Thursday, October 25, 2012

Book Review: The Guy Next Door by Kate Palmer

From the back of the book:


On the surface, Eva Black's life seems practically perfect. The small-town kindergarten teacher is set to wed ambitious lawyer Sean Langley, and their plans for a dream wedding are well underway. Eva accepts that she will soon live life in the spotlight as a member of the prestigious Langley family, but can she overlook her fiance's tendency to dominate the details of her life and push the limits of her standards?
Mere weeks before the wedding, Eva is thrown into a traumatic, life-changing event that changes her view of family commitment and creates a sharp contrast between her ideals and Sean's. With her engagement to Sean in jeopardy, Eva finds herself relying on the support and encouragement of Peter, her kind and attentive next-door neighbor. Faced with a choice between her penitent fiance and the increasingly mysterious Peter, Eva is unprepared for the consequences—and peril—that come with her decision.
My Review:
I'm going to give you a heads-up right now that this review for The Guy Next Door is going to be a mixed bag. 
I liked the plot of the story quite a lot. The backliner text seemed determined to be vague, but I will give a few things away--Eva's sister and brother-in-law are killed in a car accident and give the care of their infant daughter to Eva. This seems like the perfect solution to her--she was getting married and starting a family anyway, so it's really not that big of a deal to get started on it sooner, right? But her fiance doesn't see it that way, and a rift grows in their relationship that might or might not get healed.
In the meantime, handsome and mysterious next-door neighbor, Peter, comes on the scene, ready to be babysitter and house remodeler and knight in shining armor. But he's hiding something, and Eva doesn't know if she really can trust him.
Now for the parts that I didn't care for quite so much--there were some significant editing issues. We were told something in narrative only to be told the same thing in dialogue just a few pages later. There were really abrupt changes in subject without transitions, leaving us to wonder how the two subjects were related until we figured out that they weren't--it was a serious case of transition-lack-itis.  
Perhaps the two biggest things for me--although the book was in first person, I didn't get the depth of emotion from Eva that I wanted. When I read a book in first person, I expect to feel a connection with the main character, and that was lacking. The second issue was the lack of foreshadowing. There is a suspense element late in the book, but the rest of the story seems like a family drama. I would have enjoyed more of a lead-in, an indication that something was coming. We did have a small hint, but not enough to balance it out.
Despite my gripes, I did enjoy the story itself. And lest you think I'm a total Grinch, allow me to share this--a review my sixteen-year-old daughter wrote about this book:
Fun, dramatic, and heartfelt. Follows the realistic story of Eva Black and the challenges she faces. Eva is excited for her marriage to the rich and charming Sean Langley until tragedy shows her his true colors in the rudest way possible--he doesn't share her family views. She hopes he will change, but are they really meant for each other? In the meantime, her mysterious next-door neighbor helps in any way he can. Overall, a great read. 
There you have it.

Sunday, October 21, 2012

What is Gospel Ideals?

Those of you who follow me on Facebook and/or Twitter might have noticed that every so often, I post links to Gospel Ideals on my pages. Those of you who follow my blog might have noticed the pretty blue Gospel Ideals button on the left sidebar of my blog. And I know you're just dying of curiosity to know what I'm talking about ...

Gospel Ideals is an online website set up by Larry Barkdull in an effort to help spread the gospel of Jesus Christ far and wide. Each article has been written based on the most popular search terms on the Internet so that we might reach a maximum number of readers. Our goal is to bring as many people as possible into contact with the gospel, and encourage them to get more information by clicking on the links that will connect them to the Church, where they can request a free Book of Mormon or a meeting with the missionaries. Even if our readers never do click on those links, we want to be a place where people can learn and feel edified as they read the articles, blog posts, and news stories on our site.

I came on board with Gospel Ideals a few months back as the managing editor, and it has been a joy to work with our authors and editors to produce high-quality, uplifting content. Gospel Ideals is nonprofit, and everyone on our staff donates their time to this great online missionary project.

I'd like to share with you this touching message:


We are using the Internet to share our beliefs, and I'd like to invite you to help us out. How? If you are a writer and would like to donate articles, let me know. If you are an editor and would like to help polish up the articles, let me know. If you are a blogger, Facebooker, or tweeter and would like to help repost the links as they come live, let me know. If you would like to post a Gospel Ideals button on your blog, click here. We have the ability to be a tremendous force for good in a world that is becoming increasingly more confused.

Tuesday, October 16, 2012

Guest Post: Lisa Harris on Shopping for Characters


I knew I was in trouble when I started shopping for her.

I was at DI more often than the sales people, scouring the sweater rack for anything embroidered with ladybugs, shamrocks, puppies, or kitties. One golden day, I found a vest embroidered with the entire nativity scene, complete with wise men following yonder star across the back.

