Writing Conference and Whitney Awards were a Hit!

How can I sum up my weekend? WOW!!!! I attended the LDS Storymakers Writing Conference and then the Whitney Awards that Saturday night. I finally found a group of people where I truly fit in! Writers are a very unique group of creative and intelligent people. Not that I am calling myself creative and unique quite yet...but I felt at home.

I loved all of the classes I was able to attend. I wish that I had been able to attend ALL of them that were taught during the two days. They made us choose and I left my time turner at home so I could not go back and take all of the classes.

There were so many that were helpful for a newbie writer like me. Some of the classes I went to were:

-"Jumping in: Where/How to Start Your Story" taught by Crystal Liechty.

-"Grabbing and Keeping Kids' Attention" taught by Rebecca Shelley.

-"What Will Get You Rejected: Mistakes Not to Make" taught by Janette Rallison

-"Show, Don't Tell, for Adolescent Lit" taught by Tamra Norton and Lu Ann Staheli

-"Plot and Conflict" by Rachel Ann Nunes

-"Writing Picture Books" by Kristyn Crow and Sharlee Glenn
and
-"Creating and Maintaining a Character Bible" taught by Jeff Savage aka J. Scott Savage.

As I said before, there were so many other classes I wanted to attend taught by people I admire so much, but I had to toss a coin. **sigh** That was the only drawback for me, so much to learn and so little time to attend everything.

The writer's conference is such a valuable tool for writers. I could tell that even the seasoned, published authors were getting as much out of the conference as those of us hoping to some day publish. Congrats to author Jeff Savage, (who wrote Farworld, Waterkeep,) who was in charge of the conference this year. He and his committee did an outstanding job!! We could all see the incredible amount of work that was put into putting an event of this size together. I believe that there were almost 300 people in attendance at the conference. I can hardly wait until next years conference.

The Whitney Awards were outstanding again this year. The women of LDS Womens Book Review(that includes me) were very excited and nervous to present the Whitney award for Best Romance Novel of 2008. Of course it helped that we coordinated so well. I think we did Ok and we remembered all of our lines. We didn't use any notes.

It was so wonderful to see so many people there supporting the Whitney Academy. I hope that the Whitneys' continue to grow bigger and stronger every year. LDS authors deserve the recognition for the high quality of writing they do. BTW, anyone can attend the Whitney Awards Gala. If you are interested next year, let me know. It is a super opportunity to meet and chat with some of your favorite LDS Authors. The dinner and the program is also outstanding.

Here are more pictures from this fabulous evening.


Here we are with Authors Josi Kilpack, author of Lemon Tart and Julie Wright, author of My Not So Fairy Tale Life.


















Jennie Hansen, author of the Bracelet Series, Shanda, Sheila, Angela Escheler, author of The Love Letters of Joseph and Emma and Jessica Day George, author of the Dragon Slippers series and my favorite, Sun and Moon, Ice and Snow.



















Shanda, Hillary and me with author, Brandon Sanderson, who wrote the Mistborn series. He won the Whitney Award for Best Speculative fiction.
















We were excited to meet Gregg Luke, author of a great mystery/thriller called Do No Harm.













We were so happy to finally meet author H.B. (Heather)Moore, author of Abinadi . She won the Whitney Award for best Historical Fiction. She also won this award last year. What a great accomplishment.



Of course we had to have our picture taken with one of our favorite authors and friends, Rob Wells. He stepped down as the President of the Whitney Academy. It is because of him, that the Whitney Awards came about. It is his brain child. We will miss him in this capacity. He did assure us he is not going away from the writing community, but just graduated with his MBA and needs to find a real job...go figure! ;)














This beautiful lady is author, Kerry Blair, author of Counting Blessings and many super fiction novels. She was given the Life Time Achievement award. She also was named the new President of the Whitney Academy. I know that she will do an outstanding job with the Whitney Awards next year.

I will blog more and show you more pictures from the Whitney Awards later. While I have been typing, my clean family room has turned into a haven for Barbies and Transformers. Time to pay attention to the kids and their friends running through the house.

The Hero of Ages by Brandon Sanderson

The Hero of Ages by Brandon Sanderson

My review

rating: 5 of 5 stars
This was a fantastic read! If you are a fantasy lover and have not read the Mistborn trilogy, what are you waiting for? This was brilliantly written and woven together so well. I will warn you, these are not easy read books. There are many things, places and people to remember.



