Sunday, October 31, 2010

Please vote!


          One of the most precious freedoms we have in our nation is that of the right to choose who will govern us and represent us in our State and National Executive and Legislative offices. All citizens of the United States who have registered to vote have the duty and responsibility to elect sincere and diligent men and women who have pledged to be our voice and look out for our interests.

          I urge you, if you are registered to vote, and if you have not already done so, to vote on Tuesday, November 2, for those who will stand up for the right and govern according to the precepts of the Constitution.

Thank you.

Wednesday, October 27, 2010

Book Review: After My Son's Suicide by Darla Isackson

Once upon a time when both I and the Internet were young—oh yes, my children, there was a time when the World Wide Web did NOT exist—I came upon a lovely young woman named Darla Hanks who was making a reputation for herself as the co-owner of a magazine, and a writer, editor, and speaker of great skill and renown among the women of the LDS Church. She was much sought after, and enjoyed several years of service and fame in the land.

Then the time came that life was not good, but she pressed forward, overcame her obstacles, and eventually became Darla Isackson. She learned many lessons. I'm sure she breathed a sigh of relief at coming through a great trial, then went on with her life.

One day the unthinkable happened: her sweet son unimaginably put the barrier of death between himself and his loved ones. Years of pain and searching the depths of her mother's soul followed. At last, she wrote an intensely personal book to share what she learned.  


After My Son's Suicide: An LDS Mother Finds Comfort in Christ and Strength to Go On is this effort of her heart, a gift to all who have suffered and wondered, "Why me?" It is for all those, who, as she says in her Introduction, are "dangling by a rope of faith over a precipice of sorrow—experiencing a true test." She goes on to say, " But the test is not so much in the strength of our own faith as in our willingness to rely on the strength of Christ, who is mighty to save. Not one of us is strong enough by ourselves, but nothing is too hard with Him by our side."

I marveled at the wisdom of Darla's Author's Note, which made thorough sense in a context that can be confusing and daunting:
 
In common vernacular, the term “survivor” is often used to denote loved ones left behind after a suicide. When you see that term in this book, you will know that is what it refers to. For instance, I have referred to a web site called SOS, which means Survivors of Suicide. However, this term can be confusing to some who first think of “survivor” as one who attempts suicide but survives. For this reason I have chosen to use the term “suicide grievers” or just “grievers” most of the time. Also you will note that I never use the term: “commit suicide.” “Died by suicide” is so much more accurate.

Darla gently guides the griever from clinging to hope to forgiving the one who died and others, reclaiming life, and rebuilding on the Rock of Christ, until the light returns and life goes on.

This book will make you cry, it will make you think, and ultimately, reading and studying it will help you find peace, solace, and healing—and the strength to go on.

Darla Isackson's website
is found here. Her marvelous book can be ordered at Amazon.

Direct your favorite bookstore to order After My Son's Suicide from:
Brigham Distributing
110 S. 800 W.
Brigham City, Utah 84302
(435) 723-6611
brigdist@sisna.com

You will need to give the bookstore the title, author, and this information as well: # ISBN-10: 0981787436 or # ISBN-13: 978-0981787435.

Tuesday, October 26, 2010

USA BOOK NEWS ANNOUNCES WINNERS AND FINALISTS OF THE “BEST BOOKS 2010” AWARDS

Mainstream & Independent Titles Score Top Honors in the 7th Annual “Best Books” Awards

LOS ANGELES – USABookNews.com, the premiere online magazine and review website for mainstream and independent publishing houses, announced the winners and finalists of THE “BEST BOOKS 2010” AWARDS (BBA) on October 26, 2010. Over 500 winners and finalists were announced in over 140 categories covering print and audio books. Awards were presented for titles published in 2010 and late 2009.

Trail of Storms by Marsha Ward (iUniverse) was named the Finalist in the Western Fiction category.

USABookNews.com is an online publication providing coverage for books from mainstream and independent publishers to the world online community.

Thursday, October 21, 2010

Picture This

I'm driving to my writers group meeting. It's been raining, so the roadbed is wet. It's nighttime, so it's dark. Not just regular dark, but out-in-nature-overcast-with-no-moon DARK. The only illumination comes from my headlights. It's cold and damp, so the highway is occasionally wrapped in patches of fog. I'm watching out for animals. I have 18 miles to drive, and there's a four-mile stretch of construction where the highway width is constricted and the speed limit is restricted to 35 miles per hour. There are a couple of nasty curves onto and out of detours, curves that I don't want to take faster than 35 mph, especially in this enveloping darkness, so I don't much appreciate the yahoo behind me who is trying to get up my tailpipe. This is white-knuckle driving, but because said yahoo has forgotten to dim his brights, I have to deal, not only with dimming my own bright headlights when oncoming 18-wheelers approach, but with the intense light from behind, which reflects off, not only my rearview mirror, but my side mirror, as well. I can do something about the rearview--one snap of the adjustment and it's on the night setting that cuts my rearward vision significantly. I can't do much about the side mirror, though. Except one thing.

Picture this: me steering with my right hand, holding up my left hand to block the searing light from my side mirror, while squinting against the brights of the truck coming toward me on the two lane highway through the mountains, up hill and down, and around the curves.

And I'm wondering if a tire is going flat.

I think I need a sedative!

Friday, October 15, 2010

Finding My Theme

Several years ago, I had a wonderful week in cool Prescott, Arizona, where I attended the Hassayampa Institute for Creative Writing at Yavapai College. In the friendly atmosphere created by the limited enrollment and the nurturing faculty and staff, I got to know many fine folks, and did revisions on work that had been mired in mud for a long while. The intensive writing workshop helped me focus on aspects of my writing that I had neglected. I had a chance to reach deep within myself to find emotions and conflicts that needed to be present in my characters to make them real.

