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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.

Wednesday, August 29, 2012

THE LIFE OF A WRITER:

So, you want to know what it's like to be a writer? Here it is in all it's glory:

 http://blog.nathanbransford.com/2012/08/the-publishing-process-in-gif-form.html
blog.nathanbransford.com
Check out this blog post by Nathan Bransford, the author of JACOB WONDERBAR AND THE COSMIC SPACE KAPOW

Friday, August 3, 2012

Do you need a good read? Try Nightingale! TODAY! :)

Hi Everybody!

You all are cordially invited to David Farland's Book Bomb launch for his runaway hit: Nightingale! Read the small print--there are great prizes for all who tweet and FB. I already have a signed copy of Nightingale--so I really just want to support him and will be purchasing the Kindle version as well. 

The best thing about David, in addition to being an awesome storyteller and teacher is truthfully, he's just a great guy to know. He loves writing and is so approachable and kind. I've met him several times and took a class from him. I'm taking another soon and though I'm a little nervous about submitting my MS to someone of his great experience, I also know he will have great ideas to strengthen my story and even if he tears it up, he will do it in a way that I can learn from him and that it can only be better. And he'll tell me the truth--in a kind way. :)

David Farland was recently flown to Hollywood California (2 weeks ago) to receive The Hollywood Book Festival Grand Prize, among other prizes this summer alone.

Two weeks ago 3 people in my home read Nightingale  and  I spent 12 hours straight enjoying In The Company of Angels. (Have tissues ready, you'll need them.)

If you want to be part of Nightingale's Biggest night--please go to amazon.com right now:

You can buy the Kindle version here.

Or the hardback here.

Thanks in advance--I promise you won't be sorry.
 
Laugh lots... Love much... write on! :)

Wednesday, August 1, 2012

My Friend's 14th Book Launch! Come Be Part of the Fun!

Tristi's 14th Book Launch!

Multi-author Book Signing
August 1st from 7-9 p.m.
Come join your favorite local authors at the Pleasant Grove City Library (30 E. Center Street) and support the cause of literacy!
·        Julie Coulter Bellon
·        Monique Bucheger
·        Rachelle Christensen
·        Loralee Evans
·        Julie N. Ford
·        Nichole Giles
·        Heather Justesen
·        Angie Lofthouse
·        Heather (H.B.) Moore
·        L.L. Muir
·        Andrea Pearson
·        Tristi Pinkston
·        Suze Reese

Proceeds from the silent auction will go to benefit the library, as will a portion of the proceeds from book sales.

Monday, July 30, 2012

Please stop by and say 'hi'!

HI Everyone!

I am newly published and live in Colorado. I am in Utah for a few days and would love to see some fellow authors stop by and say "hi". Karen Hoover and I will be doing a book signing today in Provo. Even if you can't stop by--will you please tweet and FB the following info? I would REALLY appreciate it. Thanks in advance.

Karen Hoover: author o f the Wolfchild saga and Monique Bucheger:   author of the middle -grade Ginnie West Adventure series will be at eBorn Books at the Provo Towne Center Mall (1200 Towne Center Blvd) 2nd floor. from 3-8 PM for a book signing. Please come visit them if you live in the Utah Valley. :)   

I'll be happy to FB for you in the future and I have in the past. 

Monday, July 9, 2012

101 TROUBLESOME WORDS YOU'LL MASTER IN NO TIME

I had the privilege of taking a class with THE  "Grammar Girl", Mignon Fogarty, earlier this year and was impressed by her knowledge and articulate way of using the English language to EXPLAIN the many exceptions to the grammar rules in the English language. 


Today she is running a contest to win a free-personalized copy of her book: Grammar Girl's 101 TROUBLESOME WORDS YOU'LL MASTER IN NO TIME. Please enter and if you don't win, please consider purchasing her book anyway. It is entertaining, interesting, and informative.


As a published author, it is important to me to make the appropriate word choices when writing my novels so that my readers are entertained and focused on my story, not drawn out of the story because of grammar errors.

From now on I will `try to' instead of `try and' follow the grammar rules, hoping that as I go toward (as opposed to towards) my goal of writing entertaining middle-grade novels, I will also succeed in not spreading ignorant grammar rules to impressionable readers. Before I read 101 Troublesome Words I couldn't (could) care less about some of these rules.
Now, thanks to Mignon's entertaining look at grammar etiquette, I care more. :)


I loved her format: Name the word, tell us why it was a problem, show us how it HAS BEEN used, show us how it SHOULD be used and give us permission (sometimes with restrictions, sometimes not) to use it in the `proper' the way which sometimes is the way we wanted to use it anyway, even though some grammarians would object.


She also gave examples of right ways and even more correct ways to use the troublesome word when there was a difference.


I love words, when strung together to tell a compelling story. Not so much when I have to dissect and second-guess them. Mignon Fogarty's 101 Troublesome Words takes the angst out of writing. Who better than Grammar Girl to teach us non-grammarians the dos and don'ts of proper writing?


(As a writer she assures me I can use dos and don'ts rather than do's and don'ts. Before I read this book, I had no idea there are actually three correct spellings--do's and don't's being the third option (and my spell check doesn't like it.) Now I know which way to spell which option to be correct. And thanks to her humorous perspective, I really do care.) 



Thanks, Mignon. :)