I talked to Brandon Sanderson and he said he wrote the three books simultaneously. This is very apparent as you read the books. The characters in this book are bright, intelligent and unforgettable.Even though this is a fantasy book, there will be some tears shed at times in this book; be prepared.



This third book in the trilogy wraps things up so well. I was very satisfied with the ending. The books in the trilogy are very long, but well worth the read.



The Hero of Ages also just won the Whitney Award for Best Speculative Fiction novel on April 25, 2009. He richly deserves this honor.




View all my reviews.

"Preserving the Mystery of Reading" and Finding the Joy In It

I just read an excellent blog by Tyler Reed who works for Scholastic. He writes on a blog called, "On Our Minds@Scholastic". His blog today was called, "Preserving the Mystery of Reading". His focus was on how now days with our great technology, it is almost easier to find out how a book ends or gathering information by Googling it, instead of reading it ourselves. The fun and "mystery," of reaching a well read conclusion of a book, has disappeared for many people.

Tyler quoted J.J. Abrams, co-creator of the TV show Lost. It was such an poignant quote I wanted to share it with you...it was about the magic of mystery.

Abrams wrote:

"Perhaps that's why mystery, now more than ever, has special meaning. Because it's the anomaly, the glaring affirmation that the Age of Immediacy has a meaningful downside. Mystery demands that you stop and consider—or, at the very least, slow down and discover. It's a challenge to get there yourself, on its terms, not yours."




On Tyler's blog I commented on the article by saying,
"I love this aspect of reading. I try my hardest, to teach my 2nd graders, that one of the joys of reading is the journey. I have always shared with kids that reading is a wonderful adventure we get to go on. Once children get over, the "have to read" aspect and embrace the "get to read" aspect...they have discovered how to take that journey into reading"


I have never been one of those people, though I have been tempted, that reads the end of the book first. To me that would ruin the whole book for me. Where would the fun or the mystery and especially the reason for reading be? If you haven't figured out yet, I am a serious reader. I have been teaching reading for 20 years to children. To me, this whole idea of reading is to gain something from the experience. We don't learn from the experience if we don't allow ourselves to go through and follow the path that we must walk along the way. This is also another reason that I hate cliff notes. Why only have the appetizers when you can have the full course dinner?

Tyler talked about when "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows" came out. He stated how most people were good enough to not tell the ending to those who had not read the book yet.

Tyler said,

"It took me two weeks to finish Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows after it was released. For two weeks, I avoided reading the reviews and news stories on the book. I could easily have read them and learned of Harry's fate -- something I'd been dying to know for months.

But like almost everyone else, I wanted to experience the mystery of wondering how it will end, and I wanted the story to unfold for me on my own terms -- on J.K. Rowling's terms."

I have to agree with Tyler, I did everything to avoid having my Deathly Hallows experience ruined by anyone else. I wanted to read it on my own terms. In fact, I holed myself up in my house and read it in 11 hours and 15 minutes. Whenever I share this personal piece of trivia with kids, they are so impressed. It just makes me smile.


Getting back to Tyler, his point behind the blog, is the "Mystery of Reading" is what makes books so special. The wonderful worlds that we want to go and explore are waiting there for us. The beauty is, they unfold at the pace we want them too, versus what happens when we watch a movie. I guess that is why they say, the book is always better than the movie.


Feel free to go and read Tyler's blog and the many other great articles that can be found there.http://onourmindsatscholastic.blogspot.com/2009/04/preserving-mystery-in-reading.html

The Whitney Awards are next Saturday!

I am so excited for the 2nd Annual Whitney Awards next Saturday night. It will be thrilling to be surrounded by the many fantastic authors that will be in attendance. Another exciting thing, is that the women of LDS Women's Book Review were invited to present the award for Best Romance. We were quite honored to be given this privilege. I also was thrilled to see a preview of the program for the awards. Here it is....

I know that it is hard to see, but our names are listed there as presenters!! Woo Hoo! It will be a great night where we will dress up and mingle with the best LDS writers currently out there in the literary world.

I also will be attending the two day LDS Story Makers Conference.http://www.ldstorymakers.com/ I am so looking forward to the many classes where I will learn about being a writer. This has been a dream of mine for so long to be a "real" writer. I have heard often, from many authors who have advised me, that I need to attend as many writing conferences and workshops as possible to learn the trade. I am hoping that this will be the first of many opportunities to attend writing conferences such as this one.

I will report back about both events. The Whitney Awards is the culminating event after the two day writers conference. To me, this is more wonderful than any vacation I could ever go on. I will be counting down the days and I know that it won't get here soon enough for me.

