Falling Skies and Saving a Book

It's time for summer TV y'all! I've watched several of the new shows on the air, and I have to admit that while none of them thrill me, they'll do for now. The Closer and Damages both come back in July and those are both excellent shows so I'll be happy then.

I watched the premiere for Falling Skies, and I enjoyed it. Can't help it, even though it wasn't exciting, exciting, it was enjoyable for me. I just love the post-apocalyptic vibe of shows like these. Even though the aliens don't look terribly believable, they can obviously cause a lot of destruction and reading a few speculations online, makes me think there might be even better things to come. I do appreciate that there is a character of faith. Even though she was introduced clumsily and a bit holier-than-thou I have HOPES that the show will take the opportunity to explore what a person of faith would feel/experience/go through in a situation like this. So...fingers crossed. On the flip side, WHERE ARE THE GIRLS? I can't help but notice that the show is already heavily favoring the male POV. There a few female characters but their roles are minimal so far. I can only hope that changes, but I know better than to expect more, sadly.

One scene in the show got me thinking. As the resistance packs up to move on, Tom Mason, the main character stops by a huge pile of books. He picks up two of them, 20,000 Thousand Leagues Under the Sea by Jules Verne and Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens. He considers for moment, and ultimately chooses to keep Tale of Two Cities. Because of the nature of the world they are living in, you know the decision on what book to keep is weightier than the ones us book lovers make constantly when pruning our shelves.

It got me to thinking...imagine you entered the post-apocalyptic world in a book you enjoy and could only choose to keep one book. What book would you save? What book would be most important to have in a world where survival was unknown and reading time scarce? What book would you want to make sure future generations would have?

For the sake of this discussion, religious texts are off limits. Please choose a fiction book! :) If you share what book you'd save and why, I'll compile all the answers for a future post.

So..what book would you save?

A Discussion of Book Titles

Just like the covers of books, the titles of books are fairly important to me when deciding whether or not to read something. Some titles are just absolutely perfect. They really communicate something about the book or they sound catchy and make me want to get acquainted with what's in the pages. Some of my favorite book titles of all time are:
The Heart is Not a Size
The Sacredness of Questioning Everything
Love Starts with Elle
Something Wicked This Way Comes
The Love We Share Without Knowing
The Knife of Never Letting Go
On the Edge of the Dark Sea of Darkness
Sometimes We're Always Real Same-Same

All of these are catchy titles that make me want to know the contents of the book or express such lovely sentiments I must read it, or are a fun play on words. I haven't read all of the above books, but the ones I have read the titles are just perfect!

A few months ago, I learned of a book coming out and I instantly loved the title. The book in question?

Impatient with Desire by Gabrielle Burton.

I loved the title because to me it communicated so much of what life is about. We are so impatient with desire. Especially when we are young, I think and when I learned the book was a novelization of the Donner party I thought it even more appropriate.

It NEVER occurred to me to think of this as a romance title until I started reading reviews. And in almost every review and in the comments people mentioned the title. It made me really sad, because I love the title, and find it...so perfect. Capturing so much longing and just....life.

I was happy to read the author Gabrielle Burton comment on Julie of Booking Mama's review about it and she says the title comes from this quote from Tamsen Donner, "My heart is big with hope and impatient with desire." I have to admit I love that quote as well.

Now I have to ask...does everyone else think it sounds like a romance book? Or did anyone just appreciate it like me? Am I the only who received the intended communication from the title?

It's strange how much a title becomes a part of a book to me. It's similar with the cover. I will often take little pauses while reading, and study the cover. Sort of like the way you sometimes sneak peaks of the people you love, memorizing the little ways they do things, committing their movements and mannerisms to heart. The cover and title of a book are the physical thing I have to hold onto of the dearly loved contents within. It's why I sometimes feel betrayed when a cover gets changed or updated.

What are some of your favorite book titles? Do you think book titles are important? Have you ever read a book you loved that had a terrible title?

The Appeal of Urban Fantasy

There was a time when I thought I didn’t like any fantasy at all, but that isn’t really true anymore. I really like what is commonly referred to as urban fantasy, a blending of the world as we know it with fantasy world.

Something about urban fantasy is much more appealing..I don’t have to get comfortable with a lot of names and places that aren’t real, the hint of reality makes it all much more accessible. And while there are certainly rules that each world must follow, some of those rules are the same as the world I live in!

When I was at Comic-Con this past summer, I attended a panel called the Evolution of Fantasy. I really enjoyed this panel for the opinionated panelists and their obvious enthusiasm for fantasy. This is where I discovered Cindy Pon (she’s really nice!) and saw Patrick Rothfuss.

I didn’t agree with a lot of what Rothfuss had to say, particularly his slights against Harry Potter and Young Adult Literature. But he did mention that he felt the appeal of urban fantasy was the same as that of fairy tales explaining that the appeal of fairy tales is that they make the mundane world fantastical and the fantastical more real. I felt like that perfectly explained the appeal of urban fantasy to me over the kind of fantasy where nothing is familiar and my imagination is taxed. :)

How about you? Do you enjoy fantasy? Urban fantasy? Do you think there's any truth in Rothfuss's assesment? If you don't like urban fantasy why not? Have you read Patrick Rothfuss' book The Name of the Wind?

Thoughts on Finding Organic Church by Frank Viola

I first heard of Frank Viola when I read this review of Pagan Christianity at Brant Hansen's blog. I actually bought that book immediately and then let it sit on the shelf.

I was kind of scared to read it. I have very strong feelings and opinions on the church that are a result of being a pastor's kid, having studied church growth and church growth patterns in college, having professors in college that turned everything I thought about God inside out and upside down (in the best possible ways), reading blogs where other young Christians were wrestling with the same issues I was, and having attended small churches, cell churches, and mega churches.

I wasn't scared to read it because I thought I'd disagree, mind you. I was scared to read it because I thought it would stir inside of me a longing for a kind of church I've never been able to find.

But that didn't stop me from accepting a review copy of Finding Organic Church: A Comprehensive Guide to Starting and Sustaining Authentic Christian Communities

So far, and I'm only a few chapters in, there's nothing radically different. I do plan to bring a full review when I can. I am slightly irritated that I"m meant to have read 4 books prior to this one to get a full understanding but so far the book seems to stand fine on it's own.

Here's Viola's definition of Organic Church:

"a church that is born out of spiritual life instead of being constructed by human institutions and being held together by religious programs. Organic church life is a grassroots experience that is marked by face-to-face community, every-member functioning, open participatory meetings, nonhierarchical leadership, and the centrality and supremacy of Jesus Christ as the functional leader and Head of the gathering."

I plan to bring a full review later but I'd love to hear your thoughts on what you think about churches, Viola's definition of organic church, what kind of church you attend, or if you don't attend (and believe) why not?

First Chapter:

INTRODUCTION


RECLAIMING THE BIBLICAL NARRATIVE

It is the depravity of institutions and movements that given in the beginning to express life, they often end in throttling that very life. Therefore, they need constant review, perpetual criticism and continuous bringing back to the original purposes and spirit. The Christian church is no exception. It is the chief illustration of the above.

