by Roseanna White | Jan 18, 2011 | Uncategorized
Yes, I’m doing it again and talking about a kids book today, because I haven’t had time to read anything else this week. đ (Well, technically speaking, I’ve been reading plenty, but none of it is near publication yet, so . . .)
But this book is a hoot, so all of you with kids should be grateful to me for bringing it to your attention, LOL.
What happens one frantic week when everyone forgets to put the things they need on Momâs shopping list? First, itâs cookies, but no milk. Then macaroni, no cheese. And donât even ask about the toilet paper!
Newcomer Kristen Darbyshireâs quirky humor, fresh, graphic style, and sweetly expressive family of chickens will make this a favorite with kids . . . and the beleaguered grocery shoppers in their lives.
Here’s why I love this book–first, it’s just hilarious as these cute little chickens go through their human-esque world, yet make observations like “Mom, chickens don’t have teeth.” Second, it’s so my life sometimes. I’m not a list person (unlike certain friends and sisters of mine), and I don’t think I’ve ever gone to the grocery store without realizing within 24 hours that I forgot something vital. So it was quite the funny book to read to my kids, who know how very true this can be, LOL.
For a fun, quirky read the adults will enjoy as much as the kids, I can’t recommend this book enough. Even my husband got a few hoots out of it as he caught part of the story while strolling through the living room during our nightly book time–enough that he paused at the doorway to hear the end. For a man who was on his way to watch a hockey game, that’s the highest compliment a kids book can be paid!
We got this book from the Library, but my kids love it enough that they asked if we could get a copy of our own. And I love it enough that I intend to. Can’t wait to see more from Kristen Darbyshire!
by Roseanna White | Jan 17, 2011 | Uncategorized
I’ve spent most of my weekend being mildly sick–nothing life threatening, mind you, just a headache and upset stomach. Which has left me a bit behind on things I need to do this morning, so I’m taking a sick day from blogging. Sorry. I know the world just won’t be the same without my dazzling wit. (Ha . . . ha . . . ha . . .)
So off I go to motivate my daughter to finish her last two minutes of morning homeschool, then back to work I go. Still not feeling fabulous, mind you, but feeling better than I have.
Oh, while you’re still reading . . . I have several friends who have either been dealing with cancer, just diagnosed, or awaiting a diagnosis. If you all could please pray for them, I’d appreciate it. Sandi has been fighting t-cell lymphoma for several months now (I blogged about her before) and is about to undergo another “bad” round of chemo. Mary has just discovered cancer in the bone of her leg, and they’re waiting for test results to tell them what type. We’re standing with Mary to claim healing. Finally, my childhood friend Jennifer has been told she may have cancer of the adrenal gland; biopsy results are still pending. Please pray that she does NOT have cancer, and that her health issues are quickly resolved.
Thanks, all.
by Roseanna White | Jan 14, 2011 | Uncategorized
Today I’m happy to feature another speculative author (or writing couple, as the case may be) from Splashdown Books. Adam and Andrea graham will be chatting about Tales of the Dim Knight.
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About Tales of the Dim Knight
Mild-mannered janitor and superhero fanboy Dave Johnson gets all his wishes at once when a symbiotic alien gives him supernatural powers. But what’s he to do with them? Follow his zany adventures as he fights crime and corruption while trying to keep his family together and avoid being sued for copyright infringement.
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About Adam & Andrea
Adam Graham is a multi-talented author known for his wit and poignancy. His work appears on Pajamasmedia.com, Renew America, American Daily, The Conservative Voice, Red State, and Conservatown. He also has short stories published in the anthology Light at the Edge of Darkness, and in the Laser & Sword e-zine. He is also host of the Truth and Hope Report podcast, as well as the Old Time Dragnet Radio Show, and the Old Time Superman Radio Show. Mr. Graham holds a general studies Associate of Arts degree from Flathead Valley Community College with a concentration in Journalism. He tweets at @idahoguy, @dimknight and @radiodetectives.
Andrea Graham co-authored Adamâs first novel,Tales of the Dim Knight. Her short story âFrozen Generationâ also appeared in Light at the Edge of Darkness. She studied creative writing and religion at Ashland University. Visit her online at POVbootcamp.com and Ask Andrea, or follow her tweets @povbootcamp.
Adam and Andrea live with their cat, Joybell, in Boise, Idaho. They are members of several writers groups, including Lost Genre Guild and American Christian Fiction Writers. Adam is president of their local ACFW chapter, Idahope.
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What’s your latest book?
Tales of the Dim Knight (Splashdown Books 11/22/2010)
It sounds hilarious–love the copyright infringement line in the blurb. =) What’s your favorite part of the story?
