Serials and Scenarios - Sigmund Brouwer

Sigmund sent a special link to a music video "Beautiful Bird" that you just have to see. It has special significance to him and only partially because it's from his wife Cindy's new CD. I think I can safely say that his daughters are little angels.

Without further ado...here is the Q & A for today.

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

Joe Hardy. I cut my teeth on those mysteries, and he was

my hero when I was in third grade. I’d walk around copying down license plate numbers of suspicious people, and practice following people around town, just to hone my detective skills.

If you could ask any person, living or dead, a random question -- what question would you ask of whom?

If you limited me to one person, it would have to be the designer of Stonehenge: why?

Some out there in writing land have strange rituals. Share yours.

If I can’t golf three times a week, I’m totally unable to be creative. That’s my story, and I’m sticking with it.

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

No more rhyming and I mean it. . .anybody want a peanut? From the Princess Bride.

What period of history intrigues you the most?

Ancient Rome. So much like the United States and politics today, yet so incredibly different.

What makes you feel alive?

Having my little girls run toward me, shouting my favorite word: Daddy.

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.

Moon, hands down. To get a sense of the immensity of the universe. But only if you guaranteed me safe re-entry. It’s not that I’m a coward, I just want to spend as much time with my girls as possible.

What would you do today if you knew you had only a week to live?

Not only today, but every day to the end of that week at Henry Horton State Park with our family ritual. There’s a wide, shallow river where the girls play and my wife and I sit in lawn chairs and watch as they dig out crawdads. Then up to the playground, and then onto playing catch with the girls. Followed by ice cream cones on the way home.

Thanks, Sigmund.

And I hope you all have a wonderful holiday weekend, friends and fam.

Serials and Scenarios - Broken Angel

Come back tomorrow for Sigmund's Dregs interview. He's even giving us a link to a special music video.

• Description: (Which contains a link to read the first chapter.)
  
  Her birth was shrouded in mystery and tragedy.
  Her destiny is beyond comprehension.
  Her pursuers long to see her broken.
  She fights to soar.
  
  A father's love for his daughter…a decision that would change both their lives forever. But who is she really─and why must she now run for her life?
  
  Caitlin's body has made her an outcast, a freak, and the target of vicious bounty hunters. As she begins a perilous journey, she is forced to seek answers for her father's betrayal in the only things she can carry with her─a letter he passes her before forcing her to run, and their shared memories together.
  
  Being hunted forces Caitlyn to partner with two equally lonely companions, one longing to escape the horror of factory life in Appalachia and the others, an unexpected fugitive. Together the three will fight to reach a mysterious group that might be friend or foe, where Caitlyn hopes to uncover the secrets of her past...and the destiny she must fulfill.
  
  In the rough, shadowy hills of Appalachia, a nation carved from the United States following years of government infighting, Caitlyn and her companions are the prey in a terrifying hunt. They must outwit the relentless bounty hunters, skirt an oppressive, ever-watchful society, and find passage over the walls of Appalachia to reveal the dark secrets behind Caitlyn’s existence–and understand her father’s betrayal.
  
  Prepare yourself to experience a chilling America of the very near future, as you discover the unforgettable secret of the Broken Angel.
  
  In this engrossing, lightning-paced story with a post-apocalyptic edge, best-selling author Sigmund Brouwer weaves a heroic, harrowing journey through the path of a treacherous culture only one or two steps removed from our own.
  
  If you would like to read the first chapter, go HERE.
  
  

My Review:

A fascinating look at a future time with chilling possibilities. The story of Broken Angel centers around a daughter with a secret, even to her, and a father who gave up everything to keep it just that.

The government, a form of Big Brother, knows all, unless one is clever enough or daring enough to test that theory. Jordan is, and Caitlyn is left to pick up all the pieces, the trails and the horror of what has just been revealed to her and what might lie ahead.

Action-packed, well-written, full of moments of creepiness, this book is a lightning-fast read and hopefully book one of a series because I would really like to find out what happens after "The End." Broken Angel is my first Brouwer book but it won't be my last.

Scribbles and Scrambles - Happy Birthday Lily and Lola

I think Grand-Puppies are a great idea. Lily is fixated on the treat in the top view. Lola freezes pre-salivation in the bottom picture.

(Treats...a wonderful invention and the only way to stop the whirling dervishes.)

C-U-T-E. Rob's legs and feet appearing also.

Scribble and Scrambles - Pictorial Recap of the Week

My new haircut. The girls bought me a new do for Mother's Day plus some serious trimmin's. My son and his wife threw together a gourmet meal and a sweet pair o' earrings ....definitely my favorite Mother's Day yet.

Here we have angry eyes times two...except for the smirks...hard to do it on command. I need to get some angry eyes from Rob. He's the best.

And a pretty from my front porch. The sun was shining, the sky was blue...I'm attracted to sparkly objects. What can I say?

Serials and Scenarios - Embrace Me

Click on the cover to find out more about Embrace Me, and here to visit Lisa Samson. She answered the Dregs questions on a previous visit, here. (scroll down)

If you'd like to read the first chapter....here you go.

