by Roseanna White | Jul 16, 2013 | Uncategorized
Here we are at Day 16–with fewer days to go than have gone before in this crazy month of giveaways! Hard to believe, isn’t it? Yesterday’s winner is:
Heather Louise Navarro!
Just as a reminder for any newcomers, you can enter multiple times each day, and each week’s entries remain good for the whole week, both for the daily drawing of Ring of Secrets, and for Friday’s drawing of the Tea Light Garden.
And a special one-day giveaway, I’ll be doing a drawing tomorrow at 12:00 p.m. EST for a DIGITAL copy of Glass Girl. Please leave a comment below if you’d like to be entered, with an email address!
Today being Tuesday, I’m talking books again. So:
Story Time Tuesday – Glass Girl by Laura Anderson Kurk
I admit it–I picked up this young adult novel solely because it was inexpensive and recommended by my best friend, who kept gushing at how beautifully Laura writes. I knew it would be good, because said best friend has excellent taste. 😉 But I didn’t know it would stay with me so long after I turned the last page (or rather, as I read this one on my kindle, pressed the page button the last time).
Here’s the back cover copy:
When Meg Kavanagh finds herself in the unthinkable role of grieving
sister, she discovers some harsh truths–parents aren’t perfect, life’s
not always sweet, and the dead don’t write back. Her famous artist mom
grieves by slowly disappearing, and her dad copes by moving them to a
small town in Wyoming.
What she finds in Wyoming blindsides her.
His
name is Henry, and he’s a rancher’s son who pulls Meg into his
larger-than-life world and shows her that being sensitive is not an
excuse to sit this one out. Meg learns that the best things in
life–like falling in love and finding mercy–require uncommon courage.
With the help of a strange set of friends, a locker room disaster, and a
trip she’ll never forget, she finds that the things she thought would
break her–school violence, loneliness, and separation–can be overcome.
From
YA author Laura Anderson Kurk comes a heartfelt story of first love and
family ties. Fans of Deb Caletti and Sara Zarr will appreciate Kurk’s
authentically imperfect characters and emotional storytelling.
Emotional storytelling is right–what I absolutely love about Glass Girl is how quickly it sucked me into Meg’s life, and how tightly it held me there. Readers can’t help but fall for sensitive, compassionate Meg who loves so wholly…and thinks herself so weak. “Glass Girl” was a nickname her brother had given her, and now after his violent death in a school shooting, she fears she’ll break. But Henry–a hero to make you clap a hand over your heart–helps her see that glass isn’t as fragile as it appears.
The writing was indeed superb. The characters were breathtakingly beautiful in their utter realness. The story was set in the everyday world, with such everyday events proving to be what they always are–critical, life-changing, and haunting. And at the end, I was left praying that I could see people the way Meg does…and raise my son to be like Henry.
This is a book I’ll never forget. One that changed how I look at the world. And whether you’re a teen or an adult, it’ll change you too–you can find it on Amazon, B&N, and Smashwords.
The sequel, Perfect Glass, is out now, and I’m snatching it up too!
Now for the question of the day:
Who in your life has helped you see how strong you are?
(And do you want to be entered for an e-copy of this book?)
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by Roseanna White | Jul 14, 2013 | Uncategorized
I hope everyone’s having a great weekend! I’m currently at a yard sale hosted by my church and filled with a lot of my kids’ toys. 😉 So out with the old…and for one of you, in with the new!
This tea light garden candle set is this week’s bonus prize! That drawing will be on Friday, and every day, remember, I’m doing a drawing for Ring of Secrets. If you’re new to the 30 Days of Giveaways, that would be because book 2’s coming out August 1, so I’m maniacally planning on getting y’all hooked on the series. 😉
So today’s question of the day, purely for fun:
Coffee or tea? Any particular flavor?
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by Roseanna White | Jul 13, 2013 | Uncategorized
Winners from yesterday are [drum roll, please!]:
Ring of Secrets – Angela Holland
Choice of necklace – Jenna C.
Digital of The Revised Life of Ellie Sweet – Tiffanie
Paperback of The Revised Life of Ellie Sweet – Jori
Congrats, all!!
