Wednesday

A visit to the neighbors by Deborah Ludlow

Folks, this children's story book is by my friend and colleague, Deb Ludlow. I would so much appreciate it if you would consider buying this as a Christmas present for some child in your family or circle of friends ;)
 About the Book
Have you ever watched a child looking at an animal and seen their wonder? What do you say when they ask, “Mommy, Daddy, do you think animals can talk to each other?” This short illustrated story will be a delight to share with your child. It may help your child understand three basic methods that
horses use to communicate with each other as they read about Audrey’s visit to the neighbors, to feed apples to the horses.
About the Author
I was born Deborah Bardenhagen in Kalamazoo Michigan July 22, 1958. I grew up passionate about horses, dogs, and cats. My first encounter with horses was my toy spring horse; followed by “Bob’s ponies.” I owned my first horse at the age of 15 and have had them in my life since.
I have always loved to draw horses, but my career led me down another path. In completing a MCOM through Spring Arbor University, a requirement of graduation was completion of a Portfolio project, which opened the door to illustrating a story book about how horses communicate. It also became an opportunity to honor Audrey’s short life and the joy she brought to all of us who’s life she had touched.
TM
A Visit To The Neighbors
“Mommy, Do You Think Horses Can Talk To Each Other?”
Deborah Bardenhagen-Ludlow
AuthorHouse - 24 pages
ISBN: 8.5x11 Paperback (978-1-4772-8310-3)
Ebook (978-1-4772-8311-0)
Suggested Retail Price:
$17.99 - Paperback
$3.99 - Ebook
You can order
A Visit To The Neighbors
directly from the publisher at www.authorhouse.com.
Typical Ordering Time: 7-10 Business Days
This book is also available at your local resellers.
© 2011 Author Solutions, Inc.

The book can be purchased from http://www.authorhouse.com or phone 888-280-7715.

merry Christmas y'all!

Friday

Creativity: Is headhopping a sin? by Randy Ingermanson



3) Creating: Is Headhopping A Sin?

Every so often the issue of "headhopping" comes up among writers, and the fur soon begins flying. It came up recently in a circle of novelists I belong to.

Some writers insist that there is no sin more vile than headhopping, except possibly teaching the cat how to smoke.

Other writers claim that headhopping is an acceptable practice in romance, where many readers like it and a few editors even insist on it.

Is headhopping a sin? If it's so horrible, then why does Joe Bigname Author hop heads like crazy? Is headhopping just another gotcha invented by writing teachers to put newbie writers in knots? Isn't headhopping just the same thing as the omniscient viewpoint?

First things first -- we need to define "headhopping."

To do that, let's review the main alternatives. The two most common points of view in fiction are first-person and third-person.

In first-person POV, the author writes as if she is one of the characters, using the pronouns "I" and "me" to refer to that character.

When you write in first-person, you put your reader firmly inside the head of that one character and it would be unnatural to get out.

In third-person POV (the most common POV these days), the author chooses one particular character in each scene to be the viewpoint character. The author uses the pronouns "he" and "him" or else "she" and "her" to refer to that character.

When you write in third-person correctly, you put your reader firmly inside the head of that one character.
You show only what that character can see, hear, touch, taste, smell, or feel. Nothing more.

So third-person is very much like first-person, except for the pronouns you use.

Either first-person or third-person puts your reader on intimate terms with the viewpoint character for the course of any given scene. This makes it fairly easy to give your reader a Powerful Emotional Experience, which I believe is the main goal of writing fiction.

Now of course it's possible that a writer will do a bad job of writing either first-person or third-person, which means that the reader will have no Powerful Emotional Experience. But tens of thousands of professional novelists use these viewpoints effectively because they work.

Now we can define headhopping. Headhopping is like third-person, except that the author uses two or more viewpoint characters within a single scene.

In headhopping, you put your reader firmly inside the head of one character for a while and then hop into another character's head for a while.


Let's look at those questions we raised at the beginning of this article:

Is headhopping OK?

My own opinion is that it's OK to do this IF you do it well. But it isn't easy to do it well, for two reasons.

First, those pesky transitions from one head to another are hard to get right. If you confuse the reader, then that's a speed bump in the reading experience and that's bad.

Second, even if you do the transitions well, doing them too often will make your reader feel jerked around.

Why does Joe Bigname Author use headhopping in his novel?

Good question. Some authors actually don't know any better (and neither do some editors). Some authors know that headhopping is risky but do it anyway because they believe they can do it well and the rewards are worth the risks.

Is headhopping just an invention of selfish writing teachers who want to earn more money by putting up more roadblocks for new writers?

Not that I can tell. Headhopping is hard to do well, and very often it just plain doesn't work. Headhopping by novice writers almost always doesn't work. Writing teachers spend most of their time working with novice writers, so they spend a lot of time telling them  not to hop heads.

Is headhopping exactly the same thing as the omniscient viewpoint that was used so successfully by the great 19th century writers?

In my opinion, no. I believe that omniscient viewpoint means that the narrator is actually omniscient and can know things that NONE of the characters know.

I am tempted to say that all right-thinking people must agree with me, but I know at least one writing teacher who believes that headhopping is the same thing as omniscient.

I'm afraid that rational discussion will never settle this argument. However, kicking, biting, scratching, and hair-pulling might, so I have hope that someday all writers will agree with me on this point.

So should you hop heads? Will you suffer eternal torment if you indulge in the forbidden fruit of headhopping?