My Review:

Lisa Samson has crafted a novel that will likely thrill her fans. Not only because Samson shows her immense talent with words in Embrace Me. But because Samson revisits some characters from previous novels. I was pleasantly surprised to find out some characters that I grew to love are doing well -- thriving even. But those folks aren't the focus of the story.

A character study unlike any I've ever read, Embrace Me, showcases wounded characters over the span of a decade or so. Drew emotionally drowns in his selfishness and then attempts to purge the selfishness out of his system one cigarette at a time. Eventually his outside scars will mirror his inner ones. Valentine, has become a cynical and wounded heart encased in a reptilian mask. In an attempt to survive she sells peeks of her damaged face at a carnival side-show. Billed as Lizard Woman, she flaunts her pain, but becomes a prisoner as she will only go out in the darkest moments of the night. A smattering of additional characters like Lella, the sweet, selfless "human cocoon" who gives Valentine a reason to go on living, Gus, a modern day monk, Blaize, the woman who takes Valentine and Lella in, add richness and even more depth to the novel.

The story span begins with Drew's meltdown in 2002 and Valentine's arrival in the late fall of 2008 and the unfolding of details regarding a very, very small world and a very involved, very big God.

I will say that some readers might struggle with the subject matter. Samson doesn't paint false pictures. Her characters are very real, and often not pretty. They resemble real life churches and families, those who don't hide their dysfunction under glossy "church face" glitz and glitter anyway. Rough subjects and rough behavior fill Embrace Me. One of the reviewers I work with struggled with writing a review and with finding the point, so unless you like digging into characters and are unconcerned about plots that leave breathing room, you might want to look over several reviews before buying Embrace Me. But if you like Christian fiction that pushes the envelope and makes you think and get lost in the lives of broken people...I recommend it.

Super Cinema Saturday ~ Atonement

My Review:

Atonement is a difficult movie on several levels. Emotionally, it's a tale of twisting logic and the power of simple words unleashed. It's a story of what ifs and if onlys. An epic full of longing and sorrow, passion and pain,

Atonement is not a movie to watch to unwind after a taxing day full of drama, unless intense drama onscreen helps you unwind. Though the writing is tight and intriguing and the acting spot-on, the transitions from some scenes to others left me scratching my head.

Several scenes are revisited with different points of view. I also struggled with following a couple of time line events for the same reason. One character ages from ten or eleven to eighteen but the stated time frame is only five years unless I missed a heading telling the viewers of a time change.

I will have to watch Atonement again because I'm not sure I fully appreciated the message of the film. Though Atonement is the title, I'm not sure how this played out throughout the storyline. When it's all said and done, I don't see it. I can't say anymore without a spoiler, so I won't.

Atonement is not going to appeal to the majority of movie lovers. Historical fans may not find enough historical richness though there are plenty of shadows and hints of the times. War epic fans may not find enough though there are strong and poignant war moments. Those who want cookie cutter endings definitely are going to want to avoid it unless in a mood to cry. Fans of tragedy or human character and the study of why people do what they do may really find the most satisfaction.

Sensitivity warning...the war scenes are peppered with the F-word, and a young man pens a note sharing what he'd like to do sexually with the woman he loves and one crude anatomical word is shown several times. Child endangerment and adult-child inappropriateness are an issue early in the movie. A couple are shown in a sexual embrace though much is hidden by clothes and lighting, an assault with a glimpse of nudity as well as a young woman in a white, wet dress add to the need for the R rating. Some war injuries are moderately intense as are the death of some horses.

The acting is the major reason I'd suggest the film. Cinematography and writing would be the secondary reasons. Otherwise, if you are ambivalent, rent before you buy or skip altogether unless you like your stories to go really deep into the reality of cause and effect.

Serials and Scenarios - Amy Wallace's Healing Promises

Amy Wallace visited the Dregs last spring. Read her entertaining interview here (scroll down). If you want a sneak peek at Healing Promises, click here to read the first chapter.

And without further ado...my review:

Amy Wallace once again tackles tough subject matter with skill and grace.

I'd heard mixed feedback before opening the cover of Healing Promises and I was concerned that I might not love it. One friend mentioned feeling a little like an emotional punching bag during her time with Clint and Sara.

I see where she was coming from -- the themes of cancer and child predators are grueling at best. Wallace fills her novel with clinical details and law enforcement procedure and the effects of the truth in those details applied to the lives of her characters. At times I needed to take a break from the emotion. Anyone dealing with close instances of child abuse or critical health issues might want to read the first chapter to get a feel for where Wallace takes the reader.

But the reader's emotional involvement in the lives of the characters and the angst over the drama shows Wallace's skill with storytelling. Her characters feel like real people and compassion comes into play. With several points of view the reader is able to get a sense of the major players as the story progresses -- a front row seat to the struggles and triumphs and the failings and sorrows.

Healing Promises continues the tale of Steven and Gracie so readers of Ransomed Dreams should feel at home, but Healing Promises can stand alone. Fans of Karen Kingsbury might want to check into Amy Wallace. I need to add a sensitivity warning. Some scenes are brutal. The novel is full of suffering and details that might make a reader squirm.