A Princess, A Prince and A Dragon

Reviewed by Phee Paradise

Heartless
By Anne Elisabeth Stengl

I’ve been disappointed by the fantasy books I’ve reviewed for Pix-N-Pens. None have measured up to my favorite secular authors, but Heartless makes up for all the others. At first, it didn’t look like much of a story and it didn’t seem very original. In the kingdom of Parumvir, Princess Una comes of age and suitors visit the palace to ask for her hand in marriage. She gets to choose among them and she chooses badly. Neither she nor the reader anticipates the consequences of her decision. Meanwhile, there are rumors of a dragon causing mayhem wherever he goes. By this point, I was hooked.

I am not going to spoil it for you, but I will tell you that I was so wrapped up in the events of the story, that I almost missed the deep themes. It occurred to me toward the end that this might be an allegory. The Christian themes are all there – love, faith, hope, grace and sacrifice. But the allegory, if that’s what it is, is subtle. The parallels are not as clear as in some Christian fiction. That is a good thing. It provided some distance that let me enjoy the story while I read it, and ponder the meaning afterward.

The publicity for the book mentions Tolkien. That’s quite a claim to make and I don’t quite see it. The style is reminiscent of Victorian fairytales and Heartless does not have the breadth and depth of The Lord of the Rings. But the story is so well told and the themes are integrated so well, that I would not hesitate to put it on my shelf next to Tolkien.

If you like fantasy at all, or even if you just have fond memories of your childhood fairy tales, you won’t want to miss this book. I highly recommend it.

Pros: Fascinating tale of kingdoms, princesses, fairies, dragons and romance with a gripping resolution to an old problem.

Cons: The style is a little distant and you might take a while to get used to it.

This week, the

Christian Fiction Blog Alliance

is introducing

Heartless Bethany House (July 1, 2010)

by

Anne Elisabeth Stengl



ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

Anne Elisabeth Stengl makes her home in Raleigh, North Carolina, where she enjoys her profession as an art teacher, giving private lessons from her personal studio, and teaching group classes at the Apex Learning Center. She studied illustration at Grace College and English literature at Campbell University. Heartless is her debut novel.

ABOUT THE BOOK

Princess Una of Parumvir has come of age and will soon be married. She dreams of a handsome and charming prince, but when the first suitor arrives, she finds him stodgy and boring. Prince Aethelbald from the mysterious land of Farthestshore has traveled far to prove his love--and also to bring hushed warnings of danger. A dragon is rumored to be approaching Parumvir.


Una, smitten instead with a more dashing prince, refuses Aethelbald's offer--and ignores his warnings. Soon the Dragon King himself is in Parumvir, and Una, in giving her heart away unwisely, finds herself in grave danger. When Una makes the wrong choice, catastrophe ensues for the princess and her family, and love, courage, and trust are needed when darkness engulfs the kingdom.

Only those courageous enough to risk everything have a hope of fighting off this advancing evil.

There are some delightful things and scenes: the Twelve-Year Market that appears in its own good time and sells fairy goods; a clever blind cat who is invariably underfoot and has, of course, a secret!

To read the first chapter of Heartless, click HERE.

Editing tip #38: Writing Your Memoir (part four)

Kathy Ide’s Editing Tips
© Kathy Ide, 2010

In this column, freelance author, editor, and speaker Kathy Ide shares tips on self-editing your manuscript.

~ Writing Your Memoir (part four) ~

The last three weeks I discussed some steps to creating a good memoir. Here’s one more.

Step 5: Revise

After you have a detailed outline and a completed first draft, it’s time to let out your “inner editor” and make some improvements.

A. Revisit Step 1 above. Does everything in your manuscript:
a. relate to your specific theme?
b. appeal to your target audience?
c. fit with your chosen voice?
d. have a consistent tone?
e. follow a logical order and flow smoothly?

