Michelle L. Levigne's Blog, page 173

Jane Bondservant #25

Dear Readers: When we met last, I had encountered the worst case of knotted tongue in my life after encountering Dr. Noway at McDonald's during a library field trip with some children from my school. It was a tie for worst news of the day between being reminded about our committee meeting that night at church and the children deciding that suddenly Miss Smythe the librarian had a … gasp … boyfriend!
Of course I went to the games committee meeting that night. What kind of semi-pseudo-super-spy do you think I am, shirking my duty? Not just my duty to my church, but to the Agency, to keep an eye on Dr. Noway. After all, I still hadn't figured out what he was up to in the special collections room at the library. What kind of nefarious plans could he come up with information found in social studies and literature books?
I found out quickly enough: Games.To be more precise: Old-fashioned games.The kind usually shown in movies about country folk, made during the forties and fifties.Yep, that was what Dr. Noway was looking up. Games for church picnics.
After he proposed a series of games -- either competitions among age groups, or families or even Sunday school classes competing as teams -- consisting of such thing as pie eating, balloon tosses, three-legged races, wheelbarrow races, and egg races, silence filled the room. I felt sorry for him. This wasn't a good response to his first attempt at being a normal, decent Human being.
Feeling sorry for my assigned subject was a good start, at least, according to the advice from O. But if I felt sorry for the guy, didn't that mean I should help him? For the life of me, I couldn't think of a thing, other than to speak up and give my approval and support. Really, they weregood ideas. I liked the idea of some of those games. Silly, requiring some skills, but mostly just enthusiasm -- and best of all, everyone could play those games, with a little adaptation for some of the physically handicapped church members.
Hands clapped. I looked down at my hands, expecting to see them moving, but it wasn't me. Someone else joined in. I joined in, and by the time I got my head up and looked around the square of folding tables, almost everyone was clapping. Dr. Noway blushed red hot enough, I thought I could feel the heat from across the room.
Doggone it, I was proud of him. And glad for him.
The proposal passed unanimously, and the people with ideas for other games, such as carnival booths and cheap prizes graciously withdrew their ideas or proposed adapting them to fit the old fashioned idea. A lot of people commented they hadn't played such games since they were children. We all agreed this was going to be great.

The questions remained: What was Dr. Noway's real motivation for his proposal? Was it a cover for some sneak attack by his old friends at B.L. Zebob Industries? Or was he exactly what he said he was: A loving uncle starting out fresh, providing a home for his nieces, looking for a new job, new home, new community, new friends?

Off the Bookshelf: STORYBOUND

Have you ever wished you could fall into one of your favorite books? Jump in and adventure with characters you fell in love with? Imagine falling into the place where all the storybook characters originate -- where they go to school to learn to be the characters in your book.

This book was a Nook Free Fridays read. Love finding new authors this way.

Marissa Burt has dreamed up such a place, called, simply, "Story." Una Fairchild is in the library and picks up a book that tells her story, and the next thing she knows, she's encountering a Hero and Lady, taking a test on being a Hero and a Lady.

What's going on? Well, that's what Una is trying to figure out. She and Peter, the Hero-in-training, determine that she has been Written In, but that isn't a good thing. She could be hunted down and imprisoned, maybe hurt. Because things aren't very nice in Story. Something awful happened in the past, and as Una and Peter and assorted allies start to put together the pieces ... well, Una isn't very happy when she finds out the part she is about to play.

And I wasn't too happy to get to the end of the book before the end of the story -- meaning ... TO BE CONTINUED. Aarrgghh!

The author is clever, making her storybook world believable, from the characters to the long-ago rebellion and all the lies within lies. I have to know what happens next! You'll enjoy it -- just be prepared to either hunt down the sequel or endure some frustration if you can't read the next book right away. The sequel is called STORY'S END. It's in my wish list, definitely!

SPOTLIGHT: Virtually Dead, A Commonwealth Universe Serialized Novel

For the 2nd Spotlight Saturday, let's talk ZOMBIES.

Well, not actually.
But close!

That's how this book got its start -- people were talking zombies at a romance writing conference. (Yeah, I know what you're thinking -- HOW can you have a relationship with someone/something that's disintegrating with every step?)

