Monday, February 27, 2012

First Annual BOB Contest Winners!

The 20th Annual Writers Conference hosted by American Night Writers Association, Inc. (ANWA) had a number of wonderful innovations, but one of them impacted the lives of the writers listed below in a different way. They were all winners in the First Annual BOB Contest.

What does BOB stand for? That's Beginning of Book, or the first 500 words of a book-length work in the seven categories below. Entries were each evaluated for quality against a list of fiction techniques by three judges, and the results were derived according to points received. Each contestant received scoring sheets from the judges. The entry with the highest point total received the Grand Prize, a Kindle e-reader.

Over sixty entries were turned in for the contest, and the results were announced at the Luncheon on Saturday, February 25th. Congratulations!

ROMANCE
1st Prize: (TIE)
Tina Scott, FAREWELL, MY DENMARK
Tiffany Brown, APRIL JUNE MARCH
2nd Prize: Debra Erfert, BUCKET LIST OF HOPE
3rd Prize: Debra Erfert, CHANGES

WOMENS/GENERAL FICTION
1st Prize: Theresa Sneed, ESCAPE
2nd Prize: Chava Cannon, THE BEGINNING
3rd Prize: Tanya Parker Mills, LAPS

CHILDREN’S PICTURE BOOK
1st Prize: Jan Martin, MISS MOUSIE AND MRS. McGREGGOR'S CLOSET
2nd Prize: Britney Gulbrandsen, I’M AWESOME
3rd Prize: Kathy Atwood, MAYBE IT’S A ZEBRA

HISTORICAL FICTION
1st Prize: Susan Aylworth, ALL THAT GLITTERS
2nd Prize: Della May Olson, TANGLE CREEK
3rd Prize: (3-WAY TIE)
Diane Post, BLOOD AND HONOR: A MOTHER'S HERITAGE, A DAUGHTER'S REVENGE
Peggy Shumway, WHEN STRANGERS CALL
David Haynes, THE LEGEND OF GEORGE STAPLES, BOY AMONG THE SIOUX

NONFICTION/MEMOIR
1st Prize: Ramona Zabriskie, WIFE FOR LIFE: THE POWER TO SUCCEED IN MARRIAGE
2nd Prize: Heather Hunter, STEALING ASHES (MEMOIR)
3rd Prize:  (TIE)
Stacy Whittemore, IT DIDN'T COME WITH INSTRUCTIONS
Christi Hibbert, THIS IS HOW WE GROW: Insights on losing, living, and loving from the psychologist, the mom, and me

YOUNG ADULT FICTION
1st Prize: Megan Oliphant, FAIRY GODFATHER
2nd Prize: Tanya Parker Mills, THE SCHOOL OF GUARDIANS (Mid)
3rd Prize: DeAnn Huff, MASTER OF EMOTION

SPECULATIVE FICTION (SCI FI/FANTASY, ETC.)
1st Prize: Peggy Urry, PROVIDENCE
2nd Prize: Jennifer Griffiths, PANDORA
3rd Prize: Kristy Carlton, MEMORY CATCHER

GRAND PRIZE WINNER
Bonnie Harris, ENCODED SECRETS (YA)

Saturday, February 25, 2012

Sweet Saturday Sample: Spinster's Folly again

Welcome back to Sweet Saturday Samples!

Here's a snippet from a newly written scene for Spinster's Folly:

Rod put his hand on her shoulder, hesitantly, she thought, and she covered it with her own.

"The fault don't lie with you, Julie," he said quietly, his voice a bit rough around the edges, as though he had forgotten how to use it to express tenderness. "Marie's been acting a tad off of late. Something has gone amiss, and I never paid heed."

Julia turned, still holding Rod's hand under hers as she pivoted to face him. His countenance twisted in a grimace of pain.

