Double Giveaway -- The Truth of Me and Kicking In the Wall

Thought for the Day:

Writing is like giving yourself homework, really hard homework, every day for the rest of your life. You want glamorous? Throw glitter at the computer screen.
~Ketrina Monroe~

A Gift for My Writer Friends:

For a real horror storyabout agents and self-publishing, click HERE.

Click HERE for a terrific post on Chapters.

You can read a really fun article on getting rid of writer's block if you click HERE.

I know I have been absent for a week. Sometimes life gets in the way and sometimes we need a little break. Anyway, I'M BACK!!! But just a head's up -- I might disappear again for a week in June. Family reunion and travel plans might get in the way of blogging.

When I was last here, I offered a copy of the sweet Ivy in the Shadows by Chris Woodworth. And the winner is (drumroll, please) Barbara Watson!! Congratulations, Barbara. I will be sending the book along to you this week. For those of you who don't know Barbara, she is a teacher, writing, and freelance editor who does great editing work. You can find out more about her and her work by clicking HERE.

I reviewed a new book by Patricia MacLachlan recently for a review in the Sacramento Book Review. She is a prolific writer and probably most famous for her Newbery-winning Sarah, Plain and Tall. The book I reviewed is called The Truth of Me, and it is simply a lovely book.

Robbie is an only child. He has longed for a sibling, but it's clear that won't happen. His rather self-absorbed musician parents travel too much and have made it clear they don't need or want another child in their lives. Robbie often thinks they'd rather have one less child in their lives. They did get him a dog, however, a sweet hound named Eleanor, but Robbie calls her Ellie, and Ellie is his best friend. Well, he has another best friend. His grandmother Maddy is also his best friend. Not many kids have a grandmother for a best friend, but Maddy is pretty special.

When Robbie's parents go off to play concerts in Europe for the summer, Robbie is able to spend that time with Maddy, and he is able to take Ellie with him. It turns out to be a very memorable visit. Spending time with his grandmother allows Robbie to learn some truths about his mother that helps him understand a lot of things.

Maddy isn't much of a cook, but her neighbor, Henry, the local doctor, loves to cook and spends nearly every evening with Maddy and Robbie, cooking up wonderful things. But Maddy, who communes with nature as few others can, wants to take Robbie camping in the nearby woods. Henry has no interest in camping, so it is just Robbie, Maddy, and Ellie. While camping, Maddy shows Robbie how to relate to wild animals in a magical way she has. But while some of those animals are in camp, Maddy suffers a bad injury just as a large bear comes on the scene. Maddy can't be moved. It is up to Robbie and Ellie to take care of Maddy and get help, all while making sure she is safe.

Patricia MacLachlan

"It is beautiful at the top of the hill. The sun is setting, leaving a rose sky. We set up the tent together in a clearing. Maddy builds a small campfire in a stone pit, and we eat our food. There are two logs to sit on. I stare at the logs, remembering Maddy's story about eating corn bread with a bear, both of them sitting on a log."

I love The Truth of Me and think most kids fourth through sixth grade will as well. It's a little book, but has so much depth and so much truth in it. The writing is beautiful and the story is one to which many of us and of the kids out there can relate. You can win my ARC of this sweet book by being a follower (please help me reach 100!!) and leaving a comment. As a bonus, I am also giving away a copy of Kicking In the Wall: A Year of Writing Exercises, Prompts, and Quotes to Help You Break Through your Blocks and Reach Your Writing Goals by Barbara Abercrombie. This is another book I reviewed recently and, honestly, I have way too many writing books already, so you can win them both. Just be a follower and leave that comment. If you want more chances, post the link to this post on Facebook or Tweet it and let me know. I'll put your name in an extra time.

Don't forget to check in with Shannon Messenger for more Marvelous Middle-Grade Monday book reviews. Just click HERE to get to her wonderful blog.

For the giveaway, it is for U.S. only. Sorry, but I just can't afford to send books out of the country. Hope you understand. But do leave a comment please. I love to hear from my readers.

Ivy in the Shadows by Chris Woodworth -- A Review and Giveaway

Thought for the Day:

“You must keep sending work out; you must never let a manuscript do nothing but eat its head off in a drawer. You send that work out again and again, while you're working on another one. If you have talent, you will receive some measure of success - but only if you persist.”
~ Isaac Asimov~

Ah, there’s one more link on dialogue from the series on dialogue I referenced last week. That and a couple more to help you be productive.

Part III in the dialogue series of posts for which I posted I and II last time can be found by clicking HERE.  

Click HERE to see Neil Gaiman’s 8 Rules for writing. 

Pixar’s 22 Rules for Storytelling can be found by clicking HERE.  