That got me thinking. What if the main character was just ... visiting ... the dead bodies? And I ended up with VIRTUALLY DEAD.

The situation: During the Downfall of the Central Allied Worlds, called First Civ centuries later by the Commonwealth archaeologists and historians, a group of Khybor scientists learned the Set'ri were coming to attack their colony. They were experimenting with using Khrystal for long-term cold sleep, while letting the sleepers create a virtually community and contact one another. To hide from the Set'ri, they buried themselves far apart, with no one knowing where more than a few other people were buried.

Now, 600 years later, the new civilization built on the ruins of their colony is threatening their nice, comfortable, virtual reality community. CASPYA, their sentinel, must make contact with the world above and convince people to help them before any more of them are killed. Since she can't leave her own life tube, the only way to do that is by animating and communicating through ... you got it ... RECENTLY DEAD BODIES.

Now here's the fun part: You can get EPISODES of the book for FREE from now until the entire book is released early in 2014. And you don't have to keep going to the publisher and downloading every month. Subscribe!

Not sure you like the idea of people borrowing dead bodies? Well, consider the episodes as a test drive. If you don't like the story, you don't have to buy the entire book! (But I think you will. I dare you! Come on, what'll it hurt? You might be surprised!)

Just go to Writers Exchange, my publisher, and subscribe. www.writers-exchange.com. That easy.

NEXT WEEK: The Spotlight will be on a new book by Ohio author Mary Ellis, who happens to be a friend and fellow member of ACFW.

Jane Bondservant #24

While I was trying to collect my thoughts over a fast food lunch, after seeing Dr. Noway at the library, who happened to see me at McDonald's but Dr. Noway -- my assignment.
And what was my assignment -- to refresh the memories of those who were paying attention, and bring up to speed those who haven't been reading along? My assignment was to make friends with this man who, until he decided to leave B.L. Zebob Industries, was my primary arch-nemesis. Talk about a strange world.
Talk about the Lord working in really, really, uber-mysterious ways!
Dr. Noway approached me at McDonald's, and in front of my students, handed me an iced mocha. Just want I needed -- and that was not sarcasm -- I needed the chocolate and caffeine to get through the rest of the day after my shock. Unfortunately, I wasn't up to speed yet, and while I stared, trying to synchronize my brain and my tongue, to have a coherent conversation, all my field trip students and the adult chaperons … stared.
"I'll see you at church tonight?" Dr. Noway smiled a little wider as he stood up. All I could do was gape at him, completely lost. Not a good image to put in a report on my alertness and quick thinking. "We have our committee meeting tonight. Remember?"
"Oh, that's right."
"I was over at the library just now, doing some research on games." He shrugs. "I'm not very familiar with games, so I thought ..."
Dr. Noway had a very nice grin and I couldn't help but grin back at him. When he nodded and turned to leave, I knew I should say something, but my brain felt stuck in neutral and someone had put great big globs of grape bubble gum in the gearshift.
"Thank you!" I finally called, lifting my cup. And sat there, watching him walk through the restaurant to the side door.
When he was gone, I realized one question that was vital to the success of my mission and future security: Did he SEE me there in the library, spying on him?
"Miss Smythe has a boyfriend," one of the girls sitting in the booth behind me sing-songed. Before too long, the chant was taken up by half the girls and a few of the more obnoxious boys. I knew better than to protest -- that would only reinforce the idea.
"Is he?" one of the other chaperones whispered, sliding onto the bench seat next to me. "It's almost like a faerie tale -- he's so dark and handsome and mysterious. Where did you meet him?"
"At church."
"Guys like him certainly don't attend my church. It's a faerie tale, definitely."
I had to agree -- and I waited for the handsome prince to turn into an ugly troll, or for a curse to change everything. I sipped my iced mocha, grateful Dr. Noway's nieces weren't there to get dangerous ideas about me and their uncle, and was so flustered it didn't occur to me until much later that it might be poisoned, or at the very least laced with a knockout drug.

What was Dr. Noway up to now?
Did he see me in the library?
Did he think I was spying on him?
What would happen at the committee meeting that night?
Should I go?

