Serials and Scenarios ~ Limited Time Contest

Teach your kids about prayer, have fun and be entered to win 30+ kids books!

Teaching your kids about prayer is important, but it can also be enlightening to get a child's perspective on something that we as adults take for granted.

Here's your mission (should you choose to accept it):

• Video your child(ren) talking about prayer, praying, explaining what prayer is, etc. It can be creative, informational, enlightening, funny, or all of the above but it needs to be no more than one minute and thirty seconds long.
  
  
• The video doesn't need to be professional quality. You can shoot it using your phone's video recorder or use that "video" feature on your digital camera for the first time!
  
  
• Post your video on YouTube, Tangle or Vimeo.
  
• Go to our website and enter your information and include the link of your video (the full list of instruction on how to enter can be found here).
  
• The winning video will win a full library of WaterBrook Multnomah children's books, including the new release This Little Prayer of Mine by Anthony DeStefano. That's over 30 books!

Teaching your kids about prayer has never been so fun! See here for contest rules and more information.

HURRY! This contest ends on 6/7/2010 so time is limited.

ENTER NOW!

Serials and Scenarios~ Travis Thrasher's Broken

This week, the
Christian Fiction Blog Alliance
is introducing
Broken
FaithWords (May 25, 2010)
by
Travis Thrasher

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

It was during third grade after a teacher encouraged him in his writing and as he read through The Narnia Chronicles by C.S. Lewis that Travis decided he wanted to be a writer. The dream never left him, and allowed him to fulfill that dream of writing fulltime in 2007.

Travis Thrasher is the author of numerous works of fiction, including his most personal and perhaps his deepest work, Sky Blue, that was published in summer of 2007. This year he has to novels published, Out of the Devil’s Mouth, and a supernatural thriller, Isolation.

Travis is married to Sharon and they are the proud parents of Kylie, born in November, 2006, and Hailey, a Shih-Tzu that looks like an Ewok. They live in suburban Chicago.

Stop by and visit Travis at his Blog where you can sign up to follow him on Facebook and Twitter!


ABOUT THE BOOK

Laila had it all--love, family, wealth, and faith. But when her faith crumbles, her world falls apart and Laila finds herself living an empty, dangerous life as a call girl in Chicago.

When she is threatened, Laila shoots and kills a client in self-defense, sending herself into a spiral of guilt and emptiness. Six months later, she is trying to move on, but she's haunted by the past. She hasn't told anyone about the man she killed, and she's still estranged from her family.

When she is approached by a stranger who says he knows what she did, Laila has no choice but to run. But the stranger stays close behind, and Laila begins having visions of the man she killed. Little does she know she's being hounded by something not of this world, something that knows her deepest, darkest secret.

Scared and wandering, will Laila regain her trust in God to protect her from these demons? Or will her plea for salvation come too late?

If you would like to read the first chapter of Broken, go HERE.

Read my thoughts on Ghostwriter here.


My Thoughts:

Broken is one of the few novels I've read in a horror genre so read my comments in that light whether you are a horror fan or not.

Travis Thrasher writes complicated characters with page-turning tension. Broken is written in the 3rd-person-present-tense point-of-view that is at times difficult to read but one that amps up the tension. As with the other horror books I've read, there are several moments within Broken that had me looking over my shoulder or responding to hair-raising shudders.

I was intrigued with Thrasher's creative twists and turns and feel the need to check out more of his novels. The themes of ghosts, redemption, demons and hope in Christ are a blend that works, especially for folks who don't mind feeling creeped-out a few times. There is low key language and there are some difficult adult themes so I don't recommend it for children or young teens.

I did struggle with some confusion as the story played out. Each chapter opens with a page or two of the main character's journal. These were my favorite sections of the book because I felt they fully fleshed Laila out and made me feel involved in her story. In between the journal pages were scenes that either played off the journal section, added more details or twisted/contradicted it.

Some of the secondary characters crossed over into stereotypical or cheesy a few times and I don't know that they really added the element of fear because of it.

I can't say I loved this novel. It was an interesting read, definitely, and a page-turner most of the time. But.