"She bears an air of fright," he continued at a low volume. "Resolute, but frightened of something." He paused, but then merely exhaled and pressed his lips together, his jaw thrust forward.
~~~

Thank you for visiting. Now, use this list to go to other blogs for more Sweet Saturday Samples. Enjoy!

Saturday, February 18, 2012

Sweet Saturday Sample: Spinster's Folly

Welcome back to Sweet Saturday Samples!

This week I'm letting you take a peek at my forthcoming novel, Spinster's Folly. Here's a scene from the beginning of the book:

Marie Owen pressed forward through the crowd that surrounded her brother Carl and his new bride. She pushed her way across the patch of trampled grass in the Colorado meadow, trying to get closer to the bridal pair. She could barely see Ma hugging on Ellen. Mrs. Bates dabbed at her eyes. Mr. Bates stood alongside them, looking stern. Pa stood back a bit, looking pleased with himself.

Someone in a great hurry to leave the site of the makeshift altar bumped Marie's shoulder hard, and a flailing hand knocked her bonnet askew. She cried out, "Have a care!" as she turned to see who had been so heedless, then shook her head as she realized it was only her next older brother, James, fleeing from Carl's triumphant grin.

"You behave, James," she muttered, loosening the strings beneath her chin so she could straighten her headgear. When she was satisfied that it was once again firmly in place, she returned to her purpose of reaching her best friend.

Her youngest brother, Albert, was her last obstacle. He had wormed his way to the front of the crowd, and was enthusiastically engaged in kissing Ellen's cheek. Marie elbowed the youth aside, reached her friend, and threw her arms around her.

"Lawsy," Marie whispered in Ellen's ear as she hugged her tight. "I'd begun to fear this day was never comin'. Now you're truly my sister!"

Ellen pushed back from the embrace slightly, her green eyes shining like dewdrops above her freckled cheeks. "It was so sudden. I didn't figure Pa would bring the priest with him." Her voice quivered. "Who would have thought . . . " She scanned the meadow, craning her neck as she looked back and forth. "Where is James?"

Marie squeezed Ellen's arm. "Now don't you fret about him on your weddin' day. He'll get over his little disappointment."

"I want to tell him I am sorry."

"Don't you bother. He's been acting like such a ninny. It was plain as the nose on your face that you loved Carl and not him."

Ellen ducked her head, but when she raised it a moment later, her radiant smile bespoke her happiness.

Marie couldn't help kissing her cheek. "I'm thrilled for you," she murmured, and gave Ellen another hug.

"I cannot believe this happened so fast," Ellen whispered. She took a deep breath, then turned to look at the new husband, who was sitting himself down on a chair, his face white.

Ellen's smiled disappeared, and she turned back to Marie as people shoved against them. "Carl's bleedin'. I have to get him back to the cabin." She gripped Marie's shoulder. "You'll be next to marry," she said in a rush. "I see the way Bill Henry looks at you."

"What?" Marie protested, but Ellen had slipped away, entreating Rulon and Clay Owen to haul up the chair and carry Carl to the house.

Marie stood rooted in place by her friend's astonishing words, and watched a crimson stain spread across the hip of Carl's trousers. A shiver of fear coursed down her spine. Carl had been wounded in a shootout with kidnappers. Surely he wouldn't bleed to death because he got out of bed to marry. Ellen was as good a nurse as anyone hereabouts. She would take ample care of Carl and pull him through this bad spell.

"James!" Ma's sharp call cut through the babble of voices.

Marie turned to see what had alarmed her mother, and saw James loping into the forest. She breathed out in exasperation. He had been so temperamental lately, stumping around like a bear with a hangnail.

"Rod, go see—"

Marie went to her mother's side. "He's fine, Ma. Give him a fortnight to clear his mind, and he'll be the light of your eyes again."

Ma grasped Marie's wrist without looking at her. She spoke low. "Daughter, he's not fine. Make your pa go after him." She glanced down at her clenched hand, opened it, and let Marie go free. "Tell your pa—"

"James is man-grown, Ma."

Her mother seemed not to hear her. "Good, Rod is going." She called out, "Bring him back," sighed, gave herself a shake, then turned her attention to the departing newlyweds.

Marie shrugged her shoulders and followed her mother's gaze. Ellen walked beside Carl, fussing a little, patting his hand. His brothers carried his chair toward the little log house Carl had built with his own hands to receive his bride. No matter that his wife wasn't the one Pa had intended for him. It seemed such an age since Pa had connived to arrange marriages for two of his sons before they'd all fled the ruins of the Shenandoah Valley and headed out for Colorado Territory. Carl's betrothed, Ida Hilbrands, was long gone.

"Good riddance," Marie said aloud.

"Good riddance to what?" a young female voice asked behind her.

Marie jumped and whirled to face her sister. "Julianna! Don't creep up on me like that. It's not ladylike."

"What do you know about being a lady? More like a spinster, if you ask me."

"Spinster? Don't you call me names!"

"I will if I want to. You're gettin' awful long in the tooth, Marie. You've got no beaus in sight. Papa surely wasn't thinking when he left you off his marryin' list." Julianna swished her skirt with both hands and stuck out her tongue.

Marie felt warm blood rising into her neck and face at her sister's insolence. "Leave Pa out of this," she barked. "You see how well his plans turned out." She gestured toward the departing couple. "True affection conquered his meddlesome—" She fumbled for a word, then spat out, "meddling. Ellen is happy, and so am I."

Julianna smirked, pointing toward the forest. "James ain't happy. He stomped off. Papa went after him, glowerin' almost as much as James."

Marie balled her fists, glaring at her sister. "Thank you for telling me something I already know, Miss Snippety Nose. James'll mend, given enough time."

"But in no time at all, Papa will have to put you on the shelf. Nobody will even look at you by Christmas, old maid!"
~~~


Thank you for visiting. Now, use this list to go to other blogs for more Sweet Saturday Samples. Enjoy!

