Chelsea Dyreng's Blog, page 5

Chelsea Dyreng – Author Interview

My first author interview in Canadian.

Quillable

What are the odds that out of the two interviews I’ve conductedthat both would includethe word “milpa”? Read on to find out more about The Cenote by Chelsea Dyreng – a Mesoamerican mystery filled with love, secrets and corn.

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The Lost Art of Concentration

When I was in college I had a good friend who was very tall with sandy brown hair andadelightfully dry sense of humor. Like most of my college friends, he was a musician. He played trombone, and was probably the best trombone player at BYU.His name was Ryan, and hewas such a great musician that, when I knew him, he was getting invited to solo with symphony orchestras around the country. I felt honored to be his friend.

One day he took me aside andasked if I would help him prepare for the solo...

Cover Reveal: The Last Messenger of Zitol

So remember when I told you that it took me five years to write The Cenote?

Well, I lied.

I actually was writing two books. This is the other.

I could’t be more thrilled to share this book with you. This is a young adult novelabout a girl who is kidnapped from her islandand taken to the land of her ancestors where sheis forced to choose between retainingher virtue or preservingher life.

I wrote this book because I was tired of going to the bookstore and seeing all the latestYA books about te...

Surprised By Joy

A couple days ago my two year old came in from the backyard beaming. “Look, Mom!” he said. “Look what I found!”

He showed me a daffodil that he had plucked from the yard. It was the first (and so far the only) daffodil in the yard, and he was over the moon about it.

We talked about the flower for a minute. We smelled it (I LOVE the smell of daffodils!) and we found a little vase for him to put it in.

“Can you draw a picture of me holdingthe daffodil, Mom?”

Sure!

So I drew a picture of Levi ho...

200 Miles: My 2015 New Year’s Resolution Report

I am a fair-weather runner, which means I only like to run when it is between 50 and 65 degrees, with no rain or snow, no dogs, and no hills.

Until last year when my crazy runner siblingstold me that we were all going to run a New Years 5K. That means you start your run sometime after 11 pm and you try to time it so that you cross the finish line at midnight. I will also mention that this 5K was in Idaho and it was 13 below zero. I am from North Carolinawhere it only goes 13 below zero every...

Confessions of a Xenophile

Before we begin, I have to tell you that I have passionate love/hate vibes towards those who post photos of themselves inforeigncountries (ah-hem: Steve…Vanessa…Rebekah…Keri…).I salivate just looking at passports, suitcases and maps. Photos of people I know having experiences abroad make me feel likea fish in a fish tank, watching the world go by without me. And yet, as painful as it is, I can’t look away.

So I hesitate sharing these photos with you, lest you are a fellow xenophile whose hear...

When a 12-Year-Old is in Charge of a House Full of Dying People

I heard the rumors.

Something was going around at school. Also at church. They said it attacks like lightning and leaves you feeling like a grenade just went off inside your body. The only merciful part of the ordeal is that it only lasts for 24 hours.

Perhaps my home will be spared, I thought.

But then,lastWednesday, just after lunchtime, the school called.

It isnever a good sign when the school calls.And somehow I knew before I answered what it would be.

It was one of my daughters. And she...