Long Time, No Write

Hello, friends. I apologize for not writing lately. Sometimes life gets too hard and I can't process the emotions battling inside of me, so I hide. I hide from writing, I hide from my friends, and I hide from life. It's the only way I know how to cope, so that's what I've been doing. I won't bore you with details (unless you really want them. If so, it's all there in naked, gory detail at http://karensletters2mom.blogspot.com/) . Nobody died, it's just been some family stuff I haven't been able to process, but it is starting to resolve, so I'm back. Hopefully for good.

Now, enough of that. I'm sure you're all wondering which faces I chose for my characters so I thought after such a lengthy absence you deserved that at the very least, so here they are!

Lily: What's funny about y'all choosing this picture is that this is the one I had already chosen and have used for two years. LOL! I guess we all have good taste, eh? I definitely approve.

Kayla: Your votes chose this picture as well, and though it's not one I would have picked originally, it fits far better than any I've chosen previously. Definitely approve again!

C'Tan: You may not remember seeing this picture in with your choices for a face for the evil woman. Well, that's because she wasn't there! I liked the choices that came out with your votes, but there was something still missing so I continued to look and within days came across this picture. It holds just enough venom and beauty with the possibility of redemption that I just couldn't resist and I clamped hold and can't seem to let go. Thank you for your votes, everyone. It really does help make my job easier.

Now, for an update on The Emerald Wolf: To be honest, there isn't one. As of this post, I have about 17,000 words written, which is exactly how much I had written last fall. I'm afraid I let those hard things in life weigh me down and I haven't written anything but a new prologue--but that is going to change here and now.

As of this moment, I, Karen E. Hoover, solemnly promise to you, my readers, fans, and friends, that I will have the first draft of The Emerald Wolf finished no later than April 30th. I also plan to write Book 2 of The Misadventures of a Teenage Wizard, titled "Attack of the Zombie Roadkill," and if I am still sane, I will finish the first draft of Book 4 in The Wolfchild Saga, titled "The Amethyst Eye," all within 2013. Yes, it's a lot of work in a short period of time, but I have a lot to make up for, and frankly, I miss writing. It is the one thing that keeps me truly sane (you have no idea how true that is!!!)

So, I've given you my promise, and I ask only one thing in return: KICK MY BUTT!!! You can do it gently with encouraging words (preferred method), or you can do it swift and hard with a reminder of my promise and telling me to get to work. Whatever it takes. Whatever you can do to help me achieve these goals, whatever small word you are willing and able to offer, I plead with you to do it. Say it! Help me succeed here, people, because without you my writing is just scribbles on a page. You are the ones who make it worth it. You are the ones who make being a writer the best job in the world.

Help Give Faces to My Characters?

This is Ember Shandae, though she doesn't wear jeans in The Wolfchild Saga. Her name in real life is Kaitlyn and she was one of my young women until she grew up and went to college, but she gave me permission to use her face to represent one of my main characters.

I always pick faces first--except in this series. Or I have chosen faces, but they have changed over time, so now I'm begging for your help. There are too many beautiful faces to choose from. If you have read The Sapphire Flute, it shouldn't be hard to tell me which face fits the character you read about for two of the characters. The third character is only in The Armor of Light, but I will take anything I can get. Please help me!

I'm going to post the pictures under a different tab and put voting stuff there. Every picture is numbered. Just tell me which one fits best in your eyes and help make my decision a little easier. It will also make it simpler to keep the characters consistent throughout the remaining books.

Thanks for your help! Just look for the tab above that says "vote for faces!"

P.S. I couldn't get the polls on the same page as the pictures so they are on the sidebar.

It's My Annual Christmas Sale!

It's that time of year again! Time to renew whatever traditions your family carries, but I have noticed that most of those traditions have one of several things in common: gifts!

Now, most of you know, or at least would assume, that with my being a writer I am a big promoter of literacy, and that brings me back to the point of this blog.

I'm having a sale! Everything I've got has been marked down to make Christmas a little easier for everyone.  AND (thanks to the encouragement of my wonderful friend Konsantz) you may also pre-order copies of The Wolfchild Saga: Book 3-The Emerald Wolf, and The Misadventures of a Teenage Wizard: Attack Of The Zombie Roadkill. For your pre-orders, I will mail out a beautiful gift certificate to give your loved one so they have something tangible to hang on to until I mail out the books, both to be released in 2013.

