Celebrating Sisterhood Event
March 28, 2009
10 a.m. to 12:00 p.m.
I'll be signing at Redwood Seagull Book: 1720 South Redwood Road, SLC, Utah
Author Extravaganza at Pleasant Grove Library
April 3, 2009
7 p.m. to 9:00 p.m.
30 East Center Street, PG
Tons of your local favorite authors will be there!
LDStorymakers Writers Conference in Provo, Utah
April 24-25, 2009
It will be fabulous! I'm teaching boot camp and one of the workshops.
TEEN WRITERS CONFERENCE at Weber State (Ogden Utah)
June 6, 2009
Ages 13-19
Registration is OPEN!
Don't forget to enter the Writer's Contest
Award-winning authors and editors will be speaking:
James Dashner
J. Scott Savage
Jessica Day George
Michele Ashman Bell
H.B. Moore
Julie Wright
Annette Lyon
Ronda Hinrichsen
Matthew Buckley
Jewel Adams
C.S. Bezas
Tamra Norton
Preston Norton
Josi S. Kilpack
Tuesday, March 24, 2009
Monday, March 23, 2009
Book of the Month--TOWER OF STRENGTH
Tower of Strength
By Annette Lyon
Covenant Communications, 2009
I’ve been waiting for this next historical by Annette Lyon for over a year. Even though I read it in draft form, I was excited to read the final version. It didn’t disappoint. In fact, I can confidently say that Annette Lyon is one of the best writers in her genre. Many of you know that the 2008 Whitney Award finalists have been announced. So I’ve decided to read them all—yes—it might sound crazy, but I only have 1 ½ books to go.
So you can say that I’ve immersed myself in the LDS genre this past month, or at least books by LDS writers. And sometimes these books are automatically labeled sub-par because of previous bad attempts by other authors.
But I’ve taken a critical eye, and read the genre for what it is (yes, most of the characters are LDS, yes, most of them go through faith-affirming trials, and yes, editorial comes into play with the smaller publishers).
So when I started reading Lyon’s book, my antenna was on high. One thing I know is that Lyon has learned the craft of writing, she understands the rules of fiction and she willing accepts feedback from alpha readers, editors, etc. Yet, she is able to produce such a natural story-telling style, that Tower of Strength runs seamless from scene to scene.
In Tower of Strength, I really enjoyed the characters. Tabitha is widowed at a young age and moves to Logan (from Manti) in order to start over with her infant son. Six years later, she’s asked to return and take over the town newspaper in Manti. I loved the historical tie-ins that Lyon includes—from the prejudice of some of the town members of having a “woman” head up the newspaper, to the building of the Manti temple.
Also impressive is the research that Lyon has done on this time period—to the common dialog phrases used at that time, to the clothing, the food, the thoughts and attitudes of some of the early settlers.
I was most impressed with the complex characterization of Tabitha and how she comes to terms with falling in love again. Samuel, an emigrant from England, is a fun, jaunty character who has his own past and lost love to overcome. He provides a lot of comic relief during the story with his complete lack of ability to care for horses—which happens to be his job. Also, Tabitha’s mother-in-law, “Mother Hall”, is another favorite character in which the reader has a complete change of heart toward this woman by the end of the book.
Overall, I’d highly recommend Lyon’s Tower of Strength, a nice anchor to her four-volume historical temple series.
By Annette Lyon
Covenant Communications, 2009
I’ve been waiting for this next historical by Annette Lyon for over a year. Even though I read it in draft form, I was excited to read the final version. It didn’t disappoint. In fact, I can confidently say that Annette Lyon is one of the best writers in her genre. Many of you know that the 2008 Whitney Award finalists have been announced. So I’ve decided to read them all—yes—it might sound crazy, but I only have 1 ½ books to go.
So you can say that I’ve immersed myself in the LDS genre this past month, or at least books by LDS writers. And sometimes these books are automatically labeled sub-par because of previous bad attempts by other authors.
But I’ve taken a critical eye, and read the genre for what it is (yes, most of the characters are LDS, yes, most of them go through faith-affirming trials, and yes, editorial comes into play with the smaller publishers).
So when I started reading Lyon’s book, my antenna was on high. One thing I know is that Lyon has learned the craft of writing, she understands the rules of fiction and she willing accepts feedback from alpha readers, editors, etc. Yet, she is able to produce such a natural story-telling style, that Tower of Strength runs seamless from scene to scene.
In Tower of Strength, I really enjoyed the characters. Tabitha is widowed at a young age and moves to Logan (from Manti) in order to start over with her infant son. Six years later, she’s asked to return and take over the town newspaper in Manti. I loved the historical tie-ins that Lyon includes—from the prejudice of some of the town members of having a “woman” head up the newspaper, to the building of the Manti temple.
Also impressive is the research that Lyon has done on this time period—to the common dialog phrases used at that time, to the clothing, the food, the thoughts and attitudes of some of the early settlers.
I was most impressed with the complex characterization of Tabitha and how she comes to terms with falling in love again. Samuel, an emigrant from England, is a fun, jaunty character who has his own past and lost love to overcome. He provides a lot of comic relief during the story with his complete lack of ability to care for horses—which happens to be his job. Also, Tabitha’s mother-in-law, “Mother Hall”, is another favorite character in which the reader has a complete change of heart toward this woman by the end of the book.
Overall, I’d highly recommend Lyon’s Tower of Strength, a nice anchor to her four-volume historical temple series.
Wednesday, March 4, 2009
Review In & Edits BEGIN!
(Abinadi Hath Testified, by Walter Rane)Kimberly of Temporary Insanity just reviewed ABINADI!
Thanks so much, Kimberly!
There are still a few more reviews coming in (one will be in BYU Magazine this spring as well).
Thanks everyone! My publisher has been happy with the success of ABINADI.
In fact, about 15 minutes ago, I just received the editing notes for ALMA THE ELDER (release Fall 2009). My editor said she thought it was awesome. So that's a good thing to hear when I settle down into editing. I met with one of my beta readers last week--who is doing a late-read on the manuscript--and he said he thinks it's my best book yet.
In other news, I finished chapter 2 of Women of the Book of Mormon and am well into chapter 3 (told you it would take FOREVER). I hope to turn it in by June 1 (coinciding when the kids are out of school).
Monday, March 2, 2009
Book Group Night
Sandra, Me, Tristi, and Taffy
Book Group at Provident Book in PG. This picture was harder to perfect than it looks (just ask camera-woman, Karlene). Invariably in each shot, one person blinked (mostly me). So finally we got a blinkless one.
Check out Sandra's Review on Abinadi. I think it' s one of the most thorough that I've ever read!
Each month Provident Book hosts an author. Upcoming authors include Rachel Nunes, Josi Kilpack, Annette Lyon and Tristi Pinkston. They are a lot of fun!
You can sign up to be on their newsletter list and get reminders that way. The bookstore is beautiful--it also has toys, gifts and yummy goodies!
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