Review of "A Future for Tomorrow" by Haley Hatch Freeman

I finished a very emotional book yesterday called, "A Future for Tomorrow: Surviving Anorexia, My Spiritual Journey" by Haley Hatch Freeman. I met Haley when I attended the LDS Storymakers Conference. We talked for awhile and then she started telling me about the book that she wrote about her life experience. When she was 16, she suffered from anorexia and almost died. Haley asked me if I would like a copy of her book and of course I said yes.

After reading this book, I knew I had to blog about it and share her story with others. In her book, Haley shares how her life was spared, so she could tell her story to other people dealing with anorexia. I also want to tell parents of girls that you must read this book to become aware of this evil thing called "anorexia". Haley tells of the signs, symptoms and consequences of anorexia. Many people think that anorexia is just a physical disease, where it really is also a mental disease. Our girls, ages 8-18 are bombarded with the message that you have to be thin in order to be beautiful. The media and the world, sends this message out loud and clear, on TV, in magazines and in the movies. I feel that Haley's book, is a gift to the world, in helping fight anorexia.

"A Future for Tomorrow" is a book that shows a young woman's faith, courage and hope. Haley's book reveals how she wanted to live and fight for her future. I was brought to tears, many times, while reading Haley's story. The struggle that Haley went through eventually brought peace and happiness to her life. Not everyone has a happy ending like Haley's. She was blessed and recovered so she could write her story. I for one, am going to be sharing this book with as many people as possible.

Thank you Haley for revealing such a hard time in your life.I am sure that it wasn't easy to admit, to others; how bad things had become for you. I know that many people's lives will be blessed because of your gift in sharing your story. It is written very well and is a very compelling story.

If you are interested in buying Haley's book, it can be purchased at Deseret Book and Amazon.com or at Haley's website www.afuturefortomorrow.com. I also encourage you to visit Haley's blog at afuturefortomorrow.blogspot.com.

One other thing I wanted to bring to your attention; Haley blogged a few weeks ago about 10 Things Parents Can Do to Help Prevent Eating Disorders
by Michael Levine, Ph.D. I wanted to share this link with you. http://afuturefortomorrow.blogspot.com/2009/04/10-things-parents-can-do-to-help.html

Interview with Kathi Oram Peterson: Author of "The Forgotten Warrior"

I had the great privilege to receive a copy of Kathi's book, The Forgotten Warrior. It is a great story of a young woman who ends up in Book of Mormon times. Syd, has many troubles in her life, but learns to dig deep to find the courage, strength and faith to face her problems. There were many times as I was reading, that I had moments of personal reflection. I was able to think of how I am handling trials in my life and relate them to the Stripling Warriors. It is always a good read for me, when I am able to take a novel and not only be "entertained," but enlightened. Take the opportunity to read "The Forgotten Warrior"; I promise you,that you will find something within it's pages to enrich your life.

Here now, is my author interview, that I was able to do with Kathi.
I hope that you enjoy it!



Q:When did you first come up with the idea for the novel, "The Forgotten Warrior"?


I wish I could say, like other authors, that it came to me in a dream,. The truth is I had just finished writing a time-travel and wanted to write another one. My son suggested I write about the stripling warriors. I loved the idea, but wanted the protagonist to be a young woman. However, I also wanted the perspective of a stripling warrior, so that's why the book has two points of view.



Q:How long did it take you to write your book from first thought to final draft?

A little over a year. The characters just clicked as well as their stories. I spent a lot of time on my knees asking for guidance, especially for scenes with actual characters from the Book of Mormon. I sure didn't want Helaman angry with me. I'm very hopeful he would approve of my book.



Q:What age group/audience was "The Forgotten Warrior" written for?

It targets young adult, but I've had people of all ages tell me how much they enjoyed it. I've had email from young men as well as young women, which I'm very happy about. I was concerned that boys wouldn't read it because of the protagonist being a girl and there's a little romance...then I was concerned that girls wouldn't read it because of the battle scenes. Hopefully I reached a good medium.



Q:I do have to warn potential readers, you ended your novel with a nasty cliff-hanger. Did you plan this from the beginning or did it happen when you were nearing the end?

When I first wrote the book, I didn't plan on two. As I re-read it though, I realized there were two very climatic scenes: the Battle for Cumeni and the Battle for Zarahemla. And there were two very strong Book of Mormon leaders involved with each: Helaman and Moroni. Both were very important and demanded their own books, so I made two books out of one. Many people have told me that they liked the cliffhanger, and it didn't bother them at all. Though, there are others who hated it. Hopefully everyone will be happy with the release of book two.

