Last year, a member of the League of UT Writers, of which I am a part, wrote asking for inspirational stories for a series of books she was putting together for Covenant Communications. I submitted three stories to her, two of which were included in the first volume, Angels Round About.
So here's the news: Angels Round About will be released for sale this Monday, March 1st. You will be able to find it, or should be able to find it, for sale at Seagull and/or Deseret Book stores--or through Covenant's website. My two stories are under my name and my pen name, Liz Bennett.
CLICK HERE to learn more about the book.
CLICK HERE to go to Covenant's website.
You can click the Product Catalog link, and then the Purchase Covenant Products link to search for the book. It's reasonably priced, and would make a great gift for Mother's day or birthdays. :)
Wednesday, February 24, 2010
Sunday, February 21, 2010
In a word, WOW!
It took her little time, but she did it. Josi Kilpack sucked me into another Sadie Hoffmiller adventure. And this time, I was truly worried for her (Sadie, not Josi).
Roughly 350 pages cover about 15 hours of Sadie's life. And most of it takes place overnight. Garrison, CO has never been so busy!
This time, though, Sadie sustains some serious injury during her adventure. I confess I had started to worry how much our fifty-six year old spitfire could take.
Intense. That's all I really have to say. Intense.
And, at the end, just when I was taking a deep breath and congratulating Sadie on another job well done, Josi gave me a sneak peek at Key Lime Pie. Gasp! Now I'm going to literally chew my nails until Key Lime Pie is released so I can buy it and find out what happens.
Roughly 350 pages cover about 15 hours of Sadie's life. And most of it takes place overnight. Garrison, CO has never been so busy!
This time, though, Sadie sustains some serious injury during her adventure. I confess I had started to worry how much our fifty-six year old spitfire could take.
Intense. That's all I really have to say. Intense.
And, at the end, just when I was taking a deep breath and congratulating Sadie on another job well done, Josi gave me a sneak peek at Key Lime Pie. Gasp! Now I'm going to literally chew my nails until Key Lime Pie is released so I can buy it and find out what happens.
Wednesday, February 10, 2010
I'm Telling! ;)
Humor me, please? I've been gearing up for this day for a long, long time. I'm going to share my good news with all of you by way of this story:
She sat at this gathering of writers, held in a publisher's building, listening with rapt attention as the owner of the publishing company described the process they go through when selecting a book to publish from their many submissions. "This would be a good fit for me," she thought, and a warm cloak of rightness settled over her.
One year later she sat on her old, beat up blue sofa and opened her poor laptop. She had to twist the cable left and right until it registered it was plugged in, then she checked her email.
There it was. Sitting in her inbox, waiting for her, was the email that would settle her question once and for all. Would it be acceptance, or another kindly worded rejection? Did she have the courage to click it and find out?
"Come on, girl," she thought. "Nothing is worse than not knowing." And with a deep breath, she clicked.
And read, "Dear Cheri,
My name is Shersta, and I am Acquisitions Editor at Cedar Fort. After a careful review of your manuscript, The Peasant Queen, I am excited to tell you that we would like to publish your book."
"Oh, God," she said, "thank You!"
:)
She sat at this gathering of writers, held in a publisher's building, listening with rapt attention as the owner of the publishing company described the process they go through when selecting a book to publish from their many submissions. "This would be a good fit for me," she thought, and a warm cloak of rightness settled over her.
One year later she sat on her old, beat up blue sofa and opened her poor laptop. She had to twist the cable left and right until it registered it was plugged in, then she checked her email.
There it was. Sitting in her inbox, waiting for her, was the email that would settle her question once and for all. Would it be acceptance, or another kindly worded rejection? Did she have the courage to click it and find out?
"Come on, girl," she thought. "Nothing is worse than not knowing." And with a deep breath, she clicked.
And read, "Dear Cheri,
My name is Shersta, and I am Acquisitions Editor at Cedar Fort. After a careful review of your manuscript, The Peasant Queen, I am excited to tell you that we would like to publish your book."
"Oh, God," she said, "thank You!"
:)
Monday, February 8, 2010
My Review of Missing by Ronda Gibb Hinrichsen
I went into this book with high hopes. I'd heard so many great things about it--how gripping, how suspenseful, what a page turner. And I love a good read. But when I closed the book after finishing it, I have to admit I was a little disappointed.
Technically, Missing could have benefited from another round or two of editing. While I realize it's impossible to catch everything, two punctuation mistakes on the first page of chapter one were a little off-putting. I found a place or two where words were missing, making it difficult to decipher the meaning of a given sentence. Anything that disrupts my read like that tends to turn me off.
I like the main character, Stacie. She's engaging and believable to me. Though I felt the antagonist lacked depth and dimension. I found that particularly disturbing since we spent a large chunk of the book in her viewpoint. That said, I also didn't think it was necessary to be in so many characters' heads. The story could have been told better if the point of view had been limited to less than 4 characters.
I liked the storyline. I found it plausible and engaging. And I'd like to see what the author has in store for her next book. Any issues I had with Missing are easily overcome.
Technically, Missing could have benefited from another round or two of editing. While I realize it's impossible to catch everything, two punctuation mistakes on the first page of chapter one were a little off-putting. I found a place or two where words were missing, making it difficult to decipher the meaning of a given sentence. Anything that disrupts my read like that tends to turn me off.