B. Take out any “inside jokes” that only your and your family and friends would get.

C. Consider how what you write will affect other people if your memoir gets published. If something is potentially controversial, you may wish to change some people’s names and any details that may make the individuals identifiable to theselves and/or people who know/knew them. Put a disclaimer in the front of your book stating that some names and identifying details have been changed.

D. If your memoir includes references to a particular culture, important people or events in history, details of careers or hobbies not your own, etc., double-check your facts for accuracy. Errors, even minor ones, will undermine your credibility with your reader.

E. Read the manuscript aloud, one “character” at a time, as if you were an actor in a play, and act out the motions mentioned in the text. Listen for places where the dialogue sounds forced, stilted, or unrealistic, or where a person’s speech is inconsistent. Watch for places where an individual stands when he/she is already standing, sits when he/she is already sitting, stops being involved in a scene without actually leaving the area, fails to react appropriately, etc. Look for places where a character or object suddenly appears in a scene (or disappears).

F. Tighten your manuscript. Consider every chapter, scene, paragraph, sentence, even every word. Could it be deleted without losing anything important or changing the meaning? If so, cut it out (no matter how fond you may be of it). You will be tempted to include certain scenes or details because they are exciting or important to you, but if it isn’t relevant to your theme, bite the bullet and take it out. (Save it for your next book if that makes you feel better.) Eliminate all unnecessary details. Provide only enough backstory or specifics to explain the context of events. Don’t overwhelm readers by giving too much information. Don’t bog down your story with a lot of adjectives and adverbs. Use powerful nouns and verbs instead.


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NOTE: It is an infringement of copyright law to reproduce this
publication, in part or in whole, without the express permission of the author. To request permission, please e-mail Kathy@KathyIde.com.

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AUTHOR BIO:
Kathy Ide has written books, articles, play and movie scripts, short stories, devotionals, and curriculum. Her books include Polishing the PUGS and Fiction and Truth. Kathy is a full-time freelance editor, offering a wide range of editorial services for authors and publishers. She also speaks at writers’ conferences across the country. She is the founder and coordinator of The Christian PEN: Proofreaders and Editors Network (www.TheChristianPEN.com) and the Christian Editor Network (www.ChristianEditor.com). To find out more, please visit www.KathyIde.com.

Simple Steps To Photography

BY SUZANNE WILLIAMS

There are two things about me that people are quick to learn. First, that I love photography. Given all the photographs I post everywhere, that is easy to figure out. Second, that I like things to be simple. If a task is complicated or requires multiple steps, chances are I will avoid it. With that said, when I am writing about photography, I want to state things in a manner that anyone on any level can understand.

Perhaps it is because I remember what it was like to be "me" at different stages of my life. I can remember being a sixteen year old, a new wife, and a young mother. For this reason, I strive to adapt myself to fit different situations and by extension, I apply this same mannerism to my writing. I do this also because I have known people who weren't like this - a certain high school chemistry teacher comes to mind. He could never seem to "come down" to the level of us, his students, and as a result, I learned less in his class than any other.

Photography can be complicated or it can be simple. It's all in how you approach it. Since I like things to be more on the simple side, here are a few of my favorite tips.

Lynx Spider

READ YOUR MANUAL

It always amazes me that people do not do this. Whenever I buy a new electronic gadget, the manual is the first thing I look for. With a few exceptions, it is the best way to learn what your camera will or won't do. (There are always badly written manuals.)

Another great way to learn more about your camera is through reading reviews. Even after I have purchased it and have it in my hands, I can figure out how certain settings work from those who spent days examining it from every angle. I even watched the (slightly corny) "how to" DVD they sent me.


PAY ATTENTION TO YOUR SETTINGS

The best way to learn aperture, ISO, and shutter speed is by watching what your camera chooses on its own when you hit the shutter button. If your camera has a function that shows you the details of your photograph, then use it. It is through diligent observation that you will learn what settings work and will know when you need to alter them. Think of it as having a constant guide with you, someone who has the photo knowledge you don't, and take advantage of that.