Q: I know that there will be a sequel to this first book. How many books do you plan on writing for this series?

As many as my publisher wants. Of course, I'd love to write several. I enjoyed writing Sydney and Tarik's stories. I miss them. I've written four or five books since The Forgotten Warrior and it would be like going home. I'd love to visit those characters and see what they've been up to.





Q:On your wonderful blog, you had a series of blogs on the Stripling Warriors. These were fascinating and I hope others go to your blog and read these. What has the response been to these particular blogs?

First let me say thank you for reading them!!! The blogs were based on a lecture I'd written titled Ten Stripling Warrior Character Traits You Can Apply to Your Life. Starting about the middle of January to the end of March I tried to focus on a SW character trait each week. I have given this lecture several times and even once at the University of Utah's Institute. If your readers would like to book me to speak to their youth about the Stripling Warriors, I'd definitely try to accommodate them. I think it is very important for our young women and young men to realize they, too, can be heroes like the Stripling Warriors in the choices they make every day. Right now on my blog, I'm trying something different. I want to focus on several scenes from The Forgotten Warrior. For instance, in chapter one Tarik is running toward the Battle of Judea. So I'm writing about what happened during that battle. I'm also connecting that to Sydney and how she used her karate in her opening scene and why. I'm eager to hear what my fans thought was going on with the two scenes parallel to one another. I'm also trying to post an interview with different authors each week as well.




Q:What is the message you hope your readers gain from reading your novel?

I wanted to show how important forgiveness is, though that doesn't come out as strongly in book one as it does in book two. Also that faith builds courage and courage builds faith.




Q:I am sure that you have heard back from your readers how they liked "The Forgotten Warrior". What was the most rewarding message you have received?

I'll tell you, I have the best fans! When I hear from them it makes my day. A grandmother wrote saying she was buying books for all her grandchildren because she liked it so much. Another fan, young woman, was having an argument with her friend about whether or not Helaman was really Tarik's father. Of course, I explained that Helaman called the stripling warriors his sons out of love and respect. I had one email recently saying that at first she didn't want to read my book, but then she didn't have anything else to do and so she read it. She was sooooo glad she had because it was now her most favorite book in the world. As for a favorite, they all are my favorites!




Q:Is there a "dream book" that you hope to write someday or have you already written it?

My dream book, besides The Forgotten Warrior, is my little Christmas story that is scheduled to be released in October titled: An Angel on Main Street. No cliffhanger here. It's a feel-good book with a inspirational message about life after death and that through Christ we will live again. I worked on it for many years, tweaking and refining until I finally sold it. This book is special to me because my parents are both dead, but I hold in my heart their testimonies of Christ. I also set this book in a small, fictional town in Idaho, much like the small town I was raised in. My father owned a Firestone Store on Main Street, and we lived in the apartment above. I remember at Christmas time looking down on the street below our apartment and seeing all the pretty lights. I stole many scenes from my childhood for An Angel on Main Street and that is why it is very near and dear to me.


Thank you for "chatting" with me Kathi. I can't wait for your next book in this series to come out.

Thank you, Sheila!

Here are some places that you can find out more about Kathi and her books.

www.Kathiswritingnook.com
www.KathiOramPeterson.com

kathiorampeterson@yahoo.com

Podcasting Today with Tristi Pinkston

This morning I am podcasting with LDS Women's Book Review. We are having author Tristi Pinkston talk to us about her new book, Agent in Old Lace. I should have received my copy of the book this week.It did not get here in time for me to read it before today's podcast. I am very sad that I was not able to read the book before we chat with her today. This means that I will be interviewing her for the blog after I do read the book. I am so excited I was asked to be part of her virtual blog tour. I love when authors ask me to do that!










Here is a picture of Tristi right after she received a huge box filled with many copies of her new novel. What an exciting thing for any author!!




















I wanted to get some information up on the blog of an event happening this afternoon. Tristi has a launch party for her new book. Here is the information for the party that I lifted directly from her blog:

Agent in Old Lace Launch Party

If you've been anywhere I've been on the Internet this week, you might have noticed a whole lot of talkin' going on (by me) about the release of my new novel, "Agent in Old Lace." I'm spreading the word far and wide about the launch party which is coming up this Saturday, May 16th, at Provident Book in Pleasant Grove. The address is 661 W. State Street, and don't let the construction throw you off - there is a handy dandy business access through the orange drums and you can pull right into the parking lot. You can come any time between 3 and 5 pm.