Off the Bookshelf: THE HUNTER/FARMER DIET SOLUTION

Written by Mark Liponis, M.D., Medical Director, Canyon Ranch Health Resorts.

The cover says: Do you have the metabolism of a Hunter or a Farmer? Find out ... and achieve your health and weight-loss goals!

Hunters and farms use glucose different ways, react differently to insulin, and store body fat different ways/places. How you eat and what types of foods and when you eat are more important than how much you eat. Thank you! Do you know how frustrating it is, carrying a calorie-counting book the size of a phone book everywhere you go?

Yeah, I know, I have a LOT of diet and fitness books in my e-book library, why buy another one? Besides the fact my cousin (owner of Soza Fitness and Wellness -- if you need torturing... err ... guidance in getting in shape, check him out) told me to read the book, figure out which I am, and start eating according to the guidelines?

Well, yeah, that's the whole idea. Eat better, get rid of health problems, combine it with the early morning exercise/torture I put myself through six days a week ... eventually, I'll work off 25+ years of Writer's Butt.

It's an easy, short read, and it makes sense. It also gives general guidelines that seem pretty easy to keep in mind when you're shopping, when you're hungry, when you're out at a restaurant. It's not like other diet programs that give you a mile-long list of what you can eat, what you can't eat, and expect you to remember what time of the day to eat each food, how much/little you can have each day, etc., etc., ad infi-migraine.

Will it work? Matt swears by it, and others are finding results. Check back with me in a year!

SPOTLIGHT: Anne, Quarry Hall Book 2

Today we're starting something new -- SPOTLIGHT SATURDAY.

The plan is to highlight a book every Saturday, either one of mine, or a friend's book.

To launch this blog feature, I'm starting with ANNE, Quarry Hall Book 2, since it's my newest release.

The Quarry Hall series is a spin-off from my Tabor Heights series. From time to time, members of the Arc Foundation, headquartered in Quarry Hall, come to Tabor Heights to work, or even to stay. And sometimes residents of Tabor Heights go to Quarry Hall to visit.

The Arc Foundation is a philanthropic foundation, dedicated to helping the little people who fall through the cracks. The "daughters" of Quarry Hall are the "walking wounded" -- as many of them will tell you, they've found the medicine to heal the wounds of their souls, and they are duty-bound to share the healing with others.

Quarry Hall is published by Desert Breeze Publishing, which also publishes the Tabor Heights books.

ANNE tells the story of Anne Hachworth, starting with an assignment to hopefully catch some people who are going around destroying battered women's shelters with false accusations. When that assignment is completed, she and her companion dog, Argus, move on to shadow Xander Finley -- a resident of Tabor Heights -- whose legal clinic, Common Grounds, is sponsored by the Arc Foundation. Anne is to observe Xander and his associates at work and write up a report to justify increased funding.

It should be an easy assignment, right?

Never expect easy when you're doing something in the name of good, because as the daughters of Quarry Hall will tell you, it's like living with a target painted on your back. Before Anne quite knows what's going on, she's being accused of entrapment and then attempted murder.

