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Saturday, September 15, 2012

WHAT A GREAT WEEK!!

WOW!!

I've just spent an awesome week at David Farland's Novel Rewriting class. They don't call him 'the Wizard of Storytelling' for nothing. :)

I learned so much from him and my wonderful classmates that my head is still spinning.
(I know--it's cliche--but it's also true.)
I can't wait until I can re-read my notes and apply all of the knowledge. :)


I flew to St. George, Utah for David's class and got to spend time with one of my very best friends and her family as well.

The only sad part was being away from MY family, but I plan to squeeze them all and smother them with kisses when I get home tomorrow. :)

I was also interviewed for my friend Tanya Mill's blog today: here

As Ginnie would say: Life is totally awesome sauce!

Laugh lots... Love much... Write on!   :)

Tuesday, September 4, 2012

FAITH, HOPE, & GRAVITY by Merrill Osmond and Shirley Bahlmann

FAITH, HOPE and GRAVITY is a story everyone can relate too.



Young Liam has a hard time finding courage outside the four walls of his home. Thankfully within them, his mother, Halia, is a loving force to be reckoned with as she guides her young son through the ups and downs of life. When Liam is the victim of a childhood prank gone extremely wrong, he struggles to heal and put in perspective the events of that fateful day. As he grows, he has to learn to push past fear and embrace faith as he navigates his way.

That childhood prank haunts him and the perpetrators for years, causing their paths to cross in interesting ways as they seek peace, forgiveness, and learn to accept that some things just can't be changed. And if those things could changed, maybe they shouldn't be. Some things just have to be experienced to be valued.

Having lived a pretty sheltered life provides comfort and conflict when Liam is forced to leave his home on a Hawaiian beach to help his extended family. He has a strong sense of right and wrong, but quickly gets confused when he realizes that other people don't play by the same rules that he has been taught. Liam is forced to reach deep inside himself to find courage to find his way as he trots across the globe, visiting countries and people foreign to him.

Liam finds himself collecting people the way others collect stray animals. Each new friend or foe helps him gain further knowledge about himself and his life's purpose as well as define who he wants or needs to be. He is willing to help and serve others. His innocence can be painful to witness when he is taken advantage of, but powerful when it confirms that human beings have more in common than they don't. Each just needs to be wanted and treated like they have value.



Author Bios:
Merrill Osmond is a world-class entertainer, producer, author, motivational speaker and renowned lead singer of the Osmonds. Merrill and his siblings have produced 47 platinum & gold records and Merrill has written the lyrics for five #1 hit records. Merrill is a co-founder of the Osmond Foundation, which originally produced “The Children’s Miracle Network” Telethon. He has produced presidential inaugural events for both Reagan & Bush. Merrill is excited to release his first novel, Faith, Hope & Gravity.


Shirley Bahlmann has written a wide variety of genres, including historical fiction, novels, biographies, how-to, and how-not-to books. One of her favorites is a children’s book titled “When the Chicken Crossed the Road” which comes with instructions and a chicken-colored washcloth so you can roll your own chicken! Shirley finds the most annoying thing about being a prolific writer is sleep, because she’d rather be writing.