Anyone that may be down that way in Utah county may want to drop by and pick up of a copy of Tristi's new book. I have heard some great things about this book. I will give you more information after I read it.

Great News about WINGS!!

I just read author Aprilynne Pike's blog. She reported great news tonight about her debut novel, WINGS. Her novel debuted on May 5th, 2009, just 8 days ago. This is what Aprilynne shared on her blog and the phone call that she recieved from her agent...

"It Actually Happened!!!

So Tara comes on and tells me that Wings has debuted on the New York Times Bestsellers List. And not only on the list, at number six. Can we say Thrilled. Beyond. Belief?!?!??!"

How exciting is that? I am so thrilled for Aprilynne that WINGS is doing so well! I have also noticed that I have had many hits on my blog by people wanting to read the interview I did with Aprilynne back in December.

Some of the things being said about WINGS and Aprilynne....

-"A Fantastic Debut from a Promising New Young Adult Author"

-" WINGS- a faerie story with a whole new twist!"

-Stephenie Meyer, author of the Twilight saga says, “Aprilynne Pike’s Wings is a remarkable debut; the ingenuity of the mythology is matched only by the startling loveliness with which the story unfolds.”

So, I say to Aprilynne, Congratulations on the great success of WINGS. I always had a good feeling about this book and I love the story. I can't wait for the second book to be placed in my hands.

Go to Aprilynne's blog to read more...http://apparentlyaprilynne.blogspot.com/2009/05/it-actually-happened.html

Bright Blue MIracle

Bright Blue Miracle by Becca Wilhite

My review

rating: 4 of 5 stars
It has been a long time since I stayed up to read a book past 1:00 a.m. Bright Blue Miracle had to be read. It has an inviting cover that pulls you in and a story that touches your heart.



The main character, Leigh, is a teenager with a best friend,(who happens to be a boy), a Mom who is remarrying and a new, beautiful step-sister. Leigh learns a lot about trust, learning to love and sharing your heart and feelings. Even though the main characters are teenagers, it did not feel like a typical teenage book. This book had a more grow-up feel, but will still appeal to young people and adults.



The author, Becca Wilhite, has a free, easy style of writing that makes words just seem to flow. The dialogue was witty and kept the storyline moving. Becca also gave the main character a fun, quirky personality. At first you think Leigh is a spoiled girl, but then you grow to love her and are cheering for her at the end.



I really look forward to what else Becca will write; she's made me a fan. Bright Blue Miracle left me feeling good when I finished reading. It was worth losing some sleep and in exchange,lifting my spirits in return.


View all my reviews.


Here is more information about Becca......

About Becca

"I'm a writer, and a reader, but mostly a family girl. I have a near-perfect husband and four above-average kids.

Kids literature is my favorite. I have a published novel, "Bright Blue Miracle" written for the "clean teen" market. It's a family story - about step-twins. (What? You've never heard that word? Possibly because I recently made it up.)

I love reading great books. Even though all my kids can read, we still read aloud together, because we think it's fun. And helpful, and it means we always have things to talk about.

You're welcome to stop my my blog any time and see what's new." (blogbrightblue.blogspot.com)

Confessions of a Completely Insane Mother: something I could relate to

Confessions of a Completely Insane Mother by Kersten Campbell

My review

rating: 4 of 5 stars
Every Mother that still has kids at home must read this book. This is a great, easy read book. I love books like this with short chapters that you can pick up and read one chapter before heading to bed or while brushing your teeth.



Kersten understands what it means to be a Mom. The best part is that she finds the humor in the many things that happen while raising your children. This book is a good reminder to all Moms; sit back and laugh when the kids get into things and enjoy, a little more each day, the experience of being a Mom.




Kersten, thanks for the many laughs your stories gave me. Warning, don't read this book in the middle of church.(That is all of the story you are going to hear! ;)

There were many times I was laughing out loud and my kids came running over to see why I was laughing. I needed this in my life right now. Many times I do feel like I am going insane and this book is a nice reminder that other moms are feeling the same way.

Some of my favorite chapters (which are very hard to choose because I really liked all of them)
that made me have a good old fashioned belly laugh were.....

-Booby Trapped


-Zen and the Art of Zucchini


-The Church Bag



-Morning Bells Are Ringing


This is a great gift idea for Mother's Day, whether for yourself or for others. I really like what it says on the back cover:

"You need the therapy that is in this book"

I want you to know that I agree with this 100%!

You can learn more about Kersten at her website at
http://www.kerstencampbell.com/

Her book can be found at Seagull Book Stores or at http://www.cedarfort.com


View all my reviews.

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.