My Favorite Place...Besides Home

Where is my favorite place besides home...well, it would have to be two places, the library and a bookstore. I had an amazing moment on Saturday. I took my kids with me to purchase a present at a bookstore.

So many times when you go shopping with children it is, well to put it bluntly, a nightmare. You get the common phrases of, "Why do we have to go here?" and "Is it time to go yet?" or "I am hungry/tired/bored" and don't forget, "I need to go to the bathroom". Happily, on Saturday, I heard none of those, except, "I have to go to the bathroom" and that one was easily taken care of. The amazing part of this shopping trip occurred after we had been there for about 20 minutes. Off in my own literary world, sucking in the glorious vibes of the many books surrounding me, I looked over at my children. There they were, in the corner of the bookstore, surrounded with a large pile of books. They both were totally engrossed in the wonderful world of reading. They also were happily sharing with each other pages they had found in the respective books they had been reading.

I stood there with a huge smile on my face. I felt very proud and thought... I am raising readers. They were just as happy as I was to spend a good deal of time in a book store. For me, this is genuine success. If we look around our world we function best if we can read. You need to be able to read so you can shop, drive, pay bills and basically take an active part in society. Most jobs in the real world require employees to read something during the work day. In my job, of course, as a teacher I am teaching children how to read every day.

Another part of reading, is not just reading words, it is the enjoyment of the act. I love to read! There is a quote that I love...

"A reader is not supposed to be aware that someones written the story. He's supposed to be completely immersed, submerged in the environment." Jack Vance


Ask anyone that knows the true me, this quote describes me quite well. I become completely immersed in a story and it feels so good to be taken away.

Another aspect of reading that I love is always finding something that is written that is applicable to me or something in my life.

"Every reader finds himself. The writer's work is merely a kind of optical instrument that makes it possible for the reader to discern what, without this book, he would perhaps never have seen in himself. "
Marcel Proust


How can we raise a reader? The most important thing is to read to our children. This needs to be done from a very early age. Make this a nighttime ritual. I was raised with a Mom reading to me and my siblings at night. She introduced us to many wonderful novels in this format. We would all be lying around our living room while our Mother read aloud to us. I have also enjoyed the quite moments at night, snuggling up with my kids on the couch, reading to them their favorite books.

The next thing that is vital to this process of raising readers is, you need to show them that reading is important to you. I don't think that there has ever been a time when my kids have not seen me with a book in front of my face or under my arm. They know that this is an important part of my quiet time that is important to my sanity(and to help them have a happy Mom). If they do not see you reading, they will not see the importance or the value of reading. Our children look to us for guidance: how to dress, what to eat, how to speak and what to do with our free time. Don't be afraid to show your children that reading is important to you.

At school in my 2nd grade class, I bring my novels and read them during Silent Reading Time. It is so tempting to be correcting papers or busily doing something else in the classroom while my students are reading; but I don't. I read, and tell them that I don't wish to be disturbed during my reading time. I have stressed to them how important reading is to me and why it also should be important to them. Since the beginning of the year, when we started SSR (Sustained Silent Reading), you would be amazed at my class. If you walk into my classroom, you will find a group of 2nd graders, not making a sound, deeply engrossed in their own books. Our examples as adults can prove to be a powerful tool in influencing children to jump into the wonderful world of reading.

"It distresses me that parents insist that their children read or make them read. The best way for children to treasure reading is to see the adults in their lives reading for their own pleasure." Kate DiCamillo


Next, make books available to your children. The best place in the world to accomplish this is the public library. You can check out books for free and have a wide variety of books available. Buy inexpensive books through book clubs at school, such as Scholastic Book Club. Find some families in the neighborhood to trade books with. There are many second hand stores that also sell books very inexpensively.


"I had a very wise mother. She always kept books that were my grade level in our house. " Beverly Cleary


As I started this blog telling you about my children I will also end this blog post the same way: the moment at the bookstore discovering my children reading a pile of books. I finished my shopping and browsing through the many aisles of books and told my children that it was time to go. They both looked up at me and said, "Aw Mom, not yet. I am just getting into this book." I also heard,"I just have a few more pages Mom". I smiled even more, as I recognized the lines they were quoting to me, those are words that have often crossed my lips. They now have become a part of my children's repertoire' in speaking of their own reading habits. A job well done!