I love the superhero team up chapter where Powerhouse joins with four other superheroes to fight a terrorist madman in New York City, er, Megalopolis. We had a blast poking fun at superhero stereotypes and even got to pay homage to the 1960s Batman TV show. Second to that would be the Alien Zoo chapter.
Okay, I’m thoroughly intrigued. What was the hardest part to write?
The relationship portions. Our hero is married and his marriage is in trouble. Getting to be a superhero with all the required whooshing off doesnât help. In early drafts, I really tried to keep the focus on the action while coming back to the marriage here and there. The feedback we kept getting was that there wasnât enough depth or details on the family stuff. Obviously, such an effort can get out of hand and ruin the light tone of the overall story. We worked in more scenes set in Naomiâs point of view, portraying whatâs going on in her world. What was gratifying about the way it worked out is that most of her scenes still have quite a bit of humor and fun. So, the tone of the story is such that weâve got a family comedy-drama worked together with the superhero story.
That sounds like a great balance! What do you hope your readers will get out of the story?
Adam: I hope theyâll laugh a lot and enjoyed the journey.
Is there a theme to this book?
Adam: Grace, forgiveness, and the need for God are big themes.
What’s your favorite genre to write? To read?
Adam: Speculative fiction, mysteries, action adventure. (same for both.)
I’m all surprise. đ What are you reading right nowâand what do you want to read next?
Adam: Iâd been on a reading kick after Christmas, but got hit with a stomach flu. Iâm not yet committed to anything new, though I might try, The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes.
Let me know if you do and like it. We just rented the recently-made movie and loved it, though we understand it’s not exactly accurate, LOL. Other than the Bible, what’s your favorite of all the books you’ve ever read?
Adam: Frank Perettiâs The Oath. really is the most exciting, engaging, and thought-provoking novel Iâve ever read.
Oh, I loved that too! What’s one of the oddest or most interesting things someone has ever said about you?
Adam: Someone once told me I had an accent. I donât. I speak perfectly unaccented English. Thatâs my story and Iâm sticking to it. Though my New Zealand publisher may disagree.
LOL. What would your dream office look likeâand what does your REAL writing environment look like?
It would be a soundproof recording studio. I would lie on the couch as I dictated my material to my robot secretary Bob, who could also program my blogs for WordPress and automatically edit all of my podcasts. My office would also come with a fully modern 3D Holographic workout facility with a five star robot-staffed dining room adjacent to me. (Remember, you asked this of a sci-fi writer.)
My current âofficeâ is a sofa pulled up to my computer because I, like Nero Wolfe, have a certain problem with chairs.
Can I borrow Bob for a few days?? đ Is there any one thing or reference you keep handy when writing? Anything you kept around for this particular book?
Google is pretty much the only thing I âalwaysâ have on hand. My wife likes www.m-w.com.
What lessons have you learned through the publication process that you wouldn’t have guessed as a pre-published writer?
I would never guess the number of things that can become of critical importance when editing.
Ain’t that the truth! Are there any people (family, writing group, editors) who you rely on when writing?
My wife is probably the most important key to any success I have in writing.
Awwww. (Andrea, did you write that answer? Kidding, kidding.) Aside from writing, what takes up most of your time?
Working for the man, man. (Just joking.)
If someone were to give you $5,000 to spend on anything you wanted, what would you buy? (No saving or gifts to charities allowed!)
I would put up the money to start my own publishing imprint and publish, Genesis of Judgment, serious futuristic bioethics novel that has yet to find a publishing home.
Quite a goal! If you could take your family on a vacation anywhere in the world, where would you go?
Iâd have to say Scotland, to the ancestral family castle.
Sweet! What are you writing right now?
Right now, Iâm writing the answers to the interviewâŚOkay, forgive the literal sense of humor. (Quote Monk, âItâs a gift and a curse.â)
Iâve got an idea for a detective parody novel that Iâm working on. I also might get to finishing the origin novel of my 18-inch tall superhero, Packages.
LOL. Any upcoming releases we should keep our eye out for?
I wrote a science fiction story based on Jesusâ parable of the Unjust Judge and sold it to Residential Aliens magazine. It should be out in the next issue or so.
~*~
Thanks for stopping by, guys! Everyone, you can check out their website at http://www.dimknight.com and purchase from Amazon.
by Roseanna White | Jan 13, 2011 | Thoughtful Thursdays, Uncategorized
Most of my readers know me well enough to realize I have two small kids. Xoe’s 5, Rowyn’s 3 next month. One of my greatest frustrations is that it seems that three minutes can’t pass without someone screaming, “Mommy!” Followed by some demand, request, complaint, or whine. It gets a little old sometimes. And then there’s the physical side. Rowyn’s still in that stage where, when he wants me, it isn’t enough to just be where I am. He must be up on my lap, and he does it with energy. He runs across the room, throws himself onto me, and, once situated, just tosses his little self in whichever direction he wants to go to get comfortable.