The lucky winner of this week’s double giveaway drawing for Gingersnap and Road Trip is Helen!! (How about a round of applause?) Helen, I will get the books out to you this week.  

If you didn’t win, read on. I have another fabulous giveaway this week.

I, like many of you, sign up for drawings on blogs for book giveaways.  I was lucky enough a few weeks ago to have my name drawn on Carol Baldwin’s blog (cleverly entitled Carol Baldwin’s Blog) which you can find by clicking HERE. Carol teaches writing and has written a book about teaching writing for kids. Anyway, I received a hardcover copy of Ivy in the Shadows by Chris Woodworth, a middle-grade contemporary. I loved it and want to tell you about it.

Ivy’s stepfather, a musician, leaves.  Ivy’s mother, with two kids to raise, has to find a way to keep a roof over their heads and food on the table. She sure isn’t getting any help from her husband, even though he is the real father to JJ, Ivy’s little brother. To Ivy’s complete embarrassment, her mother stands up in church and asks for help. Help comes in an odd way. A couple says they need to leave their son with someone while they go to find a house where they will be moving. Caleb, their son, is the same age as Ivy and, at least in Ivy’s eyes, something of an odd duck, and Ivy is not happy. But JJ is crazy about him. Having Caleb staying isn’t enough, even though they are getting a break on their rent, also due to Mama asking in church. Ivy’s mother stands up in church again and asks for a job. She gets one, but that means Ivy will have to take on watching JJ to help out. All this is going on while Ivy’s best friend, Ellen, seems to be pulling away and changing in many ways.

This story is very real in so many ways: the breaking family, the changing of friendships, the love and loyalty that can be found in the oddest of circumstances and relationships. Ivy’s voice, in this first-person account, is absolutely authentic. Not once did I doubt this was the story of a young girl and the telling of it her own.

Chris Woodworth

I love this book and think everyone who discovers it will completely enjoy every word. I’m going to offer here today my own gently-read hardcover copy of Ivy in the Shadows to one of you.

For a chance to win this charming book, please be a follower of this blog and leave a comment. If you are not yet a follower, it’s easy to become one. (I’m trying to get to triple digits on my followers, so…) Just go to the right hand side of my blog, find where it says Followers, and click the Join This Site icon. I’d appreciate it. Also, if you tweet my link or link it on your blog or share it on Facebook, let me know and I will put your name in the drawing an extra time for each one.

Don’t forget to stop by Shannon Messenger’s wonderful blog for more Marvelous Middle-Grade Monday links. Click HERE to find it.

On the book giveaway, this is for U.S. only. Sorry, but it would be too expensive for me to send books out of the country. But please leave a comment. I’d love to hear from you. Remember, if you have trouble leaving a comment, click on the title of the post and it will give you just this post with a comments section on the bottom. Also, if you haven’t signed up by email, please do. Just look in the upper right-hand corner of this page, pop your email address in, and you will receive an email each time I put up a new post. Your information will not be shared with anyone.      

DOUBLE Giveaway -- Gingersnap and Road Trip

Thought for the Day:

“In everyone's life, at some time, our inner fire goes out. It is then burst into flame by an encounter with another human being. We should all be thankful for those people who rekindle the inner spirit.” ~Albert Schweitzer~

This week I have four links for you that all have to do with dialogue. If writing good dialogue is important to you, and if you’re writing, it should be, it will be well worth your time to read all four of these:

For a great post on writing dialogue, click HERE. 

For another great post on writing dialogue, click HERE. 

This is probably the best example of subtext in dialogue I’ve ever seen. Don’t miss this! Click HERE.

And the icing on the cake is a wonderful post on writing dialect. Click HERE for that one.

The lucky winner of this week’s drawing for an ARC of The Fourth Stall Part III, (Spin the disco ball!) is Meradeth Houston!! Meradeth is a writer, blogger, and has a new ebook out called The Chemistry of Fate. You can find out more about her and her book by clicking HERE. I LOVE the name of her blog. Check it out and you will see why. Meradeth, I will get the book out to you this week.  

If you didn’t win, read on. There will be a DOUBLE giveaway this week.

This weekend our SCBWI regional conference, Spring Spirit, took place and it was FABULOUS!! We had wonderful speakers and workshops and critiques and food and fun. Kelly Milner Halls was one of the speakers, and

Kelly Milner Halls on the left

if you EVER have a chance to see her, do it. Uh-Maze-Ing! And she is an absolute hoot. Her books are just as amazing as she is. Click on her name and check out her site.