--E. Stanley Jones


The purpose of this book is very simple: to present the biblical narrative for church planting and to reclaim that narrative for our day.


Origin Determines Destiny

The Bible puts a great deal of stress on origins. This is because in spiritual things, origin determines destiny. Therefore, the origin of a church will determine its destiny as well as its quality. Put another way, how a church is planted has a profound effect on the character, the effectiveness, and the future of that church. Consider Paul's words:


I planted the seed, Apollos watered it, but God made it grow. So neither he who plants nor he who waters is anything, but only God, who makes things grow. The man who plants and the man who waters have one purpose, and each will be rewarded according to his own labor. For we are God's fellow workers; you are God's field, God's building. By the grace God has given me, I laid a foundation as an expert builder, and someone else is building on it. But each one should be careful how he builds. For no one can lay any foundation other than the one already laid, which is Jesus Christ. If any man builds on this foundation using gold, silver, costly stones, wood, hay or straw, his work will be shown for what it is, because the Day will bring it to light. It will be revealed with fire, and the fire will test the quality of each man's work. (1 Cor. 3:6-13)


In this passage, Paul uses two metaphors to describe the work of church planting: planting a field and constructing a building. For Paul, church planters are farmers (they “plant” the church), and they are builders (they “build” the church).


It is from this passage that the term church planter is derived. A church planter is one who plants the seed, which is the gospel of Jesus Christ, out of which a church is born. On the term church planter, Charles Brock writes,


The term “church planter” is rather new to many people. A church planter is a person, national or foreigner, who sows the gospel seed in a way that a New Testament church comes to life and grows.1


Paul depicts the church as a field. But he also envisions it as a building. Yet it's a building that is alive. When Paul speaks of a field, he's not talking about an acre of dirt. He's speaking of a cultivated field such as a field of wheat.2 Consequently, both metaphors have in view the organic nature of the church. The church is a living organism.


Within this passage, Paul mentions three ingredients for planting healthy churches:


1. The competence of the one who plants/builds the church.

By the grace God has given me, I laid a foundation as an expert builder. (1 Cor. 3:10a)

1 Charles Brock, The Principles and Practice of Indigenous Church Planting (Nashville: Broadman,

1981), 12-13.
2 The Greek word used in this passage literally means “a cultivated field.” Interestingly, the New Testament
is consistent in portraying wheat as a depiction of Christ and His people (John 12:24; 4:35; Mark 4:29;
Luke 10:2).


2. The materials used for building.

If any man builds on this foundation using gold, silver, costly stones, wood, hay or straw, his work will be shown for what it is.… It will be revealed with fire, and the fire will test the quality of each man's work. (1 Cor. 3:12-13)


3. The way in which the church is built.

But each one should be careful how he builds. (1 Cor. 3:10b)


The Mechanical vs. the Organic

Tragically, many modern Christians have the benighted idea that starting a church is like assembling Lego blocks. One simply has to stick his nose in the Bible, extract from its pages the practices of the early church, imitate them, and voilà, a floatable “New Testament church” is created. I call this mechanical method of church formation “biblical blueprintism.”


Biblical blueprintism is built on a rather thin ecclesiology and a misunderstanding of the organic nature of church life. For this reason, it's profoundly flawed.


An authentic church cannot be started by the bare hands of human beings--no more than a woman can be constructed through human ingenuity or imitation. A woman must be given birth. And once born, she must be nurtured to the point where she develops on her own.


Forgive the crass illustration, but lashing together two female arms and legs onto a torso and propping a female head on top will never produce a girl. To the naked eye such a concoction may resemble a human being. But it will always lack the essential quality of humanness--which is life. And life is the product of birth. This principle holds true when we consider the matter of church planting.


Consequently, the “biblical blueprint” model is rooted in the notion that the New Testament is the new Leviticus. Advocates approach the Bible like an engineer approaches an engineering textbook. Study the structural principles and then apply them.


But church planting is not a form of engineering. And the New Testament isn't a rule book. It's a record of the DNA of the church at work. As T. Austin-Sparks says,


The fact is that, while certain things characterized the New Testament churches, the New Testament does not give us a complete pattern according to which churches are to be set up or formed! There is no blueprint for churches in the New Testament, and to try to form New Testament churches is only to create another system which may be as legal, sectarian, and dead as others. Churches, like the Church, are organisms which spring out of life, which life itself springs out of the Cross of Christ wrought into the very being of believers. Unless believers are crucified people, there can be no true expression of the Church.3


For us humans, the family is genetic to our species. There will always be a father, a mother, and children. This cannot be broken. It's written in the arteries of creation.


In the same way, organic church life--the experience of the body of Christ--is instinctive to our species as Christians. It's woven into the bloodstream of God's universe. Provided that certain raw ingredients are in place, body life will organically and spontaneously break forth in the midst of a group of believers.


The problem we face is in removing all the baggage so that body life can arise naturally and stay healthy. This puts us on a collision course with the biblical principles of church planting.


What Is an Organic Church?

As I have stated elsewhere, I've been using this term for over fifteen years now. Today it has become somewhat of a clay word, being molded and shaped to mean a variety of different things by a variety of different people.


By organic church, I mean a church that is born out of spiritual life instead of being constructed by human institutions and held together by religious programs. Organic church life is a grassroots experience that is marked by face-to-face community, every-member functioning, open-participatory meetings (as opposed to pastor-topew services), nonhierarchical leadership, and the centrality and

3 T. Austin-Sparks, Words of Wisdom and Revelation (Corrina: Three Brothers, 1971), 62.

supremacy of Jesus Christ as the functional Leader and Head of the gathering.


By contrast, whenever we sin-scarred mortals try to create a church the same way we would start a business, we are defying the organic nature of church life. An organic church is one that is naturally produced when a group of people has encountered Jesus Christ in reality (external ecclesiastical props being unnecessary) and the DNA of the church is free to work without hindrance. It's the difference between standing in front of a fan and standing outdoors on a windy day.


To summarize, an organic church is not a theater with a script. It's a lifestyle--an authentic journey with the Lord Jesus and His disciples.


The difference between organic churches and nonorganic churches is the difference between General Motors and a vegetable garden. One is founded by humans, the other is birthed by God. One is artificial, the other is living.


For this reason, church planters are like farmers and midwives.


©2009 Cook Communications Ministries. Finding Organic Church by Frank Viola. Used with permission. May not be further reproduced. All rights reserved.

Why is Amish Fiction so Popular? (Hope of Refuge Giveaway!)

If you have walked into a Christian bookstore lately, or thumbed through the Christian Book Distributor's catalog it would be hard not to notice that Amish fiction has just absolutely exploded with popularity. Ridiculously so. Everyday, I feel I'm hearing about a new author, or a beloved author who is now writing Amish fiction.