Royal Target by Traci Hunter Abramson

My review

rating: 4 of 5 stars
I really loved this story. It is every girl's fairy tale come true with a happy ending...with a lot of angst before the happy ending. Traci Hunter Abramson does a fantastic job with this novel; with just the right mixture of romance and suspense to target every book lover out there.

This is Traci's second book that came out in 2008. This is also the second book of hers that is nominated for a Whitney Award this year. It says a lot about Traci that she has two books that were nominated in the same year. She has become one of my favorite authors the past few years.

She also has a new book that was just released on March 2nd, called Lockdown. I have not read it yet, as I am still making my way through all of the Whitney Award Nominee books. As soon as I am done reading all of these books, Lockdown, will be one of the first books I will pick up. Here is what Lockdown is about, courtesy of Goodreads:

Only twice had she set foot inside the building since the massacre. The first time had been just a month after the tragedy .. . . The second time she had returned to the scene of the crime had been two days ago when she forced herself to enter the building to check on the temporary office for the SEAL team. The counselor she had seen in the months after the shooting had encouraged her to face her fears, but now . . . Riley wasn’t sure she was ready to face them after all. Caught up in a hostage situation that is hauntingly familiar, Riley Palmetta once more finds her life hanging in the balance. What starts out as a well-organized and highly intensive training course for the prevention of random acts of terror quickly turns into a real-life nightmare of suspense and intrigue that will test the faith and finely honed skills of Tristan Crowther and his elite group of LDS Navy SEALS. For Tristan, this is not only a race to save lives; it is a deeply personal mission that moves relentlessly toward an irreversible crisis. And life—as well as love—is on the line. Seasoned LDS author Traci Hunter-Abramson once again displays her skills and expertise in this fast-paced, suspense-filled novel. It is a story loaded with action and real-life parallels— guarateed to leave you both breathless.

It looks like it will be another exciting read brought to you by Traci; one that I look forward to immensely. View all my reviews.

CONTEST - Win Copy of Annette Lyon's Latest Novel, Tower of Strength

At Anne Bradshaw's blog, Not Entirely British, you can enter to win a copy of Annette Lyon's new novel, Tower of Strength. You need to go to Anne's blog to read details of how to enter.



To quote from Annette’s Blog :
Tower of Strength . . . is set in 1884 Manti, a few years before the temple there was complete. Much of the story centers around events (both real and fictional) that took place in and around the city's Temple Hill . . . I love the title (the publisher) picked; Tower of Strength can refer to both the temple (the towers are under construction during the story) as well as the heroine. Tabitha really is a tower of strength, and that plays a huge role in the story.

If you have not read any of Annette's other books in this series, you have missed some great novels. This is her fourth historical novel centered around the old Utah temples. Annette writes great characters and you get deeply involved in her stories from the very beginning. This is her sixth published novel.

So go check out Anne's blog for more information about this contest.(http://annebradshaw.blogspot.com/2009/03/contest-win-copy-of-annette-lyons.html)

While you are at it, also go read Annette's blog. I read her blog often and she has had some very entertaining blogs. http://blog.annettelyon.com/

Thrilling Reads

I have been getting such good reading in lately. I have been enjoying reading the many books that are Whitney Award Nominees. I have also been sneaking in other books that aren't on the list.

I am in the middle of some mystery thrillers/romance novels. The first is called, Freefall, by Traci Hunter Abramson. The lowdown about this book is:"Lieutenant Brent Miller arrived in the Middle East with one objective--get seven hostages out of a hostile country. The plan almost worked. But now he has been left behind--with one of the hostages. It's up to Brent to get Amy Whitmore, a US Senator's daughter, across miles of desert to safety. What he doesn't know is that to survive, he needs her as much as she needs him."

The book is very exciting! I was pulled in from the first chapter. I love books that make me want to keep reading and feel pained if I have to put them down. I really liked the main characters Amy and Brent. Many times, characters have qualities that irk me, not so here. They felt "real" to me and how they behaved with one another. Another plus for me, is that there are characters in this book that we have seen before in previous books that Traci has written.

The next book I am reading is called, Traitor, by Sandra Grey. This book is based on one of my favorite historical time periods I enjoy reading about: WW II. "With war raging in Europe, the only way Marie can be with Felix is to join the Allied forces. However, as Marie parachutes into France to join the Résistance, she not only lands into the arms of her fiancé, but also drops into the hands of the enemy. Major Rolf Schulmann has been struggling between personal convictions and his duty to the German Fatherland. Now he must decide what to do with the captured fiancee of the man who gave him a new chance at life-a man he once loved as a brother. The Gestapo will do whatever it takes to dispose of Marie. If Rolf helps her escape he will have enemies on all sides-is it a sacrifice he is willing to make? Can Marie possibly trust her life to a man torn between two masters?