I did a little work on the conference and also made some airport runs to pick up and drop off editors and an agent. Unfortunately, I didn’t get much sleep and I think I’m fighting s bug of some sort. Anyway, I’m not feeling up to snuff today, so I’m going to be a little lazy and post two reviews that I wrote for the Sacramento and San Francisco Book Reviews. The good news for you is, first, they are both terrific books, and second, I am giving both away. So some lucky winner is going to win hardcover copies of BOTH Gingersnap by Patricia Reilly Giff, a really sweet book, and Road Trip by Gary Paulsen and his son Jim, a terrifically funny book.  

To read the review of Gingersnap, click HERE. Don't you just love that cover? It really suits the book.

To read the review of Road Trip, click HERE. 

I’ll bet you’ll all be wishing I would get sick more often! For a chance to win these two terrific books, please be a follower and leave a comment below. If you are not yet a follower, it’s easy to become one. (I’m trying to get to triple digits on my followers, so…) Just go to the right hand side of my blog, find where it says Followers, and click the Join This Site icon. I’d appreciate it. Also, if you tweet my link or link it on your blog or share it on Facebook, let me know, and I will put your name in the drawing an extra time for each one.

Don’t forget to stop by Shannon Messenger’s wonderful blog for more Marvelous Middle-Grade Monday links. Click HERE to find it.

On the book giveaway, this is for U.S. only. Sorry, but it would be too expensive for me to send books out of the country. But please leave a comment. I’d love to hear from you. Remember, if you have trouble leaving a comment, click on the title of the post and it will give you just this post with a comments section on the bottom. Also, if you haven’t signed up by email, please do. Just look in the upper right-hand corner of this page, pop your email address in, and you will receive an email each time I put up a new post. Your information will not be shared with anyone.

A Review of Odette's Secret and a Surprise Giveaway

Thought for the Day:

“The best way to have a good idea is to have lots of ideas.” ~Linus Pauling~

Here are some links that I think you will find valuable:

For a good article on creating emotional frustration with GREAT examples and good exercises, click HERE.  

Want to know how to develop any idea in to a great story? Click HERE for a good article on that. 

Click HERE for a terrific article on turning any story idea into a great story. 

The winner of this week’s drawing for a Kindle copy of The Treekeepers, (Hold your breath now!) is Carol Baldwin!! Carol is a writing teacher and blogger extraordinaire. You can find her blog HERE, and it is worth your time to go. Carol, I will be in touch about getting your Kindle copy or The Treekeepers to you. If you didn’t win, read on. There will be another giveaway this week.

A couple years ago when I went to my first retreat with Carolyn Yoder at the Highlights Foundation, one of the new friends I made was Ann Ingalls, a writer of extraordinary talent. She  told us about her then-new picture book, The Little Piano Girl, which she had co-written with her equally-talented sister, Maryann MacDonald. If you haven’t seen this charming book, you really should get it. Ann and I have stayed in touch. She helps me with my poems sometimes and we talk writing. Recently she mentioned her sister had a new middle-grade book written in verse, Odette’s Secrets. I decided I’d better order it up and give it a read. I’m so glad I did.

This is the story of a young Jewish girl living in Paris with her mother and father. The Nazi’s invade the city and everything changes. Odette’s father joins the French Army and her mother becomes part of the Resistance. It was bad enough to have her father gone, but soon her mother sends Odette with some other children to the country to live with strangers in order to be safe. There she must keep secret that she is Jewish. She goes to school, makes friends, and even goes to mass at the local church. Her life, while so different from life in Paris, is really wonderful. After some time, her mother has to escape Paris and is reunited with Odette. They move to another small village and, again, Odette makes friends and seems to fit in. She even teaches her mother what to do in mass so no one will know they are Jewish. But is all this enough to keep them safe in these terrible times?

I pick wildflowers for Mary’s altar.

Then I take off my rubber sandals

and wade into the water to look for frogs.

But a sound behind me makes me jump—is it the cows?

No, it’s the village children marching toward me.

One look tells me they’re not here to play.

They look like farmers ready to chop down a big tree.

I can't recommend Odette's Secrets enough. Based on real happenings and people, it is a beautiful, powerful book that will take you to a time and place we all know much about, but the perspective is very different from anything else I’ve read. The voice is so authentic, you will hear little Odette's voice in your head, gentle French accent and all. MacDonald’s writing is lyrical and spare, but carries a great deal of potency.

Maryann MacDonald, photo taken by
Stefan Falke

There is a fantastic interview with Maryann MacDonald on Barbara The Whole Megillah. Barbara’s blog is always really worth your time, but especially this edition. Click HERE to read the interview on Barbara Krasner’s incredible blog. You might also want to check out Maryann MacDonald's site and learn more about her and her MANY books. Click HERE to go to her site.

I can’t bring myself to give away Odette’s Secrets, but I always keep my promises, so I have another middle-grade book to offer for this week’s drawing. It’s The Fourth Stall Part III – a gently-read ARC. You can see my review of it for the Sacramento Book Review by clicking HERE. You won’t believe the concept of this series. It’s pretty darned funny.