Truthfully, I've loved some of Beverly Lewis's books. Like so much. There's just so much story potential in such closed communities. But why does everyone else like Amish fiction so much?

I have a few theories.
1) Close community. Often these stories portray the Amish community as very tight. They make big sacrifices of time and resources for each other. They've known each other forever. It's hard in our world to find those kinds of community and I think we all crave it from time to time.

2) "Simple" Living. Their lives are anything but simple with all the work they do, but there is no television or cell phone to take them away from being fully present where they are.

3) Huge Sacrifice. The stakes are always so high. Love art? In order to paint you might have to sacrifice your relationship with your community to continue. Love that English boy? Have to leave the family behind. These decisions are heart wrenching and big. And lead to lots of secrets...

A very popular author whose Amish fiction works I haven't read is Cindy Woodsmall. I know that she is very very popular. She was even interviewed on Nightline about her popular books! You can watch that video online at ABC.

The publisher has sent me two copies of Cindy's newest book, The Hope of Refuge. I am going to give one of them away to one of you. This giveaway is open to anyone anywhere in the world! Here's the book synopsis:

Raised in foster care and now the widowed mother of a little girl, Cara Moore struggles against poverty, fear, and a relentless stalker. When a trail of memories leads Cara and Lori out of New York City toward an Amish community, she follows every lead, eager for answers and a fresh start. She discovers that long-held secrets about her family history ripple beneath the surface of Dry Lake, Pennsylvania, and it’s no place for an outsider. But one Amish man, Ephraim Mast, dares to fulfill the command he believes that he received from God–“Be me to her”– despite how it threatens his way of life.

Completely opposite of the hard, untrusting Cara, Ephraim’s sister Deborah also finds her dreams crumbling when the man she has pledged to build a life with begins withdrawing from Deborah and his community, including his mother, Ada Stoltzfus. Can the run-down house that Ada envisions transforming unite them toward a common purpose–or push Mahlon away forever? While Ephraim is trying to do what he believes is right, will he be shunned and lose everything–including the guarded single mother who simply longs for a better life?

Giveaway: If you can't wait to see if you win you can buy it here. Otherwise, to enter this giveaway, leave a comment and tell me why you think Amish fiction is so popular, your favorite Amish fiction book, or if you haven't ever read one, why you want to read one!

Be sure to leave a valid email address and I'll pick a winner at the end of this month.

What Makes You Buy a Book?

It's no secret that I'm a huge supporter of buying books. I buy too many books myself and encourage others to buy books as well when it's possible for them.

But I was just curious today about what goes into the actual decision of buying books for you. Especially those of you who buy few books new. For our purposes today, this discussion is about NEW books.

I went to Barnes & Noble because I had a coupon, which I recognize is not really a very good reason to go. I ooohed and aaahed over all the pretty books and ended up getting some. (what a shock) I decided to buy books that I discovered while browsing. I tend to buy books in genres I don't often receive for review (which, once I start reviewing them that usually changes) and speculative fiction has been my latest draw. I felt like since I discovered those books in B&N, they deserved the sales. (Yes welcome to my crazy mind) One book I bought because it was by a Japanese author (yes that's pretty much all it took...a horror book by a Japanese author) and one because it looked good and I noted a few blogger blurbs in the covers.

Really, I don't labor over the decision. I don't like to deny myself.

But what about you? Do you like to see a certain number of favorable reviews first? Do you check out an author's blog or read excerpts or see who has endorsed it? Do you only buy books by authors you already love? Or do you buy books you can't find in your library? Or do you just not buy books at all?

This is not endorsed by any marketing company by the way...this is just me being downright nosy!

Let's Discuss Hell

Time to get deep here at My Friend Amy. Because if you can't talk with your friends about this stuff, who can you talk with?

As you may know, I've been obsessing over watching Supernatural. And it's made me think about hell a lot. Probably because the characters regularly seem to go there or send monsters there or open its gates, or... (Plus I read The Sinful Life of Lucy Burns and saw Drag Me to Hell recently so it's all fresh on my mind!)

And it's made me wonder about how people conceptualize hell.

Jean Paul Sartre said, "Hell is other people." There are time when I'm inclined to agree with him, (joking!) but I think it's actually the opposite.

Now you may not and likely don't believe in a literal place called hell. But perhaps you do have an idea of what you think the very worst thing in all of the world is, or we wouldn't have such expressions as "it felt like hell." or "You put me through hell." Or "I went to hell and back."

For the record, I do believe in a literal hell. And I think it's defining characteristic is loneliness. So to me that is hell...a place where yes you experience the worst torture ever...the torture of being alone and cut off from relationships...with God and with other people because I believe these relationships give us life.

But how do you see hell? Whether literal or not, what would constitute calling something hell for you? When you think of hell what do you think of? Have you seen any interesting portrayals of hell in literature or in film? When you saw this post title did you think I was going to proselytize? ;)

Just a little cheery conversation on these hellishly hot summer days!

A Small Case of the Summer Lazies

I'm suffering from the summer lazies.

No, this is not in relation to Game On Diet, that's going mostly well.

It has more to do with reading. And blogging.

I have a list of 20 posts I'd like to write, but sitting down with the computer and doing actual writing just doesn't seem like fun. And I have several hundred books to read but none of them are grabbing me. I open them up and they start annoying me in the first few pages.

Okay maybe this does have to do with Game On Diet because when I started I got totally thrown off my reading game. But there were some other things going on....a transition at work and housesitting that have also made my schedule seem off. And it's REALLY hot.

I'm usually not a moody reader at all. I usually will open up whatever's next and read it and enjoy. This past weekend I barely made it through a review I had to write for my other blog and my book club choice and I had quite the inner dialogue.

I did consume the rest of Supernatural's third season which was so excellent, such fantastic story-telling and emotional intensity that maybe I just need to recover from that.

Or maybe I just need to write this all out and be magically cured. :) That's what I'm hoping!

Anyone else suffering from the reading burn-out or just being lazy?

An Interesting Turn of Events: The Note 2: Taking a Chance on Love by Angela Hunt

Today is the blog tour day for The Note 2: Taking a Chance on Love. I haven't been able to read the book, yet, but I did see the movie. Actually, the movie came out before the book!

This is a really interesting story because Angela Hunt wrote The Note and it got turned into a Hallmark movie at Christmas (admittedly my favorite kind! Yes, there's something about Christmas that lets me freely be a sentimental sap) The movie was very successful for Hallmark so they decided they wanted a sequel. But Angela Hunt didn't write it. But when they decided they wanted a sequel they also wanted a novelization, which Angela Hunt did write.

Now there are a couple of interesting factors that come into play here. One, Angela Hunt is by and large a Christian novelist. Hallmark's movies weren't really Christian. Secondly, Angela Hunt created these characters and this world and then someone else extended them...and she was totally fine with it!

I think it shows a pretty extra special measure of cool on Hunt's part that she went along with writing the novelization. I think I might have been ticked that they didn't want me to write the second part of my own character's stories. But that's just me.