And today being Saturday, it’s time to reveal this week’s bonus prize!
An Elements brand Tea Light Garden! All entries from now until next Friday are eligible for this fun candle set as well as the daily drawings for Ring of Secrets.
Now for today’s fun question:
How many candles are in the room you’re in right now?
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by Roseanna White | Jul 12, 2013 | Uncategorized
Prizes, Prizes, and more Prizes!!
Today’s pretty awesome. Not only will there be the daily drawing for Ring of Secrets, it’s also the day when I’ll select the winner for one of these fabulous necklaces–winner’s choice!
PLUS–another book giveaway! How awesome is that??
Do you remember the young adult novel I reviewed last Tuesday, The Revised Life of Ellie Sweet? Well, it’s on sale through the weekend on Amazon’s Kindle store, marked down to $2.99. GO BUY YOUR COPY NOW!
Stephanie Morrill, who happens to be my awesome best friend and critique partner *grins*, is offering one free Kindle book to an Amazon reader. Just leave a comment below with your email address for this one!
But because some of us like to have physical books on our shelves too, even when we have the digitals–and others of us don’t like to read digitals–I’m offering a giveaway of a paperback, given that I ordered an extra for just such a purpose. 😉 So go, run, buy your e-copy now while it’s still on sale, and I’ll also choose a winner from them for the paperback! All these drawings are today only, so HURRY!! And the sale only goes through the weekend, so don’t drag your feet! 😉
So to recap:
Leave a comment below for The Revised Life of Ellie Sweet,
both digital and print!
And click that you did so in Rafflecopter
for your daily entry for the regular prizes up today.
Enter Rafflecopter as usual for:
(a) Ring of Secrets
(b) the necklace
So for those of you who skim (I know you’re out there! LOL) for the question of the day:
Would you like to be entered to win a copy
of The Revised Life of Ellie Sweet?
Paperback, Kindle version, or either?
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by Roseanna White | Jul 10, 2013 | Remember When Wednesdays, Uncategorized
Day 9’s winner of Ring of Secrets is:
Amy Campbell!
And as a reminder of what you’re entering for this week…ta da! 😉
Now. It’s “Remember When” day around here…but I’m excited. So we’re tweaking. 😉 You see, this arrived from FedEx yesterday:
How exciting is that?? My first order of business was to pull out a few for my family, closest friends, and critique partners. They all got personal thanks for their part in this crazy writing journey.
But then I got to thinking. What am I going to write for autographs in general? See, I’ve given each of my books a little message that I write in them when signing.
A Stray Drop of Blood, which pivots around the life-changing events of the crucifixion and resurrection, says:
May His touch leave you forever changed.
Jewel of Persia, which is about how our faith can save us when we’re surrounded by the enemy, says:
May the Lord be your Light.
Love Finds You in Annapolis, Maryland, which touches on the price of liberty in a nation newly formed, where freedoms were still as tenuous as peace:
May you find true Liberty in Him.
And most recently,
Ring of Secrets uses a line from the book itself, appealing to how we find the Lord in our quiet moments, often where we least expect Him:
May you hear Him in the echoes of silence.
So now, here I am with
Whispers from the Shadows in hand (squeeeeeeee!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!), and I need to come up with my little note for it. I could use your help!
Whispers has a couple themes. I wove the title all throughout it, a very subtle but always present illusion to the spiritual battles going on around us. Whenever evil is at work in the book, there are shadows lurking. Sometimes the heroine hears the whisper of voices trying to destroy her, and then finally she hears the whisper of the Lord, giving her hope. And my hero has finely tuned his spiritual ears and is guided more by that awareness of the Holy Spirit’s urgings than his own intuition or skill. Trust is another huge theme–these two are on opposite sides of a war, but have to trust each other to survive someone who threatens them both.
I was considering something like “May you learn to know His whisper” but that might be too close to
Ring of Secrets”’. I like them to be a sort of benediction or prayer for the reader though. (Hence why they all thus far begin with “may…”) Thoughts? Suggestions? I hope so, because that’s your question for the day:
What message should I use when signing
(Special bonus: if I decide to use yours verbatim, I’ll send you the first one I write it in!!)