Tuesday, February 14, 2012

Blog Tour Book Review: Venom, by K.C. Grant

I'm back to doing Blog Tour Book Reviews, and today I have a quirky mystery to talk about.

Venom is the third novel by writer K.C. Grant, who was born in rural Idaho, but has spent much of her life living in northern Utah with her family. She is active in several writing associations, including the League of Utah Writers, which she has served as a chapter officer for three years. Her writing credits include magazine and newspaper articles and fiction. She has traveled extensively in Mexico, studied at a college in the Mexican state of Michoacán, and speaks Spanish.

When I first held a copy of Venom in my hands and saw the cover, I thought this would be a thriller set in Spain, but somewhere in Europe, for sure. Not so.

I learned by turning to the back cover that Venom is set, for the most part, in and around Mexico City. The surprise of having to change my mindset didn't last long, and once I began reading, I enjoyed the novel. It turns out to be more of a romantic mystery, with a big splash of "what did I get myself into?"

The back cover copy tells us that:

Samantha Evans is determined to make a name for herself in the cutthroat world of advertising. Newly hired by a prestigious ad agency, she volunteers to work on location in Mexico City as a personal assistant to the beautiful and driven creative director Katrina Edwards. At first the association seems promising. But Ms. Edwards seems preoccupied in a way that makes Samantha increasingly uneasy. In fact, many in the group seem like they are not being completely open about the project, including David Ayala, the mysterious and moody photographer for whose attention the two women find themselves competing. After several strange accidents and numerous appearances by an unknown man, Samantha discovers the truth: not everyone on the team is in Mexico to create a stellar advertising pitch. When her sleuthing leads to her abduction, she is brought to the pyramids of Teotihuacán, and comes face-to-face with the venomous evil of the South American crime boss known as The Serpent. Now Samantha must not only fight for her life, but she must also discover if she can trust the man she's come to love.

Samantha, a seemingly accident-prone young lady out of her element in the Big Wide World, desired to make a life for herself, to stand on her own two feet away from what she perceives to be a "perfect" family and siblings who always seemed to have it all and more of it than she gave herself credit for having and being. She agonized about a superior who clearly was engaging in sexual harassment, and I wished she would do something about it, but she never did take action, so one part of the ending satisfied me on that account. I thought introducing her odd-couple roommate, Terri, prolonged the beginning more than was necessary, and that story line might have been cut back. Other elements tended to keep me from the mystery part of the story longer than I liked. 

I've always felt that the author's job is to drive his main character up a tree and throw rocks at him or her, and then to add crocodiles around the base of the tree so as to give good conflict to the story. Some of the situations in this novel were resolved too readily, and without great danger or peril, I felt a bit ambivalent about how much physical danger Sam truly was in. Sometimes, there was much more emotional angst going on.

Sam's adventures do lead us on a tour of many of the beautiful ruins and culturally iconic buildings around Mexico City. It brings to mind how many hidden crannies and dangerous areas ancient places have, and sets up the odd occurrences that befall Sam, but that doesn't explain why the people around her blow hot, then cold toward her. It's for you to read in order to find the answer.

Because this book is published by a press that aims its products toward the LDS (Mormon) reading market, it's entirely appropriate that the book entwines Sam's religious beliefs, her upbringing in a faith community, and her service as an LDS missionary into the story. However, it could be any-woman's story of trying to grow up and overcome difficulties in a high-powered job while at the same time yearning for her mom and dad when she finds herself in desperate circumstances. I hope the LDS-ness of the book doesn't overshadow the engaging story.
~~~

I was provided with a copy of this novel in order to read it for the Blog Tour. This circumstance did not influence my review in any way.

Venom is available at Deseretbook.com, Amazon.com, and at LDS bookstores. It may be purchased in print, as an electronic book, or as an audio book.

Saturday, February 11, 2012

Sweet Saturday Sample: Trail's End

Welcome back to  Sweet Saturday Samples!

Today I'm featuring a tidbit from a short flash fiction piece, Trail's End, that comes from my prose and poetry collection, No More Strangers.
~~~ 

She heard his spurs jingle in the darkness as he came into the room where she lay, and she opened her eyes, but with no moon or starlight broaching her draped window, she did not expect to see him. Nevertheless, she knew her husband by the odors he brought with him into the room: the musty smell of dust, the pungent odor of sweat and leather, the hint of tobacco.