Read the first chapter below if you like, but please please share with me what you think about this in comments! Would you have been willing to do this? Do you ever read novelizations of films?

With one elbow propped on her desk, Peyton MacGruder chewed on the edge of a fingernail and glared at the clock on the wall. On days like this, when she was twenty minutes away from her deadline and far from finished with her column, she could swear that the minute hand swept over the clock face at double speed.

She transferred her gaze to the computer monitor and fluttered her fingers over the keyboard. Some days the magic worked and the words flowed. Other days she might as well be typing gibberish.

She skimmed the half-completed column on her screen and tried to focus her thoughts. Last week a reader had written that she was afraid to trust a brother-in-law who had stolen from her in the past. Peyton had answered that forgiveness was important, but experience could not be ignored. And when it came to matters of the heart, caution should always trump passion. Dozens of readers had e-mailed, filling her in-box with responses, most of them supportive.

Now she was working on a recap that included reader comments, but everything she’d written so far looked like extended self-congratulation. She needed a corroborating opinion . . . and any column could be improved with an appropriate quote, couldn’t it? She reached for her dictionary of popular quotations, scanned the index, and jabbed her finger at an appropriate entry. Smiling with satisfaction, she propped her reading glasses on the end of her nose and worked the quote into her piece:

And so, dear readers, when it comes to dealing with relationships, perhaps we should keep the words of Eumenides in mind. That venerable sage once wrote, “There are times when fear is good. It must keep its watchful place at the heart’s controls. There is advantage in the wisdom won from pain.”

Perhaps a happy heart is, at its core, a cautious heart.

There. She leaned back and clicked the word count tool. Seven hundred words—not bad. The dragon lady shouldn’t have to cut any of this column.

After a quick proofread, Peyton clicked Send and addressed the file to Nora Chilton, senior features editor. Another click and away it went.

She turned as something slapped the surface of her desk. Mandi Hillridge, an overenthusiastic intern from the University of North Carolina Wilmington, stood in the aisle, her arms filled with folders. Peyton picked up the envelope Mandi had tossed her way and studied the return address. “Am I supposed to know this Eve Miller?”

Mandi shifted her burden from one arm to the other. “I doubt it. I think she’s a reader.”

Peyton ran her fingertip across the ragged edge. “Why has this letter been opened?”

“Because Phil Brinker didn’t check the address before he tore into it. Our stellar mailroom staff mistakenly delivered it to him while he was in New York working on that story about the media covering the media. He just got back and told me to bring it to you.” Mandi stepped closer, her eyes gleaming. “You want me to go fuss at the guys in the mailroom? One of them’s kinda cute.”

Peyton glanced over the short walls of the reporters’ cubicles and saw Nora stepping out of the elevator. “No.” She propped both elbows up on her desk. “I want you to get me two Tylenol. Extra strength.”

“You have a headache?”

“Not yet.”

Mandi turned in time to see Nora approaching, a folded newspaper in hand. Even from her desk Peyton recognized the distinctive banner that contained her byline and staff photo. Had Nora come down to complain about a column that had already run? She wouldn’t, unless one of the higher-ups sent her to confront Peyton about some obscure point.

“About that headache—” Mandi lowered her voice—“I’ll bring the bottle.”

The young woman hurried away as Nora approached Peyton’s desk. The editor waved the paper before Peyton’s anxious gaze and nodded. “By the way, about this column last week? You were absolutely right.”

“That’s a nice change.” Peyton managed a smile. “About what?”

“Passion. It should always be tempered with caution. Especially when it comes to affairs of the heart.”

Peyton straightened in her chair, not certain why the editor had felt compelled to personally deliver this bit of elaboration. “You speaking from conviction or firsthand experience?”

Nora managed a coy smile. “None of your business. Anyway, you’ve been doing really good work lately. I had my doubts at first, but you’ve grown into the job.”

“You came all the way down here to pat me on the back?”

“Actually, I came down here to tell you that in addition to writing the Heart Healer, I’m going to need you to handle a feature or two for the Lifestyles section. We got the call last night; Marlo Evans had a baby boy, so she’ll be out on maternity leave for the next several weeks.”

Peyton dropped her head to her hand and groaned. “Why not use freelancers?”

“Because I don’t have the patience or the finances to deal with neophytes. The budget cuts have made it necessary for all of us to pick up the slack now and then. Besides—” her mouth curved in a wry smile—“you’re fast and you’re good at researching. A feature or two shouldn’t be a problem for you.”

“But I’m swamped with—” Peyton swallowed the rest of her complaint as sports editor King Danville moved into her line of vision. A warm feeling settled in the pit of her stomach and brought a smile to her lips. Would she ever stop feeling all gushy and girly whenever King approached her desk?

King glanced at the features editor before returning Peyton’s smile. “Hello, Nora.”

Nora’s chin dipped in a stiff nod. “Kingston.”

Like a flower seeking the sun, Peyton shifted to face the man who had recently brought new joy to her life. “I was just telling Nora that these days I don’t have time to keep up with my column and write a weekly feature, no matter how occasional it is.”

Nora glanced from Peyton to King and then arched a brow. “Perhaps if you temper your newfound passion, you’ll find the time.”

King grinned as the editor smiled and moved toward the elevator; then he pulled a white bottle from his jacket pocket and shook it. Peyton placed the familiar rattle within seconds: Extra Strength Tylenol, as requested.

“Ran into Mandi in the coffee room,” King explained. “She said you were going to need these.”

“She was right.” Peyton sighed. “Nora seems to think I can sit down and whip up a decent feature while I’m outlining my next column. I don’t know where she got the idea that I’m some kind of writing machine.”

“Maybe from the fact that you write so fast you make the rest of us look like we’re moving backward.”

Peyton shook her head, unwilling to accept praise she didn’t deserve. She knew the truth—she could turn an assignment around quickly because outside the newspaper office she had no life. While other writers struggled to work amid the pressures of family schedules, children’s homework, school events, sporting activities, and the needs of a spouse, Peyton only had to take care of herself and her two cats.

At least that’s the way things were before King and Christine came into her life. The situation was a little different now, and she was feeling the pressure.

“I’m not that fast,” she insisted. “And I’m not that versatile.”

“Then don’t cave so quickly, MacGruder. Just because Nora’s your boss doesn’t mean you have to let her push you around.”

“I was ready to push back until she played the guilt card. When she mentioned the budget cuts, I realized how lucky I am to even be employed. How can I not agree to write whatever she wants?”

“That’s what I like about you—you’re a solid team player.”

“I’m a pushover.”

King smiled and stepped to the side of Peyton’s desk. “In that case, I’d better prescribe two of these—” he held up the bottle of pain relievers—“or one of these.” Before Peyton could point out that they were surrounded by coworkers in cubicles, he bent and pressed a kiss to her lips. She closed her eyes, ready to forget about an audience of staff reporters, clerks, and copy editors, but the kiss didn’t last.

She looked up at him, unsatisfied.