Scribbles and Scrambles ~ Pre-Thursday Deep Thoughts

If you don't want to get fleas, you shouldn't roll with dogs who are infested.

If you want your dreams to come true... stop participating in nightmare inducing activities.

Life is generally not a series of random Murphy's Laws targeting a few unfortunate, innocent souls. Bad stuff happens, but, more often and more likely, bad stuff is something you dragged in on your shoe after sneaking through a path of chosen naivety.

If you want happily ever after, you gotta stop seeking out the villain.

If you hope to be respected, you really need to behave as if you deserve respect.

Need someone to love you? Quit pushing away the ones who care and clutching at selfish ones who never will.

Cause and effect, it's not just a quippy phrase, it's what happens in response to what you chose to do.

If you want to be grown up, then you have to suck it up and act like one.

Serials and Scenarios ~ Frenzy~ Robert Liparulo

This week, the
Christian Fiction Blog Alliance
is introducing
Frenzy
Thomas Nelson (May 18, 2010)
by
Robert Liparulo

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

Robert Liparulo is a former journalist, with over a thousand articles and multiple writing awards to his name. His first novel, Comes a Horseman, released to critical acclaim. Each of his subsequent thrillers—Germ, Deadfall, and Deadlock—secured his place as one of today’s most popular and daring thriller writers.

He is known for investing deep research and chillingly accurate predictions of near-future scenarios into his stories. In fact, his thorough, journalistic approach to research has resulted in his becoming an expert on the various topics he explores in his fiction, and he has appeared on such media outlets as CNN and ABC Radio.

Liparulo’s visual style of writing has caught the eye of Hollywood producers. Currently, three of his novels for adults are in various stages of development for the big screen: the film rights to Comes A Horseman. were purchased by the producer of Tom Clancy’s movies; and Liparulo is penning the screenplays for GERM and Deadfall for two top producers. He is also working with the director Andrew Davis (The Fugitive, Holes) on a political thriller. Novelist Michael Palmer calls Deadfall “a brilliantly crafted thriller.” March 31st marked the publication of Deadfall’s follow-up, Deadlock, which novelist Gayle Lynds calls, “best of high-octane suspense.”

Liparulo’s bestselling young adult series, Dreamhouse Kings, debuted in 2008 with House of Dark Shadows and Watcher in the Woods. Book three, Gatekeepers, released in January 2009, and number four, Timescape, in July 2009, and number five, Whirlwind in December 2009. The series has garnered praise from readers, both young and old, as well as attracting famous fans who themselves know the genre inside and out. Of the series, Goosebumps creator R.L. Stine says, “I loved wandering around in these books. With a house of so many great, haunting stories, why would you ever want to go outside?”

With the next two Dreamhouse books “in the can,” he is currently working on his next thriller, which for the first time injects supernatural elements into his brand of gun-blazing storytelling. The story is so compelling, two Hollywood studios are already in talks to acquire it—despite its publication date being more than a year away. After that comes a trilogy of novels, based on his acclaimed short story, which appeared in James Patterson’s Thriller anthology. New York Times bestselling author Steve Berry calls Liparulo’s writing “Inventive, suspenseful, and highly entertaining . . . Robert Liparulo is a storyteller, pure and simple.” He lives with his family in Colorado.

Visit Robert Liparulo's Facebook Fan page: http://www.facebook.com/LiparuloFans


ABOUT THE BOOK

Their destiny is to fix history. Their dream is to get home.



When you live in a house that's really a gateway between past and present, you have to be ready for anything. It's a painful fact the Kings have faced since moving to Pinedale eight days ago. Desperately trying to rescue their mother from an unknown time and place, brothers Xander and David have lunged headlong into the chaos of history's greatest--and most volatile--events. But their goal has continually escaped their grasp.

And worse: Finding Mom is only a small part of what they must do, thanks to the barbaric Taksidian. His ruthless quest to seize their house and its power from them has put not only the family, but all of mankind, in grave danger.

Somehow, the key to it all hinges on Uncle Jesse's words to the boys: "Fixing time is what our family was made to do." But how can they fix a world that has been turned upside down--much less ever find their way home?

At long last, the secrets of the house and the King family are revealed in the stunning conclusion to this epic series.


