Michelle L. Levigne's Blog, page 152

SPOTLIGHT: Tabor Heights -- THE FAMILY WAY

Today's Spotlight is on a book about a troubled marriage and all the people and things that conspire to destroy marriages, in a Tabor Heights Year One book, THE FAMILY WAY.

Lisa and Todd are still newlyweds. Todd's job takes him all over the country on a regular basis, dealing with computers and programs and servicing various companies. Lisa is a cartoonist and has a regular cartoon strip in monthly magazines about a pastor and his large family. They're happy -- most of the time. Todd's father is sure that Lisa is all wrong for him, and he makes sure Todd knows it.


Lisa wants to be a good wife. She wants to be accepted by her father-in-law. When she becomes pregnant, she is sure she will finally be considered a good wife. When Todd comes home from a business trip, she tells him the good news -- and his response is the last thing she expects.

As their marriage disintegrates, they get support and advice from different sides, and people with different agendas. What is the right thing to do? How long should Lisa hold onto a marriage that could threaten her mind and heart and health -- and threaten her baby's future? How long will it take for Todd to break free of the insidious family traditions that destroyed his mother and drove his sisters to leave the church?

Off the Bookshelf: C.S. LEWIS - A Life Inspired, by Christopher Gordon

Anybody who has known me for a while knows I adore C.S. Lewis. I have fond memories of discovering Narnia through a Sunday school paper when I was maybe in third or fourth grade. We got an actual chapter of "The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe" every week .... I wish I still had those papers!

I graduated to his apologetics, and found them very intense, requiring lots of thought, and I'm sure I could reread those books every couple of years and still learn something from them. It's silly, but I really want to meet up with him in Heaven someday and say, "So, did I do a good job? Did you like any of my stories?" because he inspired me in many ways to write the kinds of books I write. He challenged me to write in fantastical genres and use them to explore matters of faith and spirit. I honestly hope I get at least a nod and a smile. Hmm, do you think we'll still be writing books and reading them in Eternity? Hope so!

So when I discovered a new book about the Master, I had to get it. I'm pretty sure it was either on sale or free at the time. It was refreshing to sit down and take small bites of this book -- because I've been so busy the last few weeks I haven't had time for any reading! -- and reacquaint myself with his life, his education, his spiritual rebirth, and an overview of his books. In many ways, this book can be considered an introduction, as it covers Lewis's life and writing very lightly. I highly recommend it to anyone who is interested, but doesn't want to dive into a 400-page biography! Next on your reading list, I recommend "Surprised by Laughter," a study in Lewis' humor and writing, by my grad school adviser, Dr. Terry Lindvall.

SPOTLIGHT: Tabor Heights -- DETOURS

Today's Spotlight is on DETOURS, from Year One of the Tabor Heights, Ohio series -- Inspirational romance following the lives and loves of the members of one congregation in the fictional town of Tabor Heights.

DETOURS started out as a stage play about three college girls who share an apartment, and the ups and downs and barriers to their dreams -- the Detours that they take on the way to what they want in life. Then I realized that the girls belonged with other characters I had started moving into Tabor, and they were students at Butler-Williams University.

Bekka, Kat and Amy are theater students -- mostly because I was a theater student. They're trying to get their breaks through writing. Kat writes screenplays, Bekka writes short stories and novels, and Amy is a poet. Kat has a different boyfriend every week, Amy keeps breaking up and making up with her boyfriend, Joe, and Bekka is too busy with three jobs and work study and writing to indulge in romance -- but she sure would like to try it.

Turning the story/script into a novel required me to focus on the romance of one of the three, so I chose Bekka. Shane was a walk-on character for the script at one point, then I decided I liked him enough that he was good enough to be Bekka's boyfriend. The "detours" of the title became all the obstacles to the two of them finally getting together. It takes them months of conflicting schedules and mis-information from various people and theater crises before they get their reward.

SPOTLIGHT: Tabor Heights -- COMMON GROUNDS

Today's Spotlight is on one of the first published books in the series, from Year One:

COMMON GROUNDS

Xander Finley is a well-known character throughout the Tabor Heights series because he's the lawyer everyone turns to when they have legal problems, or just need advice. Common Grounds is the name of his legal clinic, which has a lot of support from the Arc Foundation, to help Xander and his team provide legal help to people who normally couldn't afford it.



Hannah Blake is Xander's Gal Friday, his assistant and office manager, the one who has been there helping him when Common Grounds was just a grand idea with a lot of opposition coming from other lawyers, including lawyers in Xander's own church.

After all this time, Hannah has given up on hoping Xander will wake up and realize he wants her in his life outside the office, too. She doesn't realize all the pressures that keep him from pursuing his feelings for her.

It take crisis to get people to realize that all the worries and concerns and roadblocks don't mean that much in the grand scheme of things. Between the pressures of opening up a branch office of Common Grounds and a copycat serial killer who has decided to target Hannah, the two of them get things straightened out. Finally.

SPOTLIGHT: Tabor Heights -- BEHIND THE SCENES

The SPOTLIGHT today is on BEHIND THE SCENES, a pivotal book from Year One of the Tabor Heights series.

Why pivotal?

Well, some of the events that take place in BEHIND THE SCENES are mentioned in many of the other Year One books.

Max Randolph and Tony Martin are best friends and writing partners. They both wonder from time to time what it would be like to be "more" to each other ... but life is awful busy, behind the scenes at Homespun Theater, run by Max's parents.

Then tragedy strikes Max's family and her life is turned upside down and shaken for the next few weeks. First her parents are hit by a drunk driver in a semi truck. Then the world gets the news that Emily Keeler has been "found" -- living in Tabor Heights, running Homespun Theater with her family. The paparazzi descend on Tabor, and Max is busy salvaging an upcoming production, dodging the media, and trying to finish a book by deadline. Oh, yeah -- and making sure her natural father doesn't find out she exists.