“Do any good?” he asked.

“Not sure. Try again. Maybe increase the dosage.”

He bent, his lips warming hers with more passion this time. When he finally pulled away, Peyton exhaled a long sigh of happiness . . . and the writers around her erupted into applause.

Peyton grinned as her cheeks warmed. “They approve.”

“I don’t give a fig about them. What did you think?”

“Um . . . better.”

“Only better? Well, you know what they say about practice making perfect . . .”

As the other reporters hooted and King leaned in for yet another kiss, Peyton pressed her palm against the center of his chest. “You know, it’s this kind of temptation that led to Marlo Evans’s maternity leave. And in turn, to my impending headache. So maybe we should get back to work.”

With a roguish grin, King straightened and stepped away from her chair. “Yes, ma’am.”

“But after work—” Peyton squinted at him—“would you want to go for a jog with me and Christine? We wanted to run the paths down by the shoreline.”

King shook his head. “Enticing offer, but I’ve got to run out to the university after I finish up today. David needs to talk to me about something. He says it’s important.”

Peyton nodded, once again reminded that their relationship was not as simple as it would have been if they’d met in their twenties. She had Christine to consider, and King had David. Both children, hers and his, were nearly grown, and both had been forced to deal with the aftermath of their parents’ unwise decisions.

“MacGruder.” King’s voice, warm and insistent, drew her from her thoughts. “Maybe I’ll stop by your place later.”

“I’d like that.” Peyton offered him a forgiving smile. “I’ll be waiting.”

King took two steps toward his office, then halted. “Hey—” he turned, propping his arms on the cubicle wall—“I found an interesting e-mail in my in-box this morning. A friend in New York said my name recently came up in a board meeting at the Times.”

Peyton felt a frigid finger touch the base of her spine. “The New York Times?”

He chuckled. “Hard to imagine, huh? Moving from the Middleborough Times to the Gray Lady?”

“Your name came up in a board meeting? What does that mean, exactly?”

He shrugged. “I don’t know, but I’ll keep you posted.”

As he walked away, exchanging gibes with other writers as he passed their desks, Peyton felt fear blow down the back of her neck. Any other journalist would be salivating at the thought of writing for the Times, but King never seemed to get ahead of himself. Contentment was one of his primary virtues, and Peyton hadn’t realized how much she’d been counting on his ability to remain satisfied with the status quo.

What would she do if she lost him?

The thought struck like a blow to the chest, stealing her breath. Until recently, she had managed to keep herself detached from complicated personal relationships. But then the tragedy of a horrific plane crash taught her about the brevity of life and the importance of connection. Now she was desperate to understand two precious people, but understanding took time, and time was something she no longer possessed in abundance.

She forced herself to take a deep breath and steady her pulse. No one was abandoning her; the world had not shifted on its axis. Her imagination was simply working overtime, a tendency that nearly always resulted in needless worry and borrowed trouble.

With her gift for imagining disaster, maybe she should have been a novelist.

When she swiveled toward her computer, determined to set her fears aside and tackle her e-mail, her gaze fell again on the envelope from Eve Miller. The postmark was five days in the past, so by now the woman’s comments were old news. And in an electronic society, old news was dead news.

Peyton tossed the envelope into a bin filled with unopened letters and turned her attention to her in-box.

***

Peyton slid behind the wheel of her car, tossed her purse into the empty passenger seat, and fumbled with the buckle of her seat belt. When she was certain the car’s computer wouldn’t scold her for forgetting some vital procedure, she turned the ignition switch and waited for the automatic seat to slide forward, tilt, rise, and whatever else it did to adjust to her frame.

King had talked her into buying this vehicle last weekend, insisting that her old car was only a few miles away from imploding. “Ninety-eight thousand miles?” he exclaimed after glimpsing her odometer. “Good grief, MacGruder, are you going for some kind of endurance record?”

She had to admit the new vehicle was nice, but its myriad bells and whistles bewildered her. She hadn’t taken the time to read the manual, and she barely managed to sit through the salesman’s demonstration. “I don’t have time to fuss with fancy gadgets,” she told the desperate young man who had greeted her and King at the auto dealership. “So just point me toward something safe and inexpensive. Something I won’t have to give up chocolate to afford.”

Like a village matchmaker, the salesman grinned and fixed her up with this sleek blue machine, which he kept calling a crossover—a cross between a sedan and an SUV. She had a feeling the vehicle was too big to be economical or politically correct, but since an entire row of similar vehicles waited behind a fence at the dealership, the manager was probably eager to move his inventory. Regardless, the car earned good crash ratings, it used less gasoline than a tank, and it had the one accessory she couldn’t live without: a CD player.

Before putting the car in gear, Peyton punched the button of the stereo system and relaxed when the professional reader’s voice poured through the surround sound speakers. She’d bought this audiobook about mothers and daughters shortly after telling Christine the truth about their relationship—yes, they were reporter and reader, but they were also biological mother and daughter. Eighteen years and difficult circumstances had kept them apart, but a series of newspaper columns had brought them back together.

Now Peyton wanted nothing more than to be the mother she would have been if tragedy hadn’t intervened. A heaven-sent miracle had restored the child she’d been forced to surrender for adoption, and Peyton didn’t want to forfeit this second chance to love. And parent. And occasionally nag.

She and Christine were still in the midst of that awkward getting-to-know-you phase, but Peyton felt they’d made great strides in their relationship. They tried to talk every day, even if only briefly, and though Christine still lived in the house she’d inherited from her adoptive parents, she felt free enough to drop into Peyton’s home unannounced, as any daughter naturally would.

Still, Christine rarely called Peyton “Mom.” When necessary, she called Peyton by name . . . or she didn’t call her anything at all.

“By late adolescence,” a confident voice intoned as Peyton put the car in gear and backed out of the parking space, “most daughters can be placed in one of three categories—distant, dissatisfied, or dependent. Do any of these words remind you of the young woman in your life?”

Peyton shook her head and shifted into drive. The author needed a fourth category for Christine—maybe delightful. They were still in the honeymoon phase, each of them unbearably grateful to have found the other. They might have disagreements later—in fact, they probably would—but for now Peyton was thrilled to be able to know and love the young woman who had never been far from her thoughts and prayers.

“Outstanding mothers devote most of their time to their children, instilling healthy values into daughters who will become outstanding mothers themselves,” the reader continued, “but unsuitable mothers abandon and abuse.”

Peyton winced at the author’s use of the word abandon.

“Bottom line, if you provide your child with what she needs—clothing, shelter, food, affection—you, concerned mother, are off the hook if your daughter makes unwise decisions. After you have taught your child right from wrong, your daughter has the freedom to choose . . . right or wrong. Do not blame yourself if she chooses to learn life’s lessons through negative experiences.”

Peyton frowned as she pulled out of the parking lot and into traffic. Over the years, she’d covered dozens of stories involving teenage delinquents—wayward boys who got mixed up with guns and drugs, runaway girls who ended up on the street or in the hospital because they went looking for love in all the wrong faces. Behind every sad teenager’s story, Peyton found a distraught mother who couldn’t seem to understand how her child ended up in such a deplorable state.