The most important thing I found, though, was my theme, my reason for writing. I'd agonized over this issue for years. Why DID I write? I knew I felt compelled to do so, but did not know the underlying motivation.

It took me by surprise, when I was asked a single question, that the answer I gave was my theme, my motivation. The question was, "What do you want to share with the world through your writing?" I was blown away when my answer provided me with the purpose I'd been seeking to identify for such a long time.

I said, "I write to help people find hope amidst their trials, to learn to overcome, not just to wallow in misery."

Now you may think that doesn't apply to a novelist's work, that it's more suited to an essayist or a self-help guru. However, as I look back over my books, I think it fits nicely into what I have written. My principal characters pick themselves up in various ways and go forward with their lives. They illustrate how personal attributes and growth can help a person persevere.

I was very glad to have found my theme at long last. However, I don't go into every writing session thinking, How can I make my characters toe the mark and hold to the theme? I build my characters' attributes, motivations, and conflicts carefully and then let their actions come forth. Because I do this legwork out of my value system, the theme will be there, in one form or another, when I have finished.

How do you find what you want to write about? Maybe the same question I was asked will help you isolate your theme, too.

Friday, October 08, 2010

Author Interview - Margaret Turley


Today I'm interviewing a friend of mine of many years, Margaret Turley, whose new book, Save the Child, is being launched on November 4. Margaret is based in the Phoenix area.

Tell us about the book launch for Save the Child. I hear it's quite an affair.
The launch for Save the Child will be at the Goodfellow Book Celebration on Thursday evening, November 4th, 2010, from 7:00 p.m. until 10:00 p.m.  Our event will be held in the Wright House Reception Centre on 636 W. University Drive, Mesa, Arizona. I am one of eight authors who will have books in this event. We have joined together with our book producer, Dr. Pamela R. Goodfellow, to form the group "Writers Unite to Fight Cancer". We are holding a silent auction during our event to help raise money for the American Association for Cancer Research.

That's certainly a worthy cause! You're a nurse and a musician, Margaret. Why do you write?
I must. I am compelled to put my thoughts down in paper.

You've previously written several non-fiction titles. What genre is this book and who is your target audience?
I wrote Save the Child as a novel. I felt that I would reach a larger audience that way. I am aiming for parents, grandparents, lawmakers, attorneys in family and health law, and healthcare givers.

What inspired you to write this story?
In 2003 I heard about the Parker Jensen case in Utah. I felt great sympathy for the parents. I have followed that case and others since then, and started my project to write a book about parents' rights to choose their childrens' healthcare.

Tell us about your main characters.
Nancy and Robert Johnson are the parents of Sharon Johnson – an eight year old girl who is diagnosed with Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia. Nancy is vehemently opposed to chemotherapy because she considers it poison. Robert is a law student and asks his professor for help with their case when CPS comes in, removes custody of Sharon, and gives it to the state.

Oh, that's not nice. Who is the villain of your story?
The villain here is cancer, a vicious disease. The Johnsons are also opposed by the doctors and by the law.

How do you discover the characteristics of your characters?
I relied upon many of my own personal experiences and observations of parents of patients I’ve cared for over the years, who were in similar circumstances. I also interviewed several parents whose children have had cancer. I used the characteristics I observed and wove them into the characters in my book.

Do you write your book from beginning to end, or start with the end or in the middle?
I started writing my book from beginning to end. But I hit a major block, not being able to move forward when there were parts that needed to happen in the middle that I didn’t know how to orchestrate.

How did you get past that blockage?
After taking the "Crafting the Character-Based Novel" course from Dr. Pamela Goodfellow, I stopped trying to write in a linear plot-based fashion and instead focused on fleshing out characters and creating scenes as she taught us in what she calls her "scaffold process". When I did that, the story more or less took care of itself.

Interesting. I wonder if it's  similar to the Snowflake Method. Never mind that. After you finished Save the Child, how long did it take you to get it published?
I gave the manuscript files to my editor last year in August, so it has taken a little more than a year to publish it.

And now your project is completed. Good for you! Where can we purchase a copy of Save the Child?
You can order the book from Amazon.com or my website: Save the Child. 

Thank you for the interview, Margaret.
Thank you for allowing me to share Save the Child and Writers Unite to Fight Cancer with you today. I hope you and your family will remain healthy and cancer free.

I'm sure we all wish for that!

Tuesday, October 05, 2010

A Review of Apostrophes

Repeat after me: "I pledge not to throw apostrophes into my writing without thinking about whether they are appropriate or not. I will not use them in making nouns plural. I will not use them in the word 'its' unless I mean the contraction of 'it is'."

A noun is a person, place, or thing. If you ate two almonds, you don't need an apostrophe. A sign saying Condos for rent doesn't need an apostrophe. If two cars collide, no apostrophe is needed to describe the event.

Apostrophes are used to make contractions and to show possession for SOME words. That is called possessive. Exceptions are words like his, her (and hers) and . . . wait for it . . . ITS!

You wouldn't think of writing "Hi's brother went to ...the store," or "That's not her's," would you? Tell me you wouldn't.

I can use the apostrophe in "wouldn't" because it is (or it's) a contraction: two words we've come to squish together. The second word is usually "is," which is where that so-often-misused-but-not-in-this-case "apostrophe s" comes from when we drop the "i" and bump the "s" up against the previous word. The apostrophe reminds us that we've left something out, like a letter or two. We have, indeed, left out the "ha" in the last sentence's "we've." Note the possessive form of "sentence". Yes, it has the apostrophe followed by the s.

That's enough for today's lesson, folks. Go forth and think about correct apostrophe usage today. :-)


No, don't come after me for the over usage of quotation marks. They have their place (but not they're or there place).
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