Mushrooms

EMBRACE THE EV BUTTON

Most cameras have an EV adjustment setting. "EV" stands for exposure value, and it most often appears as a +/- sign, whether as an actual button or from within the camera's menu. In short, EV alters the luminance of a scene to be brighter or darker. A dark object against a bright background with a positive EV adjustment can correct for contrast problems and give more detail to shadowy areas. In the same manner, a bright object, for instance a white flower, against a dark background, with a minus EV will preserve highlight details (and often prevent the "white blob" syndrome).

EV is actually based on a mathematical formula. Now, it is not necessary for you to understand the formula. But knowing it is there and realizing how it affects your photographs is a big step forward.


KEEP IT LEVEL

The biggest compositional advice I can give is for everything that is straight to look straight. A vertical object, a tree or a building, for instance, should look vertical, and horizons should be horizontal, not going up or downhill. These can be corrected somewhat in post-edit, so don't despair, but anything a photographer can do to avoid editing afterward is a sign of a better photographer.

Working Farm, Near Blairsville, Georgia

DELETE, DELETE, DELETE

My last bit of advice is the simplest of all. Take lots of pictures and delete the bad ones. Digital photography is great for this. It is always important to learn from your mistakes, but don't beat yourself up because you have made one. Take each photograph knowing you can take another and readjust what you just did in some manner to make it better. Compare them later; notice which one worked best, and save that into your thinking.

At the heart of photography is the enjoyment of it. Always savor the moment you are in, regardless of what photographs you successfully capture or which ones you failed at entirely. After all, the sunset is still beautiful even without a lens in your hand.

-------------------------------

Suzanne Williams Photography
Florida, USA

Suzanne Williams is a native Floridian, wife, and mother, with a penchant for spelling anything, who happens to love photography.

Mormon Polygamy

Reviewed by Phee Paradise

The Sister Wife
By Diane Noble

Imagine the man you love, who has committed himself to you in marriage, taking a second wife because God told him to. In The Sister Wife, Gabriel MacKay is a devout Mormon with two wives. We see his point of view, which is complex, but the story is more about his first wife, Mary Rose, than it is about Gabe.

It starts with a gripping prologue that shows Mary Rose facing Gabe’s wedding to his second wife. I was fascinated by her feelings of hurt, anger, determination and love for Gabe. But, after pulling me into her turmoil, in chapter one, Noble jolted me by jumping back to a time before the two had met. It was a disappointing shift, although she is such a skilled writer that it didn’t take me long to fall back into their story.

Neither Mary Rose nor Gabe were born Mormon. Her grandfather converted when the religion was quite new and, in spite of her doubts, he brought her with him to America to live in the town the Saints were building. Gabe had rejected God when his family died at sea. They met on board ship while crossing the ocean where they fell in love and married. They also witnessed a miracle performed by Brigham Young that convinced them both that he was right about God and the new Church.

The transformation in their marriage, and especially in Gabe’s beliefs is gradual, but inexorable. He is drawn in by Joseph Smith’s teaching that he can become a god. Mary Rose is disturbed that women are excluded and that she can only learn about the faith from Gabe. But she loves and trusts him, and he has a charm that always turns away her doubts.

I loved Mary Rose, but I was disappointed that she let Gabe persuade her to a lifestyle that she hated. I begged her to say no to him, but each time she made a decision to stand up to him or to leave him, circumstances or his charm changed her mind. The changes in Gabe were not so complex and I was disappointed to learn that he had a predisposition to love more than one woman. I felt it reduced his Mormon beliefs to simple lust.

The descriptions of faith in the book are interesting and at first I wondered if Noble is a Mormon. The teachings of the Prophet seemed authentic and I could see why the characters embraced his religion. None of them seemed to have much background in true Christianity. Mary Rose remembered her mother teaching her scripture when she was young, but was confused about its truth, since Smith taught that most of the Bible was wrong. She and some of the other women doubt the new religion and ask God to reveal Himself to them, but there is no one to help them find the truth.

The Sister Wife is a fascinating story about love and faith, and how people change. The growth in the characters is enough to recommend the book, but it’s also a well told story. I couldn’t put it down.