Now, as one tired mama, this can make me groan. I love that he’s a cuddle-bug, but good golly. Sometimes holding onto this kid feels something like wrestling an alligator. In spite of busted lips, head bumps, hurt arms and bruised knees, he (in true little boy style) never learns to slow down and be easy. No, it’s always full steam, all out. Even when it comes to hugging.
As he did one of his signature lunge-to-the-left moves while supposedly on my lap to get rocked before bedtime, my “oh, my aching back” thought was quickly eclipsed by the realization that this was trust. He trusts that Mommy isn’t going to drop him or let him fall. He trusts that for his every move, I’ll make a countermove. And he trusts that no matter how much I might grumble or chastise, Mommy loves him and will still hug him, rock him, and cuddle him. Even after I say rocking time is over.
It’s humbling. It’s especially humbling because, while I want to make the obvious analogy to God, I realize it’s not perfect. Why? Because God’s arms are so much better than mine. God doesn’t grumble about his aching back. God doesn’t lose patience with our constant whining. God doesn’t ever think, “Can’t you just do it yourself?” No, He in fact wants us to turn to Him with everything. He wants us to ask him in every moment what He thinks we should do. He wants us to toss ourselves into His arms without a care, with all our energy.
My kids have it right. But me–man, I’ve still got a ways to go. Not just in learning to fly to the Lord with such abandon, but in remembering that that’s the way it should be with my kids, that’s the relationship God set up that we are an imitation of. Sure, I want my kids to grow into independent individuals capable of making decisions and, you know, functioning away from the apron strings.
But how do I get them there? By catching them every time they fly at me, answering when they call . . . so that when they’re ready, I can teach them that God is the same way, only better at it.
We tend to complicate things, don’t we? We have this idea these days that our goal with kids ought to be to get them out and on their own ASAP. But is that how we were designed? And because we tend to get impatient with them (I’m speaking for myself here) we then wrongly take that analogy to the us-God relationship and get into the mindset of, “I don’t want to whine to God.”
That’s just not the way it works. Which in turn teaches me that maybe I’m looking at some other things the wrong way too. But one thing I know–no matter how much I mess up, how many times my stubbornness and pride lead me to bruises and scrapes and head bumps, no matter how many times He has to chastise me, I know my Father’s there, His arms open wide. And I know that no matter which way I turn as I jump into them, He’s going to catch me. He’s going to love me. He’s going to hold me, no matter how long I need it.
by Roseanna White | Jan 12, 2011 | Remember When Wednesdays
This past week was a decent one for me when it comes to writing. Not fabulous, mind you–no earth-shattering personal records on word count. But I put down just over 10,000 words, and it felt great. Especially since it got me up to (a) a really fun, pivotal scene that I get to write today and (b) the halfway point of my story. Yay!
In my writing last week, I had some fun stuff in general too. I wrote my Christmas scenes, a New Year’s collation and ball, and had my heroine think about the hero something the effect of “Let him beg forgiveness of the Almight–she never wanted to see him again.” Right, of course, as he packed up the carriage to come see her. =)
And now, yes, I’m going to tell you what a collation is. I had to look it up. And, yes, it’s exactly what it sounds like. As in, from the word “collate.” Like you do with paper. It means “a coming together.” Which was so logical that I laughed at myself for not realizing it right off the bat.
I had another fun word come up too. I wanted to describe the high-energy little boys and could think of no word other than “rambunctious.” But upon looking up the etymology, I discovered that it was too new a word for my time. However, it was an alteration of the word “rumbustious,” which, voila, was in use at the time. Yay! And isn’t that a fun word? Rumbustious. You know what it means just by hearing it. Love that kind of word. Like “quagmire.” Can’t you just tell by listening to “quagmire” that it’s a sticky, boggy place? đ
That’s all I’ve got for you today. Unless you want two elbow-grabbing kids in need of breakfast . . . ?
So, what’s your favorite word?
Roseanna M. White is a bestselling, Christy Award winning author who has long claimed that words are the air she breathes. Having successfully launched two homeschool grads, she now spends her time writing fiction, designing book covers, and pretending her house will clean itself. Roseanna is the author of a slew of historical novels that span several continents and thousands of years, as well as a fantasy series and contemporary mysteries and romances. Spies and war and mayhem always seem to find their way into her booksâŚto offset her real life, which is blessedly ordinary.