It would have been fine, if the person I was shopping for could have actually worn the clothes. But she was a fictional character. She only lived on the page and in my mind. And yet, here I was, spending real money to cart home real sweaters to no one.  I knew she wasn’t alive (it wasn’t quite a Lars and the Real Girl moment). But still, that was when I knew Treasure Blume had taken on a life of her own.
 
Treasure Blume is the main character in my new book, The Unlikely Gift of Treasure Blume.  She’s an elementary school teacher with a family curse: everyone who meets her takes an initial dislike to her.  Ever had a day where it seemed like everyone hated you? Treasure was born when I had one of those days.  I remember coming home and thinking “Wow, I’m glad that everyday isn’t like this.”  And then I began to wonder: “But what if it was?” 

And that’s when I started writing about Treasure Blume.  She walked in my door, with mud clinging to her boots from the garden, and refused to be ignored.  That night, after my kids were in bed, I wrote about 20 pages of details and background, just so I could get to know her better.  Then she started talking, and I had to listen.  (Sidebar: writers are the only people who think it’s a good thing when they hear voices in their heads.) Pretty soon, she started bringing friends with her:  her scraggly cat Howls, her irascible, dancing diva grandma, and a down-on-his-luck lunch “lady” named Dennis. It wasn’t long until I was carrying an entire community in my head during the day and writing about their antics at night.

I don’t know if it’s like this for every writer developing characters, but it was for me. Treasure was initially sparked by a personal event: one very bad, no good, horrible day. But soon she went beyond my experiences and became her own person (with her own sense of style and taste in knitwear).   They all did. Dennis, in particular, gave me pause. He’s a chef, and he spoke and thought in food metaphors. I am not a chef.  I had to keep Google open every time I wrote from his point of view, so that I could understand his “food speak.”  

It might sound bizarre, but buying sweaters and reading up on foodie blogs brought these characters to life.  And that’s important. Because a character has to be made of more than just you and your experiences to be believable and relatable.  You have to believe in the reality of your own characters so that a reader can.

I watched an interview with JK Rowling, where she showed the pencil and ink drawings she’d made of each main character in her books.  “I drew them for no one but me,” she said. “I just wanted to see what they looked like.”  That’s what buying sweaters for Treasure does for me; it helps me see what she looks like.  Incidentally, check out the sweater on the cover! Totally worth $15 bucks.

Lisa Rumsey Harris grew up writing stories and riding horses in southeastern Idaho. She received a bachelor’s and master’s degree in English from Brigham Young University, where she now teaches writing classes.  Lisa lives in Orem, Utah, with her ancient Siamese cat, her husband (who cooks nearly as well as Dennis) and her two adorable daughters. When Lisa began writing this book, her oldest daughter was in first grade. Her youngest daughter finished first grade this year. Check out her world at www.treasureblume.com or on facebook under Lisa Rumsey Harris, author.
The Unlikely Gift of Treasure Blume will be released on November 13. It is available for pre-order on Amazon right now.

Friday, October 12, 2012

Get Ready for Fall On the Ning!


Fall on the Ning
Saturday, October 20th, 2012
9:00 am – 12:00 pm

Join us for Fall on the Ning—a free online writers conference sponsored by iWriteNetwork.

9:00 - Tristi Pinkston will walk you through some of the basic steps of editing your first draft—identifying and filling up holes, strengthening character motivations, and of course, those dreaded typos. Be prepared to take lots of notes, and have your first draft handy!

10:00 - Canda Mortensen will lead the discussion for the "Brush Strokes" class which will focus on 5 techniques by Harry Noden for improving the action, emotion, and style of sentences. Come prepared to rework and share sentences in your current work in progress. This type of revision works best with important scenes. Identify key sentences to rework during the class.

11:00 – Deanna Henderson will teach you to use Animoto, a program you can use to make short book trailers, create contest advertising, or just for fun. For our purposes, we’ll be making a book trailer, even if you aren't done with the book. Come with a few images downloaded to your computer that relate and that you want to use.

Be sure to sign up for the Ning at http://iwritenetworkning.ning.com/ ahead of time so you can join us for this fantastic event!

It's Writing Time!

In addition to the yearly October Writing Challenge I host over on Tristi's Challenges, I am participating in Britney Gulbrandsen's October Madness Write-a-Thon.  Any excuse to party, right? And there is no more fun way to party than working toward positive goals with friends!

The Write-a-Thon goes for a week, from October 15th - 20th.  Here are my goals for that stretch of time:

1. Write 4500 words on Taking Care of Business, the book currently being produced by Big World Network.

2. Write 3000 words on Tulips and Treason, the book coming out early next year through Walnut Springs.

3. Write 2000 words on Point of View Primer, the third volume in the Write It Right series.

Those are my goals! Come cheer me on - I'll be updating my progress on Tristi's Challenges and also on Twitter - @TristiPinkston


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