I will admit, this book was hard to get into at first. It took several chapters for me to final get hooked. Once I was hooked, I had to keep reading. Maybe it took me that long to start caring about the characters, but it felt like watching a really thrilling movie. The history in this book seems very accurate and you can tell she did fantastic research. The emotional pull, that haunts Marie and Rolf is clearly felt. They both have their own own set of problems, but this doesn't stop them from getting involved with one another. I can't wait to see how this all ends.I told you I am reading both of these books currently and have not finished either one yet. This doesn't stop me from recommending both of these books to you.


Another book I finished a few days ago was "Fields of Home" , by Rachel Ann Nunes. This book took me on an emotional roller coaster ride.

Here is a synopsis:...:"After fighting her way through a bitter and hurtful past, Mercedes Johnson has painstakingly carved out a life of quiet contentment on a Wyoming farm with her husband, Wayne, and their three boys. But all that changes when the birth father of her oldest child returns to Riverton. Brandon Rhodes has plans for his son, threatening the carefully balanced life Mercedes and Wayne have created. But just how far is he willing to go? Fields of Home is a novel about the deepest kind of ties and the true meaning of love."


It was hard to count how many times my heart went out to these fictional characters. The thing is, there are so many trials that many of us have gone through in life. As we read about these trials in fiction, how do we relate them to our own experiences? How realistically does the author write these trials? Rachel does a fabulous job of making feelings come out in her readers as they read her writing. Be prepared to cry and "feel" as you read Fields of Home.

Just wanted you to know that all three of these books are nominees for a Whitney Award this year. I hope that you have gone to www.whitneyawards.com. to look at all of this years fabulous nominees. Write down those that are of interest to you and join the fun and get reading.

The Sound of Rain

Here is another book that is a nominee, in the Best Romance Category, for a 2008 Whitney Award.

The Sound of Rain by Anita Stansfield

My review

rating: 4 of 5 stars
I loved the Sound of Rain. It was so different from anything else that Anita Stansfield has written. I could so closely relate to the characters because of my strong music background. This is a very heartfelt and emotionally charged book. I was able to grow close to the main characters from the first chapter. This was a book that I did not want to end. I am recommending this one to all of you; just have the tissues ready. I can't wait to read the other books in this series.


View all my reviews.

So Little Time and SO Much to Read!

I am up to my neck in report cards and getting things ready for parent-teacher conferences this week. You have to realize how excruciatingly painful this is for me, while all I want to be doing currently is reading. The finalists for the Whitney Awards were announced recently, giving me a boatload of books I need to read before I send in my final votes for the awards. What I have read so far, it is going to be very difficult when I go to place my final votes. There are so many outstanding books that are finalists this year. My advice to you is head over to the Whitney Awards website(http://www.whitneyawards.com/) and make a list of books for your reading list. There are many categories, so I know that all of you will be able to find something there that you would like.

I just recently finished a book called, "Taking Chances" by Shannon Guymon, which is a finalist in the Romance Category. This is not your typical LDS romance, it is a a story of finding love, learning to forgive, and of course, letting your guard down and taking a chance on love. I was immediately drawn to the characters in the story, not only because of their engaging personalities, but because of the thought provoking back storyline involving sexual abuse. It was presented in a way that really touches your heart and helps you have such compassion for anyone that has ever endured this trial in their life.






Another story I am reading is called, "Do No Harm" by Gregg Luke. This book is one of the finalist in the Best Mystery Suspense category. How badly did I want to read this book today? Well it accidently traveled to church with me and hopped out onto my lap in between Sunday School and Relief Society. I hate when this happens, I have no control over the books. I didn't get much read because of people wanting to talk to me about what I was reading. I knew I should have run away to an empty classroom somewhere. Just kidding! Just a little "book-aholic" humor there! Seriously though, if you have ever read any medical thrillers before, this is right up your alley. The suspense keeps building and building to the point you don't want to put the book down...all except for those pesky report cards staring at me waiting to be finished. **sigh** Gregg Luke has written a very exciting book that I just can't wait to finish.

There are many more books that I need to read before I vote, but what a pleasure to read such fantastic work that is out there by LDS authors. Again, go take a look at the finalists and either go to your library or nearest book store to start reading some outstanding books.