Jane Bondservant #23

When last we met, dear readers, I had discovered Dr. Noway's presence at the library. What nefarious plans had brought him there? What could he have been searching for in the Special Collections room? While I ran through my options and obligations, I ran out of time.
That was a good thing and a bad thing.
All I could do was report Dr. Noway's presence and my suspicions, because of course, it was nearing time to leave the library with my field trip group. What was a higher priority? Keep my field trip students from dismantling the library or stop Dr. Noway from gathering information that might lead to the destruction of humanity?
As I backed toward the elevator door, to find some privacy to report to O while still keeping my gaze on Dr. Noway, I saw a sign listing the contents of the floor. Including the Special Collection room. Some parents might disagree, but speaking as an experienced librarian, there was nothing Dr. Noway could find among books dedicated to classical literature and cultural anthropology that he could use in a plot for world domination.
Before I could second-guess myself, two of my girls found me and asked how soon we were leaving, because they were hungry. It figured -- the one time I wanted to linger at the library, they wanted to leave. Of course, part of that could be blamed on the anticipated treat ahead of them: stopping at McDonald's for lunch before we returned to school.
Even more than fulfilling my promise to my field trip group, I needed a chance to sit and think before going back to the school and going back to work. I needed to think and compose my report to O.
Problem: Thinking = distraction, when it comes to watching over a group of middle school-age students.
Distraction is not good. Besides the fact that I dipped my hamburger into my melting ice cream sundae instead of the puddle of ketchup on my wrapper. After all, I was surrounded by students who had finished eating (interpretation: inhaled) their fast food lunch and now needed closer supervision to keep them out of trouble before they got on the bus and went back to school.
Why did I take the students to lunch after the library, you may ask? Hey, I was no fool. With the increase in digital living, students had no respect for the printed page. They would take their leftover lunches into the library and spill soda on shelves and get greasy fingerprints on pages.Sacrilege!
"Miss Smythe?"
"Hmm?" I looked up -- and straight into Dr. Noway's dark, smiling eyes.
"You look distracted." He sat down on the bench seat next to me and held out an iced mocha. With whipped cream and a cherry on top. "I thought this might give you a pick-me-up for the rest of the afternoon." Dr. Noway looked around at the students, who by some miracle had all settled down, stopped their chasing and slapping and talking, to stare at the stranger who pulled me out of my daze. Even worse, the other adult chaperons were also staring.
"Uhhhh -- thank you." I was unbalanced enough to feel my cheek. It felt hot enough to give a thermonuclear bomb a run for its money.
How was this encounter going to end? Check next week to see.
But I have to warn you, it wasn't pretty!

Off the Bookshelf: CREATING EXTRA-ORDINARY CHARACTERS

This book, #2 in the Writing Lessons from the Front series by Dr. Angela Hunt, is a classic example that good things do come in small packages.

Just 42 pages in Kindle Format, the good doctor crams in a lot of great advice. Even more important, she doesn't say you MUST do things exactly the way she does. She offers suggestions, gives examples, and leaves it up to you to find the best way for YOU to create your characters.

I like the way she adapts the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator to help you get a good handle on the way characters act and react, determining the secret pain, the dreams and goals of your characters. My usual tactic is to get to know my characters as I'm writing them, but doggone it, I could save a lot of time, and maybe two drafts of the book, by figuring out things before I sit down to write.

Maybe. I'll have to think about it.

Because that's the important thing to remember: You have to write YOUR way, and this book shows you how you can pick and choose your tools -- and make your writing job easier. Buy it! And check out the other books in the series. I know I am!

Off the Bookshelf: BEAUTIFUL STORIES FROM SHAKESPEARE

I remember finding this book by E. Nesbit in the bookshelves in my fifth grade classroom and devouring it. I thought I was pretty smart, because everybody who even had the slightest idea who Shakespeare was said his stories were complicated and hard to read -- what with the King James English and being in script format.

These stories are Ms. Nesbit's re-telling of some of Shakespeare's plays -- certainly not all of them, like the really bloody, violent, insane ones -- in short story format. She essentially makes them family friendly and easier to digest. I don't know if they'd help you pass a test on Shakespeare, because she glosses over some of the grittier elements of the stories.

Still, as an introduction to Shakespeare and some of his better-known plays, it's a good starting place. I'm glad I found this e-book -- a collection of the complete works of E. Nesbit, with illustrations -- and I'll be reading more of her books and reporting on them here as time goes on. She wrote a lot of fantasy. Not as fun as, say, the Edward Eager books like Half Magic, but interesting just the same. These are classics that you should introduce your children to -- before they read the modern ones like Percy Jackson or Twilight.

Virtually Dead at OneTrueMedia.com

New Commonwealth novel -- get individual episodes for free by subscribing at Writers Exchange -- www.Writers-Exchange.com -- starting August 1. In January 2014, get the complete book with extra material/scenes. Khybor scientists enter cold sleep to hide from their enemies. 600 years later, the new civilization built above them is threatening their lives. Caspya must make contact and find allies to un-bury them before any more die -- but the only way to make contact is through animating the recently deceased.

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