Congratulations to Jeannie Smith who won Deanna Klingel's book, "Cracks in the Ice." Writers have ongoing debates as to which is better, a character-driven story or one that is plot-driven. Obviously, both well developed characters and engaging plots are vital for a successful novel. As Rebecca Petruck said in a recent post, "Character and plot… Continue reading Character + Plot = Pinned
Congratulations to Donna Earnhardt who won last week's giveaway and will receive Gretchen Griffith's picture book, "When Christmas Feels Like Home." Don't be discouraged if you didn't win. Next week Deanna Klingel will share her winning query letter along with a chance to win "Cracks In the Ice." Today, I want to share my thoughts… Continue reading What I Saw and How I Lied
I would like to think that I would have enjoyed Frances O'Roark Dowell's book, Chicken Boy, even if it wasn't set in North Carolina. But it sure helped to be able to picture the rural farm areas around the triangle region of North Carolina that are slowly being gobbled up by suburban development. Fifteen years ago I… Continue reading Chicken Boy and a Giveaway!
This powerful novel written in screenplay format, takes place during four hot days in July, 1863. Walter Dean Myers layers conflict after conflict into this little known story about the riot between African Americans and Irish immigrants in New York City. On the national level, the Civil War rages and Abraham Lincoln has just instituted… Continue reading Riot: Multi-Racial Read #6
I didn’t realize when I selected Zora and Me from the audio book shelf of my local library that I would be treated to a powerful, multiracial historical novel. But I was. Under 200 pages long, this book is the result of collaboration between Victoria Bond and T.R. Simon. Their fictionalized account of Harlem… Continue reading Zora and Me: Multi-Racial Read #5
I'm not much of a baseball fan. To be honest, it has always seemed like a fairly boring game and one that drones on without much excitement. Oops- has my honesty just alienated a baseball fan among my blog readers? But wait. Reading Heat by Mike Lupcia changed my opinion. Before, I had no idea how much strategy… Continue reading Heat
I always told my girls when they picked up a book off the library shelf, looked at it, and then put it down again, that they shouldn’t judge a book by its cover. I almost made the same mistake myself, thinking that the preppy girl with the short skirt on the cover of this book… Continue reading Don't Judge a Girl by Her Cover