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by Roseanna White | Jul 9, 2013 | Uncategorized
Day 7’s winner of Ring of Secrets is:
Elizabeth Riggs!
Remember, every entry this week keeps you entered for every drawing! Both of the daily book and for winner’s choice of one of these two gorgeous necklaces. =)
Today, another installment of Story Time Tuesday.
Story Time . . . The Sky Beneath My Feet by Lisa Samson
I just finished this one for my book club’s July read. I have certain expectations when a book has “Lisa Samson” on the cover…and I had certain expectation based on the cover, LOL. Namely, I expected the book to be about the main character, Beth, taking her old VW van to the beach. The offer comes in chapter 1. So…okay. A road trip book, right? Sure.
Um, wrong. LOL. But I got over that expectation pretty fast and settled in with my first one: namely, that anything by Lisa Samson is going to be great.
Yeah–that’s a safe assumption. =)
Beth is disillusioned with a lot of things. Her husband has been dubbed the “men’s pastor” at a megachurch in the D.C./Baltimore area–though no one’s really sure what that means. Her eldest son has gone ultra-conservative just so he can better argue with his father, and her younger son is an expert at issuing a “whatever.” Beth, feeling far as could be from her Quaker roots, belongs to two book clubs, countless small groups and Bible studies…but has never been so lonely in her life.
She can’t remember the last time she really prayed. Her husband’s turning into a stranger–who decides he has to cut himself off from the world by living for a month in his shed. Her teen sons never respond like she expects them too. And whenever she looks at her life, all she sees is the lack–not of things, which she’s long ago learned to live without, despite her church’s hugely affluent demographic. But she feels a lack of purpose. A lack of dreams. A lack of relationships. And when she looks in the mirror, she sees only a glimpse of the girl who wanted to do so much with her life…and has been swallowed by the woman whose life has gotten away from her.
I expected a journey–and I got one, some of which was indeed behind the wheel of her VW van with its “ironic” Jesus fish on the bumper. But this wasn’t just a journey to the beach house offered in chapter 1. This was a journey to the mansion next door, the Catholic church on the hill, the mean streets of Baltimore, a peace demonstration in D.C. with a “rent-a-mob,” and back in her memory to a Quaker meetinghouse with a skylight in the roof for watching the sunset.
This was a journey to the place within herself where every act of the church wasn’t just a demonstration to attract the crowds. To a place where God was real…and had a real purpose for her.
What I loved about this book was that it didn’t pull any punches about its realism. This is a woman like so many women, whose life has its totally-unique quirks, sure, but who could so easily be me or you. This is a woman who’s not sure what the rhetoric means anymore, who doesn’t quite belong anywhere she’s made a habit of going, who chafes against the expectations and longs for real purpose. This is a woman who can’t quite chuck the mold but is tired of living within it. All she wants is that one real experience with God again.
The characters in The Sky Beneath My Feet are perfectly drawn and beautifully flawed. The cast will make you laugh sometimes and sniffle at others, and as Beth finds her footing in her undulating world, you’ll feel yours rocking along with hers. Her story will make you question. And will show you some beautiful answers. Whether or not you agree with her wondering or her solutions, your heart will be expanded on the journey.
So lay back, open your eyes, and watch the sky change beneath your feet.
My question to you today comes from Beth’s experience in that sunset Quaker meetinghouse:
Do you have one moment that stands out above the rest
when you’ve really known God is there with you?
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The writing was indeed superb. The characters were breathtakingly beautiful in their utter realness. The story was set in the everyday world, with such everyday events proving to be what they always are–critical, life-changing, and haunting. And at the end, I was left praying that I could see people the way Meg does…and raise my son to be like Henry.
Roseanna M. White is a bestselling, Christy Award winning author who has long claimed that words are the air she breathes. When not writing fiction, she’s homeschooling her two kids, editing, 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. Spies and war and mayhem always seem to find their way into her books…to offset her real life, which is blessedly ordinary. 