She hated to admit it, but every time she interviewed one of those mothers, she’d walked away feeling resentful and slightly smug, convinced that she would have managed better if only given a chance. But now that she was being given an opportunity to mother a teen, she had no idea what she was supposed to do.

To make matters worse, her time of greatest influence would be limited. After the plane crash in which her father died, Christine had taken time off to grieve, but soon she’d go back to school and get busy with her studies. She’d probably meet a young man on campus and want to settle down. Then she’d center her world on her husband and her children, and she’d expect Peyton to focus on being a doting grandmother, not a mom. So this precious opportunity to parent her daughter would be relatively short-lived.

Peyton pulled up to the red light at an intersection and snapped off the CD player. The bookstores were loaded with books about how to parent newborns, toddlers, middle schoolers, and teens, but no one had much advice for brand-new parents of young adults.

No one even seemed to be able to answer Peyton’s most basic question: at eighteen, which did Christine need most: an authority figure or a friend?


Copyright ©2009 by Angela Hunt. Used with permission from Tyndale House Publishers, Inc. All rights reserved.

Who's Your Oprah?

Oprah Winfrey has a lot of influence. When she chooses a book for her bookclub, it's like instant gold for the author. When she embraces a product or technology, it raises the status of it, increases the sales. To many people she is a voice of authority.

Yesterday, Julie posted her review for Peace Like a River by Leif Enger, a book I've had in my to be read pile since Andrew Peterson mentioned it. Andrew Peterson is a little bit like my Oprah. When he says something is good...books or music or movies, I know I have to try it out. I think because I love so much the art he creates, I think his influences must be wonderful as well. And I usually do enjoy them.

I'm guessing a good number of you reading this have never even heard of Andrew Peterson, which just goes to show that sometimes influence is deepest when it's not the biggest name.

But it got me to thinking...who is everyone else's Oprah? Who, when they stamp their seal of approval on something, do you listen to? An author? An artist? A blogger, perhaps? I'd love to know!!

So go for it! Tell us who your Oprah is! And if you don't have one...who comes the closest?

Sweet Anticipation -- Thoughts on Catching Fire

Don't hate me, but I finished Catching Fire by Suzanne Collins this weekend.

And it's good. Really good. Better than The Hunger Games. And the ending definitely leaves you longing for the next book. In the best possible way.

In a world where instant gratification rules, it's nice to know that there's still something to wait for. To wish for and long for.

I like to watch my television shows on DVD. I will absolutely binge on them. For example, over Christmas break I watched the entire first season of Mad Men in two days. It was, of course, that compulsively good but I like the instant gratification of being able to see what happens next right away.

And while it can be really fun to watch this way, you totally and completely miss out on all the fun of waiting.

Waiting...fun? You say. Well, yeah. The anticipation. The build-up of excitement. The fan community. It works really well for certain shows. Like LOST. 24.

And I think the same can be true for books. Since the loss of Harry Potter, we're in a serious void of books that bring readers together. It makes me sad to know there will never be another Harry Potter book, but it also makes me sad to think we have no other books quite like it, that bring readers of all countries and ages together to celebrate a story...in eager anticipation, scouring the internet for details, going to release parties, and befriending total strangers when we see them with a Potter book. So yes, of course we have the movies (I will so be there opening day) but it's not the same.

For me it's fun...fun to anticipate the final book in The Hunger Games trilogy even though I felt a bit emotionally traumatized after Catching Fire. Fun to see other readers eager to get their hands on the book. Fun to be part of something..part of a community of readers. And I hope it spreads a bit more. I hope it truly catches fire.

I hope and wait for another series that will remind us how fabulous it is to simply love a story...to lose ourselves in the pages, to carry it outside of us and to let it bring us together.

As far as the third book in The Hunger Games trilogy? Well, I'm going to savor the anticipation.

Have you read The Hunger Games? How about Catching Fire?



(This post was inspired by Natasha's suggestion that people wait to read the books until all three are available.)

This Social Media Thing

At the LA Times Festival of Books, I attended the social media panel. On the panel, Wil Wheaton said, "Users own social media, and make the rules"

That, my friends, is why people hate blogs. It's why they are afraid of Twitter, mock facebook, and try to downplay the importance of fan communities. Because once upon a time, a few people had control of it all, and now everyone has control.

It doesn't mean that chaos reigns. It means that the everyman has a voice. And that is scary to the people who are used to holding the reigns. They don't want to hear the many voices, they want to be the authoritative voice.

I find this to be really apparent in book blogging. As those of you who blog know, we have faced all kinds of opposition. We have faced fear that our little reader reviews are replacing critical reviews. We have dealt (each in our own way) with publicists who expect positive reviews. We have been mocked. We have been told we don't deserve to receive books for review. (and not all book bloggers want to!) We have been treated as the ugly stepchild in letters and communication, we have been told we're irrelevant and don't matter, and we have dealt with the aftermath of angry authors when they can't handle our negative reviews.

Yet, we continue on each for our own reasons.

Look, I don't think critical, professional reviews are going away. They will always exist. And they will continue to not be read by me. Not because I object to them, but because I never read reviews until I read reader reviews. Reader and blogger reviews have changed everything about how I read and I am deeply thankful. I like the voice of the everyman. Sometimes I like the voice of "authority", too. I do like reading prize winners, for example.

Yesterday, a popular literary blogger posted about the book blogger panel at BEA (that I was on) with some criticism. Fair enough. I admitted earlier that the panel got off on some tangents. We never anticipated audience questions, or that members of the audience would challenge some ideas we shared. This blogger felt that since they hadn't heard of any us, we couldn't represent lit bloggers.

As a point of clarification, I was asked to be on this panel after I had already made plans to be at BEA. I did not know who the other panelists would be until it was finalized, and I was led to believe we would simply be giving tips and sharing ideas on how publishers could work with book bloggers. I'm not going to lie. I was really honored and thrilled and excited to be asked. It made me feel like my voice mattered to the book world. If you don't understand why I think it would be nice to hear this, please refer to the beginning of this post. I pretty much planned to share my experiences working with publicists and how I thought we could clear up some miscommunication. I never assumed I was taking on the voice of ALL book bloggers...there's quite a divergence of opinion even on our own panel!

Again I won't lie. I was crushed when I read that post and the comments following it. I felt the blogger and commenters assumed all we cared about was getting "free books." Any of my long time readers, I feel, know me better than that, and also know I don't think there is any such thing as a free book. But my understanding had been that the panel was meant to be about how publicists could craft effective pitches, spot blogs that are getting read, and how we could all treat each other with respect.

I can only hope that the community I'm a part of thinks I and my fellow panelists were good choices. I think really highly of the other five women on the panel and I know they are incredible people of integrity. We all run our blogs differently and have different ideas, but I'm proud to have shared a panel with them.

