Serials and Scenarios - Ruby Among Us

Visit Tina's blog, click on her book cover, or read the first chapter. Come back Friday for an interview.


Book Description:

Sometimes, the key that unlocks your future lies in someone else’s past...

In Ruby Among Us, Lucy DiCamillo is safely surrounded by her books, music, and art─but none of these reclusive comforts or even the protective efforts of her grandmother, Kitty can shield her from the memory of the mother she can no longer remember. Lucy senses her grandmother holds the key, but Kitty seems as eager to hide from the past as Lucy is eager to find it.

From the streets of San Francisco and Sacramento, to the lush vineyards of the Sonoma Valley, Lucy follows the thread of memory in search for a heritage that seems long-buried with her mother, Ruby.

What she finds is enigmatic and stirring in this redemptive tale about the power of faith and mother-daughter love.


My Review:

Ruby Among Us is a coming of age novel that wends its way through the lives of three women and the men who have loved them. Exploring the complexity of a young woman's fight to know the truth and an older woman's desire to protect her granddaughter from it results in a slow waltz of control, passion, fear and longing. Moments that shine of allegorical truth swirl within the story of Lucy and Kitty who live steeped in sorrow and guilt in parallel companionship that is only an inch deep.

Decades of story unfold when Lucy struggles to find out the truth about her mother's short life. Her quest takes her from a college campus to a vineyard, from death to death of innocence and from longing to sorrow to acceptance.

In the advanced reader's unproofed copy I struggled with some POV/tense issues that no doubt have been taken care of in the final version.

Inspirational fiction fans should find quite a bit to like in Ruby. Literary or romance fans may not find enough of either to really satisfy though there are flashes of each. The faith elements are realistically handled and some heavy duty topics are covered with grace and sensitivity.

Scribble and Scrambles - Piddling Along....

I don't think this will be a flattering comparison, but this is where I live, people.

Ready?

As much as I don't want to, I really can't help finding similarities between the Christian walk and puppy training or maybe the more appropriate title of puppy wrangling.

I suppose I'm not the only one to make this connection since there is that very unpleasant scripture regarding dogs and their vomit. But I'm not even going to go there, I'm not exactly a Solomon.

Point One.

No matter how much I congratulate myself or my daughter regarding the mastering of potty training, we are still unable, at the one year mark, to trust the puppies to be home alone in the house. Oh, they do very well with supervision... most of the time. However, two puppies guarantees distractions, and distractions and moderately full bladders equals accidents waiting to happen. And they do.

When we first got them and Rob and I puppysat, within twenty minutes we might have six accidents (the puppies, not us). The big issue seemed to be the previous owners training the puppies to use puppy pads, so they seemed to think the world was just one big old puppy pad. How many rolls of paper towels did we go through? How many bottles of cleaner? Oy! Eventually, they seem to understand that outside = potty. Good girl. Treats! Happy people. Indoor = not potty, not happy people.

Lately, with the rain, we've discovered that they will go as close to the house as possible. Better than the floor, but we're talking a yard that is just shy of an acre. A branching out would be nice. But the rain is not something they care for. And we've set out a board to help cut down on tracked mud. Lola, the especially rain-hating, will go on the board every time she's not directed elsewhere. And Lily will head outside and chase a leaf and forget to go potty, so we have to watch her to make sure she goes. They both have played the "I went, now I get my treat!" game and have only piddled when there should be some puddling going on and we have to tell them to go again.

I'm glad we live in the country. I'd hate to have close neighbors have to listen to the endless chants of "Go Potty!" " Lily! No! Potty! Lily! Go peepee!" "No! Not on the board, Lola!"

So how are we, as Christians, like puppy training?

We have bad habits that make the new ways of walking and talking difficult to embrace.

We have to be told over and over again. Seriously, when was the last time you got a spiritual truth the FIRST time you encountered it? I have to hear it Sunday, read it Monday, be slapped by a real-life example on Tuesday, and then have it set to music on Wednesday. And that's just week one.

We are so fearful and skittish of things outside of our experience/comfort level, that we hover as close to the door as we possibly can. So much so that we sometimes have to leap over piles of our own making, or walk right through them.

That's enough for today. I'm getting a little depressed just thinking about it. Hope you are not tracking through bad habits and leaving a certain perfume wherever you're going today. I'm going to check my shoes, and between my toes because I'm smelling something a little rank.

Super Cinema Saturday ~ 27 Dresses

Cover Description:

Katherine Heigl (TV's Grey's Anatomy) lights up the screen in this charming romantic comedy from the screenwriter of The Devil Wears Prada."

Heigl stars as Jane a romantic completely selfless woman who has been a bridesmaid in no less than 27 weddings. Unfortunately her own happy ending seems to be nowhere in sight. Until her younger sister Tess captures the heart of Jane's boss -- on whom Jane has a secret crush inspiring Jane to change her "always-a-bridesmaid" destiny.

My Review:

Wedding Planner fans have already probably seen 27 Dresses and loved it. The two films share a love of wedding details and the romance of the moments...all the moments leading up to the trip home from the honeymoon.

I happen to fall somewhere in that category so I liked 27 Dresses. Some of it I liked a lot. Jane and Kevin have a sweet and spicy relationship that comes off as believable. Katherine Heigl also plays the part of a martyr with some great facial comedic moments. I liked the flavor and personality of the film and had fun watching it. I appreciated that I didn't have to watch sex, though I heard a bit about it, and there were behind the scenes moments.

I didn't care for Jane's sister Tess and didn't buy into the passive aggressiveness of the relationship and Tess's extreme selfishness. I didn't buy Jane's long-term crush on George either. Jane's best friend claims to have a defective moral compass and demonstrates that throughout the film. Don't get me wrong, she's funny, but it's not humor for your great-grandma or your ten year old. There are several s-words sprinkled throughout and an F-Bomb is muffled during a massive Jane meltdown.

Overall, 27 Dresses is a fun movie that falls into the PG13 category for a reason. It is one of those that a group of women can pop in while they gorge on chocolate and popcorn and paint their nails (hopefully not at the same time). Or a fun date night if you don't get embarrassed with innuendo and outright crude comments. Good for a few laughs and a couple of sighs.

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?