My own opinion is that if you're a new writer, then it's best to avoid headhopping, for two reasons:

* Headhopping requires that you master third person viewpoint AND that you master transitions from one head to the next. It's easier to master one skill than two.

* Some editors will reject you outright for headhopping.

Once you've learned to write third-person Xtremely well, then you'll have the skills to try hopping heads when you have a scene where you believe it makes sense.

At the very least, if you're going to hop heads, you should be aware that you're doing it, you should have a reason to do so, and you should make it work.

The goal in writing fiction is to give your reader a Powerful Emotional Experience. Do whatever it takes to do that.



This article is reprinted by permission of the author.

Award-winning novelist Randy Ingermanson, "the Snowflake Guy," publishes the free monthly Advanced Fiction Writing E-zine, with more than 32,000 readers.
If you want to learn the craft and marketing of fiction, AND make your writing more valuable to editors, AND have FUN doing it, visit http://www.AdvancedFictionWriting.com.

Download your free Special Report on Tiger Marketing and get a free 5-Day Course in How To Publish a Novel.

Wednesday

Full Disclosure by Dee Henderson

 MY REVIEW
This story is about a super woman. She can do anything and everything, but she is very closed, rarely opening up to others. She's a super cop and other cops around the nation trust her to help them solve the unsolvable cases. Of course, the story is about her, not through her. Paul is FBI and his family is rich as Croesus. He is totally intrigued by Ann when she dumps a case on his desk. This is a long distance love affair, and the couple actually eats dinner together through their computers, he in one place and she in another. Interesting.

The characters are believable for the most part, slightly flawed as humans are. I like it when you can tell right away who the Christians are in the story, but the story is not preachy. It is also not her best book ever. However, it is good. I think you will enjoy it. Make no mistake, this is not a mystery about a serial killer, it is a love story with a sub-story about a serial killer. In general, I think suspense and romance do not mix except in bad movies... but this one works. I give it 3 of 5 stars.

.
This week, the
Christian Fiction Blog Alliance
is introducing
Full Disclosure
Bethany House Publishers (October 2, 2012)
by
Dee Henderson


ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

Dee Henderson is the bestselling, award-winning author of 15 previous novels, including the acclaimed O'MALLEY series and UNCOMMON HEROES series. She is a lifelong resident of Illinois.

ABOUT THE BOOK

Ann Silver is a cop's cop. As the Midwest Homicide Investigator, she is called in to help local law enforcement on the worst of cases, looking for answers to murder. Hers is one of the region's most trusted investigative positions.

Paul Falcon is the FBI's top murder cop in the Midwest. If the victim carried a federal badge or had a security clearance, odds are good Paul and his team see the case file or work the murder.

Their lives intersect when Ann arrives to pass a case off her desk and onto his. A car wreck and a suspicious death offer a lead on a hired shooter he is tracking. Paul isn't expecting to meet someone, the kind that goes on the personal side of the ledger, but Ann Silver has his attention.

The better he gets to know her, the more Paul realizes her job barely scratches the surface of who she is. She knows spies and soldiers and U.S. Marshals, and has written books about them. She is friends with the former Vice President. People with good reason to be cautious about who they let into their lives deeply trust her. Paul wonders just what secrets Ann is keeping, until she shows him the John Doe Killer case file, and he starts to realize just who this lady he is falling in love with really is…

Watch the book trailer:

If you would like to read the first chapter of Full Disclosure, go HERE.

Monday

Escaping the Cauldron by Kristine McGuire


 


A powerful , true story in a great bible study format. Easy to read, but you can't stop thinking about it even when you turn the last page.

MY REVIEW
If you've been following my book reviews for several years, thank you! You might remember I reviewed a book with this very title. Make no mistake. This is the same message, but so much more powerful than the first edition. Kristine McGuire uses personal experiences, and explains her thought processes for why she fell into the dark hole of the occult...and how God pulled her from that abyss.

She uses study questions and Bible passages to underline the message that the occult is nothing to dabble in or to embrace. I firmly believe that if she had not become a Christian as a child, she would never have been able to claw her way out of the hole. The Holy Spirit protected her, but God allowed her to see just how dangerous a game she was playing. God showed her that what she was searching for was a much deeper and closer walk with Himself rather than a cold and malicious demon.

We live in a world whose prince is the Prince of Darkness. He is the father of lies, and his job is to steal, kill and destroy. His minions are adept at finding our weaknesses. 

Kristine McGuire
McGuire walks you through the ever descending steps into occult practice that she took, always pointing out where she was wrong and what God says about each thing she did. She explains that as she became more deeply immersed in the occult, she became more accurate as a medium. The hiding of her occult books and tools, the secrecy of her practices, the secret worship of a demon disguised as a goddess tells a tale of shame and darkness. She dragged guilt around like a 500 pound ball and chain. She correctly states the Holy Spirit was convicting her of her sin, but Satan was using guilt as another tool to manipulate her. 

If you know someone who is fascinated by ghost hunting, or the occult and you are worried about them, I strongly recommend you read this book. It is well worth the money. If you have every wondered about the occult... if you want to know how Satan tempts a Christian into turning her back on God then you must read this book.

Five of five stars

BOOK BLURB


After 29 years in church, Kristine McGuire left to pursue her lifelong fascination with the occult. For the next eight years, she stayed in that world: as a witch, medium, and ghosthunter. 

But an encounter with a demon showed Kristine Who really holds the ultimate power. She returned to Christ. 

Kristine's story (releasing from Charisma House this month) will open your eyes to the occult influence in your everyday life - and equip you to address it.


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