At the end of the day, this social media thing--blogging, twitter, facebook...it can't be harnessed. Every day new book blogs will crop up and others will fade away. I plan to stick around, because I like it here. I like that I add my voice to your voice. I like that we both get to have an opinion...whether it's what book bloggers should be talking about at BEA or whether or not Twilight is worth your time. And so even though it means the whole world of book bloggers can openly criticize me without knowing me, I would prefer that any day to a silent world where only one voice gets heard.

Users own social media and make the rules. Which means they will decide what they want to read, watch, eat, and hear. And it's not the end of the world or even the end of art. Why? Because there are many voices. And there's a place for everyone.

(I do want to say one more thing panel related. Unfortunately, an issue that I'm currently working through in my own head came up and has been greatly criticized--comments. I mentioned that I think comment quality is a good indicator that the blog is getting read. This is a result of Lisa's post on skimming, where many readers stated that if they leave a comment, they've actually read the post. This certainly trumps subscribers and traffic in my opinion. The idea that comments indicate that a blogger is engaging their audience is NOT a new one, I did NOT come up with it, and no I don't think it's the ONLY thing. I know some of you reading have never left a comment, and that's fine! But it is a good "at a glance" way to measure if a blog is connecting.)

Let's Talk About.....Romance!

I have a confession to make.

It's not a very cool thing to own up to in the group of lit bloggers I associate and hang out with the most.

I love romance.

And no, I'm not talking about the Pride and Prejudice variety.

At the end of the day, I love a lot of different genres. But the stories that sweep me away, that grab my heart, that stay on my shelf? They usually have one thing in common....a good romance!

I love the big epic romances. The fight to be together, whatever it takes, over years, lives lost, and wars. Heart pounding romances.

It's why Julie Lessman's books work so well for me...they are exactly that!

So now I ask you...do you like romances? Please consider your favorite books and whether or not they have a romance at the heart of them. I'm not just talking about category romances here. I'm talking about epic romances!

What are your favorite romance stories? What elements do you like to see in a romance book? What makes you believe?

Why do you think there's a prejudice against romance in some areas of the literary community? What books are considered classic romances that shouldn't be?


I eagerly await your thoughts! Don't forget! There's a big contest going on this week and commenting on this post in a relevant way will give you an extra entry!

Are We Really Saving Time?

Every once in awhile, I ponder the things that fill our world. They are meant to save us time, to make our lives easier, more efficient.

But I think maybe they just make us lazy and cranky when they don't work.

First example, the electric pencil sharpener. I can see this might be handy if you had to sharpen A WHOLE BUNCH of pencils at once. But in most cases, I think we just sharpen one or two pencils at a time. And really? Keeping a pencil sharpener plugged in for the occasional pencil is a waste.

Secondly, the self-check out line. I love the concept of the self-check out lane. It should be easy. It should save tons of time as I go through easily and effortlessly with my few items. Unfortunately, the self check-out lane has only provided a whole new avenue in which to get annoyed at people. I don't understand why you would ever think it would be easier to take 50 items through the self check-out lane than an experienced fast moving checker. I don't understand why you would act totally surprised when it comes time to pay and end up digging through your purse for 5 minutes.

But even more than getting annoyed at people, I get annoyed at the machine. The other day I waited for some people who took their leisurely time to go through. Then I waited for the receipt tape to be changed. (at this time I was wondering why I thought this would be quicker) and after that? I scan one item and the machine freezes. But unfortunately, no one is around to help me unfreeze it.

I guess there's really just no replacing human contact. Or maybe there is. Shopping online!

So....what modern "conveniences" end up annoying you more than helping you or seem completely pointless?

Which American Idol Judge Are You? (Book Reviewing)

I really enjoy watching American Idol. Oh the drama! Oh the bad singing! Oh the snark! And oh the star moments.

American Idol has three true judges. (and this season a fourth sort of one)

There are three judges....but it seems that there's only one judges opinion who really matters.

Let's discuss.

Randy Jackson
Randy is a bit of an unpredictable judge. While never outright harsh, he's not afraid to say a performance didn't really do anything for him. He will let a singer know if their vocals are off. But he usually doesn't say anything that can be interpreted as hurtful.

Then we have, Paula Abdul...
Paula is by far the softest judge. She always finds something positive to say, though it may not always be coherent. "You look amazing," she'll say...and that's it. The singer may have forgotten the words. Maybe they went stunningly off key. But Paula can't crush them..."I'm so proud of all you've done." We think of Paula as the nice judge..supportive to the young singers.

But then we have Simon Cowell...
Simon often seems harsh, cruel, and unkind. "Sounded like karaoke" is one of his nicer assessments. "That was a complete mess," or "Are you drunk?" The audience boos. But you know what? Secretly, the majority of Americans agree with Simon's judgements.

And it's obvious when you watch the show, that there is one judge whose opinion matters. Simon. The contestants nod and smile through Randy's enthusiastic judge, and Paula's babbling. But they hold their breath and wait for the one they know matters. Why? Because Simon doesn't like everyone. When he says it's good...you really believe that he thinks that it's good.

So...how about you?

There's been a lot of talk about the professionalism of blogger reviews. I have a lot of opinions on this subject that aren't popular.

But I think I'm a Paula/Randy mix. I do try to find balance in my reviews. I do look for the positive things I can say. (what a gorgeous cover) This is very consistent with my non-confrontational personality and my desire for harmony. It's my personality.

Do I have influence? I honestly don't know. I know people have said they added books to their wish list after reading my reviews, but I don't know if anyone thinks..."oh my gosh Amy loved that book, I will, too!" Or if authors think, "I got a positive review on My Friend Amy, that's a score!"

Why? Because I'm a Randy/Paula mix. What I'm trying to say is...that's my role and my personality. But I'd venture to say, for the love of books, for the passion of the written word and its survival, we NEED some Simon Cowells. We need a mix of voices and reviewers. And if publishers are smart, they will realize this.

We are on very shaky ground when we accept review copies and allow publishers to dictate any part of how that review will be written. Do they have to send us review copies? No, of course not! But if there are publishers who tell reviewers how reviews should be written in any way, I want to know who they are because I won't trust any reviews for their books. It's really that simple.

You may think I'm going off the deep end. I believe in book blogs, and I believe in book bloggers. I believe that we have a chance right now to be a voice of integrity in the book reviewing world. But if we say, "it's okay for a publisher to set guidelines on what can be said in a review (yes even in exchange for a review copy)" than we are selling a little part of our souls and trading in a bit of our integrity.

We need Randys, Paulas, Simons, and yeah, okay, even Karas. If books are to have a chance and book blogs are to have any influence, I really think we need to stand together on this. If this becomes something publishers can't live with, fine. But right now we are navigating these waters and learning how to do all of this and we could be wiped out the second it becomes obvious our reviews are anything less than our own reviews.