A match flared, and he lit the candle on the washstand. Its sputtering flicker lighted the angles and planes of his face, his eyes shaded by the wide brimmed hat he hardly ever removed.


~~~

No More Strangers is available on all Amazon Kindle stores, and at Smashwords.com in multiple ebook formats.

Thank you for visiting. Now, use this list to go to other blogs for more Sweet Saturday Samples. Enjoy!

Saturday, February 04, 2012

Marie wonders about her suitor pool

Here's a scene from Spinster's Folly that I'm playing with again.

The night before Rod Owen trailed his beef cows to the Cuchara, Marie tossed and turned. Julianna elbowed her once, then went back into slumberland, but Marie's mind seemed to bubble with imaginings like a pot boiling over a too-hot stove. It wouldn't allow her the relief of sleep.

She wondered whether she dreaded or anticipated the next few days. If Pa liked Tom's prospects and proposed to add him to the family, the young man's reaction would play a big part in Marie's future. He might accept Pa's suggestion with enthusiasm, and jump into making and carrying out plans for a wedding and a life together with Marie. If, on the other hand, Ed Morgan's son had no notion of marrying her, his disinclination could spell spinsterhood for her.

Who else was there for her to marry? She lay very still, searching every nook and cranny of her brain for prospects. She'd seen the Dominguez brothers once or twice when they had stopped in to water their horses as they traveled on their way to Pueblo town. Enrique and Patricio Dominguez cut blazingly romantic figures, with their wide-brimmed hats and differently-styled clothes, their teeth-flashing smiles and flirtatious comments. She thought the pair of them was tremendously exciting. Given the chance, which one would she choose to wed?

After thinking on the exotic brothers for a time, she sighed and discarded the wild idea of being courted by such a man, knowing Pa would never agree to a marriage in that direction. That left her with a suitor pool made up of Tom Morgan, grubby freighters from Pueblo town, hard-rock miners from the north and the west, or her father's cowhands.

Tom had his distinctions. Despite being a farmer, he washed his hands before eating and wore fresh clothing to social events. He kept his medium brown hair trimmed above his collar, and it was never greasy. He had his flirtatious moments, but he'd always treated her with respect. Maybe too much respect.

Marie turned on her side, and let her mind examine that topic. Tom had never sought her out as an object of courtship, although she suspected his pa and her own had intended for some years for them to marry one day. She and Tom had never discussed the subject. During their journey to the West, Tom had acted the same way toward her as he had toward Ellen Bates and Ida Hilbrands--both of them betrothed girls. Tom could be merry, but he could be boring, as well.

Enrique Dominguez would never be boring. She didn't know how much English he spoke or understood, but it would certainly be interesting, no, it would be exciting, to live in his house, learning a new language, having servants, being married. . . .

She inhaled sharply and pulled the quilt over her head. What was she thinking? She was as bad as Julianna, trying to picture what goes on behind a couple's closed door. She'd seen horses mating, and a human encounter must involve the same elements. That wasn't her business yet. She'd learn all about it first hand, once she married Bill.

Bill? The hot flush of burning cheeks drove her out from under the covers. I don't mean Bill. I mean Tom. Lawsy! What am I thinking? She squeezed her eyes tight, trying to banish the errant image that persisted in her brain of Bill Henry's contrite face when she'd lashed out in anger at him the morning her horse had bolted.

The image lingered, however. She could not banish it in favor of Tom's bland visage. Then a series of Bills lined up before her inner eye: Bill, looking stricken as she berated him, the color of his eyes deepening almost to black, as though he willed them to shelter his soul. Bill, saying, "I didn't mean you." Bill, his moustache twitching on the left side of his mouth as she turned away from him.

Marie shook her head, trying to drive the specters away. Bill Henry should not be in her mind when she was, in all likelihood, going to end up the bride of Tom Morgan.
~~~

How many sleepless nights did you endure, wondering about your future? Or are you still engaged in such a struggle?

Sweet Saturday Sample: The Usual Game

Welcome back to Sweet Saturday Samples!

This week I'm presenting a sample from another short story, The Usual Game.


The saloon, which doubled as the town's restaurant, wasn't far away--as the crow flies, provided the crow flew straight up; but the road wound back and forth up the hill, adding many yards to the distance. Verl trudged upward, and thought how happy Fong had been this morning during breakfast.
"I go today, Verl," he had said, letting a grin steal across his thin face. "I take it all to send to my wife." He held up the bags of bills and coins.
"Will it take long for her to get here?" Verl asked.
"Maybe three month, maybe six month. She bring everything with her," Fong replied.
"I'm real pleased for you, Fong. I'd go crazy waiting three years to see my wife again."
Fong put the bags on the sideboard and sat down at the table. He waited a long moment before replying. “It been hard, yes.” He fidgeted with the drawstring of a cloth sack laying on the table before him. “We think a long time before we decide I should come.” He looked up at Verl, and spoke, his voice shaking slightly. "You a lucky man, Verl. You most lucky to be born here in United States."
~~~

The Usual Game is available on all Amazon Kindle stores, and at Smashwords.com in multiple ebook formats.

Thank you for visiting. Now, use this list to go to other blogs for more Sweet Saturday Samples.
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