Search Results for: art challenge

In the Author’s Tent: Sara Zarr

I imagine being a shepherdess on the hillside when Jesus went out looking for his one lost sheep. Robes blowing around my legs. A rough wooden staff in my hands. The way it might feel to see a grown man coming back over the hill, carrying a lamb like a baby. It would make me love him, I think. […] I mean, if it even really happened, which is the sentence I add now in my head whenever I think of any story in the Bible.

—ONCE WAS LOST, by Sara Zarr


ONCE WAS LOST draws readers into Samara Taylor’s world from the very first page, never allowing them to get too comfortable. It’s the kind of novel that lingers in your thoughts long after you’ve finished the final chapter. Kudos to Sara Zarr for writing an engaging story that asks courageous questions about the main character’s religious faith. 

Want a sneak-peek before its October 1st release date? Step inside the Author’s Tent—let’s have a sit-down session with the author.

In the Author’s Tent: R.A. Nelson

After reading Professor Nana’s review, I was itchin’ to get my hands on R. A. Nelson’s newest release, DAYS OF LITTLE TEXAS. I was curious to see how Little Texas’s story intersects with my own, and when I saw this plot summary, yea verily, I was hooked.

Welcome, all ye faithful—and otherwise—to a ghost story, a romance, and a reckoning unlike anything you’ve read before. Acclaimed YA author R. A. Nelson delivers a tantalizing tale set in the environs of the evangelical revival circuit and centered around Ronald Earl, who at ten became the electrifying “boy wonder” preacher known as Little Texas. Now sixteen, though the faithful still come and roar with praise and devotion, Ronald Earl is beginning to have doubts that he is worthy of and can continue his calling. Doubts that only intensify when his faith and life are tested by a mysterious girl who he was supposed to have healed, but who is now showing up at the fringe of every stop on the circuit. Is she merely devoted, or is she haunting him? Fascinating and original, this is an unusual story whose reverb will be deeply felt and which will inspire lively book discussion.

No surprise, DAYS OF LITTLE TEXAS received a starred review from Publishers Weekly. Intriguing, provocative, haunting…I highly recommend it!

 

What inspired Russ to write this story? Enquiring minds I wanted to know. In this first segment of our two-part interview, Russ recalls ghosts of the past, his favorite scenes from the novel, and the Southern-style suppers he shared with his grandmother. We even talk about Heaven! 

 

Thankful Thursday: I Love Libraries edition

 

Long before online libraries brought the literary world to our fingertips, the Orange County bookmobile made deliveries to my neighborhood. Every two weeks or so, the librarian would roll up to the curb and wave all the children inside. We’d squeeze together in the narrow aisle for story hour, and then she’d let us check out as many books as our little arms could carry. For lonely girls like me, that bookmobile was Heaven on wheels.  

 

In gratitude for that Bookmobile—plus all the bricks-and-mortar libraries I’ve enjoyed over the years—I’m participating in author Jennifer Hubbard’s I LOVE LIBRARIES blog challenge.*

 

HERE’S HOW IT WORKS: For each individual who comments on this blog entry between now and 12:00 noon (PST) on 3/28, I will set aside $1.00—up to a total amount of $100.00—to help fill the library shelves at Girls Inc. of Orange County with books written by authors on my friends list. At a loss for words? Make a book recommendation. Or leave a note for participants in Girls Inc.—I’ll see that your messages are delivered.

 

Inspiring all girls to be strong, smart, and bold sm
 


Note: If a single person leaves 50 comments, that still only counts once! But you can rack up the total help spread the word by linking to this post and/or sending your friends here to comment. Note also: If you’re not a member of LiveJournal, please sign in as Anonymous (your comments will be temporarily screened). Tell me how you came by this entry…enquiring minds and all that.

*For a complete list of participating bloggers (and to link to other sites where you can help libraries just by leaving blog comments), take a peek at writerjenn’s post.  

ETA: I’m overwhelmed by–and very grateful for–everyone’s generosity! Since I’ve reached my goal, please consider adding comments to Sara Lewis Holmes’s I LOVE LIBRARIES blog entry. She’s supplying books to Flying Horse Farms, a camp for kids with serious illnesses. As well, you can connect with other I LOVE LIBRARIES campaigns here.
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Laughing all the way

 Ho! Ho! Ho! I’ve been tagged to play the latest meme. Thanks, de_scribes and marypearson!

The Challenge: Quick! Name the last five things that made you smile.

1. Christmas-colored camellia blossoms, nestled among rainwater-glazed foliage

2. Shimmery green hummingbirds that sip at my feeder

3. Pages and pages of intelligent, poignant, hilarious, thought-provoking, action-oriented and faith-inspiring blogs; plus the to-be-read pile that’s toppling off my desk

4. Holiday lights. They illuminate our heirlooms and reflect hope for our tomorrows

5. This holiday song on YouTube (12 Days of Christmas, as performed by Straight No Chaser). In the beginning, a choir of beautiful voices rises and falls in a capella accord.  But their harmony and synchronicity dissolve into individual mischief and collective mayhem. ‘Tis the season—’tis my life and loved ones—wrapped in metaphoric ribbons. I love every part of it. And I love each of you.