"What about the rude reviews?" Well obviously, a publisher can check out a blog and see if the tone of the blogger is agreeable to them. But more than the publishers, let's trust our readers. Readers will be drawn to the reviews that work for them. Book blog readers are highly intelligent and can think for themselves. Trustworthy reviewers will get more traffic. They will help drive sales. And publishers will risk their snarky reviews for the possibility of a positive one. It's how book reviewing has always worked.

As always, I welcome your thoughts. If you are a reader with no blog, I am very interested in how you feel about bloggers altering even just their tone for publishers. If you are a book reviewer yourself, I am interested in which judge you think you are!

Let's Discuss the Book After

Book blogging is a fairly subjective hobby. After all, we often choose whatever we want to read off our shelves. While some bloggers are more serious about literary criticism, most of us share how we felt about the book in terms of what it brought to our lives. (which, I think is why so many people are alarmed by blog reviews...there's no exact science to it--you simply have to hope the blogger loves it)

Last week, I read a couple of fantastic books that enthralled me, and then I read one that felt like work.

Sometimes, I'm willing to work in my reading. Non-fiction comes to my mind. Older classics come to mind. But when I pick up a contemporary novel with an endorsement that says something like, "If you care about American literature you will love this book!" and then I have to force myself to the end, I get doubtful.

Well, luckily Rhapsody in Books told me this was not the author's best work, so I'm willing to give good old George Pelecanos another try...someday. But I did feel bad for my rather flippant negative review, and surprised to learn that both Julie and Kathy seemed to love his other book. Either it's better, or we just have some different taste!

To be clear, while I harped on the crass language yesterday, really the downfall of The Turnaround for me was that the story was predictable. I just didn't know why I should keep reading. I knew how things were going to go. It felt like the book could have been much shorter.

In any case, Julie told me on Twitter yesterday she's pretty sure she'll like this book better than I did, so please don't hesitate to enter to win a copy!

But my point to all of this was...would I have given this book a better review if I hadn't just finished a compulsive page turner? What do you do when you finish a really awesome book? I actually have a hard time sometimes moving onto the next book, and I feel like I chose poorly in this case. I tried to be as fair as possible, but I just didn't like it. Do you ever struggle with the book after a really great read?

I mention this because I'm a bit worried about the Readathon. I have a ton of books that I think will be awesome planned to read, but what if one is really fantastic and I can't move on???? Is anyone else worried about this?

(just a note...I'm participating in the Readathon from The Friendly Book Nook so that Faith 'n Fiction Saturday can proceed as normal here.)

Thinking about Short Stories

Generally, I'm not a huge fan of short stories. The main reason for this is that just as I'm getting bonded with the characters, the story ends. And then I have to immerse myself into a whole other world. This process...of sinking into a story and another world is always a little bit of work at first. Especially if the first short story was really good. It's sort of like the euphoria you have after finishing an awesome book....it's hard to start another one.

But I think that short stories can pack a really powerful punch. There are times when I find myself thinking about a short story I read months ago. Something about their shorter nature, perhaps, allows the message to bleed through every word, every turn in plot.

One of the most powerful short stories I've ever read is "The Cold Equations". I actually read this in high school, but wow talk about a story that just likes to hang around in your mind wrapping itself around all your thoughts.

I've read some other short stories recently that have also refused to leave my head, by Nam Le and Ambrose Bierce. And I'm thinking that I should probably force myself to read more short stories as I do actually like the way they make me think.

So tell me...what are your feelings on short stories? What are your favorites? Who should I look for? Who should I avoid?

A Question: Quoting from ARCs

For those of you who review ARCs from time to time, how do you deal with it when you want to quote something from the book?

I have this rather ethical issue with quoting from ARCs because the back usually asks me not, too.

But sometimes I'm just dying to add a few passages in, and I don't have time to go to the bookstore to check the final copy. Or maybe the final copy isn't out when I write the review.

I've seen some of you make a note that things might be different in the final copy....but what if they're radically different? A few books do go through that process.

Anyway, I'm interested in hearing what you think about this issue.

Let's Discuss Book Endorsements

This past week, I wrote my first book endorsement! I wrote an endorsement for Michelle Sutton's upcoming book, It's Not About Him.
I think Michelle's second book is even better than her first.

I find reading the endorsements on books to be interesting business. Since I review books myself on this blog, I know just how hard it is to write something fresh and original about each book you read..and just how hard it is to write something good enough for the books that you fall in love with.

Having said that, sometimes I read the blurbs or endorsements on books just to see what words are used to describe the book. Someone really should devise an award for "best book endorsement" they are works of art in and of themselves.

Most of the time, I find myself thinking...there's no way the book can be as good as these endorsements say! Still, they can be a good indicator of what you're going to get....if the blurbs are no more than "....a fun romp through your twenties..." it's likely not going to challenge your deepest held convictions. If it says..."...I kept turning the pages..." well, who knows why? Maybe they kept turning the pages to see just how bad the book was going to get! Truly, the longer the better...it means the blurb didn't have to be edited to get rid of the less than favorable descriptions.

If there's one thing I hate to see, though, actually loathe, is "shocking twist" or "unexpected ending" or "jaw-dropping revelation"

See, the thing is I read. A lot. I can often predict the turn a story will take. If you tell me there's a twist, I will figure it out or spend the book distracted trying to figure it out. I don't want to know there's a twist.

It ruined The Lace Reader for me. And Now You See Him. Both of these books I could figure out the so-called twist almost immediately. I'm sure it lessened the impact of the book.

The only thing worse than figuring out the twist is not finding one at all when you expect to...where's the twist??

I know a lot of people say they don't pay attention to endorsements, but I do, especially from other authors. If an author I love and admire gives a strong endorsement to a book, I am much more likely to be interested in reading it. If I've never heard of a book, I might pick it up and glance at the endorsements.

How about you? Do you read the blurbs and endorsements on books? Is there anything you don't like to see or something you look for?

Let's Talk About Book signings

Okay, first of all, I haven't actually been to that many book signings. Last year I went to see some Christian authors and it was a relatively low key event where there was plenty of time to chat with the authors and get books signed. I also went to BEA where there were a million signings but they were very organized, and you could only really get one book signed.

This weekend I went to a signing which I will share more about later this week, but I realized something very important. You need to take a patience pill before you go! The author talk and reading were wonderful, but since this particular author has written 26 novels, there were people there with bags full of books to get signed.

I'm sure there's some etiquette to book signings, my personal conviction is that I should be buying at least one book. You know, as a way to say thank you to the bookstore and the author and so that real book tours (as opposed to blog tours) continue to happen.

Anyway, while it was lovely to chat with other bookish people, I had a hard time being patient because I had driven quite a long way to be there, and wanted to go home. But I put on my happy face and bought two books to get signed and it was all in all very lovely, even if I do think it's slightly tacky for other people to bring ex-library copies of books to get signed.

Am I just a big meanie? What do you do at book signings? Do you bring all your books by that author? Do you buy a book? Have you ever even been to a signing? What author would you go see if you had the chance? Or what's the best author event you've been to?