Pros: Fascinating story with wonderful characters about a lifestyle that is incomprehensible to most of us. Very well written.

Cons: The characters never find the truth, although there are hints of it throughout the story.

This week, the

Christian Fiction Blog Alliance

is introducing

The Sister Wife Avon Inspire (June 22, 2010)

by Diane Noble



ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

Diane Noble is a former double finalist for the prestigious RITA Award for Best Inspirational Fiction, a finalist for the Romantic Times Career Achievement Award and the Reviewers' Choice Award, and a three-time recipient of the Silver Angel Award for Media Excellence.

With more than a quarter million books in print, Diane feels incredibly blessed to be doing what she loves best—writing the stories of her heart.

For the last three years Diane has been honored to be lead author for the popular Guideposts series, Mystery and the Minister’s Wife (Through the Fire, Angels Undercover), and has recently returned to writing historical fiction. She is currently writing book two of her new historical series, The Brides of Gabriel. Book one is The Sister Wife.

Diane’s hometown is Big Creek, California, a tiny village nestled in the rugged Sierra Nevada back country. As a child, Diane’s older brother Dennis fueled her creative streak by entertaining her with his own gift of storytelling. Growing up without TV and iffy radio reception, Diane became an avid reader, inhaling more than one hundred novels—both YA and adult—in a single

year by the time she reached seventh grade. Her passion for reading continues to this day.

Now empty nesters, Diane and her husband live in the Southern California low desert, near a place known for the lush and beautiful gated communities of the rich and famous.



ABOUT THE BOOK

What if the man you loved told you God wanted him to take another wife? What if that woman was your best friend?



Set in the heart of the earliest days of a new nineteenth-century sect known as the Saints, The Sister Wife is a riveting account of two women forced into a practice they don't understand, bound by their devotion to Prophet Joseph Smith.


When Mary Rose marries Gabriel, neither of them could foresee how quickly the community would turn to the practice of plural marriage. Devastated when Gabe is faced with an order from the Prophet to marry her best friend, Bronwyn, Mary Rose tries to have the faith to carry through with the marriage.

But can she really be married to the same man as her very best friend? Can Mary Rose and Bronwyn face betraying both their husband and their God to do what they feel is right?

To read the Prologue and first chapter of The Sister Wife, click HERE.



Watch the book video!

Seasons of Writing

Understanding the Ebb and Flow of Writing by Debbie Roome
I love the verse in Ecclesiastes 3:1 that states, “There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under heaven.” (NIV) Do you sometimes feel like your writing is fresh and bursting with promise while other times it is dead and dry? It happens to all of us and looking at the natural seasons can help us gain a perspective of why this happens.

Spring and Writing
This is the season of writing where new ideas are birthed, new projects are conceived and stories begin to grow and develop. It is a time of freshness, hope and inspiration. Thoughts are nurtured in your heart and vision abounds.

Summer and Writing
As spring gives way to summer, ideas mature and blossom and stories are captured on paper. Projects grow and strengthen and life is evident in the words you write.

Fall and Writing
This is the time of harvest when fruits mature and stories are sent forth to touch lives. Projects that once brought excitement may lose their appeal and there is a sense of ageing and decay as winter approaches.

Winter and Writing
Winter often feels like a time of waiting. Everything appears stiff and cold and there is little life or inspiration. Nature is resting and words won’t come. Everything you write feels pointless and dry ... and then the first signs of spring appear and the cycle begins again.

I’ve learnt the best thing to do is surrender my writing to God. Unlike the natural seasons, writers may find the winters short and the spring and summer long. We all need to rest at times and if you’re in a dry season, take time off and relax. Feed your soul with the Word of God, read inspiring books and indulge in creative activities ... and one day you’ll catch a hint of spring as the tendril of an idea pushes forth.

Debbie Roome works as a freelance writer from her home in New Zealand. Visit her at Debbie Roome or read some of her work at Suite 101 , Take Root and Write and Faithwriters.