Game Tags: I hope everyone joins our reindeer game. C’mon, show us your smiles!

Of sports and scofflaws

I was shocked when I read these news articles (here and here), which spotlight an apparent end-run around the California law I proposed and helped pass.*

Nobody is above the law — not athletes, not their coaches, and certainly not publicly-funded academic institutions and athletic associations. As Governor Schwarzenegger suggested at the signing ceremony, we’re all equally responsible for upholding this piece of legislation.

I spoke many times on the bill’s behalf — before college representatives and state legislators, among others. The legislative process was open to public testimony, pro and con, but I don’t recall the proposed bill being openly challenged by the individuals cited in the aforementioned articles. The final vote was nearly unanimous, in favor of the proposed legislation. (There was only one ‘no’ vote, which is almost unheard of.) And many elected officials, dignitaries, and public safety groups (pdf) gave their full support for the bill’s passage. As one legislative committee member said, “This is a no brainer, isn’t it?”

So why hasn’t this story been widely publicized? I wish the involved parties would be more forthcoming (pdf), and that the underlying issues would get broader exposure. More daylight, please, like this. And I hope an appropriate measure of accountability is meted out to anyone who’s found guilty of flagrantly violating, or surruptitiously circumventing, this law.  

*In brief, Section 67362, which was added to the California Education Code, prevents college athletes who have been convicted of a violent felony from playing college team sports until after they complete their terms of incarceration and any supervised period of parole or probation. NOTE: It does not prevent in any way their participation in educational opportunities and co-curricular events available to all eligible students.

Tangents

1) Last Sunday, I meandered toward the gym entrance at the same time a twenty-something man was leaving. As he exited one door, I swished through the other, absent-mindedly adjusting the volume on my MP3. But when I glanced over at him, two tattoos body-slammed my reverie to the floor. In enormous gothic lettering, he’d tatted “INFIDEL” down the outside of his calf, and a knee-to-ankle cross covered the back of his leg. What possessed him, I wondered.

2) After 35 minutes of aerobic hell Precor intervals, I picked up the newest calendar of class offerings. A double-dog-dare-ya leapt off the page: Strip Tease (for women only). I think I’m going to embarrass myself try it on for size.

3) I won a signed copy of Tracie Zimmer’s 42 MILES! Tracie asked entrants to “Email a picture within 42 Miles of your current location which makes me want to visit…” I submitted a picture of one of my favorite picnic spots in Corona del Mar (next to Newport). Check it out. 

4) I’m looking forward to the Los Angeles Times’ annual Festival of Books this coming Sunday. Tickets are free but limited, so after obsessing about the possibilities serious consideration, I chose four panels: Memoir: Hope & Challenges (Sara Davidson, Mike Farrell, Dinah Lenney & Amy Silverstein); Young Adult Writing: Not Just For Kids (Jay Asher, Robin Benway, Cecil Castellucci & Michele Serros); Julie Andrews (discussing her new memoir); and Agents’ Voices (Betsy Amster, Georges Borchardt, Sandra Dijkstra & Bonnie Nadell). Natch, I’ll share my notes.

5) I’ve been tagged and nudged by several people about the latest meme; please forgive me for being late to the party. By now, everyone has probably moved on, so I’ll switch off the lights before I leave the room.

The meme: Grab the nearest book, open to page 123, find the fifth sentence. Then post the next three sentences.

From TOO CLOSE TO THE FALLS, by Catherine Gildiner: “My fingers were tired and blistered by the time we finished snipping the entire wardrobe from the large paper sheets. I thought then maybe the fun would begin I had a desire to be sane and if playing Lennon Sisters paper dolls was the ticket, I was willing to pay my admission.”

Although I’d love to linger awhile on LJ, I’m writing against a tight deadline. I hope you’re doing well! [Edited to add] In honor of Earth Day (also my mother’s birthday; how could I forget?), let’s all do something nice for Mother Nature. 
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Friday Five

So much about the publishing world is a mystery, isn’t it? Just for fun, I’ve asked five “experts” to predict my writerly fortunes.

 


1. Will I make my debut book sale before I’m old enough to schedule my first colonoscopy?


Magic 8-Ball: Ask again later.
 

 


2. Will my dream agent and I form a partnership by the end of this month?


Fortune cookie: If at first you don’t succeed, destroy all evidence that you tried.

 

3. How about a sneak preview of my first book review?

 Bible Dipping: There the wicked cease from raging, and here the weary are at rest. Job 3:17


4. Is there anything I can do today to increase my chances of publication?

The Ace of Wands Tarot card: Your power today lies in initiation. You are a winner by virtue of your desire, belief, vision, and intention. You bring fresh inspiration into the world and are master of your domain. Your solution is found in creative transformation and you are empowered by your spark of life.



5. Any words of advice for me as I write this next chapter?

Scorpio’s horoscope: Your day is a bigger challenge than you may be used to, but of course you can rise up to meet it with relative ease. Try not to get too cocky about it, but make sure the right people know you’re still in the game.