I am also opening up a few more spots for anyone who wants to buy a place in one of my books. I have openings for seven adults and five children in The Wolfchild Saga: Book 4-The Amethyst Eye, also to be released in 2013, and space for fifteen children OR adults for The Misadventures of a Teenage Wizard: Attack of the Zombie Roadkill. They make an awesome gift! You will have your spouse, your sibling, your child, your best friend--whomever you choose--eternally memorialized in a book. You can even make it fun and say "turn my crazy brother into a nutcase." They may be good or evil characters (your choice) or just plain weird. In some cases they may even be of another race. It's a heck of a lot of fun, both for the reader and the writer (me!).

All books will be autographed and include matching posters, bookmarks, and buttons-and you just never know what else I might toss in the bag.

If you want something EXTRA special, I've got the very last five hard-cover, original copies of The Sapphire Flute, autographed and numbered, for sale. Hard cover is always more expensive, but they sure do last longer!

And very last, I have fourteen mugs with my book covers and autograph on them. Something a little extra special for hot cocoa on a cold day.

I'll post the purchase links below and please, if you are confused, have questions, or just want to say "hi!", please send me an e-mail at the address listed in the contacts section. I always love hearing from you.

Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays!

Books

The Sapphire Flute Hardback $30.00 USD The Sapphire Flute Paperback $10.00 USD The Sapphire Flute Mug $10.00 USD The Armor of Light Paperback $12.00 USD The Armor of Light Mug $10.00 USD The Emerald Wolf Mug $10.00 USD Two Souls Are Better Than One Paperback $8.00 USD

Pre-Paid Books (Gift Certificates)

The Emerald Wolf $12.00 USD Attack Of The Zombie Roadkill $8.00 USD

 

Become a Character!

The Amethyst Eye $25.00 USD Attack Of The Zombie Roadkill $25.00 USD

 

Book Review: Nightingale by David Farland

Grand Prize Winner of the Hollywood Book Festival, placed first in all genres, all categories. 

Winner of the 2012 International Book Award for Best Young Adult Novel of the Year!

Finalist in the Global Ebook Awards.

Some people sing at night to drive back the darkness.  Others sing to summon it. . . .

Bron Jones was abandoned at birth. Thrown into foster care, he was rejected by one family after another, until he met Olivia, a gifted and devoted high-school teacher who recognized him for what he really was--what her people call a "nightingale."

But Bron isn't ready to learn the truth. There are secrets that have been hidden from mankind for hundreds of thousands of years, secrets that should remain hidden. Some things are too dangerous to know.  Bron's secret may be the most dangerous of all.

In his remarkable young adult fantasy debut, David Farland shows why critics have called his work "compelling," "engrossing," "powerful," "profound," and "ultimately life-changing."

Those who have followed my blog over the years know my daddy died when I was only four. I was raised by a single mother who gave my younger brother and I all the love she could, because most of the time that was all she could give us. Love and time. There wasn't a lot of money to go around but somehow we managed. My mother could pinch a penny until it screamed for mercy.

You may wonder what any of this has to do with this book review of Nightingale, but it has a point, I promise.

When I was a teenager, barely nineteen years old, I got the most awesome present ever--at least it was awesome  for a poor half-orphaned girl who didn't have much.

I got money, and a lot of it. Five beautiful, brand new twenty dollar bills were found in an envelope beneath the Christmas tree and I was ready to run to the store in my pajamas to purchase things. New and wonderful shiny things, but a very specific thing. Despite my mother's admonitions to not spend it all in one place, there was only one place I wanted to go. It wasn't for new sweaters or jeans. It wasn't for jewelry or a makeover (I was a massive tom-boy). No. I wanted one thing and one thing only.

Books.

(Do you see where this is going now?)

Now think about this. It's 1989. Paperback books are anywhere from $2.99 to $3.95 for the most part. Maybe $4.50 for a really thick book. So, say I took my $100 dollars and spent it all on $4.00 books. Do you know how many books that will buy? Twenty-five books. Seriously. TWENTY-FIVE BOOKS! I was in heaven. I picked up the entire Belgariad series by David Eddings. I purchased a book called The Earthlords by Gordon R. Dickson. I got Edgar Rice Burroughs John Carter of Mars series (all 13 books)--and I got a book called On My Way to Paradise by first time author Dave Wolverton. Of course I got others as well, many of which I still have, but Dave's book really stuck with me.

