."

Come back tomorrow for Part 3 of Tricia's interview.

If you live in the blizzard belt - STAY INSIDE...unless you are out of coffee or chocolate, then BE CAREFUL.

Scribbles and Scrambles - Ahhh This Feels So Good

This is not a morose Monday in my neck of the woods.

If I had gotten up early and traveled to work and had to whip out a blogger post on my lunch hour, it could have been a traditional blah "do I have to be here?" Monday.

But I currently sit at my desk, in my new home office.

This is maybe a bit of a stretch. My office is a corner, and I am still surrounded by an unfinished remodel. Some drywall waiting for one more slap of mud, a yawning open closet packed with water heater and furnace, insulation covered in plastic in another spot, but if I focus on certain specific spots everything feels done.

Our bounced couch is cozy and turned so you'd never know it hurtled through space and hopscotched west on I-80 eastbound.

There is, of course, a spiritual application regarding focus in this post. But I think I'll let you ponder that on your own.

The most exciting thing about my little corner is that I am sitting at a lovely desk built by my talented husband, and I am hooked up to the computer that has long lain dormant.

Now I have no excuse not to write.

Oooh. I don't know how I feel about that so I'm not going to think about it right now.

I'm celebrating.

I have brand spanking new DSL, a chair with rolling wheels (which is really a bad idea considering I am five feet away from the unrailingized stairwell.)

I'm choosing not to ponder the implications of the wheels on the chair. Instead I am staring out my "office" window. Skeletal trees are blanketed with two inches of snow so they look like mutant pipecleaners. The sun glints off the bright white and through the icicles dangling, dripping like melting diamonds.

I've even accomplished laundry and dishes this morning. Ahhh. A good Monday, indeed.

Hope yours is good as well.

Serials and Scenarios - Chronicles of John Aubrey Anderson

John Aubrey Anderson in black and white. He's bold.



Fiction character you would most like to be or most identify with and why?

I would want to be me . . . with the heart of Reepicheep, the valiant mouse in The Chronicles of Narnia. Reep is the personification of chivalry; fear will never whisper to his decision-making process; and he is unalterably and unabashedly devoted to the King and His cause.

If you could change something in any novel, what would you change about it and why?

Is it okay to change two?
I'd change THE SHOOTIST to conform to the movie. I read the book because I liked the movie and I didn't like the written version at all.
And in John Grisham's THE PARTNER, I'd have the protagonist get a little better deal at the end . . . but I'm a sap.


Favorite turn of phrase or word picture, in literature or movie.

The Lt. Sam Weinberg character in "A Few Good Men" said, "I have no responsibility here whatsoever." I quote him often.


If you were assured of writing a best-seller, what genre would it be? Give us a sliver of information, a characteristic or glimpse of a scene.

I'd write action/suspense.
My protagonist would find himself in a bloody confrontation . . . in a hostile environment, surrounded by an overwhelming enemy force . . . he's weakened, exhausted and disheartened, stripped of hope . . . his survival is dependent upon whether or not he can muster the tenacity of purpose to take him beyond that point where normal men would surrender. And he may die there.


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.)

God has given the gift of writing in the genre that gives me energy.
I want to write intense suspense/thriller fiction that rivets truth to the hearts of men, women, boys, and girls.


Where would you most like to travel ----- moon, north pole, deep seas, deserted island, the holy land or back to a place from your childhood, somewhere else? – and why.

I flew for an airline for almost twenty-nine years, and I've been
lots of places, but I'm a dud in the travel department. From Bangor to Seattle, the California cities . . . they all have a lot to offer, I guess, but I always ended up on the same familiar streets . . . strolling, drinking coffee, and watching people. Years ago it was Bangkok, Madrid, London, Hong Kong, London, Rome, Athens . . . same streets and people, different accents.


Favorite season and why?

The one I'm in at the moment. Seasons pass pretty fast at my age . . . I like to enjoy them all.


Which compliment related to your writing has meant the most and why?

I have to bend the rules because this is not exactly a
compliment . . . and I didn't hear it firsthand.
When I went to my first-ever writers' conference, we were allowed to mail two proposals in ahead of time and chose which editors we wanted to have take a look at our work.
As it happened, the guy I had my sights set on ended up being inundated with proposals. While he was pouring over non-fiction proposals, his wife was rummaging around in his fiction slush pile. After reading my work, she walked into the room where he was working and held up my packet.

"This is the one."

The next day the editor and I sat down and talked. That was in the spring of 2003 . . . and he and I are talking about book four now.


What criticism has cut the deepest and why?

I know criticism is on the way, but so far it's been jot and tittle
stuff. There will come a day when someone will come down hard on my work, but unless their comments are supported by people I trust, I'll probably ignore them. If their words have merit, I hope I'll profit from what they have to say.


Favorite chore - Why?

I like taking care of our cars . . . keeping them clean and changing the oil. One of the worst things about being so busy for the last four years is . . . my car has only been washed about three times. I've kept the oil changed, but the interior looks like I've been using it to host styrofoam fights.


Thanks, John

Happy weekend, everyone.