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Random stuff about creating order from chaos

Hurray! It seems our new cabinets and appliances will be delivered the last week in August, at the short end of the 4-6 weeks we were initially quoted.  For several reasons, we feel really good about our decision to buy from Lowe’s. We received excellent service from expert staff; also, we admire the corporation’s principled decision to withdraw their advertising dollars from a hate-spewing, fact-challenged cable television show.

 

This morning, I’m registering for a night class! Along with a friend from my writing group, I’m going to take Novel Workshop: Revising Manuscripts for Publication. The topics listed in the course outline sounds really interesting. For example, have you ever heard of these plot structure devices: Bowling Alley/Picaresque, Hour Glass, and Drawing Room Disaster? Aside from learning more about the key elements of fiction-writing, I like the fact that we’ll critique sample pages every week.  Can you say accountability? 


Tonight, we’re going to the Orange County Fair. My husband likes to re-visit certain exhibits every year – the Ginsu Knife salesman’s a favorite, for unabashedly kitschy showmanship, and the corkscrew-tailed piglets are incredibly cute. And the food…oh, the food! While I’m scouring the fareway for healthier fare, he heads straight for the heart-attack stands. His typical menu: bratwurst and barbecued corn on the cob, an oversized cinnamon roll, and soft-swirl ice cream to cleanse the palate. At the end of the night, as always, he’ll roll out to the parking lot, ala Templeton in Charlotte’s Web.

Okay, gotta go…I’m headed to the slab yards to pick out granite for our countertops. Yabba-dabba-doo, and I hope you’ve got a fun day planned, too!
  



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April wrap-up; Summer shape-up

Fast Draft Express

I started April with a simple writing goal: draft 5,000 words per week. But I kept going off track, and by the second week, I’d totally derailed. I thought getting the words down fast would help me outpace my inner editor. That may be still be true, but in my word-counting haste, I’d breezed past an important first step (for me, anyway). I needed a tightly-structured set of destination points – to wit, an outline. So I put the brakes on my first goal and started over. 

Turns out, that was a good decision. Here’s what I accomplished during the second half of the month:

  1. I filled an awesome, oh-so-organized 2-inch binder with research materials, interview notes, bullet-pointed brainstorming sheets, and a preliminary chapter outline.
  2. I read two writing books (Writing Memoir; Your Life as Story).
  3. I analyzed several memoirs for structure, theme, and voice.
  4. I placed key events on a timeline, which helped me identify a common theme and connecting threads.
  5. I developed an organizational spreadsheet that includes scenes, character development/transformations, and subplots.
  6. I wrote an overview and a draft synopsis.
  7. I created a vlog with Robyn about our writerly lives, wrote my column for SisterDivas, and may have been forever banished from Barnes & Noble.

The Purple Bracelet

In theory, the purple bracelet project helps us realize how much we complain each day, so we can (re)focus our energies on the positive. But I wasn’t always able to distinguish between commentary and kvetching. Consequently, I found myself repeatedly switching the bracelet from one wrist to the other. Two weeks went by in a frustrating, purple blur. I’m usually an upbeat, optimistic person; but honest to Pete, that bracelet was handcuffing all my thoughts!

 

According to the project website, an observation becomes a complaint if/when energy is expended. Based on that assertion, I took the bracelet off two week ago — by then, I’d spent entirely too much energy on an ugly accessory that was making me miserable. It’s been 14 days since I removed it, and I’m feeling very positive about that decision, too.

Looking Ahead

I’ve started a Summer Shape-up challenge for writers who want to whip their Works-in-Progress into shape this month. More than 30 people have signed up so far; I hope you’ll join us! My goal for May: to write, polish, and send sample chapters to my agent by June 1st. Before I write the entire book, I want to be sure I’m on the right track. 

Next time, I’ll tell you all the fabulous things I learned at the Festival of Books. 

Summer Shape-Up

Summer Shape-up is a friendly challenge for those of us who want to whip our works-in-progress into shape. 

Planning to join us? Before Tuesday, please create an action plan that’s appropriate for your situation and your own body of work. For example, this might a good month to add definition to a project you’ve just started.  Or, if you’ve just punched your last ticket on the Fast Draft Express, perhaps you’re ready to pare down or beef up some weak scenes. Been hampered by your inner editor? Make this the month you get rid of those weighty self-doubts. If you’ve been slacking lately, you might want to add frequency and intensity to your writing sessions. And hey, how about throwing in some fitness-related goals, to help offset all that butt-in-chair time? Bottom line: set your goals high enough that you’ll have to stretch to reach them, but don’t hurt yourself by creating unrealistic expectations.

If you want to be part of our team (and I definitely hope you do!), please write your goals and plans in the comments section. Next, mark your calendar so you’ll remember to begin your new routine on Tuesday, May 1st. Let us know if you need some coaching, and of course, we’ll always be here to cheer you on. We’ll weigh in every Tuesday in May, and we’ll celebrate our final results on Friday, June 1st. 

UPDATE: You might also want to join our LJ community: Image credit here.

 

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