Fast forward fifteen to twenty years and I went to LTUE (a writing conference for Sci-Fi and fantasy lovers.) It was the first conference I'd ever been to and I was a bit nervous. I didn't know what I was doing as a writer, just that I loved to write and wanted to learn more. I went into a panel. I couldn't tell you what the topic was now, but sitting on that panel was an author by the name of David Farland, whom I had heard of, but hadn't read yet.

As the panelists introduced themselves, David Farland introduced himself as David Farland OR Dave Wolverton, depending on what genre you read.

I about fell out of my chair. THAT was a name I knew and loved! It turned out that David Farland writes fantasy and Dave Wolverton writes Science Fiction. They were the same person! Who knew? Evidently everyone but me!

Anyway, when I was approached about reviewing this book, I'll admit to having a bit of an elephant tromping about my belly. I was nervous! Review one of Dave's books? Really? I mean, he's DAVE WOLVERTON! How was I supposed to give an honest review on the work of one of my literary heroes?

Well, I shouldn't have been afraid. Nightingale was every bit as good as On My Way To Paradise and The Runelords books were. Actually, it was phenomenal. I love the direction he is taking e-books, in particular. The interactive book is A-MAZ-ING! The story is fantastic. The imagery is vivid. The characters believable. The world is one I want to live in myself! Add to that all the horrifying stories about foster care and adoption, learning trust when all you've known is pain, and the fragility of emotions--well, having adopted two sons through the foster system, it was painful, and honest, and hard to read, but oh, did I connect with Bron!

So, the best I can do here is say, thank you, Dave, for all the years of letting me live in your awesome worlds, for writing books that are REAL, despite the fiction label, and for encouraging a newbie from afar to never give up the dream.

What others are saying:


"Superb worldbuilding, strong characters, and Dave's characteristic excellent prose."

--Brandon Sanderson, #1 New York Times Bestselling Author

"A wonderful tale of a young man trying to find his humanity, even though he's not quite human.  One of Farland's very best!"                                                   --#1 International Bestseller Kevin J. Anderson


Now, everyone, go out and buy this book!
HARDBACK: Amazon
KINDLE: Amazon
NOOK: Barnes and Noble
IPAD: iTunes

You can find Dave at https://www.facebook.com/david.farland1

Poem for the Hard Times

An empty vessel

A clay pot

A canning jar

A sailing ship

A vein

All void of substance

A shell that holds

Nothing

But a ghostly mist

Of what could have been

And I

Like those empty vessels

Am drained

A desiccated husk

Empty 

Book Review: Motherhood Matters by Connie Sokol

I think I'm going to be a permanent fan of Connie and her books, which is a bit odd for me as I usually don't read non-fiction. The author has a way of getting into the heart of things and making them easy to understand and definitely easy to relate to.

The description itself is intriguing:

Motherhood Matters: Joyful Reminders of the Divinity, Reality, and Rewards of Motherhood

COMBINE HOMEWORK, dishes, laundry, and carpools. Add in the unexpected, subtract time, and repeat daily until well beaten. Sound familiar? It's a recipe for Motherhood Madness. But life doesn't have to be this way. Find the cure in Motherhood Matters.

THIS DELIGHTFUL LITTLE VOLUME, filled with wit and wisdom, presents a straightforward look at the divinity, reality, and rewards of being a mother. With clarity and concision, Connie E. Sokol shares inspirational messages that will fit famililes everywhere on the road to a better way of life.

WHETHER YOUR CHILDREN are preschoolers or teenagers--or preschoolers who act like teenagers and vice versa--this book is guaranteed to help you find memories in the mayhem and treasures in your to-do lists. Fresher than flowers and without all the guilt of chocolates,Motherhood Matters is the perfect gift for the women in your life who give so much.

I read this book one morning in an hour or two, enjoying each moment and truly relating to the message she shared. There was some wonderful advice on talking to your kids that I needed later that night--when the police showed up at my door in regards to one of my children. 

So, the best I can say is, "Thank you, Connie! You helped me talk to my son and get through a very difficult situation, and I didn't even want to strangle him." ;) 

To purchase Motherhood Matters, (and I would strongly recommend it), Go here

Inspiration

This incredible flautist is Rhonda Larson. She is my inspiration for Kayla in The Wolfchild Saga. Every time I think of Kayla playing The Sapphire Flute, I hear Rhonda, so I thought I'd give everyone a treat and let you hear what I hear.