I like the main character, Stacie. She's engaging and believable to me. Though I felt the antagonist lacked depth and dimension. I found that particularly disturbing since we spent a large chunk of the book in her viewpoint. That said, I also didn't think it was necessary to be in so many characters' heads. The story could have been told better if the point of view had been limited to less than 4 characters.
I liked the storyline. I found it plausible and engaging. And I'd like to see what the author has in store for her next book. Any issues I had with Missing are easily overcome.
Saturday, February 6, 2010
AuthorPalooza is a Good Thing
What a difference a day makes!
I had planned to go to the WriteWise Book Camp this weekend with my fellow authors and WW peeps, but my plans fell through--and then my alternate plan fell through. So by last night I was pretty dang bummed. That is, until I got on FaceBook and checked up on my friends.
Heather Justesen posted about AuthorPalooza going on this afternoon at the Barnes and Noble Bookstore in Sandy from 1-4pm and I thought, what the heck. I was all set to talk books and rub shoulders with other authors this weekend anyway, and AuthorPalooza was hosting over 30 published authors. Wow. And again. 30 published authors in one store. WOW.
Not only did I get to see Heather again (whose book I already own and read), but I got to see James Dashner again, Jessica Day George, Nichole Giles, Cindy Beck, Terri Ferran, Ronda Gibb Hinrichsen, Ann Cannon, Carol Lynch Williams, Lisa Mangum, Emily Smith, Sydney Salter and Nathan Hale.
Nathan is a lot of fun. He kept our crowd at the Purple Cow entertained (see past blogs) for a while when the rest of the authors ::coughs:: Dean and Shannon Hale were late. I hoped he'd have some of his picture books out for sale--the family had a ton of fun with The Devil You Know, but alas, all he had was what we'd already purchased. Ah well. It was still great to say hi chat for a bit. Sydney Salter I've also seen before, though I'm sure she doesn't remember. She was with a few other authors at The Purple Cow early last year. I've wanted her book, My Big Nose and other Natural Disasters, ever since--and now I have a signed copy.
I'd ordered a ton of James Dashner books just before finding out about the signing, so I only picked up The Maze Runner today. Had it signed to my son, because I'm cool like that.
The girls raided the Jessica Day George table. Jessica and I shared a stage at the Grantsville Jr High's author days last year. This happened a lot today. I'd get that, "You look really familiar" look from about 90% of the authors I approached. Yes, I'd say--I've been around a lot.
It's a good thing authors like to see people return again and again, otherwise I might be looked upon as a stalker. Yes, I drove 40 miles to blow my income for the month (don't get excited, I only make about $100/mo) and meet my friends and authors and get said books signed. Yes, I do this a couple of times a year because I find Utah to be culturally good to authors and I like to support that--seeing as I hope to be one of them someday.
I also picked up Austenland by Shannon Hale and a couple of Julie Wright books--even though they weren't in attendance.
Look for my upcoming reviews of the treasures I've acquired at this blog or you can find me on Goodreads.com
Now, if you don't mind, there are several books calling my name...
I had planned to go to the WriteWise Book Camp this weekend with my fellow authors and WW peeps, but my plans fell through--and then my alternate plan fell through. So by last night I was pretty dang bummed. That is, until I got on FaceBook and checked up on my friends.
Heather Justesen posted about AuthorPalooza going on this afternoon at the Barnes and Noble Bookstore in Sandy from 1-4pm and I thought, what the heck. I was all set to talk books and rub shoulders with other authors this weekend anyway, and AuthorPalooza was hosting over 30 published authors. Wow. And again. 30 published authors in one store. WOW.
Not only did I get to see Heather again (whose book I already own and read), but I got to see James Dashner again, Jessica Day George, Nichole Giles, Cindy Beck, Terri Ferran, Ronda Gibb Hinrichsen, Ann Cannon, Carol Lynch Williams, Lisa Mangum, Emily Smith, Sydney Salter and Nathan Hale.
Nathan is a lot of fun. He kept our crowd at the Purple Cow entertained (see past blogs) for a while when the rest of the authors ::coughs:: Dean and Shannon Hale were late. I hoped he'd have some of his picture books out for sale--the family had a ton of fun with The Devil You Know, but alas, all he had was what we'd already purchased. Ah well. It was still great to say hi chat for a bit. Sydney Salter I've also seen before, though I'm sure she doesn't remember. She was with a few other authors at The Purple Cow early last year. I've wanted her book, My Big Nose and other Natural Disasters, ever since--and now I have a signed copy.
I'd ordered a ton of James Dashner books just before finding out about the signing, so I only picked up The Maze Runner today. Had it signed to my son, because I'm cool like that.
The girls raided the Jessica Day George table. Jessica and I shared a stage at the Grantsville Jr High's author days last year. This happened a lot today. I'd get that, "You look really familiar" look from about 90% of the authors I approached. Yes, I'd say--I've been around a lot.
It's a good thing authors like to see people return again and again, otherwise I might be looked upon as a stalker. Yes, I drove 40 miles to blow my income for the month (don't get excited, I only make about $100/mo) and meet my friends and authors and get said books signed. Yes, I do this a couple of times a year because I find Utah to be culturally good to authors and I like to support that--seeing as I hope to be one of them someday.
I also picked up Austenland by Shannon Hale and a couple of Julie Wright books--even though they weren't in attendance.
Look for my upcoming reviews of the treasures I've acquired at this blog or you can find me on Goodreads.com
Now, if you don't mind, there are several books calling my name...
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