Advent Illustrated: A Bible Journaling Challenge by Sara Laughed

by Carol3 Comments
I'm new to Bible journaling but I love the concept. Within the past six months or so, I've taken to carrying around a notebook to jot things down, quotes, things I need to remember, sermon notes. For me, Bible journaling is an artistic extension of that. It's another way of interacting with scripture, of responding to what I read, of highlighting what strikes me, of enjoying concepts or images. I'm not good at drawing, but that's not the point. Bible journaling is for me, not to impress anyone. Advent Illustrated is a good beginners book. She talks a bit about journaling and about basic supplies but I never felt like I can't do this. It's an encouraging book, even for those of us who are not as talented at drawing or painting as others. She makes it approachable. It is not a devotional, don't expect it to be. Each day has a short verse, usually a sentence or two, and a couple...
Read More

3 Keys to Turn the Dream of Writing Into Reality: Guest post by Michael Allan Scott, author of Grey Daze

by Carol2 Comments
3 Keys to Turn the Dream of Writing Into Reality by Michael Allan Scott Dreams To Reality – I saw a statistic in a blog, recently – “85% of readers dream of publishing their own book.” This may or may not be accurate, but I wouldn’t be surprised. The trick on this planet is turning a dream into reality. Most of us are here to do just that—turn dreams into reality. And when you look this over, in one form or another, that’s ALL we do, whether they be nightmares or pleasant dreams. The striving toward such goals is the stuff from which we are made. A Half Truth Is Still a Lie – Not to put too fine a point on it, that blog I browsed was pitching a course on writing, hence the message was slanted—in short, marketing. The blogger wanted the prospective customer to know “publishing your own book isn’t anywhere near as difficult as it used to be.” This, of course,...
Read More

Intimations of Austen by Jane Greensmith

by Carol4 Comments
Maybe it's been too long since I read most of Jane Austen's novels. I don't remember all of the characters and few of the details, so I think I may have not been the best audience for this book. Out of the collection only two really struck me. The first, "Rainbow Around The Moon," a sequel to Persuasion was a short, touching tale about Captain Wentworth and his daughter. I don't think you necessarily needed to read the original to appreciate it. The other was "All I Do," the last story and longer than the others. In this tale of Pride and Prejudice Elizabeth is not married to Darcy.  The characters are a bit fuller than in the others and I guess I remember the original story better than the others. It was enjoyable, seeing the "what might have been" and how in the end Darcy and Elizabeth still get happiness. The others were neither here nor there for me. They weren't bad, they just...
Read More

Rungle in the Jungle by Robert Logan Rogers

by Carol3 Comments
It sounded like a cute book. The animals get together for a race, the snake tries to intimidate them, but positive thinking and creativity win the day - should be fun. Instead, it just wasn't very good, in my opinion. First, there is no punctuation, which always bothers me- yes, it's a kids book, yes, it rhymes, but please give me quotation marks. When reading books aloud, the quotation marks are great indicators that a change of voice is needed. I want to sound like a slithery snake during his boasts or big and bold when the ape states that he weighs more than a ton, and quotes would have given me the cue. I'm still not sure about the ape's assertion that he would lose weight before the race, though; it bothers me a bit. Second, many of the rhymes are forced or don't make a lot of sense and the pattern isn't consistent. Even rungle isn't a real word. I'm all for making...
Read More

Dead Wrong by Leighann Dobbs

by Carol4 Comments
This is a really light mystery with a bit of PG romance. I enjoyed it but there wasn't much to it. I like the sisters and how they all support each other, but I kind of felt like we didn't really know much about them or the other characters. On the one hand, that's good, we're not bogged own with a bunch or back story, but it left me with a few too many questions. I love the house and the shop and can see why the girls will do anything can not to lose it. Oh, and there's a magical cat. There's a bit of a rumor around town that Balckmores may be witches, which they're not, at least they don't seem to be, but they do have this cat that has an uncanny way of being in just the right spot or finding just the thing they need. It's just a hint of paranormal. The mystery is okay. We get...
Read More

Spotlight: Budapest Romance by Rozsa Gaston

by CarolNo Comments
Excerpt: How could she not notice being noticed? Floating in a thermal bath pool at a spa hotel in Budapest, Kati discreetly eyed the rugged blond man lounging in the next pool. He had glanced in her direction several times over the past two days. She was mourning the death of her father the month before, and was in no shape to be looking at the opposite sex. But the man's shaggy, blond hair had caught her eye that first evening in the pools; it had wandered down over his shoulders and powerful chest as well. Béla Dunai would have forgiven her, she knew. At that moment, the man lifted his head and looked directly at her. Immediately, she pretended to be studying the clock on the wall behind him. She hoped he was too far away to notice the blush that had sprung onto her face. She wanted to pass for a sophisticated European woman while in Hungary. But here she was, blushing...
Read More