If you would like to read the Prologue and first Chapter of Frenzy, go HERE.
Sign up for the Frenzy Newsletter HERE.

To read reviews of Bob's other books and his Dregs interviews. Here.


My Thoughts:

With more twists and turns than the crazy Dreamhouse, Robert Liparulo whips, yanks and stretches the complex storyline to a close...well...not exactly. How about a rest? Kind of.

The six book series span a week in real time and centuries in time travel. The King family is stretched to breaking during their adventures that made me weak in the knees more than once.

Frenzy pulls loose ends tight and reveals more pieces of the Dreamhouse puzzle. Liparulo played out the tiny Christian element beautifully and the book series ended on a satisfying note. There are elements that would be a lot scary for easily disturbed kids so keep that in mind. Otherwise this series is a terrific, page-turning read.

Scribbles and Scrambles ~ Hands

Today, while my father-in-law dozed, I noticed his hands.

Remarkably, I recognized them because my husband's are copies of the original. At first I choked up because Dad is in the hospital and he's feeling cruddy and he's in the process of... is there a pretty or gentle way to say this... dying.

But then I began to think about what his hands have accomplished in his eighty years on this planet and I wanted to weep for another reason. Like a potter working with soft, wet clay, his hands have shaped my life and the lives of so many others. We all bear unique marks from this man. Almost as if he pressed a thumbprint into us that is covered by the different glazes we wear.

Dad's hands are the hands of a hard-working man of great character. I imagine there are still a few callouses on his hands because he has never really retired from working for his family and their futures. He has been unafraid to get his hands dirty while being a picture of a faithful and loving husband, a tireless listener, and a problem solver. He is respectful but he cuts through the nonsense and gets to the point. He laughs and though rare, I've now seen him cry. Above all he points, unashamedly, to God as the ultimate need in our lives.

Though he is weakening, and I saw a slight tremor, those hands remain as a testimony of who he has been and what he has accomplished. And they are doing a new work. They are teaching us about dying with faith, with dignity and with character.

Scribbles and Scrambles - Fruitfulness by Any Other Name

Wow.

Somehow I missed a big, big moment at Scrambled Dregs.

This is my 1,002nd post.

Hmmm. Didn't know I had reached this level of....loss for words here....verbal diarrhea is not appropriate because these words are primarily typed and I'm pretty sure that particular ailment doesn't apply to fingers.

Expressive...that's good...let me go google something, I'll be right back.....definitely not fertility or fruitfulness, don't like either of those word pictures...how about

fe·cund

 /ˈfikʌnd, -kənd, ˈfɛkʌnd, -ənd/ Show Spe[fee-kuhnd, -kuhnd, fek-uhnd, -uhnd]

–adjective

1.

producing or capable of producing offspring, fruit, vegetation, etc., in abundance; prolific; fruitful: fecund parents; fecund farmland.

2.

very productive or creative intellectually: the fecund years of the Italian Renaissance. But that's not exactly there yet. fecundity. Yes.

I had not realized that I had reached expressive fecundity in my blogging.

My sincere apologies to all who have had to slog through posts such as this where the fecundity leaves a slight odor.

Happy Friday. I am off to do mother of graduate things today and must get coffee in me.

Scribbles and Scrambles ~ What a Horrible Thing to do to Dessert

If desserts spelled backwards is stressed that may explain it.
I just downed a chocolate coconut granola bar....just because it contained chocolate. Coconut would NEVER tempt me. But chocolate coated anything just might if presented at a time of stress.

I'm at one of those points. When it's slightly too early to do anything else right now, and the what-needs-to-be-done is looming on the horizon. And the window of the "right time" is narrow. But. Why is this different than any of the other regularly occurring situations that roll around? I'm not sure.

Maybe because a graduation means the start and clear finish of something, wherein visits and Christmas and Thanksgiving are more just being together. Or maybe it's because the graduation is happening during a time of tremendous change within our family. This is the last graduation of this particular generation. And it is one that is bittersweet for lots of different reasons.

If you are still with me...and you understand what I'm saying. Then bear with me as I power through this week and weeks end and do my best to embrace the sweet and shake off the bitter.