Tony abandons his writer-in-residence program to come home to help. His absence from Tabor has impressed on him how much Max means to him. He proves it by being there for her, through all the ups and downs and personal tribulations. When will the time be right to tell Max that he loves her -- as more than just a best pal?

SPOTLIGHT: Tabor Heights -- ACCIDENTAL HEARTS

Today's SPOTLIGHT is on a Tabor Heights Year One story: ACCIDENTAL HEARTS.

What do you do when you seem to be a trouble magnet? Anything that can go wrong, does. The worst part is when certain nieces and nephews want to help you with your romantic endeavors, but all their efforts just seem to add to the confusion.

Tyler Sloane and Abby Morgan meet entirely by accident when dropping off their respective nieces and nephews at summer camp. When his niece and nephew break and then try to fix his beloved Corvette, Abby comes to the rescue. Tyler is the director of the Royal Community Theater, while Abby is a pilot and
makes a living as a courier and giving flying lessons. Their schedules just never seem to mesh, except when the children are involved.

That's fine, but only up to a point. What will it take to shake free of the kids so they can find some private time and figure out if what they're feeling for each other is real, or just the excitement of all the accidents that hit them with frightening regularity?

Off the Bookshelf: FESTIVE IN DEATH, by JD Robb

I've been a really good girl -- productivity-wise. So when the latest paperback in the In Death Series was available, I didn't feel guilty -- too much anyway -- about indulging and buying a new book.

FESTIVE IN DEATH takes place at Christmas. Amid all the strain of preparing for Roarke's annual blow-out Christmas party, and navigating all the social obligations and niceties of gifting and holidays and decorations, Lt. Eve Dallas has to deal with the murder of a personal trainer.

Gee, hasn't everybody wanted to kill their personal trainer at one time or another? The thing is, this personal trainer deserves to die. He's a user. A blackmailer. A manipulator. An ego-maniac. And as Eve investigates all the people on his client list and then the secret list tied into the huge wads of cash found in his locker, she discovers he's also a rapist. The kind of rapist who convinces himself his victim wanted it. Yeah, he deserved to die. But the thing is, that kind of decision should be left to the courts, so that's where Eve Dallas comes in. Despite everything, she has to stand up for the dead.

I love the characters in the In Death series. The interactions. The relationships. And the process of tracking down the murderer and even understanding, a little bit, why ....

SPOTLIGHT: Tabor Heights -- A BOX OF PROMISES

Today's SPOTLIGHT is on a book from Year Two of the Tabor Heights, Ohio books: A BOX OF PROMISES.

Casey, Meg, Bergen, Ray and Andrea are dorm sisters, preparing to separate for their summer apart. They all have big plans and dreams and want to do something important. They make a list of their goals for the summer, and make a vow that they will accomplish or pay up: with a pizza party. Then they put their signed vows in a box and give it to their dorm supervisor for safekeeping.

The summer is filled with adventures, challenges, problems, disappointments, laughter and frustration. Bratty kids in VBS, mean girls at summer camp, affectionate elephants at the zoo, summer classes, weird customers at the newspaper office, killer bees in Mexico, orphans, sunburn, broken limbs, temporary blindness, bubblegum in hair, oblivious boys, career barricades ... and amazingly, a chance at romance for each of them.

Who has to pay for the pizza and who gets far more than she set out to do? Read it and find out.

Off the Bookshelf: KISS AND SPELL, by Shanna Swendson

I have a HUGE bone to pick with the authors of my favorite book series: You don't write FAST enough!

I was delighted to discover 3 more books in Shanna Swendson's Enchanted Inc., series and bought all of them, and as you can see here ... breezed through them. Devoured them. So ... I'm out and need more! Write faster, please! What happens next to Katie and Owen?

In KISS AND SPELL, Katie and Owen, Katie's grandmother and Merlin and all their friends and enemies are dealing with the fallout from the end of the last book, where the entire story took place in one breathless day while they searched frantically to get their hands on an evil jewel that would help the possessor control the world. Not a nice thing to fall into enemy hands. Part of the fallout was a burst of magic that restored Owen's burned out magic, and gave Katie magical powers.

Another part of the fallout was accusations of wizards acting against elves. Magical people start vanishing, and when Owen and Katie try to track down an ally who suddenly isn't answering his phone, they end up in ... well, a live version of a romantic comedy movie, complete with soundtrack and montages. Katie discovers that having fading magical powers isn't all it's cracked up to be -- especially when it means that her handy-dandy immunity to all magic isn't there to help her.

Will they escape fake New York and return to real New York and solve the mystery of disappearing people and stop the invasion in time? Read it and find out. And if you happen to see Shanna, tell her to write faster!

SPOTLIGHT: Tabor Heights, Ohio -- A QUIET PLACE

In December, the last Tabor Heights novel is scheduled to be published.

At least, that's the plan right now. Who knows? I might get ideas for another year in Tabor Heights.

Until we run out of titles, the SPOTLIGHT will be on Tabor Heights books .... and just to confuse you, they'll be in alphabetical order instead of published or chronological order.

Today's SPOTLIGHT is on A QUIET PLACE.

Jeannette Marshall finds herself a widow before her first
anniversary. Despite being newly pregnant, she is ordered by her vicious in-laws to leave town. She is glad to return home to Tabor Heights, to her church friends and her "big brother" from the orphanage, Nathan Lewis. All she wants is a quiet place to settle down and raise her son.

Nathan realized too late what Jeannette meant to him. Now that she's a widow, he tries to be happy as just her big brother and favorite uncle to her son, BJ. Then her ex-in-laws come to Tabor and try to take her son, and everything changes.