Don’t forget to stop by Shannon Messenger’s wonderful blog for more Marvelous Middle-Grade Monday links. Click HERE to find it.

On the book giveaway, this is for U.S. only. Sorry, but it would be too expensive for me to send books out of the country. But please leave a comment. I’d love to hear from you. Remember, if you have trouble leaving a comment, click on the title of the post and it will give you just this post with a comments section on the bottom. Also, if you haven’t signed up by email, please do. Just look in the upper right-hand corner of this page, pop your email address in, and you will receive an email each time I put up a new post. Your information will not be shared with anyone.           

The Treekeepers -- A Review and Giveaway

Thought for the day:

 

“There are perhaps no days of our childhood we lived so fully as those we spent with a favorite book.”  ~M. Proust~

A gift for my writer friends:

 

 Here are some links I think you will find valuable – three great ones this week.

If you want to know how to avoid automatic rejection from agents and editors, click HERE. 

For a post on generating ideas, click HERE. 

Click HERE for a post that is something of an idea factory. 

For my wonderful giveaway, the winner is Jess@Fairday’s Blog! (Cue the trumpets!) Jess is involved with an interesting blog. You might want to take a look. Check it out by clicking HERE.  Jess, expect an email from me. As soon as I hear from you, I will send your information to the publicist, who will be getting your copy of  Deadweather and Sunrise to you.

 

Last year, a woman in one of my critique groups, Susan Britton, mentioned she was thinking of “doing something” with a book of hers, The Treekeepers, that had gone out of print, the rights reverting to her. I borrowed a copy from her and found it to be quite wonderful. Last week I asked her about it, and she told me the book is now available as a Kindle book, so I thought I would tell you about it. Susan generously offered to give away a Kindle copy to a winner here this week. So stayed tuned for a chance to win this wonderful fantasy.

Bird is an orphan. Life is a struggle for her, but then it is for everyone in the town of Graynok since the evil Lord Rendarren had conquered it. Those who could had fled, leaving only the poorest behind. Bird helped care for tiny Piper, whose mother was a beggar. Now Piper was sick with cat’s fever and would surely die. Bird, at great risk to herself, goes at night in search of Farwender, the only person she believed might help. When she finds Farwender, he has a strange animal with the head of a lion and a tail that is a venomous snake. It’s a chimera named Ally, and he accompanies Bird and Farwender, who also takes a kitten named Finder and a small crystal vial with a golden liquid. It is a magical elixir called Thalasse and more rare than gold or diamonds.

Thalasse had once been available for anyone. It came from a magical tree, but that tree had been destroyed by Lord Rendarren. Farwender takes Bird with him when he returns to the barren hills. There she will live with a woman named Soladin who has other orphans living with her. It is there Bird discovers she is the Opener Child, long prophesied as the one would can open the locket which holds the one Thalasse tree seed left in the world. With this gift comes great risk to Bird and great responsibility.

“The children waited silently in the brush until long after the hoofbeats died away. Bird and Stoke kept holding hands. Finally the orphans felt safe enough to head down into the canyon to see what was left of their home. Night had fallen, and a round moon pushed its belly up from behind the hills. The fires were still busy, finishing their work.”

Susan McGee Britton

Bird and the other orphans begin the journey of their life with Ally at their sides. Their task is to take the Thalasse seed to a place where it can be safely grown. They must protect it from Lord Rendarren. It is a long, dangerous, and arduous journey, but these brave children are willing to take on the forces of evil for the greater good.

I’ve said a few times on this blog that I don’t really like fantasy, but I keep finding fantasy books I like! This is one of my favorite books, not just fantasy books, but over-all favorites. The characters and story became very real for me as I’m sure they will for you. This is a winner and one of you can be the winner of the ebook.

You can have a chance to win Kindle copy of TheTreekeepers. If you are not yet a follower, please become one and tell me that. I will put your name in twice. If you are already a follower, thank you very much, let me know and I will put your name in twice. You can receive extra chances by linking to this post on your blog, Facebook, Twitter, or other social media and tell me you are doing that.

Don’t forget to stop by Shannon Messenger’s wonderful blog for more Marvelous Middle-Grade Monday links. Click HERE to find it.

On the book giveaway, this is for U.S. only. Sorry, but it would be too expensive for me to send books out of the country. But please leave a comment. I’d love to hear from you. Remember, if you have trouble leaving a comment, click on the title of the post and it will give you just this post with a comments section on the bottom. Also, if you haven’t signed up by email, please do. Just look in the upper right-hand corner of this page, pop your email address in, and you will receive an email each time I put up a new post. Your information will not be shared with anyone.